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1 CN ON: Looking North Of The Border To Limit Heroin DeathsThu, 24 May 2018
Source:New York Times (NY) Author:Goodman, J. David Area:Ontario Lines:232 Added:05/24/2018

TORONTO - An aging construction worker arrived quietly in the building's basement, took his seat alongside three other men and struck his lighter below a cooker of synthetic heroin.

A woman, trained to intervene in case of an overdose, placed a mask over her face as his drug cooked and diluted beneath a jumping flame. He injected himself, grew still and then told of the loss of his wife who died alone in her room upstairs - an overdose that came just a few months before this social service nonprofit opened its doors for supervised injections.

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2 CN ON: Column: Enabling Drugs While Shunning SugarFri, 11 May 2018
Source:Hamilton Spectator (CN ON) Author:Dreschel, Andrew Area:Ontario Lines:98 Added:05/11/2018

It'€™s all about harm reduction and improving community health outcomes

No doubt some Hamiltonians are chuckling to hear city council is considering banning sugary drinks from city buildings to protect people's health.

With good reason.

The proposed ban by the public health department lands at the same time the city is moving ahead with opening its first safe injection site for drug addicts.

It's more than a little ironic that the city may be cracking down on sugar while enabling the use of illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine.

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3 CN ON: LTE: Stop Drugs Or DieTue, 01 May 2018
Source:Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Author:Lebrun, Robert Area:Ontario Lines:38 Added:05/01/2018

"You can't help dead people - that's the point of injection sites"

There you go again, being a "bleeding heart." A recent letter writer is correct. Injection sites are encouraging and abetting druggies in their bad habits. There is no point to safe-injection sites.

And if they die, as they surely will if they don't kick their habit, why should I give a hoot?

They chose to live on the edge as they do. Suffer the consequences! They know better, and yet refuse to accept the inevitable. Stop or die!

And you should stop trying to be the social conscience of your readers.

(Look, we're not fond of illegal drug use. But caring about what happens to our fellow citizens - especially the weakest - is important in a civilized society.)

[end]

4 CN ON: Ontario Tory Leader Doug Ford Says He's Dead AgainstFri, 20 Apr 2018
Source:Globe and Mail (Canada) Author:Loriggio, Paola Area:Ontario Lines:101 Added:04/25/2018

Doug Ford says he is "dead against" supervised injection sites and believes the focus should be on drug rehabilitation instead.

And if elected premier of Ontario in June, the Progressive Conservative Leader says he will do everything he can to fight the opioid crisis and get people who are struggling with addiction the help they need.

"If your son, daughter, loved one ever had an addiction, would you want them to go in a little area and do more drugs? I am dead against that," Mr. Ford said Friday. "We have to help these people. We can't just keep feeding them and feeding them."

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5CN ON: Cannabis Education Campaigns Move From 'Just Say No' To JustSat, 21 Apr 2018
Source:Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Author:Miller, Jacquie Area:Ontario Lines:Excerpt Added:04/25/2018

Heather D'Alessio remembers drug education in high school that consisted mainly of dire warnings about the consequences of using any of them.

She was smoking pot by Grade 9, so she disregarded the advice.

"Most of the time, they would give us these fact sheets on cannabis. Then we'd all take it out to the corner and get high and laugh at it because we thought it was stupid."

Who uses cannabis?

Governments and public health advocates are now launching new education campaigns to warn young people about the health risks of marijuana, which will soon be legal across Canada.

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6 CN ON: Homegrown Pot Will Be Biggest Municipal Headache, Guide SaysSun, 22 Apr 2018
Source:Toronto Sun (CN ON) Author:Yuen, Jenny Area:Ontario Lines:66 Added:04/22/2018

Toronto's municipal licensing and standards department is reviewing city bylaws to see if changes are needed to deal with the "potential impacts" that people growing legal marijuana may have on neighbouring tenants or properties.

Mark Sraga, director of investigation services for the licensing department, said he doesn't anticipate cannabis home-grow operations to have a significant impact on municipal bylaws when the law permits people to grow the drug this summer.

"Under Health Canada rules, people are allowed to grow medicinal marijuana in their houses," he said. "I don't see how growing four plants necessarily having any impact considering the fact I've seen some personal designation grow licences for hundreds of plants."

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7 CN ON: How Will The Province Keep Pot Shops Away From Schools?Wed, 18 Apr 2018
Source:Toronto Star (CN ON) Author:Gibson, Victoria Area:Ontario Lines:190 Added:04/18/2018

Premier Kathleen Wynne has ordered that school boards be given a say in where provincial marijuana stores are located, noting that boards are likely to know "where their kids go at lunchtime (and) where they go after school."

