Barrie councillor wants tighter controls in place on medical marijuana production facilities
thebarrieexaminer.com
June 10, 2015
By Bob Bruton
Local controls will be turned no tighter on medical marijuana production facilities in Barrie.
Coun. Bonnie Ainsworth's efforts for further background checks on those involved were rejected by city council earlier this week.
“I'm not in favour of having this in our community, but understand that is not a choice (because of federal regulations),” she said. “Where there are drugs and money, criminal activity creeps in.
“This is to look after local control.”
Ainsworth asked that staff review provisions within the proposed city licensing bylaw for a medical marijuana facility for collecting information about those who would be associated with the facility, to help Barrie city police in their crime prevention and law enforcement work. The Ward 1 councillor wanted a memo on the results of this review, before council considers the bylaw for approval June 22.
City staff contacted the police and were told the names, birth dates and gender of these people would be valuable information for crime prevention and law enforcement. But police are concerned that doing this is contrary to privacy laws.
Criminal record checks will be done by the federal Ministry of Health while processing applications for a producer's licence.
Ainsworth has said she lacks faith in the federal Ministry of Health.
“The more local we can get control, the better,” she said.
But this is also not illegal drug activity.
“We are not talking about recreation-use marijuana,” said Coun. Arif Khan, noting it's used for pain management for seizures, cancer and other medical conditions.
Zvi Lifshiz, executive director of Invest Barrie, noted it won't be a retail outlet.
“There's no window to go and buy,” he said. “A lot of the quantities of medical marijuana do not (produce) a high.”
Licensed producers must comply with municipal zoning bylaws and notify local authorities of their intentions, including site location. These producers can be licenced to grow, process, sell, ship, deliver, transport, destroy, export or import marijuana for medical purposes.
Health Canada released new regulations for medical marijuana in 2013 to address its production, which came into effect April 1, 2014.
The medical benefits of marijuana remain controversial, although the relief of chronic pain is most often cited.
Health Canada says dried marijuana is not an approved drug or medicine in this country. The Canadian government doesn't endorse the use of marijuana, but the courts have required reasonable access to a legal source of marijuana when authorized by a physician.
Earlier this spring, city council approved an expansion of permitted uses within the industrial section of Barrie's comprehensive zoning bylaw which included medical marijuana production facilities.
Ontario's Municipal Act has restrictions about what local governments can and cannot licence. It states a municipality shall not pass a business licensing bylaw, providing for a system of licences, which makes it illegal for a business to carry on or engage in the business without a licence
This includes a manufacturing or an industrial business, except to the extent that it sells its products or raw material by retail, the sale of goods by wholesale and the generation, exploitation, extraction, harvesting, processing, renewal or transportation of natural resources.
But nothing in the Act prevents a municipality from providing for a system of licences for a business under any bylaw - other than a business licensing bylaw.
City staff have said there is interest from developers in locating medical marijuana facilities in Barrie, so the city needs specific zoning regulations to dictate how and where they would operate.
The majority of the city's general industrial land is located in the south end, although there is some in central Barrie.
The proposed bylaw includes a fee of $205 for a new business licence for a medical marijuana facility, and a $205 renewal fee.
