Warning time is running out, some Southwestern Ontario mayors say they’re still in the dark over where the province plans to sell pot.

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government says the province will start with 40 stand-alone marijuana outlets, operated by the LCBO, and an online cannabis-selling service by July 1, when the federal Liberals have vowed to liberalize Canada’s pot laws to make recreational use of the drug legal.

But a month after the provincial Liberals rolled out their plan, few details have been given to civic officials who are worried about potential zoning issues over where pot can be sold and smoked and the cost of enforcing the law that many fear will fall to them.

“What’s happened is the federal, provincial governments have made these decisions without really consulting with us, and now we’re struggling,” Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said. “We can’t get clear answers.”

Bradley was among the Ontario mayors who took part in a conference call with Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Attorney General Yasir Naqvi after Ontario rolled out its pot plan Sept. 8.

Bradley said the conversation left him believing Sarnia wouldn’t get one of the first 40 stores — there are plans to have 150 by 2020 — because the province will open them in cities, like London, where illegal pot shops have proliferated.

The only Southwestern Ontario city where dispensaries operate, London has five of the illegal businesses, including one where anyone 19 and older can buy cannabis products, even if they don’t have a medical licence, as required by the city’s other pot shops.

Police have repeatedly raided the dispensaries, only to watch them re-open days later.

The province has pledged more then $274 million for enforcement to shutter existing dispensaries.

London Mayor Matt Brown said he’s waiting on the province to learn more details about its pot store plan.

“I think it’s entirely reasonable to expect that one or more of these sites will be located here in London,” Brown said, adding the city will work with the province to select appropriate locations.

“We need to begin to have this discussion sooner rather than later,” said Brown, who wants to engage citizens in the process through public meetings.

Chatham-Kent Mayor Randy Hope said he hadn’t had any communication with the province about potential plans to sell pot in Chatham.

Calling the lack of information troubling, Hope said he’s worried about the strain legalized pot could put on social programs.

“What do the communities get that have these facilities? What programs are going to be added to or expanded on to deal with addiction?” said Hope, a former NDP MPP in Bob Rae’s early-1990s government.

Sousa’s office said municipalities are “critical partners” in Ontario’s plan, but no time line was offered for when the pot outlets will be revealed. “Right now, the province is establishing an engagement process with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario to assess siting considerations (e.g., proximity to schools), combating the illicit market (i.e. the proliferation of illegal storefronts) and regional dispersion,” Sousa spokesperson Jessica Martin wrote in an email to The Free Press.

AMO president Lynn Dollin, whose organization represents 440 municipalities, has concerns about the costs the dispensaries will bring.

The province should share revenue from pot sales to help municipalities offset spending on bylaw enforcement, shutting down illegal pot shops, training police and providing public education, Dollin said.

“All of those things come with a cost and all of them, right now, are either partially or wholly paid for by property tax,” she said. “And we don’t feel property tax dollars is where this initiative should be funded.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is proposing to levy a federal excise tax on recreational pot — with the provinces and territories receiving half the money — of $1 per gram and a 10-per-cent tax on sales of more than $10.

For Dollin, long-term zoning plans must be taken into account when the province looks at locations for its stores.

“We want to make sure that they talk to us first so we can avoid any unintended consequences,” she said, echoing Bradley’s concern about timing.

“The window of opportunity to get this done is closing quickly.”

While Ottawa is moving to liberalize Canada’s pot laws, it’s up to the provinces to decide how pot will be sold and distributed.

Adults, allowed to possess up to 30 grams, can either buy it from an approved retailer or grow as many as four pot plants each, under the federal plan.

Ontario’s plan for government-run stores, where sales will be restricted to buyers 19 and older, is a safer alternative than the black market, said the London area’s top public health official.

“The government-controlled system has many advantages in terms of preventing the sale to the underaged (buyer) and quality control of the product,” said Dr. Chris Mackie, Middlesex-London’s medical officer of health.