Her demand came after the announcement that Toronto's first outlet of the Ontario Cannabis Store would be located in Scarborough, 450 metres from Blantyre Public School. The Toronto District School Board said it had asked to be consulted about the location, but never was. Concerned Blantyre parents discussed the news at a school council meeting last week.

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8 CN ON: Editorial: Theres No Need To Panic Over Pot Shop LocationsTue, 17 Apr 2018
Source:Toronto Star (CN ON)          Area:Ontario Lines:91 Added:04/17/2018

Two very different things, both related to marijuana, happened in Toronto last week. One mattered, and pointed to some of the challenges still ahead with the legalization of marijuana later this year. The other was the proverbial tempest in a teapot.

Allegations that workers were smoking pot on the job, forcing Metrolinx to shut down work on a section of the $5.3-billion Crosstown LRT project, was a serious matter.

But the uproar over the Toronto location for one of Ontario's first government-run pot shops, which continued this week with comments from Premier Kathleen Wynne, is way out of proportion.

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9 CN ON: Marijuana-Dispensary Raid Charges Not Sticking In CourtTue, 03 Apr 2018
Source:London Free Press (CN ON) Author:Carruthers, Dale Area:Ontario Lines:131 Added:04/03/2018

More than half the charges laid against London marijuana dispensary staffers and operators swept up in a series of raids on the illegal businesses in the past two years have been withdrawn, court records examined by The Free Press show.

London police have launched seven raids in three separate crackdowns on city pot shops since August 2016, resulting in 49 charges against 15 people.

But court records show 25 of those charges - mostly for possession for the purposes of trafficking - were later withdrawn and resolved through peace bonds, a non-plea order requiring the person to be on good behaviour for a set period of time.

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10 CN ON: Ford Plunges Into PolicyWed, 14 Mar 2018
Source:Toronto Sun (CN ON) Author:Braun, Liz Area:Ontario Lines:73 Added:03/17/2018

Sex-ed, pot and Brown

There's no dust on Doug Ford.

Just a day after being elected head of Ontario's PC party, Ford has announced he'll repeal the Liberal's sexed curriculum, hand marijuana sales back to the people and make a decision on permitting Patrick Brown to run as the PC candidate in the riding of Simcoe North.

While political pundits are licking their pencils in anticipation of analyzing Ford's every move, the newly elected leader is already out there working the crowd and winning over voters.

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11 CN ON: Trial Hears Hamilton Cop Tipped Off Drug DealersTue, 13 Mar 2018
Source:Toronto Star (CN ON) Author:Powell, Betsy Area:Ontario Lines:72 Added:03/17/2018

Guns, gangs unit member has pleaded not guilty

A suspended Hamilton police officer fed drug traffickers sensitive information and favours in return for cash payments, a Crown attorney said Monday during his opening address to a Toronto jury.

Craig Ruthowsky, a former member of the Hamilton Police Service's guns and gangs unit, has pleaded not guilty to obstruction of justice, bribery, breach of trust, trafficking and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

He became ensnared in a Toronto Police Service wiretap investigation called Project Pharaoh aimed at gathering evidence of drug and firearm trafficking in Toronto's west end, Crown attorney John Pollard said in Superior Court.

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12 CN ON: Friel Critical Of Govat Approach To PotWed, 14 Mar 2018
Source:Expositor, The (CN ON) Author:Ball, Vincent Area:Ontario Lines:86 Added:03/17/2018

A provincial government commitment to provide $ 40 million to help municipalities cover the costs of pot legalization is a starting point, says Mayor Chris Friel.

But Friel remains critical of the Ontario government's approach to the legalization of marijuana saying the increased law enforcement and safety costs are just one part of the overall picture.

"I'd say that it's a starting point because right now no one really knows what the extra costs will be," Friel said. "But again I ask: where is the public consultation?

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13 CN ON: Cop Aided Drug Dealer To Gain His Trust?Wed, 14 Mar 2018
Source:Toronto Sun (CN ON) Author:Pazzano, Sam Area:Ontario Lines:42 Added:03/17/2018

Suspended Hamilton cop Craig Ruthowsky revealed that he aided a drug dealer to cultivate his trust so he could snare a larger trafficker, his former best friend testified Tuesday.

Sgt. James Paterson, who once considered himself Ruthowsky's "best friend," confronted Ruthowsky after he was suspended in 2012 while both were working for Hamilton's guns and gangs unit.

