First of its kind in Canada, program covers growing pot and its complex regulations It's got the greenhouse, the curriculum and the necessary approvals. Now all that's needed are up to 25 students keen on becoming the first crop of students to earn a post secondary certificate in growing pot. Niagara College, located in the heart of Ontario wine country, announced Tuesday it will establish a one-year, post-grad program in commercial cannabis production, which it says is the first of its kind in Canada. [continues 375 words]
College and university graduates will be able to earn a certificate in cannabis production starting next fall, when Niagara College will launch Canada's first accredited program in the field. The program will begin months after the deadline imposed by the federal government for legalizing production, distribution and sale of the weed that is eventually expected to generate $8-billion in annual sales. With regulations not yet in place for legalized marijuana, the program may have to shift with politics. "We heard that the licensed producers need highly skilled, well-trained individuals who know more than how to grow two or three plants in a room somewhere," said Al Unwin, the associate dean of Niagara College's School of Environmental and Horticultural Studies. "They need a graduate who knows how to create a healthy crop in a very large facility and a graduate who is aware of the regulatory reality," he said. [continues 517 words]
Three of Ottawa's illegal pot shops have been sent notices from the city warning that they are violating zoning bylaws. It's the latest attempt by authorities to clamp down on the growing number of illegal marijuana dispensaries in town as the clock ticks down to July 1, when the federal government has promised that recreational marijuana will be legal. There are at least 19 dispensaries in Ottawa. The city has said it has no authority to regulate the shops, since there are no bylaws governing illegal businesses. [continues 151 words]
AS recreational cannabis becomes legal nationally on July 1, Canadians are faced with tremendous opportunity and risk. Our country is essentially rolling back a long-existing illegal trade to facilitate a legal, regulated market. The purpose, as the federal Liberal platform says, is: "to ensure that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children and the profits out of the hands of criminals, we will legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana." With much yet to be figured out, the following focuses on the issue of how to implement retail distribution, which rests with each province. [continues 709 words]
THE federal government is set on legalizing marijuana by summer 2018. While the Liberals will enjoy the political payoff of appearing progressive, all the problems and the logistics of legalizing pot will fall on the shoulders of the provincial governments. There are strong correlations between how a drug or an indulgence, such as gambling, is made available to the public and the propensity for individuals to indulge in it, and the negative health and social outcomes associated with its use. In other words, it matters how we legalize marijuana, not just that we legalize it. [continues 646 words]
A southern Ontario college says it will be the first to offer a post-secondary credential in the production of commercial cannabis. Niagara College says the graduate certificate program will launch in the fall of 2018 and aims to prepare students to work in the licensed production of cannabis, which includes marijuana, hemp fibre and hemp seed. The school says the one-year postgraduate program was approved this summer by the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. It will be open to those with a diploma or degree in agribusiness, agricultural science, environmental science/resource studies, horticulture or natural sciences, or an acceptable combination of education and experience. [continues 213 words]
RE: Legalizing pot On July 1, 2018, I predict a storm, the likes of which we have never seen. It will go right across this beautiful country of ours leaving destruction. His name? Marijuana. Cost to us, significant. With the government it's always about the money. Enough said. Lucy Gris, Binbrook [end]
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]
'I don't really think that's on the table,' minister says The NDP government says it isn't considering raising Alberta's legal age of 18 for drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco as it develops its policies around legal marijuana. Alberta Health Services, in its written submission to the government's consultations on legal cannabis, suggested the province consider a minimum age of 21 for marijuana consumption, and potentially raise the drinking and smoking tobacco age to match. But outside a meeting of Premier Rachel Notley's cabinet at McDougall Centre, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said changing the legal age for alcohol consumption is not on the agenda. [continues 119 words]
What police have called an "illegal storefront business" continues to operate but minus a key aspect. The City of Prince George granted WeeMedical a business licence on Sept. 13, two days after the chain agreed with a court order prohibiting it from dispensing marijuana. The Third Avenue downtown store was the subject of an RCMP raid in early August. Police seized a "considerable amount" of marijuana and cannabis-infused food as well as other items in support of charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Two people were also arrested and later released on promises to appear in court on Oct. 11. [continues 249 words]
