Pubdate: Thu, 30 Mar 2017
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2017 Times Colonist
Contact:  http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: Katie DeRosa
Page: A5

LANDLORDS PONDER RESTRICTING GROW-OPS, POT SMOKING

B.C. landlords look to curb legal pot use with rent agreements

As Canada edges closer to legalizing marijuana, landlords in B.C. are
considering rental agreements with restrictions on growing and smoking
in the home to weed out potential fire hazards, odours and liability
issues.  Photograph By Andy Nelson, The Associated Press

As Canada edges closer to legalizing marijuana, landlords in B.C. are
considering rental agreements with restrictions on growing and smoking
in the home to weed out potential fire hazards, odours and liability
issues.

The federal task force on marijuana legalization recommended that
Canadians should be able to grow up to four plants at home, and be
allowed to possess 30 grams of marijuana for personal use. The federal
government could announce legislation to legalize marijuana as early
as April 20 with an aim for recreational pot to be legal by Canada Day
2018.

David Hutniak, CEO of Landlord B.C., said it's one thing for medical
marijuana patients to grow their own cannabis, "but if it's legalized
for everybody - and what the task force that reported to the federal
government appears to be suggesting is that everybody can have their
own little grow-op - that's a different game. And that's the one we're
more concerned about."

The association's tenancy agreements will eventually have specific
language regarding marijuana use, Hutniak said, which could have
restrictions similar to those for smoking tobacco or having pets.

Someone with a licence to grow medical cannabis could still face
eviction if their activity affects the landlord's ability to insure
the property, if they undertake major modifications to the rental unit
or their conduct infringes on other tenants, he said.

Any grow-operation larger than a few plants on a window sill could
affect insurance coverage, according to the Insurance Bureau of
Canada. "Insurers are beginning to look at how changes in laws might
affect the coverage they offer. … The operation of a grow-op is a
high-risk activity," said the bureau's spokesman Andrew McGrath. "In
the past, property insurance has not typically been designed to cover
the potential damage a grow-op can cause to a house or condo."

Growing marijuana can involve moisture and high humidity that causes
structural damage and modifications to electrical wiring can pose a
fire hazard, McGrath said.

The Canadian Federation of Apartment Associations has written to
Health Canada, the Department of Public Safety and the Attorney
General of Canada to express its opposition to marijuana growing in
rental units.

Sandy Wagner, president of the Vancouver Island Strata Owners
Association, said once marijuana is legalized, growing a small number
of cannabis plants shouldn't violate any strata bylaws.

However, she said some strata bylaws that have a ban on smoking could
extend to cannabis.

The Civil Resolution Tribunal, which resolves strata disputes,
recently ruled that if a strata has a no-smoking bylaw, anyone who
smokes medical marijuana must do so off the strata property or consume
it in an alternative form.

Lawyer Kirk Tousaw, who fought the issue of possessing cannabis oils
all the way to the Supreme Court, said restrictions on smoking or
growing small amounts of cannabis in the home could interfere with
people's ability to consume medicine.

"If you're a medical consumer, I think there's a human rights issue if
landlords are trying to prevent you from consuming in a rental unit,"
Tousaw said.

The "hysteria" about people growing in their homes has been overblown,
he said.

New technology has led to discreet growing cabinets that merely have
to be plugged in like a refrigerator. "At the end of the day, we
shouldn't be interfering with people's access to medicine," he said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt