Weyburn, 9 other communities still waiting for cannabis stores

It has been nearly 10 months since marijuana was officially made legal in Canada, but there are still nearly a dozen communities in Saskatchewan that could have cannabis shops, but don’t.

It’s a situation that’s frustrating Weyburn’s mayor, Marcel Roy.

“Where is this even acceptable that, within a year it’s all legalized and there are people that are wanting and needing this, and it’s all legal, yet it seems to be really stonewalled,” said Roy.

He called it unacceptable and said he feels the permitting process is being slow-walked.

The province allowed Weyburn to have two cannabis retailers. The proponent for one of those permits is still going through the process, according to the SLGA, while the other didn’t meet the requirements to obtain a permit, so the runner-up for that permit is now going through the process.

Roy said he has texted the area’s MLA, Dustin Duncan, about the problem. And Duncan said he’s “on it.”

The City of Weyburn wants people to shop locally, but Roy said they can’t have that when there aren’t any legal stores in the community. He said people who want to buy cannabis have to leave the city.

“And a lot of people may not be able to drive to Estevan, so then they’re going to go to local dealers and things like that, and it becomes a whole criminal offence, and a whole spiralling down,” said Roy.

“The government is talking about protecting the citizens and making sure that we’re not going to have any, first off, illegal products out there, we also want to make sure we’ve got safe product.”

Roy said there’s too much red tape and bureaucracy involved in this.

There were 51 proponents awarded the chance to get permits for cannabis shops in Saskatchewan, and as of Wednesday, 35 permits actually had been given out.

The communities of Canora, La Loche, Maple Creek, Melfort, Nipawin, Outlook, RM of Corman Park, Rosetown, Unity, and Weyburn all could have stores, but still don’t.

According to the SLGA, the initial proponents for the Canora, Maple Creek, Outlook, Rosetown and Melfort permits have withdrawn, meaning the runners-up in the lottery will be able to take the opportunity now.

Time is running out for the proponents in some cases — there is a deadline for them to have their shops open. For the original proponents, they have until October to open their stores; the runners-up have until November 2020.

— With files from Discover Weyburn