Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jul 2016
Source: Abbotsford News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 Abbotsford News
Contact:  http://www.abbynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1155
Author: Kelvin Gawley

OWNER OF ABBOTSFORD POT SHOP FILES CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CHALLENGE

No business licence means store must close, city says

The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary battling the City of
Abbotsford to stay open has filed a constitutional challenge, claiming
the city has no right to ban pot shops.

In court filings submitted this month, Don Briere, who operates
marijuana dispensary Mary Jane Glass and Gifts on South Fraser Way,
claims many of Mary Jane's patients are unable to obtain marijuana
elsewhere due to low incomes, disabilities or both.

Briere, who owns a dozen similar locations in B.C. and Ontario, most
of which are named Weeds Glass and Gifts, shut down a previous shop on
Clearbrook Road after the city brought an injunction against it in
January because it lacked a business licence.

The City of Abbotsford has said it won't issue business licences to
dispensaries because of federal laws prohibiting such operations.

The city has also brought an injunction against the Mary Jane
location, but the South Fraser Way site remained open after the March
injunction because Briere intended to appeal, the petition states.

The petition says the dispensary provides marijuana products for
people with cancer, with glaucoma, recovering from heart attacks and
suffering from chronic pain. It remained open, the filings say,
because "given the tides of change that are transforming the law on
medical marijuana in Canada and particularly in British Columbia, it
would only be a matter of time before operations such as the
dispensary are legal."

Briere's lawyer, Dean Davison, said the City of Abbotsford is bullying
his client.

The City of Abbotsford continues to issue the shop two tickets a day
for operating without a business licence. But Davison said other
municipalities, including Vancouver, stopped issuing similar tickets
once they were being challenged before the courts.

"It's just a way, kind of, to bully our guys into not using their
rights, not going to court," said Davison.

Legislation passed by the federal Conservative government and still on
the books states all medical marijuana must be bought and sold
directly from Health Canada and delivered by mail.

In April, the Supreme Court overturned the law's provisions banning
homegrown marijuana, although it gave the governing Liberals six
months to write a new law.

The federal Liberals have pledged to legalize marijuana.

"What we're saying is the City of Abbotsford does not have the
authority to enforce or determine an issue that is under federal
jurisdiction," he said.

Davison said his client will obey the court if it orders him to shut
down his shop.

The City of Abbotsford has said it will not comment on the case
because it is an ongoing legal matter.

In March, after the city filed the injunction to shut down Mary Jane,
Mayor Henry Braun told The News he was not personally opposed to
medical marijuana but he see it as the municipality's legal duty to
follow the law.

"We have an obligation as a local government to uphold laws, otherwise
you have chaos," said Braun, at the time.
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MAP posted-by: Matt