The recent announcement by the provincial government that marijuana use will be restricted to private residences to help limit its impact on communities and public health ignores the rights of children to protection from second-hand smoke in their homes. Marijuana smoke is a recognized carcinogen and as with exposure to tobacco smoke, can cause serious health risks for those involved. Nearly one-third of deaths from tobacco second-hand smoke exposure are children, many of whom are infants. Pamela McColl, Vancouver [end]
The federal Liberal Trudeau government has been exposed as to why marijuana is being legalized, so called. The feds and provinces have been busy "cutting up the cash" to pay for the new healthcare and policing expenses which will be generated by the "weed." Why generate the need for new expenses by the indiscriminate use of marijuana? Governments have gone mad. Garth E. Staples, Charlottetown [end]
Statistics Canada has tackled a tricky but important question: how much marijuana have Canadians been consuming in the years leading up to 2018's intended legalization of the stuff? This is the kind of thing that hard scientists and engineers call a "Fermi problem," named in honour of the Italian-American nuclear pioneer Enrico Fermi. Our data on the collective consumption of marijuana are pretty sparse. We don't have an easy way to infer the total volume of consumption for the whole country. But as a practical matter we need some estimate, even if we think consumption will double, or halve, when pot is legalized. Investors are gambling on the existence of a marijuana market, measured in dollars, and on some figure for total national demand, measured in tonnes. [continues 782 words]
Fines, probation for Marc and Jodie Emery TORONTO * Prominent pot activists Jodie and Marc Emery have been fined and placed on probation after pleading guilty to a number of drug- related charges in a Toronto court. Marc Emery, the self-proclaimed "Prince of Pot," pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, trafficking marijuana and possession of proceeds of crime more than $5,000. Jodie Emery pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for purpose of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime over $5,000. [continues 491 words]
Predicting a "mess" of traffic chaos and policing problems when the province opens a cannabis retail store in Windsor, Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac Monday called for the city to have some input on the location. Her motion, passed by council, involves expressing concerns about increased policing demands and making the province aware the city has a designated entertainment district downtown where there is already a beefed-up police presence. "I'm expressing concern that I want to make sure it's done right," she said. [continues 225 words]
Keewatin-Patricia public school board trustees not up for blowing smoke Legalized marijuana concerns public school board trustees. With the legalization of marijuana closer to becoming a reality the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board is concerned how the new law could impact its students. During the Dec. 12 monthly board meeting the educational aspect of the topic was brought up, though everyone agreed to wait until the Ministry of Education provides some direction on how to proceed with the issue. Many of the board members expressed concern students might acquire the stimulant "off the streets" since they wouldn't be of legal age to purchase it in stores. [continues 284 words]
Albertans high on province's marijuana plans: Poll Most Albertans support the provincial government's proposed regulations for legalized marijuana, according to a new Insights West poll. Almost two-thirds of respondents to the online poll agree with the decision to prevent pot stores from selling alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals, while 77 per cent favour setting 18 as the legal age for buying marijuana. While 60 per cent of Albertans support legalization, up five percentage points since a national poll done in October 2016, the poll found a split along party lines. [continues 171 words]
WINKLER'S mayor vows that until the smoke clears on pot legalization, his community won't vote to allow retailers to sell recreational pot. Mayor Martin Harder says his council recently decided to ignore the province's Dec. 22 deadline to vote on the issue. "Our biggest issue is the rules keep changing," Harder said on Monday. "They said you have to vote by Dec. 22 and then the next one says you can have four years to have a plebiscite. We don't want to do that. [continues 443 words]
Narcotics back in the day were more a nuisance than anything else. Local police would regularly arrest people for possession of marijuana. Sometimes something more exotic like psychedelic mushrooms would materialize. The situation became more of a concern when cocaine and its derivatives appeared on the scene. Then came methamphetamine and opioids such as Oxycontin and hydromorphone. Heroin was never an issue locally like it has been in urban areas. Instead, rural areas like Norfolk and Haldimand skipped straight to more problematic substances such as fentanyl and carfentanil. These powerful synthetic opioids have caused the number of drug overdose deaths in Canada to skyrocket in recent months. [continues 408 words]
The head of Edmonton's Police Service looks ahead to 2018 with skepticism around supervised consumption sites, Edmonton Police Service Chief Rod Knecht says police have had a good but "extremely busy" year. Metro asked him about some of the year's biggest stories and what to expect in 2018. The interview has been edited for space. Metro: Cannabis will be legal July 1. Has EPS backed off marijuana related arrests since legalization was announced? We're busy. Obviously there's lots of crimes, and we enforce crime on priority. [continues 694 words]
Re: High Workforce, Mike Soch. Mr. Soch is exactly right that with the legalization of pot on July 1, 2018, we can expect many more workplace injuries. We only have to look at what has happened in Colorado, where after legalization, workplace injuries rose from 6-20%. Too many people erroneously try to equate using marijuana with alcohol. Whereas alcohol leaves the system in about 12 hours, THC can stay in one's system for many days. This means someone getting stoned the night before, may be unknowingly still quite impaired when they show up for work the next day. This will be a particular problem in the mining and oil industry where there is heavy equipment, thus the reason some companies like Suncor want mandatory drug testing. Larry Comeau (C'mon, let's not go all Reefer Madness.) [end]
