On Friday the province announced that it will create a network of government-run retail outlets, overseen by the LCBO, to sell recreational cannabis after it becomes legal on July 1, 2018. The government's plan to have 40 store-front distribution venues in place by next year (expanding that network to 150 retail outlets across the province by 2020) selling recreation cannabis, will be supplemented by an online mail-order service.

Other key elements of the government's plan, include: 

• Setting the minimum age to use, purchase and possess recreation cannabis at 19. 
• Prohibiting the use of recreational cannabis in public places and workplaces. 
• Using the LCBO to oversee the retail of legal cannabis through stand-alone stores and on-line sales.
• Investing in prevention and harm reduction for vulnerable populations. 

As the government creates is own retail outlets, it will also step-up enforcement against illegal dispensaries, which have been opening across the province since 2015 when the government announced its intention to legalize marijuana. The government will pursue a coordinated enforcement strategy, working with municipalities, local police services, the OPP and the federal government to shut-down illegal dispensaries and discourage the illicit sale and purchase of marijuana from non-government sources. 

The government's announcement, which made Ontario the first province to unveil its plan for the sale of recreational cannabis, came as a recent poll of Canadians found that a majority (57%) do not believe that the federal and provincial governments will have a legal framework for the sale of recreational marijuana in place by the July 1, 2018 deadline. 

For more: 

Backgrounder: Ontario's Plan to Regulate Legalized Cannabis

Backgrounder: Ontario's Cannabis Retail and Distribution Model