Advocate calls for more details on N.S. opioid plan Nova Scotia's plan to offer hundreds of free naloxone kits will undoubtedly save lives, but one advocate says a lack of hard timelines and specific plans to help people outside an opioid emergency raises "more questions than answers." Amy Graves, founder of the non-profit Get Prescription Drugs Off The Street Society, has been raising awareness around the dangers of prescription drugs and pushing for changes since 2011, after the loss of her younger brother Josh to an accidental hydromorphone overdose. [continues 218 words]
Access to drug will save lives, says front-line worker A Halifax woman working on the front lines of the opioid crisis describes the province's decision to expand access to naloxone as "a great first step.". Naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose. A department of health and wellness media release reports that the life-saving medication has saved at least 40 lives in Nova Scotia since January of 2016. "We had three overdoses in one week. My team has naloxone training," said Rebekah Brounstein, residential co-ordinator with the Salvation Army's Halifax Centre of Hope. [continues 363 words]
Dalhousie duo say recreational, medical need to be separate Dalhousie researchers are lending their voices to the debate on keeping the medical and recreational streams of marijuana separate. The Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation published recommendations in a framework for legalization of cannabis in Canada in 2016. It stated recreational marijuana be accessed separately from medical marijuana. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) came out against that recommendation in favour of a single stream instead. The task force noted patients felt a separate system was necessary to avoid losing their current access rights to cannabis. [continues 374 words]
The distinctive smell of weed was permeating the air around the concert grounds. And I was panicking. Not because I had sparked one up and feared getting caught. No, I was afraid of a question: "Daddy, what's that smell?" You see, I was doing my rock'n'roll duty, trying to pass my burning love of concerts on to my young'uns. It was their first show. It was a Canada Day freebee and it was spectacular, with a lineup that included The Novaks, a St. John's-based rock machine, and The Sheepdogs, the Saskatoon band with big sound and even bigger hair. [continues 457 words]
Custio Clayton alleges racial profiling by Montreal police A cloud still follows Custio Clayton after one spring night in Montreal. The former Olympian turned professional boxer has been in his hometown of Dartmouth for three weeks now, following his biggest pro victory to date. But this period of rest and relaxation has been sullied for the 29-year-old father of four. Clayton says he was racially profiled by Montreal police during a traffic stop April 4 - during which a veteran officer accused him of being a drug dealer hiding marijuana inside a 2017 Yukon Denali. [continues 677 words]
Approximately 200,000 Canadians have a medical marijuana prescription, but it isn't covered by most health insurance plans. (File) Since the implementation of Canada's national medical cannabis system in 2001, attitudes toward cannabis have changed significantly. What was once stigmatized as a street drug has come to be understood as a substance with broad therapeutic uses. Today about 200,000 Canadians have a prescription to use medical cannabis under a doctor's care for management of symptoms caused by chronic pain, bowel diseases, spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis, certain mental health disorders and a host of illnesses. Patients use cannabis because it works for them with manageable side effects. [continues 539 words]
It happened like clockwork. Every year, the RCMP would raid a Shelburne man's property as his neighbours looked on. The police were looking for pot and Dave Butler fully admits they were going to find it. "They've come every year since 2001 they never missed a year," said Butler. Butler's property, or the land around it, was always a place to find marijuana growing. Most of the time, he's managed to avoid charges - until recently. Butler was expected to stand trial on production of marijuana charges June 19 at Shelburne Supreme Court after an arrest in 2014 but instead pleaded guilty to the lesser, included offence of possession. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation and will be given a total discharge if he complies with his probation order and pays a $100 victim surcharge. [continues 91 words]
Canada's law enforcement agencies, MADD Canada and other first responders took to the country's roads and highways recently in their annual campaign to promote safety on our highways over the summer holiday season. Adding to the complexity of addressing the issue of impaired driving is the steady increase in the numbers of drivers who have been stopped for drug impairment. Law enforcement is also concerned that the impending legalization of marijuana by the Trudeau Government will compound the problem. [continues 437 words]
Two questions: What drug is the most addictive and can give you a condition that can kill you? What other drug has the worse withdrawal effects and can destroy your brain? Answers! No. 1 is nicotine. It is so addictive because no matter how much you ingest your body still craves more and as it leaves your body the craving gets more intense. Over time it can cause lung disease. Answer No. 2 is alcohol/ Longtime excessive use can lead to brain damage. It even has a name - Korsakoff Syndrome. You can also die from the DTs if you go cold turkey and are not under a doctors care. [continues 291 words]
