As of April 1, Canadians with permits for medical marijuana will no longer be able to grow their own crop
That's prompted the town of Montreal West to restrict areas where marijuana can be planted, grown and harvested.
At a council meeting this week Mayor Benny Masella said no one is currently legally growing marijuana in Montreal West, but he was aware of some illegal grow-ops.
At the meeting complaints were aired from several people who oppose growing marijuana, but Masella said those people would have to adjust to federal law.
"'We don't want marijuana in our town' that's basically what it comes to, but the reality is we are not allowed to completely prohibit it. The only thing we can do is control where they are allowed to come in," said Masella.
Town council decided that part of the industrial park on Ronald Drive could be used for medical marijuana grow operations, pointing out it was far from the town centre and larger houses.
Medical marijuana advocate Adam Greenblatt said security is tight at pot dispensaries because of criminals.
"The facilities need to be monitored 24 hours a day," said Greenblatt. "The dried cannabis is stored in a vault that is similar to what you'll see the bank."
At this point the concern over marijuana in Montreal West could be moot: to date no individual or organization has applied for a license.
Masella admitted the number of complaints were low, and pointed out that only six people showed up at a recent public consultation on medical marijuana.
