Cannabis regulations and control (Motion #04-17)

Moved by Thain – Pilon. Approved by the Sudbury & District Board of Health, January 19, 2017.

WHEREAS the Final Report of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation, A Framework for the Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis, recommended to the federal government that current restrictions on public smoking of tobacco products be extended to the smoking of cannabis products and to cannabis vaping products; and

WHEREAS the recently amended Smoke Free Ontario Act permits certain products and substances to be prohibited under the regulatory framework of the Act; and

WHEREAS Sudbury & District Board of Health motion #54-15 called for a public health approach to the forthcoming cannabis legalization framework, including strict health-focused regulations to reduce the health and societal harms associated with cannabis use; and

WHEREAS a public health approach focuses on high‐risk users and includes strategies such as controlled availability, age limits, low risk use guidelines, pricing, advertising restrictions, and general and targeted prevention initiatives and allows for more control over the risk factors associated with cannabis‐related health and societal harms; and

WHEREAS by prohibiting the smoking of all cannabis in all places where the smoking of tobacco is prohibited, children, youth and adults in our communities will result in reduced public and second-hand exposure to cannabis;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Sudbury & District Board of Health call for the inclusion of marijuana (medicinal and recreational) as a prescribed product or substance under the Smoke Free Ontario Act; and

FURTHER THAT this resolution be shared with the Honourable Prime Minister of Canada, local Members of Parliament, the Premier of Ontario, local Members of Provincial Parliament, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, Federal Minister of Health, the Attorney General, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Association of Local Public Health Agencies, Ontario Boards of Health, Ontario Public Health Association, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and local community partners, including constituent municipalities.

CARRIED with friendly amendment.


This item was last modified on January 26, 2017