Municipalities are the ones who are going to be dealing with it on a daily basis The Cape Breton Regional Police Service is attempting to prepare for the impending legalization of cannabis but it's unclear how much it will cost to put the necessary supports in place, Chief Peter McIsaac says. In a report to the board of police commissioners Tuesday, McIsaac outlined some of the measures that the service is taking to prepare for the change. The federal government is set to legalize the recreational use of cannabis next year but it hasn't been explained yet how it will be regulated and distributed. While the law will be federal, it will be left to the provinces and municipalities to regulate it, he said. [continues 419 words]
Many have noted the federal government's vision on recreational marijuana regulations remains notably blurry. With legalization anticipated about a year from now, the questions continue, as do recommendations about where to draw certain lines. The legal age to possess and partake is right up there among concerns. To that end, the New Brunswick Medical Society has weighed in this week, saying the bar should be set at 21. They add that the legal age for tobacco purchase and consumption should also be 21. [continues 388 words]
If all goes according to plan, Canada's new marijuana law will take effect in July 2018. It's what happens between now and then that is critical, especially when it comes to safeguarding young Canadians who are the most vulnerable to the potential harms of marijuana use. Studies have shown adolescents are particularly at risk due to the fact their brains are continuing to develop and at a rapid pace. It's wise to take into consideration that research has shown that chronic marijuana usage is linked to memory and attention difficulties, prominently among individuals who started use while in early adolescence. [continues 346 words]
One of Canada's largest medical cannabis producers says it will fund a Nova Scotia man's ongoing legal fight to have his marijuana prescription paid for by his employee-insurance plan - the latest move in a nationwide push by industry, patients and their advocates for more widespread cannabis coverage. Aurora Cannabis Inc., a publicly traded grower based in Alberta, announced this week that it will bankroll elevator mechanic Gordon Skinner's coming defence this fall in the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal. [continues 565 words]
A Town That Cares group to host more town hall meetings The fight against the local drug crisis is being expanded. Buddy Penney, a founder of the A Town That Cares group, says town hall meetings will be held in communities across the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. "We want people to see it's a problem for every community, not just New Waterford," he said. "We will be working on gathering support to see a mental health/drug addiction facility built in the CBRM. Strength comes in numbers." [continues 474 words]
Driving on the dope could soon lead to a driving suspension and a fine. "In Canada the proposed legislation for roadside screening is going to between two and five nanograms of cannabis for suspensions and a $1,000 fine." That was the message RCMP Const. Travise Dow gave at the MADD Road Rally Saturday at the Amherst Lions Club. Dow said a 2016 study done by the Canadian Safety Council shows that 24 per cent of drivers who have crashed on Canadian highways have high levels of THC in their system. THC is the active chemical in cannabis giving users the high they seek. [continues 262 words]
If your objectives are to protect public health and safety, keep marijuana out of the hands of minors and cut illegal profits flowing to organized crime-then the law as it stands today has been an abject failure. Law enforcement agencies in Canada spend an estimated $2-3 billion a year trying to fight pot, yet Canadian teenagers are among the heaviest users in the western world. And criminals walk away with $7-8 billion every year in illicit proceeds. We have to do better. [continues 679 words]
The Liberals have introduced a new Cannabis Act that attempts to check the box of an election promise kept. I don't think the bill will pass anytime soon and I doubt the Liberals are serious about it anyway. Why unveil the Act on the last day before a two-week break in Ottawa? The act does have its challengers in the medical and legal fields. Eighteen is not an acceptable age for the government to allow for marijuana use. Medical opinion has advised that up to the age of 25 the human brain is still developing and that marijuana use can stunt this development. [continues 362 words]
Property owners plan around issues like ventilation, insurance Landlords' main concerns with marijuana legalization in Nova Scotia are around protecting tenant's health and possible damage to buildings, says one advocacy group. Kevin Russell of Halifax, head of the Investment Property Owners Association of Nova Scotia's (IPOANS) Cannabis Legalization Committee, said the proposed federal legislation is causing "a lot of concern" for property owners as well as tenants with respiratory problems or small children who are worried about second-hand smoke. [continues 198 words]
Legislation to be tabled today in the House of Commons will pave the way to the legal selling of marijuana across the country by the summer of next year If he wants to avoid spending the 2019 campaign walking on the shards of yet another broken signature promise, Justin Trudeau has little choice but to make good on his promise to legalize marijuana in time for the next election. Of the many commitments the prime minister made on the way to his majority victory some were more emblematic than others. The Liberal embrace of deficit spending, the vow to change the voting system in time for 2019 and the legalization of marijuana fall into that category. [continues 666 words]
Inside Nova Scotia
