The national opioid crisis is spreading. Despite increased awareness of the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, the numbers of fatalities and overdoses continue to rise. That is too true in Bergen County. As Staff Writer Steve Janoski reports, despite the efforts of Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal, the county appears on track to surpass last year's totals of 320 overdoses; 259 of which were opioid related. Ninety-eight people died. That's an 11 percent increase in overdoses from 2015 and a 12.6 percent increase in fatalities. [continues 441 words]
Kevin Jones lives at 700 Spencer St. He says he sees pros and cons to using the dilapidated factory across the street to grow marijuana: jobs and crime. In 1910, Toledo businessman William Bunting opened a cavernous brass factory on Spencer Street, just a short distance from the zoo. Eighty years later, arson badly damaged the building. And today, the vacant warehouse is a neighborhood eyesore, its facade pockmarked with broken windows and crumbling bricks. But soon this once-formidable, now-dilapidated industrial edifice could take on an unlikely new identity: a greenhouse for medical marijuana. [continues 1086 words]
The Democrat-controlled Massachusetts Legislature sent an overhaul of the voter-passed marijuana legalization law to Governor Charlie Baker's desk Thursday - but not before a top Republican lit into the legislation. The Senate enacted the measure on a 32-6 vote. On Wednesday, the House voted 136-11 to move the bill forward. Baker is expected to sign the measure, which would raise cannabis taxes from what the ballot question envisioned, merge oversight of recreational and medical marijuana, and change how cities and towns can ban pot shops. [continues 675 words]
Marc Lewis is a neuroscientist who believes the opioid crisis is made worse by a medical profession that views addiction as a chronic brain disease. "I think it's harmful. It completely disempowers addicts and takes away the likelihood that they will fix themselves," said Lewis, who spoke Friday at a forum on addiction organized by the Salvation Army Addictions and Rehabilitation Centre. This was his first visit to Victoria. He views addiction as a developmental and psychological issue that "develops like other mental and emotional behavioral habits," starting as early as childhood and exacerbated by traumatic experiences. [continues 605 words]
Los Angeles voters want to legalize marijuana, and they don't seem particularly concerned that it remains illegal under federal law. In November nearly two out of three voters in the city of L.A. supported Proposition 64, a statewide initiative to let adults grow, buy and use recreational marijuana. A few months later, voters overwhelmingly backed Measure M to create a city permitting system for marijuana businesses. City Hall has a clear mandate to legalize, regulate and tax pot. [continues 744 words]
U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is pressing Congress to allow federal law enforcement to target medical marijuana operations in states where they are legal. (July 21, 2017) U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions is pressing Congress to allow federal law enforcement to target medical marijuana operations in states where they are legal. (July 21, 2017) The Trump administration's attack on legal marijuana, already stymied by large states determined not to roll back the clock, is increasingly confronting an even more politically potent adversary: military veterans. [continues 1222 words]
Riverside has long prohibited medical marijuana dispensaries. Now officials may add recreational pot businesses to the ban -- at least temporarily. Since November, when California voters legalized adult use of marijuana, the Riverside City Council has not decided whether to allow, tax and regulate pot cultivation, manufacturing and sales. On Tuesday, July 25, council members will consider saying no to pot businesses until they have more information on how state regulations will look and what other Inland and Southern California communities are doing. [continues 469 words]
Some ask for prescriptions or medical proof, most don't need documentation It's ridiculously easy to get weed from a storefront in Ottawa today. With the number of pot shops in the city on the upswing, despite multiple dispensary employees facing drug-trafficking charges following police raids, the Citizen visited the city's 17 known cannabis stores to find out how they're screening customers. The dispensaries are, of course, illegal. But when many of them opened in Ottawa, operators stressed their businesses were serving people who needed medical marijuana. [continues 867 words]
So-called bath salts, other street drugs are not a safe way to seek pleasure When someone offers a tiny packet of "bath salts" for sale with a price tag somewhere between $30 and $50, you know that it is not meant to be sprinkled into a bathtub. These "bath salts," commonly available in head shops, online and even in some convenience stores, may sport a label declaring "not for human consumption," but they are clearly designed to cater to the insides of the body rather than the outside. [continues 908 words]
