Recreational weed is now legal in California. So what does that mean? In January 2018, state and local authorities will begin issuing licenses for the sale of legal recreational marijuana. But what do you need to know before you rush to the dispensary? Information courtesy of Ballotpedia.com. When recreational marijuana sales became legal in Nevada on July 1, customers were lined up around the block of a dispensary near downtown Reno, eager to buy buds. In Las Vegas, cannabis enthusiasts showed up in limos and tour buses, ready to participate in the opening-day pot festivities. [continues 1443 words]
Advocates say Ottawa's proposed excise levy will simply penalize the sick The federal government has angered proponents of medical cannabis and the opposition by announcing that its planned excise tax on recreational products will also apply to marijuana that is used to treat various illnesses. A large number of groups had been calling on Ottawa to remove the sales tax that is currently imposed on medical marijuana. Instead, they were shocked to learn on Friday that sales taxes will continue to apply on medical marijuana, but also that an excise tax of $1 a gram will be added on the product. [continues 885 words]
A discussion on medicinal marijuana, its uses and who is using it was the on the menu at the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs' weekly speakers series. Dr. Ife Abiola, medical director for the 420 Clinic, spoke on the drug and gave anecdotal information on many of the patents seen at the clinic. He said it is important for local residents to get informed on the drug ahead of impending national legalization. "This is going to be changing a lot of different facets of our lives," he said. "You can expect to be seeing whether it's through a medical clinic, dispensary or other people just using in a ubiquitous way in our lives. Everyone needs to have a certain level of education about this. " [continues 231 words]
Nova Scotians thinking that next July they'll be able to nip down to the corner pot shop whenever they want, might want to chill until they see the province's plan. Cannabis will be legal next summer, but the rules and regulations are yet to come and Nova Scotia, along with the other Atlantic Provinces, will create tightly controlled, strictly regulated environments. Last week, the province wrapped up its online survey asking Nova Scotian for opinions on a variety of questions about cannabis control and access. [continues 664 words]
Many Canadians can hardly wait for the day that the recreational use of marijuana becomes legal. As a doctor, I'm far less enthusiastic. I worry about two things: the experimental nature of marijuana in medical practice, and the public health consequences of legalized marijuana. Before you write me off as overly prudish or an anti-marijuana conservative, let me say that I'm not opposed to legalized marijuana in principle. I'm just paying attention to the evidence, or rather, the lack of it. My concern is that as marijuana becomes more easily available, Canadians may become more inclined to self-medicate with this drug. [continues 427 words]
Marijuana trafficking charges against three people involved in a downtown Saskatoon medical marijuana dispensary that was raided by city police two years ago have been dropped. Instead, the dispensary - the Saskatchewan Compassion Club - pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking in Saskatoon provincial court on Thursday and agreed to pay a $6,500 fine plus a $1,950 surcharge. "Obviously, I'm relieved and pleased to have the process come to an end and to have justice ultimately served in the proper manner," said Compassion Club owner Mark Hauk. [continues 634 words]
MOONBEAM - The town has snuffed out a request to amend its business licensing bylaw in order to accommodate a medical marijuana dispensary within the municipality. Robert Neron, a long-time user and advocate of medical marijuana, made a presentation to town council Monday night, with the hopes of opening a marijuana dispensary in Moonbeam by the spring of 2018. Mayor Gilles Audet told The Daily Press there were several reasons behind council's decision to deny the request. The general feeling around the council table, Audet explained, was that Neron should be directing his request to a higher authority of government. [continues 243 words]
There's plenty of interest in selling legal pot in Manitoba. The province notes an expression of interest on the subject attracted more than 60 responses. Premier Brian Pallister said that bodes well for his government's goal to ensure official marijuana stores are accessible enough to undermine the black market. Pallister said the province aims to ensure access to marijuana sales within a 30-minute drive for 90% of Manitobans to meet that goal. "We wish to see broad coverage, broad availability," he said. [continues 204 words]
Lone province pot pusher is the Ont. gov't! The fix is in and it's only a matter of time until the city's marijuana dispensaries are forced out of business by the new pusher in town - the Ontario government. New legislation announced Nov. 1 by the province, as it prepares to open 150 marijuana stores run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, includes massive fines and serious jail time for selling weed illegally once the federal government legalizes cannabis in 2018. [continues 767 words]
Vendors hope to inform and educate THOUSANDS of people streamed into Winnipeg's first-ever HempFest Cannabis Expo this weekend to listen to presentations by industry leaders and check out exhibits set up by cannabis and hemp businesses from around the country. More than 60 businesses tabled the expo, which was held Saturday and Sunday at the RBC Convention Centre. Organizers estimated that about 15 per cent of the businesses were Manitoba-based. "It's to give a platform for businesses to connect with people who are hungry for information. Maybe they're interested in medical cannabis and they don't know where to go or what to ask," event organizer Sacha Hockenhull said. [continues 752 words]
