Health unit getting up to $150,000 to reduce opioid-caused harm in Sarnia-Lambton Police, health agencies, school boards and others, spurred by the opioid crisis, have joined up to craft a strategy aimed at preventing overdose deaths in Sarnia-Lambton. A group of more than 20 agencies met this week to talk about ways to intervene, said Lynn Laidler, executive director of the Rapids Family Health Team, noting she was spurred to act after reading about a fatal overdose in August likely caused by fentanyl-laced cocaine. [continues 447 words]
Anthony Gray expected to be an old man when he got out of prison after serving a 30-year sentence for a relatively minor drug offense. Aron Tuff was certain he would die there, having been sentenced to life without parole after he was convicted in 1995 in Colquitt County for possession of .03 grams of cocaine with intent to distribute. Both men were sentenced during a time when tough on crime drug laws of the 1980s and '90s left many low-level drug offenders serving long sentences. [continues 99 words]
Since doper Marc Emery has claimed title of the Prince of Pot, perhaps it is time to crown Justin Trudeau the King of Weed. Thus far, it seems reefer royalty is our prime minister's primary quest, as he is obsessed with pot's legalization - by Canada Day 2018, come hell or high times - while spending little time on substantive issues other than taxing small business out of business. Finance Minister Bill Morneau claims he will now tweak his tax reforms somewhat so that the family farm, for example, can be passed on to the next generation without painful penalties, but time will tell. [continues 525 words]
VANCOUVER - Canada's political leaders must take bold action by joining forces to decriminalize illicit drugs and save lives in the midst of an unprecedented overdose crisis, a leading drug-policy expert says. Donald MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's stance on legalizing marijuana to protect youth and stop the flow of profits to organized crime must also apply to drugs that have killed thousands of Canadians. "That's very sad that he can't see the logic that he's using so loudly on cannabis to shift that logic to a far more serious problem," MacPherson said Wednesday. [continues 582 words]
VANCOUVER - Canada's political leaders must take bold action by joining forces to decriminalize illicit drugs and save lives in the midst of an unprecedented overdose crisis, a leading drug-policy expert says. Donald MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's stance on legalizing marijuana to protect youth and stop the flow of profits to organized crime must also apply to drugs that have killed thousands of Canadians. "That's very sad that he can't see the logic that he's using so loudly on cannabis to shift that logic to a far more serious problem," MacPherson said Wednesday. [continues 451 words]
Employees jeer drug squad, SWAT team Police raided one of the city's busiest pot shops on Tuesday, hauling away five clerks in handcuffs while a handful of demonstrators jeered. It's the second time the Cannabis Culture dispensary on Bank Street near Gladstone Avenue has been raided. The illegal shop closed for a day last March after police arrested five clerks for drug trafficking and hauled away the dried weed, cannabis concentrates and oils on sale. On Tuesday, drug squad officers in balaclavas, the SWAT team and uniformed officers arrived at the shop not long after it opened at 10 a.m. [continues 379 words]
Toronto's former chief is not the only ex-cop or politician looking to profit from legal marijuana, but he may be the biggest hypocrite among them Julian Fantino has turned over a new leaf on marijuana. The former Toronto police chief, OPP commish and Harper-era cabinet minister will serve as executive chair of something called Aleafia Inc., which describes itself on its website as a "total health network." The company will essentially act as a middleman that connects prospective medicinal-marijuana users with licensed growers, according to the Globe and Mail, which broke the story over the weekend - and then promptly put it behind a paywall knowing full well the clicking frenzy Fantino's association with legal weed would touch off. [continues 669 words]
Portugal treats addiction as a disease, not a crime. LISBON - On a broken-down set of steps, a 37-year-old fisherman named Mario mixed heroin and cocaine and carefully prepared a hypodermic needle. "It's hard to find a vein," he said, but he finally found one in his forearm and injected himself with the brown liquid. Blood trickled from his arm and pooled on the step, but he was oblivious. "Are you O.K.?" Rita Lopes, a psychologist working for an outreach program called Crescer, asked him. "You're not taking too much?" Lopes monitors Portuguese heroin users like Mario, gently encourages them to try to quit and gives them clean hypodermics to prevent the spread of AIDS. [continues 2049 words]
Two men were killed in Hartford in a few-hour span Friday into Saturday. Six people were shot, two fatally, in separate narcotics-related shootings in Hartford Friday night and Saturday morning, police said. As of Sunday morning, victim identifications were being withheld, but Deputy Police Chief Brian Foley said at least one of the victims was from out of state. Foley said the two shootings immediately appeared to be narcotics related, with heroin, cocaine and other drugs found at the scene. Police said they believed multiple guns were involved and at least one of the shootings was described as a "gunfight." [continues 516 words]
Toronto judge excludes evidence of drugs found in strip search Another unlawful strip search, another crumbling criminal case. A Toronto judge has thrown out all drug evidence seized from Stuart MacPherson, finding Toronto police had no reasonable grounds to pull back his pants and boxer shorts at the scene of his arrest to locate concealed drugs near his tail bone. Ontario Court Justice Sheila Ray also noted in her ruling released last week that at least one of the officers did not seem to even be aware that there was a Toronto police policy on strip searches, and that both officers thought what they did was entirely appropriate. [continues 723 words]
