When marijuana is legal next year, you won't be able to get it from those so called "dispensaries" that have been popping up around the GTA. Why? You may ask, Kathleen Wynne is looking to restrict the sale of recreational marijuana to LCBO-run stores only.
Approximately 150 LCBO-run stores will be selling, and these stores will be standalone cannabis outlets. The main reason for Wynne's approach is to "ensure that there will only be one legal retail distributor for recreational cannabis in Ontario, and alcohol and cannabis are not sold alongside each other."
The LCBO will oversee all retail sales and online services. Staff have been trained to keep underage drinkers from buying alcohol and has a tightly controlled distribution channel, so why wouldn't that work for marijuana too?
By regulating the distribution and sale of marijuana, the government is hoping to also tackle some issues that extend from the legalization, such as impaired driving and road safety.
Seeing as it is likely people will opt to drive while under the influence, the province will introduce heftier fines and new testing machines that will determine if someone has decided to smoke up and drive.
The second benefit of the government regulating and overseeing the sale of marijuana is that it assists the police and municipalities in the fight to close down illegal weed "dispensaries", which they have been trying to do for some time – some of which are supplied by or operated by organized crime gangs.
The LCBO will only be getting its product from the medical producers licenced by Health Canada in an effort to close scores with them.
Announced today, the prices will be kept competitive with the black market, 40 stores and online sales will be active on July 1, 2018 and 80 by 2019, up to 150 in 2020. For more on the plan that was unveiled today, please see this link to the Toronto Sun article.
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