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Canada: Council votes to stop smoking and growing cannabis in social housing Laura Broadley St Thomas Times-Journal Tuesday 09 Oct 2018 St. Thomas Elgin Social Services director Elizabeth Sebestyen presented council with a cannabis cultivation and smoking policy for the 530 housing units it owns, which garnered unanimous support from members. In a report, Sebestyen wrote that the city is not required to allow tenants to smoke or grow medical or recreational cannabis. Under the policy, smoking of any products will be prohibited for all new tenants and smoking of cannabis will be prohibited for every tenant on city-owned property. “By law, existing tenants must be exempted from the no-smoking provision for the length of their tenancies unless they voluntarily sign a no-smoking policy lease,” Sebestyen wrote in her report. Waterloo Region Housing was the first community housing landlord in Ontario to prohibit smoking on all new leases in 2010, and since then several other housing corporations have followed suit, Sebestyen wrote. Sesbestyen also noted that Eastwood Housing, a St. Thomas social housing provider, introduced a smoke-free policy for 270 units and social services has a smoke-free policy on a 12-storey apartment building that opened last year. The former Elgin and St. Thomas Housing Corporation, which was rolled into the city’s corporate structure two years ago, conducted a survey several years ago that indicated about half of all tenants preferred a smoke-free policy. “The percentage of smokers is higher in Elgin County and St. Thomas than it is in other parts of the province so, that’s another reason to try to make it better for tenants,” Sebestyen said in an interview. Sebestyen listed the health effects of second hand smoke, that fact that majority of people in Ontario don’t smoke, reduced risk of fire, reduction in maintenance cost and reduced insurance costs as reasons why a smoke-free policy would be a positive thing for city-owned properties. “I think part of the rationale behind it was, you know, we feel that it’s just the right thing to do for the health and safety of the 80 per cent who don’t smoke,” Sebestyen said. The policy allows for exemptions for residents who are able to provide a doctor’s note that indicates smoking cannabis is prescribed and the tenant is unable to leave the unit to smoke as a result of illness. Another exemption applies to Indigenous people and their guests who use tobacco during traditional cultural or spiritual activities. The city will enforce the policy by responding to neighbour complaints and through its annual inspection of units. The odour and moisture that’s created during cannabis cultivation will be an indicator for neighbours and staff that a tenant is growing cannabis, Sebestyen said. Before a tenant is evicted, staff will send one or more written warnings to those who are violating the policy. The London & Middlesex Housing Corporation said it would provide a statement relating to cannabis policy, but was unable to provide one before the time of publication. https://www.stthomastimesjournal.com/news/local-news/council-votes-to-stop-smoking-and-growing-cannabis-in-social-housing
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