The ink is barely dry Monday's Utility and Review Board decision declaring one medical marijuana dispensary illegal, but the owners of Auntie's Health and Wellness Centre are busy preparing to open their doors at 1547 Barrington St. this Friday - with or without a business occupancy permit. Owner Shirley Martineau's dispensary will focus on patients battling cancer. "How am I supposed to say 'no' to someone who has cancer?" Martineau said on Tuesday. "Just because the government won't allow me to stay open to save lives." [continues 515 words]
Medical experts across Canada and the United States have been sounding loud warnings for the past few years about the explosion of deaths related to overdosing on opioid-related drugs. One U.S. authority compares the epidemic to the rapid spread of AIDS in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Now there's new evidence about the disproportionate impact on one specific group - recently released prisoners. And it underlines the need for more robust services to treat them in the crucial first days when they are returning to the community. [continues 329 words]
Justice Minister Diana Whalen should appoint an independent investigator to probe what happened to the money and drugs that seem to have gone missing at the Halifax Police Department. There's no way around this. After all, an internal audit completed at HPD last November found that a substantial portion of drug and cash exhibits couldn't be found where they were supposed to be. In May, auditors concluded that some money and pharmaceuticals were either AWOL (away without leave) - - or worse still MIA (missing in action). [continues 376 words]
HALIFAX - Correctional officers at a provincial jail in Cape Breton failed to follow proper procedures earlier this year when they placed a man in a cell, where he died of a drug overdose 13 hours later, Nova Scotia's Justice Department says. The department's review of the case, released Monday, says that when Jason Marcel LeBlanc was admitted to the Cape Breton Correctional Facility on Jan. 30, staff did not follow all steps in the strip search process, and they failed to complete their rounds at standard intervals. [continues 654 words]
Entrenched, partisan mentality is one of the worst things about our political institutions. The federal Liberals - despite claims of a progressive attitude toward governing - are demonstrating they're just as capable of it as the rest. With the legalization of marijuana still on the agenda, the Liberals rejected a motion from the NDP this week to - in the meantime - decriminalize simple possession leading up to the law change. This wouldn't be the first time politicians and others have suggested that interim step as sensible. [continues 303 words]
A few drops of cannabis oil on the tongue could mean the difference between life and death for young Morgan Oulton. Now aged 12, the Kentville girl has had life-long epilepsy, recently suffering severe grand mal seizures that once sent her to hospital and another time nearly drowned her in a bathtub. She has lived in a Yarmouth care facility for nine months, has autism, cognitive and behavioural problems, and is considered a flight risk. "We're scared that her time's running out. We don't know when the next seizure's going to be," said her mother Chantelle Oulton, fighting back tears as she addressed media in Bedford Wednesday alongside her husband Brent. "She continues to deteriorate." [continues 526 words]
According to MADD, impaired driving on average claims 1,250 to 1,500 lives each year and injures approximately 63,000 Canadians. This number is staggering when you consider that this is an entirely preventable tragedy. I am concerned that the discussion of the legalization or decriminalization of Cannabis Marijuana may create an increase in these numbers. I believe that MADD has done a great job in campaigning on the dangers of consuming alcohol while driving, but now drug impaired driving is becoming more and more an issue. In fact, in some age groups, it may be a bigger problem than alcohol-impaired driving. [continues 677 words]
N.S. Marijuana Seller Says Weed Shall Overcome Halifax's best known marijuana business operator Mal McMeekin says it won't be long before the need for medical marijuana overcomes the stigma and legal biases against it. McMeekin isn't rattled by last week's Toronto raids of 43 marijuana dispensaries. "I knew the risks and I knew what could happen," said McMeekin following the raids. He acknowledges his business operates in a legal grey area and spoke to the Chronicle Herald last month about the confusing and conflicting politics of medical marijuana sales. [continues 1064 words]
What do Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Washington state have in common? They've legalized recreational marijuana use for adults. And a total of 24 states allow medical marijuana in various ways: in New York, you cannot smoke it, although you can inhale a vapor, eat it, use a tincture or take pills. More than 12 states have decriminalized possession. No wonder marijuana use more than doubled from 2001 to 2013. Unfortunately, according to a study in JAMA Psychiatry, in 2012-13 nearly 30 per cent of users had marijuana use disorder, otherwise known as MUD. That's a huge percentage. Symptoms include problems with normal functioning, cravings and withdrawal symptoms, such as inability to sleep, restlessness, nervousness, anger or depression within a week of ceasing heavy use. This MUD treatment also makes you older. [continues 121 words]
