Recreational marijuana is about to become legal in Canada. How and where it will be sold, however, has been left up to provincial and municipal governments.

In Ontario, the LCBO seems like the most likely conduit, said Kurram Malik, a financial consultant at Jacob Capital Management Inc., pointing out that the provincial agency is already equipped to handle controlled substances.

“However, the LCBO will likely have to set up new retail outlets — you won’t see Cannabis in the liquor aisle,” he said, after Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government introduced legislation on Thursday that, if passed, would allow the sale of marijuana for recreational purposes beginning July 1, 2018.

Medical marijuana is currently available in Canada with a doctor’s prescription, using mail-order services. The legislation introduced Thursday fulfills a 2015 election campaign promise made by Trudeau that is believed to have driven young voters to the polls in support of the Liberal party.

Selling marijuana to people under the age of 18 will remain prohibited.

A spokesperson for the LCBO said it will take direction from the provincial government with regards to any role it may play when it comes to selling cannabis. “It is premature to speculate as to what that role may be, but we are paying close attention to the process as it unfolds,” said Christine Bujold.

What marijuana retailing will look like will really depend on the province, said Michael Gorenstein, CEO of cannabis firm Cronos Group. But he would like to see the product opened up for sale by as many channels as possible — as long as the channels meet security requirements for the safe distribution and sale, keeping it out of the hands of children.

“The more people that we allow to participate in the industry, the better it is overall for the economy, but also for the industry in the long term,” said Gorenstein

He said small independent dispensaries have appeal. “It retains the character of cannabis culture,” said Gorenstein, adding that in Colorado, such establishments have become a draw for tourists.

“A lot of what drives cannabis tourism isn’t just legal access, it’s the character in the dispensaries they’ve opened up. It’s a unique retail experience.”

Gorenstein said he thinks licensed producers will also be interested in opening their own storefronts.

A spokesperson for Ontario’s independent grocers said they don’t want the sale of recreational marijuana to be handled in the same way alcohol sales have been handled by the province.

“Any time the government gets involved, retailers get a little nervous,” said Gary Sands, a spokesperson for the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers, with 600 members in Ontario.

Last year, the province began allowing the sale of wine in some grocery stores, with an eye to slowly expanding the number of outlets permitted to do so over time, but it’s been done in a way that is barely profitable for small players, said Sands.

The system requires retailers to bid, with favour shown to those willing to take the lowest profit margins, putting small businesses that do not have the same economies of scale as larger operations at a disadvantage.

“The government has ended up devising a system that is creating winners and losers,” said Sands.

He said his members would like to see a system that allows retailers to decide for themselves whether or not they want to sell marijuana, based on what their communities are telling them.

“It’s really like opening on a holiday — what does the community want? That is the independent’s view,” said Sands. “I have retailers who can open on Boxing Day but they don’t because their community doesn’t want them to.”

The Retail Council of Canada said it is consulting with its members and the federal and provincial governments on the issue.

“The retail channel will be bringing forward concerns and wants to be seriously considered as the conversation goes forward,” said David Wilkes, RCC senior vice president, government relations and grocery division.

Loblaw Companies Limited, which owns Shoppers Drug Mart, recently announced in an internal staff memo that it will cover medical marijuana under the employee benefit plan.

Shoppers Drug Mart applied in October to be a licensed producer for the purposes of distributing medical marijuana.

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Loblaw Cos. on Thursday declined to say anything about the status of that application or answer questions about whether it is interested in retailing recreational marijuana.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association said that while it is pleased that the government will maintain the existing market for medical cannabis, it is disappointed that the new law does not propose changes to the medical regime to improve patient safety by allowing pharmacist dispensing.

It does not have a position on the sale of recreational cannabis in pharmacies.