The federal with a handful of minor revisions, passed its third and final reading in the House of Commons November 27 and has moved on to the Senate for further review and discussion.

A total of 200 Members of Parliament voted in favour of the legislation - Bill C-45 - with 82 voting against it.

Following the final vote, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted "we're one step closer to legalizing & regulating marijuana. #BillC45 means less money for organized crime and harder access for our kids."

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Ontario will be biggest legal marijuana dealer in Canada, possibly in entire world

Charles Sousa was half-joking about toking.

"I was with some high school buddies last week - you remember the guys from high school - and they said to me, 'Who'd have thought it would be you that would one day aspire to become the world's biggest pot dealer?' " the Ontario finance minister said last fall.

"My parents would be so proud. I'm not so sure about my daughter, who's sitting right here. But I guess it makes sense - I was raised in Kensington Market," he quipped.

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Having done drug enforcement over two decades, anyone who believes Justin Trudeau when he says "legalization is the best way to keep this dangerous drug away from our kids" is living in fantasy land. There will still be a flourishing black market, as there is in Colorado and Washington states. By allowing anyone over 19 to grow their own pot supplies, children in such residences will have easy access, plus be exposed to dangerous contaminants emitted from the pot plants. In Colorado, young kids are flooding ERs after getting into their parents' pot supplies, especially edibles containing high concentrations of THC. We can expect the same here. Sunny Days are not ahead for Canadian kids!

Larry Comeau Ottawa, Ont.



(If government taxes are too high on pot they'll create the same black market they did for cigarettes by pushing tobacco taxes too high)

[end]

Justin Trudeau says he's open to tightening federal conflict-of-interest laws and strengthening the powers of parliamentary watchdogs after a year in which both he and his Finance Minister were reprimanded by Canada's ethics commissioner.

The Prime Minister made the comments at the conclusion of a cabinet retreat in London, Ont., where the government drafted plans for the final half of its first mandate.

The government is enjoying solid poll numbers and a strong economy, but is coming off a year that ended with a finding by outgoing ethics commissioner Mary Dawson that Mr. Trudeau violated federal ethics laws by accepting a 2016 island vacation hosted by the Aga Khan.

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No time frame for what would be 'major change'

Ottawa * The Liberal government is looking at the possibility of amnesty for people with pot possession convictions once marijuana is legalized, according to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale.

"We're weighing all of the legal implications to make sure that we fully understand all the dimensions of this and, when we're in a position to make an announcement, we will do so," Goodale told reporters during the Liberal cabinet retreat in London, Ont. Friday.

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They won't happen, though, until after July 1 legalization

LONDON, Ont. - Canadians convicted of simple marijuana possession will have to wait until recreational pot is legalized on July 1 before learning whether they'll be pardoned for something that will no longer be a crime.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ruled out Friday declaring an amnesty before the new law goes into effect.

"We recognize that anyone who is currently purchasing marijuana is participating in illegal activity that is funding criminal organizations and street gangs," he told a news conference wrapping up a twoday cabinet retreat.

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Amnesty for marijuana possession convictions could be in the cards for Canadians, but not before recreational pot is legal.

That's the word from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who wrapped up a two-day federal cabinet retreat in London on Friday.

With Trudeau and his cabinet in town, questions swirled around the potential for a legal amnesty program that may offer Canadians relief when it comes to criminal convictions for simple possession of marijuana.

The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana is just months away from hitting London, with the first local pot shop set to open by July 1. That's the same deadline that's been promised by the Liberal government for legalization.

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A legal pot shop will open in Peterborough this summer and what a report that goes to city council Monday night reveals is that most of the local impacts are still unknown.

One concern for some municipalities is that they have no say on where marijuana stores locate.

It's an old irritation: because municipalities are "creatures of the province" zoning regulations cities normally use to direct where a business can set up shop don't apply. Fortunately, that's not really a concern.

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Having done drug enforcement over two decades, anyone who believes Justin Trudeau when he says "legalization is the best way to keep this dangerous drug away from our kids" is living in fantasy land. There will still be a flourishing black market, as there is in Colorado and Washington states.

By allowing anyone over 19 to grow their own pot supplies, children in such residences will have easy access, plus be exposed to dangerous contaminants emitted from the pot plants.

In Colorado, young kids are flooding ERs after getting into their parents' pot supplies, especially edibles containing high concentrations of THC. We can expect the same here. Sunny Days are not ahead for Canadian kids!

Larry Comeau

Ottawa, Ont.

[end]

Re: Here's why it's time to legalize all drugs, Jan. 10

It seems that both Ottawa Inner City Health and the Ottawa police are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to performing their responsibilities.

As some recent media coverage regarding safe injection sites appears to have placed more emphasis on the general welfare of the addict rather than the challenges faced by law enforcement, it could be helpful for the general population to know more about what exactly is being done by health officials to get people off their drug addictions.

There may be more support for safe access to injection sites if they were clearly identified as places with mandated programs to provide assistance in recovery as opposed to simply continuing with the status quo.

F. Dale Boire, Ottawa

[end]

I read Tyler Dawson's article and couldn't believe what I was reading. Legalize all drugs? Is he out of his mind?