Former PM Says He Has Tried To Keep Pace With Changing Attitudes On Big Social Issues HALIFAX- Jean Chretien says politicians have to adjust to changing times, as his own views on marijuana, capital punishment and other contentious issues evolved after he was first elected in the early 1960s. Whether it's pot smoking, abortion, gay marriage or the death penalty, the former prime minister says he's tried to reflect the spirit of the times - even if his changing politics put him in conflict with his conservative upbringing in a large Roman Catholic family in rural Quebec. [continues 351 words]
Ex-PM, 82, Says Politicians Musts Adjust To Changing Times HALIFAX - Jean Chretien says politicians have to adjust to changing times, as his own views on marijuana, capital punishment and other contentious issues evolved after he was first elected in the early 1960s. Whether it's pot smoking, abortion, gay marriage or the death penalty, the former prime minister says he's tried to reflect the spirit of the times - even if his changing politics put him in conflict with his conservative upbringing in a large, Roman Catholic family in rural Quebec. [continues 357 words]
Up in Smoke (Cheech and Chong, 1978) may have floated the hazy notion that smoking marijuana was harmless fun, but new research shows that a woman's chance for delivering a healthy baby is actually what goes up in smoke if she lets smoke into her brain and lungs while pregnant. Researchers from the University of Arizona looked at 24 studies of pregnancy and marijuana smoking: They discovered that pregnant women who smoke cannabis were more likely to be anemic and their babies more likely to end up in neonatal intensive care with low birth weight. [continues 148 words]
To Those Facing Sentencing for Marijuana Possession An Amherst defence lawyer is offering free legal representation to Cumberland County residents facing sentencing for possession of cannabis for personal use. Jim O'Neil said Thursday he is offering the service through the remainder of 2016 and only to people who have pleaded guilty and are in the sentencing phase. "In this country we have the ancient common-law tradition of amicus curiae. When a lawyer believes an injustice might occur in a court proceedings, the lawyer can appear as a friend of the court and provide representation, usually this is done without charge," said O'Neil. "The Canadian government has announced that simple possession of cannabis for personal use will be decriminalized in 2017. [continues 371 words]
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the latest budget brought huge debt, a two per cent increase in the HST and shutdowns of everything from seniors' dental programs to more than half the province's public libraries. In Prince Edward Island, the HST's up one per cent, while Nova Scotia has gone through public sector wages to eke out the barest slender slip of a balanced budget. New Brunswick? It also raised HST by two points to 15 per cent and is talking about public sector job cuts. [continues 472 words]
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the latest budget brought huge debt, a two per cent increase in the HST and shutdowns of everything from seniors' dental programs to more than half the province's public libraries. In Prince Edward Island, the HST's up one per cent, while Nova Scotia has gone through public sector wages to eke out the barest slender slip of a balanced budget. New Brunswick? It also raised HST by two points to 15 per cent and is talking about public sector job cuts. [continues 473 words]
The federal government is pushing ahead with plans to legalize marijuana and not before time. Health Minister Jane Philpott certainly didn't play down the controversial announcement. She chose a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York regarding drug use and drug-related crime. The timing was more than coincidental. Minister Philpott chose April 20 to reveal that Ottawa plans to introduce legislation legalizing marijuana in the spring of next year. Her address coincided with 4/ 20 - the annual day of celebration for cannabis culture lovers, the so- called National Weed Day. [continues 400 words]
Marijuana Party founder Dana Larsen, busted less than two weeks ago on a national pot-promoting tour, said he feels right at home in Halifax. "It's coming along really nicely here," he said in an interview before a speech at the High Life Social Club on Spring Garden Road. "It's getting some new dispensaries opening up. I suspect that the dispensary revolution will spread across the Maritimes." Halifax Regional Municipality has denied business licences to operators such as Tasty Budds Compassion Club. The operator has appealed the decision to the UARB and opened a second location. Farm Assist's operator has been charged with trafficking. [continues 227 words]
Families of Dead Provincial Inmates Grieve As Demands for Accountability Rebuffed SYDNEY, N. S. - Ernest LeBlanc sits by the wooden box that contains his son's cremated remains, clenching his hands as he describes his anger at the wall of silence that has greeted most of his questions about his son's death in a Cape Breton jail hours after being admitted. "I want to know how he died. I know he could have been saved. He didn't deserve to die like this," says the 64-year-old resident of Sydney Mines, N. S. [continues 852 words]
As illustrious a scientist as Arthur McDonald is expressing optimism about the current federal government's indication it will embrace the scientific community. That change in attitude by the Liberals as compared to the former government should come as a relief to Canadians in general, for a range of reasons. McDonald, originally from Sydney, was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics last fall for his discoveries regarding sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos. He congratulated the Justin Trudeau government for its intention to promote science and innovation, and to allow scientists to speak freely about their work - something the Harper government forbade. [continues 293 words]
