With changes to marijuana laws on the horizon, a former star athlete's lawyers argue that sending him to jail for marijuana trafficking would shock the community and violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Seamus John Neary, 25, was in Saskatoon Court of Queen's Bench Tuesday for sentencing arguments after he was found guilty of trafficking 9.5 kilograms of marijuana. The crime does not carry a mandatory minimum, but federal law changes in 2012 removed the option of a conditional sentence order, or jail sentence served in the community, for trafficking more than three kilograms of pot. [continues 439 words]
With changes to marijuana laws on the horizon, a former star athlete's lawyers argue that sending him to jail for marijuana trafficking would shock the community and violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Seamus John Neary, 25, was in Saskatoon Court of Queen's Bench Tuesday for sentencing arguments after he was found guilty of trafficking 9.5 kilograms of marijuana. The crime does not carry a mandatory minimum, but federal law changes in 2012 removed the option of a conditional sentence order, or jail sentence served in the community, for trafficking more than three kilograms of pot. [continues 440 words]
Province to Provide Input on Roadside Testing Ahead of Legalization Premier Brad Wall wants to know more about driver safety and marijuana. With the federal government planning to have legalization legislation next spring, the province is putting together a team to study what impact that could have on Saskatchewan roads. The Justice, Corrections and Policing and SGI ministers will all examine the issue before reporting their findings to a federal task force focusing on regulatory issues surrounding marijuana. "We want to make sure we're part of the process recommending some things back to the federal government, in terms of keeping our roads safe, in terms of public safety issues that may arise from marijuana legalization and normalization, to the extent that will happen," said Wall. [continues 306 words]
Province Plans to Offer Input on Federal Roadside Testing Legalization Premier Brad Wall wants to know more about driver safety and marijuana. With the federal government planning to have legalization legislation next spring, the province is putting together a team to study what impact that could have on Saskatchewan roads. The Justice, Corrections and Policing and SGI ministers will all examine the issue before reporting their findings to a federal task force focusing on regulatory issues surrounding marijuana. "We want to make sure we're part of the process recommending some things back to the federal government, in terms of keeping our roads safe, in terms of public safety issues that may arise from marijuana legalization and normalization, to the extent that will happen," said Wall. [continues 306 words]
There was a day where the fight against marijuana was considered crucial to the health of our nation and most people were on the same page. Pass on grass was a common sentiment. Now, as we are well into the 21st century, attitudes have changed dramatically, and recreational marijuana use is more socially acceptable than it has ever been. In more and more jurisdictions in North America, the use of pot has been or soon will be legalized, or decriminalized, and that includes right here in Canada. [continues 374 words]
Contamination in houses used to produce illegal drugs can easily be overlooked during routine inspections, which is why the province needs a comprehensive registry of former marijuana grow-ops and methamphetamine labs, according to the Association of Saskatchewan Realtors (ASR). "The information's available (to police), and we think it should be made available to our members and to potential buyers, so they're able to make an informed decision when they look to buy a house," ASR CEO Bill Madder said. [continues 553 words]
There are discrepancies about safe dosages, its use in treating PTSD Auditor general Michael Ferguson has raised important questions about the increasing use of medical marijuana by Canadian military veterans. As authorities contemplate enforcement actions and zoning bylaws relevant to marijuana dispensaries, and the federal Liberal government prepares for legalization in 2017, Ferguson is urging the Department of Veterans Affairs to address the amount of medical cannabis being prescribed to veterans. He found the quantity prescribed was "poorly documented" and not always evidence-based. [continues 433 words]
Saskatoon Police Service Cst. Matt Ingrouille Headed A Blunt Conversation About Drugs On Saturday Last year saw then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper declare; "Marijuana is infinitely worse" than tobacco. At the time, he cited nonexistent "overwhelming and growing scientific and medical evidence" that he said would support his claim. Those educated on the subject toned him out, just as they've toned out certain anti-drug messages whose purported "facts" don't align with reality. It's this kind of condescension that Saskatoon Police Service Cst. Matt Ingrouille avoided during a direct conversation about drugs and addiction with a Prince Albert audience on Saturday. [continues 550 words]
