Where can people use cannabis?

Councillor’s motion calls for city to look at rules for public consumption sites

With pot legalization two months away, the City of Victoria should lay down rules on where people are allowed to consume cannabis, says one city councillor.

Cannabis vapour lounges are currently banned in Victoria, but Coun. Ben Isitt said that poses problems for renters who aren’t allowed to smoke cannabis in apartments or strata units as well as people with debilitating illnesses who want to consume cannabis in a social setting.

“The question for that big segment of the population, literally tens of thousands of people, is where are they supposed to smoke the stuff?” he asked.

Isitt wants city staff to look to places such as Denver, Colorado, for inspiration on how to regulate cannabis-consumption sites in Victoria, according to a motion put forward to city council.

One option, Isitt said, could be cannabis-consumption patios where people can smoke in outdoor spaces on private land that have substantial setbacks from sidewalks and public spaces.

The city of Denver opened the door to cannabis consumption lounges in February, when it granted a business licence to a coffee shop called the Coffee Joint that allows customers over 21 to vape or eat edibles that they bring to the café. However, in order to comply with state law, the indoor coffee shop does not allow smoking and can’t sell marijuana products. Customers can buy product from the dispensary next door, which is under the same ownership.

However, Ashley Kilroy, the head of Denver’s department of excise and licences, which oversees marijuana regulation, said creating rules around social consumption is an ongoing experiment.

“We had to thread the needle carefully because public consumption is illegal,” Kilroy said. “And you can’t consume anywhere that serves liquor. Also, under state law, smoking indoors is not allowed.”

That leaves a narrow gap for coffee shops willing to let patrons BYOC — bring your own cannabis — which is hardly a lucrative business model.

Victoria’s lone cannabis-consumption space, Terp City Canna Lounge on Douglas Street, is illegal and is under pressure from the city to shut its doors.