Just say no: How some communities are fighting pot legalization

Pot legalization is months offbut the mayor of Taber, Alta., is already thinking about all the complaints he's going to get.

Taber is the small town that bannedspitting,yelling and swearing in public in 2015 and recently made headlines for voting down aLGBTQgroup's bid to fly a Pride flag on a community flag pole.

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Mayor AndrewProkopsaid they are against marijuana legalization, too, warning of its "dangers" for young people and the potentialstrain on municipal resources.

"It's not believed that it is going to be a good thing all around to have recreational marijuana being sold here," he said. "There's nothing really good about it unless you're medically required [to use it]."

While some Canadian communities are embracing legalizationand its economic potential, others like Taberare dreading it.

According to Health Canada, municipalities will have to work with their province or territory and won'tbe able to just flat-out ban marijuana sales.

That hasn't preventedTaber from tryingto stop legalization. The town showed up at the annual meeting of theAlberta Urban Municipalities Association last November with a motion to get thegroup to lobby the federal government to repeal BillC-45,the Cannabis Act. That failed.

The mayor isdefensive oftheir approach.

"We're not afraid to speak out. I believe we're leaders, not followers and I believe there needs to be more leaders out there. It affects us all as a country."

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Prokopplans do everything he can at amunicipal level, trying to blockpotsalesthrough licensing and thebylaw process, which could restrictwhere it could be sold in town.He'snot sure why more communities aren't raising "red flags."

"Anybody with kids should be very concerned about it," he said of legalization."There's a lot of complicity out there and not enough awareness."

'Strongly opposed'

The cannabis billis only at second reading in the Senate, which means implementation could be delayed beyond July 1. SomeConservative senators are skeptical about thelegislation, with worries about young people, smoking rates and what will happento the black market.

Opposition even lurks in British Columbia, long thought to bethe country'smost pot-progressive province.

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The city of Richmond, B.C., has come out as "strongly opposed" to legalization.Council there voted to sendletters to the provincial and federal governmentsexpressing theiropposition.

Richmond, home to220,000, is B.C.'s largest city without a marijuana dispensary in operation. When one opened, the city moved swiftly to shut it down.

Richmond MayorMalcolm Brodiesaid the dispensary was operating illegally and his city wouldn'ttolerate that. He said nearby White Rockhas a similar mindset.

"One leads to two leads to many more," said Brodie. "If you do not have a license to operate in our city, you are not to operate."

It's a far different stance than in Vancouver, where dispensaries are abundant and largely go unchecked.

"I feel that the approach of throwing it wide open is fraught with difficulties," said Brodie.

'We know nothing'

That said, herealizes legalization is imminent.

The city iswaiting for more direction from the province but like Taber,Brodieisplanning on using all the tools he can municipally to tightlymanagemarijuana. That includeszoning control, which helpsgovernwhere retail pot shops canset up.

In Ontario, the province is choosing marijuana retail locations. Richmond Hill, north of Torontohas made it clear they don't want one.

"We have no idea how it's going to work," said Mayor Dave Barrow.

"We know nothing. They know nothing," he said of the province. "[So] thanks very much but we're not a willing host."

Barrow said his city isn't ready to swallow any costs related to legalization without additionalrevenue sources coming in. The province promised they would talk to the city but that hasn't happened yet.

"We need to clarify what we would be responsible for," Barrow said. He worries about policing costs and how an increase in smokers could lead to more complaints.

"Now we're going to have to be responding to somebody sitting out on their back deck smoking their purchase," he said.

Not that it doesn't happen already. "Every once in a while, the way the wind is blowing on my deck, someone out there is [smoking]. I just can't pin them down."

'Stubborn attitude'

Communities have a lot more power in Colorado, where marijuana was legalized in 2014and municipalities get to pickwhether they want to sell it or not. Mesa County was one of the holdouts. It is still illegal tosell it in most places there, including Grand Junction, Mesa'smain centre.

Ana Buick has lived in Grand Junctionfor more than 40 years.She said the city hasalways been conservative, hence its nickname "the wide valley of narrow minds."

But she thinksthe area's approach to marijuanahas been changing slowly. Some cities in Mesa have changed their minds and voted to start selling.

"There are many people in this area that have gone from no marijuana at all to accepting it for medical purposes," she said."I think the revenue has been huge and I really wish this community would get on board with that. It's just hurting us with this stubborn attitude it's silliness."

MP Bill Blair, the Canadiangovernment's pot point person, believes a similar shift will happen to those currently opposed in Canada.

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"I think eventually most municipalities will see that [this is] a better approach than leaving this in the hands of street gangs and motorcycle gangs or even just you know the local drug dealer who is only in it for profit and is not in any way motivated by the public good."