Nova Scotia not ready to talk strategy on legalization The Nova Scotia government has formed two working groups to get into the weeds of marijuana legalization, but the province's plans remain a little hazy. A federal task force on marijuana legalization released a report this week recommending mail-order and storefront sales to people over the age of 18, with a 30-gram limit on personal possession of recreational pot. The report contained more than 80 recommendations about how legalized marijuana should be produced, regulated and sold. [continues 267 words]
When the recreational use of marijuana becomes legal in Canada in the next few years, how old should you have to be to join in the fun? This issue - the legal age for buying and consuming cannabis - is the biggest single challenge facing the federal Liberals as they rewrite the law on this popular, but potentially harmful, drug. A federal task force this week provided 80 recommendations for opening up the market for recreational pot. Most of the suggestions, which include permitting storefront and mail-order sales as well as allowing individuals to buy or carry up to 30 grams for personal use, are both reasonable and workable. But the recommendation to allow sales to people as soon as they turn 18 is troubling because of the harm that medical experts say would result. The age should be higher. [continues 358 words]
With the legalization of the recreational use of marijuana expected to become a reality in Canada in the next couple of years, there are a number of important issues to be considered as we proceed in a sensible way - in other words, with caution. This past week a federal task force released a report with a lengthy list of recommendations on how Canada should move forward with legalizing marijuana. One that causes immediate concern is the task force's troubling recommendation that would allow sales of the drug to anyone aged 18 or over. [continues 354 words]
This must be some sort of lapse of the synapse. One of the key warnings regarding coming legalization of marijuana didn't make the impression warranted. Health professionals have tried to stress the importance of keeping recreational marijuana away from young people. Last month, the Canadian Paediatric Society urged that the federal government ban sales to those younger than 18 or 19, depending on the province, to correspond with age limits for alcohol and tobacco sales. The federal task force in charge of recommendations, in releasing its report Tuesday, chose the low end of that age spectrum, saying sales should be limited to people 18 and over. [continues 333 words]
Auntie's founder convinced of weed's medicinal abilities A medical marijuana dispensary operating in Bible Hill is making access easier for people who require it, clients say. The dispensary, called Auntie's Health and Wellness Center, is also beneficial because it offers medicinal cannabis in more forms and wider variety than conventional methods. "I believe people should have direct access to their medication. And they don't," said Auntie's founder Shirley Martineau. She said people who genuinely need marijuana are often forced to acquire it illegally, "and they don't know what they are getting." [continues 381 words]
Medical marijuana users give thumbs up to retail dispensary At one point, following a severe industrial accident in 2005, Craig Upham was taking 28 different medications per day. Five of those were to counter side effects of the prescribed narcotics he was taking. Upham eventually became addicted to oxycontin, which robbed him of his personality, made him hostile and ruined a marriage. "In 2007 they didn't know what to do with me," he said. "The doctors told me I wouldn't be able to walk, I would be in a wheelchair." [continues 396 words]
Mandatory roadside screening and oral fluid testing for drugs should become law before the federal government proceeds with legalizing marijuana, a spokesperson for MADD Cobequid says. "This is something that has to take place before the decriminalization is put in place," newly elected president Kay Foster-Alfred said during a public meeting Thursday evening. "This is going to be happening and we have to be ready for it." Despite being disappointed that only one member of the public attended the session, Foster-Alfred says she does not feel that is representative of the community mindset regarding impaired driving by either drugs or alcohol. [continues 178 words]
Federal plan hits roadblocks from provinces, territories over road safety concerns at justice ministers' meeting HALIFAX - The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana has some provincial politicians raising concerns about drug-impaired driving. Three provincial justice ministers made a point of highlighting the issue Friday at the conclusion of a meeting in Halifax between federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson Raybould and her provincial and territorial counterparts. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi was the first to bring it up during a news conference, saying his province is also keen to ensure there are measures to protect youth and focus on harm reduction. [continues 394 words]
HALIFAX - The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana has some provincial politicians raising concerns about drug-impaired driving. Three provincial justice ministers made a point of highlighting the issue Friday at the conclusion of a meeting in Halifax between federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and her provincial and territorial counterparts. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi was the first to bring it up during a news conference, saying his province is also keen to ensure there are measures to protect youth and focus on harm reduction. [continues 439 words]
HALIFAX - The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana has some provincial politicians raising concerns about drug-impaired driving. Three provincial justice ministers made a point of highlighting the issue Friday at the conclusion of a meeting in Halifax between federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and her provincial and territorial counterparts. Ontario Attorney General Yasir Naqvi was the first to bring it up during a news conference, saying the province is also keen to ensure there are measures to protect youth and focus on harm reduction. [continues 487 words]
Dealing with reaction from the United States was always going to be one of the trickiest aspects of moving toward legalization of marijuana across Canada. The case of Matthew Harvey, which came to light this past week, underscores just how tricky it may get. And it shows that the federal government must lose no time in making sure that individual Canadians are not penalized as a result of misunderstandings between the two countries. Harvey was banned from the U.S. for life in 2014 after he truthfully answered a question from an American border control officer as he tried to cross from Vancouver into Washington State. [continues 381 words]
A judge seemed bewildered Friday as she sentenced a Prince Edward Island man for selling drugs out of his home. Alfred William Gallant admitted to police he had been selling marijuana out his house for years. He said he did so to pay for his own usage - about seven or eight grams a day. A report found his common-law spouse didn't view it as trafficking because it was only marijuana and he only sold to people he knew. "You have to shake your head," Chief Judge Nancy Orr said. [continues 354 words]
A judge seemed bewildered Friday as she sentenced a Prince Edward Island man for selling drugs out of his home. Alfred William Gallant admitted to police he had been selling marijuana out his house for years. He said he did so to pay for his own usage - about seven or eight grams a day. A report found his common-law spouse didn't view it as trafficking because it was only marijuana and he only sold to people he knew. "You have to shake your head," Chief Judge Nancy Orr said. [continues 355 words]
A judge seemed bewildered Friday as she sentenced a Prince Edward Island man for selling drugs out of his home. Alfred William Gallant admitted to police he had been selling marijuana out his house for years. He said he did so to pay for his own use - about seven or eight grams a day. A report found his common-law spouse didn't view it as trafficking because it was only marijuana and he only sold to people he knew. "You have to shake your head," Chief Judge Nancy Orr said. [continues 355 words]
Air force member from N.S. speaks out on drug charges A member of the Royal Canadian Air Force who's facing drug and firearm offences says he intends to fight what he calls "bogus" charges. Nicholas Burrell, 28, says he believes he was unfairly targeted for using medical marijuana to treat his mental health issues. "The way it was worded made it seem that I was running around with a gun and selling weed," Burrell said about the Canadian Forces news release sent to media on Tuesday. [continues 516 words]
Medical marijuana shop challenging review board It's going to be business as usual for a local medical marijuana dispensary, despite a decision from the Utility and Review Board. Tasty Budds, which has three locations in Halifax Regional Municipality, appealed a decision by the municipality in February to deny the business an occupancy permit. In a decision released this week, the UARB denied the appeal. "We respect their decision, but we know that it's wrong at the same time. So we're just moving forward and filing an appeal," Tasty Budds owner Mal McMeekin said Wednesday. [continues 163 words]
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]
Inside Nova Scotia