As illustrious a scientist as Arthur McDonald is expressing optimism about the current federal government's indication it will embrace the scientific community. That change in attitude by the Liberals as compared to the former government should come as a relief to Canadians in general, for a range of reasons. McDonald, originally from Cape Breton, was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics for his discoveries regarding sub- atomic particles known as neutrinos. He congratulated the Justin Trudeau government for its intention to promote science and innovation, and to allow scientists to speak freely about their work - something the Harper government forbade. [continues 292 words]
As illustrious a scientist as Arthur McDonald is expressing optimism about the current federal government's indication it will embrace the scientific community. That change in attitude by the Liberals as compared to the former government should come as a relief to Canadians in general, for a range of reasons. McDonald, originally from Cape Breton, was co-winner of the Nobel Prize in physics for his discoveries regarding sub-atomic particles known as neutrinos. He congratulated the Justin Trudeau government for its intention to promote science and innovation, and to allow scientists to speak freely about their work - something the Harper government forbade. [continues 292 words]
Martin's Medical Services operating inaugural East Coast clinic in Middleton MIDDLETON - The Annapolis Valley's first professional dispenser of medicinal marijuana is open for business. Martin's Medical Services officially opened its first clinic on the East Coast on Main Street in Middleton last month and hopes to open 15 more clinics across the country this year, said David Gravelle. This clinic specializes in providing high-quality medicinal cannabis products to patients with a valid medical prescription, and carries nonprescription Chinese herbs, and other homeopathic remedies. [continues 412 words]
RCMP Seize Shipments of Shatter It's time for more chatter about shatter. "The RCMP in the Annapolis Valley has successfully interdicted two shipments of shatter in the last four months. This is a newer product in the Valley," said Cpl. Michael Hynes of Annapolis Valley Traffic Services. In August, Kings District RCMP members investigating a cell phone- related traffic violation in New Minas seized about 100 grams of shatter. As a result, a 21- year-old Bridgewater man was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. [continues 201 words]
You don't have to be stoned to be confused by the status of Canada's marijuana laws. Users of medical marijuana must wonder if it's OK to pick up supplies at pot dispensaries across the country. In Nova Scotia, one operator proudly announced the opening of his Dartmouth dispensary last week. But at least two in-province pot retailers were raided by police last year. The law seems to suggest prescription holders should obtain the drug from licensed suppliers - which means by mail-order. [continues 325 words]
Dispensary serving up Tasty Buds in Cole Harbour At the municipality's newest medical marijuana dispensary, a mixture of Nova Scotia-themed and marijuana-themed art hangs on the walls, and the faint smell of fresh cannabis fills the air. Patients sit in a waiting room that looks a lot like the one at the dentist's office. When it's their turn, they go to the back of the dispensary, and pick from a selection of different strains of dried marijuana, hash, and edibles like marijuana-infused peanut butter cups and suckers. [continues 327 words]
At the municipality's newest medical marijuana dispensary, a mixture of Nova Scotia-themed and marijuana-themed art hangs on the walls, and the faint smell of fresh cannabis fills the air. Patients sit in a waiting room that looks a lot like the one at the dentist's office. When it's their turn, they go to the back of the dispensary, and pick from a selection of different strains of dried marijuana, hash, and edibles like marijuana-infused peanut butter cups and suckers. [continues 352 words]
A senior police officer in Halifax has been accused of stealing an illicit substance that was seized during an earlier drug investigation, according to the independent watchdog that oversees police in Nova Scotia. The Serious Incident Response Team confirmed Wednesday that 35-year-old Det.-Const. Laurence Gary Basso - a drug investigator with 11 years of experience on the regional force - has been charged with theft, breach of trust and obstruction of justice. The agency says the allegations involve a substance known as "cut," which went missing from an police exhibit locker some time between Jan. 1, 2015 and March 14, 2015. The substance is used in the illegal drug trade to dilute drugs to increase quantity and profitability. [continues 206 words]
Colorado Raking in Taxes From Legalized Weed A pall hangs over Denver, Colorado. Lawlessness stalks its streets, while stupefied potheads loll on every corner, stoned senseless on legal weed. Well, actually, no, it's not really like that at all. Really, it's just another day. Denver's like any other big American city: on the 16th Street Mall, there are vagrants on the corners, Broncos and Patriots fans spooling around while they wait for the start of the AFC final later in the day. Coffee shops are setting out chairs in the unseasonable warmth, and a robot street performer, painted entirely silver, is making plans with friends for after the game. [continues 509 words]
