Concerns about bylaws and legalities were raised at the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties convention
Alberta’s rural municipalities are grappling with how to deal with cannabis in their communities once it becomes legal, as many of their questions remain unanswered.
Rural municipality councillors, reeves and mayors raised the issue with provincial officials Nov. 15 during an info session held at the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties annual convention.
Their concerns largely swirled around what they can do now to ensure they are prepared for when cannabis becomes legal on July 1.
Some felt they wouldn’t be able to enact changes to bylaws in time, so they called on the federal government to push the legalization date to 2019.
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“We need to get some of these tools and have the feds slow down and not dump this (on us),” said Glen Alm, the reeve of the Municipal District of Willow Creek.
He said many rural municipalities haven’t updated their current bylaws to deal with cannabis production or retail sales in their communities, and many are hurriedly changing rules to get a grip on the incoming issue.
“We haven’t even dealt with how we’re going to deal with retail sales,” he said.
However, some communities are more prepared than others.
Mountain View County was one of the first rural districts to change its cannabis rules. In 2014, Aurora Cannabis Inc., which produces medical weed, came into the area.
Mountain View council changed rules to ensure Aurora could operate. The council created a new business class for horticulture and ensured the cannabis facility could operate only in industrial areas.
But the county now faces challenges on how to deal with retail sales, said Margaretha Bloem, the director of planning and development.
She oversaw much of the previous rule changes to accommodate Aurora.
“Additional time to deal with this would be great,” she said. “But I think the federal government has made it clear that it will be July 1, so we will make all the effort to be ready for that.”
But it’s not just changing bylaws in a short amount of time that is concerning.
Rural municipality representatives raised concerns over how RCMP will be able to deal with cannabis-impaired drivers.
Ethan Bayne, executive director of strategy and planning with the department of justice’s cannabis secretariat branch, told attendees saliva tests are likely the best way to discern how much cannabis is in someone’s system.
The federal government has piloted the saliva-testing devices, but has made no commitments to fully investing in them yet, as test results haven’t always been accurate.
As well, cannabis impairment is more complex than being drunk on alcohol, Bayne added.
“There are challenges with linking levels in the system with impairment,” he said. “It’s not as simple as being impaired at .08.”
That said, police have the authority to suspend licences and seize vehicles if people are driving impaired by cannabis. As well, consumption in vehicles won’t be allowed.
But Bayne agreed with rural representatives that all orders of government are dealing with challenging timelines.
“We would like to see clarity on what support the federal government is going to provide for training and to provide testing devices for law enforcement,” he said.
“We also want to see details on how they are going to deal with education because a huge part of this is understanding what’s legal and what’s not legal, and what the risks are.”
Rural municipalities will also have to deal with rules regarding where people can and can’t smoke weed or use other cannabis products. However, people won’t be able to smoke or vape near schools, playgrounds or other places where smoking cigarettes is prohibited.
For people who want to buy marijuana but are living in communities that don’t want pot stores, it will be available online through the provincial government.
