Medical marijuana rules on Calgary city council agenda

Two Calgary city councillors are calling for land use rules for medical marijuana businesses before the new shops begin opening in the city.

Diane Colley-Urquhart and Gian-Carlo Carra want the city to address issues such as "clustering" or "proliferation" of the businesses, and also to ensure there is separation from schools — as there is for liquor stores.

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"You can imagine if you have a whole bunch of these in Inglewood, for example, and then people start lining up, going there, wanting to get access, wanting to see if they would qualify," said Colley-Urquhart. 

"This can fundamentally change the nature of a neighbourhood with this amount of activity going on." 

In Vancouver over the past few months, dozens of businesses related to the medical marijuana industry have opened. 

Selling marijuana from a storefront is illegal in Canada. But Vancouver city council has voted to hold public hearings into the best way to regulate the new stores.

There are alternatives to the storefronts, says Colley-Urquhart.

"We don't need stores like this. Alberta Health Service, the Alberta Medical Association and Alberta Health (AHS) — all of these. We have doctors. If people really want medical marijuana and they want to know more about it, go to your family doctor," she said.

If council approves the motion, a report would be prepared by the end of this year for council to consider.