Red Deer closer to banning public cannabis consumption

Councillor Frank Wong was the lone dissenting vote.

The recommendations to council stem from survey results The City compiled this past spring which suggest the top cannabis-related concerns for citizens revolve around public consumption (73 per cent) and cannabis odours (49 per cent).

Additional amendments were proposed, however, as Councillor Vesna Higham challenged her colleagues to consider three things.

The first, which passed 6-2 (Wong and Wyntjes dissenting), was to change the fine structure for violations. Instead of a first offence of $200 payable to The City followed by a second offence of $200-2500 with a mandatory court appearance, Higham wanted an extra step added to prevent increased bottleneck in the court system.

Council agreed to add a second offence of $500 and to a third offence of $500-2500 before a mandatory court appearance would be employed.

Higham’s second and third amendments became motions and were both approved to give direction for administration to explore changes at second reading.

Administration will look at the viability of banning cannabis smoking and vaping in multi-unit residential housing where there are three or more units. They will also explore the pros and cons of changing the exemption for medical cannabis users so that they would only be allowed to consume it in public as long as it isn’t by smoking or vaping.

A letter to council from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a tobacco control organization based in Edmonton, estimates there are already 2,000 “green card” holders in Red Deer. Executive Director Les Hagen says that’s solely based on there being 100,000 in the province, a figure they obtained from the Provincial Cannabis Secretariat.

ASH says leaving the exemption as is would defeat the purpose given how easy it is to obtain a green card.

“This is one of the worst pieces of federal legislation that has come down from any government in my lifetime,” Councillor Higham remarked. “It’s so divisive to our communities, and second, we have evidence and data from other jurisdictions who are struggling, like Colorado and California, with higher hospital visits and lower retention in schools.”

She added that the rationale the federal government gave for legalization was centred around keeping it out of the hands of youth and destroying or putting a dent in the black market.

“Not only is that not being accomplished, it’s seemingly having the opposite effect (in other jurisdictions),” she claimed. “We’re trying to do the best we can at a local level.”

“There is no requirement for city council to hold a public hearing prior to giving final approval to these proposed changes. Second and third readings are scheduled for Sept. 4.

Recreational cannabis becomes legal across Canada on Oct. 17.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Red Deer closer to banning public cannabis consumption

What's Trending