Update on cannabis legalization

DIDSBURY - A local lawyer has spoken to landlords, tenants and other interested residents about how to prepare for upcoming cannabis legalization.

Isabelle Cadotte of MHR Law gave the presentation at the Didsbury train station on Aug. 22 as part of the Didsbury & District Chamber of Commerce's brown bag lunch series.

The presentation was titled Living Together in Harmony: Cannabis Legalization issues for Landlords, Tenants and Condo boards.

The topics covered included the impacts of cannabis consumption and home cultivation within the household on landlords and tenants, condo boards, condo unit owners and residents of multi-family housing; what should be included in a rental agreement or condo bylaws to cover possible damages and other risks related to cannabis consumption and home cultivation; and how to deal with impaired residents and important things to consider if a landlord allows home cultivation.

Cadotte said the audience was very engaged.

"People really expressed a concern on whether they would be able to restrict tenants and residents of property/multi-unit residential units, restrict them from smoking on the premises or cultivating cannabis on the premises," she said.

"There is a question on whether the legislation allows up to four plants in any one residence or whether that applies to the whole building. So when you're dealing with an apartment complex there will be questions on how many plants are really going to be grown in all the units."

Having written documentation will help in assisting landlords to set guidelines and deal with tenants who may not comply, she said.

"You may have recourse either in court or to evict the tenant if they're in violation of the agreement," she said.

Cadotte said the presentation covered a lot of information regarding the issues.

"There is a lot of information on this topic," she said. "There are so many aspects to cannabis legalization to go over and consider. It's really going to affect lots of parts of everyone's daily lives and operations if they're in a business. People definitely have a lot of interest in it."

Cadotte said it was nice to see a variety of residents attend the session .

"They had lots of different questions -- mostly related to can I prohibit this and what can I do with a tenant who has a disclosed medical condition?" she said.

Cadotte will return to the train station for the next brown bag luncheon on Sept. 19 to talk about concerns with cannabis at the workplace.

"(It will include) how to accommodate employees who have a medical condition, how to deal with employees who are impaired on the job," she said. "What we're suggesting to people whether they are a landlord or employer is have a look at their policies, take a look at their written documents to ensure it covers what they want to happen either in their workplace or residential place.

"So whether that is allowing smoking or cultivating on rented premises or not it should be included in the agreement. Of course, when we're dealing with employee/employer, you want to make sure you have a recourse in case an employee is either impaired on the job or dealing with people who have medical conditions and how to accommodate them."

Cadotte said they will also be having presentations in other parts of Mountain View County.

"The plan is to meet with residents from all over the county," she said. "We're working on scheduling some presentations with the Olds chamber of commerce as well as the Innisfail chamber of commerce because we do have an office there as well. The topics we would like to talk about would include landlord/tenant and condo board issues, so residential issues with respect to residential premises."