Wheatland County ponders cannabis issues

By Sharon McLeay Times Contributor

Wheatland County council is not looking forward to the legalization of cannabis for use in the county, as it will pose a number of challenges in regard to bylaws and providing enforcement around personal use of cannabis in public areas.
The county will be responsible to set rules around taxation, commercial developments and retail locations, advertisement, land use zoning and use in public spaces.
One issue discussed on May 1, after an Alberta Health Services (AHS) presentation, focused on dealing with use in public areas. Alan Parkin, Wheatland County’s chief administrative officer, cautioned council about putting regulations in place that could not be enforced.
“From our perspective, the RCMP likely doesn’t have the resources to deal with this; if our peace officers go out there they can’t deal with a criminal code offence,” said Parkin. “As a jurisdiction, we can’t follow through on police service as we don’t have that capability.”
Discussion included public health and social issues.
Some of the provincial recommendations are to limit the use of cannabis in public establishments, and AHS is recommending restricting combustible substance use in multi-use housing complexes, as well as regulations for use in areas where children gather.
Council had concerns on enforcement and considered municipalities will need more resources to deal with community and social issues.
According to Parkin, the county could regulate private spaces, but felt the federal government should have put more parameters about private and in-home use, especially where children were involved. Given the information provided to council on May 1 by AHS, some councillors wondered why the minimum age use was set at 18, when brain development detriment occurs up to age 25. Given that second-hand cannabis smoke can also affect those nearby, questions were raised about protecting children in vehicles and their own homes.
“I don’t know about council, but personally I think the federal and provincial government need to protect our children in their homes,” said Parkin. “A three-year-old can’t protect themselves, and that’s all I am going to say.”
“Our police task force is working on the message that just because it is legal it doesn’t mean it is safe,” said Councillor Amber Link. “I do think we need to focus on the education aspect and some of the regulations the government has recommended.”
She said one positive aspect of legalization is the quality of cannabis can be monitored.
The general guideline given by the province was to approach regulation cautiously and review decisions as more information becomes available.
“It is easier to start with a more restrictive approach and roll it back than it is to add more regulations down the road,” said Janson Cabaj, medical officer of health with AHS.
Cabaj said the province also recommended restricting hours of sales, location of stores, advertisement placements and developing community engagement around the issue of cannabis use. He said longer hours of liquor sales has shown an increase in the amount of alcohol that is consumed and considered it probably would be similar for cannabis use. They recommended consideration be given to storage practices in retail and commercial settings to protect workers dealing with the products.
Cabaj said public opinion and acceptance will impact how municipalities will deal with the development of regulation in their jurisdiction.
Third reading of Senate approval on legalized cannabis is still needed and approval is expected to be passed in June 2018. If the bill does not pass, it will go back to parliament, which would have to start from scratch by re-introducing a new legalization bill.