Nelson Police executed a search warrant on a downtown medical marijuana dispensary and arrested five employees. Five employees at MMJ marijuana dispensary, 752 Vernon Street, were taken into custody Tuesday morning, March 20, without incident. Charges against the employees are pending, said a release from NPD Chief Constable Paul Burkart, adding that all five were released from custody Tuesday afternoon. Until charges are formally laid, Burkart said the NPD will be making no further comment as the investigation is ongoing. A further update can be expected in the next week. [continues 267 words]
The legalization of pot may be looming but that doesn't mean police are backing off their crackdown on the "grey" marijuana market. Most recently, RCMP in Colchester County raided the Community Compassion Centre in Bible Hill. They seized cash, marijuana, marijuana derivatives and drug paraphernalia, and charged Ricky Joseph Leclerc, 51, of Upper Kennetcook. He's scheduled to appear in Nova Scotia provincial court Friday. "The RCMP will continue to work within the existing legislation under the Controlled Drug and Substances Act," RCMP spokesman Cpl. Dal Hutchinson said Monday in an email. "If we determine that there is a violation of the legislation, we will take appropriate action." [continues 322 words]
The local public health agency says smoking marijuana should be banned in multi-unit buildings, including balconies The local health unit is throwing its support behind the City of Ottawa's public health agency after they called for a ban on smoking marijuana inside multi-unit residential buildings - including on balconies. Last week, Ottawa's acting medical officer of health recommended the Ontario government extend its proposed ban on pot smoking in common areas of condos, apartment buildings and university residences, hotels and their balconies. [continues 400 words]
Near the historic native village of Kitwancool in northern B.C., the hereditary chief of the Gitanyow frog clan has his eye on an old logging site that could be the perfect place to grow a new cash crop. "It's already serviced with a power supply," said Will Marsden. "We see an opportunity for our people to be employed in sustainable jobs in our traditional territories." Those jobs would be in the legal marijuana trade, coming soon to British Columbia and the rest of Canada. [continues 740 words]
There's no buzzkill like bureaucracy. A new proposal by Ottawa Public Health to ban marijuana - once it's legal - from condos and apartments, seems like overreach to us. As the Sun's Andrew Duffy reports today, Ottawa's acting medical officer of health has recommended that the province extend its proposed ban on pot smoking in common areas of condos, apartment buildings and university residences. Dr. Vera Etches said the province should prohibit smoking cannabis, e-liquids and herbal shisha products in condos, apartment buildings, university residences, hotels and their balconies. [continues 315 words]
Proposed ban on balcony marijuana smoking ignites debate Should condo owners and tenants be allowed to smoke pot in their homes and on their balconies? Ottawa Public Health's newly released position paper has ignited debate on those questions, and set the scene for a confrontation between pot smokers who want to exercise their hard-won right to use legal weed later this year, and non-smokers who want to be protected from the effects of second-hand smoke. Shery Dia, a writer and University of Ottawa student, supports the health unit's call for a strict smoking ban inside multi-unit buildings. She plans to move from her current apartment because of the persistent incursion of pot smoke into her fifth-floor unit of a Gloucester highrise. [continues 610 words]
Studies show legal cannabis can boost values As Canada moves closer to legalizing the recreational use of marijuana, many are speculating on how the decision will affect society and the economy. While some are concerned about health and safety effects, others are optimistic about potential new tax revenues and the prospect of bringing the sale and distribution of marijuana out of the criminal sphere. One area that few are talking about, however, is how legal marijuana will affect residential property markets. [continues 576 words]
Health units and municipalities facing more costs, medical officer says The Quinte region's board of health is asking Ontario for a share of the coming tax revenue from cannabis sales in order to fight expected health impacts. "We want some of the tax money because there's going to be costs to public health and to municipalities," said Dr. Ian Gemmill, the acting medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties. Revenue from the taxation of legal cannabis sales, which are to begin in July, is to be split with provinces and territories, with the federal government retaining 25 per cent to a maximum federal revenue of $ 100 million. [continues 587 words]
With legal recreational marijuana in the wings, Lethbridge remains divided on its use. The latest survey of city residents shows an even 50-50 split when asked if they support legalization. But support is up from 43.9 per cent in 2016 and 46.6 per cent last year, as reported by the Citizen Society Research Lab at Lethbridge College. On several other oncecontroversial issues, however, there's less disagreement. Lethbridge residents continue to agree largely with same-gender marriage (77.3 per cent), doctorassisted death (79.5 per cent) and a woman's right to abortion (81.7 per cent). [continues 510 words]
Major alcohol companies will likely see sales squeezed by legal cannabis in the coming years, according to Wall Street research firm CFRA Research. "Due to shared usage occasions, we view the legalization of cannabis as a threat to alcohol industry consumption growth," wrote CFRA analyst Joe Agnese, who covers the food and beverage and tobacco industries, in a note published Monday. Agnese cites Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, The Boston Beer Company and Brown-Forman Corp., best known for Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey, as companies that could see a decline in product consumption. [continues 553 words]
Critics fear it will force more to light up indoors MONTREAL * A Montreal suburb's plan to ban all smoking in public places is drawing mixed reactions, with one anti-tobacco advocate saying it will do more harm than good when it comes to second-hand smoke. Hampstead city council adopted a draft bylaw this week that would prohibit tobacco or marijuana smoking on municipal property, including sidewalks and streets. If the bylaw is enacted, Hampstead would become the first municipality in the country to ban smoking in the street, according to the Canadian Cancer Society. [continues 595 words]
