Politically speaking, the fall has been a busy one—especially for Niverville residents, who are going back to the polls on Tuesday, November 26 for the third time in three months. This time, they’ll be casting their vote on a municipal concern: should cannabis retail be allowed in the community?

The polls will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. at the town office at 329 Bronstone Drive—specifically, at the northeast entrance.

Not unlike the alcohol referendum held in Niverville in the late 1990s, the conversation has stirred up some intense debate. Many residents have become deeply divided on the issue.

Shortly after council’s announcement of the plebiscite, signs began popping up around town. The “vote yes” signs directed people to consider the economic benefits of a cannabis retail store while the other side’s message was perhaps more pointed: “Say no to drugs.”

Also since the announcement, at least one Facebook group and webpage have been created, both dedicated to debunking the myths about cannabis and providing the various reasons that cannabis retail would benefit the community.

The issue has also placed Niverville in the limelight, with the town’s plebiscite getting coverage by most of the major news outlets in the province.

Niverville’s council, so far, is one of the few communities that, in 2017, said yes to the provincial government in terms of cannabis retail and production and then later voted no when it came to allowing an interested cannabis retailer to set up shop.

Even council is divided, with two councillors voting in favour and two against. Mayor Myron Dyck was required to break the tie. He voted against.

One big difference between the alcohol referendum of the past and the current cannabis plebiscite is that by the 1990s the sale of liquor had already been legalized for decades. Though also a “drug,” it had lost much of the stigma that years of prohibition had initially attached to it.

In the case of cannabis sales, councils in every Manitoban municipality were faced with the question of whether to allow the sale of a product to which a stigma was still very much attached for large segments of the population. When these councils made their decisions, official cannabis legalization was still one year away.

As well, councils were forced by the province to make a snap decision about cannabis sales and production with very little information at hand, little notice, and little time to research the issue for themselves.

Either way, both Niverville’s past council and the current one saw fit to let the community decide. In the case of the alcohol referendum, the yes vote won. At this stage, just days before the cannabis vote, it’s still anyone’s guess as to which way the pendulum will swing. Many speculate that it will be a tight race.

Whatever the final result, the decision will be binding, meaning council will be required to honour the decision, even if the vote results in a 50.1 percent majority. And the only way to change that decision down the road will be to hold another plebiscite after a three-year waiting period, according to CAO Eric King. 

The Facts About Cannabis 

In an effort to better educate the public before heading to the polls, a local group of residents held an informational meeting at the Niverville Heritage Centre on November 20.

While an invitation was extended to the entire community, only about 30 people attended.

Niverville resident Derek Loepp chaired the meeting, indicating that the intention for the gathering was to provide an educational component regarding cannabis from a bipartisan standpoint.

“This really is an educational event,” Loepp told those gathered. “Education is super important when trying to make an informed decision… so no matter what side you fall into on this issue… I think it’s important that when we do make that decision, we’re making the best decision for ourselves and our community.”

Guest speaker Jehna Grobety is a cannabis educator and the manager of Learning and Development for Delta 9 Cannabis Inc. She has been speaking to diverse groups across the province about cannabis for the past four years. Her bio describes her as “passionate about creating safe spaces to have thoughtful conversations about cannabis—the good, the bad and the ugly.”

She speaks candidly from the standpoint of a mother of five impressionable children, an expert in the field of cannabis, as well as a professed cannabis user. For personal reasons, she’s chosen cannabis over alcohol consumption for her own recreational use.

For the sake of those gathered, Grobety covered aspects of the plant’s history, from the archaeological evidence of its use as far back as 10,000 years ago to the mainstream medicine it had become in the early 1900s.

Until about 1914, she says, cannabis was widely used by doctors in the form of tinctures or preparations and was administered for a wide variety of ailments.

“When they started the push for prohibition on cannabis, they switched from calling it cannabis to calling it marijuana,” Grobety says. “It was pretty racially motivated. They wanted people to associate marijuana with the Mexican immigrants that were coming into the country at the time. A lot of people who were really pushing for prohibition of marijuana were even oblivious to the fact that the cannabis preparations that they had in their medicine cabinets… were actually the same product that they were pushing to eliminate.”

Despite more than 80 years of prohibition, cannabis is still the most widely used drug after alcohol. According to Statistics Canada, in 2016, more than four million Canadians over the age of 15 were using cannabis.

Grobety says that one of the pitfalls of an illegal cannabis market is the increasing potency of the product. Since the 1960s and 70s, when the plant resurfaced as a recreational drug of choice, cannabis growers have been learning to breed the plant in ways that have significantly increased its psychoactive component, THC.

“Basically, when the consequences of being in possession of a drug are based on how much of that drug you can [possess without major penalty], you’re going to try and create more and more potent drugs,” Grobety says. “If you’re going to get jailtime for 30 grams but not for five grams, you’re going to want to have the most potent stuff possible.”

A similar trend occurred during the years of alcohol prohibition, she adds, when bootleggers experimented with higher and higher concentrations of alcohol contained in smaller and smaller bottles. The result, for many, was destructive, leading to many deaths by overdose.

But she points out that when these drugs become legalized, they can be regulated and better controlled. Since cannabis legalization in Canada, all government-sanctioned recreational products have been regulated to the same high standards that was set out for medical cannabis sales in 2001.

The regulated market also places a big focus on education for the safe use of the product. Cannabis retail stores are expected to provide adequate education to their employees so they can likewise properly advise customers.

As far as cannabis serving as a gateway drug to more dangerous substances, Grobety says there is no real science to back this claim—although if you’re buying from the illegal market, harder drugs will be easier to access.

“Prohibition of any kind has long been shown to be ineffective in swaying young people’s decisions, whether we’re talking about alcohol, drugs, or sex,” she says. “Just saying no does not work… We underestimate the ability of our young people to make good decisions. When they’re well informed, they will do so.”

Grobety also revealed statistics comparing alcohol-related criminal activity to that of cannabis-related crimes. Alcohol has long been connected to incidences of impaired driving, violent crime, domestic abuse, and risky behaviour.

Hard as Grobety has searched for recorded evidence on cannabis-related crime, though, she’s been unable to find any—apart from impaired driving and illegal cannabis production and sales.

As for the average age of the typical cannabis user, Grobety says the majority of Delta 9 customers, surprisingly, are over 50. 

Cannabis Production 

By the end of the day on November 26, once the votes have been tallied, Niverville residents will need to contend with the outcome and move on.

However, whether the community ever sees a retail outlet, legal cannabis production will be a part of the town.

On April 3, 2018, council approved the conditional use application for a cannabis production plant to be constructed in Niverville’s business park. This application followed on the heels of council’s decision to say yes to cannabis retail and production in December 2017.

According to councillor Nathan Dueck, council saw the economic benefits of a production plant at the time but never dreamed that the provincial government would deem Niverville a retail location of choice.

“[Our decision to say yes to the province] was strategic,” Dueck told The Citizen this past summer. “It was for the goal of creating jobs, economy, commerce, revenue, and growth in our town. It had nothing to do with the cannabis question. It was about promoting business in town.”