Edmonton to widen smoking buffer zone to 10 metres

Calgary will be taking cues from Edmonton before looking at changes to the city’s smoking bylaw, once recreational cannabis is legalized in less than a month.

Edmonton city council voted on Tuesday to extend the buffer zone between smokers and doors, windows or bus stops from five metres to 10 metres.

The changes will apply to tobacco, cannabis and vaporizers and will come into effect on Oct. 17, the same day recreational cannabis use becomes legal across Canada.

Calgary’s smoking bylaw is still at the five-metre mark, while smoking pot will be banned in any public place once cannabis is legal.

Coun. Druh Farrell said she will be taking a “wait-and-see approach” to Edmonton’s decision, adding Calgary council may follow suit depending on how the new rules play out in the capital.

“It’ll be interesting to observe what Edmonton decides and see what they’ve learned from the exercise,” Farrell said. “I’m interested in how do we reduce cigarette litter.”

Farrell believes Calgary ’s cannabis rules will change in the future but said the city is as “prepared as we can be” ahead of Oct. 17.

Edmonton’s council first approved the smoking bylaw changes back in July, but the decision was reversed the next day after public feedback. Under the new rules, Edmontonians will also be banned from any kind of smoking in a park that has playground equipment.

But unlike Calgary, Edmonton has yet to put any restrictions on public cannabis consumption. Under the Public Places Bylaw, Edmontonians will be free to smoke cannabis anywhere they can smoke tobacco.

Some Calgary councillors have rallied for public consumption sites, saying the strict municipal rules prohibit people in condos or apartments from partaking in a federally approved, legal substance.

Coun. Gian-Carlo Carra’s proposal for four public pot parks was shot down last week, and the province has said there will be no pot lounges or cafes in Alberta until after edible products are available for purchase.

Coun. Sean Chu still has cannabis concerns around impaired driving and enforcement, saying the federal government “pulled the trigger way too early” on legalization.

Despite his misgivings, Chu said the city’s tobacco and cannabis buffer shouldn’t be extended to 10 metres because the cannabis bylaw will already prohibit public use.

“I think we are OK,” Chu said. “If this is not broken, why fix it?”