Most People in the Program Are Allowed to Use Five Grams a Day, But the Amount Can Soar Depending on Their Needs, Writes Jodie Sinnema Ian Layfield met a man at this year's medical marijuana conference in Toronto who was waving around his federal licence to show people he could legally use 150 grams of pot a day. He seemed quite proud of the fact, Layfield remembered. It seemed obvious the man had many chronic ailments that left him in poor health. Even so, Layfield, who is legally allowed to use nine grams of medical marijuana a day to fight pain from severe arthritis, remained skeptical. [continues 1182 words]
Chris Hillier's life arc bottomed out in a Vancouver back alley, across the country from his Newfoundland home and a world away from the war zone that broke him. Homeless, penniless and addicted to crack cocaine, Hillier slept behind a community centre, at the intersection of Hastings and Main, the notorious epicentre of the city's drug trade. Three years earlier, Hillier was in the midst of a successful military career, serving his country as an air force firefighter aboard HMCS Preserver in the Middle East in the months after the 9/11 strikes on the U.S. [continues 540 words]
The wind was howling one morning in late November when police were called to a shooting at a rural acreage in Mission, B.C. Inside the gates was a 31-year-old man with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds - the victim of a home invasion aimed at stealing the medicinal marijuana crop he'd come to tend. Neighbours weren't overly surprised. Not long ago another man was shot just down the road, said Cathy Erickson, who has lived on the street for 23 years. And a house on the corner was condemned after it was found housing a grow-op. [continues 983 words]
Now 40 Per Cent of Applications for Marijuana Treatment Seen by Health Canada, a Jump of 2,400 Per Cent From 2008 to 2010 The federal government has seen a staggering increase in the number of requests for medical marijuana authorizations from applicants claiming they have severe arthritis to legally obtain the drug. Applications to Health Canada based on severe arthritis claims jumped 2,400 per cent between 2008 and 2010, far outstripping the number of claims for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases, an Ottawa Citizen analysis has found. [continues 1211 words]
Chief Health Officer Believes Fewer Cases Of Hepatitis May Be Result SUMMERSIDE - An expansion of the Province's needle exchange program has contributed, in part, to fewer cases of hepatitis C, health officials say. In addition to its Charlottetown location, the Province has expanded the needle exchange program into three more areas since 2009 - Summerside, Alberton and Montague. Although numbers for 2011 will only be compiled in January, P.E.I.'s chief health officer said early indications are encouraging. "In 2011 to date, we've seen a bit of a decrease in the number of cases of hepatitis C. That's due to many things, but we hope partly due to the needle exchange program," said Dr. Heather Morrison. [continues 332 words]
Canada's prison ombudsman gave up on free needle exchanges this week, and a senior justice adviser slammed the federal government for taking Canada backward on crime. They were separate events, but they reflect the frustration that many reform-minded people working in justice and corrections surely feel these days. Canada is heading to that awful place that the United States has just inhabited for 20 years "" a place of longer and longer prison sentences, of a futile "oewar on drugs," of mandatory minimum sentences for nearly everything (including six months for growing as few as five marijuana plants) that remove judges' discretion. The financial and social costs in the U.S. were incalculable, and just as the U.S. is coming to its senses, Canada is losing its own. [continues 297 words]
The federal government has seen a staggering increase in the number of requests for medical marijuana authorizations from applicants claiming they have severe arthritis to legally obtain the drug. Applications to Health Canada based on severe arthritis claims jumped 2,400 per cent between 2008 and 2010, far outstripping the number of claims for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases, an Ottawa Citizen analysis has found. The spike in arthritis claims was part of an overall rise in applications over the past three years, as more private clinics specializing in marijuana began referring patients to pot-friendly doctors willing to sign their forms. [continues 665 words]
It is very discouraging to read MP James Lunney's starkly personal view on the regulation and legalization of marijuana (The News, Dec. 6). What a travesty. Millions, if not billions of tax dollars spent on police, judicial system and jails for the sole purpose of putting non violent people in jail. What a waste of taxpayer money and what a windfall for the large criminal syndicates earning billions of dollars from the illegal sales of marijuana. Lunney displays in spades what many believe, that our elected officials are prepared to put their personal and political views and the wellbeing of themselves ahead of the common good. [continues 219 words]
Wide Range of Medical Marijuana Users Find Relief in Pot, Despite Doctors' Misgivings Ian Layfield in Victoria swallows cannabis-infused oil capsules he makes himself, frying olive oil with pot leaves, then straining it with cheese cloth and pouring it into gel caps. He also mixes cannabis into a topical cream he rubs into his left foot and ankle, which was crushed in October 2006 after being rolled over by a grader. Margaret Marceniuk of Edmonton inhales her medical marijuana through a pharmaceutical puffer and a head-shop pipe. [continues 1725 words]
In my relatively brief time as a Member of Parliament I have observed that when there is a lack of information that void is filled very quickly with misinformation. Case in point is Bill C-10, otherwise known as the omnibus crime bill. Some would have you believe that the intent of this bill is solely about incarcerating anyone and everyone convicted of committing a crime, regardless of the severity, and essentially throwing away the key. I believe it is important to talk about the types of serious crime that are actually being targeted in Bill C-10. [continues 530 words]
