Health minister rebuffs calls to delay legalization

THE federal government will stick with its July 1, 2018, deadline for marijuana legalization despite concerns from Premier Brian Pallister and other premiers.

Health Minister Jane Philpott said in Winnipeg on Thursday that civil servants across Canada are already preparing for legalization and there will not be an extension, which was requested by Pallister.

He has been adamant Manitoba won't be ready to cover the health, justice, safety, sale and production issues that need to be met by that time.

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Health Canada says police officers can call them any time when it comes to confirming whether citizens have legal authority to produce and possess medicinal marijuana.

The department's ability to notify police of those who legitimately possess cannabis for that purpose was recently criticized in a lawsuit launched by a Brandon couple whose legal medical grow-op was mistakenly raided by RCMP.

"Health Canada negligently administered a system of license retention and issuance notification by failing to establish and maintain proper protocols for notice to arresting authorities … as to the legitimacy of licenses such as those held by persons such as the plaintiffs, and the plaintiffs in particular," Jerry Pomehichuk and Brenda Wakefield assert in their statement of claim.

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PREMIER Brian Pallister has shown great determination for tightening Manitoba's belt. But he's had less success finding new revenue to fatten the province's wallet.

For a premier who has unleashed a wide array of tough-love measures he says are necessary to return Manitoba to fiscal stability, Mr. Pallister has been surprisingly quiet about legalized marijuana as a potentially rich source of new revenue.

At a meeting of premiers in Edmonton this week, Pallister repeated his pitch for an extension of the federal government's July 1 deadline for legalization, saying provinces need more time to deal with tricky issues such as distribution, sales, a minimum age and drugged-driving enforcement.

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Pallister says marijuana legalization makes province a dealer

OTTAWA is forcing the provincial government to compete with street gangs in the marijuana business next summer, Premier Brian Pallister said Friday.

The federal mandate for provinces to be ready for legal retail cannabis sales is July 1, 2018. That doesn't give Manitoba anywhere near the amount of time it will take to control sales and prepare for legal pot, he told reporters.

"There's no way we're going to supply the demand, except in part. It's pretty clearly understood, we don't have enough pot to sell," he said, outlining some of the issues he'll raise at next week's premiers meeting in Edmonton.

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Manitoba's premier believes legal pot sellers will be forced to compete with gangs and lack a sufficient supply of the drug to do so.

Premier Brian Pallister he expects the "unrealistic" federal timeline that mandates pot sales be legalized by July 2018 will lead to direct competition between legal and illegal sellers. He plans to lobby fellow premiers at a first ministers meeting in Edmonton next week to join his call to delay that date.

"There's no way that we're going to supply the demand, except in part. So therefore, we're moving into a situation where we're going to compete gradually with gang distribution marijuana. Right there, we're not in a position to take over the market with legal cannabis distribution systems because we don't have enough production," said Pallister.

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THE Manitoba government will never have enough time to study and prepare for the impending legalization of marijuana.

At least, that's how Canadian cannabis advocate and president of Winnipeg 420's organizing committee, Steven Stairs, sees it.

Marijuana is already here, he said, and legalization won't change the fact that for years people have been buying and selling it, smoking and ingesting it.

"They're fostering the black market right now," Stairs said of the government's slow response to legalization.

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Manitoba wants to know about your marijuana use as it prepares for legalization

The Manitoba government plans to poll residents about their marijuana consumption and what kind of rules they would like to see when recreational pot is legalized next year.

The provincial liquor and gaming authority is looking for a company to do 15-minute surveys of at least 1,200 Manitobans in the coming months as it prepares for the new law.

"We don't have a great understanding about cannabis as a substance and how people use it," said Kristianne Dechant, the authority's communications and research manager.

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FOR the first time, naloxone kits will be available at the Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Festival spokeswoman Kelly Romas said Thursday any of the event's 60 first-aid volunteers can administer the medication that reverses the effect of an opioid overdose, which can slow down or stop a person's breathing.

More than 100 Manitobans die from overdose every year and opioids are most often involved, says Street Connections, the Winnipeg-based health agency that supports harm-reduction and provides health care to people on the street.

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DRUG bust worth about a quarter of a million dollars has been tossed out of court because city police violated the charter rights of two men they detained and subjected to a warrantless search.

Court of Queen's Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchbery dismissed all drug trafficking charges against Benjamin James White and Jaden Joshua Omeasoo earlier this month, after he ruled officers violated their rights every step of the way.

"We will never know how this incident may have evolved if those rights had been provided," Lanchbery said in his decision. "The officers are not permitted

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It's that time of year again, when the reminder's needed on all sorts of fronts. From water safety to fire safety to reminding folks that drinking and driving and piloting an automobile under the influence of drugs are terrible ideas.

Let's hope we don't get any graphic and tragic reminders that become cautionary tales for all teens and their parents.

First, young and inexperienced drivers are hugely overrepresented in crashes. Parents, talk to your kids about safe driving.

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Re: Province should control marijuana sales (June 19)

Do we need to own a permit to purchase alcohol annually? No. Is there plain packaging for alcohol? No. Does the government only sell two types of alcohol? No. Does the government track everyone who purchases alcohol? No. Do we have a government task force to monitor who has legal alcohol in their homes? No. Does the MLL sell any intoxicating substances other than alcohol? No.

