The City of Red Deer will not ban cannabis smoking indoors at multi-unit dwellings, neither will it ban smoking of medical marijuana in public.

Council had previously directed administration to explore amendments to the city’s Smoke Free Bylaw that would do as much, but administration did not bring those amendments forward due to the enforcement and legal challenges that would arise.

An amendment proposed by Coun. Vesna Higham to extend the public ban on cannabis smoking to multi-unit housing was defeated 7-2.

“City governments across the country are challenged. We’re getting different messages from the provincial and federal government, where Health Canada and the Ministry of Health at the province are indicating that there should be a ban for public health purposes,” said Mayor Tara Veer.

“And yet, local governments don’t necessarily have the municipal tools to be able to enforce what Health Canada or the Ministry of Health are asking of us.”

Inspections and licensing manager Erin Stuart said condominium boards would be able to adopt their own bylaws to ban smoking.

As well, she said the city’s Community Standards Bylaw leaves room for cannabis smoke to be considered a nuisance.

Council approved changes to the city’s Smoke Free Bylaw on Tuesday night, prohibiting the public consumption of cannabis.

There will be an exemption for those who hold a medical licence under federal regulations. Those users will still have to abide by the city’s rules for tobacco smoking.

A first offence for contravening the bylaw would result in a $200 fine and $500 for a second one.

For a third and subsequent offences, the penalty would be between $500 and $2,500.