New medical cannabis licensing rules roll on to council vote

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This article was published 11/04/2022 (1275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Critics allege a municipal proposal to license some medical cannabis growth would limit patient access to prescription marijuana and could put the City of Winnipeg at risk of a legal challenge.

“I think there would be a challenge, especially in regards to the fees… You are preventing people from (accessing) basically life-saving medicine that they can grow themselves,” said Karl Gowenlock, a lawyer with the Kavanagh Law Group.

While the proposed rules have been welcomed by many residents who live near homes they believe to be solely devoted to cannabis growth, Gowenlock said the program could inspire a constitutional challenge over access to doctor-prescribed medicine.

The licensing program, which would apply solely to those authorized by Health Canada to grow medical marijuana to fill the prescriptions of others, was unanimously approved by council’s protection and community services committee Monday.

If council provides final approval, the designated growers would be required to obtain a business licence, which the city would have the power to suspend or revoke. Licence costs would range from $100 to grow one to five plants to up to $5,000 to grow 51 plants or more.

Growers of six or more plants who break the rules, such as by failing to either properly dispose of excess cannabis, store cannabis in a secure area or deliver all marijuana to the registered patient, could face a $500 fine per offence.

Longtime medical cannabis advocate Steven Stairs said he fears the plan would make it tougher and pricier to secure prescriptions for those who need medical cannabis but lack the space to grow it themselves.

Friends and family members may no longer be willing to grow plants for those patients if the new fees and rules are added, he said.

The city proposal comes several months after residents complained the absence of rules to govern medical cannabis growth allowed some single homes to contain hundreds of pot plants.

Many of those who owned the homes involved already weren’t following medical cannabis rules, so the new licensing shouldn’t be expected to alleviate the issues, Stairs argued.

“(The city) should be coming up with ways to solve this other than penalizing medical cannabis patients,” he said.

The new rules do not apply to those growing medical marijuana for their own use.

City staff say they are confident the program has been thoroughly assessed and would survive a legal challenge.

“The primary argument (against it) is you are restricting an entitlement or a right. We are not. We are just putting frameworks around it. That’s allowed by federal legislation,” said Winston Yee, manager of community bylaw enforcement services.

The rules allow access to medicine while also addressing concerns about homes that became “medical grow ops,” said Coun. Sherri Rollins, protection and community services chairwoman.

“I think it is obvious that it isn’t about disrupting people’s access to the marijuana that they need or that they are lawfully entitled to produce. This is just about moving forward in a good way for all Winnipeggers and recognizing that (plant) production can be an issue in dense, urban settings,” said Rollins.

Carmen Nedohin said her quality of life was once greatly diminished by a former “medical grow-op” near her home in Sage Creek, forcing her to largely avoid her own backyard.

The proposed licensing rules would help prevent other Winnipeggers from enduring intense odours, reduced property values and fire safety risks, Nedohin said.

“If you do find that you have a grow op in your neighbourhood… now you’ll have the ability to get in touch with the city and bylaw officers to make sure that individual is only growing on one licence and any electrical, gas (and other house modifications are) done properly,” she said. “It’s going to be much tougher… to be hiding behind these legal licences.”

Council will also soon consider a list of separate zoning changes that would restrict designated growing facilities to manufacturing areas, at least 60 metres from homes, parks or schools. Those changes still await a final council vote.

joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

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