Colorado Raking in Taxes From Legalized Weed A pall hangs over Denver, Colorado. Lawlessness stalks its streets, while stupefied potheads loll on every corner, stoned senseless on legal weed. Well, actually, no, it's not really like that at all. Really, it's just another day. Denver's like any other big American city: on the 16th Street Mall, there are vagrants on the corners, Broncos and Patriots fans spooling around while they wait for the start of the AFC final later in the day. Coffee shops are setting out chairs in the unseasonable warmth, and a robot street performer, painted entirely silver, is making plans with friends for after the game. [continues 509 words]
Doctor-assisted dying law shouldn't be hastily implemented The federal government is wise to request a six-month extension to draft new legislation on doctor-assisted dying. Canadians have been waiting for legislation on this crucial issue for far too long already, but for the Liberal government to rush it through by the February deadline after inheriting it from the foot-dragging Conservatives, does not make sense. Last February, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the ban on medically-assisted suicide. The ruling gave the federal government 12 months to rewrite the Criminal Code, or ignore the ruling, essentially leaving the matter in legal limbo. [continues 361 words]
HALIFAX - At a Halifax skate park last summer, Philip Tibbo's 14-year-old son was told by a group of older teenagers that marijuana is natural and no harm would come of using it. It's one of many myths about cannabis circulating amongst Canadian youths today, said Tibbo, a professor at Dalhousie University's Department of Psychiatry. "I asked him if many people were smoking (at the skate park) today. And he said, 'Yes, but they're all saying it's harmless. That it doesn't do anything to you,'" said Tibbo. [continues 452 words]
HALIFAX - As the federal government ponders how to carry out a promise to legalize marijuana, the arms-length agency that studies addiction is embarking on a four-city tour to spread warnings about the effects of the drug on young people. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse opens the tour in Halifax on Friday with a panel of three experts who contributed to a report released in June that addressed the issue of cannabis use in adolescence. Dr. Amy Porath-Waller, the centre's director of research and policy, characterizes the timing of the sessions as a bit of "serendipity" given the Liberal government's December throne speech in which it pledged to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana." [continues 376 words]
Panel to Begin Tour in Halifax As the federal government ponders how to carry out a promise to legalize marijuana, the arms-length agency that studies addiction is embarking on a four-city tour to spread warnings about the effects of the drug on young people. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse opens the tour in Halifax on Friday with a panel of three experts who contributed to a report released in June that addressed the issue of cannabis use in adolescence. [continues 326 words]
A criminal conviction for simple marijuana possession would be "unfair" and "cruel" punishment given the federal government's stated intention to legalize the drug, a judge said Monday. "I cannot sit here and not be aware of the position taken by the federal government in Ottawa ..." Judge Warren Zimmer said, during sentencing of a Bible Hill man charged with marijuana possession. "It would be cruel to sentence him in such a way today that he would wind up with a criminal record," Zimmer said, adding it "would be very unfair" under the circumstances to render a conviction that could hamper the man's ability to earn a living and support his two children, after the Trudeau government had said it is planning to proceed with legalization of marijuana. [continues 184 words]
A lawsuit, expensive pot, unpaid contractors and stalled projects are the harvest Nova Scotia has reaped from changes to the rules governing the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana. In April 2014, Health Canada brought down rules meant to stop people with prescriptions for medical marijuana from growing their own. Instead, they would be required to buy from large producers licensed and regulated by the federal body. This sparked a gold rush of venture capital racing toward medical marijuana proposals. But despite the promises of a new industry for rural and small-town Nova Scotia, not a gram has been grown in this province under Health Canada's new program. [continues 767 words]
Told by Air Canada He Couldn't Get on Flight With Prescription Pot Michael Korchak was admittedly a little nervous flying home to Toronto from Halifax for the holidays last week. This was the first time the Burlington resident was travelling with his medicine on him: a small bottle of medical marijuana. He knew from some research that possession of the drug could lead to questioning and delays at the airport. But he thought he was prepared. He arrived three hours early for the domestic flight, so his papers could be checked. And he said he told Air Canada employees right away that he was carrying the medicine, and showed them all the accompanying documentation. [continues 401 words]
It would be tempting to let expectations grow by leaps and bounds. But it's more prudent to be realistic when it comes to the prospective tax revenues from legalized marijuana. As the federal government appears still on track with this plan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he believes legal sales might result in a bit of revenue for the government, but not a financial windfall. He said tax raised from this product would largely go toward addiction treatment and support programs - presumably including programs involving abuse of other substances and other forms of addiction, too. [continues 310 words]
