Town council was scheduled to discuss at its meeting Tuesday a report from staff on how marijuana should be sold in Osoyoos after it is legalized on Oct. 17.

As normally occurs when council moves its meeting to Tuesday after a long weekend, the discussion occurred after the Osoyoos Times was put together, so we don’t know what –  if anything – was decided.

We did read the report by Gina MacKay, Town of Osoyoos director of planning and development, which raised many of the considerations council will need to decide.

The town has the power to prohibit cannabis from being sold in Osoyoos, to restrict it just to government-run stores, or to allow private outlets along with government sales.

It can also cap the number of stores and specify zoning requirements.

And, although there’s no discussion of it in MacKay’s report, council can also choose to set bylaws about smoking marijuana in public. Unlike most provinces, B.C. will allow public consumption anywhere tobacco can be smoked, with a few additional restrictions intended to protect children.

These questions are sure to be polarizing. Although this council appears to have accepted that legalization is coming, it’s fair to say that different council members have different levels of experience with cannabis and some have more of a personal stake in its legalization than others.

Among the public, there are those still in denial about the coming of legalization. Some of these people would like to see it remain criminalized, believing that anything less will encourage a surge in consumption, especially among young people, along with the destruction of millions of brain cells.

At the other end of the spectrum are those who believe it should be available without any restrictions and that consumption should be permitted anywhere.

Many of these people want to see sales in private hands, with those who have operated illegally in the past allowed to become legitimate businesses.

Often this view is accompanied by a distrust in governments, believing that governments at best will “screw it up,” or at worst will deliver an inferior product, perhaps tainted with toxic substances.

But between these extremes are those who either don’t care, or who accept that legalization is coming, but are concerned about some of the implications.

Do we want recreational pot outlets to freely set up shop along Main Street, perhaps to the extent that it changes the character of the downtown core? Are there appropriate locations for such businesses?

It’s unfortunate that council chose in March not to hold a public consulation, although its true that consultations on other subjects have often been poorly attended.

There will be public hearings around specific zoning bylaw changes, but nothing on the broader policy.

Administration is recommending the use of site-specific zoning to allow for recreational cannabis retail outlets. While this ad hoc approach gives the town flexibility to consider the circumstances of particular locations, it also makes the process less clear and predictable both for businesses wishing to establish and for neighbouring businesses and residents who may be concerned.

Currently town bylaws prohibit any retail sales of cannabis in Osoyoos.

There’s no reason why the town has to bring in a fully formed, broad retail policy by Oct. 17.

Council could choose to adopt a staged approach, more restrictive at first, but loosening those restrictions as the trial and error play out in other communities and lessons are learned.

Hopefully the public will weigh in on this issue. It shouldn’t just be decided by planners, or councillors who like the smell of pot in the morning.