From SD #34. The Board received a report from district staff on guidelines around medicinal marijuana grow operations near school sites, after requesting information at an earlier meeting. The report notes production and sale of medicinal marijuana is governed federally under Health
Canada.
The federal regulations prohibit production within 500 metres of schools, churches and playgrounds.
However the presence of schools within a 500 metre radius of a proposed grows operation does not necessarily negate the application for a license. An Abbotsford city council zoning bylaw prohibiting medicinal marijuana production is in abeyance pending a ruling by the federal courts.
The report to Trustees concludes there seems to be limited requirement for coordination and communication amongst the various levels of authority with respect to the production of medicinal marijuana.
It notes “the Federal government has limited mechanisms in place to enforce its requirement that proprietors report to local authorities, and local authorities have limited means to find out the exact locations of licensed grow operations in their jurisdictions.”