Calgarys elected officials will gather on Monday for an education session on marijuana, as the legalization of weed looms in Canada.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi said council will hear from experts including officials from American municipalities that have already lifted pot prohibition.
We actually have convened a panel. Weve brought in some experts from other places to really talk to use about what the citys response and reaction is going to have to be from a zoning perspective, from a bylaw perspective and so on, on marijuana, Nenshi said.
Im really looking forward to it. It will be a good opportunity for us to really get our heads around a pretty significant change that were expecting from the federal legislation.
The Trudeau government plans to introduce its legislation to legalize marijuana this spring, after a final report and recommendations from the governments Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation was released in December.
The task force spent months gathering input from provincial and municipal governments, indigenous people and health and addiction experts and the groups recommendations included requiring plain packaging for cannabis products and setting a national minimum age of purchase at 18, with room for individual provinces to harmonize the minimum age with that of buying alcohol and tobacco.
Nenshi said other cities that have already legalized pot have excelled at keeping data and Mondays educational session will be an opportunity for Calgarys leaders to learn from others.
Both the city of Denver and the government of Colorado focused on becoming data warehouses when it happened there so that theyd have that information to share and theyve been extraordinarily generous with sharing that information to date, he said.
The mayor believes the conversations that will take place at Mondays education session for council could be useful for all municipalities across Canada.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: Council To Participate In Marijuana Education Session Monday
Author: Annalise Klingbeil
Contact: 403-235-7100
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: Calgary Herald
