2 marijuana stores to open in Plateau-Mont-Royal borough

Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough will have two recreational marijuana stores as of Thursday, CBC/Radio-Canada has learned.

One will be located at 3804 St-Laurent Blvd, near Roy Street East. The other will be at 2200 Mont-Royal Ave East, near the corner of Parthenais Street.

Another marijuana store will open in the Ville-Marie borough.

The outlets are franchises of the company Cannabis Culture, which operates stores in 12 locations across British Columbia and Ontario.

The company is run by Marc Emery, also known as Canada's "Prince of Pot," and his wife Jodie Emery.

• Marijuana chain to defy law, open outlets in Montreal

The company's policy is to sell marijuana to anyone over the age of 19 and to require a photo ID. They do not require a membership or a medical note. That means that under current federal law they operate illegally.

"We believe in an open, honest transparent model where adults can be treated like first-class citizens, similar to Amsterdam," Jodie Emery said.

"You can go into the shop and if you're 19 and older, we don't need your sign-up information, you don't need to be sick, you don't need to lie. You can have access to cannabis just like a coffee shop," Emery told CBC Radio One's drive-home show Homerun.

Emery confirmed to CBC that there will be more than three locations in the city, but would not disclose the total number of outlets set to open for business on Thursday, Dec. 15.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said that, although he is in favour of the federal government's plan to legalize marijuana, any stores that open this week are doing so illegally.

"The law has to be applied. Do they have the right to do that? It's federal jurisdiction. You have to respect the law," Coderre said Tuesday afternoon.

The shops are set to open in the same week that the federal government's task force issued recommendations.

• Highlights from the federal marijuana task force report
• Pot task force recommends legal cannabis sales be limited to users 18 and over

Some of the recommendations include:

• Setting the minimum age of purchase as 18.
• Avoid selling alcohol and cannabis at the same location where possible: dedicated storefronts and direct mail are preferable.
• Limiting the density and location of storefronts, including their proximity to schools and parks.
• Restricting the promotion and advertising of cannabis products, similar to restrictions now in place for tobacco.

Ottawa has promised to table legislation in spring 2017, but it could take much more time for the bill to be studied and eventually passed into law.