City gets estimate on legalization expense

Regina hopes to get share of revenue to cover its expenses

Regina city councillors now know their options on cannabis, after administration handed them a report on how the city can prepare for legalization — and how much it’s likely to cost police.

The Regina Police Service is pegging the added expense of policing a legal weed system at somewhere between $1.2 million and $1.8 million. That’s only a rough guess, based on forecasts from other police forces in Canada.

Still, the report warned that the police service “will not have the resources to deal with all the implications of the legalization of cannabis.”

Administration repeated the call, frequently raised by Mayor Michael Fougere, that Regina needs one-third of marijuana taxes to pay for enforcement. The report recommends that Fougere write a formal letter to Premier Scott Moe to emphasize that message.

Released on Friday, the report also recommends that council approve the six licences the provincial government promised Regina. It said councillors may consider a range of amendments to city bylaws — notably on zoning and outdoor smoking — to regulate the sale and consumption of marijuana. It said that implementing a “cannabis framework” would require changes in several city departments.

According to administration, Regina already has most of the tools it needs. On zoning, the report said the city could copy its existing policy for liquor stores, with a few tweaks as needed.

That would open up three separate types of commercial zones for pot shops — mostly downtown, in shopping centres and along some major arteries — as well as the Tuxedo Park industrial area. Under that model, cannabis retail stores would also be discretionary uses in three other commercial zones, where they would require the approval of city council.

Administration also said council could consider requirements to separate the shops from schools, day care centres, recreational facilities, public parks, religious institutions — and from each other — by a certain distance. They gave the example of adult entertainment establishments, which must be 600 feet away from various other land uses.

Regina’s smoking bylaw, passed last year, is broad enough to regulate marijuana without much adjustment, administration advised the councillors. The report noted that the province already regulates indoor smoking, and that it will likely do so for marijuana as well. If not, the city could easily do the job.

The report provided some detail on where the expected police outlays might come from, with most centred on the cost of policing drug-impaired driving. Roadside screening devices are expected to cost $50,000 annually. Officers will need to undergo training to become drug recognition experts, it added.

Moreover, the police service expects that it will need to keep investigating and shutting down illegal dispensaries as they pop up — even following legalization — a problem Police Chief Evan Bray has fought through press conferences and warnings over the past few months.

Council will consider the report at its executive committee meeting on Feb. 14.