How to deal with your pot-smoking neighbour
I’m a nurse in Toronto and live in a rental townhouse complex. A few people have moved in recently who smoke pot; it is unbearable. My neighbour doesn’t smoke in his own house, so he stands outside near my door. I spent $2,000 to build a wall between us only to be told by management that I must remove it. My job depends on clarity and being drug free; I shouldn’t be constantly subjected to this still-illegal drug. Law-abiding citizens feel their rights have been taken away and pot-smokers’ rights supersede ours. We are living in a very sad time!
In the summer of 1967, two years before Woodstock, four years before Justin Trudeau’s yuletide nativity, I preached my first sermon advocating the decriminalization of marijuana. I was a student clergyman and, to illustrate my Sunday sermon, I purchased a joint from a “friend” and passed it around to the spellbound congregation — just to demonstrate that no one went to hell just for touching the demon weed. To be clear: I wasn’t (and am not) necessarily advocating the smoking of pot; I’m simply opposed to turning smokers into criminals.
So, half a century later, it’s finally happening. Sometime soon, young Justin will shepherd legislation through Parliament not just decriminalizing, but outright legalizing pot in Canada. Most Canadians now agree that’s cool, man.
There are, of course, hurdles to be legislatively leapt before this happens. Who will sell the weed, and how will those sales be managed? What’s a realistic age limit for pot consumption? How do we keep our roads safe from high drivers? Will pot consumption be permitted in public? Bars? Restaurants (a brownie with my cappuccino, s.v.p)? And so on.
But one thing that cannot be legislated is courtesy.
No, dear correspondent, the rights of pot smokers do not supersede your rights. But whether you smoke up or not, you can’t erect an external wall in a condo complex, and I’m surprised you didn’t at least check that out before you went all Trumpy. At least you didn’t try to get the Mexicans to pay for it.
That said, you shouldn’t have to endure purple haze drifting across your front lawn, any more than you should put up with a neighbour’s tobacco smoke, McDonald’s wrappers or beer bottles.
Pot smokers need to understand that we are entering a sensitive new phase in Canadian social life. No, a person won’t likely get high from second-hand smoke, but that doesn’t make it healthy (it’s not) or pleasant for those who don’t share your enthusiasm for your drug of choice.
And there are people — many, many good people — who remain genuinely afraid of pot and those who consume it. It doesn’t matter whether that fear is justified; it’s real and needs to be respected.
So, to the immeasurable band of potheads who buy the Saturday paper and read my column, a word to the wise: Don’t be a jerk. Don’t flaunt the freedoms you are about to be afforded in the Justinian era. Keep your smoke to yourself. Respect the space of others. Don’t let kids anywhere near the brownies. And keep the grass growing green — on your own side of the fence. Send your questions to star.ethics@yahoo.ca.