With the sale of marijuana becoming legal this summer the District of 100 Mile House council is holding a public hearing on March 27 to consider amending Zoning Amendment Bylaw Number 1328, 2018. The council is looking into the possibility of adding a definition for “retail cannabis sales.”
The definition reads “a business that sells cannabis but excludes the sale of cannabis for exclusively medical purposes where that sale is made in accordance with federal medical cannabis or medical marijuana enactments and regulations.”
Council will also be looking to amend the definition of “retail store” to mean goods can be sold for personal consumption, household use but not including gasoline, vehicles, industrial equipment, liquor primary use or retail cannabis.
“The bylaw we’ve got and we’re doing is basically to get control first, so when the law does come into effect we have control of who comes in and when they come in and we will make that determination down the road and also where we won’t want to have it - where it can go and where it can’t go,” said Mayor Mitch Campsall. “We’re working on bylaws that protect the public and make sure there’s less criminal activity in the community with this. You’re not going to eliminate criminal activity, it will always be there but we are trying to minimize it.”
There are no ideas on where the retail cannabis sales businesses will be allowed to set up shop but according to Campsall, the district is working on it.
“We’re trying to figure out where the best place is, make sure it’s somewhere in the public viewing so it’s not somewhere off the beaten path so it’s protected and at least that way the RCMP can monitor a lot better,” he said.
The district also does not give out licences to businesses for the sale of cannabis for recreational or medical purposes. Instead, this is handled by the province. There are also two different licences.
The public hearing will be at the municipal office council chambers located at 385 Birch Ave. at 6 p.m.