Cannabis smoking prohibited in parks trails sports venues schoos or within 7.5m of building entry

Now that the purchase and possession of small amounts of cannabis is legal under the federal Cannabis Act, the City of Port Moody wants residents and visitors to know that cannabis smokers must follow the same rules as tobacco smokers. That means the smoking of cannabis is prohibited in a number of places within municipal boundaries, including City parks and trails, sports venues, and school premises, or within 7.5 metres of building entryways. 

Under the City’s Smoking Regulation Bylaw Number 2773, smoking is prohibited in any:

• building;
• substantially enclosed place as defined by the Tobacco Control Act;
• workplace;
• school premises;
• City parks, sports venues, playgrounds, and beaches;
• vehicle* for hire or vehicle when youth under 16 years of age are present;
• substantially enclosed transit shelters or mode of public transportation; and
• buffer zone, defined as within 7.5 metres of any public or workplace entryway, opening window, or air intake. 

Under Bylaw Number 2773, the smoking of cannabis is permitted in private dwellings, including those in which the owner or occupier also carries on a business with no other workers present, and in a hotel or motel room designated by management for smoking. In smoking clubs, patrons may only smoke non-tobacco and non-cannabis products such as tobacco-free herbal cigarettes or hookah. 

In the Smoking Regulation Bylaw, “smoke” or “smoking” means “to inhale, exhale, burn, or carry a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe, hookah pipe, or other lighted smoking equipment that burns tobacco or other weed or substance” and “smoking club” means “a premise used for the purpose of allowing persons over 19 years of age to smoke non-tobacco and non-cannabis products.” 

Smoking where prohibited carries a fine of $500. 

Retail sale of cannabis is not permitted in Port Moody at this time. The City will be conducting a public consultation regarding cannabis retail sales in November 2018.

*In the case of vehicles, the City’s Smoking Regulation Bylaw is superseded by B.C.’s Cannabis Control and Licensing Act, which prohibits the use of cannabis in vehicles.