No Halton Cities Will Be Receiving Legal Pot Stores

Published November 3, 2017 at 6:37 pm

Recently, the province announced that it was moving forward on its plans for regulating and dispensing cannabis once the federal government follows through on its agenda to legalize the substance n

Recently, the province announced that it was moving forward on its plans for regulating and dispensing cannabis once the federal government follows through on its agenda to legalize the substance next year.

Most recently, it announced it was looking into where the stores would be located.

Now, however, it appears that no Halton cities (Oakville, Burlington, Milton or Halton Hills) have been identified as any of 14 municipalities intended for stand-alone cannabis stores.

It looks like Halton residents who wish to visit a legal LCBO-run pot store will have to visit nearby Mississauga or Hamilton to get their weed. 

However, the LCBO says more cities will be selected for stores in the future, so Halton cities could still receive stores in the future. 

All municipalities – Halton cities included – were recently sent letters from the province that detail the next steps for establishing retail stores in each city to prepare for a July 2018 legalization.

“The process will be led by the [Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO)], working closely with the government and local communities,” said the province in a statement.

The LCBO will indeed oversee the legal retail of cannabis in Ontario through new stand-alone cannabis stores and an online order service. The Cannabis Control Board of Ontario (CCBO) will be run by and in the same way as the LCBO.

In preparation for the federal government’s plan to legalize cannabis by July 2018, the Ministry of Finance and LCBO have identified an initial 14 Ontario municipalities intended for the new stores by July 2018.

Those municipalities include:

  • Barrie
  • Brampton
  • Hamilton
  • Kingston
  • Kitchener
  • London
  • Mississauga
  • Ottawa
  • Sault Ste. Marie
  • Sudbury
  • Thunder Bay
  • Toronto
  • Vaughan
  • Windsor

Over the coming weeks, staff from the Ministry of Finance and the LCBO will meet with staff at the selected cities to discuss the guidelines and process for siting stores and local interests.

“The guidelines will achieve our objectives of protecting youth by ensuring stores are not in close proximity to schools, while providing access within communities and addressing the illegal market,” the LCBO said in a statement. 

The LCBO says that when a specific store site is identified, a public notice will be posted online and at the physical site.

The public will have the opportunity to submit questions and comments on the intended site before it is confirmed.

Additional municipalities intended for stores by July 2018 will also be identified and consumers in all regions of Ontario will have access to cannabis through an online channel.

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