First legal cannabis lounge in Ontario to be staged in middle of a beer festival

People attending a craft beer festival in Toronto in June will be able to smoke pot there, too, in what organizers say will be the first legal cannabis lounge in the province.

The “POTio” will be created in an outdoor area normally reserved for cigarette smokers at the provincially-owned Ontario Place.

The lounge is billed as a place where festival goers can “come down” from the beer and explore the world of cannabis while being educated about how to consume it responsibly.

The POTio might be a first, but organizers of other festivals and events across Ontario are grappling with how to handle the first summer of legal recreational pot.

Some events already ban smoking. But others are faced with the new reality in Ontario: people are generally allowed to smoke pot wherever tobacco smoking is allowed.

Festivals are taking different approaches.

Bluesfest in Ottawa, for example, will give all smokers a place to indulge their habit. A fenced-off area near the main concert stage at LeBreton Flats will be open to anyone over 19 smoking a legal substance, whether it’s a cigarette or a joint. No food or alcohol will be allowed.

The festival introduced the smoking area last year, which was also open to people who could prove they were medical marijuana users.

Security staff will still enforce no-smoking rules on the rest of the festival grounds, said Bluesfest spokesperson A.J. Sauvé.

At the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, which is held in a city park, tobacco smoking had been allowed in the past except in areas banned under the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, such as near playgrounds. That will probably change this year. The municipality takes a final vote April 1 on a bylaw that would ban cannabis and tobacco smoking and vaping in city parks.

Mariposa manager Chris Hazel said he knew the change was being debated at city hall, but the festival will adapt. “We’ll roll with whatever punches they throw.”

The Toronto Craft Beer Festival is embracing the changing landscape, calling its cannabis-only smoking and vaping space a celebration of the legalization of marijuana.

“What better way to optimize on a sensory experience than by adding some cannabis to the mix … ”  spokesman Tony Millar said in a press release.

“With cannabis being legal, it is legal to consume in designated (smoking) areas,” Millar explained in an interview. “We just wanted to make sure our guests were having a good experience, and a safe experience.”

The three-day festival, which leases land on the west island of Ontario Place, features music, food and samples of beer.

Public health authorities warn against drinking alcohol and smoking pot at the same time. Mixing the two “increases impairment,” says Health Canada.

Realistically, some people will arrive at the beer festival with weed, said Abi Roach, a cannabis activist and entrepreneur who is creating the POTio with the help of a marketing company.

“We aren’t selling cannabis, so the people that are bringing cannabis into (the POTio) already have the cannabis on them and they were going to consume it anyway,” said Roach. “We are not pushing anybody to do so.”

The fenced-in POTio will have chairs, information stations and staff to educate and provide advice, said Roach.

“It’s important that we don’t just give people a space to smoke weed. I want to give them education about what they are doing and for those who are just curious, and maybe won’t be consuming, I want them to walk in, explore a strain, and understand, and open their minds.”

Part of that education is to teach people how to “safely” drink alcohol and consume cannabis, she said.

“I always say to folks that moderation is key. You have to let your body get to understand what is right and what is wrong for it. Some people I know consume cannabis and alcohol and it’s fine, nothing happens. But the two substances do not necessarily mix well for everybody, especially if you are a novice user for either. So take it easy.

“You don’t need to smoke a whole joint or consume an entire vaporizer or consume an entire edible. You can microdose, and build up so you don’t get to a point where you over-consume.

“I wouldn’t tell you to drink a whole bottle of gin. You slow down, have one shot and see what happens, and have another one. Cannabis is the same.”

Security staff will prevent people who are intoxicated from entering the POTio, Roach said.

However, most of the people attracted to a craft beer festival are there for the sensory experience, not to get wasted, she added. No tobacco smoking or alcohol will be allowed in the POTio.

Roach said she’s already heard from some people who plan to buy a ticket to the beer festival just to go the cannabis lounge.

She is among those lobbying the provincial government to legislate more public places to consume cannabis.

“Demand for this kind of event and service is bigger than what you would imagine. … People don’t want to break the law. People want legal spaces to consume their cannabis …

“Nobody wants to be out on the street smoking weed. They want to be in a cannabis lounge consuming cannabis. And if the government can’t create the kind of environment that is conducive to cannabis consumers, then legalization will fail.”

Public-health professor David Hammond, who testified at a parliamentary committee about the cannabis law, said he can understand the rationale behind giving people a designated place to smoke pot. Cannabis is a legal substance that has fewer public health risks than alcohol, said Hammond, who holds a chair in applied public health at the University of Waterloo.

However, Hammond also noted that combining alcohol and pot should not be encouraged. And federal laws ban the promotion of marijuana and accessories. “Are they just trying to accommodate users, or is this more of a promotional purpose?

“Honestly, this is one of these cases that is about finding a balance. This is an adult event, and this is a legal product. But you have to make sure it’s not a backdoor way of promoting or encouraging use.”

Where can you smoke pot?

Ontario residents can generally smoke or vape cannabis where cigarette smoking is allowed. That includes your home — unless you live in an apartment or condo that bans smoking — most sidewalks and some parks.

The province’s Smoke-Free Ontario Act bans smoking in enclosed buildings, restaurant and bar patios, reserved seating areas in stadiums and near schools and community recreational facilities.

Municipal no-smoking bylaws can add more restrictions. In Ottawa, for instance, no smoking or vaping is allowed in city parks, playgrounds, beaches and sports fields.

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