A pop-up injection site on the edge of the ByWard Market is drawing mixed reviews from Lowertown residents, landlords and business owners. An anonymous flyer circulated this week in the area, and shared widely on social media, claims the "unsanctioned and illegal" site operated by Overdose Prevention Ottawa has led to sharp increases in drug dealing, public intoxication, public disorder and discarded needles and other drug paraphernalia littering the downtown streets. However, there is no evidence those claims are true. [continues 544 words]
Convicted Chatham man may have qualified for conditional sentence if legislation hadn't changed Steven Wheeler will serve a sixmonth jail sentence for being in possession of 11.2 kilograms - 24 pounds of marijuana - for the purpose of trafficking. However, the support received by his employer along with family and friends may have enabled him to serve a conditional sentence - house arrest - if changes had not been brought in under Bill C-10, in March 2012, to limit when the court can impose conditional sentences. [continues 427 words]
After getting arrested at Pearson for drug possession, trial was like a 'nightmare' for legendary star In 1969, legendary rock musician Jimi Hendrix declared Canada had given him "the best Christmas present" when a Toronto jury acquitted him of drug possession charges. He had been arrested when he arrived at Toronto airport for a performance seven months earlier. Sadly for local Hendrix fans, it would be his last visit to this country and indeed, his last Christmas. The "Purple Haze" songwriter died 10 months later. [continues 1098 words]
The Ontario government is going to pot. The province announced Wednesday it plans to replace drug dealers and dispensaries next year when recreational marijuana use is set to be legalized in Canada. Legislation will be introduced at Queen's Park later in the fall that will make the government the only legal retail distributor for cannabis in Ontario. The stores will be under the purview of the LCBO. However, alcohol and marijuana will not be sold side by side. "We are committed to getting this transition right," Charles Sousa, Ontario's minister of finance, said in a news release announcing the policy. "When it comes to retail distribution, the LCBO has the expertise, experience and insight to ensure careful control of cannabis, helping us to discourage illicit market activity and see that illegal dispensaries are shut down." [continues 386 words]
Chief medical examiner's office pores over deaths in opioid fight EDMONTON - In the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner each morning, medical examiners, investigators, and morgue staff divide the stack of files containing unexplained deaths that have come in from the night before. Five years ago, this department, headquartered in a low-slung grey building in Edmonton, investigated between 1,900 to 2,000 cases a year. But in the last couple of years the caseload has jumped to between 2,500 to 2,600 annually - the bulk of that increase, officials say, is due to fentanyl and other opioid deaths. [continues 1507 words]
Supporters of marijuana advocate protest outside Amherst courthouse Support for a Cumberland County man charged with marijuana and firearm offences showed up early Monday for his first court appearance since being arrested almost a week ago. Fifty-two year old Daren Wayne McCormick was arrested and charged Aug, 23, after Cumberland RCMP and a street crime unit conducted a search at a Northport home. Ten handguns, a shotgun, drug paraphernalia and what police descried as a large number of marijuana plants were removed from the home. [continues 276 words]
Tasty Budds president Mal McMeekin is "very sorry" about alleged illegal activities that police say were occuring at his company's storefronts. "We want to be very clear that the alleged illegal activity was occuring at one Tasty Budds location (Sackville Location)," reads a written statement sent to The Chronicle Herald and attributed to Mal McMeekin. "This only came to our attention through the recent police activity and investigation. This is a gross violation of our code of conduct, our ethics, and everything that Tasty Budds stands for." [continues 343 words]
Concern about dangers of discarded injection paraphernalia has prompted the tattoo artist James Takeo to launch an online petition which asks Welland city council to investigate installing sharps containers in public places such as city parks. Takeo said he posted the petition on social media during the second week of this month. He said as of Tuesday it had racked up 715 signatures. He is pleasantly surprised by the response. The petition says: "Too many times there have been incidences of needles being improperly disposed of in city garbage cans or in other public places in our community. This poses a safety risk for all members of the community, especially city workers and staff who often must take the responsibility of disposal of these sharps. [continues 919 words]
Family finds drug paraphernalia tucked away in hotel room A Winnipeg hotel is changing protocols for housekeeping staff after a family found a syringe and "rocks" of drugs inside their room last weekend. Nicole Hamm said her husband Neil located drugs and paraphernalia hidden on a ledge underneath the bathroom sink of their Victoria Inn Winnipeg hotel room last Saturday. In photos and video posted to Facebook by Nicole Hamm, a syringe is visible, as are three white "rocks" of an undetermined substance placed in spoons. [continues 414 words]
Authorities found an exhaustive list of weapons, drug paraphernalia and Nazi propaganda when they raided a trailer Tuesday morning in a rural pocket of west central Florida, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. Five felons, two of whom authorities described as documented gang members, were arrested after deputies and a SWAT team served a search warrant on the suburban New Port Richey mobile home, WFLA-Channel 8 reported. Inside the trailer, which is partially obscured by thick vegetation along a wooded street, were four firearms, ammunition, "hundreds of pages" of miscellaneous bank account and personal identification information, credit cards, veterans' ID cards, insurance cards, vehicle titles, "hundreds of pages of American Nazi Family propaganda (rules, hierarchy, oaths, etc)," opiates, meth, and drug paraphernalia including needles and scales, deputies said. [continues 60 words]
