Hamilton politician seeks to protect local taxpayers as marijuana is legalized

A Hamilton politician wants to ensure that city taxpayers aren’t left paying the bill related to the legalization of recreational marijuana.

Coun. Sam Merulla is asking for cost projections from various departments including police, bylaw and public health services.

His motion, to be presented during a meeting later this month at city hall, would also seek assurances from the province that it will fully cover costs related to the legalization of marijuana, which is scheduled to happen on July 1, 2018.

Merulla says it’s critical that those costs are not downloaded on the municipality since it’s already the case that “half of what we tax for we don’t control because the province imposes these programs on us without providing the necessary funding.”

The provincial government has announced plans to sell marijuana through stand-alone stones that are operated by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO).