Province appears to backtrack on whether municipalities can opt out of having pot shops

The Ontario government appears to be backtracking on a statement that municipalities will be unable to opt out of hostingmarijuana stores.

The issue came up this week after a City of Richmond Hill committee endorsed a statement saying it wouldn't be willing to hostone of the stores after Ottawa legalizes recreational pot in July, 2018.

• Ontario communities can delay but not opt out of pot shops, province says

• Buzz, killed? Why Richmond Hill's mayor wants to keep legal weed stores out of his town

A spokeswoman for Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa told The Canadian Press on Friday that if a community was selected to host amarijuana shop, it could delay hosting the store but couldn't completely opt out of having it.

However, just hours later Jessica Martin said the government still hadn't decided whether municipalities would be allowed to optout of hosting retail pot shops.

Ontario was the first province to announce a detailed plan to sell and distribute recreational pot, and will set the legal age topurchase it at 19.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario hopes to open 40 stores by next July, and consumers will also be able to access cannabisthrough an online retail website.