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While a century-long legacy of liquor prohibition survives in Cardston and its surrounding counties, the door is open to cannabis retail.

It’s just that nobody’s walked through that door, say those who oversee the jurisdictions in the province’s southwest corner whose history is coloured by a large Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) population.

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“When cannabis legalization was coming, we wondered about that, if it would fall under alcohol prohibition and the answer is ‘no,'” said Jeff Shaw, town manager of Cardston.

“We never pushed the idea it should be prohibited.”

The town, he said, has even crafted zoning regulations setting mandatory distance setbacks of cannabis shops from schools, playgrounds and hospitals similar to those throughout the province.

And it’s made zoning allowances for the possible production of cannabis in its industrial area, he added.

Photo by Dean Piling / Postmedia

In a town as small as Cardston — population 3,909 — those regulations physically limit the possibilities of pot retail locations, said Shaw.