Should retail cannabis sales be allowed in the Township, and if so, where?
A year after cannabis sales were legalized across the country, Langley Township is starting public consultation with its citizens on possible commercial sale.
A survey and three open houses are planning in October. The open houses will be held:
• Tuesday, Oct. 8, 3 to 6 p.m. at the W.C. Blair Recreation Centre, 22200 Fraser Hwy., Room 1
• Thursday, Oct. 10, 5 to 8 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre, 7888 200 St., and
• Wednesday, Oct. 16, 5 to 8 p.m. at the Aldergrove Rotary Field House, 26845 27 Ave.
Currently, cannabis retail sales are not allowed in the Township, leaving would-be buyers the option of driving as far as Vancouver, heading over the Fraser River to Maple Ridge, or using a mail order or delivery service.
Local governments don’t have to allow cannabis sales, and store applications require approval from the local civic authority before the provincial Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch will issue a license.
An online survey will be put on the Township’s cannabis consultation page starting on Oct. 8.
After the open houses, surveys, and discussion with stakeholders, the council expects to consider a retail sales plan sometime in late 2019 or early 2020.
The Township could decided to entirely prohibit the retail sale of cannabis.
Many other Lower Mainland communities have also not completed their regulations on cannabis sales, and as a result there are no stores in such communities as Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby, or Abbotsford.