North Battleford eligible for 2 marijuana retail outlets; town eligible for 1
The Saskatchewan government has announced with the upcoming legalization of marijuana, North Battleford will be allowed to have two retail marijuana stores and the Town of Battleford will be allowed one retail store. The City of Meadow Lake is also eligible for one cannabis retail location.
The government stated the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) will issue approximately 60 cannabis retail permits to private operators in as many as 40 Saskatchewan municipalities and First Nations communities.
“I received a letter this morning (Monday) from SLGA informing me that we were eligible for two locations,” Mayor Ryan Bater said. “Council has a couple items we must consider very soon because of today’s announcement.”
A two-phase selection process will be used to determine the retail operators in each community. The process will involve screening for demonstrated financial capacity and the ability to track and report cannabis inventory to ensure consumers only have access to safe, legal product from regulated wholesalers. Phase two will be a random lottery selection of qualified applicants and proponents cannot be selected for more than one retail permit in each community.