Michael Armstrong, Associate Professor of Operations Research in Brock’s Goodman School of Business, responded to a piece recently published by The St. Catharines Standard with a letter to the editor discussing the limited powers citizens have to block the opening of stores selling recreational cannabis.

He writes:

“Calvin Poon’s community interest is great. But he’s wasting his time petitioning the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario to stop a cannabis shop opening.

Ontario regulations forbid cannabis stores near schools. But absent extraordinary circumstances, AGCO has no other grounds to block a location. And there’s nothing extraordinary about being near residences. That’s a common business choice for selling products people consume mostly at home.”

Continue reading the full letter here.