Mayor Maja Tait is taking a wait-and-see approach to new marijuana regulations announced by the province this week.

Anyone 19 years old and up will be able to buy recreational marijuana in B.C. once itB次元官网网址檚 legalized next July, the province said, setting the legal minimum age in line with alcohol and tobacco sales.

B次元官网网址淲e know the largest consumers of cannabis are young people in that 19- to 30-year-old age range,B次元官网网址� said Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth. B次元官网网址淚f you set [the age] to high, at say 25, youB次元官网网址檙e not going to be able to get rid of that black market.B次元官网网址�

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Also like alcohol, wholesale distribution of recreational pot will be handled by the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch.

The drug will also be sold by both public and private retailers, although Farnworth said the government hadnB次元官网网址檛 yet decided whether it would place marijuana on the same shelf as booze.

B次元官网网址淓very other province is going through a provincial system,B次元官网网址� he said, B次元官网网址渁nd it allows us a significant control, which the public has said is important.B次元官网网址�

Farnworth did not go further into taxation, zoning, local government input or what exactly the retail model will look, saying those details will come early next year.

The province is B次元官网网址渁cutelyB次元官网网址� aware, he added, that a too-high price wonB次元官网网址檛 be able to knock out the black market.

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Tait said before Sooke council can set municipal regulation, it needs to know the rules set out by Ottawa and Victoria.

B次元官网网址淚f we move forward without knowing what the province is doing, we just keep changing things over and over again,B次元官网网址� she said.

Sooke has three medicinal marijuana facilities, but placed a moratorium on additional pot shops until after senior governments decided on how they plan to regulate the industry.

The federal bill to legalize and regulate marijuana, introduced in early 2017, received final approval in the House of Commons last week.

It now moves to the Senate, where it is likely to face heavy opposition from Conservatives who argue legalization should be delayed because the process is being rushed.

: Province to set age for recreational marijuana use at 19, go with a wholesale distribution model and have private and public retail outlets. More details to come in 2018

B次元官网网址� Kat Slepian (@katslepian)

editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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