Skip to content

Locals hash out Tofino’s proposed cannabis ban

“I hope to raise my family in a place that doesn’t stigmatize perfectly good people.”
10644027_web1_180221-UWN-Marijuana-ban-Tofino_1

Tofitians who had been looking forward to Canada’s legalization of marijuana this summer were gobsmacked to hear that their municipal council is proposing its own local prohibition.

Tofino’s district office has crafted a bylaw amendment that would temporarily ban the sale, production and distribution of cannabis within its borders to give itself time to figure out what the eventual retail sale of marijuana would look like.

Council’s chambers ran out of seats while the hallway outside was still full of locals when a public hearing to discuss the ban began at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“No decision is going to be made today at this hearing,” explained Tofino mayor Josie Osborne at the outset.

Peter Clarkson said “the prohibition era is over” while David Ward suggested council’s proposed ban could continue casting a negative, and unfair, light on local marijuana users.

“I hope to raise my family in a place that doesn’t stigmatize perfectly good people for doing nothing morally wrong,” he said.



Andrew Bailey

About the Author: Andrew Bailey

I arrived at the Westerly News as a reporter and photographer in January 2012.
Read more