Thirteen British Columbians died of illicit drug overdoses on Thursday, including nine in the city of Vancouver alone - the latest grim statistics in a worsening crisis that has emergency officials and Vancouver's mayor issuing an urgent call for more treatment options. In comparison, the city has averaged about 15 fatal overdoses a month so far this year, with authorities investigating 160 deaths as of Nov. 30, according to the city's police chief. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Chief Adam Palmer held a joint news conference Friday in which they lauded efforts to expand life-saving harm-reduction services such as supervised-injection sites, but said they also need the provincial government to invest in significant longer-term treatment options. [continues 450 words]
Calgary's police chief is open to introducing supervised facilities for drug users, so long as such programs are part of a larger strategy to lower addiction rates and address problems that accompany drug dependency, such as crime and joblessness. "It always makes police chiefs look resistant when they say no to these things. My answer has been: 'Sure, as long as it is part of a better strategy,' " Calgary Police Service Chief Roger Chaffin said in an interview this week. [continues 912 words]
Future Edmonton supervised injection sites should offer counselling and medical services, police say When Edmonton drug and gang enforcement detective Guy Pilon toured the Insite supervised injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside several months ago he didn't like what he saw. He had visited it three years prior and wanted to see the progress of it and other drug treatment facilities in the city. "There are users now waiting outside of Insite just waiting to get in," Pilon said. [continues 400 words]
When Edmonton drug and gang enforcement detective Guy Pilon toured the Insite supervised injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside several months ago he didn't like what he saw. He had visited it three years prior and wanted to see the progress of it and other drug treatment facilities in the city. "There are users now waiting outside of Insite just waiting to get in," Pilon said. "They are shooting up in the street, they are shooting up around the corner. There are just users everywhere." [continues 387 words]
Nine die in Vancouver, 13 across B.C. from overdoses overnight Thursday Vancouver officials issued a plea to the provincial government Friday for more addiction-treatment funding after B.C. faced the deadliest day yet of its drug-overdose crisis, with 13 people dying Thursday.. On Friday, the B.C. Coroners Service issued an urgent warning to drug users, particularly those in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, to take extra precautions after an "unprecedented number of fatalities" were reported in the province. [continues 999 words]
I must respond to the uninformed idea that supervised injection sites are a no-go for police. Police are directed not to make any simple drug possession arrests near the facilities, but should any other crimes such as assault or trafficking occur, you can be assured police will be there immediately. The call is often made by staff themselves. As for criminal activity near these places, the addicts tend to self-police the area as they better than anyone understand the importance of such facilities and will not allow activities that would jeopardize their existence. Harm reduction has been a medically proven asset in addressing addiction for decades now - time to change these 1950s attitudes. Ken Glofcheskie Ottawa (Fair points.) [end]
Re: Sobriety only answer to opioid crisis, Column, Dec. 14 It was refreshing to read the article by Wayne Moriarty this morning. Choose sobriety! Every time I turn on the TV, the radio or open a paper, all I hear is: drugs, safe injection sites, harm reduction, marijuana or fentanyl. Christy Clark says everyone has to do their part. Vancouver council increased their budget to pay for more first responders. Cities have a limited ability to raise revenue, so they again taxed homeowners. Clark should fund this crisis at the provincial level. The premier has abdicated her responsibility, like she did in the transit referendum and the inflated housing market - she waited until she saw which way the wind blew. Maybe she can fund the response to the addiction crisis. Maybe that can include treatment beds. Mark Murray, Vancouver [end]
Marijuana should be treated as a public health and safety issue, and governments should shy away from using it to raise revenue. That's the biggest takeaway from the report released Tuesday by the federal task force on pot legalization. Its 80 recommendations provide a roadmap Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should follow. The report from the task force, headed by Anne McLellan, a former Liberal cabinet minister, says there are big problems with selling alcohol and pot together, which had been Premier Kathleen Wynne's plan in Ontario. For instance, it notes that some 80 per cent of Canadians drink, while only 11 per cent use marijuana. [continues 313 words]
Pot industry players react to marijuana legalization report Pot smokers, dispensary owners and cannabis industry executives reacted Tuesday to the federal government task force recommendations on how Canada should go about legalizing recreational marijuana. The dispensary manager: Stores should be here to stay Kristina Simpson's hands fly up to her face in shock when she's informed the task force has come out in favour of marijuana storefronts. "Oh my gosh!" says the manager of Weeds Glass & Gifts dispensary on Bank Street. "I'm so happy!" She had braced herself for a more restrictive approach. The task force said storefronts with "well-trained, knowledgeable staff" should have a place, although the provinces would be left to decide how and where marijuana is sold. [continues 805 words]
A federal task force report on legalized recreational marijuana marks a "momentous" step toward the normalization of the drug, a local pot advocate said Tuesday. "I think the consensus is this is the day a lot of people, both from the medical cannabis community and recreational users, never thought they would live to see," said Steven Stairs, a medical marijuana user and local "4/20" organizer. The task force is recommending storefront and mail-order sales to Canadians 18 years and older, with personal growing limits of four plants per person. [continues 474 words]