"Craig Ruthowsky advised me that the dealer was dangling a bigger fish in front of him that he wanted to get, this major importer Officer Ruthowsky had said 'I was trying to make myself look like a dirty cop so that will trust me more, and he'd give up the bigger fish,'" said Paterson.

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14 CN ON: Ban pot in apartments: Health UnitTue, 13 Mar 2018
Source:Recorder & Times, The (CN ON) Author:Bedford, Sabrina Area:Ontario Lines:80 Added:03/16/2018

The local public health agency says smoking marijuana should be banned in multi-unit buildings, including balconies

The local health unit is throwing its support behind the City of Ottawa's public health agency after they called for a ban on smoking marijuana inside multi-unit residential buildings - including on balconies.

Last week, Ottawa's acting medical officer of health recommended the Ontario government extend its proposed ban on pot smoking in common areas of condos, apartment buildings and university residences, hotels and their balconies.

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15 CN ON: Column: Opioid crisis in Peterborough: Overdose PreventionTue, 13 Mar 2018
Source:Peterborough Examiner, The (CN ON) Author:Salvaterra, Rosana Area:Ontario Lines:95 Added:03/16/2018

In 2018 we find ourselves battling an opioid crisis that has been years in the making. Opioids are drugs that act on the nervous system to relieve pain and were originally derived from opium but now also include synthetic preparations.

In the mid-1990s, their use by physicians was heavily promoted by the pharmaceutical industry, leading to greater prescribing for both acute and chronic pain. Patients using opioids can develop a dependency or addiction.

There are two sources of opioids: those that are produced by the pharmaceutical industry and those that are illicitly produced. Recently, the illicit supply has become so contaminated with fentanyl (a very powerful opioid) or fentanyl-like substances that many people are at risk of an unintended acute and potentially fatal poisoning.

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16 CN ON: Demanding Answers For The 'Undetermined'Mon, 12 Mar 2018
Source:Globe and Mail (Canada) Author:White, Patrick Area:Ontario Lines:153 Added:03/16/2018

Curtis McGowan wrestled with his opioid addiction for years, but his suspected overdose while in prison raises serious questions

On one of his many trips home from jail, Curtis McGowan beamed with pride and clutched a Dr. Seuss book.

"Mom," said the six-foot, 300-pound foundry worker, handing Michele McPherson a copy of Green Eggs and Ham, "this is the first book I ever read."

To mother and son, it was a moment filled with significance. He'd struggled with illiteracy his whole life, just like he'd struggled with drug use and mental-health problems. If he could learn to read, perhaps sobriety and serenity were not far off.

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17 CN ON: LTE: Guns Aren't The IssueMon, 12 Mar 2018
Source:Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Author:Day, Don Area:Ontario Lines:35 Added:03/16/2018

It is a misnomer for the media to always mention "guns and gangs" when it comes to the violent exchange between gangs. Guns are not the problem; the problem is the control of drugs and contraband, which the gangs are fighting over.

Gangs, no matter where, will use whatever means available to get their share of the lucrative and fast-growing drug market. In my opinion, a review of the escalation of drug availability and use would be more beneficial than creating ad hoc committees to study guns and gangs.

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18 CN ON: Editorial: Banning Pot From Apartments Has Whiff Of HypocrisyFri, 09 Mar 2018
Source:Ottawa Sun (CN ON)          Area:Ontario Lines:68 Added:03/13/2018

There's no buzzkill like bureaucracy. A new proposal by Ottawa Public Health to ban marijuana - once it's legal - from condos and apartments, seems like overreach to us.

As the Sun's Andrew Duffy reports today, Ottawa's acting medical officer of health has recommended that the province extend its proposed ban on pot smoking in common areas of condos, apartment buildings and university residences. Dr. Vera Etches said the province should prohibit smoking cannabis, e-liquids and herbal shisha products in condos, apartment buildings, university residences, hotels and their balconies.

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19 CN ON: Column: First Nations Want Part Of The PotFri, 09 Mar 2018
Source:Toronto Sun (CN ON) Author:Bonokoski, Mark Area:Ontario Lines:105 Added:03/13/2018

Same tribe, different mindsets.

On Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory on the shores of Lake Ontario, dead centre between Toronto and Montreal, there are more than 20 pot dispensaries and at least 30 smoke shacks selling cheap cigarettes.

The population of Tyendinaga is 2,124.

Do the math.

At the Six Nations Mohawk Territory, however, the largest First Nations reserve in Canada with a population of 12,000-plus living on the reserve, there is a huge sign on the main highway indicating zero tolerance to illicit drugs.

