Pubdate: Wed, 21 Jun 2017
Source: Penticton Western (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Penticton Western
Contact:  http://www.pentictonwesternnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1310
Author: Dustin Godfrey

CITY OF PENTICTON, DISPENSARY TAKING BATTLE TO COURT

Herbal Green Apothecary was one of five proposed dispensaries nixed by
Penticton council in December

The City of Penticton and Jukka Laurio, the owner of an unsanctioned
dispensary, are set to square off in court next month, which could put
to rest the city's efforts to control the flow of grey-area medical
marijuana in Penticton.

The city filed its petition on April 24, according to court documents,
but according to Laurio the two parties have a court date set for July.

Related: Penticton heading to court to close marijuana dispensary

"They don't like me. We don't get along. Plain and simple. Doesn't
matter what I do, it's wrong," Laurio said, noting that the city had
also contacted his landlord.

Asked what his landlord thought of the issue, Laurio insisted the
landlord didn't have much input.

"I've already been here for four years. I've got a lease in place.
Nothing's changed," Laurio said, adding that any eviction would take
months.

In its court filings, the city noted that, by operating without a
business licence, Laurio was in conflict with the Business Licence
Bylaw, which holds that a business operating in the city "must first
hold a valid and subsisting business licence issued by the city."

The city argues that Laurio is operating, as well as advertising and
promoting the business without a business licence.

The city also points to a trio of B.C. Supreme Court decisions,
including one earlier this year, in which the courts decided that the
City of Abbotsford had the right to impose its own regulations and
fines on marijuana dispensaries - seen by cities as a blanket ruling
for the rights of cities in general.

In that case, Abbotsford City Hall refused to give permits to a pair
of dispensaries, which the Supreme Court decided was within the city's
rights. The court also similarly ruled on the side of the City of
Abbotsford and Delta in separate 2016 cases.

Laurio's response merely pointed to his own filing of a judicial
review petition on Saturday in the Kelowna court registry.

"If the respondent is successful in his judicial review petition, then
the respondent will be issued a business licence and temporary use
permit to operate a marijuana dispensary," Laurio's response reads.

In a judicial review, a Supreme Court judge reviews a previous
decision by an administrative tribunal or an administrative decision
maker. It's not clear, at this point, exactly what Laurio intends to
dispute in that case.

While illegal, dispensaries are often considered a grey area due to
hesitation by many police forces to enforce the rules, as the federal
government prepares to legalize cannabis for recreational uses by
Canada Day 2018.

Laurio's business licence was first revoked last summer, when he
operated the dispensary out of the Rush in and Finish Cafe. After
appearing before council in mid-July, he was again denied his business
licence, but councillors also directed staff to lay the grounds for
the city to work with dispensaries, still operating in a legal grey
area in Canada.

Council ultimately approved two temporary use permits for a pair of
businesses - the Okanagan Cannabinoid Therapy across the street from
Laurio's businesses and Green Essence - while denying five others,
including Laurio, who by then operated the business out of a separate
storefront in the same building as the Rush in and Finish Cafe, under
the name Herbal Green Apothecary.

At the time, Laurio said he had been blindsided by council's decision,
as he'd been led to believe that if he followed their guidelines, he
would be given the permit - though council's decision rested on the
fact that he had remained open during the deliberations, which the
city forbade.

Since the decision, Herbal Green has remained open, save for a short
time in April, after the RCMP put out letters to dispensaries, which
appeared to threaten police action, which has yet to
materialize.

"They're not really too interested in it. It's gone into the realm of
politics more than anything else. I'm sure if there was some kind of
public safety concern, they would involve themselves," Laurio said.

"As long as there's no public safety concern, I think they're just
sort of watching."

The city is looking to have Laurio's business shut down once and for
all, as well as for legal costs, which Laurio's response did dispute.

"The respondent has a legitimate right to consider that he is entitled
to a business licence and temporary use permit to operate a medical
marijuana dispensary in Penticton," Laurio's response reads.

"As such, this is not a proceeding where special costs are appropriate
in the event the respondent is unsuccessful."
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MAP posted-by: Matt