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]
Inside Nova Scotia
