Editor: Re: Bill Good's "Emery pot bust makes no sense," Sept. 22. Instead of continuing to waste money on the failed War on Drugs, we should end drug prohibition and spend the money we save on making all schools safe places to learn. I have recently returned from Ottawa after being invited to testify as an expert witness to the Standing Committee on Health regarding Cannabis Act C-45 in the House of Commons on Sept. 13. The topic of the panel was Legal Age for Possession and Cannabis Youth Use. [continues 276 words]
Ontario has already decided how it will distribute recreational marijuana once it's legal next summer. But many other provinces are in differing stages of identifying how this shift in federal drug policies and policing will be handled. In B.C., consultation started Monday - with a reportedly swift and massive response - while municipalities are wondering how they will manage this change, especially in the area of zoning, policing and managing costs. Others wonder how potent the pot strains will be and if there will even be enough supply to meet demand. [continues 88 words]
The B.C. government is making time to listen as it plans new marijuana regulations, even though the listening will leave only a few months to finish crafting the rules for the coming new era of legal pot. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said this week that the public consultation will be finished by Nov. 1. The government will have to finish writing rules and regulations by next summer. The federal government introduced legislation in April that would legalize recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018, but is leaving it up to each province to determine its own distribution system and usage regulations. [continues 479 words]
Six months after seizing a quantity of marijuana, Williams Lake RCMP announced Tuesday charges have been approved against the manager and a former employee of Mary Jane's Glass and Gifts. Mary Jane's, which is located on Oliver Street in downtown Williams Lake, was stripped of its inventory in April following a search and seizure by police. Mark Cowan faces one charge of trafficking a controlled substance contrary to section 5(1) of the Canadian Drug and Substance Act (CDSA) and one of possession for the purpose of trafficking contrary to section 5(2) of the CDSA. [continues 453 words]
Lois Jackson says municipal hall is receiving five to 10 inquiries a day as legalization date less than a year off There are a lot of questions that need answering before recreational marijuana is legalized, says Mayor Lois Jackson. There are a lot of questions that need answering before recreational marijuana is legalized, says Mayor Lois Jackson, who's troubled Delta could become the pot growing capital of Canada. Jackson is attending the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver this week where members on Wednesday endorsed a resolution asking for cities to have meaningful consultation on legalizing pot. [continues 572 words]
The fledgling B.C. NDP government has decided how it will deal with the looming legalization of marijuana: continue talking it to death. Dispensary owners, illegal producers, consumers, patients, parents - Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth explained Monday that everyone's opinion is being sought because "one size does not fit all" and "we need to get it right." Until four o'clock on the Day of the Dead, Nov. 1, Farnworth says anyone can participate in a new province-wide conversation on pot - the minimum age, personal possession limits, public consumption, drug-impaired driving, personal cultivation, distribution, retail models It's all on the table. "We want to hear from as many people as possible about how we can best protect our kids, keep our roads safe and lock criminals out of the non-medical cannabis industry," he told a packed meeting room at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in downtown Vancouver. "Public engagement is crucial." [continues 480 words]
The fledgling B.C. NDP government has decided how it will deal with the looming legalization of marijuana: continue talking it to death. Dispensary owners, illegal producers, consumers, patients, parents - Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth explained Monday that everyone's opinion is being sought because "one size does not fit all" and "we need to get it right." Until 4 p.m. on the Day of the Dead, Nov. 1, Farnworth says anyone can participate in a provincewide conversation on pot - the minimum age, personal possession limits, public consumption, drug-impaired driving, personal cultivation, distribution, retail models ... It's all on the table. [continues 491 words]
They say B.C.'s pot laws have taken so long to sort out because May's provincial election delayed the process. Either that, or our guys were hot-boxing a van behind the legislature and simply forgot to get it done. In any case, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth left more questions than answers Monday when, rather than unveiling the regulations many expected, he merely announced a public consultation process. Ontario might already have its pot plans in place, but here in the birthplace of B.C. Bud, we prefer a more relaxed approach: We'll gather information from stakeholders and the public, or maybe listen to a little Allman Brothers, until Nov. 1. [continues 634 words]
Mayor says share of taxes from sale of legal marijuana should go to municipalities to cover extra policing costs Municipalities should get a share of tax revenue collected by the provincial government when marijuana becomes legal, says Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran. "We want to make sure we get our cut of the profits," Basran said Monday from the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in Vancouver. If the government ultimately chooses to allow private stores to sell pot next year, additional policing costs are likely to arise to ensure such operations abide by all relevant rules and regulations, Basran said. [continues 534 words]
The B.C. government has launched a five-week consultation process around the legalization of marijuana and says the way the drug is purchased could differ from city to city. The minister in charge of the file told a news conference Monday that Vancouverites might prefer to continue buying marijuana through dispensaries, while other communities opt for something else. "One size does not fit all," B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth told reporters. The federal government has committed to legalizing the recreational use of marijuana by July. [continues 610 words]
