City launches citizen engagement on cannabis legalization
Calgarians are invited to participate in an online feedback form from November 20 – December 10 to provide feedback on how they want the legalization of recreational cannabis to be managed in Calgary.
“This feedback form is an important step in making sure all Calgarians have a chance to voice their opinions about how The City should manage cannabis legalization in Calgary,” says Matt Zabloski, lead for The City’s cannabis legalization project. “We want as many citizens as possible to go to engage.calgary.ca/cannabis and fill out the feedback form. While we have to work within the federal legislation and the provincial framework, the information we collect will be very important to the decisions we make around amending bylaws and making sure our regulations reflect areas of local concern.”
The City is committed to a transparent legalization process. Input from this feedback form will be used as The City develops a plan for cannabis legalization and results of the engagement will be shared with Calgarians. The online feedback form is designed to gather input on:
- Business regulations
- Retail sales
- Consumption
- Home growing
The citizen engagement process is an important component of developing The City’s plan, will inform the necessary amendments of existing bylaws and help The City determine if new bylaws are needed.
“Due to the July 2018 deadline for Canada-wide legalization, we are asking about the various possibilities as we seek input from Calgarians. We have to be ready to for whatever decisions the province makes regarding retails sales so we can continue to move toward amending bylaws, training City employees and doing the other work needed to support legalization,” says Zabloski.
Zabloski says The City is aiming to have bylaws amended by April 2018 so Calgarians can understand the amendments before legalization comes into effect.
Calgarians who want to participate in The City’s engagement process can go to engage.Calgary.ca/cannabis. For more information on cannabis legalization in Calgary, visit Calgary.ca/cannabis.