Pending final approval from Health Canada, Mark McCaul plans to sell medical marijuana in downtown Prince Albert as soon as possible. His intent is to expand his "unorthodox medicinal supply shop," The Hum (62 13th St. W.), into the property next-door once all of his legal ducks are in a row. But first, he has some misconceptions to dispel; an effort he's been striving to accomplish through his own actions as a medical marijuana advocate. Surrounded by bongs and other paraphernalia associated with marijuana in his shop, McCaul admits that a common assumption is that he's some "major stoner." [continues 397 words]
Local Marijuana Advocates React To The Announce Of Now Pot Laws Next Spring It's the most wonderful time, literally, of the year for marijuana users across Canada. This year's 4/20 (April 20) is extra special for marijuana users across country since federal Health Minister Jane Philpott announced earlier in the day that the federal government plans to begin marijuana legalization by next spring. "I think it's about time," said Brent Bekter, owner and operator of Watch Tower Glass at 420 High St. "I think if they do it with etiquette and intelligence, it should work out for everyone." [continues 339 words]
Some Prince Albert city councillors are balking at a suggestion that legalized pot could help reduce binge drinking in the city. The city released it's "alcohol strategy" this week, a culmination of years of work to document and offer ways to combat problems with underage and binge drinking. However, some are taken aback by the report's suggestion that legalized pot could help curb chronic alcohol abuse. "I personally have concerns," Coun. Rick Orr said. "I think it's another one of the items that we have to deal with from a community addictions point of view." [continues 455 words]
In a province that has led Canada since 2010 in the rate of HIV infections and in a city where researchers describe intravenous drug use as an "epidemic," the call by Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) Chief Felix Thomas to investigate the value of establishing a safe injection site is a highly sensible idea. It's time to put to rest the knee-jerk, anti-science attitude of the former federal Conservative government, which ignored credible data on the lives saved and harm reduced by Vancouver's Insite facility, and seriously explore whether Saskatoon might benefit from a similar service. [continues 359 words]
Some Prince Albert city councillors are balking at a suggestion that legalized pot could help reduce binge drinking in the city. The city released its "alcohol strategy" this week, a culmination of years of work to document and offer ways to combat problems with underage and binge drinking. However, some are taken aback by the report's suggestion that legalized pot could help curb chronic alcohol abuse. "I personally have concerns," Coun. Rick Orr said. "I think it's another one of the items that we have to deal with from a community addictions point of view." [continues 456 words]
Trudeau promised to make marijuana legal. Where's that at? Instead of "Hump Day" on April 20, thousands of Canadians will celebrate "Hemp Day" through the annual 4/20 protest against pot prohibition. With the Trudeau Liberals committed to legalizing cannabis, spirits should be high. But the fact remains that unless you're a licensed medical user, if you possess or share marijuana at the protest, you're breaking the law. Bill Blair, the former Toronto police chief who's the government's point man on the file as parliamentary secretary to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, made that crystal clear in a recent CBC interview. [continues 1689 words]
Saskatoon Tribal Council wants to study establishing a location in city The chief of the Saskatoon Tribal Council wants to investigate the merits of a safe injection site in the city. "We haven't determined whether or not there should be one here yet. My standpoint is we need to look at the facts and the data and make an informed decision," Felix Thomas said. The new Liberal federal government appears more friendly to the concept than its Conservative predecessor - last month, Health Canada granted a four-year exemption from federal drug laws for Vancouver's Insite. [continues 585 words]
New Zealand's retention of the Union Jack in its flag's corner was a decision taken by that country's population (in a referendum) and not by a prime minister and his cohorts. The original flag's emblem stood for the kind of government and laws that had evolved over hundreds of years, which New Zealand, upon creation, espoused and followed. Cultural matters concern people. Referendums ask the people's opinion. In Canada, legalizing marijuana use - in spite of its damaging effect on the undeveloped brains of children and youths (as experienced in Colorado and recently reported in newspapers) - is the kind of decision that needs a referendum. Marijuana can affect the present population and future generations. Already, classrooms have children seriously affected by drug use. A referendum asking all Canadians whether they agree or not with such a cultural change should occur. Christine Berriman, Regina [end]
