Parksville city council plans to follow provincial legislation and ban smoking or vaping recreational cannabis in public parks.
During a Nov. 19 council meeting, city administrative services and corporate officer Keeva Kehler asked council to provide staff direction on whether or not to enact a ban on smoking cannabis in public places.
Kehler said the previous council directed staff to enact the ban, but that she wanted to check with the province first to make sure they had the authority to do so.
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“I’ve since contacted the province and it has been confirmed…we do have the authority to enact a ban,” Kehler said. “Staff previously discussed the challenges with respect to enforcement and so tonight I’m asking council to provide some further direction to staff on that one element. We have not prepared a bylaw for the public ban at this point…we’re just seeking some further direction from council.”
Coun. Adam Fras questioned whether a business could come forward and ask to open a cafe where they could permit smoking cannabis.
“Smoking lounges are not permitted by the provincial government…whether they do down the road is another story, but right now no,” city CAO Debbie Comis said.
