Community Issues Committee to discuss local pot legislation
PUBLIC INVITED TO ATTEND MAY 28 MEETING
Lethbridge City Council is inviting the public into the chambers of city hall to ask questions and get more information on the various aspects of cannabis legalization.
The Community Issues Committee meeting will have a panel of independent specialists to provide more information on the federal and provincial framework of legalization and the impact it will have on the community.
Deputy Mayor Jeff Carlson said council is not an expert in cannabis legalization and says it is a good opportunity for them as well as the public to get informed.
“We are hoping that people will come down to the CIC because we will have presentations by the experts,” said Carlson Monday. “City council is not the experts so we are bringing in people who know the federal, provincial frameworks as well as our own staff to discuss the zoning bylaws.”
Carlson says there are many people interested in opening a cannabis retail store, with a lot of questions they are not able to answer, including the proper zoning areas for the business. Other family friendly businesses have also been voicing their concerns for one opening near them.
“The issues we are hearing is from the folks that are concerned that if they run a daycare in a commercial zone, could somebody open up a cannabis store right next door,” said Carlson. “We are saying that we don’t know everything yet, it will roll out eventually but we are still getting information.”
The legalization date for marijuana is still proposed for later this summer, but Carlson said that the date is still not firm because of enforcement bills waiting to be pushed through the Senate.
“One of the challenges right now is that there has been a bill in front of the Senate since November about the enforcement issues and the tools that the police will have to enforce this,” said Carlson. “The federals are pretty firm on the date, but once that passes through we will have more information on how this will impact our local force.”
The meeting is open to everyone who has any questions or concerns about the legalities, regulations and zoning issues of cannabis legalization. The meeting will be held May 28, from 6-9 p.m. and council encourages people who can’t make it to the meeting to submit their questions online for them to be asked and to watch the live stream video at