Winnipeg bylaw put an end to large medical marijuana grow-ops

A Winnipeg bylaw to crack down on large medical marijuana grow-ops seems to be working.

In 2022, the City of Winnipeg passed a bylaw banning designated growing facilities in residential neighbourhoods after residents complained about the smell.

Now it appears since the city placed these restrictions, no one has applied for a licence to grow.

“They could see this coming down the pipe, the people who were doing this,” said Coun. Ross Eadie.

Under federal rules, people can apply to grow medicinal pot for other people.

However, in 2022 the city banned these types of grow-ops from residential neighbourhoods.

Eadie said the bylaw closed a federal loophole that allowed people to grow hundreds of plants in a single house prompting neighbours to complain about odours and the potential to attract crime

"Over time we began to notice a horrific, pungent odour that just hung over our backyard,” said homeowner Laurie Monk.

A new report says since the bylaw was enacted there have been no licence applications for these designated production facilities or any related development permits.

There also haven’t been complaints to 311 about any operations.

"We have the intended outcome that we wanted, which is get these huge, medical cannabis growing operations out of our neighbourhoods, away from families, kids and so on,” Eadie said.

Local medical marijuana advocate Steven Stairs says the bylaw is preventing access to patients who can't grow their own plants, which he calls immoral.

He added this creates a financial barrier as well.

"So, if you're buying cannabis in a recreational store, but need it medically, you can't write it off on your taxes,” he said.

“You also don’t have the limits on possession, the cost effectiveness of production at home rather than purchasing."

The report also says in October 2022 -- one month after the bylaw came into force -- Health Canada said there were only 20 designated growers in all of Manitoba -- down from 2.000 initially.