Mall Tenants Want Development Permit Revoked The owner of a store that sells paraphernalia related to drug consumption appears to have had a change of heart on whether or not he wants to open his store. Despite telling the Gazette in November he would be abandoning his location at Appleyard Square, located on Akins Drive, because of opposition from local tenants and the mayor, Blitz 420 owner Tim Kaput appeared before the subdivision and development appeal board to fight an appeal of his development permit by neighbouring tenants and residence. [continues 553 words]
Re: Push For Legalized Pot Just Dopey, Brian Hutchinson, Dec. 7. Columnist Brian Hutchinson makes the common mistake of assuming that punitive marijuana laws deter use. Consider the experience of Canada's southern neighbour. Despite criminal penalties, the United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands where marijuana is legally available. Mr. Hutchinson also argues that underground markets would remain under legalization. Nonsense. An easily grown weed like marijuana would be virtually worthless if legal. Drug cartels could not possibly compete with legitimate farmers. As it stands, the drug wars distortion of supply and demand causes big money to be grown on little trees. [continues 58 words]
Re: Robert Sharpe's letter (Regulate 'soft' drugs, Dec. 7) proposing the legal sale of marijuana while continuing the prohibition of hard drugs. Even if pot were legalized, drug peddlers would continue to sell it, as they do now, to children too young to buy it legally, while still exposing them to hard drugs. Selective legalization is equivalent to permitting the sale of wine and beer, while keeping spirits illegal. It leaves criminals in control of a lucrative market, while exposing addicts to all kinds of risks. Helping kids avoid drugs should be the responsibility of parents in conjunction with anti-drug public-service announcements. Winnipeg [end]
Re: "'Proof is out there about harm from marijuana' ( Daily News, Dec. 3) Madeline Bruce forgot to mention that the people with this biology practically all get some form of adult psychosis, and not just the percentage, too small to mention, who smoked marijuana. Stay with the truth. Unlike opiate pain killers where every user eventually becomes addicted, marijuana has never proved to be. Unlike acetaminophen that has killed hundreds due to liver failure and not recommended for young children, marijuana has the distinction of not one death ever proven to be caused by its use. We know about alcohol addiction and have just hit the tip on caffeine. Neil Saunders Nanaimo [end]
From 2008 to 2010, Number Citing the Condition to Use Marijuana Up 2,400% The federal government has seen a staggering increase in the number of requests for medical marijuana authorizations from applicants claiming they have severe arthritis to legally obtain the drug. Applications to Health Canada based on severe arthritis claims jumped 2,400% between 2008 and 2010, far outstripping the number of claims for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases, an Ottawa Citizen analysis has found. The spike in arthritis claims was part of an overall rise in applications over the past three years, as more private clinics specializing in marijuana began referring patients to pot-friendly doctors willing to sign their forms. [continues 348 words]
The federal government has seen a staggering increase in the number of requests to to legally obtain medical marijuana from applicants claiming they have severe arthritis. Applications to Health Canada based on severe arthritis claims jumped 2,400 per cent between 2008 and 2010, far outstripping the number of claims for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases, an Ottawa Citizen analysis has found. The spike in arthritis claims was part of an overall rise in applications over the past three years, as more private clinics specializing in marijuana began referring patients to pot-friendly doctors willing to sign their forms. [continues 713 words]
Ian Layfield prefers his marijuana fried in oil for four hours, then swallowed in cannabis-infused gel caplets. Either that or mixed in with a topical cream he massages onto his left foot. Both forms of medical marijuana numb the pain and tightness caused by severe arthritis that began after a road grader in Victoria pinned his foot, crushing bones, tendons, muscles and soft tissue. That was in October 2006, but it wasn't until after self medicating with tequila and pot, 18 months of rehab needed to walk again, daily doses of the narcotic pain reliever Oxycontin and hydromorphone pills, did Layfield gain the consent of his family physician to turn to medical marijuana. [continues 363 words]
On the face of it, discovering that a candidate in a municipal election has a criminal past should have been a newspaper editor's dream. So why didn't you read about Bill Bard's 2006 conviction for growing pot in the Nanaimo Daily News? It's a good question and one that has been asked a few times since former and maybe future school board trustee Donna Allen entered into a faceoff with, well, everyone, over whether or not people with criminal records should be able to run for public office. [continues 532 words]
Drug Use, Gangs Cause Concern Concerned west-end residents rallied this week in Michele Park, one of the parks in the area they say is no longer safe for children and families. About 15 people attended the rally organized by Ottawa ACORN, which represents low-income families. "We're here today to get more lighting in our parks and to make it cleaner and safer for our children. As you can see, there are no garbage receptacles anywhere. There's a lot of garbage on the ground and in the sand," said Jessica May, a resident and ACORN member. [continues 446 words]
Advocates Say It's Easier to Get a Doctor to Sign a Prescription For Pot Intended to Treat Sore Joints The federal government has seen a staggering increase in the number of requests for medical marijuana authorizations from applicants who claim they have severe arthritis in order to legally obtain the drug. Applications to Health Canada based on severe arthritis claims jumped 2,400 per cent between 2008 and 2010, far outstripping the number of claims for cancer, HIV/AIDS and other serious diseases, a Citizen analysis has found. [continues 884 words]