The decision to legalize non-medical marijuana was taken by the federal government and regulation is also required at the provincial level.
But when prohibition ends later this summer, the greatest impact will be felt locally.
In B.C., draft legislation puts municipalities on the front line of controlling the sale and consumption of cannabis.
The province will not issue a licence to sell cannabis without a recommendation from council.
We are still waiting to hear what criteria we will need to consider in a recommendation, but it is expected to relate to traditional areas of municipal jurisdiction such as zoning, land use, and community planning.
Council should be able to determine the location and number of marijuana retail outlets in the community, and we will be able to impose conditions on retailers through business licensing and zoning regulations.
Licensing conditions could include requiring security measures (video surveillance and alarms, list of employees and a police check, etc.), prohibiting minors on the premises, prohibiting consumption on the premises, limiting opening hours, restricting advertising and signage, and limiting the number of licences within the community.
The consumption of cannabis in public places is also a concern, given the health impacts of second-hand smoke and behavioural effects on children.
Established practices in regulating tobacco and alcohol should help guide us when dealing with cannabis.
One of the goals of legalization is to reduce the illicit market for cannabis but we really don’t know how it will impact the current involvement of organized crime.
There are also questions about the risks of drug-impaired driving.
Few people expect legalization to reduce the RCMP’s workload, at least not in the short term, and many of us do not want to see local government burdened with increased policing costs due to legalization.
To that end, we still don’t know how tax revenue from cannabis sales will be shared between provincial and local governments.
The commercial cultivation and processing of non-medical cannabis is another concern, particularly given the importance of agriculture to Summerland.
Medical marijuana can be grown within the Agricultural Land Reserve, and several existing Summerland grow ops have caused problems in respect to odour, accessory uses, and crime.
We don’t yet know if the production of recreational cannabis will be permitted on ALR land.
It’s being examined by the Advisory Committee on the Revitalization of the ALR, which is expected to report back to the provincial government by the end of the summer.
Our current zoning bylaw makes no mention of cannabis production so council is proposing an amendment to limit licensed production facilities to industrial lands only.
This may just be an interim measure until we see what comes down the pipe from the federal and provincial governments, but many people see cannabis production more as an industrial activity than an agricultural one.
For more information and to provide your views to council, please plan to attend an open house on cannabis legalization at the Arena Banquet Room on Thursday, May 24 from 4 to 8 p.m. with a presentation at 6 p.m.
Doug Holmes is a Summerland municipal councillor.
