{"id":18677,"date":"2017-10-18T12:49:05","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T16:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=18677"},"modified":"2017-10-25T15:52:57","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T19:52:57","slug":"local-pot-store-could-be-up-in-smoke-before-it-even-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/local-pot-store-could-be-up-in-smoke-before-it-even-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"Local pot store could be up in smoke before it even happens"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ontario will roll out a series of LCBO-style stores next year to sell recreational marijuana, and while locations for these stores have not yet been revealed, Aurora is exploring options to nip a local store in the bud.
\nCouncil last week signed off on a motion from Mayor Geoff Dawe calling on staff to investigate the possibility of an \u201copt-out\u201d provision within the Province\u2019s plans, which could effectively provide communities with the mechanism to block a recreational marijuana store from setting up shop.
\nAs things stand now, the Province plans to open 40 stores by next July, with a further 80 stores the following year, and 150 stores in 2020.
\nIf Aurora is not among the first wave in 2018, opting out could be up to you; Council is leaving the door open to opting out being a referendum question in next year\u2019s municipal election.
\nThe first 40 locations are still hazy at the moment, but opting out is an option worth exploring, said Mayor Dawe in support of his motion.
\n\u201cThis is to simply ask our staff what would the provision be, how that would work, and is there any effect on us?\u201d he said. \u201cI think it is an opportunity for us and the residents to see if they are interested in having a store here. It is an opportunity for us to investigate how it may occur.\u201d
\nCouncillor Michael Thompson also voiced his support of, at the very least, exploring all the possibilities but said it could pose difficulties down the road if the lines are blurred between recreation and medicinal cannabis use.
\n\u201cFrom my understanding, there is a possibility that they may branch out into oils or other aspects of which might be considered medicinal,\u201d said Councillor Thompson. \u201cI think it is important for staff that while we understand the focus is recreational, what happens if the stores offer a wide variety of products and some might be medicinal?\u201d
\nCouncillor Thompson wasn\u2019t alone in tempering his support for the motion with reservations. Councillor Paul Pirri, for instance, questioned the wholesale point of the motion.
\n\u201cIf we\u2019re going to have staff keep this on the radar, I don\u2019t see what the problem is of having them keep this on our radar, but I don\u2019t see what this would accomplish if we did opt out,\u201d he said.
\nHis point resonated with Councillor Thompson, with the latter adding, \u201cthere needs to be a clear understanding of why we have chosen this direction. For now, I am happy to support getting all the information. I am sure we will have lots of questions, but once that report comes, part of the report should be what are the reasons for doing so?\u201d
\nOthers, however, expressed very firm opinions on the future of retail recreational marijuana stores in Aurora, chief among them Councillor Jeff Thom.
\nBuilding on questions posed earlier in the evening by Councillor John Abel on potential revenues the Province and Feds might generate from such enterprise, Councillor Thom said opting out could see a financial hit here at home.
\n\u201cI think [this motion] sends a signal that we\u2019re asking staff to investigate the options of opting out,\u201d he said. \u201cIf stores are open in Newmarket, Stouffville, Richmond Hill\u2026 they will get the jobs and the economic activity from these stores being open and Aurora won\u2019t. Our residents, who are looking to buy the products being sold in these stores will just go to another Town and patronize the stores there.
\n\u201cI would rather the report come back on the legalization and the Provincial regulations around marijuana without indicating we were looking at just the opt-out aspect of it. Regardless [of what you think about recreational cannabis] we\u2019re moving towards legalization, the Province has put forward their regulatory framework, so I think the signal should be that if these places are going to be operational, and the Province is going to go forward with this, I think we should have the store.
\n\u201cI would much rather see Aurora have recreational cannabis as being sold under the Provincial framework than Richmond Hill, King, Vaughan, Newmarket and we opt out. The Town of Aurora has three or four liquor store and a couple of beer stores. I am not sure everyone in Aurora drinks alcohol yet we have no opt-outs for those substances.\u201d<\/p>\n

HAVE YOUR SAY \u2013 Should Aurora opt out of having an LCBO-style recreational marijuana store? Would a store have a positive or negative impact on the local economy? Send your thoughts to letters@auroran.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Opt-out provision could nip local LCBO-style recreational marijuana store in the bud before 2018 roll-out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4Rf","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-20 14:58:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}