To update Chatham-Kent municipal council on how upcoming legislation regarding the legalization of marijuana will affect the various departments, staff held a special meeting June 11 in council chambers.
Organized by community development, the forum featured reports from public health, human resources, planning services, municipal health and Chatham-Kent police. Each speaker outlined how his or her department was preparing for the federal legislation (Bill C-45), which was supposed to be enacted in July. Two provincial pieces of legislation have been passed in response to Bill-C-45 which, according to the report to council, are meant to have three main priorities – protecting youth, community and road safety and eliminating the illegal cannabis market.
The legislation states that recreational cannabis can’t be sold to anyone under the age of 19, and they can’t possess, cultivate, consume or share any amount of it.
The act also prohibits the use of recreational cannabis in all public places, workplaces and motor vehicles, which affects many of the bylaws in effect in the municipality.
April Rietdyk, a registered nurse and general manager of Community Human Services, said there are still many issues related to the legislation up in the air until it is enacted the attached regulations are put into place.
With the third reading of the federal bill passed, Rietdyk said there were many amendments made that must be dealt with before the bill can enacted, including a difference of opinion amongst the provinces about allowing people to grow a limited amount of marijuana at home, and concerns with allowing parents to share it with their children.
The police, in particular, already have laws in place regarding impaired driving due to drugs or alcohol and are now waiting for federal trials on a roadside device that can test for cannabis levels.
The legislation allows adults to have and share 30 grams of dry leaves of cannabis, according to Sgt. Matt Stezycki of the Chatham-Kent Police Service, with a $200 fine for possessing 31-50 grams and criminal charges for over 50 grams.
“Distributing and trafficking to youth will have more severe penalties,” the sergeant noted. “We have 22 officers trained in field sobriety testing and two officers specially trained in dry detection.”
He added that the government sale of cannabis at licensed stores will undercut the price of cannabis per gram – $10-$20/gram on the street but $8-$9/gram at a licensed store to encourage people to obtain their cannabis from a legal source that follows strict guidelines on ingredients and production.
Planning services will also be involved when one of the first 29 municipalities to get legal stores – Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) – will open in Chatham-Kent, according to Planning Director Bruce McAllister.
“There will be 29 store-fronts to start, including Chatham in 2018 that will sell cannabis and related delivery products only. The stores will only be allowed in retail use zones and they will be limited in their proximity to school zones and other areas of concern,” McAllister said.
According to the report, about 150 stand alone stores will be opened by the end of 2020, with about 40 stores in 2018 and rising to 80 within the first year.
McAllister said landlords and tenants will also be affected but as with the current Residential Tenant Act, it will depend on the landlord as what is allowed.
The federal and provincial governments have updates on their websites, including ocscannabisupdates.com and https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/campaigns/cannabis.html.