The farce continues: We had a compassion club in Saskatoon, much like those in many other Canadian cities. In it, sick people helped sick people find relief from a variety of problems through the use of marijuana. Now what do we have? The same people who cannot shut down or even reduce the underground illegal sales of marijuana are treating those compassionate people as if they are major criminals. My heart goes out to Jamie Hagel (I am not a drug trafficker, March 16) and the other defendants in the Saskatoon Compassion Club case. There is no need to proceed with these prosecutions. Recently the SP ran a story about the only man imprisoned for violating the ignorant homosexuality laws. Who is going to be proud of enforcing the ignorant marijuana laws that are in their final days on our law books? [continues 115 words]
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan has added naloxone and buprenorphine to its methadone treatment guidelines. It's a recognition of alternate drugs that are used to cope with opioid dependency, associate registrar Bryan Salte said. The college introduced a new, more thorough 102-page set of guidelines last year based on Alberta's model. The guidelines help physicians who prescribe methadone - and now the new drugs - to patients with opioid addictions. They spell out how to write prescriptions, assess potential patients and determine proper dosage as well as when to let patients take doses home and when to halt treatment. [continues 64 words]
Addiction worker charged after raid on dispensary Jamie Hagel knows drugs can ruin lives. She's worked in the area of addictions for more than a decade and helped set up harm reduction programs in Saskatoon's inner city. She never knew Crohn's disease would take her down a path that would result in police charging her with trafficking marijuana. "I am not a drug trafficker, nor am I a threat to this community," Hagel said in an interview. She was one of four people arrested during a police raid on the Saskatchewan Compassion Club last October. Last week, she pleaded not guilty to charges of trafficking and possession of proceeds of crime. [continues 336 words]
A Brock University professor says Canada's provincial governments should consider distributing marijuana through public liquor stores as a way to change people's perspective on the drug following the federal Liberals' 2015 election promise to legalize it. Dan Malleck, an associate professor of health sciences, is among the panellists scheduled to speak at a symposium on marijuana legalization at the University of Saskatchewan this week. Malleck, who has studied the history of liquor control and drug prohibition, said provincial governments sold alcohol in the past not to perpetuate prohibition principles, but rather to normalize alcohol use for the public. [continues 418 words]
Lane Britnell says the Saskatoon police ruined $2,000 worth of his legally obtained marijuana extracts following a raid of they city's only medical marijuana dispensary. The former employee of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club says when police returned cannabis extracts that were seized from his home during raids last October, he found that most of the cannabis products were ruined. "I would say 80 per cent of it was destroyed or rendered unusable," Britnell said. His lawyer successfully applied to have a judge order police to return the cannabis seized from his home during the Oct. 29 raids, he said. [continues 330 words]
Employers may ask for drug tests Justin Trudeau's Liberal government has promised to legalize recreational marijuana use, but anyone thinking about sparking a joint before starting a new job could be in for a rude surprise, according to one legal expert. "In the grand scheme of things, I don't think this is really going to change the landscape that much in terms of the law in the workplace," said Keir Vallance, who practised labour and employment law before joining the University of Saskatchewan's College of Law. [continues 327 words]
Justin Trudeau's Liberal government has promised to legalize recreational marijuana use, but anyone thinking about sparking a joint before starting a new job could be in for a rude surprise, according to one legal expert. "In the grand scheme of things, I don't think this is really going to change the landscape that much in terms of the law in the workplace," said Keir Vallance, who practised labour and employment law before joining the University of Saskatchewan's College of Law. [continues 329 words]
