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Vol. 13, No. 52, Wednesday October 24, 2018 www.LamontLeader.com
No Reefer Madness
Cannabis legislation creates no noticeable impact on Lamont County By John Mather & Maureen Sullivan Don’t expect any Reefer Madness in Lamont County after retail sales of cannabis became legal last week. Most community leaders are taking the legalization in stride. To date there have been no applications for retail marijuana shops in the County, but applications have been received for two greenhouse operations both in the Chipman area. “There weren’t a lot of concerns about the first one west of Chipman and it’s under construction,” said Reeve Wayne Woldanski. “But the second one to the east has the residents very upset and understandably so. They have concerns about traffic, security and smell. “There’s a lot of unknowns regarding the operations and the residents in that area feel it should be located in an industrial area.” Woldanski isn’t aware of any retail operations in the County and he suggests it is a total unknown at this time. “I think it will be like the liquor stores and any retail would be located in the urban area,” he said. He added the County is in the process of reviewing its land use bylaw and he’s sure residents will have a lot of input when the marijuana operations come up for discussion. “It’s certainly not something we contemplated when the by-law was last reviewed,” added Woldanski. Some in Lamont County take a lighthearted look at the legalization. “Well it will finally make half the people in Chipman legal," laughed Mayor Jim Palmer. "I don't have a problem with it, I don't use it but if it makes
Posters and comics depicting marijuana useage in the mid-1950s. people happy then fine." "It's like the legalization of alcohol in the twenties." In the Town of Lamont, Mayor Bill Skinner doesn’t expect any major changes. “I don't think a lot is going to happen. We’re not going to get a rush of people going out and trying it for the first time." 'It's unlikely we will get a store here,” he added. “To survive a store is going to have to draw from a bigger population like the Fort." Fort Saskatchewan to the west of Lamont County has granted two retail stores licences and both were set to open Oct. 17. Mundare Mayor Mike Saric doesn’t expect any impact on the town. “Well after much discussion council doesn’t expect it’s going to have much of an impact,” he said. “We haven’t had any applications for any retail stores which we didn’t really expect because we’re a smaller community.”
He added the town didn’t pass any by-laws dealing with the legalization either. “We’re taking a wait and see attitude,” he added. “Those that use marijuana in town will probably continue to use marijuana and those that don’t probably won’t be racing out to start. We don’t think it will have much impact.” He did say they’d watch how it affects things. For example if someone complains about smell from people smoking in their backyard then they may have to look at an odour by-law. “But realistically it’s going to be almost impossible to enforce.” Woldanski wondered if the legalization might have any impact on rural crime. “Certainly those residents near the greenhouse operations are concerned about that,” he said. “And we won’t have any increased police presence.” He agreed with an Alberta Urban Municipal Association letter released
Oct. 15 slamming the province and Federal government for not funding any of the costs associated with the legalization of cannabis on communities under 5,000 population. The AUMA had been advocating all municipalities receive a share of the province’s excise tax revenues as part of a user pay model to offset the costs associated with legalization. “We don’t have an RCMP Detachment in the County,” said Woldanski. “So we haven’t got a great response time from the RCMP if there is an issue.” “The impact on our municipality is unknown right now.” In Bruderheim, Mayor Karl Hauch personally hopes the community will be respectful of the process and can consume cannabis in their homes. “I expect most people will be respectful,” he said. “One of my worries is there may be folks that smoke it in public and it will offend others. I’ve heard from some residents that they don’t want to go to the park and smell it.” He says if complaints come forward council may consider some sort of bylaw to control where it can be smoked. He further adds enforcement is a concern. Hauch stated from the results of a survey the town did over the summer, he found most people aren’t too concerned about usage. “It seems from my research many young people really don’t care about the legalization one way or another. It seems to be more popular in the older generation who have used it illegally for years,” he said.