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Rocky Town Council begins to amend bylaws to incorporate cannabis

Jul 19, 2018 | 9:43 AM

The Town of Rocky Mountain House passed the first reading to amend the current land use bylaw to incorporate rules around cannabis. 

The amendments include definitions related to cannabis sales and production, and add regulations on retail sales, production and cannabis lounges in central, commercial, highway commercial, general industrial and light industrial districts.

The Town’s Cannabis Advisory committee has met twice to discuss cannabis legislation, and decided to stick to the rules set out by the provincial government.

The committee didn’t want to impose stronger regulations on the current provincial guidelines, aiming to allow business to thrive in Rocky Mountain House.

“We want this to happen organically,” says Councilor Merrin Fraser “We don’t want any more restrictions for business owners in Rocky.”

Rules implemented by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission state that a cannabis retail facility must be 100 meters from certain buildings, including public parks, community centres and schools.

The hours a facility can be open are from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. seven days a week, following the same rules as liquor stores.

The Town says it worked closely with other municipalities like Lacombe, Pincher Creek and Sylvan Lake, to keep regulations streamlined. However, the Town has yet to discuss where cannabis can actually be consumed, because right now it follows the same bylaws as cigarettes.

For now, the Town plans to engage the public and take any concerns into consideration when passing the second and third reading.

A public hearing will be held on August 21.

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