Councillor Mike Nickel sees a hole in Edmonton’s bylaws and regulations that he wants to see filled. Nowhere are there rules for city staff to use for cannabis lounges.

Federal legislation made edibles legal on Oct. 17.

“If it’s a legitimate product, then we have to see it consumed responsibly,” Nickel said leading up to Tuesday’s council meeting, when his motion will be debated by city council. “This is an opportunity to talk about how we can grow some business in town.

“Cannabis lounges are going to come,” he told Global News. “No other place in the country right now, I don’t think, has enabled in their bylaws the concept of a cannabis lounge, so we’re breaking new ground here.

“How do we create these lounges? How do we make them happen? How do we zone these things?

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“I’m thinking also more in terms of the value-added manufacturing in baked goods and edible products that get attached to the cannabis file,” Nickel said. “Where can you consume them? How are you going to consume them? These sorts of things have to be put into play.”

Nickel is hoping common sense hits the bureaucracy as well.

When stores first popped up a year ago, zoning headaches happened.

One Fire and Flower location was at first denied because it was a few inches (out of the length of a football field) too close to a school.

Nickel said city staff finally agreed to a solution after resisting at first.