Residents and visitors in the Canadian province will be able to toke up outdoors, but can be fined for smoking next to public buildings, schools, or in a vehicle.
Under a new bill, pot smokers will be permitted to light up anywhere tobacco use is allowed, but must also abide by the same restrictions imposed on cigarette smokers. Smoking in enclosed spaces, within nine meters of a public building, or within 20 meters of a children’s play area will remain prohibited.
“In addition, the legislation would prohibit the consumption of cannabis in vehicles and boats that are being driven or under a person’s care or control, recognizing that in these circumstances cannabis poses risks similar to alcohol,” Mulroney stated, the Toronto Sun reports. Anyone caught violating these public smoking rules will be subject to serious fines, ranging from C$1,000 to $5,000.
“I’m sure that there will be a lot of complaints about the neighbour next door, but we’re aligning with the Smoke Free Ontario Act,” Mulroney said, according to The Globe and Mail. Earlier this summer, city officials in Edmonton, Alberta also considered the idea of allowing public pot smoking, but if Ontario’s new proposal passes, it will become the world’s largest territory to allow adults to spark up outside.
These new public smoking rules are certain to ease the minds of Ontarians living in rental properties. The province’s laws allow landlords to prohibit cannabis smoking on their properties, in order to protect the rights of tenants who wish to remain smoke-free, and many tenants began to despair that they would have no legal place to smoke up.
A similar situation is occurring in the U.S., where public pot smoking remains prohibited in every state, preventing renters and tourists from having a place to smoke legally acquired cannabis products. With the simple act of permitting public pot smoking (within reason), Ontario may well avoid these issues altogether.
The new smoking rules are also good news for the province’s cannabis industry. “There are major implications for licensed producers from a consumer marketing perspective,” Omar Khan, vice-president at cannabis consulting firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies, said to The Globe and Mail. “With the ability to now consume in public spaces, it’s a completely new ball game about how they will want to build brand awareness.”
Mulroney said that the province will begin selling weed online via the Ontario Cannabis Store on October 17th, the day that pot officially becomes legal in all of Canada. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario has been granted the authority to license privately-operated cannabis stores, which are expected to open for business by April of next year.
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