John De Villa and his wife, Maxine, are afraid he'll lose access to the cannabis products that keep him seizure-free. The otherwise healthy software technician wasn't born with epilepsy, didn't drink or smoke, and hadn't taken as much as a Tylenol in decades. During the course of the next eight months, he would suffer a total of 12 grand mal seizures. Doctors would later tell him the effects on his brain were equivalent to what one would experience after a series of back-to-back concussions. [continues 1408 words]
Researchers say governments will have to legalize pot shops or incorporate elements from them into new model UBC researchers are cautioning policy-makers not to alter a cannabis distribution system that, while not yet legal, works well. Photo contributedUBC Okanagan psychology professor Zach Walsh recently published a study examining the roles independent marijuana dispensaries play in cannabis access. Associate professor Zach Walsh, who teaches at UBC's Okanagan campus, and PhD candidate Rielle Capler say storefront dispensaries - often under fire from bylaw enforcement and city governments - are a tried and true method of selling cannabis. The pair recently published a study on medicinal cannabis dispensaries and determined customers prefer the independent storefront as opposed to growing their own or getting it from a dealer. [continues 464 words]
A pot shop in Courtenay has been raided a second time after it reopened in defiance of RCMP orders. Two employees were arrested and marijuana, cannabis-infused food, cannabis concentrate and cash were seized by Comox Valley RCMP from the Leaf Compassion dispensary on Thursday. The employees are facing charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. They were released on a promise to appear in court on strict conditions not to return to the dispensary, according to dispensary owner Kyle Cheyne. [continues 273 words]
Meanwhile, City of Richmond is concerned over regulatory framework for weed legalization Legalized recreational marijuana is coming to Richmond, but the city's not ready, according to a new group led by Coun. Chak Au. The "2018 Marijuana Legalization Concern Group" has asked the federal government to postpone or suspend the July, 2018 deadline for pot legalization until all regulations are in place. "Once the gate of legalization is opened, it cannot be reverted back," said Au at the group's press conference held Oct. 13. [continues 1055 words]
Re: "Opioid deaths rising, yet drug use tolerated," letter, Oct. 17. The letter-writer hypothesized that the opioid-overdose epidemic is a consequence of increased use, stemming from our tolerance of drug use, as demonstrated by supervised-injection sites and homeless shelters. In reality, the most significant driver of increased opioid use has been opioid prescriptions. The spike in overdose deaths has been caused by the introduction of fentanyl and other potent synthetic opioids into the illicit-drug supply. There has never been a fatal overdose at a supervised-injection site, although many have been averted. There is no evidence that supervised-injection sites encourage, perpetuate or "enable" drug use. On the contrary, injection sites shepherd drug users into detox and treatment. Vancouver's Insite, for example, shares a building with a detox clinic called Onsite. Perhaps we should leave life-and-death theorizing to public-health professionals who are familiar with the literature on the subject. Matthew M. Elrod Victoria [end]
Dealers who hand out drugs laced with fentanyl could face manslaughter charges if their customers die, B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said on the weekend. It's a harsh measure, but nothing else seems to stem the waves of poison that are killing people across the province. When even dead customers are not enough to stop a callous retailer, society must put its collective conscience where the dealer's is absent. Farnworth's suggestion is not new. Other jurisdictions, fed up with the senseless deaths, are coming down hard on those who, in the minister's words, are "dealing death." [continues 521 words]
Concerns over where legal marijuana will be grown has local governments looking for right to designate production areas The looming deadline for legalized marijuana has local governments in British Columbia crafting wish lists for provincial legislation, from where pot should be grown to how it should be sold. Ottawa has said regulations must be in place by July 1 and the B.C. government announced last month that it wants public input on shaping the rules. While some municipal politicians worry the timeline for regulations is too short, Vancouver Councillor Kerry Jang thinks legalization can't come soon enough. [continues 578 words]
A new window onto B.C.'s fentanyl crisis might have opened. It appears organized crime groups are using casinos to launder enormous quantities of cash, some of which comes from the traffic in street drugs. Not all of the laundered money derives from this source. But Canada-wide, illicit-drug sales account for nearly 60 per cent of gang-related income. In B.C., that could amount to $5 billion or more, a portion of which was certainly raised selling fentanyl. [continues 525 words]
Courtenay's mayor has received death threats from people upset that the RCMP shut down the community's first cannabis dispensary. Mayor Larry Jangula said someone posted online comments threatening to shoot him after inaccurate information that he had directed Comox Valley RCMP to raid Leaf Compassion dispensary on Wednesday circulated on social media. "It's been a very upsetting day," Jangula said. He said he has been threatened during his 27-year policing career, but never in his role as mayor. [continues 400 words]