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20 CN ON: Apartments Gone To Pot?Fri, 09 Mar 2018
Source:Ottawa Sun (CN ON) Author:Duffy, Andrew Area:Ontario Lines:109 Added:03/13/2018

Proposed ban on balcony marijuana smoking ignites debate

Should condo owners and tenants be allowed to smoke pot in their homes and on their balconies?

Ottawa Public Health's newly released position paper has ignited debate on those questions, and set the scene for a confrontation between pot smokers who want to exercise their hard-won right to use legal weed later this year, and non-smokers who want to be protected from the effects of second-hand smoke.

Shery Dia, a writer and University of Ottawa student, supports the health unit's call for a strict smoking ban inside multi-unit buildings. She plans to move from her current apartment because of the persistent incursion of pot smoke into her fifth-floor unit of a Gloucester highrise.

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21 CN ON: Funding For Weed TrainingSat, 10 Mar 2018
Source:Recorder & Times, The (CN ON) Author:Bedford, Sabrina Area:Ontario Lines:108 Added:03/13/2018

New provincial funding to help police officers detect impaired drivers is a good start, but Brockville's chief of police says they are still being left with too many unanswered questions.

The province announced Friday it is "stepping up support for municipalities and law enforcement to help ensure communities and roads are safe in advance of the federal government's legalization of cannabis."

This will be done, they said, by providing $40 million of its revenue from the federal duty on recreational cannabis over two years to help all municipalities with implementation costs related to the legalization of cannabis.

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22 CN ON: Provincial Dollars Help Cities With Pot LegislationSat, 10 Mar 2018
Source:Sault Star, The (CN ON) Author:Della-Mattia, Elaine Area:Ontario Lines:94 Added:03/13/2018

The provincial government will provide $40 million of its revenue from the federal excise duty on recreational cannabis over two years to help municipalities with the costs of implementing legislation.

But municipalities have not yet received any more information about what that will mean exactly.

The province has said that funding will be distributed to municipalities on a per household basis with a minimum of $10,000 per municipality.

"We know municipalities will play a key role as the federal government moves forward with the legalization of recreational cannabis. This is why we engaged with municipalities early I the process," said Minister of Municipal Affairs Bill Mauro. "Our government respects the role of municipalities in the legalization of cannabis and we know we can rely on their valuable input as we continue to navigate this process together."

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23CN ON: Communities To Get $40M For Law EnforcementSat, 10 Mar 2018
Source:Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Author:Goffin, Peter Area:Ontario Lines:Excerpt Added:03/13/2018

The government of Ontario will give municipalities $40 million from its share of federal marijuana taxes to help cover law enforcement and safety costs associated with pot legalization, the province announced Friday.

The money - which will be provided to municipalities upfront, beginning before legalization takes effect later this year - will come from the first two years of federal excise duties on producers of recreational pot.

"This funding will ensure that Ontario's municipalities have dedicated resources for cannabis enforcement," said Marie-France Lalonde, minister of community safety and correctional services. "Ontario will continue working with law enforcement agencies to protect our communities from illegal cannabis activity, and to keep impaired drivers off the road."

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24 CN ON: Weed Tax Share NeededThu, 08 Mar 2018
Source:Intelligencer, The (CN ON) Author:Hendry, Luke Area:Ontario Lines:111 Added:03/13/2018

Health units and municipalities facing more costs, medical officer says

The Quinte region's board of health is asking Ontario for a share of the coming tax revenue from cannabis sales in order to fight expected health impacts.

"We want some of the tax money because there's going to be costs to public health and to municipalities," said Dr. Ian Gemmill, the acting medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward Counties.

Revenue from the taxation of legal cannabis sales, which are to begin in July, is to be split with provinces and territories, with the federal government retaining 25 per cent to a maximum federal revenue of $ 100 million.

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25 CN ON: No Downside To A Supervised Injection Site, Says Ex-AddictThu, 08 Mar 2018
Source:Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON) Author:Monteiro, Liz Area:Ontario Lines:91 Added:03/10/2018

John Lavergne believes a safe injection site will help save lives

KITCHENER - John Lavergne lost eight friends last year. All of them died of an opioid overdose.

Six of them were in Waterloo Region. Three of them hadn't used in months and had a relapse. They couldn't tell their partners, friends or families they were using again.

They used alone and now they are dead, Lavergne said.

The Kitchener man says a supervised injection site would have helped them live.

