Existing dispensaries could transition to legal market with supply deals intact

If it wasn't for the scent, customers who wandered into Eden Medicinal Society would be forgiven for thinking they had entered a boutique health store rather than a marijuana dispensary.

The distinctive fragrance greets shoppers at the door. It wafts from jars filled with bright green B.C. bud lining spotless glass shelves. Flatscreen monitors on gleaming white walls display prices of golden hemp flower paste and mocha THC syrup.

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Opioid drug use findings raise concerns about effectiveness of substitution treatment

A study of drug use in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside concluded with 100 per cent of participants who used illicit opioids testing positive for fentanyl, raising concerns that higher opioid tolerance from the powerful synthetic drug could threaten the effectiveness of substitution treatment.

The five-month study, led by University of British Columbia psychiatry professor William Honer, involved 237 high-risk participants. Of those, about half used opioids, either prescribed (such as methadone and buprenorphine) or nonprescribed (such as illicit heroin). Severe mental-health issues also played a significant role: About half had psychosis and one-third had mood disorders, illnesses that increase the likelihood of using illicit drugs.

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Last year was "the most tragic year ever" for illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C., prompting public health officials to push for the decriminalization of opioid possession and consumption to address the fentanyl epidemic.

In 2017, 1,422 people died of illicit drug overdose deaths, up from 993 in 2016, chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said Wednesday.

Victoria had the highest number of overdose deaths on Vancouver Island with 91, behind Vancouver (358) and Surrey (174).

Lapointe said the epidemic in B.C. is "related to uncontrolled illicit fentanyl."

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Decades after Canada abandoned the field, the B.C. Centre on Substance Use is investigating the benefits of drugs like MDMA and psilocybin

In 2011, Gerald Thomas was invited to an Indigenous community in a remote area of British Columbia. Working for the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C., he was one of a small team of scientists who observed 12 people take ayahuasca, an Amazonian mixture that induces vivid visual and auditory hallucinations as well as deep emotional and intellectual reflection.

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Health official says region needs to be able to treat more drug users

With the second highest rate of illicit drug overdose deaths in the province last year, the overdose crisis in the Okanagan remains concerning and distressing, says chief medical health officer Trevor Corneil.

"It means that everything we're doing, and we're doing a lot, is clearly not enough," he said.

In the Okanagan, there were 150 overdose deaths, a rate of 40.8 per 100,000 people, in 2017, up from 77 deaths in 2016, a rate of 21.2 per 100,000 people, according to the BC Coroners Service report released Wednesday.

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Kendall ends term by calling on province to think further outside the box, its comfort zones

British Columbia's provincial health officer concluded his last day in the role with a call to further push the envelope in responding to the province's overdose crisis, which new numbers show killed more than 1,400 people last year.

Perry Kendall said on Wednesday the year-end tally of 1,422 illicit-drug overdose deaths - a figure that works out to a rate of 29.6 per 100,000 population and will grow as outstanding death investigations are completed - show that B.C. is "still in the midst of a persistent and continuing epidemic of unintentional poisoning deaths.

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The City of Victoria just got some help from the courts in reining in the Wild West of marijuana shops in the municipality. At least 32 cannabis shops have popped up all over town in the past few years, and in 2016, the city brought in regulations to try to bring some order to the frontier. Other municipalities took a zero-tolerance approach, shutting them down whenever they appeared.

Whether one saw Victoria's attitude as caving in to lawlessness or acknowledging reality, it wasn't clear if the rules would stick if they were challenged.

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'It doesn't help to have conversations that are fear-based'

Nine people died of suspected overdoses in a span of five days last week in the Interior Health region that includes Nelson.

Seven of those deaths were reported to have occurred between Jan. 23 to 26, with two more fatalities added on Jan. 27.

A spokesperson for Interior Health (IH) declined to say what communities the deaths occurred in, citing privacy concerns. The health authority includes 59 municipalities spread throughout the Kootenay Boundary, Okanagan, East Kootenay and Thompson, Cariboo and Shuswap regions.

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More than $200,000 has been collected from dispensaries since May.

Langley Township has collected more than $200,000 in fines from unlicensed marijuana dispensaries since last spring, in what a former dispensary owner calls bullying.

Four medical marijuana dispensaries were operating in the Township, mostly in Aldergrove, in recent months, said interim head of bylaw enforcement Bill Storie.

"We've been actively, as they crop up, pursuing them," he said.

The Township won't give a business licence to a dispensary.

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A new study suggests Vancouver pot smokers could generate up to $29 million annually for the province in additional tax revenue if marijuana was taxed at the same rate as cigarettes.

The 2018 Cannabis Price Index, compiled by pot-tech startup Seedo, looked at the cost of cannabis around the world.

The study then calculated how much additional tax revenue each city's population of pot smokers might generate based on each city's consumption and average marijuana and cigarette tax rates in the U.S.

