Residents and local businesses are invited to join the Okotoks and District Chamber of Commerce for an evening of education and discussion around the legalization of marijuana.

"Understanding Cannabis and the Impacts of Legalization" will feature a presentation on medical cannabis by the 420 Clinic in Calgary and have Town staff on hand for an open Q-and-A in regards to what the legalization will look like locally for both medicinal and recreational marijuana use.

Okotoks Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Jayme Hall, says events like this are important to provide education and a platform for open discussion.

"The municipalities that are going to have issues are the ones that are ignoring this and aren't doing conferences and seminars like this to learn and educate themselves," he says. "If you're not having those conversations then you're going to have problems when it comes to those bylaws and policies that need to be written. We can't ignore this, we have to just look this right in the eye and say what do we need to be doing as a municipality to make sure that we're taking the proper steps."

Hall says hosting the event is part of the Chamber's mandate on education and they're looking at holding more events on the subject in the future.

The goal is to get the proper bylaws and policies in place that make sense specifically for Okotoks.

"Should the Town be putting things in place that make more sense for the community of Okotoks, like do these facilities need to have tinted windows, do these facilities need to have proper signage that isn't necessarily a glowing green neon sign, and a lot of those things are decided municipally and that's why we need to start this conversation with the community of Okotoks."

Understanding Cannabis and the Impacts of Legalization takes place Tuesday, March 13 from 7-9 p.m. at the Best Western Hotel in Okotoks.

The cost is $15 for Chamber members and $20 for non-members.

Registration for the event can be done by clicking here.

 

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