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Ward 8 Residents Petitioning Against Backyard Cannabis Smell

Clipping marijuana leaf from cannabis plant at indoor garden ready for harvest
Clipping marijuana leaf from cannabis plant at indoor garden ready for harvest
Residents in the Fontainebleau area have started a petition calling on the city to take action

Residents of a Ward 8 neighbourhood in Windsor are saying no to stinky marijuana plants.

Regulations allow up to four plants per household, but councillor Gary Kaschak says he's received complaints about as many as 23 plants in a single backyard.

Residents in the Fontainebleau area have started a petition calling on the city to take action.

Kaschak says the problem started last fall.

"Neighbours started calling me about this excessive smell of cannabis in their neighbourhood. It sort of borders a couple streets here in the Fontainebleau area. I've probably had about 10 neighbours call me and a couple emails and they've put a petition together to see what we can do."

He says one particular residence was granted an exception by Health Canada.

"There's a bit of a loop hole here. Health Canada allowed this resident another 19 plants. So 23 plants growing on a windy summer of fall day, the smell really permeates throughout the neighbourhood."

Kaschak says, at this point, there's not much bylaw officers can do.

"If the neighbour has all kinds of junk in the backyard or garbage that's been sitting there the municipality, through a bylaw, can take care of that. So why not cannabis odour? So we found that it's not there yet. It's just not a written bylaw."

Kaschak has asked for a report on the issue — that will be discussed at council's May 3 meeting.

Health Canada is currently undergoing a public consultation on the regulations which is set to wrap up May 7 — a report with recommendations is expected shortly after.

— with files from the Dan MacDonald Show

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