Marijuana Is Legal In Colorado And In The State Of Washington.

Despite the lure of the wheedling weed, neither the Seahawks or the Broncos were late for their Super Bowl date because someone went mad for munchies and commandeered the team bus to stop at every 7-Eleven on the way to the ball yard.

Medicinal marijuana is now legal in 20 states. But, not in the current state that is the National Football League. Perhaps, it is time.

Players use it anyway, despite the league's drug testing policies. Many see it as the lesser evil to dull the pain in bodies that are savaged weekly. They see it as less addictive than prescription painkillers.

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Dangerous drug in spotlight after death of Oscar winner

Calgary police seized heroin more often in 2013 than the year prior, including some laced with a deadly painkiller known as fentanyl.

Use of both drugs have been thrust into the spotlight in recent days following the death of award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman.

In Calgary, police seized heroin 46 times last year, up from 28 in 2012.

Staff Sgt. Tom Hanson said Wednesday his team is concerned by the rise but further investigation is needed to determine a reason for the spike in busts.

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Cremona-area residents will be hosting a second public meeting regarding a medical marijuana cultivation facility proposed for the district.

Planned for the Cremona community centre at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 4, the meeting will hopefully see some answers to many outstanding questions about the facility and its impact on the wider community, says organizer and area resident Mary Thompson.

Despite an information meeting held at the centre on Jan. 10, a gathering hosted by Wild Rose Conservative MP Blake Richards, questions and concerns remain, she said.

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All Justin Trudeau jokes aside, the war on drugs, especially concerning marijuana, has been an abject failure. Larry Comeau, in his letter to the editor, states that Obama is being irresponsible by claiming pot is no more harmful than alcohol. I agree, alcohol kills at least 6,000 Canadians every year, marijuana, zero. Another fallacy, brought on by the anti-marijuana faction, is the 'stepping stone drug' myth. I contend that most teens drink alcohol, or smoke tobacco, before they ever try marijuana, and even Rob Ford admitted he was in a "drunken stupor" when he tried smoking crack. I won't even go into the medicinal benefits that have been attributed to marijuana, because most Canadians now realize that they have been lied to about this subject. The psychosis claim is not only hypocritical but another red herring, brought to you by the same people who make money from these archaic laws. If you really want to see what psychosis looks like, head over to the market at 2 in th! e morning and watch what our police have to deal with every weekend because of alcohol over-indulgence. Another point the nay-sayers seem to forget is that through legalization, comes taxation. The estimates, from B.C. alone, put the value of marijuana cultivation, at $2-$10 billion dollars, making it one of the top three industries in that province. All that taxable income, could be used to fix our crumbling infrastructure, and prop up our failing health care system. We spend at least $400 million dollars a year, fighting this ridiculous war, while close to 60% of Canadians agree it's time to rethink our strategy concerning incarceration versus addiction treatment. If you don't believe that we can find a viable solution to this dilemma, look no further than Portugal, and what they have discovered, since they ended this un-winnable and costly war.

David Reid

(We don't agree marijuana is as harmless as you would like us to believe.)

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Re: 'Pot no more dangerous than alcohol: Obama,' Jan 20. In an obvious attempt to show how cool he is Obama is being irresponsible claiming pot is no more harmful than alcohol. As a narcotic pot can be very harmful and can lead to addiction. Think of the added impact to health systems, adding more addictions would create. Like many pushing legalizing pot, Obama is showing blissful blindness of studies showing early use of marijuana has been shown to cause psychosis later in life. Other studies have shown clearly that marijuana time and time again has been shown to be a stepping-stone drug to even more addictive narcotics like heroin and cocaine. Having someone like Obama make such an irresponsible statement is reprehensible.

Larry Comeau

(The pot debate will happen here soon.)

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About 50 Mountain View County residents attended a Jan. 10 information meeting hosted by Wild Rose Conservative MP Blake Richards regarding a medical marijuana grow operation being proposed for a rural property north of Cremona.

