Highlands East opts in to allow the retail of Cannabis

Highlands East will allow the sale of pot in the municipality.

At the inaugural meeting of Highlands East council, one of the items on the agenda was whether or not to opt-in to allow the sale of cannabis in the municipality.

Recreational marijuana became legal October 17th of this year and municipalities across the province of Ontario have until January 22nd to decide whether or not to allow the sale of the plant. According to the information provided to council, municipalities that do not want to allow the sale are required to opt-out as the Ontario government has defaulted all municipalities to the opt-in option unless they are notified.

Now that Highlands East has opted in, they will receive funding of $5,000 upfront to assist with their planned legalization activities, then another $5,000 to help the municipality host the retail location. Later in the process, the Ontario government is expected to spread $10,000,000 to all of the municipalities that have opted-in.

Although the municipality has opted in, retailers are not allowed to sell it in retail locations until April 22nd of 2019.

According to reports, Cam McKenzie was the sole councillor to vote to opt-out.