Windsor waiting to see where government-run pot shops will be located

City staff in Windsor are waiting to hear where provincially-run cannabis stores will be set up before preparing for a Windsor-Essex location.

• Ontario municipalities will soon learn where LCBO-run cannabis stores might be

• Province's pot plan doesn't take 'toking tourists' into consideration, say critics

Government officials have stated they will soon tell municipalities which ones will be hosting provincially-run cannabis stores. Finance Minister Charles Sousa says they're looking to achieve the right geographic distribution across the province.

The government's plan is to set up 150 standalone shops by 2020, with the first 40 to open next summer. 

"At this point, we don't even know which municipalities those 40 will be going into," explained city clerk Valerie Critchley. "We expect that information will probably be the next to come from the province, probably within the next month or so, and once we know that, then we can get the appropriate resources at the table with the province to look at what the appropriate locations might be."

We know there'll be a lot of toking tourists coming over here after the law is implemented and how are we going to deal with that?- Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley

Reducing the number of illegal marijuana shops is one of the government's main considerations in deciding where to set up new stores run by the LCBO, but Critchley said they haven't been a big problem locally.

"There have been I believe one or two that have popped up from time to time over the past couple of years," she said, adding Windsor police deal with illegal shops. "It's not the same as perhaps a Vancouver or Toronto where where they've seen a little bit more of a proliferation of that kind of thing."

Sarnia mayor concerened about 'toking tourists'

The government has sent letters to all municipalities, explaining that officials will meet with those that have been identified as potential sites for new stores, but Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said the province is still not answering his burning questions.

"There are costs to this, and particularly on the policing side, and I can speak as the mayor of a border city," he said. "We know there'll be a lot of toking tourists coming over here after the law is implemented and how are we going to deal with that? And how are we gonna deal with the costs that come with dealing with impaired operation of a vehicle from marijuana?"