Vast majority of overdose deaths happen to men Is it because males are more likely to isolate themselves? Is it because men, to deal with their suffering, are more inclined to consume alcohol and other drugs? Is it because men, who do the most dangerous jobs, are much more likely to be seriously injured at work and to take opioids to kill the pain? Dr. Paul Gross is among those who want to get to the bottom of why 15 of the 60 regular members of Vancouver's Dudes Club have in the past year died of fentanyl and other opioid overdoses. [continues 926 words]
Excuse me! As a 64-year-old registered nurse from an RCMP family, if a Canadian citizen is considered old enough to legally put their lives on the line to sign up for military service at the age of 18, then they are plenty mature enough to decide whether or not to consume commonly used drugs such as alcohol or marijuana. To legislators: quit being so hypocritically nanny state and, realistically, get with the program! Liz Stonard Port Alberni, B.C. [end]
Defence should have been present, judge conceded in granting request I ... mistakenly permitted him to bring the drug exhibits into my office where he remained with those exhibits for approximately 20 minutes. An Ottawa judge has declared a mistrial in a drug case after privately questioning an investigating officer in chambers violated an accused's right to be at his own trial. Paul Masilamany filed the mistrial application on May 12, 2017, the day the court was to decide on drug trafficking charges against him. [continues 960 words]
Rules he violated accused's rights to a fair trial by asking to meet with police officer An Ottawa judge has declared a mistrial in a drug case after privately questioning an investigating officer in chambers violated an accused's right to be at his own trial. Paul Masilamany filed the mistrial application on May 12, 2017, the day the court was to decide on drug trafficking charges against him. But just two days before, the lead drug officer, acting on a request from the judge himself, attended Superior Court Justice Paul Kane's office and brought drug exhibits for the judge's use in rendering his decision. [continues 928 words]
Premier Kathleen Wynne says you'll have to be 19 years old to buy legal weed in Ontario. Wynne said Friday she can't see the age of majority to buy marijuana being different than that of alcohol when pot is legalized next summer. Wynne made the remarks days after discussing legalization with her fellow premiers during a conference in Edmonton. "I find it hard to imagine ... that we would have a different age or certainly a lower age for the consumption of cannabis than for alcohol," she said. "Nineteen is the age for alcohol, so I think we would be looking at at least that." [continues 127 words]
Drug war bloodshed in Mexico has spiked to record levels, with more homicides recorded in June than in any month in at least two decades. Prosecutors opened 2,234 homicide investigations last month, according to government statistics released Friday. That's an increase of 40% over June of last year and 80% over June of 2014. Rising demand for heroin in the United States and a bloody power struggle inside one of Mexico's most powerful drug cartels have put the country on track to record more killings in 2017 than in any year since the government began releasing crime data in 1997. [continues 499 words]
Advocate calls for more details on N.S. opioid plan Nova Scotia's plan to offer hundreds of free naloxone kits will undoubtedly save lives, but one advocate says a lack of hard timelines and specific plans to help people outside an opioid emergency raises "more questions than answers." Amy Graves, founder of the non-profit Get Prescription Drugs Off The Street Society, has been raising awareness around the dangers of prescription drugs and pushing for changes since 2011, after the loss of her younger brother Josh to an accidental hydromorphone overdose. [continues 218 words]
Instead of overlooking the true issue of drug addiction in Chatham-Kent and participating in the stigma that surrounds it, our community must be proactive. Now is our opportunity to help individuals suffering from drug addiction and prevent needless overdoses while simultaneously protecting public health. Last year in Canada there were 2458 opioid related overdose deaths (two every day in Ontario), all which were preventable. Some readers may turn a blind eye to this statistic and argue, "who cares?" and "better for the rest of us". My question for those people is, when did we lose our sense of community? When did we become so individualistic that our judgment of others has clouded our ability to feel empathy? [continues 383 words]
Dear Editor: Well I see city council decided against renewing pot permits. Now they have to enforce the existing laws. The provincial leaders are asking for a lot more time and information from the prime minister about the new laws he plans. We all know Justin is an out and out liar. He may use this move to cancel his idea of making it legal. So now we need to get the judges to put the ones who are arrested for breaking the laws in jail. No fines as that does not work. A good stiff jail term might get through to them. [continues 58 words]
