Steve Price says Sidney wants to control where recreational cannabis products are sold B次元官网网址� and who is selling it B次元官网网址� so the Town is prohibiting it, for now.

Mayor Price and the municipal council voted this week to enact what they term a temporary prohibition on the retail sale, production and distribution of recreational cannabis. Councillors made it clear they were doing so, in order to get out in front of the expected legalization of recreational cannabis some time this summer.

B次元官网网址淭here will be a provincial store in Sidney at some point, maybe some private ones,B次元官网网址� Price said. B次元官网网址淏ut theyB次元官网网址檒l all have to be (approved) by council.B次元官网网址�

As part of their vote on May 14, council also ordered municipal staff to prepare amendments to local zoning bylaws. This was the first option suggested by staff. Option two would have seen staff prepare the same regulatory amendments to prepare for legal pot B次元官网网址� but without the prohibition. A third ootion was to do nothing.

Councillor Erin Bremner-Mitchell said she supports the prohibition, noting that doing nothing could see existing local retailers start to offer cannabis products for sale before the Town has any rules in place. Those situations, she said, would be deemed B次元官网网址渓egal, non-conformingB次元官网网址� and the Town would not be able to stop them from continuing to do so B次元官网网址� or regulate them under any new rules after the fact. By dealing with this now, she said, it also gives the municipality time to consult with the community.

B次元官网网址淭he legislation is going to happen,B次元官网网址� added Coun. Peter Wainwright on the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 plan to legalize recreational cannabis. B次元官网网址淲e need to have an orderly transition.B次元官网网址�

Wainwright called CouncilB次元官网网址檚 move a B次元官网网址渇reezeB次元官网网址� and that they arenB次元官网网址檛 intending it to be a long-term prohibition.

Coun. Mervyn Lougher-Goodey said he thinks that the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 proposed allowance of up to four personal pot plants in homes is B次元官网网址渢errifyingB次元官网网址�.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not just that thereB次元官网网址檚 people using it, but there are problems with it being grown in peopleB次元官网网址檚 houses,B次元官网网址� he said.

He said, however, that the change is coming and Sidney has to prepare.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 supposed to happen July 1, but donB次元官网网址檛 hold your breath.B次元官网网址�

In the staff report on the matter, this approach B次元官网网址渨ill give the Town more time to consider B次元官网网址� the regulation of recreational cannabis in a comprehensive an unhurried manner, including a public consultation component.B次元官网网址�

Sidney has seen this coming in other forms. In April 2016, Sidney North Saanich RCMP raided the Dispensary by the Sea, which had been selling medicinal marijuana. It was then and is still now, illegal for anyone to operate storefront pot shops. Its owners had applied to the Town for a business license, which was refused. At the time, the Town said it would be investigating what other municipalities are doing about the proliferation of medical marijuana storefronts. As a result, Sidney currently restricts medicinal marijuana production to industrial properties B次元官网网址� although there are no such facilities in the municipality.

On recreational cannabis sales, Sidney council passed in Oct., 2017 a resolution that staff review and amend Town regulations and policies on legalization.

According to Town staff, itB次元官网网址檚 a mixed bag of rules and processes in the region.

Central Saanich is considering permitting cannabis retail, regulated through the use of three-year-term temporary use permits.

Colwood - prohibit in anywhere other than a licensed pharmacy or premises licensed under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations.

Langford - prohibit sales and investigate options like regulations and pilot programs.

North Saanich - (under consideration) continued regulation of all cannabis on ALR land and fees charged for any business license associated with retail sales. Recreational cannabis cultivation, production and retail sale son non-ALR land to be prohibited.

Nanaimo - Planning for marijuana legalization through its Cannabis Task Force.

Other places are in various stages of bylaw changes with prohibitions to give them breathing space.