Marijuana retailers in Squamish are thrilled that their product will soon be legal, though some details around how it will roll out depend on feedback from a public hearing on the subject.

The District will hold a hearing on proposed changes to bylaws around marijuana production and sales on July 17 – three months to the day before pot becomes legal across Canada.

This is part of a nationwide process sparked by the federal government's announcement that marijuana will become legal in Canada as of Oct. 17. The provincial government has outlined the processes for distribution, which fall along lines similar to alcohol sales. But it is for local governments to determine appropriate locations for pot shops, as well as licensing and business operations regulations.

While the product will only become legal this fall, the District of Squamish has been engaged in the issue for at least six years. Anticipating changes in the law around the medicinal and recreational use and sale of marijuana, the District, in 2012, amended zoning bylaws to limit cannabis production to industrial and light industrial zones. Compliance with building, fire, electrical and ventilation codes were enforced, as were odour control requirements. Only medicinal cannabis can be legally produced in Squamish at present.

In 2016, the District began licensing marijuana dispensaries under an amended business licensing bylaw. Under the Local Government Act and the Community Charter, the District has control over where and under what conditions companies can locate and operate.

With legalization anticipated by Canada Day – the Senate held up the bill, delaying decriminalization until the fall – Squamish officials moved into high gear in preparation for the new reality.

At least two distinct issues are at play: the retail sale of cannabis products and the production of the product. While existing licensed and zoning-compliant medical production facilities already operating in industrial areas of downtown Squamish would be grandfathered, council will consider banning any expansion of the production downtown once the product becomes legal for anyone 19 and over to purchase.

Dispensaries are a different matter. Existing retail outlets downtown would not face changes. As it stands, they must be located 300 metres from another dispensary, as well as 300 metres from schools, Carson Place Park and the Squamish Youth Centre. They are also not permitted on properties with frontage on Cleveland Avenue. A possible change to bylaws would add a buffer of 300 metres to the east, south and north of Brennan Park. The highway would provide a physical buffer to the west, according to Squamish Director of Planning Jonas Velaniskis.

Matt Mussett, product manager at Sky High Cannabis, is thrilled with the impending legalization. In addition to moving his business out of a grey area, he hopes legalization will spur research that he says should have started in the 1950s.

"I'm hoping within five or 10 years — obviously, I hope way sooner than that — they'll be able to pick a strain that's designed to help with lupus or help with help this or help with that," he said. "Each strain has their own qualities. Weed is such a complex plant. There is a lot to it."

Though Mussett is excited about the expansion of research and expanding marijuana's potential benefits to more people, he recognizes challenges faced by regulators, including police, who need to monitor impaired driving.

Like alcohol, cannabis products can be measured to determine the magnitude of active ingredients — in this case, THC and CBD (cannabinoids) — but that does not accurately predict the effect it will have on an individual.

"You're able to — pretty much to the milligram — dose everything and know exactly how much THC is in it, how much CBD," he said. "But here's the thing: Every single person is different."

A 300-pound man may have a very low tolerance for the active ingredients while a person one-third that size may have a high tolerance. That makes it challenging to calculate appropriate dosages for recreational use, as well as for driving and other potentially dangerous activities.

Bryan Raiser is hoping to move his 99 North Medical Cannabis Dispensary to a more central location in the Squamish Station Shopping Centre, where the liquor store was formerly located. This would contravene the District's current rules, which preclude pot shops within 300 metres of a school.

But Raiser hopes that the changed circumstance of pot legality will shift council's approach on the proximity issue. He acknowledges that municipalities can determine where – or whether – certain types of businesses can operate. He mentions casinos, which are legal, yet banned in some municipalities. But he credits Squamish council for its openness and hopes it will further liberalize its approach to pot once it's legal.

"There is not a single [legal] retail industry that has a buffer from schools — alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals — it's all a case-by-case basis," he said. But he is optimistic about the community's attitude toward his business and effusive in his praise for the current council.

"We have a progressive, educated, compassionate community," he said. "Our current council … it can never be forgotten how progressive and amazing that they are, and were, to license federally illegal dispensaries in their community. That is not insignificant. They should be applauded. Forever, that will be a feather in their cap. They are on the right side of history."