If people are getting hooked on hard drugs because doctors are prescribing them, then the drugs are too potent and they have to look for better ways.

If people choose to do drugs to forget their problems, because everyone else is doing it, it makes them feel good for a few minutes, and so on, then they face the consequences.

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RE: Legalizing cannabis

I have witnessed the detrimental effects of smoking pot on a young teenager diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder. The pot interfered with his medication and he would become psychotic, often requiring hospitalization. He continued to smoke pot despite the warnings from his parents and doctors. He now boasts that smoking pot is a good thing because the government has legalized it and there is even medical marijuana.

As pot is a "gateway drug," he now uses other drugs as well. This leads to his mental condition being out of control at times, but because he is an adult now who has "rights" and because of the limited beds available, he is sent home vulnerable and untreated.

With legalizing pot, I predict a rise in young people experiencing psychotic behaviour and the hospitals unable to deal with this increase. But hey, smoking pot must be a "good thing" because it is legal.

Trudy Leclerc, Hamilton

[end]

Funding for pot shops needed after 'modest revenue' projections, says finance minister

The province and municipalities will incur up-front incremental costs as a result of the federal government's decision to legalize recreational marijuana, says Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa.

In a recent letter to municipalities identified by the province to host initial cannabis retail stores by July, including Niagara Falls, Sousa said "it appears unlikely" there will be enough revenue to cover the costs associated with legalization.

He said with the conclusion of the federal government's consultation with provinces and territories on the tax framework, the Ontario government has a better understanding of the revenue share to address the costs of legalization.

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Picture this: You're an injection drug user in Ottawa, and, you're worried the next time you use, you might die. So, you head for the Shepherds of Good Hope, where there's a special trailer. There, you can use your drugs - and someone will save you if you overdose.

Upon arrival, though, there's a police cruiser outside. Apparently it's there a lot, according to Ottawa Inner City Health, which runs the site, and officers question staff and clients.

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Three weeks after Ontario said it would fast-track creation of temporary safer drug-injection sites, the province has finally cleared away the bureaucratic red tape - a move that will soon lead to a site or sites in London.

The red tape - the Ontario government had promised a 14-day turnaround - - was the last barrier to health units across Ontario to creating safer places to lessen the death toll of opioids. The Middlesex-London Health Unit used the last three weeks to have its application ready to go.

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Re: Here's why it's time to legalize all drugs, Jan. 10

An insignificant number of Canadians use illicit drugs. Less than four per cent use them and less than two per cent have a problem resulting from hard drug use, notably, heroin and cocaine. The consequences, which can include death and overdosing, place a heavy social and economic burden on society.

Let's start by understanding what motivates people, and especially the young, to use drugs. Programs that address the reasons for the behaviour are far more likely to work.

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Workers have been assaulted, but fear of raids stop some from calling police

AFTER NEWS OF THE LATEST armed marijuana dispensary robbery, local cannabis advocate Britney Guerra appealed through a media release for any store owners who have been robbed to call police. The responses she got back shocked her. She knew there were robberies going unreported, but the problem was bigger than she suspected. Within 48 hours she had calls from four different Hamilton store owners who told her they had been robbed - perhaps by the same people - in the last month alone.

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Norfolk moves to control odours from marijuana grow ops

SIMCOE - Norfolk County has opted for a low-key approach to the regulation of marijuana grow operations.

Producers won't have to apply for a zoning amendment or defend their applications at Norfolk council.

However, they will have to meet planning standards and ensure that odours from their operations don't impact the surrounding neighbourhood.

This is the route Norfolk council chose Tuesday after a discussion of marijuana and its potentially negative impact on surrounding properties.

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Last month, the government of Ontario passed the Cannabis Act. It gives the province a monopoly on the sale of recreational marijuana through an estimated 150 stand alone stores to be run by the new Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation.

While the new law piggybacks on the federal decision to legalize recreational marijuana this summer, as well as a new federal-provincial revenue sharing agreement that will give the provinces and territories 75 per cent of federal marijuana revues, it has not been without controversy. In the Ontario Legislature, 27 Progressive Conservatives opposed the law, citing concerns from police associations that more financial support is required for law enforcement. While the NDP supported the law, some of its MPPs expressed concerns about the uncertainty of revenues to be provided to municipalities, as well as the small number of store fronts (40) to be opened this summer, which they see as inadequate to put a dent in the existing black market.

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Whistler council gives first two readings to zoning amendment bylaw - with more to come

The Resort Municipality of Whistler (RMOW) is starting down the long, legislative road of legal recreational marijuana.

At its first meeting of 2018 on Jan. 9, council gave the first two readings to a zoning amendment bylaw concerning cannabis retail, production and distribution - likely the first of many prior to federal legalization of the substance in July.

With much still unknown about the full scope of legal cannabis in Canada and B.C., the zoning bylaw is more a preemptive measure than anything - it updates definitions to align with the new federal Cannabis Act, and reinforces the current status quo in Whistler, which limits cannabis production and distribution to a single site in Function Junction (operated by the Whistler Medical Marijuana Corporation).

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