We are already seeing construction workers smoking during their breaks, one industry rep said at a gathering

Contractors, building owners and construction company owners say they are worried about the repercussions of the imminent legalization of cannabis and think there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

The Corporation des proprietaires immobiliers du Quebec, the Association des professionnels de la construction et de l'habitation (APCHQ) and the province's two largest construction unions - the FTQ-Construction and the Conseil Provincial - debated on Monday the impact of the anticipated legalization during a summit of Quebec's construction industry that took place in Montreal.

[continues 85 words]

Like many civic leaders across Canada, councillors in the town of Hampstead, Que., were worried about the idea of people smoking marijuana on the street once the drug became legal. So they drew up a tough bylaw - and it's set to become the most restrictive anti-smoking measure in the country.

In a move that experts predict will motivate other Canadian municipalities, the town of 7,100 has adopted a draft bylaw that would ban smoking everywhere in public, including streets and sidewalks.

[continues 588 words]

Critics fear it will force more to light up indoors

MONTREAL * A Montreal suburb's plan to ban all smoking in public places is drawing mixed reactions, with one anti-tobacco advocate saying it will do more harm than good when it comes to second-hand smoke.

Hampstead city council adopted a draft bylaw this week that would prohibit tobacco or marijuana smoking on municipal property, including sidewalks and streets.

If the bylaw is enacted, Hampstead would become the first municipality in the country to ban smoking in the street, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.

[continues 595 words]

Protesters carrying signs saying "Injustice is fatal!" laid dozens of white carnations next to a coffin on the steps of Montreal City Hall Tuesday, each representing a life lost to a drugoverdose.

A coalition of community groups, crisis workers, activists and drug users held a demonstration demanding the government repeal drug laws that marginalize drug users.

They also held a moment of silence - joining several vigils held simultaneously across Canada. The opioid crisis claimed nearly 3,000 lives in 2016, and the estimated death toll last year is pegged at 4,000 people.

[continues 426 words]

'Be it resolved the government of Canada should treat drug abuse as a health issue, expand treatment and harm reduction services and re-classify low-level drug possession and consumption as administrative violations."

That's the concluding sentence of a draft resolution up for possible consideration at the federal Liberals' next policy convention, to be held in Halifax this April. It follows a preamble that suggests Canada should follow the example of Portugal, which in 2001 did just that, decriminalizing possession of relatively small amounts of illicit drugs.

[continues 347 words]

The province's psychiatrists QUEBEC are calling on Quebec to slap limits on the potency of the cannabis soon to be sold in state-controlled stores because of the health risks of a drug they say can no longer be considered soft.

And the city of Montreal has warned the government it will need a hefty share of the tax revenues pot sales generate to cover the costs of applying the province's cannabis legislation.

Based on an independent study produced by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton, the city estimates legalization will cost Montreal between $4.7 million and $9.3 million a year in new costs in the form of additional hires and training of police officers as well as public education and human resource costs.

[continues 703 words]

Quebec municipalities seek piece of 'pot pie' as legalization creates potential challenges

With Canada's legalization of cannabis slated for July 2018, municipalities in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region could find themselves with an additional source of revenue next year. They could find themselves with many additional expenses, too.

As Quebec puts a claim on half of potential tax revenues related to sales, Quebec municipalities are demanding that one-third of that tax revenue be dedicated to them. The rationale for towns asking for their share is based on an assumption of increased costs for municipalities for law enforcement, urban planning and court costs according to the Union of Quebec Municipalities (UQM).

[continues 274 words]

Re: "Plan for sex ed gets thumbs up, with some reservations" (Montreal Gazette, Dec. 15) Sex education is a good thing. Even better would be separate classes for boys and girls so everyone can feel free to ask any question without being inhibited or fearful of being laughed at.

Not to mention boys and girls are at a different level of maturity.

I would suggest there be specially trained professionals who go from school to school or teachers who get special training in-house.

[continues 92 words]

Mayor Valerie Plante said she had a 'very good' first meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, with the two discussing pot legalization and her Pink Line vision.

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante declared she had a "very good" first meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Tuesday - an opportunity she used to discuss the imminent legalization of marijuana as well as public transit.

Speaking to reporters at city hall afterward, Plante said she was reassured by Trudeau's remarks on the legalization of marijuana, scheduled for July 1.

[continues 223 words]

No one forced Junior Hernandez to swallow the fentanyl, his grieving partner says, but did he understand it could kill him?

Part Four in a series of profiles about the escalating opioid crisis in Quebec.

Before his partner Junior Hernandez died of a fentanyl-related overdose, Christophe Cote says he didn't know much about the drug.

Just before dawn, Junior Hernandez and his sky-is-the-limit friends spilled out of a downtown bar.

They were heading to a friend's place to continue the revelry - drinking, doing coke and ecstasy. Once the drugs ran out, they called a dealer, hopping a taxi to his place. There, they found a stash of tiny, unfamiliar pills called fentanyl. The party ended hours later with Hernandez, 35, lying on a cold slab in a Montreal morgue. Hernandez didn't see the end coming. Neither did his friends.