Re "Ontario government wants role in pot distribution" (Shawn Jeffords, July 13): Let's cut through the political spin here. Premier Wynne is salivating over the expected billions from pot sales to feed her insatiable spending addiction. We know the abysmal job this government has done keeping organized crime out of cigarette distribution, many finding their way to our children, along with illicit alcohol. Anyone who thinks organized crime will not become involved growing and selling pot is living in fantasyland. Parents should be very concerned about their children getting involved in this highly damaging drug to young developing brains! Larry Comeau Ottawa (True, although the federal government shares the blame for the thriving cigarette-smuggling industry in Ontario) [end]
An eight-year prison sentence doled out at the Ottawa courthouse earlier this week was a refreshing indication that the judiciary can get it right - at least on drug crimes. Routinely, judges seem to give out-of-touch, soft-on-crime rulings that shock common-sense Canadians. But in a recent case, Ontario Court Justice Ann Alder was uncompromising, throwing the book at a local fentanyl dealer. Simply put, those who deal in fentanyl are dealing in death. It's lethal, even in small doses, and can be mistaken for heroin or other drugs. [continues 297 words]
Last month 134 admitted to ER for suspected overdose Health Canada's final decision on whether a supervised injection site can open at the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre could be coming any day. According to the Health Canada website, the proposal has completed all five of the required application steps and has now reached the decision stage. Rob Boyd, Oasis program director at the centre, told Metro he was notified by the department Wednesday they had completed the application to the satisfaction of Health Canada and their case would now be forwarded for a final decision. [continues 129 words]
While Brandon's political representatives encourage the delay of the legalization of marijuana, local advocates of the plant are saying the day couldn't come soon enough. Picking up related paraphernalia at Growers N' Smokers on Friday, veteran Michael Gibson said that his "disrespect" for Premier Brian Pallister is "huge, right now." This week, Pallister publicly requested that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delay legalization for an extra year beyond the proposed date of July 1, 2018. With too many questions that still need answering, we're just not ready for legalization, Brandon East Progressive Conservative MLA Len Isleifson said, sharing in some of Pallister's concerns about marijuana, more accurately called cannabis. [continues 887 words]
In potentially precedent-setting case, operators of marijuana dispensary get an absolute discharge KITCHENER - A provincial court judge granted an absolute discharge to a young Kitchener couple who were running an illegal marijuana dispensary in Waterloo. Justice Colin Westman said Nour and Shady Louka committed "an offence of compassion" when they operated a medical marijuana dispensary in uptown Waterloo and sold pot to adults with medical marijuana licences. Westman described the couple as "activists in favour of their fellow human beings" and running a marijuana dispensary was "essentially civil disobedience." [continues 655 words]
It's less than a year before this great but apparently idiotic country plans to legalize marijuana, and some doubts emerged this week over whether that deadline is achievable. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister - attending the Council of the Federation meetings in Edmonton with the other premiers and territorial leaders - is lobbying his counterparts to push back by a year the federal government's July 2018 date to legalize pot. Pallister says more time is need for provinces to educate the public about the dangers of drugged driving and also for police and the Crown to sort out how to enforce the law around impaired driving related to cannabis. Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall also supports an extension and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley says that while her province will shoot for the deadline, she may seek an extension. [continues 583 words]
MADD manager says legalization of marijuana is going to create significant issues Police need more powers to battle impaired drivers, says Susan MacAskill. The regional manager of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) says the legalization of marijuana next year is going to create a whole new challenge for law enforcement, and governments need to act soon. "Our federal government needs to have legislative framework in place and our provincial governments need to have legalization under the Motor Vehicle Act that gives police the powers to lay those drug impaired charges because a breathalyzer will not detect drugs,'' MacAskill said. [continues 114 words]
