The Toronto District School Board is approaching planning for the legalization of marijuana with one thing in mind: keep dispensaries as far away from schools as possible.
Trustees voted to that effect this week.
TDSB Chair Robin Pilkey was asked to write a letter to the mayor and to the premier asking that board staff or trustees be involved in planning for the rollout of legal weed, including discussions about where it is sold.
The province says 40 LCBO-run pot shops and an online store will be ready to go across Ontario when the drug is expected to be made legal next summer. The plan is to ramp up to 150 stores.
The city will have the final say on where the bricks and mortar shops will be allowed to open.
Mayor John Tory has already expressed concern about selling marijuana close to schools and community centres.
Toronto may look to U.S. states where marijuana is legal for guidance. Washington and Oregon forbid the sale of pot within 1,000 ft of a school. It's 500 ft in Alaska.
In "Pulse of Toronto," a recent poll by DART Insight and Communications commissioned by NEWSTALK 1010, 43% of respondents said they don't want licensed weed outlets in their neighbourhood.