HYPOCRISY IN POT BAN
There’s no buzzkill like bureaucracy.
A new proposal by Ottawa Public Health to ban marijuana — once it’s legal — from condos and apartments seems like overreach to us.
As Postmedia’s Andrew Duffy reported, Ottawa’s acting medical officer of health has recommended that the province extend its proposed ban on pot smoking in common areas of condos, apartment buildings and university residences. Dr. Vera Etches said the province should prohibit smoking cannabis, e-liquids and herbal shisha products in condos, apartment buildings, university residences, hotels and their balconies.
Welcome to what happens when Stoner State meets Nanny State.
The left-leaning federal government wants to score political points with its base and actually keep at least one of its election promises from two years ago.
Meanwhile, the left-leaning bureaucracy of the City of Toronto wants to keep people from doing anything that might not be good for them.
Who knew legal pot would be so complicated? We can agree or disagree on the idea of legalizing marijuana: There are concerns more kids will get their hands on weed; there are economic spinoffs that could help with provincial and federal finances.
It’s the state’s job to decide what precautions are needed to protect those who are under age.
It’s the responsibility of the state to decide what to do with the tax revenue the marijuana industry generates.
But the state should really stay out of deciding what legal things adults can or can’t do in their own homes.
Surely, people using marijuana in the privacy of their residences is one of the least obnoxious possible outcomes here.
Some buildings will doubtlessly have nosmoking policies. Others, though, should be allowed to cater to those who want to imbibe on their balcony or patio at night. The laws of supply and demand in the residential market will handle the rest, as they always do.
Let’s let landlords and tenants figure this one out, rather than some arm of the law.
If marijuana is to be treated like alcohol — the purview of legal-age adults, so long as they use it responsibly — then the state shouldn’t get to restrict it from a huge swath of residents just because they aren’t homeowners.
If “legal” doesn’t really mean legal, then the stink of hypocrisy here will be worse than any wafting aroma from the neighbour’s place.