Sixteen of Canada's licensed marijuana producers have enlisted the help of Advertising Standards Canada to develop guidelines on how the drug should be branded and promoted before its recreational use becomes legal next year. The marijuana sector has been lobbying Ottawa for the right to brand their products, arguing that not being able to promote in stores or on packaging will prevent them from being able to effectively compete with the black market. Last year, a federal task force issued a report recommending cannabis products require plain packaging that would allow only certain kinds of information to be listed, such as company name, strain and price. It said advertising restrictions should be similar to those placed on the tobacco industry. [continues 395 words]
Victoria councillor hopes province, feds take on enforcement role in 2018 Enforcement of existing city bylaws is no walk in the park when it comes to marijuana dispensaries, especially given the lack of federal legislation or even guidance on the matter. Victoria councillors will hear more this Thursday from city staff working in the field, when committee of the whole discusses an enforcement progress report relating to cannabis-related businesses. In total, $24,000 in fines have so far been handed out to dispensaries for non-compliance, $15,000 of which - 15 fines of $1,000 - has been levied under the city's cannabis bylaw for operating without a valid business licence. [continues 331 words]
People need skills for coping, not more cannabis boutiques I see the provincial premiers are demanding "clarity" - possibly a delay - in the federal plan to legalize marijuana by next July. A communique from their Edmonton conference said they still have concerns about, among other things, traffic safety and public education campaigns. I'm with them. I still don't have "clarity" about legal pot or in fact the use and abuse of recreational drugs in general. Here is what we all bring to any debate about recreational drugs: our own history, our generational lens, our hypocrisy too. [continues 832 words]
Lounges that permit people to use cannabis on site will continue to be high-priority enforcement areas under city regulations, says Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps. "I think we do need a place for the safe consumption of cannabis and I hope that the federal government and the provincial government will create that in their regulatory regime," Helps said Thursday during discussion of enforcement efforts. "But right now, it's not part of our business licence process and nor do I think it should be. [continues 440 words]
The school district's desire to ban marijuana shops from the immediate vicinity of all area schools is a little strange. We're not sure we get it. Are they trying to stop the kids from buying and using pot, or are they trying to protect the children from being exposed to the people who will be patronizing the shops? Both? The law, much like with liquor sales, will take care of the first. Children will not be permitted to purchase marijuana. If there's a store that starts selling illegally to kids, then there's law enforcement to take care of that. As for the second, it presupposes unflattering things about the people who will be, totally legally, buying marijuana for their own consumption. That strikes us as rather ignorant. [continues 199 words]
It's less than a year before this great but apparently idiotic country plans to legalize marijuana, and some doubts emerged this week over whether that deadline is achievable. Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister - attending the Council of the Federation meetings in Edmonton with the other premiers and territorial leaders - is lobbying his counterparts to push back by a year the federal government's July 2018 date to legalize pot. Pallister says more time is need for provinces to educate the public about the dangers of drugged driving and also for police and the Crown to sort out how to enforce the law around impaired driving related to cannabis. [continues 619 words]
Mayor Dionne says Prince Albert will face costs from marijuana legalization, so the city should get its share of the expected tax revenues Mayor Greg Dionne is joining the chorus of Saskatchewan mayors calling for marijuana revenue to be shared with municipalities. "We know the government is doing this to create revenue," Dionne said. "We believe it's prudent that they share that revenue with us. Because, at the end of the day, who does the enforcement of the laws that they make? Our local police and our local people. So we should be compensated for that." [continues 244 words]
A drug bust at Richmond and Dundas streets, a downtown London intersection with a notorious reputation for crime, is rarely a head-turner. The shocker this time? One of two men charged with drug trafficking in a recent bust there is 88 years old. Then, there's the small amount of marijuana that was seized, 16 grams. Social media chatter lit up, and critics pounced, after London police Thursday announced the trafficking charges against the two men, the octogenarian and a 60 year old. [continues 407 words]