Recreational pot could be sold at dispensaries in one city and corner stores in another when it becomes legal next summer. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said the province is embarking on public consultation for non-medicinal marijuana regulation, but doesn't expect to force a retail model on local governments. "I think it's important that local government is not only heard and at the table, but there's an understanding that one size does not fit all," Farnworth said. [continues 713 words]
Public engagement on cannabis legalization coming in B.C. The provincial government has given itself just over five weeks to gather input from municipalities, the public and other stakeholders about non-medical cannabis regulation in B.C. It's an ambitious deadline, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth conceded on Monday during the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver as he announced the province's plans for public consultations. The goal is to collect feedback in time to draft legislation for the spring legislative session and be ready when the federal government legalizes marijuana next July. [continues 596 words]
The B.C. government is making time to listen as it plans new marijuana regulations, even though the listening will leave only a few months to finish crafting the rules for the coming new era of legal pot. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said this week that the public consultation will be finished by Nov. 1. The government will have to finish writing rules and regulations by next summer. The federal government introduced legislation in April that would legalize recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018, but is leaving it up to each province to determine its own distribution system and usage regulations. [continues 503 words]
Councillors and mayors will have first chance to suss out party's stand on issues such as marijuana legalization at annual convention B. C.'s mayors and councillors are pouring into Vancouver this week with one main goal at their annual convention - to get a handle on what changes the new NDP government will be bringing them. The more than 1,800 attendees - a higher than usual number - are looking for signs of what Premier John Horgan's team will do about the impending explosion of retail marijuana, housing and mental health, drug and overdose issues, say councillors on the executive of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. [continues 575 words]
Editor: Re: Police want date pushed back on legalizing pot, Sept. 20 The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police insists it needs more time to adapt to cannabis legislation. Well, too bad for the chiefs. The Liberals have been in power for close to two years, medicinal cannabis has been around for even longer and models from other jurisdictions (Holland, Portugal, etc.) have long matured. More delays mean more otherwise unnecessary criminalization, imprisonment and benefits for violent gangs. Legalization is long overdue and prohibition's time is up. Victor Yao [end]
Editor: There is no doubt in my mind that the proposal by the prime minister to legalize marijuana has not been well thought out, especially with the devastating drug problems we are now facing. The effect of narcotics on the development of the brain has been well researched. Scientific studies have proven that mental disorders, schizophrenia, suicides, etc. are much higher among those who take these drugs than those who do not. Postnatal brain development occurs over a long period that lasts into adolescence and some say into the 20s. Our youth are at risk. We certainly do not need more soft drugs on the street that are available to an impressionable age group trying to cope with their own stresses at school, at home, on the street, etc. [continues 288 words]
Victoria, Langford battle dispensaries amid uncertainty over legalization plans Court battles are brewing in B.C. municipalities over cannabis dispensaries amid a hazy regulatory landscape. The City of Victoria, the only municipality in Greater Victoria to regulate cannabis businesses, is facing a lawsuit by one business fighting to stay open and is taking another business to court to shut it down. The City of Langford's hard line against pot shops played out in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday, with the municipality successfully keeping a dispensary shuttered. [continues 676 words]
Attendees given a taste of what kind of work is possible as marijuana moves into mainstream On Thursday morning, Marco Cacchione put on a black button-up shirt, combed his hair, and walked down Robson Street to a job fair, hoping to snag a gig in an industry that is quickly emerging from the underground. After a decade as a line cook, currently at one of Vancouver's casual fine-dining chains, the 28-year-old said he is ready to make the leap into cannabis, which is expected to be legalized next July. The industry will require thousands of workers to meet the likely demand. [continues 433 words]
Re: "Chiefs on high alert as pot legalization looms," Sept. 26. With no simply roadside test for impairment by pot inhalation available and a certainty of more impaired drivers on our highways leading to more road deaths, police chiefs have every right to be concerned. Then we have to factor in the idea that, in Ontario, everyone can grow four marijuana plants, have no more than 30 ounces on their person, only smoke the drug in their residence and that nobody under 19 can legally possess pot. This means from a policing perspective, enforcement is much more complicated than when the drug was illegal. Then with its resources already stretched, the police will have to investigate the illicit distribution of pot by organized crime, which will become involved just as it has in Colorado and Washington states. Liberal politicians simply refuse to accept that organized crime will be a major problem once pot become legal, no matter what they sell the drug for! [continues 127 words]
Inside British Columbia
