Windsor's mayor is leaving no doubt about his opinion on allowing cannabis stores in the city.
Drew Dilkens says he will call for the city to opt out of allowing the private stores to open.
Speaking on AM800's The Lynn Martin Show, Dilkens says he's done a lot of research into the question.
Dilkens says this is strictly his personal opinion.
"I have not spoken to city council about this. I have not polled city council to see where they stand and so it will be an interesting discussion when it does come forward but I can tell you that at this point I'm leaning toward opting out."
Dilkens is happy to delay the decision.
"I would rather wait and see what happens in other jurisdictions in Ontario. And see whether or not the government tightens some regulations. I'm not sure the current regulations, they're very sparse in terms of only being 150 metres from a school. They have not put any regulations around distances from addiction treatment centres such as Brentwood."
He says his visit to the cannabis shops in Denver gave him a lot of insight.
"They create behaviors and activities that I think most reasonable people in Windsor would find offensive and would cause concern to most reasonable people in my city. And so I don't want to replicate that here, I don't want to see that happen here."
Dilkens points out he was not in Denver to purchase pot, just to see how the retail operations function.
He says the stores were well regulated inside with appropriate security but what was happening outside was a concern.
LaSalle Municipal Building, 5950 Malden Road LaSalle, ON (AM800 file photo)
Meanwhile, LaSalle's mayor agrees with Dilkens.
"I would be leaning in a direction of mostly other municipalities including Windsor," says LaSalle Mayor Marc Bondy.
Municipalities have until January 22nd, 2019 to make a decision whether to opt in or opt out.
Tecumseh and Lakeshore have already decided to opt out.
Speaking on AM800's the Lynn Martin Show, Mayor Bondy says he would like to get more information about funding before council makes a decision.
"The amount of money we are talking is not even close to what the city would receive," he says. "I believe he quoted $250,000 and we might get $14,000."
LaSalle Council has not make a decision and Bondy says it has not received a report from administration.
--With files from AM800's Teresinha Medeiros