LCBO will run 150 standalone marijuana stores when weed is legalized
Premier Kathleen Wynne is cornering the recreational marijuana market by restricting sales to 150 LCBO-run stores.
The standalone cannabis outlets – physically separate from existing provincial-owned liquor stores – and a government-controlled website will be the only place weed can lawfully be sold after Ottawa legalizes it on July 1.
In a move that will close scores of illegal weed “dispensaries” that now dot Ontario cities, the LCBO will get its product from the medical marijuana producers licenced by Health Canada.
Only those 19 and older will be allowed to purchase or possess marijuana and pot consumption will be limited to private homes.
Smoking weed will continue to be illegal in any public space – including parks, workplaces and motorized vehicles.
Prices will kept competitive to curb the black market, but the government does expect a boost in tax revenues.
Finance Minister Charles Sousa, Health Minister Eric Hoskins, and Attorney General Yasir Naqvi unveiled the plan Friday at Queen’s Park after months of work from Ontario’s cannabis secretariat.
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario, which runs the province’s 651 liquor stores – using workers who are members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union – will oversee all retail sales and run the online service.
But the branding of the government’s new pot chain will not necessarily include the LCBO’s name.
“When it comes to retail distribution, the LCBO has the expertise, the experience, and the insight to ensure careful control of cannabis, helping us to discourage illicit market activity and see that illegal dispensaries are shut down,” said Sousa.
Naqvi said the government has “heard people across Ontario are anxious about the federal legalization of cannabis.”
https://www.thestar.com/news/queens...-marijuana-stores-when-weed-is-legalized.html