When it comes tomy son's possible future use of marijuana, I'm not sure if "It's legal, mom!" will have a material impact on my response. I have imagined this conversation, and others like it, about life's many potentially addicting substances and behaviours- alcohol, prescription and other drugs, gambling, speeding, texting and driving, pornography, sugar, etc.- because I know the kind of world we live in today and that the values of the majority are less and less aligned with the old-fashioned values espoused at my craggy old kitchen table. [continues 792 words]
Amy Stalker says she had more control over her own health when she lived in Colorado, where marijuana can be legally prescribed as medicine. Stalker now lives in Kentucky, where medical use of marijuana is banned. A judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday against Gov. Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear that called for the legalization of medical marijuana in Kentucky. In his opinion, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate wrote that the Kentucky Supreme Court clearly established in a 2000 decision involving actor and hemp activist Woody Harrelson that the General Assembly has the sole discretion under the state Constitution to regulate the use of cannabis in the state. The courts do not have the authority to intervene, Wingate wrote. [continues 450 words]
The impending legalization of marijuana has the Ontario government planning to toughen the penalties for driving drunk, not just stoned. The changes, announced by Premier Kathleen Wynne and Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca Monday morning, will particularly affect drivers under age 21, novice drivers with limited licences and commercial drivers. None of them will be permitted to have any alcohol or cannabis in their systems if they're driving, and violations will be treated with harsher roadside punishments - steeper cash penalties and, in some cases, longer driving suspensions. [continues 532 words]
It will be a "huge challenge" to get Saskatchewan ready for the expected July 1 legalization of marijuana, Attorney General Don Morgan says. "We will have to introduce legislation at some point during the fall session so it can be voted (on) in the spring. So for us to get the information out of the survey, announce to the public 'this is what we're hearing' so that people know this is the consensus we're getting from the province, and then get legislation in and workable, is going to be a real challenge." [continues 378 words]
Re Weed Wacker: Editorial cartoon, Sept. 17 This cartoon may have been funny 50 years ago, but it loses all of its humour by depicting a typical marijuana user as a dopey hippie from the past, complete with his peace sign and scruffy beard. Your typical user today could just as well be a business executive, a school teacher, a church minister or even an elected politician. What I believe is that this cartoon reflects a very conservative attitude of "yes, legal weed is coming, but we are determined to make sure it is going to be very hard to get your hands on it." But, the most humorous thing about your drawing, surely unintentional, is that our premier is holding a gavel with the words "pot rules" on it. This is definitely a sentiment I would agree with. Kevin Murphy, Thornhill [end]
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]
B.C. municipalities intend to debate next week how to press the provincial government to include them in its plans for cannabis as federal legalization approaches. The Union of B.C. Municipalities will vote on a special resolution at its annual convention next Wednesday. The resolution, which addresses their role in a provincial cannabis framework ahead of federal legalization expected next July, was put forth by the union's executive. It calls for "fulsome and meaningful" consultation with Victoria, adequate provincial funding to cover costs related to implementing its framework, a fair share of taxes for cities and respect for municipalities' "choice, jurisdiction and authority" with regards to land use, zoning and other city hall concerns. [continues 560 words]
Re: Ashley Robinson's article (Kids will be able to possess weed under federal marijuanalegislation, Sept. 15): The Government of Canada's position is clear: youth should not have any amount of cannabis. As Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said, under Bill C-45 there will be no legal means for a young person to obtain recreational cannabis. C-45 will also, for the first time, make it a criminal offence to sell cannabis to a minor and create significant penalties for those who engage youth in related offences. [continues 169 words]
ALDERVILLE - Alderville First Nation's Rob Stevenson had just opened his marijuanadispensary, Medicine Wheel Natural Healing, on County Road 45 in Roseneath when the provincial government announced its plans to close dispensaries in Ontario and set up 150 government-run stores to sell cannabis. This is to happen within the next year. Stevenson, a member of the Anishinaabe of the Bear Clan who lives in Alderville First Nation, said that the Ontario government doesn't have that right when dealing with Indigenous people. [continues 401 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]