Held at the Gold and Silver Centre in Cremona, the meeting saw Richards outline new federal rules for the growing of medical marijuana, following by questions and comments from those in attendance.

Where in the past patients requiring medical marijuana could grow it themselves in their homes, under the new medical marihuana access program (MMAP) the cannabis must be grown in facilities overseen by Health Canada, said Richards.

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Last month, I found myself stranded for way too long in the Denver International Airport, along with other homebound Calgarians.

Of all the time-killing activities performed that day, here's one I'll bet none of us did: Imagining all of the ways by which one might some day cash in on legal marijuana.

But trust me, as 2014 unfurls, entrepreneurial Canadians who visit Colorado will definitely be getting an eyeful of an industry whose legitimate financial yield seems destined to go from zero to billions in the blink of that eye. Oh, they'll be taking notes, all right.

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Medical Marijuana. Legal changes mean users won't be allowed to grow at home

The police agency tasked with uncovering marijuana grow operations doesn't plan to aggressively pursue medical marijuana grow-ops when the law changes later this year, but they won't be turning a blind eye either.

Michael Tucker, a spokesperson for the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT), said that they believe the change in laws will make it easier for police to operate.

"I think the changes that are coming forth in April will help eliminate some of those confusions and make police work easier," he said.

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Everybody's doing it - confessing their youthful, pot-smoking ways - so here goes. I don't remember. Kidding, kidding. Anyone over 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the 1960s, you weren't there. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

It is true that marijuana smoking tends to affect one's short term memory, but the good news is that, while stoned, one does relatively little worth remembering. At least that's my own recollection.

So, yes, I toked, too. This doesn't mean anyone else should, and I haven't in decades, but our debate might have more value if more of us were forthcoming.

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Naomi Lakritz misses the point. Nobody is suggesting Canada become a nation of potheads. I would not recommend marijuana's use, although I believe there is a strong case for medicinal use.

She is correct that studies can be quoted on either side of the issue, but as anyone who understands medical literature knows, one must look at the quality of those studies.

The link between schizophrenia and cannabis is weak. What is probably true is that young people should not be using it; however, isn't it ironic that they are the most likely users - even David Brooks whom she quotes? I wonder if some of those kids use it because it's illegal.

Current policy has failed. I doubt if Justin Trudeau would recommend smoking pot, but his statements simply recognize that failure.

Jim Currie, Calgary

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Re: "Canada doesn't need to be a nation of potheads," Naomi Lakritz, Opinion, Jan. 10.

This was a well-written and important column. As a grandparent, I'm concerned that, with all the media coverage about the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and other U.S. states, our young people will conclude there's nothing wrong with smoking marijuana.

Since our federal government allows doctors to prescribe marijuana, it must be OK, right? Wrong!

Those who want to better understand what we know and don't know about this substance should check out the CBC website for a regular radio program, White Coats, Black Art. It covers medical issues and the moderator is Dr. Brian Goldman.

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Richards Meets With Cremona Area Residents To Address Concerns

MP Blake Richards was at The Gold and Silver Centre in Cremona on Fri. Jan. 10 to take part in a meeting meant to address the concerns of residents about a medicinal marijuana production centre that is being developed in the area.

Unfortunately little was accomplished as Richards was the only official in attendance and most of the citizens' concerns were based on the facility's location, which falls under the zoning bylaws of Mountain View County. Mountain View County didn't send a representative.

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Street drugs are still at the root of crime in Lethbridge.

But prescription drugs continue to be abused as well, says Lethbridge regional police Chief Tom McKenzie.

And although public perceptions are changing, marijuana remains a concern for police agencies across southern Alberta.

While 2013 statistics have yet to be reported, McKenzie says the number of reported crimes has continued to fall. But does that indicate fewer are happening, or fewer are reported?

"I suspect it's a blend of both."

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Justin Trudeau, meet David Brooks. Read Brooks now, and then, if you become prime minister in the next election, re-read him before you bring forward your stupid idea about legalizing marijuana. Brooks offers the best, most eloquent explanation why marijuana should never be legalized.

