Puff or pass?
That’s the burning question members of Barrie city council are juggling as the deadline looms for municipalities to be either in or out on allowing cannabis retail stores to operate.
Municipalities have until Jan. 22 to decide, with private stores expected to open April 1 following a licence lottery.
At Monday night’s general committee meeting, council gave initial approval to allow cannabis stores to operate in Barrie, although with some minor tweaks.
A final decision will be made at next week’s council meeting on Jan. 14, at which point the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), which is responsible for regulating cannabis stores, will be notified.
Amendments to the motion at Monday's committee meeting included doubling the distance shops can be from certain facilities -- schools, daycares, Georgian College locations, treatment centres for addiction, recreational facilities, parks, libraries and youth facilities -- from 150 to 300 metres.
However, it was stressed that the AGCO has the final say on location and the details.
Coun. Clare Riepma said "clustering" stores should be avoided in areas where alcohol is sold.
However, with grocery stores now able to sell beer and wine, Coun. Barry Ward said it's "unrealistic" to increase the minimum distance.
"It's a legal product and I don't think that there's any benefit into requiring cannabis outlets to be 300 metres from any place, including grocery stores that are selling alcohol," Ward said. "It seems like over-regulation."
The amendment carried with a 6-4 vote in favour.
On the broader topic of cannabis stores and marijuana being available for sale online, Mayor Jeff Lehman said "I don't see a lot of sense in opting out. The other fact ... is it just keeps dealers in business."
The mayor also noted that if Barrie opted out while its municipal neighbours permitted cannabis stores, people would just travel to those destinations anyway.
"That's really the landscape of retail cannabis tonight," said Lehman, adding it's important "we get this right" because in all likelihood more stores are coming.
Recreational marijuana was legalized in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018, and the province of Ontario’s “tightly regulated private retail model” is expected to launch April 1. Retail employees must also take training for responsible sales, similar to the rules around alcohol.
The AGCO will be in charge of regulation, licensing, renewals and inspections, while city police would enforce provincial and federal laws as it relates to road safety and illegal storefronts.
Marijuana shops can be open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m., any day of the week.
SIDEWALK SMOKER
Coun. Doug Shipley introduced "a party-pooper amendment" to ban marijuana smoking/vaping on city sidewalks. He compared it to not being allowed to walk down the street drinking a beer, and that smoking a joint should be treated the same way.
"I understand that it's going to be tougher to enforce, but I don't think we throw up our hands and say we're not going to do anything about it," Shipley said.
The sidewalk-smoking amendment also passed at committee. The recommendation, if passed by council next week, would mean changes to the city's smoking bylaws to prohibit cannabis smoking and vaping in all public places, including sidewalks.
LICENSED TO SELL
Due to shortages in the federal supply, Ontario's cannabis retail stores are expected to open in phases, beginning with up to 25 on April 1. The first store locations must be in a municipality with a population of more than 50,000.
As of Dec. 17, 2018, people could apply for two types of licences: a retail operator and a retail manager.
The AGCO will have a lottery to determine the first licences. Submissions can be made online until Jan. 9. They’ll be put into a pool for a draw on Jan. 11, with the results expected to be posted on the AGCO website within 24 hours.
The licences are being divided regionally, with five going to the east of the province, seven in the west, two in the north, six in the Greater Toronto Area and five in Toronto itself.
This means potentially one store (or perhaps even zero) could be located Barrie, Lehman said.
"I don't think that's the end of it," the mayor added. "I think there will be lots more stores in the future and that's the reason why should have this kind of discussion and guidance before the first one is established."
There will also be a 15-day notification period of a proposed store site to receive public input. Feedback related to public-interest concerns will be weighed, but the AGCO will make the final determination.
CASH UP FOR GRABS
Allowing weed shops to open in the city brings with it some provincial cash. The province announced $40 million over two years to help municipalities with costs surrounding marijuana legalization, with initial funding to be doled out in two payments.
The first payment will be issued to all municipalities this month, whether or not they opt out of permitting cannabis stores. The payment is on a per-household basis and the City of Barrie has been told its first payment will be $136,869, according to a staff report.
A second payment will be made after the Jan. 22 deadline. Municipalities that opt out receive only $5,000 each as a second payment. But if the city opts in, staff says it receives at least $136,869.
One-third of that funding could go to Barrie police to enforce road safety and illegal storefronts. The other two-thirds would go to the city’s Service Barrie and planning department for increased municipal law enforcement and court services, for example.
At Monday night's general committee meeting, members of council voted unanimously in favour of how the funding would be divvied up.
