Pubdate: Fri, 15 Dec 2017 Source: Chatham Daily News, The (CN ON) Copyright: 2017 Chatham Daily News Contact: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/letters Website: http://www.chathamdailynews.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1627 Author: Trevor Terfloth Page: A1 COLBY 'NEUTRAL' ON CANNABIS STORE Medical officer of health expects regulations will evolve Chatham-Kent's medical officer of health is remaining neutral on a provincially operated cannabis store slated to open next year. However, Dr. David Colby admits he's intrigued by how it might play out in the communities that were announced as part of the first phase. "It will be very interesting to see how society reacts to this," he told The Daily News on Thursday. It was recently announced that Chatham-Kent will have a retail cannabis store by July of next year. Fifteen cities were listed on Wednesday, in addition to the 14 cities that were previously announced in November. The Finance Ministry is partnering with the newly formed Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation and hosting communities on the initiative. Chat ham Kent joins London and Windsor as the southwestern Ontario communities initially selected to host a cannabis store. Colby expects that regulations governing the substance will continue to evolve, not necessarily to loosen them but possibly enforce in a stricter fashion. "Even the federal and provincial governments have indicated that this is something that is liable to change with time," he said. "Not necessarily liberalized. It could change the other way. But who knows?" Since marijuana is becoming a legally available product, Colby said he likely wouldn't weigh in any further on the issue unless asked in an official capacity to comment. However, he stressed that smoke of any kind has its risks, regardless of the substance. "The inhalation of combustible products (is) bad for your lungs," he said. "One thing that I did notice is that the law doesn't mention ingestibles. Vaping and ingestion are both less harmful to the lung than smoking. "It is likely that more legislation will evolve that will address these things, so we're just going to continue to caution people." In April, the federal government introduced legislation to legalize cannabis, with the Ontario government following with the Cannabis Act and the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation Act. This established the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation as a subsidiary corporation under the Liquor Control Board of Ontario. The retail and distribution system is proposed to include an online provincewide sales channel by July and up to 150 standalone stores in 2020, starting with 40 by July 2018 and rising to 80 within the first year. This proposed system would sell cannabis and cannabis-related items only, not alcohol. In a previous interview, Mayor Randy Hope said the municipality plans to meet with provincial officials and provide input concerning potential locations. He also believes municipalities should receive financial compensation for hosting the stores. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt