Government announces cannabis store hours and distance from schools

Written By JOSHUA SANTOS

Ontario's Progressive Conservatives Government has announced new regulations for licensing and operating private cannabis stores in the province.

This comes as the government wants to hear from municipalities on whether or not they want a cannabis store in their community, now that recreational marijuana is legal.

Town of Caledon administration will present a report to the newly elected Town Council once they are in their newfound roles.

The provincial government said a private recreational cannabis store system will begin April, 1 2019 under the oversight of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

New regulations will establish a minimum distance of 150 metres, approximately 500 feet, between cannabis retail stores and schools, including private and federally-funded First Nation schools off-reserve, according to a news release.

“The purpose of these regulations is to keep kids safe and to ensure all people operating in this tightly-regulated retail system behave with integrity, honesty, and in the public interest,” said Attorney General Caroline Mulroney, in a news release. “The application process for private cannabis retail store licences will begin on Dec. 17 and we will be ready with laws and regulations to protect Ontario's youth and to combat the criminal market in response to the federal government's legalization of cannabis.”

The previous Liberal Government would have sold cannabis in government stores that were a minimum 450 metres from schools, according to media reports.

“As always, we remain committed to maintaining safe school and work environments that are free of smoke, said Kayla Tishcoff, senior communications officer of Peel District School Board in an email interview. “This was the case when the distance was 450 metres and will remain a priority if the distance changes.”

Peel District School Board governs Allan Drive Middle School, Alloa Public School, Alton Public School, Belfountain Public School, Caledon Central Public School, Caledon East Public School and Ellwood Memorial Public School in Caledon.

The government has also announced that retailers will not be permitted to allow anyone under the age of 19 to enter their stores. They state this approach and other regulations were developed to address the risk of youth exposure to the cannabis retail market.

If a student is caught with cannabis while on school premises, PDSB said they would follow provincial and federal law and work through their police-school board protocol to determine if police involvement is necessary.

“If police are involved, they would conduct an investigation,” said Tishcoff. “Once their investigation is complete, the school would also investigate. Discipline would be a school and site-based decision in accordance with our Safe School Policy #48 and code of conduct. A progressive discipline approach would be used, as per Policy #48. In all cases, the cannabis would be confiscated, similar to if a student was found with alcohol or any other illegal substance on school premise.”

Other government regulations state that specific instances in which applicants will be denied a license, include cannabis related offences. Notably, illegal cannabis retailers who were operating after Oct. 17 are not eligible for Ontario Cannabis sales licenses.

A license will be prohibited to any individual or organization that has been associated with organized crime, those applying for a license are required to demonstrated that they have paid their taxes to show that they are in good standing with the government and all private recreational cannabis retail storefronts must be standalone stores only.

Individuals with storefront authorization, cannabis retail managers, and all retail employees will be required to complete the approved training to ensure that any individual who works in the cannabis retail market is trained in the responsible sale of cannabis.

The government reiterates they have a zero-tolerance approach with the private retail model and has committed to providing $40 million over two years to help municipalities with the implementation costs of recreational cannabis legalization.

Private retail recreational cannabis stores will be permitted to open between 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. on any day. These operating hours are consistent with on-site retail stores for alcohol.

The government said they have imposed a market concentration limit of 75 stores per operation to prevent a high degree of market consolidation, promote opportunities for small business and promote investment in the cannabis retail sector.