City council today expected to rescind business licences for 2 marijuana dispensaries The owners of two West Kelowna pot shops today face the revocation of their business licence and subsequent closure. City council is expected to rescind licences for Black Crow Herbals and The Healing Company, a move staff say would force the businesses to close. "(T)he licence holder has engaged in the illegal dispensing of cannabis, which is in contravention of the Criminal Code of Canada or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act," reads the identical wording in two separate staff reports to be considered at today's council meeting. [continues 413 words]
Growers swapping produce for marijuana A large-scale multinational Delta vegetable producer is swapping out its tomato plants for pot plants in a 1.1-million-square-foot greenhouse because it says it can make more than 10 times the money. Greenhouses operated by Village Farms International in Delta: If various levels of government allow it, the facilities here will be converted into marijuana growing greenhouses. JASON PAYNE/ PNG Village Farms International also has plans to expand five times that scale, resulting in a warning from Delta Mayor Lois Jackson about the future of farms on Agricultural Land Reserve. [continues 421 words]
VANCOUVER - Canada's political leaders must take bold action by joining forces to decriminalize illicit drugs and save lives in the midst of an unprecedented overdose crisis, a leading drug-policy expert says. Donald MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's stance on legalizing marijuana to protect youth and stop the flow of profits to organized crime must also apply to drugs that have killed thousands of Canadians. "That's very sad that he can't see the logic that he's using so loudly on cannabis to shift that logic to a far more serious problem," MacPherson said Wednesday. [continues 582 words]
VANCOUVER - Canada's political leaders must take bold action by joining forces to decriminalize illicit drugs and save lives in the midst of an unprecedented overdose crisis, a leading drug-policy expert says. Donald MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's stance on legalizing marijuana to protect youth and stop the flow of profits to organized crime must also apply to drugs that have killed thousands of Canadians. "That's very sad that he can't see the logic that he's using so loudly on cannabis to shift that logic to a far more serious problem," MacPherson said Wednesday. [continues 451 words]
The federal government plans to legalize marijuana this summer and they say they want their fair share of tax revenue. A dollar tax on anything up to $10 - and a 10% tax on anything above that amount - to be split 50/50 between the federal and provincial governments. But wait, Trudeau says, it's not about the money. "Nobody's mindset on this approach is about bringing in tax revenue on this. The mindset with which we have approached the legalization and control of marijuana from the very beginning has been from public health and safety standpoint," Trudeau said during a press conference flanked by premiers at the first ministers meeting in Ottawa this week. What they want to do is, "Remove the black market from accessing the billions of dollars of profit that they do every year off of this." [continues 349 words]
People on the front lines of British Columbia's opioid overdose crisis are applauding the government's announcement of more funding in an attempt to stem the death toll. Premier John Horgan announced Friday the province will spend more than $31 million over the next three years to increase access to treatment programs, offer more free kits of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, help front-line workers and empower communities to keep people safe. Speaking to a crowd of politicians at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention, Horgan noted 876 people died in the province between January and July of this year. [continues 546 words]
B.C. should follow California's lead as it transitions to a legal cannabis environment and authorizes retail marijuana sales next July. Both jurisdictions are pot-culture capitals and are dealing with too-tight deadlines and too many nuanced problems to properly meet expectations. California state voters in 2016 endorsed Proposition 64, which approved legal cannabis with retail pot sales starting Jan. 1, 2018. As of November, adults over 21 could possess (and give each other) up to 28 grams, as well as seven grams of hash, and they can grow up to six plants. [continues 690 words]
Mayor Deb Kozak reflects on Union of BC Municipalities conference For a small city like Nelson, it's been a gargantuan task to introduce regulations to two burgeoning industries: cannabis and short-term rentals. But following a hectic week at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver, Mayor Deb Kozak is feeling buoyed by the provincial attention they've garnered for their work. "Nelson is always seen to be on the leading edge of things," Kozak told the Star, upon her return. [continues 869 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 559 words]
Residents speak of need for local marijuana shop For some Qualicum Beach residents, medical marijuana is part of their everyday lives. But they will still have to go out of town for remedies for their ailments. At Monday's (Oct. 2) regular council meeting a motion to issue a temporary-use permit for a medical marijuana dispensary on Fir Street failed. Only councillors Bill Luchtmeijer and Neil Horner voted in favour of issuing the temporary-use permit. While discussing the permit later in the meeting, Luchtmeijer said Qualicum Beach is probably a very appropriate place for a medical marijuana dispensary. [continues 440 words]
The federal decision to legalize is going to have a significant impact on the country, provinces and local governments. 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. [continues 778 words]
Inside British Columbia
