City Hall Prayer: Legalized marijuana and your municipality

Although the legalization of recreational marijuana is determined by federal law, provinces and municipalities will have significant influence over what this legalization looks like within their jurisdiction. For example, provincial legislation will determine the following (amongst other things):

1. The legal age of possession;
2. Penalties for usage by minors;
3. Places where marijuana can be consumed (in private, in public, etc.);
4. The degree to which municipalities can create stricter regulations; and,
5. Whether personal cultivation (home grown marijuana) will be permitted.

Municipalities will have an important role in areas such as business licensing, building codes, zoning, signage, municipal workplace safety, and enforcement of regulations around public consumption and impaired driving. Furthermore, some provinces, such as British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, are giving municipalities the choice of opting out of allowing retail sales of recreational marijuana in their town or city. In Saskatchewan, a number of municipalities have already chosen to exercise this option which means that there will be no stores or outlets selling marijuana within those municipalities. Some provinces are giving municipalities a say in where marijuana can be legally consumed, similar to bylaws pertaining to tobacco smoking. It addition, varying degrees of flexibility are being granted to indigenous communities concerning the implementation and regulation of legalized marijuana. Many indigenous peoples are concerned about the impact of marijuana on their communities, while others want to have the freedom to enact their own level of taxes and regulations regarding marijuana production, sales and consumption.

The fact that so many decisions regarding the legalization and regulation of recreational marijuana are going to be made or influenced by the local level of government provides a significant opportunity to make an impact through prayer, and underscores the importance of raising an informed and concerned voice for the communities we love and are seeking to raise our families in.

PRAYER STRATEGIES

1. Pray accurately: Become familiar with how your province is dealing with the legalization of marijuana so that you can pray accurately. The table below provides some of this information and more can be found online.
2. Pray specifically: Find out what specific steps your municipal government will be taking or could take, to protect children and youth, and to minimize harm. They may have some of this information posted online.
3. Pray compassionately: This legislation is well intentioned (the purpose is to keep it out of the hands of children, to protect the health of users, and to remove the criminal element). The problem is, that legalization will not achieve these objectives but will rather compound the hard already being experienced. The public and our leaders need to realize this.
4. Pray persistently: You may or may not see quick results. Position yourself in prayer and hold that ground. Sometimes breakthrough will only come through holding our ground in persistent prayer before changes are seen.

PRAYER TARGETS

1. Proper priorities: Pray that your municipality will put their priority on protecting youth, children and public health.
2. Proper focus: Pray that the focus of protecting youth, children and public health will not be diluted by the lure of additional tax dollars.
3. Wisdom: Pray for wisdom for your municipal leaders, to know how to effectively craft bylaws and regulations that would minimize the damage legalization will cause.
4. Prohibition where possible: If your province allows municipalities to prohibit the retailing of marijuana (B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba), pray that they would do so.
5. Favour and influence: Pray for those in your municipal government who are concerned about the legalization of marijuana, would have great favour and influence on their colleagues.
6. Truth and clarity: Pray that the truth regarding the harm that cannabis can cause to youth would become abundantly evident to all.
7. Courage and conviction: Pray for people to be courageous in voicing their concerns to their municipal leaders.

PROVINCIAL FRAMEWORKS The following table lists a few aspects of the provincial frameworks as of April 15, 2018. We will be following up with more detail about what other measures can be taken at the municipal level in a future newsletter.

Provincial Frameworks for the Recreational Use of Marijuana British Columbia

1. Legal age of possession will be 19
2. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
3. Consumption allowed in spaces where tobacco use is permitted, but not in areas frequented by children
4. Municipal flexibility to prohibit retailing
5. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation Alberta
6. Legal age of possession will be 18
7. Youth under 18 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
8. Consumption allowed in spaces where tobacco use is permitted, but not in areas frequented by children
9. Zoning power for municipalities; ability to set stricter restrictions on consumption sites
10. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation (indoor only) Saskatchewan
11. Legal age of possession will be 19
12. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
13. Consumption only allowed in private spaces
14. Municipal flexibility to prohibit retailing
15. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation Manitoba
16. Legal age of possession will be 19
17. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
18. Consumption to be allowed in spaces where alcohol consumption is permitted
19. Municipal flexibility to prohibit retailing by plebiscite
20. No home cultivation permitted Ontario
21. Legal age of possession will be 19
22. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
23. Consumption only allowed in private spaces
24. Flexibility to adapt the framework to the local needs of indigenous communities
25. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation Quebec
26. Legal age of possession will be 18
27. Youth under 18 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
28. Consumption to be allowed in spaces where alcohol consumption is permitted (but not on university campuses)
29. Municipal flexibility to curtail public consumption further
30. Home cultivation prohibited New Brunswick
31. Legal age of possession will be 19
32. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
33. Consumption only allowed in private spaces
34. Municipal flexibility on consumption and licensing unclear
35. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivationNewfoundland and Labrador
36. Legal age of possession will be 19
37. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
38. Public consumption prohibited
39. Municipal flexibility on consumption and licensing unclear
40. Home cultivation to be determined P.E.I.
41. Legal age of possession will be 19
42. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
43. Consumption prohibited in public areas (initially)
44. Municipalities will have some flexibility over certain aspects, but details are not yet clear
45. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation Nova Scotia
46. Legal age of possession will be 19
47. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
48. Consumption to be allowed in spaces where alcohol consumption is permitted
49. Municipalities may further restrict where consumption is permitted
50. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation Yukon
51. Legal age of possession will be 19
52. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
53. Public consumption prohibited initially
54. No apparent municipal flexibility on sales or public consumption
55. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation N.W.T.
56. Legal age of possession will be 19
57. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis
58. Public consumption will be prohibited in some areas (e.g. frequented by children)
59. Communities can hold a plebiscite to restrict or prohibit cannabis
60. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation Nunavut
61. Legal age of possession will be 19
62. Youth under 19 prohibited from possessing any cannabis.
63. Consumption allowed in spaces where tobacco use is permitted, but not in areas frequented by children
64. Municipalities may implement some restrictions (use, temporary ban on sales)
65. 4 cannabis plants permitted for home cultivation