Still no local stores open to sell pot
STILL LOTS OF EXCITEMENT FOR CANNABIS LEGALIZATION
The first day of cannabis legalization in Lethbridge was met with excitement, but also with a realization of some of the challenges yet to come. There were no actual legal cannabis retailers open for business in the city on Wednesday, but Rick Weber, owner of B.O.B. Headquarters, said while this fact was disappointing for some of his customers, it did not diminish their overall enthusiasm for this historic day.
“We’re really excited about it, and we are anticipating slow steps forward,” he said. “Everyone kind of has to bear with the newness of this, and everything is going to keep on changing throughout the coming months.”
Weber has applied to open his own cannabis retail store next to his current business. He is ready to open as soon as his approval to sell from the AGLC comes in, but it might not be the same for all retail cannabis shop owners in the city.
“What could have happened (in Lethbridge) is there are people who have been approved by the AGLC that could have opened, but just aren’t ready to open,” said Weber. “We are ready to open, and I think we will be one of the first ones open in Lethbridge. But we still have to wait for their final approval because we cannot open, or even order, until we get that approval.”
Weber anticipates, with luck, his own retail space will be open by mid-November.
“That’s going to be fun,” stated Weber, “because then we can actually get into the product that we really do love. We do love all of our accessories and stuff, but that is not really what it was about (when we opened).”
Lethbridge 4/20 Rally organizer Fiona Doherty, who has been advocating for legalization for over 20 years, was ecstatic about the first day of full legalization.
“For me personally, it was an exciting journey to get to legalization,” she said. “For some people, they lost a lot. They gave up their freedom and everything they owned as part of this fight.
“They lost their health. All because they advocated for a plant they weren’t allowed to use.”
“I always think of Marc and Jodie Emery,” she explained as an example. “Marc Emery gave up his freedom and was extradited to the United States; all over this plant. I think of Grant Krieger, who was sick with multiple sclerosis and advocated for this plant, and ended up in prison in Calgary getting sicker and sicker. I think today of people who have really suffered and struggled along the way.”
Doherty celebrated this legalization milestone in Canada by going online at midnight and purchasing cannabis from the AGLC website AlbertaCannabis.org.
“I think this has been a long time coming,” she said, “and I think taking a slow and measured approach was the right way to go about it. We’re the first of the G7 nations to fully legalize cannabis, and it is up to us to set the bar and get it right. It’s an exciting and historic day.”
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