To the editor, Bootleggers in Pictou County sell beer at double the price because of all the risks involved. Marijuana is mostly supplied by organized crime. These people face all the risks of the bootlegger and more. There have been murders, kidnappings, torture, etc., all in the quest for control of the marijuana trade. Is it any wonder why their prices are so high? The reasons they risk life and limb is that the profits are astronomical. Marijuana is one of the cheapest, easiest and maintenance-free plants to grow. Can someone please explain how the government-sanctioned marijuana distributors came up with such exorbitant prices when their entire operation is "risk free." Marijuana on the street is the very same marijuana that the government distributors sell but their prices don't reflect this. [continues 96 words]
To see how the NSLC's marijuana distribution will be a disaster take a tour of Halifax's "medical" marijuana dispensaries. There are a dozen, or more, at least. They all have lines, seven days a week, from open to close. Their inventory (marijuana) is sourced in the industrial black-market production infrastructure in BC which is vast, efficient and already produces a variety of products (in-demand strains of marijuana) and product formats (oils, vape cartridges, topicals, edibles, etc). Many people don't fully understand that these dispensaries are actually all illegal and will be shut down upon legalization. Currently, the only legal way to purchase medical marijuanais through the mail from a licensed producer. [continues 305 words]
Cannabis Culture, a former pot shop on Bank Street, lost a court bid to have its eviction overturned. Justice Michelle O'Bonsawin ruled the landlord was justified in terminating the lease because the dispensary was operating in contravention of both its rental lease and federal law. The landlord posted an eviction notice on the door of the illegal dispensary in December and called a bailiff to change the locks. Cannabis Culture appealed to the Superior Court of Justice to reinstate the lease so it could continue to operate. [continues 367 words]
Canadians are paying just under $7 a gram for marijuana, on average, according to new data crowdsourced by Statistics Canada. Between Jan 25 and Feb 28, StatCan received 17,139 voluntary reports, submitted online, on how much people paid for cannabis. The data, released Friday, found the national average price for a gram of cannabis was $6.83, although price ranged widely depending on location, quantity purchased and use. Cannabis was reportedly cheapest in Quebec, coming in at $5.88 a gram on average. It was most expensive in the Northwest Territories, where people reported paying an average of $11.46 a gram. In most other provinces, people paid slightly more than the national average, mostly in the $7 range. Only in Quebec and New Brunswick were cannabis users paying less than the national average. [continues 445 words]
Pot still considered taboo during workdays The late, great George Carlin apparently once joked that the 1960s-era crackdown on the business man's "three-martini lunch" shouldn't affect the working stiff's "two-joint coffee break." But will the latter be frowned upon in the workplace if pot becomes legal - as expected - in Canada later this year? There is stigma that still exists," says leading Canadian cannabis activist Jodie Emery. "Now it depends though, of course, where you work. In a modern city like Toronto or Vancouver, you could probably have more progressive attitudes towards that in workplaces but definitely in smaller towns and more conservative jurisdictions, you would have push back." [continues 583 words]
Back off, bud. The City of North Vancouver is aiming to slam the lid on the host of unlicensed pot shops that have operated with seeming impunity in recent years following Monday's council meeting. The crackdown, which involves civil court injunctions, is meant to give the city enough time to draft its own regulations about where and how marijuana dispensaries can operate within city limits. "I do believe that it should be legalized but it needs to be regulated," explained Mayor Darrell Mussatto. "This enforcement action here is allowing us some time so that we can put in these regulations before it actually becomes legalized." [continues 397 words]
Lawyer Denis Mahoney outlines a plan for employers surrounding the legalization of cannabis in Canada How are employers going to deal with the use of cannabis in the workplace once it becomes legal later this year? According to lawyer Denis Mahoney, a partner with Mcinnes Cooper in St. John's, speaking to delegates at the 50th anniversary conference of the Newfoundland and Labrador Construction Association (NLCA) on Friday, there are many questions that need to be answered first. "We are really concerned about this at the employers' council because as I can tell you in our business today, the No. 1 issue we are working with clients on today, above all else, is this particular topic," Mahoney said. [continues 796 words]
Two women arrested in April after police raided their medical marijuana dispensary in St. Catharines have been granted a conditional discharge. "I only wish I was able to help more people on the legal route," Abbigail Millar, 32, told Judge Tory Colvin in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines, Friday. Millar, together with Angela Millar, 38, were arrested after Niagara police raided Kronic Inc., a dispensary on Wright Street. Police seized just under 3,000 grams of marijuana as well as pre-rolled marijuanacigarettes, marijuana oil capsules and a variety of marijuana edibles. The also seized more than $4,000 in cash. [continues 185 words]
Police are "picking and choosing " when it comes to marijuana enforcement, says a Whyte Avenue medical cannabis dispensary owner charged after a bust last month. The Edmonton Drug and Gang Enforcement Section (EDGE) executed search warrants Feb. 2 at two commercial addresses and a residence, turning up cannabis products with a combined street value estimated by police at $150,000. Paul Olson, owner of Whyte Cross dispensary, one of the businesses raided Feb. 2, said it was "a little bit of a surprise" when police entered his store and seized his products. [continues 417 words]
