Medical Marijuana

Jurisdiction

  • Personal medical use in public spaces is the same as recreational use, listed above, and regulated by the Smoke Free Ontario Act and Regional By-law. 
  • Licensing and compliance to regulations of growing facilities belongs to the federal government. 
  • However, oversight of the regulations from federal and provincial perspective is multi jurisdictional to include Health Canada and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) - Environmental Management Branch. 
  • These facilities operate under different legislation than the legalization of cannabis for recreational use. It is the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations. 
  • The Town’s current jurisdiction is property standards infractions, as per the municipal By-law.

Licensing 

  • Licences are only issued by Health Canada once it has been determined that all information submitted demonstrates compliance with the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR) and the facility has been built. Each application undergoes a detailed assessment and review, including in-depth security checks undertaken by the RCMP. 
  • The authorized licensed producers are listed on Health Canada’s website 
  • Health Canada conducts compliance and monitoring activities of regulated parties to ensure compliance with the various regulations to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA). These activities include education, complaint investigations and inspecting licensed sites, or sites applying to be licensed to conduct regulated activities. 
  • Information about a producer’s requirements can be found on the Health Canada website. 

Odours

  • Public Health Ontario conducted a review of literature to assess potential health effects related to odour producing emissions associated with cannabis production facilities.  
  • The review did not find a link to health effects from production facilities. 
  • Similar to other environmental odours as a result of agricultural practice, these odours can be a nuisance and may affect an individual’s sense of well-being by triggering a physiological response. 
  • More info on Odours from Cannabis Production (PDF) is available from Public Health Ontario.