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26 CN ON: Smuggling, Ods Flag Growing Opioid Agony At Troubled JailThu, 08 Mar 2018
Source:London Free Press (CN ON) Author:Richmond, Randy Area:Ontario Lines:87 Added:03/10/2018

Deadly fentanyl is tightening its grip on London's jail, with reports of several female inmates overdosing early this week, one needing five doses of naloxone spray to be revived.

Twice in the last week, large amounts were found on women trying to smuggle the druginto the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC), sources say.

The province confirmed Wednesday four female inmates were found in medical distress Monday night.

"Staff acted quickly in attending to the inmates and calling 911. Paramedics arrived and transported three inmates to the hospital, while the other inmate was attended to by staff at the facility," said Andrew Morrison, spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

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27 CN ON: London's Anti-OD Site Saves Two LivesMon, 05 Mar 2018
Source:London Free Press (CN ON) Author:Daniszewski, Hank Area:Ontario Lines:87 Added:03/10/2018

Two people using fentanyl at London's temporary overdose prevention site on the weekend were resuscitated by a nurse after they overdosed, Middlesex-London's medical officer of health says.

"These people were inexperienced, and fentanyl is a drug where it's easy to miscalculate how much you are taking. If this had happened in a back alley or stairwell somewhere, it could have easily resulted in death," Dr. Chris Mackie said Sunday.

The drug users were resuscitated Saturday using oxygen, he said.

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28 CN ON: Column: To Reduce Stigma, Increase ResearchTue, 06 Mar 2018
Source:Hamilton Spectator (CN ON) Author:Shkimba, Margaret Area:Ontario Lines:88 Added:03/10/2018

Medical cannabis take-up hampered by lack of research and red tape

I picked up a View magazine while I was waiting for the bus a few weeks back. There was an article on the 15 or so uses of cannabis, so after I caught up with CATCH (Citizens at City Hall), I turned to the article on cannabis looking for some useful information.

By this time, I was on the bus, seated on a side seat, next to an elderly woman. I could feel she was reading over my shoulder, so I turned to her slightly. She asked me the name of the paper and we started a conversation about cannabis.

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29CN ON: Cannabis Shop Loses Court Fight Against EvictionWed, 07 Mar 2018
Source:Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Author:Miller, Jacquie Area:Ontario Lines:Excerpt Added:03/10/2018

Cannabis Culture, a former pot shop on Bank Street, lost a court bid to have its eviction overturned.

Justice Michelle O'Bonsawin ruled the landlord was justified in terminating the lease because the dispensary was operating in contravention of both its rental lease and federal law.

The landlord posted an eviction notice on the door of the illegal dispensary in December and called a bailiff to change the locks. Cannabis Culture appealed to the Superior Court of Justice to reinstate the lease so it could continue to operate.

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30 CN ON: Bradley Balks At Ontario Pot Bucks PlanSat, 10 Mar 2018
Source:London Free Press (CN ON) Author:Stacey, Megan Area:Ontario Lines:75 Added:03/10/2018

The haze around pot revenue for cities is beginning to clear, but one Southwestern Ontario mayor doesn't like what he's seeing.

Municipalities are no longer in the dark about the dollars they'll get to deal with the rollout of legalized marijuana, after the province announced Friday that $40 million from the tax on legalized marijuana will flow to cities in the next two years.

Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said the numbers don't add up, pointing to the 444 municipalities in Ontario that have to share that cash.

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31 CN ON: Moss Park Harm-Reduction Volunteers Staying PutSat, 10 Mar 2018
Source:Globe and Mail (Canada) Author:Gray, Jeff Area:Ontario Lines:132 Added:03/10/2018

More supervised injection sites planned as opioid-overdose numbers skyrocket

The construction trailer that houses the illegal, volunteer-run overdose prevention site in Toronto's Moss Park is about to open for another evening, as a dozen drug users, some clearly anxious for their fix, cluster around its muddy entrance in the cold.

Activist and harm-reduction worker Zoe Dodd, named one of Toronto Life magazine's most influential people last year, alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland and R&B star the Weeknd, unloads an extra box of anti-overdose naloxone kits from her beat-up sedan.

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32 CN ON: Opioid-Related Deaths In Hamilton Surge In One YearSat, 10 Mar 2018
Source:Hamilton Spectator (CN ON) Author:Frketich, Joanna Area:Ontario Lines:81 Added:03/10/2018

City's fatality rate is now nearly double Ontario average, fuelling more concern

Opioid-related deaths in Hamilton have soared more than 80 per cent in one year.

From January to October, 75 Hamilton residents died from an opioid overdose in 2017 compared to 41 during the same period the year before.

