Fort St. James, B.C. meeting on marijuana sales goes to pot

In the northern B.C. district municipalityof Fort St. James, a council meeting over a proposal to ban marijuana sales left some people feeling burned.

The Wednesday meeting was disrupted after 89 people showed up to voice their opposition to the ban and were kicked out after shouting at councillors.

Fort St. James is roughly 160 kilometres northwest of Prince George.

Greg Kovacs was one of the ban opponents at the meeting. He called the idea "misguided."

"This administration has yet to provide any evidence-based research to back their position," Kovacs told Daybreak North host Carolina de Ryk.

"There is overwhelming evidence supporting a free, legal, controlled, regulated market for cannabis."

Kovacs admitted he was responsible for an "outburst" at the council meeting and apologized for his tone and volume.

"It was wrong and I take full responsibility."

But with cannabis about to be legalized, he said the district needs to have a framework in place for sales.

District council ultimately backed away from passing a bylaw that would ban sales, and will strike a committee to deal with issues around legalization and take public input.

Mayor Rob MacDougall says his biggest concern with legalizing are impacts on nearby First Nation reserves, which are drug-free.

Kovacs says he applauds the committee idea but wants to make sure public input is meaningful.

Listen to the full interview:

With files from CBC Radio One's Daybreak North