Toronto taking wait-and-see approach to medical pot
The effect of rules allowing medical pot users to puff in public unless a proprietor bans it is "not on our radar”

thestar.com
Nov. 25, 2015
By David Rider

The City of Toronto is taking a wait-and-see approach to medical marijuana and the prospect of users puffing in hockey rinks and other city facilities.

“I don’t think it’s something that is on our radar,” Councillor Joe Mihevc, chair of Toronto’s public health board, said Wednesday when told of Ontario regulations that allow medical users to smoke and vape in public spaces unless a proprietor bans it.

“If it becomes more pronounced and present, then we would want to consider our actions.”

Mihevc (Ward 21 St. Paul’s West) added that he knows medical marijuana users and believes the regulations won’t affect their desire not to expose others, especially children, to second-hand smoke or vapour.

Toronto has historically taken a strong stand against smoking in public places. In 2013, city council went further than provincial rules by outlawing smoking within nine metres of the entrance or exit of any building used by the public.

Mayor John Tory said allowing pot to be used in places where smoking is prohibited doesn’t make “common sense.”

“I think the rules should be consistent because smoking is smoking,” Tory said while co-hosting the Live Drive with Ryan Doyle on Newstalk 1010 Wednesday night.

Earlier this month Dr. David McKeown, Toronto’s public health boss, convinced council to outlaw hookah lounges even if non-tobacco herbal products are being smoked in the water pipes.

Public health, however, seems to be in the waiting room when it comes to doctor-prescribed pot.

Toronto Public Health “is currently looking into the health harms of cannabis, and we will be reporting to the board of health on this topic in 2016,” Susan Shepherd, drug strategy manager told the Star in an email.

Toronto’s licensing and standards department, which enforces city no-smoking rules in public parks, playgrounds and beaches, said: “We will review these new regulations to see what, if any, impact they have on our enforcement.”

Councillor Jim Karygiannis, a cigar and occasional water-pipe smoker, unsuccessfully fought the hookah ban.

With Prime Minister Justin Trudeau poised to legalize marijuana, he said, Toronto has to give itself a shake and get ready to deal with all the issues “trendy” pot will present.

Karygiannis said he has seen first-hand how medical marijuana can help ailing veterans. But he believes most smokers are “addicts” and don’t really have a choice.

“If the guy who is addicted to tobacco needs to go outside to smoke, then I think if you need to smoke medical marijuana, you should go outside to smoke it, too.”