St. Albert is one step closer to a full ban on public pot consumption when the drug becomes legal in October.
The bylaw would restrict smoking, vaping and edibles to private properties: Homes, backyards, porches and balconies.
"St. Albert decided to err on the side of caution so we've made it quite restrictive," Mayor Cathy Heron told CTV News. "Our thought process was we could relax the rules later if need be, but it would be much harder to clamp down if we had loose rules."
City Councillor Natalie Joly tweeted there would be exemptions for medical marijuana users.
There will be a full public ban - edibles and smoking/vaping - with an exemption for medical users. Medical smokers/vapers will still have to adhere to smoking bylaw. 1st reading of the bylaw done, 2nd/3rd reading will come back updated. #stalbert #stalbertcc https://t.co/cWrxYVQOAi
— Natalie Joly (@nataliejolyT8N) August 21, 2018
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Council conducted two online surveys earlier this year: One with 4,000 randomly selected households, and another open to all community stakeholders.
Fifty-nine per cent of invite survey participants and 44 per cent of open survey respondents strongly agreed marijuana consumption should be banned in all public places.
On the other hand, 16 and 31 per cent of respondents in each survey strongly agreed adults should be able to smoke and vape pot where tobacco consumption is allowed.
St. Albert city council will give the bylaw a second and third reading.
