HALIFAX—As Halifax council gets ready to give second reading to new pot laws this week, a local marijuana advocate says he’s unsurprised by the “heavy-handed” plan.

In March, Nova Scotia amended the Smoke-Free Places Act to prohibit the smoking of any substance within 20 metres of a playground or publicly owned sports venue, and within provincial parks and beaches, with the exception of rented campsites.

Now the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) is taking it a step further, and will consider banning smoking outright ahead of official legalization on Oct. 17.

The first proposed HRM bylaw bans smoking of cannabis or tobacco in parks, and included a number of housekeeping amendments around parks as well.

The second amends the municipality’s nuisance bylaw, and bans smoking on all municipal property, including sidewalks except in “designated areas.” Where, or in what form, these “designated areas” will be is not addressed in the bylaw.

The nuisance bylaw will also govern where people will be able to grow cannabis. Inside the urban service area, which contains all of peninsular Halifax, most of Dartmouth and much of the suburban municipality, growing will be restricted to inside households.

“It’s not really a surprise that the municipal government is taking this heavy-handed approach to legislating cannabis legalization,” Chris Henderson, owner of Highlife Social Club on Spring Garden Rd., said in an interview.

“Banning people from being able to grow their own cannabis outdoors makes it much more expensive and difficult for the average person to learn how to cultivate their own cannabis and encourages them to purchase from the only licensed retailer, NSLC. It’s an amazing experience growing your own cannabis outdoors and I’m sure people are able to do it without their gardening practices constituting a public nuisance.”

A ticket for smoking on public property could run anywhere from $25 all the way up to $2,000, while the penalties for growing cannabis outside of a dwelling will range from $1,000 to the municipal maximum of $10,000.

“It makes sense that there should be restrictions on where you’re allowed to smoke or vaporize cannabis — but creating a ban that prohibits its use almost everywhere constitutes the continuation of prohibition,” Henderson said.

“There’s a large percentage (of people) that really don’t care about how we smoke cannabis or whether or not we have a spot — they’re more concerned about if it’s going to bother them or not.”

Back in June, before the bylaw’s first reading, Coun. Steve Craig told StarMetro, “No, not everybody is going to be happy. ... A number of people will be pleased, I think, and some people will think that it doesn’t go far enough.”

StarMetro spoke with Halifax residents on Sunday on Spring Garden Rd. about their thoughts on the new bylaw.

Shelley MacDonald, who uses cannabis to help deal with multiple sclerosis, said that the bylaw is far too strict.

“Where are you going to smoke it? Your car? Your house?” MacDonald said.

“It’s definitely over-restrictive, because it doesn’t put down the stigma associated with it. Where are you going to smoke it? You want to go to a park or ... I mean people are going to be conscious, they’re not just going to light up and go down the street.”

Others think the bylaw makes sense. Pat and Cheryl Stewart said that people shouldn’t have to deal with smoke from others while on public property.

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“It is their Achilles’ heel not ours — people that don’t smoke, right,” said Pat.

“You also have kids around too, you don’t want to encourage people doing drugs or smoking.”

“I used to smoke and it didn’t bother me not being able to smoke it certain areas. There’s a time and a place for everything,” Cheryl added.

Both Stewarts said that they agreed people shouldn’t be allowed to grow cannabis outside their homes, as it would make weed too accessible to young people.

Also to be addressed by the municipality are land-use bylaws that will make rules about where cannabis can be produced, and to prohibit private retail sales of cannabis except at NSLC stores — not an ideal move for dispensaries that currently serve medical patients.

To Henderson, the most frustrating aspect of the new laws, both at the municipal and the provincial level, is the lack of consultation with industry professionals.

The Nova Scotia Medicinal Association of Cannabis Dispensaries (NSMACD) hosted a town hall on medicinal cannabis in Nova Scotia earlier in July to address medical patients concerns about losing access to products outside of the dried buds that will be offered by the NSLC come October.

As The Coast reported, dozens of politicians were invited, including Premier Stephen McNeil and every HRM councillor. None showed up, though many of the councillors declined due to prior commitments.

“There was a town hall meeting recently ... at the library and there was no one from government and there was supposed to be one individual from one of the approved licensed producers to show up to talk to us — and then suddenly an hour before the meeting got busy and couldn’t show up,” Henderson said.

“If we were a part of creating the industry ... we do have a perspective to share and we have experience to share that would at least be beneficial to government.”

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