The minister responsible for getting cannabis into the province’s liquor stores says his stance on pot dispensaries hasn’t changed.

Lunenburg West MLA Mark Furey says the dispensaries have always been illegal and will continue to be when cannabis is legalized by the federal government later this year.

Furey says all levels of government will be responsible to keep illegal cannabis from being sold.

“We will continue to work together. And specific to municipalities, we continue to engage the federal government on what financial support is available to address some of the concerns that they’ve raised.”

Furey says the province is not downloading enforcement measures onto municipalities.

He says the province can provide guidelines but it will be up to each municipal government to decide where cannabis can be consumed.

“And recognize their authority at the municipal government level. We have to continue to extend them the ability to apply additional by-laws.”

Furey says the province will go to bat with the feds to get the money for municipalities to pay for enforcement..

He says once the cannabis legislation passes, the only legal place to purchase pot in Nova Scotia will be through the NSLC.