The prospect of marijuana being sold in LCBO outlets now seems likely, with endorsements this week coming from both Premier Kathleen Wynne and main Ontario public-sector union rep Smokey Thomas. While the approach makes sense from a regulatory point of view, and will help maintain LCBO jobs while removing the stigma of a criminal record for recreational users who get caught, we suspect that many readers of this newspaper will remain discomfited by the seeming endorsement of another drug. Many will still wonder why anyone who doesn't need to for medical reasons would want to smoke marijuana, or ingest some edible marijuana product. [continues 388 words]
In British Columbia this past week, the provincial government was told liquor store employees wanted to be the ones to sell legalized marijuana, should that legalization occur. (It was a federal Liberal election promise.) Their argument? "We believe this is an incredible opportunity for British Columbia," Stephanie Smith, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, said at a press conference. "We have an excellent track record for distributing and retailing alcohol." That track record, they argue, includes the responsible sale of alcohol. Interesting point. But despite all that responsibility at the point of sale, as a nation, we don't always do so well with personal responsibility. [continues 464 words]
Police made another raid at a Halifax marijuana dispensary Thursday afternoon. Officers went to the Farm Assists Cannabis Resource Centre at 2320 Gottingen St. at about 2 p.m. "There is a search warrant being executed," Const. Dianne Woodworth, a Halifax Regional Police spokeswoman, said in an interview about an hour later. "It was in response to a public complaint that we received, and we had a duty to investigate." Woodworth did not know if any arrests had been made or if any substances had been seized. [continues 221 words]
Farmer, concerned about flock's health, says policy needed Cyril O'Connor walks up to the fence on his Piedmont Valley Road property and gives a holler. Within seconds about 30 sheep are running to meet him. A sheep knows the shepherd's voice, O'Connor says. And he knows his sheep. O'Connor does a lot to protect the sheep he's built this connection with. In addition to secure fences, he has two dogs that protect the sheep from predators such as coyotes. [continues 651 words]
A lesson in the dangers of drugs appeared to have hit home with many Youth Speaks Up participants Sunday. "I know I'll never do it," said Claire Trainor, a Grade 6 student at Malcolm Munroe Middle School. "It destroys your body and I would never think of doing it." Trainor, 11, added that she thought it was an important topic for people her age to be discussing. "It's better to talk about it when you're young," she said. [continues 379 words]
As a psychiatrist I was disappointed by the national election results which produced a Liberal Party majority. Specifically, I am opposed to the Liberal Party's intention to legalize marijuana in Canada. Doing so will no doubt increase prevalence of use and by so doing will unleash a cohort of users who will suffer chronic and likely lethal pulmonary disease. Data is already available showing cannabis use to cause pulmonary bullae, pneumothoraxes, chronic bronchitis and in one study an 8 per cent increased risk of lung cancer for every year of heavy use. [continues 122 words]
Pot is potentially psychologically dangerous in the short and long-term in unpredictable and extreme ways. Hopefully, Justin Trudeau will take the scientific evidence into account about the potential dangers of marijuana, including its ability to trigger panic attack disorders, anxiety, depression, paranoid psychosis and schizophrenia, before moving ahead with full legalization. These risks are amplified if there's a family history of mental illness. While the majority of adverse affects for users may range from minor memory loss or paranoia to lethargy, the more serious impacts of "bad trips" and negative reactions can be truly devastating. [continues 752 words]
Mr. Harper has been very successful in keeping the anti-abortionists and anti-gay elements in his party under control. But his position on marijuana (the Reefer Madness agenda), and the Alice-in-Wonderland legislation against buy-sexualism, suggests the almost-theocratic agenda that lurks in the Conservative party is not far from the surface. This purblind "conservative" party knows nothing of the reduction-in-harm mode of thinking. Re-election of this government may even bring back the WCTU-the Women's Conservative Temperance Union. I feel like I'm living in a Margaret Atwood nightmare. JW Beveridge, Halifax [end]
A group of activists from the Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana Society staged a protest outside the law courts on Upper Water Street in Halifax on Monday. The crowd was rallying in support of James MacDonald, a 36-year-old Stellarton man who was sentenced in January to 60 days in jail for growing marijuana plants in his home. MacDonald has Crohn's disease and says he needs the drug to ease his chronic pain. His medical marijuana licence was expired at the time of his arrest. [continues 429 words]
It's sad to see The Coast contributing to this. There is a bullshit cultural milieu surrounding the use of cannabis. The general perception seems to be that marijuana is not only a completely harmless substance, but actually a panacea capable of alleviating/curing a vast array of medical conditions. However, its use is hindered by mean, moralistic politicians who are kept in the back pockets of nefarious pharmaceutical interests. This perception would be fine if cannabis was a completely harmless substance with a wide array of medicinal uses, as has been intimated in The Coast's recent story about the PEACE EAST festival (August 13), but it is not. It is sad to see an article pandering to these poorly formed ideas rather than engaging in substantive journalism. [continues 396 words]
Inside Nova Scotia
