The federal government's proposed bill for legalizing marijuana expands police powers, sets new mandatory penalties for illegal possession, and boosts prison sentences for lawbreakers. That all sounds pretty tough. But the legislation also downloads some difficult decision-making on to provincial authorities, and from there on to municipalities and local police. That part's going to be tougher. For example: Where will legal cannabis be sold? The 130-page federal bill leaves this crucial detail to the province. Will it be in your local liquor store? At a corner store but hidden, like cigarettes? From some other outlet? Mail order only? And how close to a school or youth centre can sales take place? About all we know is you can't sell cannabis from a vending machine. [continues 283 words]
This time next year will be the last 4/20 - the unofficial cannabis holiday known by its numeric calendar date - when possessing weed for personal use will be a crime. Legalization is coming to Canada in the summer of 2018. So far, reactions to legalized cannabis have ranged from healthy concern to outright fearmongering. Some people have claimed it will lead the youth astray, make our roads less safe and harm our overall health. Legalizing cannabis is not without risk. But legalization can also address how risky our current approach, the so-called War On Drugs, has been. [continues 461 words]
With legalization on the horizon, today's 4/20 gathering will be a celebration For as long as anyone can remember, the annual 4/20 gathering at the Manitoba legislature grounds was about protesting the country's harsh marijuana laws. Police would be out in force to keep an eye on a rag-tag group of stoners, rarely arresting anyone unless things got out of hand. This year's event, which begins at noon today, has a much more celebratory tone since legislation is in the works to legalize the recreational use of pot. [continues 703 words]
Like clockwork, buds burn on April 20-but in light of the federal government's marijuana legalization plans, the organizer of Winnipeg's 4/20 event says the tone has changed. "For the longest time, cannabis-related events were protests-especially 4/20-that had kind of hit a stalemate," said local cannabis advocate Steven Stairs. "We show up once a year, (authorities) let us do this, and we're probably showing up next year because nothing's changingÂ…. "Well, this year things are actually changing." [continues 335 words]
We cannot have a future pot policy that doesn't deal with criminalized pasts. Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has said that the new pot legislation will not include any special amnesty for past convictions. This is a mistake. The government's proposed legislation follows a public health approach of reducing harm and preventing problematic drug use. But the legislation, which is slated to come into effect by July 1, 2018, cannot just serve future drug users - and businesses, for that matter. It should also serve the health and wellbeing of the young, racialized men and women who are currently in court and in prison on drug charges. [continues 363 words]
Jim Warren should have told us what age he figures is old enough to join the army to kill and die for your country if he figures the government should be protecting children from cannabis until they are 21. I figure if you're old enough to kill or die for your country, you're old enough to engage in vices. Governments were never intended to protect children from adult vices. It is the duty of parents to instill ethics and morals in their children, not the state. [continues 122 words]
Irony, hypocrisy and cops. Nothing good can come from this trio when all three are put in play. On Monday morning, for example, with no reference to his late father being the moving force behind it, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement celebrating the 35th anniversary of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "I remind Canadians that we have no task greater than to stand on guard for another's liberties," said Trudeau. "The words enshrined in the Charter are our rights, freedoms, and - above all - our collective responsibility." [continues 532 words]
Province has concerns about pot legalization but next moves remain unknown MANITOBA - Justice Minister Heather Stefanson says she has "lots of concerns" with the federal government's new legalized marijuana legislation tabled Thursday, but won't speculate publicly what Manitoba's next move will be. "We want to listen to Manitobans and consult on that," she told reporters Thursday. The federal government's proposed law, which sets the minimum age to purchase marijuana at 18, gives provinces some latitude to increase that age, but Stefanson declined to say whether she believes 18 is too young to buy marijuana. [continues 621 words]
