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After months of study, Tecumseh council voted Tuesday to allow the opening of retail cannabis stores in town.
Council months ago resisted opting in to allow outlets to open until seeing the impact on other communities.
“We wanted to take a slow-and-go approach,” said Mayor Gary McNamara. “There were questions that nobody could answer. Were there going to be more issues for policing, social services or public health? There were a lot of mitigating factors.”
But after having the opportunity to learn there has been minimal impact on other municipalities where cannabis shops have opened, town council voted 6 to 1 in favour to allow for those interested to go through the rigorous license application process and open up in Tecumseh.
“Part of our discussion is trying to reduce the amount of illegal product in the marketplace and not knowing the quality of the product and who it funds,” McNamara said.
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“When you have licensing and government-sponsored outlets, there are age requirements and the quality of the product is through government facilities. You have quality control and can reduce illegal product (in town).”
Anyone opening a cannabis shop in town will have to go through an application process through the province’s Alcohol and Gaming Commission, along with going through town administration which includes a 15-day public feedback period.
There are also strict provincial regulations in place in terms of location that includes proximity limits to schools.
“At the end of the day, you are talking about a legal commodity,” McNamara said. “You have alcohol and tobacco issues, but they are legal products. At some point, you just want as much control possible in terms of distribution and consumption of the product itself.”
There are presently no applications for cannabis retail shops in front of the town, “but there is no doubt there will be folks coming in now that we have opted in,” the mayor said.
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