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]
Same tribe, different mindsets. On Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory on the shores of Lake Ontario, dead centre between Toronto and Montreal, there are more than 20 pot dispensaries and at least 30 smoke shacks selling cheap cigarettes. The population of Tyendinaga is 2,124. Do the math. At the Six Nations Mohawk Territory, however, the largest First Nations reserve in Canada with a population of 12,000-plus living on the reserve, there is a huge sign on the main highway indicating zero tolerance to illicit drugs. [continues 543 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]
New provincial funding to help police officers detect impaired drivers is a good start, but Brockville's chief of police says they are still being left with too many unanswered questions. The province announced Friday it is "stepping up support for municipalities and law enforcement to help ensure communities and roads are safe in advance of the federal government's legalization of cannabis." This will be done, they said, by providing $40 million of its revenue from the federal duty on recreational cannabis over two years to help all municipalities with implementation costs related to the legalization of cannabis. [continues 638 words]
The provincial government will provide $40 million of its revenue from the federal excise duty on recreational cannabis over two years to help municipalities with the costs of implementing legislation. But municipalities have not yet received any more information about what that will mean exactly. The province has said that funding will be distributed to municipalities on a per household basis with a minimum of $10,000 per municipality. "We know municipalities will play a key role as the federal government moves forward with the legalization of recreational cannabis. This is why we engaged with municipalities early I the process," said Minister of Municipal Affairs Bill Mauro. "Our government respects the role of municipalities in the legalization of cannabis and we know we can rely on their valuable input as we continue to navigate this process together." [continues 498 words]
The government of Ontario will give municipalities $40 million from its share of federal marijuana taxes to help cover law enforcement and safety costs associated with pot legalization, the province announced Friday. The money - which will be provided to municipalities upfront, beginning before legalization takes effect later this year - will come from the first two years of federal excise duties on producers of recreational pot. "This funding will ensure that Ontario's municipalities have dedicated resources for cannabis enforcement," said Marie-France Lalonde, minister of community safety and correctional services. "Ontario will continue working with law enforcement agencies to protect our communities from illegal cannabis activity, and to keep impaired drivers off the road." [continues 184 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]
Like many civic leaders across Canada, councillors in the town of Hampstead, Que., were worried about the idea of people smoking marijuana on the street once the drug became legal. So they drew up a tough bylaw - and it's set to become the most restrictive anti-smoking measure in the country. In a move that experts predict will motivate other Canadian municipalities, the town of 7,100 has adopted a draft bylaw that would ban smoking everywhere in public, including streets and sidewalks. [continues 588 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]
P.E.I. students moved by powerful anti-impaired driving presentation Jordan Gillis knew it was a bad idea to get into the car. The person offering to drive him home had been smoking pot - enough to impair his ability to drive safely. Jordan could simply have turned down the ride. He did not. That drive to his home in Fredericton took five or 10 minutes, the 15-year-old recalls. And how well did the impaired driver drive? "I didn't think too good, actually,'' says Jordan. [continues 491 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]
Medical cannabis take-up hampered by lack of research and red tape I picked up a View magazine while I was waiting for the bus a few weeks back. There was an article on the 15 or so uses of cannabis, so after I caught up with CATCH (Citizens at City Hall), I turned to the article on cannabis looking for some useful information. By this time, I was on the bus, seated on a side seat, next to an elderly woman. I could feel she was reading over my shoulder, so I turned to her slightly. She asked me the name of the paper and we started a conversation about cannabis. [continues 633 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]
Can we put the words "illegal" and "marijuana" together and still be making a relevant statement in Canada? Marijuana is going to be legal as a recreation drug. The federal government has committed itself to legalization. The provincial government has stepped forward with a plan for legal marijuana, which included dispensaries as a component. They even went so far as to include early licence application for dispensaries. Marijuana will be sold, consumed by people and I do not believe there is anything that will stop that from happening. This means the political movement to legalize marijuana is no longer of significant relevance. Operating dispensaries as a political statement is no longer required. So, now what? [continues 673 words]
Investment firm head says he'd spend $25,000 to fight cannabis-impaired driving provisions As experts warn of flaws with the cannabis-impaired driving provisions of Bill C-46, a high-profile Canadian cannabis industry executive has vowed to bankroll a future court challenge against that aspect of the proposed law. Chuck Rifici, the CEO of cannabis industry investment firm Wheaton Income Corp., and the former chief financial officer of the Liberal Party of Canada, said he would commit up to $25,000 to fund such a challenge. [continues 1087 words]
The haze around pot revenue for cities is beginning to clear, but one Southwestern Ontario mayor doesn't like what he's seeing. Municipalities are no longer in the dark about the dollars they'll get to deal with the rollout of legalized marijuana, after the province announced Friday that $40 million from the tax on legalized marijuana will flow to cities in the next two years. Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said the numbers don't add up, pointing to the 444 municipalities in Ontario that have to share that cash. [continues 305 words]
