Smoking a cigarette in the wrong place or a joint in public in Delta could now land you an additional fine.
Council this week approved another amendment to the city’s smoking bylaw which now imposes a fine of $200 for those who refuse to provide bylaw officers with identification.
This summer council approved amendments to the city’s smoking regulations to include cannabis, which was recently legalized, but also aimed at bringing Delta’s bylaw more in line with other municipalities with regards to smoking regulations.
Cannabis smoking is prohibited from places similar to where alcohol consumption is prohibited, which is more restrictive than tobacco limitations. Therefore, in addition to prohibiting the smoking of cannabis everywhere that the smoking of tobacco is prohibited, the new regulation also prohibits cannabis on highways, streets and other ways open to public use, such as sidewalks and boulevards.
The revised bylaw also treats e-cigarettes the same as traditional cigarettes, while the regulations also remove the ability to smoke in a designated smoking room or designated outdoor seating area of a liquor outlet.
Meanwhile, there’s a minimum 7.5 metres minimum distance a person is smoking must be from a door, openable window, air intake of a building, transit stop, a park, municipal land or public event. An owner or manager of a business is responsible that there’s no smoking allowed in or around their premises.
