Cities crack down on cannabis rules on the eve of legalization

Just under one month before the October 17 legalization date for cannabis in Canada, local municipalities are buckling down to determine how best to address the change in laws.

At Monday night’s city council meeting in Sherbrooke, Public Security Committee President Danielle Berthold presented a series of new restrictions on public use of Marijuana. Although provincial law already restricts the use of cannabis in public places by making the practice illegal in any place where it is already against the law to smoke tobacco, the city’s proposed actions take the restrictions further.

Notably, municipal bylaw 1-131 proposes to make the smoking of cannabis illegal in any public place. The law specifically names streets, alleys, sidewalks, parks, dog parks, walking trails including the Lac des Nations trail, pedestrian tunnels, and any other municipal space where the public can spend time as off-limits and it also outlaws public intoxication.

The city is currently preparing signage to help clarify the new rules that will be posted in parks and on municipal buildings and an information campaign to inform the public will begin in the coming weeks.

Magog, meanwhile, is inviting its citizens to a public consultation meeting on Tuesday, October 2, regarding zoning changes to allow for the sale of cannabis and products derived from it. The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Magog City Hall.

Until the coming into force of the legalization of cannabis on October 17, 2018, the consumption and possession of cannabis remain illegal in Québec. After that date legal adults will be allowed to possess up to 30 grams of dried cannabis its equivalent in a public place and as much as 150 grams in a private residence. It will be illegal to possess cannabis on the grounds or in the buildings of day care or child care centres, preschools, elementary or secondary schools, vocational training centres, adult education centres, or colleges.

More information on the new regulations with regard to cannabis at the provincial level is available online in English at https://encadrementcannabis.gouv.qc.ca/en/