So, pot czar Justin Trudeau, realizing his actual street dealers were on the verge of a revolt, turned to his Mr. Big, Bill Morneau, and told him to divvy up a more saleable split of the profits from upcoming pot deals. When profits are projected to be in the billions, honour among thieves, and we say "thieves" with all due respect, begins to lose its lustre. After all, it will be the street dealers who will be taking on the majority of the risk, meaning all those premiers hypnotized by dollar signs who will have to set up their own turf, build their own drug outlets, collect the juice from the sales, and deal with law enforcement should the criminal element invade their space. [continues 501 words]
Feds up profit split on pot deals So, pot czar Justin Trudeau, realizing his actual street dealers were on the verge of a revolt, turned to his Mr. Big, Bill Morneau, and told him to divvy up a more saleable split of the profits from upcoming pot deals. When profits are projected to be in the billions, honour among thieves, and we say "thieves" with all due respect, begins to lose its lustre. After all, it will be the street dealers who will be taking on the majority of the risk, meaning all those premiers hypnotized by dollar signs who will have to set up their own turf, build their own drug outlets, collect the juice from the sales, and deal with law enforcement should the criminal element invade their space. [continues 500 words]
As deadly fentanyl fuels a public health crisis, Free Press reporter Jennifer Bieman reveals what you should know about common London street drugs Forget the old adage that what you don't know, can't hurt you. When it comes to street drugs, what you don't know can kill you. That was the thrust of a rare public health warning - three health agencies and London police joined in its release - last week in London, when authorities stressed that the latest villain in Canada's opioid drug crisis, deadly fentanyl, is turning up in other illegal street drugs. [continues 1350 words]
Shortly after becoming licensed as a family therapist, I was hired to facilitate group therapy on a chemical dependency unit. I did this every day for about 10 years. I also coordinated family group for the spouses and relatives of those who were recovering from alcohol and drug abuse. There were a lot of "take aways" from this experience. Despite my education, I held many prejudices and myths toward those who abused alcohol and drugs. These men and women taught me a great deal. [continues 459 words]
Frank Elsner, a former top cop in Sudbury who resigned earlier this month as Victoria police chief, has launched a cannabis consulting business. Elsner, who is facing six misconduct allegations from his time with the Victoria department, is now the principal consultant for UMBRA Strategic Solutions, which will provide security consulting to marijuana businesses, according to a post on his Linked In profile. A message signed by Elsner on the company's website says: "After a great career in policing I started Umbra Strategic Solutions. I wanted to do something that I am passionate about while utilizing my knowledge, skills and abilities." Elsner writes that he has "come a long way" in his thinking about harm reduction, community wellness and the role police play. [continues 478 words]
'I need to get on with my life,' says ex-Victoria police chief, now a security consultant for cannabis businesses Former Victoria police chief Frank Elsner has launched a cannabis security-consulting business and suggests the allegations that ended his policing career were the result of "bad blood" created by his efforts to change the culture of the Victoria Police Department. Elsner said he was hired to "clean house" at the VicPD, and not everyone embraced his proposed changes. "I was brought in to make the changes that were necessary and part of that was changing the culture of the organization from a reactive one to a proactive community-based one," Elsner said. [continues 872 words]
4/20 participants extol virtues of pot as drug that helps you cope Leigh Filbert admits he lived the "rock-star lifestyle" in the past and acknowledges now his body is paying for it. Filbert suffered a stroke a little over a year ago that left the right side of his body paralyzed. He suffers from anxiety he also contends is paralyzing, emotionally. Attending his first 4/20 rally, Filbert biked around the Legislature grounds on Thursday "to gather constructive information" about the cannabis movement as he continues on his road to recovery. [continues 398 words]
Tell me what is the difference between a gangster in a stairwell and a licensed retailer in a pot shop? I mean, if you get down to the nub of the thing, it's all just window-dressing, pretending that one is less exploitive than the other. The retailer will be taxed, although none of those head-banging details were included in the marijuana legalization bills tabled by the federal government Thursday. The illegal dealer will be charged, most harshly if selling to a minor, under new Criminal Code provisions. [continues 1312 words]
With battering rams and flash-bang grenades, SWAT teams fuel the risk of violence as they forcibly enter suspects' homes. Five months and 85 miles apart, two cases took starkly divergent legal paths. SOMERVILLE, Tex. - Joshua Aaron Hall had been a resident of the Burleson County Jail for about a week when he requested a meeting with Gene Hermes, the sheriff's investigator who had locked him up for violating probation. The stocky lawman arrived in the featureless interview room on the morning of Dec. 13, 2013, placed his soda cup on the table and apologized for not getting there sooner. He asked in his gravelly drawl if they would be talking about Mr. Hall's own case. [continues 6445 words]