Health minister rebuffs calls to delay legalization THE federal government will stick with its July 1, 2018, deadline for marijuana legalization despite concerns from Premier Brian Pallister and other premiers. Health Minister Jane Philpott said in Winnipeg on Thursday that civil servants across Canada are already preparing for legalization and there will not be an extension, which was requested by Pallister. He has been adamant Manitoba won't be ready to cover the health, justice, safety, sale and production issues that need to be met by that time. [continues 603 words]
Access to drug will save lives, says front-line worker A Halifax woman working on the front lines of the opioid crisis describes the province's decision to expand access to naloxone as "a great first step.". Naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose. A department of health and wellness media release reports that the life-saving medication has saved at least 40 lives in Nova Scotia since January of 2016. "We had three overdoses in one week. My team has naloxone training," said Rebekah Brounstein, residential co-ordinator with the Salvation Army's Halifax Centre of Hope. [continues 363 words]
San Jacinto has set permit fees for those who wish to operate commercial marijuana businesses in the city. Anyone wanting a permit to operate a commercial marijuana cultivation business in San Jacinto better have some cash. The City Council set the permit fee at $16,500 during its meeting Tuesday, July 18. Annual permit renewals will cost $6,000 and there also will be a $10,000 fee to transfer a permit. The money covers the cost of staff time required to review and process the applications, according to the city. [continues 322 words]
San Francisco Supervisor Jeff Sheehy sponsored legislation to create the city's Office of Cannabis. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday created a new "one-stop shop" to handle policies for marijuana businesses once recreational cannabis becomes legal. Supervisor Jeff Sheehy sponsored the ordinance to set up the Office of Cannabis, which will open for business by the end of this year. It will set up an application system for marijuana licenses, resolve complaints, be a conduit to state regulators, and serve as a centralized information source for the public. [continues 597 words]
California hopes to avoid the same shortage of legalized marijuana that now faces Nevada when sales begin here in January. (File photo | Los Angeles Times) With Nevada suffering a shortage of legalized marijuana, California's state pot czar said Wednesday that efforts are being made in her state to make sure sufficient licenses go to farmers, testers and distributors to supply retailers. Providing temporary, four-month licenses to support some businesses including growers as early as November is planned "so we don't have a break in the supply chain," Lori Ajax, chief of the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation, said in testimony at a legislative hearing. [continues 236 words]
The legislation proposed in Massachusetts wouldn't change the basic marijuana rights of adults that the ballot question put in place. The Massachusetts Legislature is advancing an overhaul of the voter-passed marijuana legalization law Wednesday, when both chambers are expected to accept a House-Senate compromise bill in the afternoon. A final Senate vote, which would send the bill to the governor, is scheduled for Thursday. The legislation would change the legalization law passed by 1.8 million voters in November. [continues 324 words]
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay - The rules are a bit of a buzzkill. Drug users must officially register with the government. Machines will scan buyers' fingerprints at every purchase, and there are strict quotas to prevent overindulgence. But when Uruguay's marijuana legalization law takes full effect on Wednesday, getting high will take a simple visit to the pharmacy. As American states legalize marijuana and governments in the hemisphere rethink the fight against drugs, Uruguay is taking a significant step further: It is the first nation in the world to fully legalize the production and sale of marijuana for recreational use. [continues 1284 words]
LOS RIOS, Colombia - Every three months or so, Javier Tupaz, a father of six, heads downhill from his clapboard home to work in his cocaine laboratory. Under a black tent in the jungle, he shovels coca leaves into a giant vat with gasoline, then adds cement powder - the first steps in his cocaine recipe. Like everyone in his village, Mr. Tupaz depends on coca for cash and has survived decades of war here in Colombia. He churned out his product during the seemingly endless conflict between the rebels and the government, which tried many times to destroy his coca plants. He simply replanted. [continues 1457 words]
EDMONTON - Ontario is on track to set the legal age for recreational marijuana use at 19, Premier Kathleen Wynne says. Wynne told the Star the age of majority should be the same for pot as it is for booze once the federal government legalizes cannabis next July 1. "I have a hard time imagining Ontario will have a lower age for pot than we do for alcohol," she said in an interview at the close of the annual premiers' conference here. [continues 387 words]
