Athabascans will have to go home to light their spliffs after the Town of Athabasca’s council voted to prohibit cannabis consumption in public places.
At their council meeting Oct. 2, councillors voted to approve the second and third readings of a bylaw that prohibits smoking, vaping or consumption of marijuana in public places. The ticket for breaking the bylaw is $100 for the first offence, and $250 for subsequent offences.
Mayor Colleen Powell said she believes people will continue using cannabis the way they have been using it for the past “20-odd years.”
“We’re going to find out how people use that stuff,” she said. “Frankly, I doubt there’s going to be that much change, except initially in the first few months.”
A clause in the bylaw allows council to designate public places where people can consume cannabis, though council would have to hold a public hearing before doing so.
The bylaw also states that a person who has a prescription for cannabis is not subject to this bylaw, though they would have to produce a copy of the medical document if a peace officer asks for it.
The bylaw states it comes into effect “on the day the Cannabis Act comes into force.”
Coun. David Pacholok moved the second reading of the bylaw, which was unanimously carried. Coun. Rob Balay moved the third reading of the bylaw, which was also unanimously carried.
Herbal semantics
The initial version of the bylaw included a qualifier on public spaces — that they be “town-owned.”
Coun. Michael Arychuk also brought up jointly-owned spaces, such as the Multiplex. Though Powell said she would think the town would have to ask other councils in order to set a ban on shared spaces. Arychuk said the Athabasca Regional Multiplex Society board had brought the issue at their last meeting.
“When the board met, I guess, last Monday, the members from the county were hopeful that there would be prohibition all Multliplex-owned facilities,” Arychuk said.
Powell then suggested the “town-owned” qualifier be taken out.
“That would work,” said chief administrative officer Robert Jorgensen.
Coun. Ida Edwards moved the amendment, which was unanimously carried.
Powell also pointed out that if people vape cannabis, the byproduct — water vapour — is exactly the same as the byproduct when vaping tobacco. She said this could make the bylaw difficult to enforce.
“The thing I don’t like is the vaping, because we’re allowing tobacco vaping,” she said. “Our poor peace officer isn’t going to have a clue who’s vaping tobacco and who’s vaping cannabis. So you can keep the prohibition in there knowing full well it’s going to be virtually impossible to police.”
Powell continued, saying that it does set a standard.
“We will find out what the community really thinks in time; we just don’t know this stuff yet,” she said.
