Forced into the pot business by the federal government, the province tabled a law on Thursday that imposes a strict framework for the consumption, sale and distribution of marijuana. Bill 157 - an act to constitute the Societe quebecoise du cannabis or SQC - was formally presented in the legislature by the minister for rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, Lucie Charlebois. As expected after almost a year of testing the water with the public, Quebec has opted for the path of prudence with a focus on averting potential social, health and safety problems that it fears could follow the liberalization of the use of the drug for recreational purposes. [continues 950 words]
The owner of a pipe and bong store in the Philadelphia suburbs, caught up in a crackdown on head shops, was convicted Monday of selling drug paraphernalia. Craig Hennesy, 49, whose Piper's Smoke Shop opened in 2016 in Limerick near Ursinus College, could get two years in jail and be fined $10,000 when he is sentenced on two misdemeanor counts. Hennesy was convicted by a Montgomery County Court jury despite hearing testimony from a retired county chief of detectives who said the products sold were legitimate. [continues 272 words]
BIA expresses concern about T.O.'s first harm-reduction site In a mere matter of months it seems the city's first harmreduction site has turned one of Toronto's top tourist areas into a needle disposal site. Mark Garner, CEO and executive director of the Downtown Yonge BIA, says they're seeing an "increased number of needles" within blocks of The Works location on Victoria St. - in YongeDundas Square, in the washrooms of Tim Hortons coffee shops and in laneways. [continues 887 words]
Vendors hope to inform and educate THOUSANDS of people streamed into Winnipeg's first-ever HempFest Cannabis Expo this weekend to listen to presentations by industry leaders and check out exhibits set up by cannabis and hemp businesses from around the country. More than 60 businesses tabled the expo, which was held Saturday and Sunday at the RBC Convention Centre. Organizers estimated that about 15 per cent of the businesses were Manitoba-based. "It's to give a platform for businesses to connect with people who are hungry for information. Maybe they're interested in medical cannabis and they don't know where to go or what to ask," event organizer Sacha Hockenhull said. [continues 752 words]
The name of the government agency that will sell pot to Ontario has been revealed: the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corp. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. But neither does LCBO, the name of the provincial liquor monolith that sells us whiskey and wine. That acronym is so well known in Ontario that today no one bothers to spell it out. Will the acronym for the new marijuana agency - OCRC - become just as familiar? It has a certain slurry symmetry. It could lend itself to a nickname. How about "Ock-Rock," suggests Trina Fraser, an Ottawa lawyer who specializes in cannabis business law. [continues 633 words]
Forty retail shops will open by next summer, with 150 provincewide in 2020 The province's new marijuana monopoly will be known as the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation. Attorney General Yasir Naqvi launched the OCRC - a subsidiary of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario - in sweeping legislation Wednesday at Queen's Park that takes effect when Ottawa legalizes recreational weed next July 1. "That is the legal name of that company. There will be branding that we'll do . . . a visual logo, etc., that we will announce in the future," said Naqvi, noting OCRC-run retail shops will sell bongs, rolling papers and other paraphernalia. [continues 487 words]
I had no idea. Curious to find out what goes into the making of the medical cannabis I vaporize and inhale most nights to dull the pain and let me sleep, I spent an afternoon at the recent Grow Up Cannabis Conference in Niagara Falls; five hours in absolute awe at the immense reach of this vast new Canadian industry. Because using recreational marijuana will no longer be a criminal offence come next July, the entire industry all across Canada is showcasing its products. [continues 631 words]
That should be the extent of government involvement in the sale of pot There may be one upside in organized labour's embrace of government owned and operated retail cannabis outlets in that it may convert some conservatives who were previously opposed to legalization into champions of private pot proprietors. Otherwise, though, it's hard to see any value in the proposition that the Alberta government be tasked with establishing and overseeing marijuana stores come next year. Last Friday marked the end of the government's consultation process, and it had left the door open on this rather fundamental question. [continues 579 words]
With just enough methadone to last the trip home to Montreal, Melodie was in a panic that she'd missed her flight. She was in Paris, and her supply of prescription methadone, a medicine that helps lower cravings and withdrawal symptoms caused by opiate use, was about to run out. Without it, she worried about a relapse, going into the street in desperation, and doing something dangerous for a fix. But an online search brought her to a Parisian mobile health clinic. And they welcomed her. They gave her the methadone that she needed to stay sober. There was no bureaucracy, no delay, and no prescription signed by someone in authority - just instant help. [continues 538 words]
Flyer claims facility has led to spike in drug dealing 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. [continues 533 words]
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]