Mandatory roadside screening and oral fluid testing for drugs should become law before the federal government proceeds with legalizing marijuana, a spokesperson for MADD Cobequid says. "This is something that has to take place before the decriminalization is put in place," newly elected president Kay Foster-Alfred said during a public meeting Thursday evening. "This is going to be happening and we have to be ready for it." Despite being disappointed that only one member of the public attended the session, Foster-Alfred says she does not feel that is representative of the community mindset regarding impaired driving by either drugs or alcohol. [continues 178 words]
Federal plan hits roadblocks from provinces, territories over road safety concerns at justice ministers' meeting HALIFAX - The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana has some provincial politicians raising concerns about drug-impaired driving. Three provincial justice ministers made a point of highlighting the issue Friday at the conclusion of a meeting in Halifax between federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson Raybould and her provincial and territorial counterparts. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi was the first to bring it up during a news conference, saying his province is also keen to ensure there are measures to protect youth and focus on harm reduction. [continues 394 words]
HALIFAX - The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana has some provincial politicians raising concerns about drug-impaired driving. Three provincial justice ministers made a point of highlighting the issue Friday at the conclusion of a meeting in Halifax between federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and her provincial and territorial counterparts. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi was the first to bring it up during a news conference, saying his province is also keen to ensure there are measures to protect youth and focus on harm reduction. [continues 439 words]
HALIFAX - The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana has some provincial politicians raising concerns about drug-impaired driving. Three provincial justice ministers made a point of highlighting the issue Friday at the conclusion of a meeting in Halifax between federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and her provincial and territorial counterparts. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi was the first to bring it up during a news conference, saying the province is also keen to ensure there are measures to protect youth and focus on harm reduction. [continues 487 words]
Dealing with reaction from the United States was always going to be one of the trickiest aspects of moving toward legalization of marijuana across Canada. The case of Matthew Harvey, which came to light this past week, underscores just how tricky it may get. And it shows that the federal government must lose no time in making sure that individual Canadians are not penalized as a result of misunderstandings between the two countries. Harvey was banned from the U.S. for life in 2014 after he truthfully answered a question from an American border control officer as he tried to cross from Vancouver into Washington State. [continues 381 words]
A judge seemed bewildered Friday as she sentenced a Prince Edward Island man for selling drugs out of his home. Alfred William Gallant admitted to police he had been selling marijuana out his house for years. He said he did so to pay for his own usage - about seven or eight grams a day. A report found his common-law spouse didn't view it as trafficking because it was only marijuana and he only sold to people he knew. "You have to shake your head," Chief Judge Nancy Orr said. [continues 354 words]
A judge seemed bewildered Friday as she sentenced a Prince Edward Island man for selling drugs out of his home. Alfred William Gallant admitted to police he had been selling marijuana out his house for years. He said he did so to pay for his own usage - about seven or eight grams a day. A report found his common-law spouse didn't view it as trafficking because it was only marijuana and he only sold to people he knew. "You have to shake your head," Chief Judge Nancy Orr said. [continues 355 words]
A judge seemed bewildered Friday as she sentenced a Prince Edward Island man for selling drugs out of his home. Alfred William Gallant admitted to police he had been selling marijuana out his house for years. He said he did so to pay for his own use - about seven or eight grams a day. A report found his common-law spouse didn't view it as trafficking because it was only marijuana and he only sold to people he knew. "You have to shake your head," Chief Judge Nancy Orr said. [continues 355 words]
Air force member from N.S. speaks out on drug charges A member of the Royal Canadian Air Force who's facing drug and firearm offences says he intends to fight what he calls "bogus" charges. Nicholas Burrell, 28, says he believes he was unfairly targeted for using medical marijuana to treat his mental health issues. "The way it was worded made it seem that I was running around with a gun and selling weed," Burrell said about the Canadian Forces news release sent to media on Tuesday. [continues 516 words]
Medical marijuana shop challenging review board It's going to be business as usual for a local medical marijuana dispensary, despite a decision from the Utility and Review Board. Tasty Budds, which has three locations in Halifax Regional Municipality, appealed a decision by the municipality in February to deny the business an occupancy permit. In a decision released this week, the UARB denied the appeal. "We respect their decision, but we know that it's wrong at the same time. So we're just moving forward and filing an appeal," Tasty Budds owner Mal McMeekin said Wednesday. [continues 163 words]