Did the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health determine alcohol is one of the greatest public health threats in Canada in 2013? Yes. Alcohol accounts for eight per cent of all deaths for people under 70 years old currently and has a burden of $14.6 billion on our health-care and law enforcement services, according to a 2013 study, Strategies to Reduce Alcohol-Related Harms and Costs in Canada: A Comparison of Provincial Policies.

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SOME Manitobans might not like it, but at least this province now knows where it stands with its request for an extension of the date when marijuana will be legalized. There will be no extension. Ready or not, Manitobans - like all Canadians - can legally light up on July 1, 2018.

Finance Minister Cameron Friesen spoke out this week after returning from a two-day summit of his provincial and federal colleagues, frustrated that his request for a deadline extension was denied by federal finance minister Bill Morneau.

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THE Trudeau government is set on legalizing marijuana by the summer of 2018. While they will enjoy the political payoff of appearing progressive on this matter, all of the associated problems and the logistics of doing so will fall on the shoulders of the provincial governments and their civic counterparts.

I suggest the Manitoba provincial government draw lessons from the last time an illegal substance was legalized following Prohibition in the late 1920s, as well as from the current public health efforts to eliminate tobacco use in Canada as a means to guide their policy on marijuana.

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Gives mom convicted of drug smuggling time to arrange child care ahead of mandatory prison term

In a case that has raised questions about the effect of mandatory minimum sentences, a Manitoba judge has taken pity on a woman he convicted by agreeing to give her more freedom before he sends her to prison.

In a likely unprecedented move, Justice Sheldon Lanchbery reserved his decision and delayed the sentencing of 37-year-old Sandra Dignard by about two months. That will allow the mother of four time to make child-care arrangements before she is placed in custody. The judge said he has no choice but to sentence Dignard to two years in prison for drug trafficking, despite his belief she should not be locked up.

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WHEN marijuana is legalized in Canada, it should be sold in standalone publicly operated stores, the head of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union (MGEU) says.

Michelle Gawronsky said the union believes that Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries Corp. should be responsible for selling cannabis products, but that marijuana not be marketed in booze stores.

"You don't want to be selling the two together. You want to be socially responsible. That's the whole idea here," she said following a public hearing on Bill 25, The Cannabis Harm Protection Act.

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In Larry Comeau's letter he quotes a report that marijuana related ER visits in Colorado among kids have quadrupled since legalization. Previously, marijuana possession and use was a felony. It might just be the increase in visits to the ER since legalization has something to do with users in Colorado no longer fearing prosecution if they seek help while under the influence. Is it not possible that mental illness issues in general are on the rise in young people unrelated to marijuana use? It would certainly seem so according to many recent studies.

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Re: Marijuana related ER visits among kids quadruple at Colorado hospital.

With pot legalization to take place on July 1, 2018, this is a scary report for parents. There really is no surprise to anyone following reports from the U.K., U.S. Surgeon General and the Canadian Medical Association all stating unequivocally that the youngest smoking pot run a greatly enhanced risk of suffering psychosis and other mental issues. Yet Trudeau is ignoring these studies, setting 18 as the age to purchase pot. Legalization is all about his pleasing a certain voting block and of course raking in billions in sales. This is the most dangerous move by any Canadian government. Early on Colorado had warned Trudeau that legalization is the easy part, everything thereafter, including the entrance of organized crime, much more difficult.

Larry Comeau



(Parents have a role to play in this. Where government fails, parents are responsible for their children's safety.)

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Marijuana enthusiasts gather to celebrate annual holiday in haze of smoke

THE rain may have thinned the crowds - and clouds of smoke - at the Winnipeg 4/20 celebration Thursday, but cannabis supporters still kept their spirits high and their joints lit.

People gathered together on the lawn and sidewalks outside of the Manitoba legislature for the event held every April 20. More planning went into this year's festivities than ever before, with vendors and food trucks lining the street.

This year was a bit different than it has been in the past. Now that the federal Liberal government has tabled a bill to make marijuana legal by Canada Day in 2018, there is cause for celebration - and some frustration.

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JUSTICE Minister Heather Stefanson looked out her legislature building window Thursday with dismay at how many young people were on the lawn smoking up.

"It does disturb me how many young people were out there today," Stefanson told reporters.

She didn't go outside and she kept her window closed, Stefanson said with a smile.

But Stefanson was all seriousness when she reiterated her fears that federal legislation shows no signs of educating young people about the dangers of marijuana, especially of driving after using pot.

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4/20 participants extol virtues of pot as drug that helps you cope

Leigh Filbert admits he lived the "rock-star lifestyle" in the past and acknowledges now his body is paying for it.

Filbert suffered a stroke a little over a year ago that left the right side of his body paralyzed. He suffers from anxiety he also contends is paralyzing, emotionally.

Attending his first 4/20 rally, Filbert biked around the Legislature grounds on Thursday "to gather constructive information" about the cannabis movement as he continues on his road to recovery.

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