My favourite moment in the unfurling disaster of marijuana legalization was the one in which First Nations leaders demanded control over pot sales, distribution, regulation and policing within Indigenous communities, and the right to set the laws that will oversee its use by their people. Of course they did. First Nations view themselves as just that - sovereign nations - with the right to govern themselves as they see fit. Why would control of pot be any different than anything else? My second favourite moment occurred just shortly afterwards, when federal and provincial finance ministers got together to divvy up the loot. The gathering reminded me of the scene in James Bond films when the well-dressed hoodlums of SPECTRE sit around a table tallying their proceeds: kidnapping revenue is a pleasant surprise, extortion income is way up, and blackmail is thriving. It took some arguing, but in this case No. 1 - that would be Bill Morneau - agreed to cut the federal take to 25 per cent without having to push a button and have one of the ministers carted away as a corpse. [continues 782 words]
Shortages feared after legalization hits next July OTTAWA - Health Canada has nearly doubled the number of licensed cannabis producers in the country over the past six months and new numbers show hundreds more applicants are in the final stages of approval as the government rushes toward national marijuana legalization by next July. The dramatic surge in approved and aspiring producers comes in the wake of the agency's concerted efforts to loosen its bureaucratic approval process and head off what many experts fear will be a looming supply crunch for the burgeoning legal cannabis market. [continues 675 words]
Concerns still abound as cannabis legalization planned for this summer fast approaches A Squamish cannabis retailer thinks the province's recent announcement around the sale of marijuana is a step in the right direction but says there are still many unanswered questions. "I'm excited, but there is still not much that's changed since the announcement," says Bryan Raiser, owner of 99 North Dispensary. The federal government has said marijuana will be legalized by July 1 of next year but handed it over to the provinces to determine how to manage the details. [continues 602 words]
Bill C-45 is horrible legislation which will not achieve its objectives and should never see the light of day. The Senate will do its job and thoroughly study the Bill, but Canadians will be well-served if it is defeated, writes Alberta Senator Betty Unger. It's difficult to remember the last time the federal government and the provinces came to an agreement on revenue sharing in a single day. But that's what happened last week when the feds agreed to give the provinces 75 per cent of tax revenue generated by the sale of marijuana. [continues 787 words]
As a former Toronto police chief, Liberal MP Bill Blair said he understands how the federal government's legislation legalizing marijuana consumption for recreational use affects municipalities. Blair, Ottawa's point person on the pot file, was in the Tri-Cities this week, meeting with mayors and councillors, he said, to ensure cities have the tools and information ahead of the regulation changes coming next summer. "I recognize the important roles that mayors, councillors and local police officers have to make this thing work," he said in an interview Monday with The Tri-City News at Port Coquitlam city hall. "They have a big job to do here and we want to make sure they have the support they need that is required at the local level in order to make sure that this works in this community." [continues 345 words]
WINKLER - The City of Winkler will not honour the province's Dec. 22 deadline to indicate whether or not they'd be willing to have marijuana sold in the community. Mayor Martin Harder was the first municipal leader in Manitoba to make that statement and he said they don't feel they have enough facts to make a decision either way. "We haven't got any information," he said. "It's a moving target, and every time we get some information it's different than what we knew before." [continues 478 words]
Re: Rogue nations need not apply (SP, Nov. 18) Pamela McColl's letter is legally correct, but morally and practically wrong. While Canada did sign the various treaties that constitute the worldwide prohibition of drugs, that prohibition has been a spectacular failure. After being banned for 70 years, prohibited drugs are more plentiful, cheaper, and more widely used than ever before. While McColl fears for our children because of the legalization of marijuana, she might look at the jurisdiction that has had the longest history of re-legalized access to marijuana. [continues 142 words]
Medical officer of health expects regulations will evolve Chatham-Kent's medical officer of health is remaining neutral on a provincially operated cannabis store slated to open next year. However, Dr. David Colby admits he's intrigued by how it might play out in the communities that were announced as part of the first phase. "It will be very interesting to see how society reacts to this," he told The Daily News on Thursday. It was recently announced that Chatham-Kent will have a retail cannabis store by July of next year. [continues 349 words]
Will weed be the new booze? Will a culture so tied to alcohol switch allegiance once recreational cannabis is readily and legally available? A recent study out of the University of Connecticut looked at alcohol sales in jurisdictions with medical marijuana, and found the two substances to be substitutes, with monthly booze sales falling 13%. A 2016 Deloitte study predicted some alcohol consumers will migrate to legal recreational marijuana. Dan Malleck, associate professor in Health Sciences at Brock University, said the U.S. study looked at medical marijuana, and the findings suggest that people are switching if they're using alcohol to self-medicate for conditions like stress. [continues 337 words]