The Liberals owe young Canadians their majority government. They have an obligation to address the issues youth are facing right now. Get the brownie batter mixing, folks. We've got a landing date for marijuana legalization. July 2018. Yes, 2018. Okay, maybe put the batter in the freezer for the time being. Finally, Trudeau government officials have confirmed that this month they will announce legislation to legalize the recreational use of weed by July 1, 2018. Obviously, this is a cause that many young Canadians from coast to have been fighting for and whining about for years, if not decades. So much so that giving Canadians the right to light up a bowl or roll a joint was a central promise during Justin Trudeau's election campaign, designed to lure young Canadian voters and portray the Liberals as Canada's youthful party. [continues 982 words]
Dana Larsen and his group on tour giving out seeds The man who's helped ship millions of cannabis seeds across the country for the last couple years is visiting Winnipeg Monday to drop off tens of thousands more. B.C.-based cannabis advocate Dana Larsen, 45, is touring cross-country with his group Overgrow Canada, which aims to hand out five million cannabis seeds this year. In 2016, they spread 2.5 million seeds, encouraging Canadians to plant cannabis in public places like parks to "normalize the cultivation" of the plant, Larsen said in an interview Monday. [continues 257 words]
Emerys, Magder deserve medals (my dad, too) Maybe one day Marc and Jodie Emery will be on a postage stamp. As opposed to in jail. There's a fine line between heinous criminal and heroic pioneer, eh? Unless you've been in a coma, or totally wasted, you know the Emerys are Canada's prince and princess of pot. They were busted last month for trafficking and possession - 20 charges between them - as they were about to depart Toronto's Pearson airport for a pot festival in Spain. [continues 572 words]
PARTICIPANTS in the annual 4/20 event at the Manitoba Legislative Building are likely to be in an even more celebratory mood this year as the federal Liberal government is poised to introduce legislation to make good on its promise to legalize pot. The April 20 bash, which extols the consumption of cannabis - especially the smoking of it - may also have a more political undertone as local medical marijuana advocates protest a lack of consultation by the Pallister government before introducing a bill last week setting out new rules to deal with cannabis when legalization occurs. [continues 816 words]
As news leaked Sunday of the federal government's plans to table legislation legalizing marijuana by next summer, Eddy Barahona was emerging from a night spent in jail after being arrested and charged with pot-related offences. "I don't understand how we can arrest people for practising with medicine or why we're still putting people in jail for something that's going to be legalized in a matter of time," he said in an interview Monday. Barahona was rubbing his eyes, which still stung from being pepper-sprayed over the weekend, during an interview Monday at Vapes Off Main. [continues 370 words]
IT'S only a matter of time before marijuana sales will be legalized in our country and that means the Pallister government has some important decisions to make. This past week, the Manitoba government tabled the Cannabis Harm Prevention Act. We are very pleased the government is talking about the legalization of marijuana and taking steps to ensure public safety is kept in the highest regard. The legislation is focused on ensuring Manitobans are not allowed to smoke marijuana in public places, indoors or in vehicles. As well, it addresses the issue of driving while high. These are fundamental matters of public safety, but if the government truly wants to ensure social responsibly, it has to recognize the need to keep the sale of this controlled substance public. [continues 515 words]
Marijuana advocate says introduction of Bill 25 is a step backward for Manitoba The political component of the 4/20 event in Winnipeg often gets overlooked in the haze of marijuana smoke. Initially an act of civil disobedience, there just isn't as much to counter in the cannabis culture's annual gathering these days. The federal government is expected to table legislation this spring to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana, medical marijuana clinics are springing up around the city and are open about their services, and a recent poll found that 59% of Manitobans support legalization, the highest in the country. [continues 355 words]
The Manitoba Minister of Justice's move to get out in front of the marijuana legalization train-wreck is to be applauded. However, if the federal government does remove marijuana possession from the Criminal Code the costs of enforcement fall to the provinces. If the province involves itself in the distribution of marijuana, something the feds are unlikely to do, the cost to education the public on marijuana harms and risks will also fall to the provinces, who will have no choice but to spend massively or face liability for failure to warn, as they will have become part of the problem, rather than the solution. Add the increase costs to health care and insurance, and a decline in productivity, and legalization becomes a recipe for provincial financial disaster. For what - so a small minority can get temporarily high? Seriously! Pamela McColl (A small minority is already getting "temporarily" high.) [end]
