The Vancouver Sun reports in its Wednesday edition that Kamloops, B.C., continues to be a leader in recreational cannabis-store approvals and those involved chalk it up to early planning. The Sun's Nick Eagland writes that the south-central B.C. city was first in the province to have a brick-and-mortar store on Oct. 17, the day of federal legalization, when a government B.C. Cannabis Store opened in a strip mall. It has since approved two more government stores and received 15 private-store applications from the province for review, nine of which have gone back with a city recommendation, said Dave Jones, business-licence inspector for Kamloops. Mr. Jones said his city is ahead of most others because staff took a report on non-medical cannabis retail stores to council 10 months ahead of legalization and, after plenty of review and consultation, decided it would be a good idea to zone them like liquor stores.
Kamloops kept the rules simple. "Dec. 17 of 2017, our zoning bylaws basically spelled out where your cannabis story could go," Mr. Jones said. "There was nothing really to debate about in front of council." In the four months since legalization, eight private stores have been licensed in British Columbia.
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