Cannabis bylaws high on city’s priority list
The City of Grande Prairie is starting to look at how marijuana will fit into the community once it becomes legalized this summer.
City Administration is working on amendments to four bylaws in relation to cannabis with one dealing with where a business can pop up shop and where they couldn’t. A proposed amendment to the Land Use Bylaw would have a cannabis retail store at least 150 metres away from an elementary school, 300 metres from a high school, 100 metres from a provincial health care facility, 100 metres from addiction treatment facilities, and 10 metres away from liquor stores.
Although children will not be allowed inside these types of stores, even with parental supervision, Councillor Eunice Friesen was concerned about the public’s reaction to the distance from the schools with younger kids attending.
“There is a rationale behind (having those distances) and it does make sense, but it isn’t immediately apparent. My concern is there will be a knee-jerk reaction from the public saying ‘wait a minute, you are actually allowing this closer to the little kids than you are to the big kids?’ That might be a concern for some people,” said Friesen.