Cannabis has been legal in Canada for the better part two years now, but if you\u2019re visiting or live in the province of Ontario, odds are you\u2019re still miles \u2014 er, kilometers \u2014 from the closest dispensary.<\/p>\n
According to a new report from Global News<\/em><\/u><\/a>, Canada\u2019s most populous province is still home to some 2.8 million residents who do not have easy access to legal weed. Thanks to a hasty municipal opt-out period at the start of legalization \u2014 followed by a molasses-slow licensing process \u2014 huge swaths of the province have passed ordinances to outlaw cannabis sales altogether.<\/p>\n \u201cUp until recently it\u2019s meant very little, because for the first six or nine months of legalization we had a shortage of product,\u201d Brock University business professor Michael Armstrong told <\/u>Global News<\/em><\/u><\/a>. \u201cBut going forward, once Ontario starts adding significant numbers of stores \u2014 maybe some time this summer we\u2019re going to see more stores open \u2014 from that point onwards having municipalities with bans will start to matter.\u201d<\/p>\n For the first year of Canadian legalization, even Ontario cities that opted in to retail and dispensary sales experienced a stagnant licensing process and product shortages. But as the pot supply grows, retailers have still been slow to open. Now, as we\u2019re deep into a second full year of legalization<\/u><\/a>, some of the province\u2019s biggest cities are beginning to revisit their initial retail bans. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we have an obligation to revisit this issue on a number of fronts. We\u2019re seeing the black market thrive in Mississauga,\u201d said<\/u><\/a> Karen Ras, Mississauga City Councillor. \u201cThe other thing is that this is an industry that provides good-paying jobs, and we want to make sure that our residents have access to a legal product.\u201d<\/p>\n