Just three people took the microphone at a public hearing about the retail sale and use of cannabis, Tuesday at Courtenay council.
Bill C-45, the federal Cannabis Act, recently became law. Access to recreational cannabis will be legalized in Canada when the legislation comes into effect Oct. 17.
“I want to know if there will be any protection for people living in condos, apartments or townhouses, because we do not want to be subjected to the foul-smelling, mind-altering drug in our own homes?” asked Centennial Drive resident Greta Jansen.
“Will pot smoking be prohibited in these types of dwellings?”
Director of development services Ian Buck said the City does not have the ability to restrict smoking in private dwellings, but landlords can.
“In other words, we have to suffer,” Jansen said.
Terry Chaney said strata councils can decide such issues as a group.
“I would like to see some kind of a system put in place that allows for small individuals to feel like they have an equal chance at this process,” she said.
Trees Island Grown, a Victoria-based cannabis retailer, wants to open a business Oct. 17 in Courtenay, but won’t do so until a regulatory regime is in place. Jasmine Liu says the business’s main concern is a proposed 300-metre buffer zone from daycares, which aren’t typically as regulated as schools.
“The main concern is exposure to youth at elementary and high school level,” Liu said.
She notes that municipalities such as Edmonton have found that daycare children are too young and are accompanied by adults, meaning the chance of them entering a store is highly unlikely.
“It became too onerous for those businesses to adhere to a 300-metre buffer zone, which had been proposed.”
She recommends a 10-metre radius for day cares, which has implemented in Calgary.
Mayor Larry Jangula asked what would stop someone from smoking pot outside a daycare, if an outlet was located next to it. Liu said City bylaws on clean air or outdoor smoking could be applicable.
The City will garner further public feedback about cannabis regulations at an open house from 5-7 p.m., Wednesday, July 4, at the Filberg Centre.