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]

Liberal government to sell pot through SAQ subsidiary stores, price not set yet

Forced into the pot business by the federal government, the province of Quebec tabled a law Thursday that imposes a strict framework for the consumption, sale and distribution of marijuana.

Bill 157 - an act to constitute the Societe quebecoise du cannabis, or SQC - was formally presented in the legislature by the minister for rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, Lucie Charlebois.

As expected after almost a year of testing the water with the public, Quebec has opted for a focus on averting potential social, health and safety problems that it fears could follow the liberalization of the use of the drug for recreational purposes.

[continues 720 words]

Forced into the pot business by the federal government, the province tabled a law on Thursday that imposes a strict framework for the consumption, sale and distribution of marijuana.

Bill 157 - an act to constitute the Societe quebecoise du cannabis or SQC - was formally presented in the legislature by the minister for rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, Lucie Charlebois.

As expected after almost a year of testing the water with the public, Quebec has opted for the path of prudence with a focus on averting potential social, health and safety problems that it fears could follow the liberalization of the use of the drug for recreational purposes.

[continues 950 words]

Provincial legislation calls for government-run stores, zero tolerance for DUIs

MONTREAL- The rollout of legislation governing the legal marijuana regime in Quebec was likely a downer for pot enthusiasts in a province widely known for its European sensibilities and liberal mores.

To call it a buzzkill would set bloodshot eyes rolling, but the Quebec government unveiled plans to create what is likely to be one of the most restrictive regimes so far in the country.

In introducing the legislation to reporters, even Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois admitted that the province was dragged out of the prohibition era much too quickly by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government.

[continues 593 words]

Safe-driving activists, pot dispensers and businesses all have their own views

Two cannabis activists aren't impressed with the marijuana legalization plan Quebec announced Thursday. But a group that works to decrease impaired driving praised the proposed legislation.

Here's a look at some of the reaction to Bill 157:

Marc-Boris St-Maurice, a longtime pot activist and founder of the Montreal Compassion Centre medical-marijuana dispensary:

"Their plan is still half-baked," he said, noting guidelines announced Thursday are in a draft bill that might change.

[continues 849 words]

Quebec unveiled its pot plan Thursday. Here are some answers to key questions.

Here are answers to key questions as Quebec moves toward legalization of recreational marijuana by July 2018:

Q Who will be allowed to buy pot?

A Under the cannabis-legalization bill put forward Thursday, anyone over 18 would be able to purchase, possess and use cannabis in Quebec. The province's medical specialists wanted the minimum age set at 21.

Q Where will pot be sold?

A Quebec plans to create the Societe quebecoise du cannabis (SQC), which would sell pot via stores and a website.

[continues 536 words]

Bill will be tabled - and campaign on dangers launched - Thursday

Conceding it won't be perfect and more time would help, the Couillard government is to table its long-awaited framework law on Thursday outlining how the legalization of cannabis will work in Quebec.

"Would it be better if we had an additional year? I think so," Lucie Charlebois, the minister of rehabilitation, youth protection, public health and healthy living, told reporters Wednesday.

An extension would give her colleague, Finance Minister Carlos Leitao, the time to finalize negotiations with Ottawa over the distribution of future tax revenues.

[continues 718 words]

Quebec is asking Ottawa for more time to set up an orderly transition to legal recreational marijuana - 24 hours before the province is expected to roll out a framework for sale and use of the drug.

The Quebec National Assembly adopted a motion Wednesday seeking an extra year from the Trudeau government beyond July 1, 2018, when marijuana is set to become legal.

The province says the process is being rushed artificially and the groundwork for issues ranging from law enforcement to taxation and revenue sharing are not ironed out.

[continues 519 words]

Street ads for Weedmaps app under attack for illegality

MONTREAL- Ben Anson says he was outraged to see a large-scale billboard advertising Weedmaps, an app that lists local marijuana providers, crop up in a spot near several schools in Montreal earlier this year.

Recently, he contacted the company hosting the ad, asking them to take it down because of the presence of children in the area. He says they agreed, replacing that ad with a picture of a giraffe.

But the 47-year-old says he also filed a police complaint against the marketing firm handling Weedmaps' advertising, believing the other ads around the city encourage people to engage in illegal activity.