[continues 1346 words]

While details deserve review, it's crucial not to wait for the legalization of cannabis, Marc Gold writes.

Bill C-46 would allow police to demand that a driver suspected of having a drug in their body provide a saliva sample.

Every holiday season, volunteers for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD) distribute red ribbons to remind us of the lives lost due to impaired driving. Look around over the next few weeks, and you'll find them on key chains, car antennas and pinned to jackets.

[continues 607 words]

Part One in a series of profiles about the escalating opioid crisis in Quebec.

Martin Pare's fascination with syringes started as a child at a racetrack. He saw a veterinarian stick a needle in a horse's neck. What's he doing? the boy asked his father. It's to make the horse run faster, his father replied. After the horse won his race, the boy furtively took the needle and empty vial from the garbage. At home, he filled his syringe with water and began injecting his toy stuffed animals.

[continues 1658 words]

MONTREAL - McGill University law professor Daniel Weinstock says he heartily recommends his students take up criminal law in order to take advantage of the country's new, strict cannabis laws.

"There is going to be a steady stream of customers," Weinstock said, referring to the influx of people he estimates will be moving through the justice system.

The professor's comments were partly made in jest but serve to illustrate a larger point: upcoming marijuana laws - in response to domestic and U.S. politics - will be a boon for lawyers.

[continues 487 words]

The prospect of legalization opens up Pandora's box overflowing with dilemmas

A few years ago, after a heated argument with a friend at a party, I decided that I would never/ever write about whether marijuana should be legalized.

But since this-bud's-for-you (or not), colloquially called skunk, (a.k.a. mary jane), is being legalized real soon, I have decided to unbutton my loose lip and (gently) lower my big toe into the bath water. This is primarily because it is a headline topic that will deeply (I think) affect the West Island. (I promise not to take sides because that would only get me crappy letters. I am not threatened by my capacity for being weak-kneed nor my addiction to the errant exploitation of parentheses.)

[continues 706 words]

MONTREAL - As provinces begin drafting laws for the control and sale of cannabis on their territories, an upcoming Supreme Court of Canada case is threatening to derail their plans.

Ontario and Quebec, for instance, want to create provincial cannabis monopolies. As a consequence, Quebecers and Ontarians would be prohibited from mailordering recreational cannabis from licensed producers outside their home province or buying pot from anyone other than their provincial government.

But on Dec. 6, the Supreme Court begins hearing arguments in a case that could mean the end of state-run monopolies as they apply to another favourite Canadian vice: alcohol.

[continues 532 words]

Quebec's proposed legislation regarding the regulation of marijuana-set to be legalized federally on July 1, 2018-will likely be the harshest in the country, amassing much criticism since it was tabled on Nov. 16. On one side, the Quebec Liberal Party has come under attack from news sites, such as Vice, and marijuana activists for being too strict; on the other, opposing parties, like the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ), have called Bill 157 too permissive. Yet, as they stand, Quebec's proposed weed laws strike an advantageous balance between mitigating the potentially dangerous aftershocks of marijuana legalization-like a spike in youth consumption and DUIs-and being liberal enough to accommodate for responsible consumers and decrease the incentive for the retention of a significant black market. Bill 157 is strict, but not without reason.

[continues 603 words]

Few Quebec police officers are trained to determine whether drivers are under the influence of marijuana, a federation of cop unions says.

"Police services are simply not ready" for cannabis legalization, Robin Cote, president of the 4,500-member Federation des policiers et policieres municipaux du Quebec (FPMQ), said on Friday.

The FPMQ issued a plea for more training a day after the provincial government presented its pot-legalization bill.

Under Quebec's plan, there would be zero-tolerance for driving under the influence of marijuana.

[continues 162 words]

Beaconsfield resident Ben Anson wants the city to take a stand and prohibit the sale of recreational marijuana within its borders.

With the federal government's July 1, 2018, deadline to legalize recreational marijuana looming and the Quebec government in the throes of hammering out the finer details of tabled Bill 157 - the legislation that will govern pot sales in the province - Anson wants the public to pay attention to what he sees as the potential social and public health problems.

[continues 413 words]

Re: "Police not ready to test drivers for pot: unions" (Montreal Gazette, Nov. 18)

Having enforced Canada's drug laws for over three decades, I can sympathize with police across Canada. At least Quebec's legislation, unlike the federal plan, bans the growing of marijuana at home.

It's been reported that road deaths in Colorado and Washington doubled after recreational pot was legalized in those states. That and the fact there is no easy roadside test for THC levels should raise alarm bells here.

[continues 58 words]

Meanwhile, Alberta embraces private sector

MONTREAL * Forced into the pot business by the federal government, Quebec on Thursday tabled strict marijuana legislation, striving to give itself full control over the industry, push out the private sector and create a zero-tolerance policy for driving under the influence of all drugs.

"This is an important change to our society," Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois said after tabling Bill 157. "The experts recommended we be prudent to start and then to see if we need to adjust. They asked us to be rigorous and to see how citizens evolve."

[continues 668 words]