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Taber council votes to allow cannabis shops in town

Oct 12, 2018 | 2:29 PM

TABER, AB — The Town of Taber has a reputation for being more conservative than other parts of the province.

The town made headlines three years ago for a bylaw that banned swearing, spitting and loitering in public.

But now, the town has narrowly voted to allow cannabis stores to set up shop in their town.

During the town council meeting on September 24th, the town voted 4-3 on second and third reading of its bylaw, which allows shops to be built.

The shops cannot be within 100 metres of a school or hospital.

According to documents on the town of Taber’s website, Taber resident Bruce DeCoste, who owns the Reckless Vape Shop, spoke at a recent public hearing in support of the bylaw.

According to meeting minutes from September, DeCoste told the committee if there was no legal cannabis store in town, residents would travel elsewhere to get it, and not having a shop could hurt business in Taber.

“It’s going to keep business in our town,” DeCoste said over the phone on Friday.

“If they go to Lethbridge or The Hat for that, they’re going to do their shopping elsewhere while they’re there. My fear is that it’s going to hurt all the small business (in Taber).”

Despite the new bylaw, the town has previously voted to ban the public use of cannabis. 

In the initial release of interim business licenses for cannabis stores, there was no store listed in Taber.

The AGLC is predicting 250 cannabis stores will be open in Alberta within a year of legalization. DeCoste says he is applying to open the town’s first cannabis shop.