Doctor-assisted dying law shouldn't be hastily implemented The federal government is wise to request a six-month extension to draft new legislation on doctor-assisted dying. Canadians have been waiting for legislation on this crucial issue for far too long already, but for the Liberal government to rush it through by the February deadline after inheriting it from the foot-dragging Conservatives, does not make sense. Last February, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the ban on medically-assisted suicide. The ruling gave the federal government 12 months to rewrite the Criminal Code, or ignore the ruling, essentially leaving the matter in legal limbo. [continues 361 words]
HALIFAX - At a Halifax skate park last summer, Philip Tibbo's 14-year-old son was told by a group of older teenagers that marijuana is natural and no harm would come of using it. It's one of many myths about cannabis circulating amongst Canadian youths today, said Tibbo, a professor at Dalhousie University's Department of Psychiatry. "I asked him if many people were smoking (at the skate park) today. And he said, 'Yes, but they're all saying it's harmless. That it doesn't do anything to you,'" said Tibbo. [continues 452 words]
HALIFAX - As the federal government ponders how to carry out a promise to legalize marijuana, the arms-length agency that studies addiction is embarking on a four-city tour to spread warnings about the effects of the drug on young people. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse opens the tour in Halifax on Friday with a panel of three experts who contributed to a report released in June that addressed the issue of cannabis use in adolescence. Dr. Amy Porath-Waller, the centre's director of research and policy, characterizes the timing of the sessions as a bit of "serendipity" given the Liberal government's December throne speech in which it pledged to "legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana." [continues 376 words]
Panel to Begin Tour in Halifax As the federal government ponders how to carry out a promise to legalize marijuana, the arms-length agency that studies addiction is embarking on a four-city tour to spread warnings about the effects of the drug on young people. The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse opens the tour in Halifax on Friday with a panel of three experts who contributed to a report released in June that addressed the issue of cannabis use in adolescence. [continues 326 words]
A criminal conviction for simple marijuana possession would be "unfair" and "cruel" punishment given the federal government's stated intention to legalize the drug, a judge said Monday. "I cannot sit here and not be aware of the position taken by the federal government in Ottawa ..." Judge Warren Zimmer said, during sentencing of a Bible Hill man charged with marijuana possession. "It would be cruel to sentence him in such a way today that he would wind up with a criminal record," Zimmer said, adding it "would be very unfair" under the circumstances to render a conviction that could hamper the man's ability to earn a living and support his two children, after the Trudeau government had said it is planning to proceed with legalization of marijuana. [continues 184 words]
A lawsuit, expensive pot, unpaid contractors and stalled projects are the harvest Nova Scotia has reaped from changes to the rules governing the cultivation and sale of medical marijuana. In April 2014, Health Canada brought down rules meant to stop people with prescriptions for medical marijuana from growing their own. Instead, they would be required to buy from large producers licensed and regulated by the federal body. This sparked a gold rush of venture capital racing toward medical marijuana proposals. But despite the promises of a new industry for rural and small-town Nova Scotia, not a gram has been grown in this province under Health Canada's new program. [continues 767 words]
Told by Air Canada He Couldn't Get on Flight With Prescription Pot Michael Korchak was admittedly a little nervous flying home to Toronto from Halifax for the holidays last week. This was the first time the Burlington resident was travelling with his medicine on him: a small bottle of medical marijuana. He knew from some research that possession of the drug could lead to questioning and delays at the airport. But he thought he was prepared. He arrived three hours early for the domestic flight, so his papers could be checked. And he said he told Air Canada employees right away that he was carrying the medicine, and showed them all the accompanying documentation. [continues 401 words]
It would be tempting to let expectations grow by leaps and bounds. But it's more prudent to be realistic when it comes to the prospective tax revenues from legalized marijuana. As the federal government appears still on track with this plan, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said he believes legal sales might result in a bit of revenue for the government, but not a financial windfall. He said tax raised from this product would largely go toward addiction treatment and support programs - presumably including programs involving abuse of other substances and other forms of addiction, too. [continues 310 words]
The prospect of marijuana being sold in LCBO outlets now seems likely, with endorsements this week coming from both Premier Kathleen Wynne and main Ontario public-sector union rep Smokey Thomas. While the approach makes sense from a regulatory point of view, and will help maintain LCBO jobs while removing the stigma of a criminal record for recreational users who get caught, we suspect that many readers of this newspaper will remain discomfited by the seeming endorsement of another drug. Many will still wonder why anyone who doesn't need to for medical reasons would want to smoke marijuana, or ingest some edible marijuana product. [continues 388 words]
