The City of 琉璃神社 is going to court to shut down five of the eight marijuana dispensaries operating in the city.

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 Tuesday.

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 琉璃神社 and they could also be the subject of a court injunction application in the future, he added.

Municipalities in the Okanagan have cracked down on dispensaries in recent months, with West 琉璃神社 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.

Black Crow Herbals in West 琉璃神社 was one of the dispensaries to lose its business licence and a director of the company in Vernon said the West 琉璃神社 operation would not be closed down.

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.

While West 琉璃神社 would like to see it handled by the province through provincial stores, 琉璃神社 wants to see a private dispensaries handle retail sales but only if municipalities have control over where the stores operate and a number of other operational issues.

Both 琉璃神社 and West 琉璃神社 say they felt they had to act to shut down the existing dispensaries because as the current law stands, they are operating illegally.

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