"Opioids are continuing to have a devastating impact on individuals, families, and the community," Hamilton's medical officer of health Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said in a statement Friday. "The sustained trend of rising opioid related deaths, which are preventable, in Hamilton is very concerning."

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33 CN ON: LTE: No To Legalizing MarijuanaMon, 05 Mar 2018
Source:Beacon Herald, The (CN ON) Author:Bouma, Elijah Area:Ontario Lines:26 Added:03/09/2018

I think that marijuana should not be made legal for recreational use because there is no good way to judge impairment caused by the drug. The Denver Post says on the matter: "The evolving science of testing for marijuana, and the lack of consensus over how to measure impairment creates challenges for lawmakers, police and prosecutors, not to mention users." It goes on to say how the number of fatal car crashes from marijuana is rising. Legalizing marijuana will make our communities more dangerous for everyone.

Elijah Bouma

St. George, Ont.

[end]

34 CN ON: Stigma Here To StayMon, 05 Mar 2018
Source:Toronto Sun (CN ON) Author:Stevenson, Jane Area:Ontario Lines:110 Added:03/09/2018

Pot still considered taboo during workdays

The late, great George Carlin apparently once joked that the 1960s-era crackdown on the business man's "three-martini lunch" shouldn't affect the working stiff's "two-joint coffee break."

But will the latter be frowned upon in the workplace if pot becomes legal - as expected - in Canada later this year?

There is stigma that still exists," says leading Canadian cannabis activist Jodie Emery.

"Now it depends though, of course, where you work. In a modern city like Toronto or Vancouver, you could probably have more progressive attitudes towards that in workplaces but definitely in smaller towns and more conservative jurisdictions, you would have push back."

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35 CN ON: LTE: No To Legalizing MarijuanaSat, 03 Mar 2018
Source:Expositor, The (CN ON) Author:Bouma, Elijah Area:Ontario Lines:26 Added:03/08/2018

I think that marijuana should not be made legal for recreational use because there is no good way to judge impairment caused by the drug. The Denver Post says on the matter: "The evolving science of testing for marijuana, and the lack of consensus over how to measure impairment creates challenges for lawmakers, police and prosecutors, not to mention users." It goes on to say how the number of fatal car crashes from marijuana is rising. Legalizing marijuana will make our communities more dangerous for everyone.

Elijah Bouma

St. George

[end]

36 CN ON: Proprietors Of Pot Dispensary Get Discharge From CourtSat, 03 Mar 2018
Source:Niagara Falls Review, The (CN ON) Author:Langley, Alison Area:Ontario Lines:61 Added:03/08/2018

Two women arrested in April after police raided their medical marijuana dispensary in St. Catharines have been granted a conditional discharge.

"I only wish I was able to help more people on the legal route," Abbigail Millar, 32, told Judge Tory Colvin in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines, Friday.

Millar, together with Angela Millar, 38, were arrested after Niagara police raided Kronic Inc., a dispensary on Wright Street.

Police seized just under 3,000 grams of marijuana as well as pre-rolled marijuanacigarettes, marijuana oil capsules and a variety of marijuana edibles. The also seized more than $4,000 in cash.

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37 CN ON: 'Budtender' Receives Conditional SentenceMon, 05 Mar 2018
Source:Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Author:Yanagisawa, Sue Area:Ontario Lines:143 Added:03/08/2018

A Kingston judge has disposed of the last of the charges against a group of six young "budtenders" arrested in a raid on an illegal Princess Street marijuana dispensary in March 2017.

Justice Larry O'Brien declined, however, to impose a sentence that would have encumbered the 23-year-old Ottawa woman with a criminal record when the principals profiting from the business went unidentified and were never charged.

Instead, he gave the woman a discharge, conditional upon her successful completion of one year of probation, after she pleaded guilty to a single charge of possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. The terms of her probation oblige her to complete assessments and counselling as directed by her probation officer and require that she not socialize with anyone she knows to have a criminal or drug record.

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38 CN ON: Prescott Nixes NaloxoneThu, 01 Mar 2018
Source:Recorder & Times, The (CN ON) Author:Lowrie, Wayne Area:Ontario Lines:84 Added:03/05/2018

Prescott - The town's fire department has joined the growing number of volunteer fire companies in Leeds and Grenville that refuse to carry naloxone to counter opioid overdoses.

Fire Chief Barry Moorhouse said his department based its decision partly on the fact naloxone-carrying paramedics are based in Johnstown, only eight minutes away as the ambulance flies. Usually, the EMS can get to a medical call in Prescott before his volunteer department, Moorhouse said.

As well, Moorhouse said he fears the slippery slope of having his trucks carrying drugs to medical calls. The department is far more likely to encounter diabetic patients or people felled by allergic reactions than people affected by opioid overdoses. Should firefighters be required to carry EPIPENS and insulin, too? he wondered.

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39 CN ON: Region Looking Into 3 Safe Injection Sites Locations NotThu, 01 Mar 2018
Source:Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON) Author:Weidner, Johanna Area:Ontario Lines:131 Added:03/05/2018

WATERLOO REGION - Waterloo Region plans to look further into pursuing three supervised injection sites, following a study that found a need and support in the community for the service to combat fatal opioid overdoses.

Sites are proposed for the central cores of Kitchener and Galt, and a third spot to be determined that could be a mobile unit.

"In Waterloo Region, we know that overdose is on the rise," said Grace Bermingham, regional manager of information, planning and harm reduction.

Bermingham presented findings from the first phase of a feasibility study on supervised injection sites to a regional committee on Tuesday. The second phase involves identifying potential locations and further consultations with people who live, work or go to school near a proposed site.

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40 CN ON: Editorial: Waterloo Region Should Open Safe Injection SitesSat, 03 Mar 2018
Source:Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON)          Area:Ontario Lines:92 Added:03/03/2018

An emergency situation demands an emergency response.

When people are trapped in a burning house or wrecked car, the priority should be getting them out alive first, and then worrying about damaged property or blocked roadways.

This is how people in Waterloo Region need to understand the horrific and rising number of opioid overdoses ravaging their community.

We are, collectively, facing an emergency. People are dying in staggeringly high numbers. Others are suffering terribly.

For all their sakes but also for the welfare of this region, we must offer help - even as we work out the details.

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41 CN ON: Numbers Increase At OD-Prevention SiteFri, 02 Mar 2018
Source:London Free Press (CN ON) Author:Bieman, Jennifer Area:Ontario Lines:68 Added:03/02/2018

Nearly three weeks in, London's temporary overdose-prevention site - the first of its kind in the province - has gone from four drug users a day to 44, and front-line workers are beaming.

The stripped-down supervised consumption facility opened Feb. 12, a quick, co-ordinated response to the growing number of opioid overdoses among London drug users. As of Tuesday, staff were seeing as many as 44 clients a day.

"Clients are having trouble believing it. It's too good to be true," said Sonja Burke, needle exchange director at the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection.

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42CN ON: Legal Pot A Budding Border IssueTue, 27 Feb 2018
Source:Windsor Star (CN ON) Author:Pearson, Craig Area:Ontario Lines:Excerpt Added:03/01/2018

U.S. consul general and mayor issue warning to travellers

Canada's pending marijuana legalization may end up slowing more than just pot users' reaction times - it could slow the whole border, Mayor Drew Dilkens and U.S. Consul General Juan Alsace suggested Monday. Dilkens and Alsace chatted at the mayor's office Monday about border issues, including NAFTA negotiations, international trade, Great Lakes health and the Trudeau government's intention to legalize recreational use of marijuana. Both officials said problems at the U.S. border could be sparked if pot is legalized in Canada as proposed some time in the summer. "I think it's a real issue," Dilkens said after the private meeting with Alsace, who travelled to Windsor from Toronto for the informal chat. "And I think it's an issue that folks in this area need to be attuned to. "Obviously, being in the Windsor area, we rely on our ability to go across the border seamlessly and frequently. People buy groceries over there, people go shopping for the day over there."

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43CN ON: City Supports Overdose Prevention SiteWed, 28 Feb 2018
Source:Standard, The (St. Catharines, CN ON) Author:Walter, Karena Area:Ontario Lines:Excerpt Added:03/01/2018

St. Catharines council is unanimously supporting the creation of a temporary supervised injection site in the city to help deal with the opioid crisis.

"It is pure harm reduction. It is stopping people from dying," said Sandi Tantardini of Niagara Area Moms Ending Stigma, speaking in support of the site at Monday night's council meeting.

Tantardini and Jennifer Johnston founded the group of moms, families and friends of people who have been lost to or are struggling with addiction.

"When we're talking about the effects of the opioid crisis, our group and its representatives and our families, we're the faces of it," said Johnston, whose son Jonathan, a chef who trained at Niagara College, died of a fentanyl overdose in Toronto.

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44 CN ON: Police Fear Legalizing Marijuana Will Make It Easier For YouthThu, 01 Mar 2018
Source:Brighton Independent (CN ON) Author:Campbell, John Area:Ontario Lines:121 Added:03/01/2018

Brighton - People consume marijuana because it relaxes them but the prospect of its recreational use becoming legal is making police anxious.