In British Columbia this past week, the provincial government was told liquor store employees wanted to be the ones to sell legalized marijuana, should that legalization occur. (It was a federal Liberal election promise.) Their argument? "We believe this is an incredible opportunity for British Columbia," Stephanie Smith, president of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, said at a press conference. "We have an excellent track record for distributing and retailing alcohol." That track record, they argue, includes the responsible sale of alcohol. Interesting point. But despite all that responsibility at the point of sale, as a nation, we don't always do so well with personal responsibility. [continues 464 words]
Police made another raid at a Halifax marijuana dispensary Thursday afternoon. Officers went to the Farm Assists Cannabis Resource Centre at 2320 Gottingen St. at about 2 p.m. "There is a search warrant being executed," Const. Dianne Woodworth, a Halifax Regional Police spokeswoman, said in an interview about an hour later. "It was in response to a public complaint that we received, and we had a duty to investigate." Woodworth did not know if any arrests had been made or if any substances had been seized. [continues 221 words]
Farmer, concerned about flock's health, says policy needed Cyril O'Connor walks up to the fence on his Piedmont Valley Road property and gives a holler. Within seconds about 30 sheep are running to meet him. A sheep knows the shepherd's voice, O'Connor says. And he knows his sheep. O'Connor does a lot to protect the sheep he's built this connection with. In addition to secure fences, he has two dogs that protect the sheep from predators such as coyotes. [continues 651 words]
A lesson in the dangers of drugs appeared to have hit home with many Youth Speaks Up participants Sunday. "I know I'll never do it," said Claire Trainor, a Grade 6 student at Malcolm Munroe Middle School. "It destroys your body and I would never think of doing it." Trainor, 11, added that she thought it was an important topic for people her age to be discussing. "It's better to talk about it when you're young," she said. [continues 379 words]
As a psychiatrist I was disappointed by the national election results which produced a Liberal Party majority. Specifically, I am opposed to the Liberal Party's intention to legalize marijuana in Canada. Doing so will no doubt increase prevalence of use and by so doing will unleash a cohort of users who will suffer chronic and likely lethal pulmonary disease. Data is already available showing cannabis use to cause pulmonary bullae, pneumothoraxes, chronic bronchitis and in one study an 8 per cent increased risk of lung cancer for every year of heavy use. [continues 122 words]
Pot is potentially psychologically dangerous in the short and long-term in unpredictable and extreme ways. Hopefully, Justin Trudeau will take the scientific evidence into account about the potential dangers of marijuana, including its ability to trigger panic attack disorders, anxiety, depression, paranoid psychosis and schizophrenia, before moving ahead with full legalization. These risks are amplified if there's a family history of mental illness. While the majority of adverse affects for users may range from minor memory loss or paranoia to lethargy, the more serious impacts of "bad trips" and negative reactions can be truly devastating. [continues 752 words]
Mr. Harper has been very successful in keeping the anti-abortionists and anti-gay elements in his party under control. But his position on marijuana (the Reefer Madness agenda), and the Alice-in-Wonderland legislation against buy-sexualism, suggests the almost-theocratic agenda that lurks in the Conservative party is not far from the surface. This purblind "conservative" party knows nothing of the reduction-in-harm mode of thinking. Re-election of this government may even bring back the WCTU-the Women's Conservative Temperance Union. I feel like I'm living in a Margaret Atwood nightmare. JW Beveridge, Halifax [end]
A group of activists from the Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana Society staged a protest outside the law courts on Upper Water Street in Halifax on Monday. The crowd was rallying in support of James MacDonald, a 36-year-old Stellarton man who was sentenced in January to 60 days in jail for growing marijuana plants in his home. MacDonald has Crohn's disease and says he needs the drug to ease his chronic pain. His medical marijuana licence was expired at the time of his arrest. [continues 429 words]
It's sad to see The Coast contributing to this. There is a bullshit cultural milieu surrounding the use of cannabis. The general perception seems to be that marijuana is not only a completely harmless substance, but actually a panacea capable of alleviating/curing a vast array of medical conditions. However, its use is hindered by mean, moralistic politicians who are kept in the back pockets of nefarious pharmaceutical interests. This perception would be fine if cannabis was a completely harmless substance with a wide array of medicinal uses, as has been intimated in The Coast's recent story about the PEACE EAST festival (August 13), but it is not. It is sad to see an article pandering to these poorly formed ideas rather than engaging in substantive journalism. [continues 396 words]
Inside Nova Scotia
