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It was the 12th police raid on an Ottawa marijuana dispensary since November. There are still about a dozen shops operating in town.

Several staffers at other dispensaries came by Cannabis Culture to offer their support during the raid.

Isaiah Wright, who used to work at a Green Tree dispensary before it was shut down by police, called the raid “ridiculous.”

Wright, 19, said he uses marijuana to control his anxiety. Cannabis Culture was providing people with medicine as well as serving recreational users, he said.

Another man banged on the door of the locked shop in frustration. “Are you f***ing serious?” he yelled. “How am I going to f***ing sleep tonight?”

The man, who would only give his first name, Luke, says he’s a truck driver and relies on marijuana to help his insomnia and back pain.

Ottawa police have repeatedly warned that the city’s marijuana dispensaries are operating illegally.

Vandermeer says cannabis activists will continue their campaign of civil disobedience, which he compares to movements for gay rights and against segregation.

“Are they going to arrest all of us and put us in jail?” he says. “Show me where the bodies are piling up. Where is anyone getting sick or dying from marijuana?”

The Toronto stores will re-open as soon as possible, he said, although he was unclear about the Hamilton location because the co-owner was arrested Thursday.

“We are going to open our doors again. They have raided us many times in the past and this is what we do.”