Ontario setting up new agency to sell pot

Ontario announced Friday it intends to create a new Crown corporation and open approximately 150 brickand- mortar stores by 2020 that will be dedicated to selling marijuana, a plan that makes the country’s most populous province the first to flesh out the federal government’s vision of a Canada-wide legalization of recreational cannabis by next summer.

The marijuana stores and an online retail option will ultimately be overseen by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, through a new and as- yet unnamed subsidiary company, the provincial government said. Despite the LCBO connection, only cannabis would be sold in new standalone stores, 80 of which are targeted to open by July 2019.

An e- commerce option to buy cannabis in Ontario is coming by July 2018, the province said, as well as a crackdown on illegal pot dispensaries in concert with police and Ottawa. Legislation will be introduced this fall, the government said, outlining a framework that will also include other details, such as restricting recreational cannabis use to a person’s home.

Furthermore, Ontario will match the legal age of recreational marijuana-buying and possessing to that of its legal drinking age: 19. The federal government had proposed 18, but Ontario says youth 18 and under caught possessing recreational cannabis will have any small amounts confiscated by police without criminal charges.

Customers would be subject to a similar setup as the LCBO, including ID checks, and follow the federal government’s expectations. No edibles would be sold and there would be restrictions on advertising. A provincewide campaign will also be launched to draw the public’s attention to the rules, in addition to new harm reduction strategies.

The location of the stores will take into consideration concerns municipalities might have, such as the proximity of schools, the province said.

Ontario’s Liberal government announced its marijuana- related plans amid an Election Act bribery trial involving Premier Kathleen Wynne’s former deputy chief of staff, a politically fraught situation for the Grits that is connected to a 2015 byelection.

The province expects to recoup the costs of setting up its marijuana distribution system, although put forward no exact figures.

Ontario has also laid out its plans about 10 months before the federal government’s target date of July 1, 2018, for the legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana distribution and sales across Canada. Much of the operational details of legal weed has been left up to the provinces, some of which have voiced concerns things are moving too quickly.