The people who want to walk the riverside trails in Galt without being confronted by the discarded syringes of drug addicts have every right to voice concern. I don't blame them one bit for wanting to reclaim their community and asking that it be cleaned up. Robin Thomas, who carries her dog in order to protect it from stepping on drug paraphernalia, often sees clothes and backpacks stowed in the underbrush. Sometimes she even sees people who are "almost comatose." [continues 489 words]
Cambridge mayor says group will offer solutions, but will take 'whole community to solve this problem' CAMBRIDGE - Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig says he's creating a city task force to find solutions to the fentanyl crisis plaguing his city. The city initiative has been in the works for three months, said Craig, and is not a "knee-jerk" reaction to recent comments made by Cambridge coroner Dr. Hank Nykamp. Nykamp, a coroner since 1985, said Cambridge is becoming the drug capital of Ontario with "drug houses" and "crystal meth factories." [continues 630 words]
CAMBRIDGE - Cambridge coroner Dr. Hank Nykamp is tired of political rhetoric and inaction as the local fentanyl crisis deepens. The longtime city doctor has been a Cambridge coroner since 1985. He has seen the best and worst of the city during his career. He loves this city, but believes more must be done to stem the growing number of opioid overdose cases crossing his examination table. "Five years ago it was oxycodone. Now it's fentanyl and carfentanil, which is even more powerful and used to knock out elephants," he said. "Something needs to be done and we can't wait on the politicians." [continues 836 words]
The national opioid crisis is spreading. Despite increased awareness of the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, the numbers of fatalities and overdoses continue to rise. That is too true in Bergen County. As Staff Writer Steve Janoski reports, despite the efforts of Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal, the county appears on track to surpass last year's totals of 320 overdoses; 259 of which were opioid related. Ninety-eight people died. That's an 11 percent increase in overdoses from 2015 and a 12.6 percent increase in fatalities. [continues 441 words]
Defence should have been present, judge conceded in granting request I ... mistakenly permitted him to bring the drug exhibits into my office where he remained with those exhibits for approximately 20 minutes. An Ottawa judge has declared a mistrial in a drug case after privately questioning an investigating officer in chambers violated an accused's right to be at his own trial. Paul Masilamany filed the mistrial application on May 12, 2017, the day the court was to decide on drug trafficking charges against him. [continues 960 words]
Rules he violated accused's rights to a fair trial by asking to meet with police officer An Ottawa judge has declared a mistrial in a drug case after privately questioning an investigating officer in chambers violated an accused's right to be at his own trial. Paul Masilamany filed the mistrial application on May 12, 2017, the day the court was to decide on drug trafficking charges against him. But just two days before, the lead drug officer, acting on a request from the judge himself, attended Superior Court Justice Paul Kane's office and brought drug exhibits for the judge's use in rendering his decision. [continues 928 words]
While Brandon's political representatives encourage the delay of the legalization of marijuana, local advocates of the plant are saying the day couldn't come soon enough. Picking up related paraphernalia at Growers N' Smokers on Friday, veteran Michael Gibson said that his "disrespect" for Premier Brian Pallister is "huge, right now." This week, Pallister publicly requested that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delay legalization for an extra year beyond the proposed date of July 1, 2018. With too many questions that still need answering, we're just not ready for legalization, Brandon East Progressive Conservative MLA Len Isleifson said, sharing in some of Pallister's concerns about marijuana, more accurately called cannabis. [continues 887 words]
Colby Wilde and Lacey Christenson welcomed their third child into the world on April 9 at Utah Valley Hospital. The doctors, nurses and medical staff eventually cleared out of the room, giving the parents a few moments alone with their new daughter. Unlike most new parents, they did not hold the newborn child, overcome with emotion. Instead, Wilde quickly crushed pills of Suboxone, an FDA-approved drug used to treat heroin addiction and withdrawal, police say. He moistened his finger and dipped it in the resulting powder. Then he stuck his finger in his daughter's mouth, smearing it along her tiny, tender gums. Though she had been in the world less than half a day, the baby, like thousands others in the United States, was already addicted to opioids. [continues 907 words]
Existing businesses will be asked to convert to 'wellness centres' After experimenting with marijuana dispensaries for seven months, Penticton city council voted Tuesday to ban the pot shops outright. And the two dispensaries to which council granted now-expired temporary use permits in December 2016 will now be asked to covert to so-called "wellness centres" dealing only in information and smoking accessories - not bud. The decision not to renew the TUPs was made by a 5-2 vote of council, with Max Picton and Tarik Sayeed in opposition. [continues 278 words]
Penticton city council has decided the experiment with medical marijuana dispensaries is over. By a count of 4-2, council voted to not extend the temporary use permits granted to Okanagan Cannabinoid Therapy and Green Essence in December, and instead work with them on a consent order that would see the businesses operate as wellness centres. A wellness centre would allow them to sell paraphernalia and related items, but not marijuana itself. They would also be able to guide people on obtaining legal, prescription access and lobby for the legalization. [continues 498 words]
