Patient response to Pa. marijuana program 'extremely positive' What if Pennsylvania had a medical marijuana program but few people knew about it? With hundreds of millions of dollars invested in cannabis growing facilities and dispensaries -- and the health of thousands of prospective patients on the line -- alerting state residents to the program should be a priority. But there's effectively a gag order on nearly all players involved. The state Department of Health, responsible for the program's roll-out, has no budget to pay for advertising. Marijuana growers, processors and dispensaries are prohibited by law from actively promoting their wares. And doctors who write recommendations for medical cannabis are forbidden from publicizing that they're participating. [continues 565 words]
Sometimes it takes someone from outside Canada to make us realize what a great thing we have going. A few years ago, a Brazilian investment firm, 3G Capital, bought Canadian coffee icon Tim Hortons. In 1995, Labatt Brewery was swallowed up by Interbrew from Belgium, which was in turn merged with AmBev, also from Brazil. Richard Baker, an American, saw the potential in Hudson's Bay Co., which was struggling at the time, and paid more than $1.1-billion in 2008 for the 80 per cent of the chain that he didn't own (although his stake has since been reduced). [continues 671 words]
The state health department has drafted proposed regulations for the medical marijuana industry, setting rules for quality testing, tracking and increasing fees. The Billings Gazette reports the Department of Public Health and Human Services plans a public hearing in Helena on Nov. 30. Agency spokesman Jon Ebelt says the state sought input from Montana providers and researched practices in states that have legalized marijuana use. Under the rules, providers would have to have their products tested for levels of THC along with metals and pesticides. [continues 56 words]
VICTORVILLE - San Bernardino County Sheriff's Deputies seized 3,475 marijuana plants after serving search warrants at four High Desert locations Friday, the agency announced Saturday. All of the marijuana grows were not in compliance with the California medical marijuana law or other ordinances, the sheriff's department said in a statement. At three of the four locations investigators found that the illegal growers had tampered with the main power lines at residences to bypass the electrical meters installed by the utility company, allowing the theft of electricity needed to operate equipment used to grow marijuana. [continues 68 words]
Sarasota-based medical marijuana company AltMed Florida is poised to begin growing its first crop of marijuana at a facility in Apollo Beach. The Florida Department of Health authorized Plants of Ruskin -- the nursery that is partnering with AltMed -- to begin operating the cultivation facility. "We have worked diligently to build what we believe will be the most advanced indoor cultivation facility in Florida, and one of the finest in the country," AltMed CEO John Tipton said in a press release Monday. [continues 270 words]
Ottawa seeks to undercut black market using 'small-scale growers' OTTAWA - The federal government has revealed part of its strategy for regulating recreational cannabis when it becomes legal in July, proposing to allow "micro-cultivation" while modifying the existing federal licensing scheme for medical marijuana producers to let them sell into the future market. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor released a 75-page consultation document Tuesday afternoon kicking off a 60-day period for officials, groups and citizens to respond to the plan. [continues 854 words]
Landlords hope for Human Rights Act exemption Alberta landlords are asking the province to nip possible human rights cases in the bud when it comes to cannabis use in rental properties, but the province doesn't see that happening. In a letter to the province, the Alberta Residential Landlords Association asked the province to revisit the residential tenancies act. The group is also asking for an exception to the Alberta Human Rights Act to make sure the right to prohibit cannabis smoking and growing is crystal clear. [continues 389 words]
Alberta won't limit the number of private cannabis stores once retail sales are legalized next July, according to new details released Thursday by the NDP government. The province confirmed that it will look to private retailers to sell legal weed from brick-and-mortar storefronts, instead of government-run outlets chosen by several other provinces, such as Ontario and Quebec. Online sales in Alberta, however, will be available through a publicly run system, which is meant to ensure residents can tell the difference between legal and illicit retailers on the internet. [continues 741 words]
On the street, a dealer selling pot at $10 per gram better deliver the goods - high THC content sufficient to get a good buzz - or clientele will go elsewhere. Word gets around fast. Similarly, if the provincial government doesn't deliver the goods, plans to reap millions in taxes from selling pot will go up in smoke. The government hasn't said a word about the THC content in its pot and journalists have been remiss in not asking this, the most important question. If the THC content is the same as or close to the content found in medical marijuana, there most certainly will not be a buzz. And that's the main reason for smoking a joint. Neighbourhood dealers may have nothing to fear. [continues 58 words]
THE flurry of news articles on the upcoming legalization of cannabis is everywhere, and seems to be creating substantial fear among most employers. Much of this fear, of course, is about having to deal with the unknown. For instance, will recreational cannabis use increase among employees and how will this impact the workplace? What about medical marijuana? Are employers ready for this new challenge? Will current policies stand the test against cannabis? Interestingly enough, a recent report by the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario and the consulting firm Deloitte suggests that 22 per cent of Canadian adults already consume recreational cannabis. [continues 1098 words]
