No pot bylaw, at least for now

By Collin Gallant on October 2, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

City council on Monday defeated a local bylaw that would have beefed up provincial rules for public use of cannabis.

Some councillors argued the community has called for tougher standards than contained in a proposal to regulate the soon-to-be-legal substance similar to tobacco.

Some said rules more akin to alcohol were in order, while others felt concerns over public pot smoking were unfounded, and more might be known later this month about reaction.

What it means now though, is the Oct. 17 legalization date will likely pass before local rules can be approved.

Therefore, two weeks from Thursday, smoking a joint on a sidewalk won’t be illegal as long as you’re five metres from a doorway.

Councillors and city lawyers stressed provincial rules and even some tenets of the city’s anti-tobacco smoking bylaw will be in place until local rules can be drafted.

“It’s not going to be the wild west on Oct. 17,” said Coun. Julie Friesen, who led the debate to vote down the bylaw. “I don’t believe having public use rules included in anti-tobacco bylaw will work for this community,”

It was rejected by an 8-0 vote (Coun. Robert Dumanowski was absent), and then Friesen moved a motion directing staff to draft a new “cannabis specific bylaw.”

The goals and main points of that proposal are still to be determined, but most agree it won’t be ready for council’s Oct. 15 meeting, the final before legalization.

“It’s brand new to everyone,” said Coun. Darren Hirsch. “We have a legal product and nowhere to use it … I think a lot of Hatters are going to ask, ‘What now?'”

Provincial rules allow smoking in private residences, though a number of large apartment rental companies say they won’t allow it in their properties and condo boards can write restrictions into their bylaws.

The Alberta government says rules for cannabis cafes could be written next year, but basic restrictions currently bar smoking in public buildings, including most private businesses, parks, recreation facilities and all vehicles other than parked motorhomes.

Not included are parking lots, sidewalks other than areas next to doorways, and roadways.

Mayor Ted Clugston said the province — which did put forward a set of rules for use — has left municipalities to figure out the complex problem by themselves.

“The problem is the province has dropped the ball,” he claimed to council, before restricting debate, stating he “didn’t want to write a bylaw of the fly” on Monday night.

The defeated bylaw would have blended cannabis use in with existing anti-tobacco bylaws, increased the doorway distance for either substance from 5 to 10 metres, and added parking lots and also vaping to a list of definitions.

That was the direction given to the city’s legal department at an August council meeting where the issue was debated at length.

The basics of the bylaw will be discussed at the next public services committee meeting, which would typically be held on Monday, Oct. 8.

City solicitor Bob Schmidt said the direction at this point is unclear.

“The motion is to draft a ‘cannabis specific bylaw’ but we don’t know what that means,” he told council about a potential timetable.

Coun. Kris Samraj said he was swayed toward stiffer restrictions by recent submissions from the Medicine Hat Police Service and local school boards. The police position stated mimicking public liquor laws would reduce potential conflicts.

“It speaks to how complicated the issue is,” said Samraj. “I was always on the fence, but (those briefs) pushed me in this direction.”

Coun. Jamie McIntosh said he viewed the tobacco-focused bylaw as “a positive solution” that didn’t lead to over regulation of personal activity.

“I don’t view (Oct. 17) as a life-changing event … but I’ll support the views of the community,” he said, stressed however, that laws for pot and liquor can’t be easily transposed.

“I can stop at eight different establishments on my way home from this meeting to have (an alcoholic) beverage, but there’s no where you can do that for cannabis.”

Councillor Phil Turnbull agreed and said the arguments (tobacco vs. alcohol) go back and forth.

“It’s a teeter-totter and hopefully we can get a bylaw that balances that out,” he said.

Coun. Jim Turner said “sober second thought” led him to change his position, but medicinal use complicates the issue.

Coun. Brian Varga seconded Friesen’s motion to redraft the bylaw, saying he hoped for a good compromise.

Note: This story has been updated to correct the timeframe of legalization alluded to in the fifth paragraph.

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