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Marijuana dispensaries have been closing across the city after police raids and robberies, but one local entrepreneur is expanding.

Franco Vigile and his partners plan to open a third Magna Terra Health Services outlet. A storefront at 29 Montreal Rd. will be open “in the near future,” Vigile says.

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The other Magna Terra outlets are on Carling Avenue and in Stittsville.

Six of the city’s 17 dispensaries closed after raids by the police drug unit on Nov. 4. Another shop run by the same B.C.-based chain was evicted by the landlord.

Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau has said he hopes the raids will serve as a warning that illegal businesses are not wanted in Ottawa.

Photo by Errol McGihon / Postmedia

But Vigile says his dispensaries provide a valuable service to medical marijuana users. His website says the company hopes to open 16 outlets in Ontario over the next three years.

Medical patients can legally buy marijuana by mail from a producer licensed by Health Canada. But legal growers are only allowed to sell dried weed and oil. Many patients prefer edible products or creams, and also like making their purchases in a store.