Quickly after being appointed by Justin Trudeau as the Liberal government’s point person on cannabis legalization, former Toronto police chief Bill Blair came out in support of liquor store outlets selling the substance.
A month after suggesting the same regulation model, Ontario premier Kathleen Wynne said she has a lot of respect for Blair and looks forward to discussing plans with the MP.
“I am encouraged that [Blair] has said as a preliminary approach that it might make sense to use the distribution network that is already in place but that is not a foregone conclusion,” Wynne said. “He has got a lot of people to talk to and he has got a lot of questions to ask and decisions to make over the coming months.”
In December, Wynne said it “made a lot of sense” to sell legalized cannabis through the government run LCBO stores in the province.
The comments prompted a Forum Research poll of Canadians that found 57 per cent supported sales of cannabis in specialized dispensaries, compared to 44 per cent that approved of the idea of marijuana being sold at liquor stores.