Proposed new rules on home-based medical grow ops applauded

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This article was published 30/03/2022 (1284 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Some Winnipeggers who complained “medical grow ops” pollute the air in their neighbourhoods are welcoming newly proposed rules that would force the operations to move out.

A city report highlights changes that would put restrictions on people who’ve been designated by Health Canada to grow medical cannabis to cover another person’s prescription.

Specifically, the proposal aims to alter zoning bylaws so that type of growth can only take place within “wholly enclosed” buildings. Those structures must be located at least 300 feet from the property line of any homes, parks or schools (including elementary, middle and high schools). This cannabis growth would also be limited to manufacturing zones and banned from downtown.

The changes would require city council approval.

The new zoning rules would go a long way to ensure safety, fresher air and a better quality of life in many Winnipeg neighbourhoods, said Eddie Calisto-Tavares, a member of Citizens Against Residential Cannabis Grow Ops.

Calisto-Tavares said homes used as “medical grow ops,” each of which she says can have hundreds of plants inside, don’t just give off strong odours that “poison the air.”

She said they also attract theft and can cause blackouts because they need so much power.

“It’s just horrible. You can’t breathe. (And) several of our residents, they felt really unsafe. They felt like prisoners in their own homes,” she said.

Calisto-Tavares said Amber Trails once had seven homes that appeared solely used to grow pot within five minutes of the community’s main entrance. Her group has long argued the designated growing program was abused by some people to grow far more plants than were required to fill prescriptions.

She believes the city’s pursuit of a zoning bylaw to control the practice has led some growers to move out.

“We have seen, already, the positive effect of them knowing this bylaw is coming. These homes, there are several of them, have gone up for sale and they’ve stopped growing (cannabis),” she said.

A city report on a licensing program for “cannabis production facilities” is expected soon. It will outline city inspections, fines for rule-breakers and conditions to suspend or revoke licences.

Both reports are expected in time for a final council vote in April, though the changes wouldn’t take effect for at least four months, depending on the timing of bylaw votes.

If approved, there would be no exemptions to the bylaw, even for pre-existing home growth, the city confirmed.

The new rules would not apply to those growing cannabis for personal medical use or to any retail cannabis store or federally licensed cannabis production facility.

Coun. Cindy Gilroy, who leads the property and development committee, said the new rules are meant to ensure large-scale cannabis manufacturing doesn’t take place in residential neighbourhoods and should pre-empt the problem from being repeated downtown.

“(We) are trying to make downtown residential. If you’re growing for other people, then you are manufacturing cannabis and we want to make sure that you’re in the right facility in order to deal with the smell and the issues that come out of (that),” said Gilroy.

However, a local cannabis advocate and medicinal marijuana user said he believes the city may risk a legal challenge, since the rules would affect some doctor-prescribed cannabis use.

“It’s not necessarily cut and dry but it’s a (legal) fight that the city does not want,” said Steven Stairs.

Stairs said he believes there are some cannabis growers using medical designations to grow hundreds of plants. But he said those breaking the rules should be handled by police, predicting they’d be unlikely to follow city bylaws.

Meanwhile, he said new limits on all designated growth threaten to make it harder for some patients to access cannabis for a medical reason.

“The whole designated grower program, for those who don’t abuse it, is meant for a loved one or family member to care… for a garden for someone who… doesn’t have access to the plants,” said Stairs.

A city report notes Health Canada has instructed medical cannabis growers to comply with all relevant municipal laws, so the city has the authority to impose the changes.

“The proposed bylaw amendments would not conflict with the objective of the Cannabis Act. Rather, the proposed amendments could be argued to facilitate them, because Winnipeg residents would continue to have legal access to cannabis at retail locations and could still grow their own medical cannabis in properly zoned areas,” it states.

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga