Drug dealers who sell narcotics containing fentanyl could face serious charges beyond trafficking if users are injured or killed. Charges could range from criminal negligence causing bodily harm or death to manslaughter and homicide charges. Insp. Zvonko Horvat, chief of the Norfolk OPP, spelled out the consequences during the Nov. 23 meeting of the Norfolk Police Services Board. "Police are looking at strategies to deal with this," Horvat said. "Unfortunately, we are not exempt from that in our community." The matter was raised at the PSB because of a spike in fentanyl overdoses in the local area recently. Paramedics in Haldimand and Norfolk responded to four fentanyl overdoses on Nov. 19, one on Nov. 20 and one on Nov. 21. [continues 334 words]
TORONTO - Canada's task force on legalizing pot concluded its highly anticipated report for the federal government Wednesday, but some marijuana producers believe pot-watchers need to chill expectations for legal recreational sales any time soon. "It's a long path to legalization," said Brendan Kennedy, CEO of private equity firm Privateer Holdings, which has a global portfolio of marijuana-focused investments. Speculation that the Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation report will kickstart a multi-billion dollar legal recreational market is a major reason for a recent frenzy in pot stocks - which has led to massive volatility in share prices of Canada's publicly traded licensed producers. [continues 698 words]
For its annual festive RIDE campaign, the local Ontario Provincial Police are trying to dispel the myth that driving while high on drugs cannot be detected by officers. The Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere( RIDE) campaign, which started on November 21 and runs through January 7, 2017, is working to convince the public, and those who choose to drive under the influence of legal or illegal drugs, that it' s not a safe alternative to driving while under the influence of alcohol. [continues 457 words]
Linda Birks was only a handful of kilometers away from her new home in Port Albert when she became caught in a thunderstorm and drove her car off the road, down a ditch and into a hydro pole. The trip was supposed to have been the beginning of a new start, she said. Her plan that night of Aug. 17 was to drive her car, loaded with most of her belongings, the two hours to her new apartment, unload and then head back to Guelph to care for her 10 cats and four ferrets that were waiting for her. [continues 1580 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 Ottawa (Fair point.) [end]
Chatham-Kent Children's Services working with independent review of case files When the Ontario government launched an independent commission earlier this year to assist families caught between flawed laboratory drug testing and the province's 46 children's aid societies, Chatham-Kent Children's Services (CKCS) opened its case files for more scrutiny. Between 2005 and 2015, CKCS used the Motherisk Laboratory operating out of SickKids Hospital in Toronto 76 times to conduct hair strand tests in cases of suspected drug use. [continues 388 words]
Holy smokes! Veterans are getting punished for the acts of some shady medical marijuana companies. Last week, Vice News broke a story about the rising costs of medical marijuana for veterans and it shed light on the reasons for the drastic spike. The biggest? Some legal cannabis producers are milking the system and actively recruiting veterans in order to max out their orders with only the most expensive cannabis strains - knowing it's up to the government to foot the bill on veteran prescriptions. [continues 517 words]
TORONTO - Holy smokes! Veterans are getting punished for the acts of some shady medical marijuana companies. Last week, Vice News broke a story about the rising costs of medical marijuana for veterans and it shed light on the reasons for the drastic spike. The biggest? Some legal cannabis producers are milking the system and actively recruiting veterans in order to max out their orders with only the most expensive cannabis strains - knowing it's up to the government to foot the bill on veteran prescriptions. [continues 515 words]
A University of Ottawa student dropped into a marijuana shop on Rideau Street this week to buy some weed to help with her insomnia. She considered the dried bud on display in jars at Life Line Medicinals, and asked to see a variety called Girl Scout Cookies. The clerk opened the jar and she gave it a sniff. "Do you mind if I touch?" she inquired. Sure, he said. The clerk dipped his hands into the jar, scooped weed into a plastic cup and weighed it on a scale before popping it into a Ziploc bag for her. [continues 474 words]
Several economic myths have surrounded legalization of marijuana. This has maintained the illusion it would be a bonanza for federal and provincial treasuries because of the supposed enormous tax revenues that legalization would generate. The Parliamentary Budget Office in Ottawa is to be congratulated for blowing up some of these myths in its report, published this month, on projected pot tax revenues following legalization in Canada in 2017 or 2018. The first myth is legalization would "create" a market value of more than $20 billion. This number was offered in a recent Deloitte Canada report, taking into account investment. [continues 495 words]
What's in today's weed? It's what's missing that might count the most. The CBC's Marketplace tested the levels of some mind-altering chemicals in marijuana sold in Toronto dispensaries. The strains tested had much more THC - the active ingredient that provides pot's high - than the weed of decades past. Some strains reached as high at 30% THC; much higher than 3%-4% common in pot in the 1970s. [continues 368 words]
The WeeMedical dispensary on Rideau Street has joined a string of pot shops that have reopened after being closed by police raids. Four of the seven illegal marijuana stores that were raided by police three weeks ago are now back in business. All the seven raided stores are operated by a B.C-based outfit under the names Green Tree, WeeMedical and CannaGreen. Ottawa police had said they hoped the raids would serve as a warning to other illegal dispensaries in town. [continues 240 words]
OPP Festive RIDE campaign now underway, continues until Jan. 7 The Ontario Provincial Police launched its annual Festive "Reduce Impaired Driving Everywhere" (RIDE) campaign Monday announcing officers will not only target drivers impaired by alcohol, but illegal drugs as well. The provincial police force is hoping for a successful campaign in which every single driver it pulls over in a Festive RIDE stop is a sober, drug-free driver. Briefing town council on the program Monday night, Inspector Mark Wolfe, detachment commander of the Upper Ottawa Valley OPP detachment said the ultimate goal is to ensure safe roads this holiday season by intercepting or deterring impaired drivers. [continues 500 words]
OTTAWA - The federal government is eyeing a number of legislative changes to address Canada's opioid crisis, Health Minister Jane Philpott said Saturday at the conclusion of a summit examining the issue. The federal government is actively trying to turn the tide of the crisis, Philpott added, noting it will require a whole-of-government approach. "This is a topic I have been working with alongside the minister for public safety, the minister of justice and the minister of foreign affairs," she said. [continues 325 words]
The city has found a funding partner to help study if Hamilton should offer supervised injection sites for drug users. A report that goes to councillors this week says the anticipated $250,000 cost of a study can be cut to around $90,000 thanks to a proposed partnership with a health program and institute at McMaster University. The report also shows 84 per cent of 1,690 respondents to a community survey supported the idea of having a supervised injection site in Hamilton. [continues 83 words]
Canadians have one of the highest rates of prescription opioid use in the world - five times higher than in the U.K., for example. This is a tragedy because we don't do any better at reducing chronic pain - just at creating addiction and an epidemic of overdose death. Many reasons have caused this, including the influence and marketing tactics of the pharmaceutical industry, the willingness of Canadian insurers to pay for drugs like OxyContin, as well as mistaken assumptions about opioids by prescribers and dispensers. [continues 588 words]
Two of the pot shops raided by police two weeks ago are back in business. The Green Tree dispensaries on Preston Street and Montreal Road opened on the weekend. Both were sparsely stocked Monday with a few jars of dried weed selling for $10 to $14 a gram. The popular edibles - cannabis cookies, brownies, candy and pop - will be available later this week, said a clerk at one of the stores. There's no ATM available yet, a clerk at the Montreal Road dispensary explained to one customer, pointing to the spot where police ripped it out of the floor during the Nov. 4 raids. [continues 374 words]
Politicians, policy-makers discuss ways to prevent overdoses OTTAWA - As people continue to die from overdoses, health experts, policy-makers and grief-stricken family members brainstormed Friday on a battle plan to take on Canada's opioid-abuse epidemic. The federal government has been asked to declare the crisis a national public health emergency. "During the course of this conference alone... probably six or seven Canadians will die from opioid overdose," Ontario Health Minister Eric Hoskins said Friday. "That will happen again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. We have a tremendous responsibility as a country." [continues 772 words]
Canada's opioid crisis is worsening and health professionals and policy-makers are scrambling for a solution, a packed audience at an opioid conference in Ottawa heard Friday morning. The invitation-only conference, chaired by Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and her Ontario counterpart Eric Hoskins, was organized to address the increasing number of overdoses and deaths due to the use of opioids. The conference heard that multiple doses of naloxone, the antidote administered to overdose patients, are now required when only a short time ago, just one dose was sufficient. "Breaking Bad is the reality," paramedic Pierre Poirier told the audience during the first panel discussion of the day. "We're not just talking about fentanyl. We're talking about what chemists are doing. We can't be callous about what's happening." [continues 631 words]
Minister says legislation on way to combat rising addiction, death rates OTTAWA- The federal government is eyeing a number of legislative changes to address Canada's opioid crisis, Health Minister Jane Philpott said Saturday at the conclusion of a summit examining the issue. The federal government is actively trying to turn the tide of the crisis, Philpott added, noting it will require a whole-of-government approach. "This is a topic I have been working with alongside the minister for public safety, the minister of justice and the minister of foreign affairs," she said. [continues 294 words]
Inside Ontario
