Ontario’s finance minister is defending his plan allowing adults to smoke marijuana anywhere it’s legal to light up cigarettes as the province prepares for 500 to 1,000 private cannabis stores to open starting next spring.
The dramatic reversal from the previous Liberal government’s decision to outlaw pot smoking in public followed a summer of consultations with police, health officials, municipalities and First Nations, Vic Fedeli said Thursday.
“We’ve all come to the conclusion that mirroring the Smoke Free Ontario Act is the best way to do this,” added Fedeli, who introduced the proposed Cannabis Statute Law Amendment Act outlining how the province’s market will unfold once recreational marijuana is legalized across Canada on Oct. 17.
