A BC woman who claims she has a disability faced off against a housing co-op for the right to consume her medical cannabis.
In a publicly posted BC Civil Resolution Tribunal decision, the Okanagan housing co-op resident says that she was refused accommodation for her disability when she was denied permission to smoke medical cannabis in her unit or on the front and back decks.
She asked the tribunal for orders that the co-op stop threatening her membership at the residence and that it grant her permission to smoke in her unit.
In response to her claims, the Okanagan housing co-op said that the occupancy agreement prohibits smoking in all co-op areas. It added that it did make somewhat of an exception for the resident, allowing her to smoke outdoors at the co-op’s street entrance.
According to the tribunal decision, the co-op’s smoking rules were enacted in June 2023. These rules prohibited smoking in several places, including the units themselves, balconies, and patios.
Shortly after, the resident emailed the co-op, describing her conditions and symptoms and asking for permission to smoke either in her unit or her decks. With this request, she included a letter from her nurse practitioner, which stated that the resident needed marijuana to help her with pain and anxiety.
In response, the co-op said the letter didn’t expressly state that she needed to smoke cannabis and that vaping and edible marijuana were both permitted in the co-op.
The nurse practitioner offered another letter, stating that the resident tried vaping and edibles, but “these have been intolerable,” and that inhaled marijuana was required to “manage” her conditions.
The nurse’s note also stated that the resident “must consume marijuana in her bedroom, or on her front or back deck” and that it was prohibitive to ask her to travel 200 metres to smoke.
The tribunal said that the resident “has not proved that her disabilities were adversely affected by the co-op’s refusal to permit her to smoke marijuana in or near her unit.”
It also stated the resident “has not proved that for medical reasons, she must smoke marijuana rather than vaping it or ingesting it in an edible format.”
Ultimately, the resident could not convince the tribunal to overturn the housing co-op’s decision, and it dismissed her claims.