The marijuana industry is moving from counterculture to corporate. Not everyone is happy about it. On a grey Friday morning early last month, the Mayor of Niagara Falls, Ontario, took the stage to deliver the welcoming address at the Grow Up Cannabis Conference and Expo, one of the bigger industry events that have sprung up around Canada's burgeoning marijuana sector. Sporting a tie with what he described as "green flowers," Jim Diodati warmed up the audience with an anecdote about how as a politician he had braced for the "moment of truth," when he would be asked by the press if he had ever smoked marijuana (he had experimented once upon a time, he told a reporter, but was no longer a user). [continues 1484 words]
Nine years after Michigan voters overwhelmingly approved an initiative that permits doctors to prescribe marijuana for therapeutic purposes, state and local lawmakers are still struggling to design a regulatory scheme that balances the interests of patients, providers and residents. Earlier this year, Michigan legislators finally adopted a new regime that establishes distinct licensing criteria for growing, processing, testing, transporting and distributing the drug, which is still forbidden by federal law, and dividing the tax revenues generated by those activities between the state and local governments. [continues 630 words]
WASHINGTON - Everyday Advanced Hemp Oil, Bosom Lotion and CBD Edibles Gummie Men may have their fans, but the Food and Drug Administration is not among them. Four companies selling those and dozens of other marijuana-derived dietary supplements have been warned by the F.D.A. to stop pitching their products as cures for cancer, a common but unproven claim in the industry. "Substances that contain components of marijuana will be treated like any other products that make unproven claims to shrink cancer tumors," said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the agency's commissioner, in a news release on Wednesday. "We don't let companies market products that deliberately prey on sick people with baseless claims that their substances can shrink or cure cancer." [continues 617 words]
MANITOBA Liquor and Lotteries (MLL) wants to handle all angles of legal pot in Manitoba - everything including production, distribution and sales. The Crown corporation said Friday that it submitted an expression of interest to the government of Premier Brian Pallister in September. Pallister will issue a request for proposals Tuesday, setting out for anyone interested in getting a piece of the action in the legal pot business, where the government wants to go when cannabis becomes legal July 1. MLL declined Friday to elaborate or provide any further detail. [continues 240 words]
Is the word marijuana racist? It's a long-standing debate in the cannabis world, but the question is now slipping into the mainstream as the drug is on the edge of becomingly legal for recreational use. Many people aren't aware of the history of the term marijuana, which is linked to campaigns in the U.S. in the 1930s to demonize the plant by associating it with Mexican immigrants. Halifax Coun. Shawn Cleary recently created controversy when he declared he would no longer use the word. "Let's do what we can to not perpetuate racism," he said on Twitter. [continues 502 words]
The name of the government agency that will sell pot to Ontario has been revealed: the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corp. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. But neither does LCBO, the name of the provincial liquor monolith that sells us whiskey and wine. That acronym is so well known in Ontario that today no one bothers to spell it out. Will the acronym for the new marijuana agency - OCRC - become just as familiar? It has a certain slurry symmetry. It could lend itself to a nickname. How about "Ock-Rock," suggests Trina Fraser, an Ottawa lawyer who specializes in cannabis business law. [continues 633 words]
TORONTO - Businesses that illegally sell recreational marijuana after the government of Ontario sets up its own shops could be fined up to $1 million under legislation tabled Wednesday. One of the main aspects of the proposed law, which would take effect once the federal government makes the drug legal in July 2018, is to crack down on the array of illegal dispensaries, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi said. "We are going to work very hard towards that," he said. "We have put very strict penalties in that regards. . . . We feel very comfortable that the regime that we will put in place will be a significant deterrent for these illegal businesses." [continues 311 words]
ANY Canadians can hardly wait for the day recreational use of marijuana becomes legal. As a medical doctor, I'm far less enthusiastic. I worry about two things: the experimental nature of marijuana in medical practice, and the public health consequences of legalized marijuana. Before you write me off as overly prudish or an anti-marijuana conservative, let me say I'm not opposed to legalized marijuana in principle - I'm just paying attention to the evidence, or rather, the lack of it. My concern is that as marijuana becomes more easily available, Canadians may become more inclined to self-medicate with what's been called a "miracle drug." [continues 619 words]
A vegetable farmer looking to sell a piece of land has been put in a bind as Norfolk council looks at rules for marijuana grow operations. Bill Nightingale Jr. of Nightingale Farms, a large scale producer of asparagus, beans, peppers among other crops, built a greenhouse on 215 Windham Road 10 North, Delhi last year with the aim of growing organic cucumbers. Hydro prices increased to the point the facility was no longer viable so the operation applied for a farm split that would allow the sale of 7.9 acres of land, which includes the new 2.9-acre greenhouse and a single-detached dwelling. The package is listed for $3 million. [continues 476 words]
Teens who use a lot of marijuana and alcohol are less likely to have a full time job when they grow up, or to get a college education or get married, according to a new study by University of Connecticut researchers. The study of 1,165 young adults from across the U.S. also found that dependence on pot and booze may also have a "more severe effect on young men" than on young women. "This study found that chronic marijuana use in adolescence was negatively associated with achieving important developmental milestones in young adulthood." - Elizabeth Harari, University of Connecticut researcher. [continues 282 words]