The federal law forbidding dispensing cannabis-based product - except by mail - to registered medical patients with doctors' prescriptions, from federally licensed growers, was struck down by our Supreme Court. That means that the police are arresting people under a law that has been rendered illegal. How about going after the real culprits: crack pushers, organized crime, biker gangs that import a flood of guns and hard drugs across our borders every day, resulting in deaths of our young people? D. Scott Barclay, Georgetown [end]
In Fact, Project Claudia Will Drive Some Trade Back Into The Streets What the hell was that all about? It's a question you might have asked yourself after police Chief Mark Saunders' news conference Friday, which was hijacked by a couple of activists whose persistent questioning and arguing left virtually no room for Saunders to answer, for minutes on end. The journalists in attendance were left to stand around waiting for a chance to get actual information, and the chief was left standing as the event drifted along, to seemingly no purpose. [continues 955 words]
They had bag loads of marijuana lollipops, cannabis-infused chocolate - - and lots of confiscated weed - from pot shops. But what they didn't have were weapons: Guns, knives, swords and brass knuckles. Those are reserved for the other kind of dope dealer - ones in alleys who don't pay rent. "(Toronto Mayor) John Tory knows perfectly well that shutting these dispensaries down will force countless medical marijuana users, many of them veterans, back into the arms of dealers," said Russell Barth, known as the Angriest Pothead in Canada. "I am so glad, as, must be, the taxpayers, to know that all the other crimes in the Greater Toronto Area have been solved. The mayor and chief of police should resign immediately." [continues 719 words]
In Affluent Simi Valley, Houses Are Large, the SUVs Gleam and Many Kids Are Addicts A Christmas Tree in a Suburban Shopping Malls Helps Tell the New Story of Heroin Widespread Painkiller Prescriptions Helped Fueled Opiate Addiction and Death Town Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Simi Valley is not a remarkable place as malls go. A freeway runs alongside it. There's a Buffalo Wild Wings, a movie theater, and a motorized train that takes toddlers on rides around the mall. Since last Saturday, a large Christmas tree covered in ornaments stands in the middle of the shopping center, next to a Starbucks. [continues 1044 words]
Neighbors to North Look to U.S. Experience MONTREAL - For police forces across Canada, August is harvest time. Officers slip on their coveralls, grab thick gardening gloves, shoulder machetes and begin the annual ritual of chopping down marijuana plants hidden in cornfields, remote mountain valleys and forest clearings. If the grower is unlucky enough to be caught redhanded, he is cuffed and taken off to court. Each police unit hits two or three of these hidden marijuana plantations, with the confiscated pot taken to incinerators. The destruction of marijuana plants goes on for about two weeks, and then it's back to normal police work. [continues 984 words]
MONTREAL - For police forces across Canada, August is harvest time. Officers slip on their coveralls, grab thick gardening gloves, shoulder machetes and begin the annual ritual of chopping down marijuana plants hidden in cornfields, remote mountain valleys and forest clearings. If the grower is unlucky enough to be caught red-handed, he is cuffed and taken off to court. Each police unit hits two or three of these hidden marijuana plantations, with the confiscated pot taken to incinerators. The destruction of marijuana plants goes on for about two weeks, and then it's back to normal police work. [continues 1101 words]
It Would Be the First G-20 Country to Nationally Allow Recreational Use Montreal - For police forces across Canada, the month of August is harvest time. Officers slip on their coveralls, grab thick gardening gloves, shoulder machetes and begin the annual ritual of chopping down marijuana plants hidden in cornfields, remote mountain valleys and forest clearings. If growers are unlucky enough to be caught red-handed, they are cuffed and taken to court. Each police unit hits two or three of these hidden marijuana plantations, with the confiscated pot taken to incinerators. The destruction of marijuana plants goes on for about two weeks, and then it's back to normal police work. [continues 1082 words]
MONTREAL - For police forces across Canada, the month of August is harvest time. Officers slip on their coveralls, grab thick gardening gloves, shoulder machetes and begin the annual ritual of chopping down marijuana plants hidden in cornfields, remote mountain valleys and forest clearings. If the grower is unlucky enough to be caught red-handed, he is cuffed and taken off to court. Each police unit hits two or three of these hidden marijuana plantations, with the confiscated pot taken to incinerators. The destruction of marijuana plants goes on for about two weeks, and then it's back to normal police work. [continues 751 words]
Here is the deal, folks. Sooner or later, probably sooner, pot is going to be legal in Canada. All the signs are moving in that direction. Medical marijuana is already a reality and, despite the dire warnings of some, the sky did not fall and Canada did not turn into a cesspool of scum and villainy. In Niagara Falls Tuesday, city councillors scheduled a meeting to discuss regulations governing the growing, processing, packaging of medical marijuana in the city. Some residents are none to pleased with the idea. [continues 637 words]
Here is the deal, folks. Sooner or later, probably sooner, pot is going to be legal in Canada. All the signs are moving in that direction. Medical marijuana is already a reality and, despite the dire warnings of some, the sky did not fall and Canada did not turn into a cesspool of scum and villainy. In Niagara Falls Tuesday, city councillors scheduled a meeting to discuss regulations governing the growing, processing, packaging of medical marijuana in the city. Some residents are none to pleased with the idea. [continues 638 words]