California's county fairs -- those wholesome showcases of agricultural bounty -- could become places to score some pot. Gov. Jerry Brown last week signed a bill that details how to carry out the November 2016 ballot measure that legalizes recreational marijuana as of January 2018. Tucked deep in the text is an option for county fairs to allow sampling and sales for people 21 and older in designated spots. The Stanislaus County Fair has had "minor discussions" among the board and Chief Executive Officer Matt Cranford about the issue, spokeswoman Adrenna Alkhas said by email. [continues 323 words]
Oviedo City Council members this week agreed to let the city's moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries expire Aug. 5, making it likely that Oviedo will become the first Seminole County municipality to allow such businesses. Council members also directed city staffers Monday to draft an ordinance that will treat medical marijuana dispensaries under the same zoning regulations as pharmacies. Pharmacies in Oviedo are allowed to operate only in certain office and commercial zoning districts, which are mostly located along major thoroughfares. Council members are expected to vote on a new ordinance in the coming weeks to allow pharmacies and medical marijuana dispensaries to operate only in certain commercial zoning districts, but not in zoning districts for offices. [continues 208 words]
As Ottawa pot shops proliferate, criminal charges loom over clerks The number of illegal pot shops in the city is on the upswing, even as the first wave of dispensary employees charged with drug trafficking make their way through the courts. There are now at least 17 dispensaries selling marijuana over the counter, about the same number that were in town eight months ago when police began raiding them. The stores are pushing the boundaries as the clock ticks down to July 2018, the date the federal government has promised to make recreational pot legal. [continues 1021 words]
Employee wasn't allowed to work after drug raid in which police found pot, $40K in cash and tokens A fare collector who took home $40,000 in TTC funds and then lost it in a drug raid has been awarded compensation from the transit agency after he challenged his suspension from the job. The case is a bizarre three-year saga involving marijuana, police, and TTC tokens. During that time, transit employee Tyson Hu was arrested, suspended without pay for more than a year, reinstated and finally awarded months of back pay for some of the time he was wasn't allowed to work. [continues 1002 words]
Pallister monitoring fed decision on Churchill, wants Ottawa to delay pot legalization The federal government needs to "step up" on multiple matters that impact Manitobans, Premier Brian Pallister said Wednesday in a conference call with local media. Pallister said the province needs an answer from Ottawa on what to do about the ongoing crisis in Churchill before deciding its next move; and he reiterated his believe the feds need to push pause on their marijuana legalization, saying the stakes are too high to rush into a bold new era. [continues 240 words]
Failing that, provinces will call for a delay EDMONTON - Canada's premiers say the federal government needs to provide more clarity as they work to craft rules on legalizing marijuana - or Ottawa will face a call for a delay. "It's great that the prime minister wants to stick to his deadline. That's super-duper," Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said Wednesday at the closing news conference of the leaders' annual summer meeting. "He needs to then hear what the premiers of his country - our country - - have said we need help with. There are a number of significant and serious public policy issues here. They need to be addressed. They should be addressed co-operatively." [continues 474 words]
Health Canada says police officers can call them any time when it comes to confirming whether citizens have legal authority to produce and possess medicinal marijuana. The department's ability to notify police of those who legitimately possess cannabis for that purpose was recently criticized in a lawsuit launched by a Brandon couple whose legal medical grow-op was mistakenly raided by RCMP. "Health Canada negligently administered a system of license retention and issuance notification by failing to establish and maintain proper protocols for notice to arresting authorities as to the legitimacy of licenses such as those held by persons such as the plaintiffs, and the plaintiffs in particular," Jerry Pomehichuk and Brenda Wakefield assert in their statement of claim. [continues 496 words]
Mobile overdose-prevention unit to start offering supervision as well Overnight, the bureaucratese for safe injection site has changed to supervised consumption services. "Our new permission from Health Canada allows us to transition, in the next two weeks, from offering a mobile safe injection site to offering mobile supervised consumption services," said Interior Health medical health officer Dr. Lilvina Mema. The same recreational vehicle outfitted with two sit-down cubicles for people injecting illegal drugs that's been used since April in Kelowna will continue to be used for the new program. [continues 426 words]