Private operators still await rules for selling legal weed starting July 1 Alberta won't limit the number of private cannabis stores once retail sales are legalized next July, according to new details released Thursday by the NDP government. The province confirmed that private retailers will sell legal weed from brick-and-mortar storefronts, instead of government-run outlets chosen by several other provinces, including Ontario and Quebec. Online sales in Alberta, however, will be available through a publicly run system, which is meant to ensure residents can tell the difference between legal and illicit retailers on the internet. [continues 775 words]
Potential retailers comment as Alberta releases rules for cannabis shops, sales Private retailers who want to sell legal marijuana in Alberta next July 1 won't be able to do so alongside alcohol, or even a bag of chips. Under proposed rules introduced by the province Thursday, retailers will be restricted to sales of cannabis and cannabis-related goods such as lighters and rolling papers. There's no word on how much legal marijuana will cost, but 420 Clinic founder Jeff Mooij says that won't matter to consumers. [continues 407 words]
Private retailers who want to sell legal marijuana in Alberta next July 1 won't be able to do so alongside alcohol, or even a bag of chips. Under proposed rules introduced by the province Thursday, retailers will be restricted to sales of cannabis and cannabis-related goods such as lighters and rolling papers. There's no word on how much legal marijuana will cost, but 420 Clinic founder Jeff Mooij says that won't matter to consumers. As a medical marijuana clinic owner and cannabis user, Mooij said Thursday there is an appetite for clean, safe, regulated weed in Alberta - it's not about paying less than black market drugs, but knowing where the product is coming from. [continues 367 words]
Meanwhile, Alberta embraces private sector MONTREAL * Forced into the pot business by the federal government, Quebec on Thursday tabled strict marijuana legislation, striving to give itself full control over the industry, push out the private sector and create a zero-tolerance policy for driving under the influence of all drugs. "This is an important change to our society," Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois said after tabling Bill 157. "The experts recommended we be prudent to start and then to see if we need to adjust. They asked us to be rigorous and to see how citizens evolve." [continues 668 words]
KITCHENER - A judge who granted an absolute discharge to a Kitchener couple running an illegal marijuana dispensary has handed out a tiny fine to one of them for careless storage of a loaded handgun. Nour Louka, 30, owned and operated the Waterloo Dispensary, which sold marijuana out of a second-floor business on King Street in uptown Waterloo. Her husband, Shady Louka, 32, was a part-time, temporary employee. Justice Colin Westman had said in July that he would grant an absolute discharge and he made it official on Thursday. [continues 289 words]
Safe-driving activists, pot dispensers and businesses all have their own views Two cannabis activists aren't impressed with the marijuana legalization plan Quebec announced Thursday. But a group that works to decrease impaired driving praised the proposed legislation. Here's a look at some of the reaction to Bill 157: Marc-Boris St-Maurice, a longtime pot activist and founder of the Montreal Compassion Centre medical-marijuana dispensary: "Their plan is still half-baked," he said, noting guidelines announced Thursday are in a draft bill that might change. [continues 849 words]
There are many absurdities in Victoria city council's pot-regulation proposals: Second-hand smoke, whether it is from tobacco or pot, affects everyone in the vicinity. When you add pot's psychoactive components into the mix, non-users get all the unhealthy tar and lung contaminant and they also get stoned. Not everyone has a pleasant reaction to cannabis. While I can decline a drink if it is offered, I can't decline the effect of pot smoke in my air, whether it's from a pot lounge or seeping through the ventilation system of a building. [continues 129 words]
It's late afternoon and you receive a text message: 'Friends coming for dinner. Please pick up wine.' You pull into the neighbourhood liquor store, pick up a bottle of your favourite wine and head home. A familiar scene taking place across the province every day. When you go into your local liquor store, you have confidence knowing that you're buying a quality product in a secure environment, with stores conveniently located in every community across the province. B.C.'s public and private liquor stores have a proven track record over many decades, selling controlled alcohol products to adults in a responsible manner, with more than a 90 per cent compliance rate in restricting sales to minors. [continues 533 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]
Dear editor: On Oct. 19, I was saddened and outraged while viewing Global Okanagan's interview with West Kelowna city councillor, Rusty Ensign, regarding the pulling of business licences of the city's medical cannabis dispensaries. Last week, I attended one of West Kelowna's cannabis dispensaries to purchase some edible products which help to control my pain and allow me to get some quality sleep, and, contrary to Ensign's claims that such stores service 20-30-year-old males, there were none in the shop, only three other ladies, of which only one was under the age of 65. [continues 210 words]
