Come legalization in October, no cannabis shop will be allowed within 166m of any school and must stay at least 83m away from parks, day-cares, the library or public recreation facilities. But what about Joe's Place?

Joe's Place is a local youth centre that focuses on positive lifestyle choices and alternatives to drugs and alcohol. It's located in the heart of downtown Moose Jaw.

Owner Joe Dueck spoke in front of City Council on Monday night, wondering why the local chem-free youth centre was not considered a marijuana buffer zone when recommendations have said youth centres and youth gathering areas should be considered.

"Some of the recommendations [that have] gone out to cities and municipalities have said that buffer zones would be given to schools, youth centres, and places where youth gather, so I was hoping we would be given a buffer zone. There have been some studies and research done that does show proximity, closeness, is a factor in use."

"We just want to remove temptation as far as you can from our youth. The youth of our cities and our country - they're the future and if we invest in them now we will see a great future, and we want to see them stay away from those temptations. It's been shown that cannabis use negatively affects adolescent brain developments. So we want to make sure we are doing all we can to remove that temptation and remove that substance from youth."

After some discussion from councilors, it was decided that there were enough buffer zones in place in the surrounding area and that if they allow Joe's Place to be a buffer zone, they may have to add places like churches who host youth groups, and the YMCA as well. The location of the youth centre played a factor as well, with councilors saying if a buffer were applied, a large area of Main Street would be off the list of potential shop locations.

"We already have really strict standards; we have zero tolerance," said Dueck, "We smell all the kid's breath at the door smelling for any kind of alcohol or pot and checking for any other signs of drug use. So we're going to continue with that, we're not going to change anything in that way. We may have to be a little more heightened at first, but we're hoping kids make wise decisions through and just stay away [from pot]."

Marijuana becomes legal nationwide on October 17.