Town enforcement officers were given the green light this week to start using a new smoking bylaw in light of cannabis legalization, but sidewalks will stay unregulated in Bradford West Gwillimbury.
Meanwhile, South Simcoe Police Chief Andrew Fletcher said it is business as usual for police on the first 4-20 (for April 20), a sort of national celebration of marijuana and cannabis culture.
“Nothing has really changed for us,” he said. “We kind of thought the 4-20 days would maybe go away (with legalization). It’s moved more to celebrating the acceptance of it.”
While 4-20 celebrations are held in some larger urban centres, Fletcher said “we haven’t experienced that in our community.”
“It’s not like it’s a non-event,” he said, but police will simply observe and intervene if there is disruptive behaviour.
Bradford West Gwillimbury council passed the town’s new smoking bylaw at a meeting Tuesday night.
Town staff modelled the bylaw off the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which outlines several regulations including people cannot smoke within 20 metres of schools, playgrounds and spectator fields, and within nine metres of patios.
The new smoking bylaw includes tobacco, cannabis, vaping and electronic cigarettes, and smoking will be banned on all municipal properties.
“We fully believe that this is going to be enforced by public opinion at some point once residents know when and where you can’t smoke,” said town clerk Rebecca Murphy at a Committee of the Whole meeting April 2, when the bylaw got initial approval. “They’ll be pointing their fingers at people smoking in inappropriate places.”
It will be up to private property owners to institute no-smoking areas.
Smoking cannabis will not be banned from sidewalks, boulevards or roadways in the bylaw because municipalities are not allowed to do that under the Municipal Act, read a town staff report.
And although smoking is banned at spectator fields, the town will create some Designated Smoking Areas “where compliance would otherwise be impractical,” read the report.
For example, Henderson Park will be smoke-free, but instead of people having to smoke along the side of Line 9, there will be a smoking area for them.
