One of the medical marijuana dispensaries being sued by the City of 91大黄鸭 is taking their plight to the people.
Trichome Valley Rx in 91大黄鸭 has they hope will show that the public supports the work they do, and that means they should be allowed to keep their doors open until the inevitable legalization of pot.
In the petition, spokesperson Rob Lindsay says the dispensaries are a medical service that many locals rely on as part of their cancer treatment program and the city鈥檚 legal action flies in the face of a Supreme Court ruling that advocates the accessibility to medical cannabis.
RELATED: CITY ASKS COURTS TO SHUT DOWN POT SHOPS
鈥淚t also is a significant waste of community resources considering that cannabis is slated for legalization on July 1, 2018,鈥� he said.
Although there鈥檚 no way to tell if the petition will have any impact on what happens with the courts, Lindsay said it has had a salutary effect among those who work at the dispensary.
鈥淧eople are coming in and voicing support, and telling us our community needs this service. It鈥檚 been kind of uplifting to get that message from the community,鈥� said Lindsay.
The petition, he said, was put together as quickly as the news they were being hit by a lawsuit.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 expecting the city to do that 鈥� we were gobsmacked,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e knew what was happening in West 91大黄鸭, but we hoped that West 91大黄鸭 was more forward thinking 鈥� it turned out not to be the case and they鈥檙e putting up roadblocks to accessing safe cannabis.鈥�
It鈥檚 a human rights violation, he said, and the business intends to fight it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not our intention to close down,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur business is to provide safe clinical marijuana to those who need it. We鈥檙e moving ahead business as usual.鈥�
Corporate and protective services director Rob Mayne said Tuesday the move to seek a court injunction to shut down the illegal operations was made after letters telling the businesses to stop and bylaw tickets issued, were ignored.
鈥淲e felt a court injunction would be the quickest way to achieve compliance,鈥� said Mayne.
The dispensaries included in the legal action are Ross鈥檚 Gold, Weeds, TLC Herbal Meds, Trichrome Valley RX and Starbuds, said Mayne.
An investigation is continuing into three other dispensaries operating in 91大黄鸭 and they could also be the subject of a court injunction application in the future.
Municipalities in the Okanagan have cracked down on dispensaries in recent months, with West 91大黄鸭 pulling the business licences of two operations in that city and sending letters out to three others that don鈥檛 have business licences鈥攖o cease operations. When that failed, the city started fining the businesses $1,000 a day.
Recreational marijuana is slated to be legalized in Canada by the federal government on July 1, 2018, but so far, the retail model for selling the drug in B.C. has not been announced by the province.
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