The B.C Supreme Court has issued an order requiring a Penticton dispensary owner to pay the largest fine ever levied against a pot shop in British Columbia.
A court order posted on the city’s website on Tuesday states that Jukka Laurio, owner and operator of the Herbal Green dispensary, must pay the City of Penticton a settlement of $15,000—about half the total he was originally fined by the city—before November 15, 2018 or risk a doubling of the fine.
Laurio must also agree not to sell, use, store or possess cannabis at his Penticton storefronts, and comply with the city’s business license bylaws.
Herbal Green is the third dispensary in Penticton to be shutdown by way of a court order. In December 2016, council had voted to approve temporary permits for two dispensaries in Penticton. When Laurio didn’t receive a temporary permit, he continued to operate his dispensary, eventually racking up $30,500 in fines.
‘Council instructed bylaw services to treat all dispensaries equally under the law and we have been able to do so with three court orders on three dispensaries,’ said bylaw supervisor Tina Siebert in a news release.
‘Herbal Green was more punitive because there were two outstanding legal actions filed in the Penticton and Kelowna registries.’
Justice Wendy baker also ordered Laurio and his employees not operate a business, website, social media account, or store of any kind that might involve cannabis.
