Report: PC government to allow privatized marijuana sales

A new report suggests the Ontario government will allow private store to sell marijuana once recreational cannabis becomes legal.

The Globe and Mail report says an official announcement could come as early as next week.

The new system would mirror the Alberta model.

That province will allow privately run cannabis stores to sell marijuana with licences granted by the liquor commission.

The previous Liberal government had planned to give the LCBO a monopoly on the sale of recreational cannabis.

It planned to open 40 stores this year under an LCBO subsidiary called the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS).

Premier Doug Ford had already indicated that he was considering the private sector.

In late June he said he doesn’t believe “government should stick their nose into everything.”

The federal government announced recreational marijuana will become legal on Oct. 17.