The task force charged with drawing up a framework for cannabis legalization in Canada has struck a fine balance between providing access to a regulated supply that should undermine the black market and introducing restrictions that minimize the harm associated with pot. The nine-member panel, chaired by former Liberal minister Anne McLellan, was asked to make recommendations that will have implications for all Canadians for years to come. There can be no doubts that we are about to witness widespread changes to the laws and culture of our country. [continues 751 words]
Web of regulations proposed by task force shows Liberals' approach anything but mellow Reading the 106-page report of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation, with its determinedly bland cover design and its epically drab title, "A Framework For the Legalization and Regulation of Cannabis in Canada," it's hard to shake the urge to blow off a little steam by sparking up a great big bowl of Whoa! Wrong attitude! Sorry about that. Lord forbid anyone suggest that the point of legalizing marijuana in Canada is to increase the amount of fun anybody might be having. [continues 700 words]
People age 18 and up should be allowed to legally buy marijuana through storefronts and mail-order but probably not in the same locations where alcohol and tobacco are sold, a federal task force is recommending. Vancouver Island's cannabis industry is welcoming recommendations from the task force for legalization of marijuana, but the B.C. government is urging Ottawa to proceed with caution. The task force, headed by former federal Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, recommends allowing dedicated places such as lounges for the consumption of cannabis products, and calls for restrictions on public smoking of tobacco products to extend to cannabis. [continues 938 words]
A decade ago, Vlassis Douvis's storefront window was plastered with T-shirts. "The T-shirts weren't for sale," the Calgary entrepreneur says with a laugh. "It was to hide what was really going on inside." These days, Douvis isn't doing much hiding. It's pretty clear, in fact, what kind of business he operates. At his three Hemp Roots stores in the city, marijuana leaves are painted on the windows and the only thing blocking the view inside is Christmas tinsel. [continues 589 words]
OTTAWA - Eighteen-year-olds should be allowed to buy recreational cannabis when the Liberal government launches a globe-leading social experiment in legalizing marijuana next year, a federally appointed task force said Tuesday. The age limit - and the hazy science of pot-impaired driving - were among the most contentious aspects during five months of hearings and research, task force vice-chair Dr. Mark Ware told a news conference in the parliamentary precinct. The framework report is recommending storefront and mail-order sales to people 18 and older, with personal growing limits of four plants per person and a 30-gram limit on personal possession. [continues 736 words]
When the Trudeau government vowed to legalize the consumption of marijuana, there may have been those who believed the process would be straightforward. The final report of the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation proves it will be anything but. Here are just a few samples of the task force's slightly hallucinogenic recommendations: The minimum age for cannabis consumption should be 18, even though science says young-adult brains are still developing at that age and can be damaged by excessive pot-smoking. The government must therefore also encourage people to refrain from using legal pot until they are 25, when their brains are fully formed. Which will be tough, because by far the biggest cohort of pot users are people aged 18-25. [continues 256 words]
Federal panel's suggestions on legalizing recreational marijuana greeted cautiously in B.C. Recommendations released Tuesday by the federal panel on legalizing recreational marijuana were greeted positively, if cautiously, by B.C. businesses with a stake in the issue. The committee is recommending Canadians 18 years and older be allowed to buy marijuana in stores or online, or grow their own with a limits of four plants a person. The committee, headed by former federal Liberal cabinet minister Anne McLellan, says recreational marijuana should not be sold in the same location as alcohol or tobacco, and there should be diversity of production beyond the small number of existing, licensed medical marijuana producers. [continues 438 words]
Despite federal report, deputy chief insists police have duty to take action until laws change Until Canada's pot law goes up in smoke, there's nothing hazy about whether cannabis lounges and unregulated marijuana dispensaries are legal. And while the recommendations of a federal government task force, released Tuesday, would loosen up the law, one top London police official said they'll continue to keep a close tab on marijuana hot spots. "Right now, they're illegal," said deputy police chief Daryl Longworth. "If the government changes that around, obviously we'll respond accordingly. [continues 898 words]
This must be some sort of lapse of the synapse. One of the key warnings regarding coming legalization of marijuana didn't make the impression warranted. Health professionals have tried to stress the importance of keeping recreational marijuana away from young people. Last month, the Canadian Paediatric Society urged that the federal government ban sales to those younger than 18 or 19, depending on the province, to correspond with age limits for alcohol and tobacco sales. The federal task force in charge of recommendations, in releasing its report Tuesday, chose the low end of that age spectrum, saying sales should be limited to people 18 and over. [continues 333 words]
Issues 80 recommendations for upcoming Liberal law OTTAWA - A federal task force on legalized recreational marijuana says it should be sold to Canadians over the age of 18 in storefronts or by mail, but not in the same places as liquor or cigarettes. The task force, headed by former Liberal health minister Anne McLellan, was asked to consult with communities and experts and report back to the government with a framework on how pot should be legalized. The government is preparing legislation to be introduced in the spring. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize pot during the 2015 election. [continues 585 words]
Inside Canada