Too many people getting behind wheel with drugs in their system As federal legalization of marijuana seems more and more like an inevitability, a new poll commissioned by Manitoba Public Insurance shows 10% of Manitobans drive with drugs in their system. The roadside survey was conducted in September 2016 in five Manitoba communities, including Winnipeg, and found 10% of drivers who voluntarily participated tested positive for drugs, more than half of those testing positive for cannabis. Of the 1,230 drivers who participated, 124 tested positive for a drug, with 53% of those positive for cannabis and 31% for cocaine. [continues 188 words]
While it seems out of context for a career progressive, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has gone law-and-order rogue in his quest to stem the plague of fentanyl overdoses and deaths in the nation's capital. He wants manslaughter charges laid against drug dealers if the illicit narcotics they peddle end up causing death. And he is not wrong in wanting this. The time is now to stop whistling past the graveyard, and ignoring the fact there is a fentanyl crisis that is not going away anytime soon - aided by the fact the lethal drug, 50 to 100 times more powerful than heroin, is being laced into counterfeit pain killers disguised as known prescription narcotics of specific strengths. [continues 499 words]
The Addictions Foundation of Manitoba is urging the federal government to use a public health approach matched with strict regulation when legalizing marijuana. "This provides us with a very unique opportunity," said Dr. Sheri Fandrey of the AFM, which released a position statement Tuesday. "This is the first time since Prohibition that a substance which is currently illegal is becoming legal and fortunately the process has enough lead time that we can get ahead of the curve and start to provide some of the resources - educational, outreach, data collection - - prior to the change happening and cannabis being made legal. [continues 145 words]
An advocate for Winnipeg's homeless and addicted population says the city is in "denial" about its injection drug problem. Rick Lees, executive director of Main Street Project, looks at other large urban centres in Canada and says Winnipeg is lagging behind in addressing its hard drugs problem. "On the committees I sit on, it's always on the agenda for discussion, but that's all it is," Lees said. "We're where (other cities) were a year or two years ago. Ottawa is on the cusp of doing it, Toronto's mayor is out in support of it, Vancouver has been doing it for seven years now. In Manitoba, I think we're a bit in denial either because we're a smaller population or we just don't think it's that big a deal because it's not interfering with our mainstream lives." [continues 163 words]
A local marijuana advocate is compiling criticism against Ottawa's task force report on legalization in order to make sure Manitoba's cannabis community "has a voice." Steven Stairs, a medical marijuana user and grower who helps organize Winnipeg's 420 rallies, said he reached out to Kildonan MLA Nicholas Curry to talk about the highs and lows of the report. Without making our voices heard early in the process, we won't have a leg to stand on," he said. [continues 263 words]
This is a direct reply to "Heed Cigarette Lessons For Pot," a letter written by John Fefchak of Virden. I totally agree with you on one point. We can't find intelligent life, especially when we have people like you comparing the scourge of cigarettes to something like marijuana. It is truly ignorant and quite closed-minded to say marijuana is anything like cigarettes. There is no single recorded death in history linked directly with the use of this beneficial substance. [continues 160 words]
Re: Thoughts on pot (Letters, Jan. 5) Letter-writer James Teller misinterpreted statistics from Washington state on cannabis and driving. The cited report states "results of this study do not indicate that drivers with detectable THC in their blood at the time of the crash were necessarily impaired by THC or that they were at fault for the crash; the data available cannot be used to assess whether a given driver was actually impaired, and examination of fault in individual crashes was beyond the scope of this study." [continues 213 words]
Some facts that bear on legalizing marijuana are important to consider. Everyone agrees smoking cigarettes is bad for your health and causes many deaths each year even when the smoke is second-hand. We have laws restricting cigarette smoking, and cigarette packages warn us of the dangers. Why add another smoking risk? Statistics in Washington state show a twofold increase in highway deaths related to marijuana, and they now make up 17 per cent of the total, so why pass legislation in Canada that will increase deaths? To put this another way: if we could reduce highway deaths by five to 10 per cent (by prohibiting marijuana use), wouldn't this be good? [continues 222 words]
