HEMPORIUM SHUT DOWN

Almost as soon as it opened, the Hemporium closed.

On Friday, the Hemporium, a store specializing in marijuana-related
products - bongs and hookah pipes, as well as hemp clothing, rolling
papers and incense - opened for business on 224th Street in downtown
Maple Ridge.

By Monday, the District of Maple Ridge's bylaws department closed the
store for operating without a business license. Its windows are now
blocked out with black garbage bags.

Owner Dave Singh, who applied for a business license last week, said
he was told by a building inspector that he was allowed to open the
shop despite the pending application.

The district is seeking a legal opinion on how to proceed.

There is strong opposition to the store on Maple Ridge council, as
well as among downtown merchants, many of whom feel the store
encourages illegal drug use.

Mayor Gordy Robson said the Hemporium is a step backwards in the
effort to clean up the downtown area.

He added that he will do everything in his power to close down the
store permanently.

"If anybody needs those products, they can get them over the
internet. We don't need it displayed on the front streets of our
downtown," he said.

"Not on my watch. Not in my town."

The Hemporium's manager, Carmella Giurleo, said no one under the age
of 18 is allowed in the store.

However, Maple Ridge Coun. Ernie Daykin said he visited the Hemporium
over the weekend and witnessed a number of young people coming out of
the store.

"I'm not great with ages, but they couldn't have been more than 13-,
14-years-old," he said. "This business is promoting an illicit,
illegal activity, and we don't need that."

Giurleo said business had been good at the store since it had opened,
and the customers have ranged in age from 20 to 60 years old.

"Everyone who comes in says Maple Ridge has needed a shop like this
for a long time," she said.

Singh said he has started a petition with close to 200 signatures in
support of the store.

However, Eric Shenker, owner of the Dreamscapes Gift Gallery next
door to the Hemporium, has started his own petition in opposition to the store.

Shenker said he was told the store would be selling religious bronze
statues and incense.

Since Shenker's store also sells incense, he and Singh came to an
agreement that he wouldn't sell any of the same products.

However, Shenker said he was shocked when the store opened last
Friday, selling drug paraphernalia.

"He wasn't very honest with me," Shenker said of Singh. "This isn't
very neighbourly."

But Singh claims he has always been up front about what he is
selling, and that he is being unfairly singled out and being made an
example of.

The Hemporium was not the only store in the downtown area selling
drug paraphernalia, he notes. A number of corner stores and gas
stations also sell glass pipes and devices for weighing and cutting marijuana.

"There are hundreds of these stores across B.C. selling these things," he said.

All of his products are legal, and he doesn't sell marijuana, or
marijuana seeds.

"That's illegal, we don't do that."

But Robson is afraid Singh's business could attract drug users to the
area and that could jeopardize future development.

"There will be $100 to $200 million worth development in the next
five to 10 years," he said. "We've worked too hard to clean up the downtown."

However, Robson might be open to having the business relocated to
another area, outside of the downtown core, such as 207th Avenue,
which is already home to a strip club and an X-rated video store.

"I would have less resistance if it was located somewhere else," he said.

Singh said he would like to stay, and is willing to work with the
district to make that happen.

"If they want me to block the window, I can do that," he said. "I
could get a lawyer too, and we could go to court, but I don't want to do that."