Markham council votes to opt out of allowing cannabis stores within city

Vote Wednesday was 12-1 to say no; Coun. Keith Irish said 'not up to us, as a council, to legislate morality'

Yorkregion.com
December 14, 2018
Tim Kelly

Not only can you not smoke marijuana in public in Markham, you’ll now not be able to buy pot in a retail cannabis store come April 1.

Markham’s city councillors voted 12-1 to opt out of having marijuana sold within the city at a council meeting on Wednesday afternoon, beating the Jan. 22 deadline by over a month.

Only Ward 1 Coun. Keith Irish, a newcomer to council, voted not to opt out.

Irish said he didn't think "it was up to us, as a council, to legislate morality."

"I think that prohibition is less effective than regulation. I believe that those who live in Markham and want to partake in cannabis will purchase it online or they're going to travel to a neighbouring municipality where it is available" said Irish.

He added he believed: "We should just simply make it available just as we do the other so-called sin products of tobacco and alcohol."

The final decision didn’t come as much of a surprise since the previous council also voted 12-1 to opt out when the previous Liberal government provided municipalities with a choice of whether they wanted to have retail stores sell marijuana.

“We still have a lot of unanswered questions about community safety, about the impact to families and children,” said Mayor Frank Scarpitti.

“This vote by Markham council reflects the concerns we have heard throughout the community. We have taken this position with the previous government and we applaud the provincial government for giving us the choice to opt out,” he said.

“Since the province is not allowing municipalities to put restrictions on where retail marijuana locations could open up, one could open in any area that is zoned for retail,” said Ward 4 Coun. Karen Rea.

“Many locations in Markham would not be appropriate and we, as a city, have no say,” she said.

In a special council meeting held on Oct. 16, one day before cannabis was legalized nationwide, Markham council passed a cannabis bylaw prohibiting smoking and vaporizing recreational marijuana in any public place in the City of Markham.