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Where will it be legal to use recreational cannabis?
Only in private residences, including apartment buildings and outdoor areas such as decks, porches and yards. But not in public places, workplaces or inside a vehicle, said the province in an announcement Friday.
This approach is guided by existing laws for consuming alcohol and the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. In other words, if you can’t use tobacco or drink a beer in a place, you can’t use marijuana there, either. So, no smoking pot in parks or in front of a school.
But there are inconsistencies. While you can drink a beer in a bar or a nightclub, you won’t be able to smoke marijuana there — at least for now, although the province has left the door open to introducing other places where cannabis can be used. In the coming months, Ontario will consult with municipal partners, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and other organizations to “explore the feasibility and implications of introducing designated establishments where recreational cannabis could be consumed.”
Jeffrey Lizotte, the CEO of Next Wave Brands, a cannabis consulting firm, said Friday he’s concerned about inconsistencies in the Ontario framework.
“You can smoke in your apartment in front of your children, but you can’t smoke a vaporizer on the street? That doesn’t make sense. It’s not healthy to smoke around your kids,” he said.
He’s also concerned that some people will have few options for where they can use cannabis — those who live in non-smoking apartment buildings, for example.
“If you have a landlord who says ‘no smoking,’ what alternative do you have? Telling people they have to smoke only in their own homes is not viable,” said Lizotte.
What might “designated spaces” look like?
In Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal since December 2012 for those over the age of 21, cannabis has been easy to buy, but there are few legal places to use it. Tourists have been a problem in Denver, smoking in alleys, hotel balconies and other places were marijuana is not illegal. A patchwork of state, local and private regulations bans marijuana use from public places including parks, sidewalks, airport smoking areas, hotel rooms, gallery events and nightclubs.
In June, Denver announced a pilot project that would allow people to use marijuana at some businesses, as long as they have the support of a group such as a registered neighbourhood organization or business improvement district. Interested businesses have included yoga studios, coffee shops with patios, restaurants and bars.
There are also “membership clubs” for cannabis users in Denver and Colorado Springs, and customized party buses offer “mobile cannabis lounges.” But the legality of these pot clubs is unclear — some have been raided by police.
It’s uncertain as to what Ontario’s framework will mean for apartment dwellers.
The Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations has argued that smoking marijuana should be banned in the same places smoking tobacco is banned. In a single-family home, what an owner-occupant does largely affects only themselves, said the federation. But in multi-unit dwellings, an occupant’s actions in one unit can affect the occupants of other units.
While a landlord can put a non-smoking clause in a lease, these are not easy to enforce, said Ottawa lawyer John Dickie, who is the president of the federation, which represents the owners and managers of almost one million residential rental suites.
A landlord needs to prove that other tenants’ enjoyment of their units has been affected — and this requires a neighbour of the smoker to step forward to tell the Landlord and Tenant Board that he or she has been negatively affected by the smoke, he said.
“People don’t like to complain about their neighbours. There’s the practical question of giving evidence.”
Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa lawyer who teachers drug law and policy in the department of criminology at the University of Ottawa, also points out that saying people can use marijuana in their “residence” is very broad. “What if your residence is a seniors residence? There are seniors who will smoke medicinal marijuana and those who will smoke it recreationally,” he said.
Still, Oscapella considers the question of where people can smoke cannabis to be a minor one.
“These are things that can be regulated by sensible municipal bylaws. It depends on local culture. Ban it in public parks. It can be solved reasonably,” he said.
“It’s not like there will be a massive increase in use. If you didn’t smoke marijuana before, you’re not going to smoke it now,” he said.
Allowing marijuana to be smoked in a designated space such as a pot club makes perfectly good sense to Oscapella. “Responsible consumption, respectful consumption is what we’re working at,” he said.
Lizotte agreed. “You have to give people the option to smoke in a place that is not their home.”
查看原文...
Only in private residences, including apartment buildings and outdoor areas such as decks, porches and yards. But not in public places, workplaces or inside a vehicle, said the province in an announcement Friday.
This approach is guided by existing laws for consuming alcohol and the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. In other words, if you can’t use tobacco or drink a beer in a place, you can’t use marijuana there, either. So, no smoking pot in parks or in front of a school.
But there are inconsistencies. While you can drink a beer in a bar or a nightclub, you won’t be able to smoke marijuana there — at least for now, although the province has left the door open to introducing other places where cannabis can be used. In the coming months, Ontario will consult with municipal partners, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and other organizations to “explore the feasibility and implications of introducing designated establishments where recreational cannabis could be consumed.”
Jeffrey Lizotte, the CEO of Next Wave Brands, a cannabis consulting firm, said Friday he’s concerned about inconsistencies in the Ontario framework.
“You can smoke in your apartment in front of your children, but you can’t smoke a vaporizer on the street? That doesn’t make sense. It’s not healthy to smoke around your kids,” he said.
He’s also concerned that some people will have few options for where they can use cannabis — those who live in non-smoking apartment buildings, for example.
“If you have a landlord who says ‘no smoking,’ what alternative do you have? Telling people they have to smoke only in their own homes is not viable,” said Lizotte.
What might “designated spaces” look like?
In Colorado, where recreational marijuana has been legal since December 2012 for those over the age of 21, cannabis has been easy to buy, but there are few legal places to use it. Tourists have been a problem in Denver, smoking in alleys, hotel balconies and other places were marijuana is not illegal. A patchwork of state, local and private regulations bans marijuana use from public places including parks, sidewalks, airport smoking areas, hotel rooms, gallery events and nightclubs.
In June, Denver announced a pilot project that would allow people to use marijuana at some businesses, as long as they have the support of a group such as a registered neighbourhood organization or business improvement district. Interested businesses have included yoga studios, coffee shops with patios, restaurants and bars.
There are also “membership clubs” for cannabis users in Denver and Colorado Springs, and customized party buses offer “mobile cannabis lounges.” But the legality of these pot clubs is unclear — some have been raided by police.
It’s uncertain as to what Ontario’s framework will mean for apartment dwellers.
The Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations has argued that smoking marijuana should be banned in the same places smoking tobacco is banned. In a single-family home, what an owner-occupant does largely affects only themselves, said the federation. But in multi-unit dwellings, an occupant’s actions in one unit can affect the occupants of other units.
While a landlord can put a non-smoking clause in a lease, these are not easy to enforce, said Ottawa lawyer John Dickie, who is the president of the federation, which represents the owners and managers of almost one million residential rental suites.
A landlord needs to prove that other tenants’ enjoyment of their units has been affected — and this requires a neighbour of the smoker to step forward to tell the Landlord and Tenant Board that he or she has been negatively affected by the smoke, he said.
“People don’t like to complain about their neighbours. There’s the practical question of giving evidence.”
Eugene Oscapella, an Ottawa lawyer who teachers drug law and policy in the department of criminology at the University of Ottawa, also points out that saying people can use marijuana in their “residence” is very broad. “What if your residence is a seniors residence? There are seniors who will smoke medicinal marijuana and those who will smoke it recreationally,” he said.
Still, Oscapella considers the question of where people can smoke cannabis to be a minor one.
“These are things that can be regulated by sensible municipal bylaws. It depends on local culture. Ban it in public parks. It can be solved reasonably,” he said.
“It’s not like there will be a massive increase in use. If you didn’t smoke marijuana before, you’re not going to smoke it now,” he said.
Allowing marijuana to be smoked in a designated space such as a pot club makes perfectly good sense to Oscapella. “Responsible consumption, respectful consumption is what we’re working at,” he said.
Lizotte agreed. “You have to give people the option to smoke in a place that is not their home.”
查看原文...
