Liquor stores in Nova Scotia will start selling pot for recreational use in July

Government officials in Nova Scotia, Canada, announced on Sunday that Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation would start selling marijuana in its stores and online next summer.

Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation is the province's sole liquor distributor.

Earlier this year, the Canadian government announced it would legalize the drug across the country by July 2018 and is allowing its 10 provinces to decide where to sell it, Newsweek reported. Nova Scotians, 19 and older, would be allowed to purchase up to 30 grams of marijuana for recreational use. The legal drinking age in Nova Scotia is also 19.

Residents will also be allowed to grow up to four plants per household, according to CBC News.

Did Nova Scotian residents have a say in where its sold?

More than 31,000 Nova Scotians completed an online survey in regard to legal age limit, public consumption, distribution and impaired driving, according to an executive summary posted online.

Nearly 150 people also participated in focus groups. Of those surveyed, 56 percent preferred standalone stores over a two-in-one combination of liquor and pot shops.

What's the upside to selling pot in liquor stores?

"The NSLC has the experience and expertise to distribute and sell restricted products like alcohol and now cannabis in a socially responsible way," Justice Minister Mark Furey said during a news conference. "We believe the NSLC is best positioned to sell cannabis, keeping it out of the hands of young people and making it legally available in a safe, regulated way."

"In our view, this is the right road, we think the government has made the right decision, and we affirm it," New Democratic Party leader Gary Burrill told CBC News.

What do opponents say?

"The danger is impulse," Karla McFarlane, PC MLA Nova Scotia House of Assembly, told CBC News. "I've heard it from many youth, when you walk into a liquor store, and you have the opportunity as well to purchase marijuana. The science is out there; the data is out there; the two shouldn't be mixed."