No green light for city pot licences

NO LOCAL BUSINESSES WILL BE OPEN WHEN POT BECOMES LEGAL OCT. 17

Their signs say “Opening Soon.” But on Oct. 17 there will be no marijuana markets ready for business in Lethbridge.

Southern Albertans who want to mark the occasion — cultivation and recreational use of marijuana becoming legal across Canada — may have to drive to Medicine Hat or Calgary to buy their supply.

A spokesperson for the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission, responsible for issuing the sales licences, says no Lethbridge-area applicants have met the regulatory requirements in time to open Oct. 17. Heather Holmen says just 17 across the province have completed that process.

Some applicants are being held up by local government, she reports.

“There has been some delay with municipalities,” Holmen says, with some unwilling to issue a business licence until Oct. 17. Without that licence, would-be retailers are unable to meet AGLC requirements.

In Lethbridge, officials at city hall confirmed six business licences have already been issued with another dozen in the works.

“Not all of the applicants are local,” explains senior bylaw officer Dave Henley, and some haven’t yet come to Lethbridge to complete the process.

“We were one of the first cities to start issuing the business licences,” he

adds.

Officials in Medicine Hat have been co-operative as well, with three stores ready to open: Green Exchange, Waldo’s 420 and Westside Weed.

Province-wide, government officials expect about 250 stores will be open within the first year of legal retail sales. Albertans living in communities without a store will be able to place their orders online at

albertacannabis.org and pick up their goods at the local post office.

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