Your meds are safe for a little while longer. Congressional lawmakers bought a little more time for the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment by extending the current federal budget with a disaster relief bill signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month. The clause is set to expire with the rest of the bill on Dec. 8. The bill itself caught a lot of press due to the shocking ease with which Trump sided with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling. Of the 90 "no" votes in the House of Representatives, all were Republican. (House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told the Washington Post the vote indicated House Republicans "have a philosophical problem with governance.") [continues 427 words]
To tackle organized crime and those who lure young people into marijuana use, we need to legalize marijuana. This was one of the messages MP Bill Blair had at a town hall discussion at Cornell Community Centre Sunday. Markham-Stouffville MP Jane Philpott and Markham-Thornhill MP Mary Ng hosted the meeting on the legalization and regulation of cannabis with Blair, parliamentary secretary to the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada. In April 2017, the federal government introduced legislation to legalize and regulate recreational cannabis in Canada by July 2018. If passed, the proposed Cannabis Act would create rules for producing, using and selling cannabis across Canada. [continues 238 words]
It's been almost two full years since young Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party performed one of the most impressive revivals of a political party in Canadian history, regaining power from the Royal Canadian Harper Government and providing the country what was, in contrast, a progressive, marketing friendly face to the world. In addition, Young Justin has benefited from the stark contrast between his own public persona and that of the pustule of awfulness that has infested the American White House this year. For many progressives around the world, he has come not only to represent a kind of politics in direct opposition to his American counterpart and a signal of hope to ease the despair of those who see in Trump the moral, economic, and social failure that he represents. [continues 994 words]
Report puts Brantford at top in province for emergency room visits due to opioid poisoning, A report putting Brantford at the top of the provincial list for emergency room visits due to opioid overdoses is a "wake-up call," says Ruth Gratton. "I think this report validates all of the hard work that is being done in the community and will serve as justification for ramping up those efforts," Gratton, manager of infectious disease at the Brant County Health Unit, said Friday. [continues 1187 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]
NDP leadership candidate Jagmeet Singh's recent promise that, as prime minister, he would move quickly to drop criminal penalties for possession or purchase of small amounts of all drugs will no doubt seem radical to many. Broad-based decriminalization would be a stark reversal after decades of increasingly punitive policies. And this would certainly add a layer of complication to the already-complicated task of legalizing marijuana, which Ottawa and the provinces are struggling to do by next summer. The Trudeau government's current position on decriminalization is understandable: Ottawa already has its hands full with pot. [continues 862 words]
Province turns to citizens for consultation on how marijuana should be sold in Saskatchewan Love it or hate it, legislation that legalizes pot in Canada is coming. The provincial government launched a survey last week, seeking the public's response to questions ranging from where and how marijuana should be sold, to a minimum age for users, and priorities when it comes to enforcement and education. These are some of the top concerns for users, sellers, legislators, and law enforcement alike. [continues 691 words]
Waterloo Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin says police are gearing up for the July 1 deadline when pot will be legal in Canada but he says there is "trepidation and worry" about the upcoming law. Larkin, who is president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said any new legislation and public policy brings "a lot of trepidation" and "a lot of worry." Police are preparing for the July 1 deadline. However, Larkin agrees with other police services and associations who say the date is arbitrary. [continues 321 words]
Content Warning: drug use and overdose Last week, public health officials in Montreal warned of an imminent fentanyl crisis that poses a serious risk to the city's drug users. Fentanyl is an opioid prescribed to relieve chronic pain, but its intensity is 40 times that of heroin, and its toxicity 100 times that of morphine. Fentanyl can be found in opiates, as well as party drugs such as cocaine, PCP, and MDMA. Because it's often present without the consumer's knowledge, it can easily cause a fatal overdose. In British Columbia, 706 overdose deaths from January to July 2017 involved fentanyl. In Montreal, there have been 24 confirmed drug overdose cases since the beginning of August 2017. Faced with this growing public health crisis, the McGill community must waste no time in supplying the tools and information necessary to keep students safe. [continues 426 words]
Every day, two Canadians die from opioids and this number is steadily increasing. Naloxone is a medication that temporarily suspends opioid overdoses. Free naloxone kits are now available to Ontarians at risk of, or likely to witness, opioid overdoses. This includes youth experimenting with drugs, first-responders, addicts and those managing pain. People living in poverty are especially affected, being more likely to suffer from addiction and less likely to afford the life-saving kits. This is just one small part of Ontario's Strategy to Prevent Opioid Addiction and Overdose, alongside other such measures as delisting high-strength opioids from the Ontario Drug Benefit and expanding the Fentanyl Patch for Patch Program. [continues 330 words]
