Sault city council to vote on legal pot shop — 'I don't want it in my community'

City council in Sault Ste. Marie could give the cold shoulder Monday night to a legal pot shop planned for the city.

The Sault is one of 14 cities the Ontario Cannabis Store is looking to do business in later this summer, after the federal government legalizes marijuana.

City councillor Susan Myers has tabled a motion calling on Sault city council to oppose the province's plans.

She's worried legal recreational marijuana will only make the city's opiate problems—which got national news attention earlier this year— worse.

"It's a feeder to more serious drugs," says Myers.  

"I'm sure there will be many people that will deny that that's the case. I am in no way an expert in this field, but those that have absolutely told us that."

City council 'trumped' by province

Myers doesn't think Sault Ste. Marie city council can actually stop the provincial pot shop from opening later this year and her motion is more about making a statement.

"A municipal council is trumped by higher levels of government. That decision has been made by the province that it will be here. My position as a city councillor is to go on record saying that I don't want it in my community," says Myers.

But she does have questions for city staff Monday night on the powers council does have when it comes to the location of the new cannabis store.

The Ontario Cannabis Store has announced where its Thunder Bay location will be, but has not revealed any information about its future address in Sudbury or Sault Ste. Marie.