The ink is barely dry Monday's Utility and Review Board decision declaring one medical marijuana dispensary illegal, but the owners of Auntie's Health and Wellness Centre are busy preparing to open their doors at 1547 Barrington St. this Friday - with or without a business occupancy permit. Owner Shirley Martineau's dispensary will focus on patients battling cancer. "How am I supposed to say 'no' to someone who has cancer?" Martineau said on Tuesday. "Just because the government won't allow me to stay open to save lives." [continues 515 words]
Medical experts across Canada and the United States have been sounding loud warnings for the past few years about the explosion of deaths related to overdosing on opioid-related drugs. One U.S. authority compares the epidemic to the rapid spread of AIDS in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Now there's new evidence about the disproportionate impact on one specific group - recently released prisoners. And it underlines the need for more robust services to treat them in the crucial first days when they are returning to the community. [continues 329 words]
Justice Minister Diana Whalen should appoint an independent investigator to probe what happened to the money and drugs that seem to have gone missing at the Halifax Police Department. There's no way around this. After all, an internal audit completed at HPD last November found that a substantial portion of drug and cash exhibits couldn't be found where they were supposed to be. In May, auditors concluded that some money and pharmaceuticals were either AWOL (away without leave) - - or worse still MIA (missing in action). [continues 376 words]
HALIFAX - Correctional officers at a provincial jail in Cape Breton failed to follow proper procedures earlier this year when they placed a man in a cell, where he died of a drug overdose 13 hours later, Nova Scotia's Justice Department says. The department's review of the case, released Monday, says that when Jason Marcel LeBlanc was admitted to the Cape Breton Correctional Facility on Jan. 30, staff did not follow all steps in the strip search process, and they failed to complete their rounds at standard intervals. [continues 654 words]
Entrenched, partisan mentality is one of the worst things about our political institutions. The federal Liberals - despite claims of a progressive attitude toward governing - are demonstrating they're just as capable of it as the rest. With the legalization of marijuana still on the agenda, the Liberals rejected a motion from the NDP this week to - in the meantime - decriminalize simple possession leading up to the law change. This wouldn't be the first time politicians and others have suggested that interim step as sensible. [continues 303 words]
A few drops of cannabis oil on the tongue could mean the difference between life and death for young Morgan Oulton. Now aged 12, the Kentville girl has had life-long epilepsy, recently suffering severe grand mal seizures that once sent her to hospital and another time nearly drowned her in a bathtub. She has lived in a Yarmouth care facility for nine months, has autism, cognitive and behavioural problems, and is considered a flight risk. "We're scared that her time's running out. We don't know when the next seizure's going to be," said her mother Chantelle Oulton, fighting back tears as she addressed media in Bedford Wednesday alongside her husband Brent. "She continues to deteriorate." [continues 526 words]
According to MADD, impaired driving on average claims 1,250 to 1,500 lives each year and injures approximately 63,000 Canadians. This number is staggering when you consider that this is an entirely preventable tragedy. I am concerned that the discussion of the legalization or decriminalization of Cannabis Marijuana may create an increase in these numbers. I believe that MADD has done a great job in campaigning on the dangers of consuming alcohol while driving, but now drug impaired driving is becoming more and more an issue. In fact, in some age groups, it may be a bigger problem than alcohol-impaired driving. [continues 677 words]
N.S. Marijuana Seller Says Weed Shall Overcome Halifax's best known marijuana business operator Mal McMeekin says it won't be long before the need for medical marijuana overcomes the stigma and legal biases against it. McMeekin isn't rattled by last week's Toronto raids of 43 marijuana dispensaries. "I knew the risks and I knew what could happen," said McMeekin following the raids. He acknowledges his business operates in a legal grey area and spoke to the Chronicle Herald last month about the confusing and conflicting politics of medical marijuana sales. [continues 1064 words]
What do Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Washington state have in common? They've legalized recreational marijuana use for adults. And a total of 24 states allow medical marijuana in various ways: in New York, you cannot smoke it, although you can inhale a vapor, eat it, use a tincture or take pills. More than 12 states have decriminalized possession. No wonder marijuana use more than doubled from 2001 to 2013. Unfortunately, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry, in 2012-13 nearly 30 per cent of users had marijuana use disorder, otherwise known as MUD. That's a huge percentage. Symptoms include problems with normal functioning, cravings and withdrawal symptoms, such as inability to sleep, restlessness, nervousness, anger or depression within a week of ceasing heavy use. This MUD treatment also makes you older. [continues 121 words]
Former PM Says He Has Tried To Keep Pace With Changing Attitudes On Big Social Issues HALIFAX- Jean Chretien says politicians have to adjust to changing times, as his own views on marijuana, capital punishment and other contentious issues evolved after he was first elected in the early 1960s. Whether it's pot smoking, abortion, gay marriage or the death penalty, the former prime minister says he's tried to reflect the spirit of the times - even if his changing politics put him in conflict with his conservative upbringing in a large Roman Catholic family in rural Quebec. [continues 351 words]
Inside Nova Scotia
