Province's pot plan is too rigid, says Brantford mayor

The mayor of Brantfordis slammingthe province's plan to manage the sale of marijuana, saying it shuts out small businesses and farmers from a potentially enormous economic opportunity.

"You are bringing in legalized (marijuana), the largest potential cash crop, and you have industrialized it," Chris Friel told CBC News."What about the generations of farmers who are looking for alternate crops? What opportunity was available for them?"

The province announcedon Fridaythat the LCBO is set to oversee the sale of recreational marijuanathrough an online orderingservice and severalstandalone stores.

The proposed minimum age to use, purchase and possess recreational marijuana is 19.

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Friel saidthe plan limits consumer choice andintroduces accessibility problems, and statedthat "(the province)just guaranteed the black market will thrive, particularly in the rural areas."

He hopedthe province would use a model similar to how alcohol is retailedwhere he said there are opportunities for smaller businesses to participate through operating craft breweries.

"The only people who are going to benefit from this are multi-millionaires who can afford to be able to get into industrial production of marijuana," he said.

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He also added that interpreting the new laws will be difficult for local law enforcement because municipalities were not involved in the conversation with regards to regulation.

'Cultural change' not considered

Friel saidOntario'sannouncement overlooked the cultural change that's set to come along with the legalization of marijuana.

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He saidthat health education needs to be included in the plan at the start, especially for people who may not have considered using marijuana recreationally before.

"Put the education out there for people to understand so they can make their own decisions about what they want to do as adults in this province," he said.

"We have to fit it into our cultures, our communities in a way that we're comfortable with."