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Until the federal government passes a law that legalizes the recreational use of marijuana, widely expected to happen sometime this summer, selling cannabis is illegal. Not only was the Robson Street open-air pot market dealing in an illegal product, it was operating in a public space without permission. If that wasn't enough, the vendors were conducting business without licences, paid no business taxes, and failed to collect GST or provincial sales tax, as every business selling a product or service is required to do.

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Researchers gear up for last stage of testing before legalization

Ed Thompson remembers the helplessness he felt each of the thousands of times his twin daughters would turn blue and go lifeless in his arms. The young girls suffered from acute breath-holding spells, an involuntary condition that causes children to pass out, in their case up to 40 times a day.

"Having your kids die in your arms 7,500 times kind of sucks," he said.

The girls' conditions eventually improved, but the experience compounded earlier trauma Thompson had witnessed as a firefighter in South Carolina, sending him into a spiral of post traumatic stress, substance abuse and thoughts of suicide.

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Editor:

Re: Greed turns governments into bookie, bootlegger and dealer, Community Comment, Jan. 19

Just a small clarification on Greg Hoover's column. He stated, "The entire reason for this (marijuana) legalization is money and nothing else." That's a very non-researched and inaccurate assumption.

There are many good reasons to take this useful and comparatively harmless herb out of courts, off the streets, out of the hands of organized crime and, hopefully, away from children.

Of course, teens will still manage to access it just as they're able to get alcohol and cigarettes, but it won't be quite as easy with proper laws in place.

If we follow Amsterdam's lead, which seems to help society there, prostitution may be another "vice" worth looking at controlling.

Gary Gibbons

[end]

A recent illegal cannabis grow operation in North Delta, busted by Delta police, is highlighting the challenges law enforcement will soon face when new marijuana legislation comes into effect later this year.

Chief Neil Dubord updated Delta police board members last week on the illegal operation police raided in late November.

Dubord said a complaint was received by the mayor's office on Oct. 17 regarding concerns over a potential cannabis grow operation in a home.

"Upon investigation, it was learned that Health Canada issued a licence dated Nov. 28 allowing 93 plants to be grown at that location," Dubord said. "Although licensed, drug investigators continued with the investigation due to evidence that suggested the operation was not consistent with 93 plants."

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Nelson's top cop is preparing for the legalization of recreational marijuana

The woman waiting in the reception area of the Nelson Police Department spots Chief Constable Paul Burkart and calls his name.

"Hi Paul," she says.

The chief smiles and leans out through the open door, asking, "What can I get for you?"

The woman tells him she needs some volunteer security clearance forms. Burkart speaks to an officer in the front dispatch area and asks him to assist the visitor.

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Langara journalism students attended the Jan. 18 Vancouver Police Board meeting

When I'm not searching for the truth, or driving my sports-crazy kids around the Lower Mainland -- or deciding whether my tea of the day should be "super green matcha" or turmeric and ginger - I sometimes impart my semi-mad journalism skills on Langara College students.

And sometimes, like last Thursday, those students join me on the job.

We attended a Vancouver Police Board meeting, where we heard Insp. Bill Spearn of the VPD's major crime section tell us that overdose deaths in the city are still at a crisis level - at least 335 people are suspected of dying in 2017, with more than 80 per cent of the deaths connected to fentanyl.

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Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall will call it a career next week, confident that the tools are finally in place to tackle the opioid overdose crisis that has ravaged this province for more than three years.

Kendall has been among the chief architects of B.C.'s response to the deadly wave of powerful synthetic opioids that have largely replaced heroin in the illicit drug supply.

Deputy provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry will replace Kendall when he officially retires on Jan. 31. Henry will become the first woman to serve as B.C.'s provincial health officer.

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British Columbia's first provincial health officer is resigning after nearly 20 years on a job he calls "incredibly rewarding."

Perry Kendall, who declared a public health emergency in 2016 over the province's overdose crisis, will be leaving his post at the end of the month, when the deputy health officer will fill the position.

Dr. Kendall has described the opioid epidemic as B.C.'s most devastating health issue because of the high number of deaths from fentanyl, which is cut into street drugs.

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The City of Vernon, said Coun. Dalvir Nahal to the overflow crowd of more than 70 people who crammed into Vernon council chambers Monday, has a responsibility to taxpayers, business owners and children to make sure what the city is doing in regards to marijuana dispensaries is being done.

The city held a public hearing Monday on a zoning text amendment bylaw that is not intended to close down dispensaries that were in operation before Nov. 14, 2017. The bylaw is to bridge the process that will allow dispensaries to continue to operate provided certain conditions are met.

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Police say booths have been selling weed to kids

Despite a recent police crackdown, marijuana vendors who have been selling pot out of booths set up at Robson Square near the Vancouver Art Gallery say they have no intention of stopping.

Police arrested four people on Jan. 22 and have charged a fifth person, Vancouver resident David Hill, with drug trafficking. At a press conference Tuesday morning, police said they have recommended 11 charges in total and more charges will be coming.

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