New outdoor space to smoke cannabis opens on Exhibition Place grounds

At Grand Bizarre, customers can swim, eat, drink, mingle and now, if they fancy, stroll around the corner and smoke cannabis in a restricted area.

Cannabis Carnival is being touted as one of the first of its kind in Ontario — a dedicated place to smoke cannabis that its president, Zlatko Starkovski, says is in line with the Smoke Free Ontario Act.

"I think cannabis smokers in general need a safe, responsible place to smoke when they go out," Starkovski told CBC News.

"There are a lot of people smoking at home, in cars and potentially over-consuming so we're taking a proactive approach for cannabis smokers now that it's been legal since 2018."

Starkovski notes there are plenty of places to buy cannabis, but not many designated spots to consume it. He says Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Ontario Cannabis Store are educational partners.

"We've checked all the boxes to make sure that we're avoiding second-hand smoke, as well," he said.

WATCH| Cannabis smokers have a new outdoor space at Exhibition Place:

"There's no alcohol being served in the cannabis area ... and we don't sell cannabis, you bring your own." Starkovski said, adding that being at Exhibition Place and working with such a large area helped them meet the guidelines. "We have the space to do something like this."

Brad Poulos, a lecturer at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Toronto Metropolitan University, says the space is a creative idea and he expects to see more like it.

"We're definitely going to see more of these things pop up as people discover what you can and can't do,  with respect to the rules around consumption of cannabis, especially smoking," he said.

The province says it has started some consultations on consumption lounges. George Smitherman, president and CEO of the Cannabis Council of Canada, says spaces like this are a step toward the normalization of cannabis consumption.

"It's mostly beneficial for the consumer of cannabis, who, even though we've had legalization, was kind of forced to consume behind the dumpster," he said.

And while Smitherman says it's not easy to set up a location like this within the province's regulations, he believes there is an appetite for it and the chance for the industry to enhance tourism.

"I do think we're going to see a lot of evolution in this space over time," he said.