[continues 268 words]

With just enough methadone to last the trip home to Montreal, Melodie was in a panic that she'd missed her flight. She was in Paris, and her supply of prescription methadone, a medicine that helps lower cravings and withdrawal symptoms caused by opiate use, was about to run out. Without it, she worried about a relapse, going into the street in desperation, and doing something dangerous for a fix.

But an online search brought her to a Parisian mobile health clinic. And they welcomed her. They gave her the methadone that she needed to stay sober. There was no bureaucracy, no delay, and no prescription signed by someone in authority - just instant help.

[continues 538 words]

Re: "Study finds pot use can boost violent behaviour" (Montreal Gazette, Oct. 11)

Despite the studies on the effects of pot on users, recreational marijuana is set to become legal in this country, and easily available to anyone over the age of 18 in Quebec.

Our federal and provincial governments should rethink the matter and make access to marijuana more difficult, especially for youths - our future leaders.

It is never too late to review an issue that negatively affects the great society in which we live.

S. Soliman, Brossard

[end]

Coderre says city also entitled to a share to finance resources that will be needed

Left holding the bag on the costs of implementing the policy, Quebec says it wants more than 50 per cent of potential cannabis excise tax revenues.

"It won't be 50-50," Quebec Finance Minister Carlos Leitao told reporters on his way out of a cabinet meeting. "This is just the opening shot. It will not be that at the end of the day."

A cautious Leitao refused to say what level of revenue will satisfy Quebec, noting that the actual price per gram - especially in the state-run system the provinces are creating to undercut organized crime - has yet to be determined.

[continues 510 words]

As pot legalization looms, Indigenous communities are weighing benefits, risks

MONTREAL- Is it a cash crop to lift struggling First Nations out of poverty, or a vice posing a particular risk for a vulnerable population?

As Canada forges ahead with the legalization of marijuana, slated for July 2018, Indigenous people are split about what to do on their territory.

A number of First Nations have signed investment deals with marijuana producers, lured by the promise of profits and other benefits. Others have slammed on the brakes until they can draw up their own rules for growing and selling what is, for a few more months, an illegal drug.

[continues 894 words]

'Zero tolerance' to remain in place despite legalization, companies say

If the repercussions from the legalization of cannabis by next July 1 are already preoccupying certain workplaces, the topic is of particular interest to areas of work in which health and security questions are omnipresent, such as construction sites.

"Our rule won't change," said Eric Cote, spokesperson for l'Association de la construction du Quebec (ACQ). "It will be zero tolerance for people working with weakened faculties," be they weakened by alcohol, cannabis or any other substance.

[continues 393 words]

Premier Philippe Couillard says setting the age to buy legal marijuana at 21 may not be realistic given Quebec's proximity to Ontario, which has set the age at 19.

And there are signs Quebec may be headed for a marijuana sales price of around $7 or $8 a gram in its stand-alone pot stores - again to stay close to the price Ontario is envisions, which is $10 a gram.

Both provinces are aiming to undercut the price organized crime charges.

[continues 347 words]

Couche-Tard co-founder says it's a 'shame' Quebec won't even talk to them about sales

LAVAL, QUE.- Alimentation CoucheTard is still interested in selling marijuana, and its co-founder says he thinks provincial governments should stay out of selling this product.

Alain Bouchard, the executive chairperson of the Quebec-based chain of convenience stores, says Crown corporations getting involved in cannabis sales is a step backward after it becomes legal next year.

Couche-Tard would like to sell cannabis in some of the more than 2,000 stores it operates in Canada.

[continues 260 words]

It's been almost two full years since young Justin Trudeau and his Liberal party performed one of the most impressive revivals of a political party in Canadian history, regaining power from the Royal Canadian Harper Government and providing the country what was, in contrast, a progressive, marketing friendly face to the world. In addition, Young Justin has benefited from the stark contrast between his own public persona and that of the pustule of awfulness that has infested the American White House this year. For many progressives around the world, he has come not only to represent a kind of politics in direct opposition to his American counterpart and a signal of hope to ease the despair of those who see in Trump the moral, economic, and social failure that he represents.

[continues 994 words]

Special branch of SAQ would handle sale, distribution

Adding its two cents to the raging debate, the Parti Quebecois has opted for a strict, state-controlled marijuana distribution system, but would set the legal age to buy it at 18.

The PQ also wants to see some controls on home crops, saying an individual would be limited to two plants not four as the federal government has proposed. And the owner of a building would have the option of banning their tenants from growing and consuming it.

[continues 429 words]