Re: Prankster changes Hollywood sign to 'Hollyweed." Some thing that citizens of Canada and all governments should be thinking about, as the planned legislation to legalize marijuana continues. A 'CANADAWEED' sign. Doesn't any one remember the health issues with cigarettes and tobacco through the years and the cancers associated with the use of those products? Aren't we now on the very same path to neglect our health and the social implications? I sometimes wonder why we are so obsessed with trying to find intelligent life on other planets, when we can't even find intelligent life here! John Fefchak (Rimshot!) [end]
Pamela McColl is guilty of some backwards thinking. Eight decades of cannabis (marijuana) prohibition has proven to be "experimenting with dangerous drug policies" and "risky public-health policy," not the other way around. Insinuating cannabis laws involve "evidence-based drug policy" could not be farther from the truth. Cannabis prohibition and persecution was orchestrated from the beginning out of greed and racism. If cannabis were discovered today for the first time, it would be hailed as a miracle plant. Stan White Dillon, CO [end]
If marijuana is legalized in this province, nearly one-quarter of Manitoba adults say they're prepared to get some. Rich or poor, NDP or Progressive Conservative, man or woman, young or middle-aged - tens of thousands are likely to try some pot. The Winnipeg Free Press/Probe Research Inc. survey asked, "If marijuana becomes legal in Canada, how likely would you be to use it even just once?" Twenty-four per cent - nearly one-quarter of a million adult Manitobans - said they would be likely to use it. [continues 1028 words]
"I have been hearing and reading a lot about fentanyl and about the many hundreds who have died using it, Well, I guess I want to kill myself, so would the government please advise me were I can get a couple pills? Oh, and by the way, would they send along the location of any of the injection sites where I can get the antidote just in case I change my mind? The question remains: Why is the government supporting this sort of crap by offering injection sites and free antidotes to people who know full well taking the drug may kill them, but they do it anyway? Maybe it's the government who needs the antidote. [continues 55 words]
WINNIPEG School Division is considering stocking its schools with the antidote naloxone in case any student suffers an opioid overdose. "We need to pay attention to it," trustee Lisa Naylor said Thursday. "It may be something we deem as a good idea, as part of a first aid kit." Naylor raised the possibility at a school board meeting earlier this month and was told the WSD administration was already looking into it. Naylor said a parent, who is also a doctor, had told her another unidentified school division is also considering putting naloxone kits in schools. [continues 791 words]
Re: How Canada's legalization of marijuana could change its relations with the U.S. (Dec. 20) Donald Trump is the least of Prime Minister Trudeau's worries. Three international UN drug conventions represent the legal basis of global drug prohibition, restricting nation-states from taking alternative approaches, including moving to the legalization of marijuana products for a domestic market. The prime minister cannot pick and choose what international laws he wishes to uphold. Not only will the new Trump administration in the United States question Trudeau's enthusiasm for risky public-health policy, but Canada will find itself offside of 190 countries that have supported evidence-based drug policy for decades. Canada has the highest rate of use by youth in the industrialized world and is the last country that should be experimenting with dangerous drug policies. Pamela McColl Vancouver [end]
For the past few days I have been listening to, and reading about the 80 recommendations made by the marijuana legalization task force, headed up by Anne McMillan, a former Liberal justice minister. Some of the recommendations include: an age for purchase restriction of not less than 18 (not 21 as recommended by the Canadian Medical Association); separate storefronts for tobacco, alcohol and pot because, according to the committee, one addiction leads to another; two separate bureaucracies for medical and recreational use; and money is to be earmarked to fight addiction, underage use and for harm-reduction strategies. [continues 93 words]
OTTAWA - It seems pretty clear Canada is going to fully legalize small amounts of marijuana for recreational use in just a matter of months. The marijuana task force reported its findings publicly this week, recommending recreational use be legalized with certain limitations, including how much can be grown or possessed at a time and where it can be sold. Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said Tuesday plans are in place to introduce legislation for legalization in spring 2017. There is no indication the government is going to put the train back in the station on this one. [continues 679 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]