"Anticipated issues" include "easier access for the youth population," impaired operation of vehicles, and the "facilitation of trafficking," OPP Detective-Sergeant Rick Dupuis said in a presentation to Brighton council on the implications of the federal law that is to take effect sometime after July 1.

"The provincial and federal governments indicate that this act was introduced to minimize or mitigate accessibility to our young population but in my professional opinion I believe that is ... counterintuitive," he told council Feb. 20. "It's going to make it much easier."

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45 CN ON: Column: 'It's Broken Our Lives'Wed, 28 Feb 2018
Source:Toronto Sun (CN ON) Author:Mandel, Michele Area:Ontario Lines:103 Added:03/01/2018

Victims of bad science at Motherisk

Return their children.

That's what they want - the parents who saw their kids ripped away based on flawed alcohol and drug hair tests from the now shuttered Motherisk lab at the famous Sick Children's hospital. A report tabled this week examined 1,270 cases handled by the lab going back more than two decades and found 56 clear cases where Motherisk's flawed test results had a "substantial impact" on the decision to remove children - - though critics argue there are far more.

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46 CN ON: Motherisk Panel Calls For Sweeping ChangeTue, 27 Feb 2018
Source:Toronto Star (CN ON) Author:Mendleson, Rachel Area:Ontario Lines:305 Added:03/01/2018

Recommendations too late for many families 'broken apart' by flawed drug and alcohol tests

The Ontario Motherisk Commission's two-year effort to repair the damage to families ripped apart by flawed drug and alcohol testing has produced sweeping recommendations aimed at preventing a similar tragedy, but in only a handful of cases has it reunited parents with their lost children.

Alice, a Hamilton mother whose daughter was apprehended in 2011 after hair testing from Motherisk purported to show she was a heavy drinker, is among the lucky few.

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47 CN ON: LTE: Studying Weed 101Mon, 26 Feb 2018
Source:Toronto Sun (CN ON) Author:Stevenson, Jane Area:Ontario Lines:105 Added:02/28/2018

Pot courses sprouting at Ontario colleges

Puff, puff, pass will take on a new meaning when recreational cannabis becomes legal in Canada later this year.

And not just in the way you might think.

Some Canadian colleges and universities are preparing people for the thousands of potential new jobs expected to be created as the country's booming weed industry - valued at $23 billion by accounting firm Deloitte - transitions from the black market to a legal one with an estimated 5 million existing customers across the country.

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48 CN ON: Toronto Police Opt To Supply Officers With NaloxoneFri, 23 Feb 2018
Source:Globe and Mail (Canada) Author:Hayes, Molly Area:Ontario Lines:96 Added:02/27/2018

As a national opioid crisis wages on, Toronto police have decided to equip their downtown frontline officers with the opioid antidote naloxone.

"This is about life and death, and that's what we signed up to do," Chief Mark Saunders told the Toronto Police Services Board at their meeting Thursday.

Chief Saunders was tasked last year with submitting a report to the board on how the service might go about deploying the antidote, which can be used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

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49 CN ON: Richards' Drug Bust Led To Concert For The Blind In OshawaSun, 25 Feb 2018
Source:Toronto Star (CN ON) Author:Hauch, Valerie Area:Ontario Lines:160 Added:02/27/2018

Judge nixes jail for Stones guitarist, orders community service instead

More than 40 years have passed since the Royal Canadian Mounted Police had to "slap'' Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards awake at a Toronto hotel so they could arrest him for possession of heroin for the purposes of trafficking.

The charge, which carried a minimum of seven years upon conviction, was based on the 22 grams of heroin found on Feb. 27,1977, during a raid of Richards' room at the Harbour Castle Hilton (now Westin Harbour Castle), while he was sleeping.

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50 CN ON: Legalized Marijuana Worries LandlordsFri, 23 Feb 2018
Source:North Bay Nugget (CN ON) Author:Hamilton-McCharles, Jennifer Area:Ontario Lines:51 Added:02/26/2018

Fifty North Bay and area landlords have revived the Near North Landlords Association in response to the province's new standard lease form, which takes effect in April, and the legalization of marijuana later this year

Landlords are concerned that, as of April 1, they won't be able to refuse a tenant who has a dog, explains group member John Wilson of North Bay.

"If there is a fourth-floor apartment available for rent and the person who wants the place has a German shepherd and the building isn't pet-friendly we can no longer refuse him," he says.

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