Calgary's ready for legal cannabis, city officials say

Calgary officials say their pot preparations are complete and they're ready for recreational cannabis legalization to kick in on Wednesday.

Calgary's cannabis legalization project lead, Matt Zabloski, says several others have cleared municipal application hurdles and are now waiting for final provincial approval.

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"Those 10 or 11 that we have from the city's standpoint, we've given them a city business licence, it's really just the province kind of getting their final inspections done and getting them licensed from theAGLC," he said.

BrandyMacKinnis, a senior special projects officer with Calgary Growth Strategies, Planning and Development added there are also several applications currently tied up in the appeals process.

"Of the 119 applications that were approved, 26 were appealed and of the 116 that were refused, 75 were appealed," she said.

Aside from Criminal Code violations and impaired driving laws, the city is reminding Calgarians that recreational cannabis cannot be consumed in public under Calgary's cannabis consumption bylaw. Infractions can result in a $100 ticket.

"If appropriate, enforcement of the Cannabis Consumption Bylaw may involve education and voluntary compliance first, followed by ticketing if necessary," Zabloski said.

Calgary police Const. Dan Kurz says the force is ready to enforce impaired driving laws with respect to cannabis consumption.

"We've been doing this for a number of years now. Our program for drug enforcement for driving hasn't changed and it won't change when the clock ticks over on Wednesday," he said.

"We've got an ample number of standard field sobriety trained officers to detect impairment at the roadside. And we've got a fair number of drug enforcement experts to conduct evaluations should somebody be arrested subsequently for drug-impaired driving."

Kurz says there is no established safe amount or threshold for consuming cannabisand then driving, so motorists should simply not drive under the influence.

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