Renters, landlords have the right to be cannabis-free
Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia (IPOANS) is not in favour of the proposed Federal Government’s cannabis legalization legislation.
“Nova Scotia’s Cannabis Legalization Working Group must take into consideration multi-family unit dwellings’ high-density living environment when writing cannabis regulations,” says IPOANS president Jeremy Jackson. Adding “The current legislation, as is, fails to protect tenants’ right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes, a right guaranteed under the Nova Scotia Residential Tenancy Act.”
According to Statistics Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey, there are 111,000 renter households in Nova Scotia. Taking into account an average 1.5 occupancy factor per renter household, marijuana use and cultivation places 166,000 Nova Scotians’ health and safety in jeopardy.
In a single family home what an owner-occupant does mainly affects only themselves, whereas, in multiunit family dwellings, occupants’ actions in one unit can have a significant and often negative impact on residents of adjacent units.
Second-hand smoke is not benign. Research data has shown secondhand smoke can infiltrate surrounding apartments, exposing non-smoking occupants to high levels of airborne impurities. Therefore, regulators must view multi-family unit dwellings in a broader environmental context rather than in the framework of an individual unit.
IPOANS’ members have heard from tenants with respiratory conditions, young families, seniors and non-smoking residents who all expressed concerns about associated health risks of inhaling drifting second-hand marijuana smoke and drifting airborne toxins from marijuana plant cultivation. Former marijuana users expressed fear of relapse by coming in constant contact with drifting second-hand marijuana smoke.
Rental demand for smoke-free living environments are experiencing impressive growth rates. Residential landlords are meeting demand by converting existing rental stock into “smoke-free buildings.” Smoke-free lease terms and conditions align with Nova Scotia’s Smoke-Free Places Act in setting smoking rules. Tenancy agreements permit medical marijuana users to consume less evasive smoke-free medical marijuana products.
Jackson’s preference would be for Nova Scotia’s Cannabis Legalization Working Group to follow New Brunswick’s Legalization Working Group’s recommendation, “affirming landlords are free to prohibit the cultivation of cannabis in rented premises in a lease agreement.”
And, ideally, Nova Scotia takes a leadership position by “affirming landlords are free to prohibit cannabis smoking in rented premises in a lease agreement.”