Kelowna planners expect few home-growers after cannabis legalization
KELOWNA – Canadians will soon have the right to grow a small amount of cannabis at home after legalization in October, but Kelowna planners don’t think there’s going to be a lot of uptake in their own city.
Home production of up to four plants was a cornerstone of the federal cannabis legislation passed this spring, a must-have to help combat black market production, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The new regulations surrounding retail sales and production of cannabis in Kelowna were given first reading and sent to public hearing by councillors yesterday, Aug. 27, but say little about home growing, indoors or out.
Community planning manager Ryan Smith says that’s because they aren’t expecting many Kelowna residents to exercise their new right.
“Once it’s legal we expect a few dozen or so,” Smith said. “We’ve consulted with people in the industry, and they think people will find it’s way easier to go to a retail outlet than to set it up yourself, grow it, dry it."
While the federal legislation allows the provinces and communities to put some further prohibitions around home growing, the B.C. provincial government has chosen not to and Kelowna is so far following suit.
“They said we could take if further but if we outlawed it entirely, to be honest, I’m not sure how we would enforce it,” Smith added.
Should home growing start proving more popular and causing problems, Smith said the city always has the option of adding new regulations upon review.
“We’re going to continue to monitor this, see how it goes. Not just growing but all of this,” Smith added. “I would be very surprised if we are not making updates two or three years from now or even sooner."
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