At one time in Canada, marijuana possession and or trafficking was punishable by a jail sentence or even deportation. But soon, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will live up to his promise to legalize marijuana consumption and possession. However, Daniel Leblanc organized a poll through theglobeandmail.com, that states nearly half of Canadians still don't support the legalization of the drug. Despite the support, weed will become legal, so the last thing to do is address the last percentage of unsure Canadians that this is the right choice. [continues 646 words]
The popularity of cocaine with 18 to 25 year olds in Huron County is growing, said Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Detective Constable Max Miller of the Huron County Drug Office, Community Drug Action Team. All street drugs are present in Huron Count y , but cocaine is becoming more popular with this demographic because it is seen as a party drug that has fewer negative side effects than methamphetamine, the detective said during a public forum the night of Oct. 19. "It's hard for us to combat cocaine usage because you can be a functioning addict but hold down a 9-to-5 job. So it's hard for us to kind of get into the cocaine scene because it's not like methamphetamine where people are doing anything they have to to get it," he said. [continues 789 words]
Manitoba stands on the edge of a opioid crisis that promises tragedy for families across the province and we're about to tumble into that dark abyss. Fentanyl is ripping through Winnipeg streets and is so prevalent and dangerous that the Winnipeg Police Service is considering having officers carry naxolone, an opiate antidote. That news comes on the heels of a pair of deaths that were linked to carfentanil, which is touted as 100 times as potent as fentanyl, which is itself already said to be 100 times stronger than morphine. [continues 347 words]
Father hopes to make care for youth a ballot-box issue in next election This government has had 10 years to do something and they haven't done it. The father of a 15-year-old drug-addicted boy whose death has sparked calls for government-funded services says he will push for change in the run-up to a provincial election so other youth can get the help they desperately need. Peter Lang spoke out Thursday after British Columbia's representative for children and youth released a report on his son's June 2015 death. [continues 560 words]
NCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. - An 8-member panel of students and experts spent two hours Tuesday night exploring the individual views of those in favor of and against Nevada's Measure 2 - which proposes the legalization of marijuana for recreational use for those 21 and older. Dr. Andrew Whyman hosted the forum at Sierra Nevada College, opening up the discussion with topics surrounding marijuana about stigma, social justice, criminal justice, how it impacts youth, regulation, legislation and more. As for panel members, despite their titles, some said they came on their own accord, and thus their views do not represent the views of their organizations. [continues 1134 words]
Pop-up facility in Downtown Eastside may be illegal, but it has been welcomed by addicts who don't feel comfortable at nearby Insite Sarah Blyth was weary of rushing to counteract an overdose every time someone screamed "Narcan!" from a nearby alley in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, so she joined other activists to set up a supervised drug-consumption tent for addicts. Ms. Blyth acknowledges the so called pop-up site is illegal, but said she couldn't stand by and watch as people overdosed. [continues 380 words]
If you were in possession of marijuana and didn't want to face criminal charges in 2015, statistics show Kingston was the place to be in Canada. Postmedia Network analyzed 1,132 municipalities going back to 2005, looking at marijuana-related incidents and charges. In Kingston, while there were 15.63 incidents of marijuana possession per 100,000 people in 2015, there were only 13.55 resulting charges. The years with the most incidents were 2007 -- 76.61 per 100,000 people resulting in 44.95 charges -- and 2008 -- 73.45 per 100,000 people resulting in 52.38 charges. [continues 1206 words]
EAST VANCOUVER: Activists running dispensary on city-owned land claim 'constitutional right' to be there "We're here, we're high and we aren't going away." With those words, pot-purveyor Bruce Myers explains the sudden emergence of a marijuana dispensary operating like an old-fashioned fruit stand on the southeast corner of Renfrew and Hastings streets in East Vancouver. Myers, 55, of Surrey said the popup pot tent and table complete with scales, bongs, pipes, grinders, papers and blowtorches was first moved onto the City of Vancouver-owned property in August to coincide with the PNE. They plan on keeping the stand running 24-7 right through until the Fright Night Halloween attraction is over across the street at the PNE. [continues 819 words]
MLAs hear methamphetamine has replaced prescription pills as biggest drug issue in P.E.I. It used to be prescription pills. Now if anyone asks RCMP Cpl. Andy Cook what the biggest problem drug is in P.E.I. he says it's methamphetamine. "We've gone from a downer to an upper as our biggest problem here," he said. Cook joined RCMP Chief Supt. Joanne Crampton for a presentation Friday to MLAs on the health and wellness committee. During the presentation, Cook said he wasn't going to give the credit to the police for the reduction in opiate use. "To me it's the methadone program has made the biggest difference in regards to the prescription opiate problem here," he said. [continues 227 words]
Health experts fear toxic carfentanil may already be in circulation in B.C. The extremely toxic drug carfentanil has been linked to two deaths in Alberta and may already be present in B.C.'s illicit-drug supply. Dr. Karen Grimsrud, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, announced in a statement Friday that carfentanil had been detected in the deaths of two men in their 30s, one in the Edmonton area and the other in Calgary. Carfentanil is an analogue of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which has been increasingly cut into the illicit drug supply. Fentanyl was detected in 60 per cent of 488 illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. in the first eight months of 2016. [continues 563 words]