Writing in the New York Times recently, Brooks, who smoked pot as a teen himself, wisely refuses to play the game of duelling studies, in which one side of the debate produces research to back up its contentions, the other side rebuts with different research that supports its own stance, and everyone ends up at a stalemate, as polarized as when they started. Rather, he talks about marijuana in terms of the kind of society we want to have, something to which Trudeau ought to give some very sober second thought if he wants to be the prime minister of this country.

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The Municipal District (MD) of Willow Creek will request the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties AAMDC) lobby the federal government to allow municipalities to require zoning approvals and development permits for the placement of medical marijuana production facilities.

At its Dec. 18 meeting, MD council decided to sponsor a resolution to be submitted to the Foothills-Little Bow Municipal Association at its Jan. 17 meeting in Lethbridge.

The resolution reads:

"Whereas Health Canada has the sole responsibility and power to approve medical marijuana production facilities through its licensing branch and;

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Medical marijuana: Woman on liquid diet until hospital policy on vaporizers changes

Medical marijuana user Lisa Kirkman says she used to regularly consume vaporized cannabis while in Alberta hospitals but a sudden change in policy and grinding bureaucracy have now made it effectively impossible for her to access medical care.

"I want to be able to receive medical treatment like every other Albertan, like every other Canadian," she said Monday.

Kirkman said a Nov. 4 Alberta Health Services memo, which she described as a well intentioned attempt to codify a previously ad hoc policy on vaporizer use, ended up resulting in vaporizers being effectively banned in the interim.

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I would like to comment on Jenn Gearey's letter Dec. 29 about the federal government's marijuana policies. She stated that the federal government, including Minister Peter MacKay, has been clear: We will not decriminalize or legalize marijuana. These drugs are illegal because of the harmful effects they have on users and on society. Can she, or anyone else tell me what medical benefits cigarettes have? Why are doctors not prescribing cigarettes to patients to treat the wide variety of ailments that pot does. Yes, it is used as a recreational drug that is where it began and it was discovered that it has some medical benefits about it. But you always have good and bad with everything. In this case the good side of pot outweighs the reasons you use to keep it illegal. Now is the time to research pot for other medical uses. My advice to the federal government is to admit there is no real reason to keep pot illegal except fear of voter repercussions and some militant police perso! nnel. The economic benefits are huge. The tax money it would generate would help the country as a whole. At least Justin is man enough to admit to having a toke.

Mike Griffith

(The Tories don't take their cues from Justin.)

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The sad thing about the Cons softening on pot is that it is nothing more than a smoke screen. Something to make it appear that they are listening to the will of the people but in actuality it is just more of the same old, same old. Prohibition is the problem, let's take off the Reefer Madness spectacles and look at the abundant science that has said for many years that the physical and mental effects of cannabis are minimal. My money is on Justin.

Paul Blakey

(WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING?)

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Drug Dilemma: Community Leader Calls For Better Policies To Use Substance In Public

Smoking marijuana on school property would land most high schoolers in the principal's office, but Noah Kirkman is actually encouraged to head there and ingest the drug.

The 15-year-old Western Canada High School student is a licensed medicinal marijuana user after finding the drug far more effective than prescription offerings for treating Tourette Syndrome and attention-deficit disorder.

"It doesn't have any withdrawal effects and I can't (overdose) on it," explained the confident student, who has aspirations of practicing photojournalism someday. "It helps me keep calm, it helps me keep focused."

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Marijuana Vaporizer. Noah Kirkman's Device Is No Bigger Than A Walkie-Talkie

Smoking marijuana on school property would land most high schoolers in the principal's office, but Noah Kirkman is actually encouraged to head there and ingest the drug.

The 15-year-old Western Canada High School student is a licensed medicinal marijuana user after finding the drug far more effective than prescription offerings for treating Tourette Syndrome and attention-deficit disorder.

"It doesn't have any withdrawal effects and I can't (overdose) on it," explained the confident student, who has aspirations of practicing photojournalism someday. "It helps me keep calm, it helps me keep focused."

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