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“We think it’s a few million dollars worth of bylaw enforcement issues we’re going to have to deal with and several million more in policing costs, in the $10- to $12-million range, all put together. We’re still asking the provinces for a share of this.”

The committee approved a zoning bylaw Tuesday that detailed separation distances between cannabis stores and schools, parks, libraries and other sensitive areas. It was sent to council for a vote May 7. Councillors hope other rules will come May 23.

Ward 10 Coun. Michael Walters said city officials are aiming for a balance.

“It’s a new world for us; it’s a new world for Canada,” he said. “We have to be prepared to monitor this annually, look at each of the regulatory pieces we put in place and adjust those as necessary.”

City officials are suggesting a buffer zone of 200 metres between stores and schools, 200 metres between stores and public libraries, and 100 metres between parks and recreation centres.

Gloria Keays, a medical officer with Alberta Health Services, said if people were seen smoking cannabis, it might re-normalize smoking again.

“It’s never a good thing to inhale second-hand smoke,” she added.

The public, Walters said, is nervous about wider public consumption of cannabis, so how council decides to limit it remains a question. He also said that the more regulation there is, the higher the enforcement costs.

The city is in the dark in terms of how much the province is going to support Edmonton or any municipality over enforcement, he said.

“So we’re going to be limited by money, but I think generally the public has said that reducing wide-scale public consumption is the best out-of-the-box strategy,” Walters said.

One of the most important things is to create laws rooted in principles that keep youth away from drugs, alcohol and tobacco, he said.

“There’s a spectrum of very puritanical to very liberal here,” he said. “I think our proposals are somewhere in the middle of that because probably that’s where the public is.”

halam@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/hinakalam