With 6 weeks till pot legal, golf industry must decide about smoking on links

To puff or to putt or both.

That's the question facing golfers andbusinesses with a little over six weeks to go before marijuana is legalized onOct. 17.

Players, for their part, are deciding whether they choose to use before or during a round. Private golf courses will need to choose whether they will allow marijuana or players under the influence on the green once the drug is legal.

A toke with your golf stroke: does pot have a place on the green?

6 years ago

Duration 2:01

Golf B.C. has asked thousands of golfers for their thoughts and opinions are mixed.

Some golfersthink it's a great idea.

"It's a nice place [to use], out of the neighbourhood,"said Cameron Burns, who was out for a round in Vancouver on Labour Day Monday.

"Helps my game out, that's for sure."

Others players, not so much.

"I don't know why you'd want to, honestly, but if anybody did who cares?" said Dan Gleadle, another golfer. "To each his own, as far as I'm concerned."

The British Columbia Golf Association surveyed thousands of its members about the issue over the summer, and results found the issue is divided by age.

More than half of players under the age of 35 said they planned to smoke weed on the links, but only 10 per cent over the age of 55 said they would do the same.

Kris Jonasson, the association's chief executive, said some older respondents are even worried about running into players under the influence during a game.

"They have some concerns about being paired with someone who is smoking marijuana on the golf course," he said.

Business decision

The National Golf Course Owners Association Canadahas said policies for staff and golfers need to be instatedonce pot is legalized.

Municipal bylaws might make decisions on what's allowed and what isn't on behalf of some businesses.

But some private courses many of which already allow alcohol and cigarettes will be left to make their own choice.

Cindy Zheng, a corporate employment lawyer in Vancouver, said those business owners could run into trouble trying to enforce an outright ban on one drug and not another.

"You might be perceived as being discriminatory treating one group of people in a more preferential manner than another group, when both substances [alcohol and cannabis] are legal," she said.

"You would have to make sure that you are enforcing it properly."

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