Windsor will see cannabis retail after all

Although Mayor Drew Dilkens was not in favour of the city of Windsor having retail cannabis stores, a city councillor vote of eight to three was in favour of the retail stores, passing the motion.

Debra Rezler, a Windsor resident is in favour of the vote.

“The places where these outlets have been implemented in North America, it has been a real boom to the local economy,” said Rezler.

Recreational sales of cannabis is projected to have a retail value of $43 billion, according to statistics from financialpost.ca.

Windsor is also estimated to receive $2.6 million in provincial funding within the next two years.

There are those who don’t want cannabis retail stores in Windsor. Windsor Police Chief Al Frederick said during the meeting that within the first three months of legalization, there were nine cases of impaired driving. The previous year there was a total of eight.

Tanya Green, a 57 year-old from Windsor, doesn’t think there should be stores selling cannabis.

“The way I see it is this will only make it easier for kids to try cannabis, it’s a gateway drug,” said Green. “I have had relatives addicted to harder drugs and every single one of them started with cannabis.”

The president of The Ontario Medical Association says marijuana is a gateway drug to using harder drugs down the road, according to CBC.CA.