The Pill Makers Next Door: How America's Opioid Crisis Is Spreading Ingredients for the deadly synthetic narcotic fentanyl are so easy to obtain that mom-and-pop drug labs are cropping up around the country, Breaking Bad-style SAN FRANCISCO-The married couple living in the third-floor, ocean-view apartment were friendly and ambitious. She explored the city, posting selfies on Facebook. He started a small music label at home. "They were nice people," said Ann McGlenon, their former landlady. "She's very sweet. He's a go-getter." [continues 2156 words]
Shift in drug habits, supply chain blamed The Calgary Police Service has seen a 292 per cent increase in methamphetamine seizures in the second quarter of 2016, compared to the same time last year, according to a report presented to the Calgary Police Commission on Tuesday. Staff Sgt. Martin Schiavetta said the increase is measured in both small busts, such as a person carrying a baggy of the drug, all the way up to large busts. In conjunction with the ever-increasing fentanyl issue in the province, they're seeing some scary outcomes. [continues 116 words]
The share of U.S. workers testing positive for illicit drug use reached its highest level in a decade, according to data from millions of workplace drug tests administered by Quest Diagnostics Inc., one of the nation's largest medical-screening laboratories. Detection of illicit drugs-from marijuana to heroin to methamphetamine-increased slightly both for the general workforce and the "safety-sensitive" workforce, which includes millions of truck drivers, pilots, ship captains, subway engineers, and other transportation workers. Employers are required to test those individuals at random, as well as in specific situations such as after accidents occur. [continues 530 words]
Cops say drug scourge, trend-busting 2015 spike in thefts from vehicles downtown may be linked As crime drops in London, one offence is stubbornly bucking the trend in some areas of the city and defying its nationwide decline. Police believe they know what's driving that. Relentless reports of thefts from vehicles downtown seem to correlate with crystal meth addiction that's taking a heavy toll on the health of many Londoners, police say. "There appears to be a correlation between the increased use of crystal meth and the increase in these offences," police said in 2015 crime statistics presented to the police services board Thursday. [continues 581 words]
Price, availability, addictiveness appeal to young people, police say THE city's youth are fuelling a surge in methamphetamine use because it's a cheaper way to get a long-lasting high. In fact, "because of its affordability, addictive nature and accessibility, the methamphetamine user base in Winnipeg has increased significantly over a few short years, allowing traffickers to prosper," the Winnipeg Police Service said in a statement. Sadly, both police and health officials don't expect the situation to get better any time soon. [continues 1087 words]
MANILA - Rayzabell Bongol, an 18-year-old mother and methamphetamine user, was afraid to die in President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs in the Philippines. So she turned herself in to the police. They made her sign a pledge that she would never take illegal drugs again, then sent her home. Once a week now, she is expected to attend a police-sponsored Zumba dance workout, where she gets a health check and a meal. Mr. Duterte "promised change," she said at a recent class as three dozen other recovering addicts bopped and swayed to a blaring Latin beat. "As you can see, I am changing." [continues 1290 words]
Democrats Add Plank for 2016 The backers of two competing medical marijuana initiatives found good news in their cause ending up on the platform of the Democratic Party of Arkansas. Members of the party met Saturday to hear speeches and take care of business ahead of the Nov. 8 general election, including approving a platform. One of the planks is on medical marijuana. The plank calls for "the development of a responsible medical marijuana program that will receive patients in need of such relief the freedom to access this remedy." [continues 1172 words]
Pedicab driver Reyjin dives into a neighbor's house for a quick meth fix, fearful of taking a bullet to the head in President Duterte's brutal war on drugs but unable to quit. More than 2,000 people have died violent deaths since Duterte took office two months ago and immediately implemented his scorched-earth plans to eradicate drugs in society, ordering police to shoot dead traffickers and urging ordinary citizens to kill addicts. The bloodbath has seen unknown assailants kill more than half the victims, according to police statistics, raising fears that security forces and hired assassins are roaming through communities and shooting dead anyone suspected of being involved in drugs. [continues 210 words]
The US State Department's 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report says that addiction to shabu ( street name for methamphetamine or meth) is the most significant drug problem of the Philippines, with the narcotic continually growing as the most widely trafficked in the country. A UN World Drug Report also tagged the Philippines as the country having the highest rate of shabu use in the whole of East Asia with even the Catholic Bishop's Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) releasing a pastoral letter last year expressing concern about the proliferation of the drug problem in the country and the alleged involvement of government officials. [continues 847 words]
Define Human Being, Duterte Tells Rights Groups DAVAO CITY - Junkies are not humans. That is how President Duterte sees drug users whose bodies are piling up as he presses his brutal war on drugs. International human rights groups and the United Nations have raised concern about the killings, but Mr. Duterte, addressing soldiers at a military camp in his hometown Davao City on Friday night, said those groups should review their concept of human rights. "These human rights (advocates) did not count those who were killed before I became President. The children who were raped and mutilated [by drug users]," he said. [continues 810 words]
