You can bring your buds to Stampede Park but you won’t be allowed to consume them or any other form of cannabis on the grounds.
Canada legalized the drug for recreational use back in October but Calgary Stampede is still not allowing anyone to use it there.
“We are a gathering place for communities and families and with the scale of the park we’ve just made the decision to prohibit cannabis on park,” says Jennifer Booth with Calgary Stampede communications.
You can bring cannabis into the park but have to exit the gates to use it. This goes for both recreational and medical users.
“Leaving the park to medicate is not always an option for those that are severely ill,” says Gordon Hayes, Calgary Cannabis Club’s director of events and fundraising.
He adds that it violates Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms and says the club has been pressing the Stampede to make changes.
Hayes says he would like to see ‘cannabis gardens’ similar to sectioned-off beer gardens, and would also like to see dispensaries on the grounds.
Stampede says it will consider changes in the future.
“As time goes on and we learn more about the impacts of cannabis use in large public places we will take a look at the different rules as they come,” says Booth.
Anyone caught using cannabis at Stampede Park this year will be asked to stop.
“We don’t necessarily have a penalty in place, we would just kindly ask them to take their consumption off park,” says Booth.