Re: 'Feds should delay legalizing pot,' Dec. 6. I'm sure Premier Brian Pallister means well. However, cannabis (marijuana) usage and sales are not going to wait for delays. Pallister's message then must be acknowledged as informing consumers to continue purchasing cannabis from the black market while government takes additional time to create a regulated legal market to replace it. And that's perfectly fine; North Americans have grown accustomed to the increased efficiency of the black market for the last eight decades. Dillon, Colorado (An intense education campaign is needed for when pot is legalized.) [end]
Pallister says he is not alone in wanting delay in feds' marijuana bill The federal government should postpone legislation to legalize marijuana, planned for the spring, because there are still too many details to work out, says Premier Brian Pallister. "We've done a fair bit of preparatory work here and research, and the more we do, the more we unlock complexities that need to be addressed that are not minor things," Pallister told reporters Tuesday. "I know at least some of the other first ministers have these concerns as well." [continues 255 words]
Parents need to realize addiction knows no demographic boundaries THERE are many ways a parent can lose a child to drugs. They might overdose and die. They might get lost to addiction, which is a kind of death. Or they might be killed by drug-related violence - such as Cooper Nemeth, whose body was found in a recycling bin in February, or TJ Wiebe, who was beaten, strangled and left to die in a field in 2003. In February, I sat in Karen Wiebe's living room. We talked about TJ, and what the Nemeth family was going through, trying to grieve while also dealing with the justice system and the media. No one prepares you for what happens when your child becomes a headline. [continues 674 words]
There is no question that the recreational use of marijuana is coming, even though it will open the door to a number of serious health issues down the road. The Canadian Pediatric Society is advocating an age restriction for its use along the lines of what is in place for alcohol. Give me a break - if they think that younger people will adhere to the age limit they are pipe dreaming. Like booze, the younger set will just pay someone to purchase it for them. This pending legislation will open up a Pandora's Box of problems but the feds can't say the [sic] haven't been warned. Stephen Flanagan (Fair point.) [end]
Firefighter union reacts to Winnipeg's overdose statistics Winnipeg firefighters and paramedics are responding to more overdose calls in 2016 than in the past five years, new data shows. From Jan. 1 to Nov.16, the city says the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service has received 1,593 calls related to overdoses and poisonings, which are tracked together. In 2015, the service had 1,556 of the same calls, compared to 1,328 back in 2014 and 1,269 in 2013. Municipal spokesperson Michelle Finley said the service only tracks the calls and does not specify which drug causes an overdose. [continues 438 words]
MANITOBA - Premier Brian Pallister said the federal government should delay introducing legislation to legalize marijuana until the provinces are prepared to deal with its legal and social implications, particularly drug-impaired driving. Pallister heads to Ottawa Friday for a first ministers meeting between premiers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau called the meeting to discuss his climate change plan, and requirement for every province to introduce a price on carbon, and the premiers are hoping to put pressure on Trudeau over health-care transfers. [continues 467 words]
TODAY marks World AIDS Day. We celebrate advances made in the fight against HIV, look back on how far we've come and honour those we've lost, while also looking to the future and what we have left to accomplish. Last year, 102 people in Manitoba were diagnosed with HIV, joining more than 1,250 living with HIV in the province and 78,000 across Canada. Late diagnosis and limited access to services outside Winnipeg continue to be challenges, but there are success stories. For example, Manitoba has a relatively low rate of HIV among people who use drugs. In 2014, 12 per cent of new HIV diagnoses in Manitoba could be traced back to drug use, generally from sharing needles. The same year, the number in Saskatchewan was 49 per cent. [continues 414 words]
Opioid crisis draws attention to supervised drug-use sites, but Manitoba's not interested - so far A DECADE ago, fentanyl, the killer synthetic opioid that can be 100 times more potent than morphine, was a relatively unknown drug. Today, it's everywhere - and it's at the heart of a national crisis claiming the lives of hundreds of Canadians. In Manitoba, at least two dozen people have died from opioid overdoses in 2016, nine confirmed to be caused by or related to fentanyl. It's a dangerous drug that many people don't even know they're taking: it's often showing up in other illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin. [continues 1262 words]
Opioid conference misses point, advocate says A policy to address the latest opioids crisis at a Health Canada conference in Ottawa does not go far enough, or fast enough, to prevent future deaths, an advocate says. Cynthia Genaille, whose daughter Brittany died of a fentanyl overdose on Oct. 6, speaks to media during a small rally denouncing the opioid in front of the Legislative Building. "Where's the urgency?" Richard Elliott, the executive director for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, asked. "You need to stop people from dying now." [continues 354 words]
