How to talk to your landlord about cannabis

For starters recognize that your Landlord has the right to ask that there be no cannabis on their property.

In advance consider looking at your lease agreement for any signs of anti-cannabis sentiment and you should ask what the building’s policy on smoking is. If you don’t see any mention of Cannabis and you are told its a smoke free building take that to mean that there is to be no Cannabis smoking on site. However this does not preclude you from vaporizing or ingesting Cannabis in your rental unit. If you receive complaints about odour and or if your landlord give you a warning about cannabis consumption on site it is suggested that you tackle this head on with your landlord.

Some pointers:

-If you are a medical consumer bring your prescription paperwork with you

-If you are a recreational consumer be prepared to negotiate as you are may be challenging your building’s bylaws.

Start with asking what the concerns are. Is it odour? Is it fire? If the concerns stop there offer some solutions. FInd a youtube vid or bring your vaporizer along (give it a good cleaning) so you can show them how vaporization works vs combustion.  If it is Fire you can demonstrate how vaporization eliminate the risk of fire from combustion. (Though anything that plugs into the wall carries some fire risk with it.)

If the landlord will not listen to reason you can do 1 of two things. You can prepare a case to challenge the residential act or you can look for a new place!

It is a tough time in BC to find affordable housing and adding a no cannabis clause can only exacerbate the situation. Best to find ways of consuming that don’t annoy your neighbors.

If you want to grow in your home ask in advance and prepare a good presentation. There are some very sophisticated ih home grow units that you can employ that will make indoor growing virtually foolproof. For some fun check out this lovely model if for no other reason than to watch the amazing tomato growing video!

Note: If you live in a strata building you may want to proactivly craft an amendment to your bylaws to address cannabis consumption and growing. Come prepared to defend your amendment with arguments based in evidence.  You can look to Norml Canada for some good intel.