In the final days before Canada legalizes cannabis, various groups and organizations are working hard to hammer out last minute policies, guidelines, and rules. Most recently, this includes the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC).
Yesterday, the group released an updated policy. The document clarifies key points about when, where, and how people can or cannot consume legal cannabis. In particular, the new policy focuses on cannabis in the context of workplace and housing rules.
OHRC’s New Policy Guidance
The new policies attempt to more clearly delineate the extent to which legal cannabis consumption is a human right. As such, the OHRC’s directions focus a lot on questions related to medical marijuana, chronic health conditions, disability, and addiction.
Here are some of the key guidelines to come from the OHRC. These guidelines aim to establish precedent for cannabis rules in Ontario:
- Employers must do whatever they can to accommodate medical marijuana consumption for employees who have an ongoing health condition or disability.
- The OHRC said that people with disabilities or those who rely on medical marijuana cannot be discriminated against in employment, housing, or service delivery.
- Employers do not need to let people smoke, vape, or eat weed inside their facilities. But they do need to let medical marijuana patients take adequate breaks so they can go outside and medicate.
- People must be allowed to consume legal weed in their homes and apartments, including on balconies or patios.
OHRC’s Limitations on Cannabis Consumption
In general, most of the above guidelines are designed to protect cannabis consumers. But the OHRC didn’t give consumers—whether medical marijuana patients or recreational consumers—a free-for-all pass.
The group also published guidelines for when and where people might not be able to consume