National poll finds 65% of Manitobans fear spike in impaired driving once pot becomes legal If you're afraid drugged driving will become more common once marijuana is legalized, you are certainly not alone. CAA Manitoba reports found 65% of Manitobans surveyed in a national poll believe there will be an increase in impaired driving once recreational marijuana use is legal. Meanwhile, 24% say they've driven while under the influence of marijuana or been the passenger of someone who has. [continues 328 words]
Calls for national strategy heading into summit on illicit drugs MANITOBA'S health minister is calling on the federal government to stop the flow of powdered fentanyl from countries such as China. "We need national strategies around that," Kelvin Goertzen said Monday at a news conference to mark addictions awareness week. The event, held before Friday's national opioid conference and summit in Ottawa, included some of the province's leading addictions and health officials and the mothers of two victims of fentanyl overdoses. [continues 431 words]
Trafficking teen gets off with reprimand A Winnipeg teen convicted of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking got off with a reprimand - the lightest sanction available under the Youth Criminal Justice Act - after a judge ruled police violated his rights after his arrest. Police arrested the then 17-year-old accused after a safety and security officer at his high school reported suspicions he had been selling marijuana to other students from his car. Police conducted a traffic stop and found 36 grams of packaged marijuana in a gym bag behind the driver seat. [continues 162 words]
Re: Marijuana strategy missing (Letters, Oct. 26) I'm sure Malina Hedgecock means well, however, cannabis (marijuana) prohibition must be put behind us. The majority of North Americans are through with caging and punishing responsible adults who wish to use the relatively safe, God-given plant. At this point, the strategy is to end one of North America's worst policy failures in history as soon as possible. It is commendable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ending cannabis prohibition in Canada. Colorado successfully legalized cannabis for adults, and every subsequent poll indicates Colorado citizens continue supporting the end of cannabis prohibition. There is every reason to believe that when Canada ends cannabis prohibition, the majority will not look back with regret either. Stan White Dillon, Col. [end]
Re: Grits' plan to legalize pot hazy: province (Oct.21). I think marijuana should only be legalized for medicinal purposes and not for recreational purposes. Therefore, I don't think marijuana should be sold at provincial liquor stores, but should be provided at hospitals when prescribed by a doctor or personal psychiatrists. I find that marijuana is an unsafe substance and I think that people impairing their train of thought and ability to comprehend what is happening around them without consequences is dangerous. I agree that Manitoba should work on a harm reduction strategy to address dangers of marijuana and not just look into the revenue. Malina Hedgecock Winnipeg [end]
Two treatment programs closed THE closure of two youth-treatment programs has raised concerns about access to addictions treatment for young people involved in Manitoba's criminal justice system. The youth addiction and mental health treatment programs run by the Behavioural Health Foundation closed permanently this spring because of a lack of funding. The shuttering of the two programs - one in Selkirk for boys and the other in St. Norbert for girls - was already in the works when a Red River College student was brutally attacked by two boys at the Selkirk facility during the final shift of her child and youth care practicum last May. [continues 892 words]
Manitoba stands on the edge of a opioid crisis that promises tragedy for families across the province and we're about to tumble into that dark abyss. Fentanyl is ripping through Winnipeg streets and is so prevalent and dangerous that the Winnipeg Police Service is considering having officers carry naxolone, an opiate antidote. That news comes on the heels of a pair of deaths that were linked to carfentanil, which is touted as 100 times as potent as fentanyl, which is itself already said to be 100 times stronger than morphine. [continues 347 words]
WINNIPEG police officers will soon join fire and paramedic emergency workers in carrying the antidote to fentanyl overdoses. Deputy police chief Danny Smyth confirmed to the Winnipeg Police Board Friday they are working with health officials on how officers can carry doses of Naloxone and administer it. Smyth said one concern is the lifesaving drug can't be used in temperatures lower than 4 C. According to various pharmaceutical websites, the drug works at temperatures up to 25 C. "We will have to figure out how officers will carry the drug," he said. [continues 277 words]
Inside Manitoba