Saskatoon's police chief says the Liberal government needs to clarify Canada's marijuana laws to combat serious misunderstandings about the legality of the drug. "The police aren't anti-marijuana," Chief Clive Weighill said. "But we are in a situation right now that is a very grey zone." Weighill said despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's election promise that pot will be legalized for personal use, smoking, growing and selling weed in Canada is still against the law. Weighill, who is also president of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, said the government needs to offer clarity to people - especially those who believe that because of the election promise, the drug is already legal. [continues 421 words]
Medical Marijuana Store Owner Says Users Suffer Without Access to Weed Pleas from the owner of Saskatoon's now-shuttered medical marijuana dispensary that he be allowed to operate in the grey area of the law fell on deaf ears at a council committee meeting. Mark Hauk, founder of the Saskatoon Compassion Club, closed the dispensary's doors after he was charged last fall with trafficking, production and possessing the proceeds of crime. He told council's planning committee on Monday that the closure means many people who relied on medical marijuana are now suffering. He asked that his business be allowed to operate despite the fact that it is presently considered illegal under federal law. [continues 355 words]
I wrote last week a column about marijuana that contained bad information. I had heard complaints from three different people that they could not find a doctor in Saskatoon to prescribe medical marijuana. I have since learned that maybe they weren't seeing the right doctors. Some doctors still will not write prescriptions for the once-forbidden herb, but plenty of others have come around. Saskatoon-based supplier CanniMed alone has filled prescriptions written by 290 Saskatchewan doctors, 136 of them in Saskatoon, at last count. This would not include doctors whose prescriptions are filled by other licensed suppliers, of which there are more than 20. So, medical marijuana is far from impossible to get here, as I incorrectly reported. [continues 606 words]
Re: Why is marijuana legal in Vancouver and not Saskatoon (Feb. 4). CanniMed has 290 prescribing physicians in Saskatchewan with 136 physicians in Saskatoon alone, who have authorized patients to access medical marijuana through the legal Health Canada sanctioned Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations system. More are becoming familiar with the value of cannabis as a medicine every day. General practitioners, family medicine specialists, oncologists, rheumatologists and hundreds of other doctors should be seen as the gateway to this valuable medicine. None of them prescribe medical advice through a Skype format. There is enough confusion within the medical marijuana program in Canada without columnists like Les MacPherson failing to do their research. Brent Zettl, president & CEO, CanniMed Ltd. [end]
Solicitor says storefront operations not permitted to dispense marijuana The owner of a Saskatoon marijuana dispensary has shuttered his storefront due to the financial burden associated with drug trafficking charges levelled against him, but he says he plans to continue helping people get medical marijuana licences through a newly founded organization. "All things put together, unfortunately we had to move from that spot," said Mark Hauk, owner of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club. Hauk closed the dispensary, which was located in the 200 block of Second Avenue North in Saskatoon, on Feb. 1. [continues 382 words]
Seamus John Neary, the ex-Huskie footballer caught with 9.5 kilograms of marijuana, intends to argue the sentencing rules for marijuana trafficking aren't constitutional. Neary was convicted in November of trafficking marijuana and possessing the proceeds of crime. On Friday in Saskatoon Court of Queen's Bench, his sentencing hearing was adjourned to May 31, when constitutional arguments will be heard. Under the law, trafficking-related charges where the amount of marijuana is more than three kilograms are not eligible for community-based jail sentences, or conditional sentence orders. [continues 93 words]
Canada is a country, right? Canadian law is supposed to apply equally, everywhere, to all of us, right? So why is marijuana openly for sale by retailers all over Vancouver and Victoria, while elsewhere in the country, people still are getting busted for a lousy joint? That's more like two different countries than one country. In Vancouver and Victoria, the retail business operates under the rubric of medical marijuana. Hardly anyone takes this medical aspect seriously. To buy a sack of weed, you need only present a prescription or facsimile thereof. It doesn't even have to be a prescription for medical marijuana. Show a prescription for anything - - an antibiotic for a sinus infection, an anti-inflammatory for a sprained ankle, ointment for a rash ... anything - and they will sell you a sack of weed. You can show them an old prescription pill bottle or even a picture on your iPhone of an old pill bottle and they will sell you a sack of weed. [continues 535 words]
Saskatoon's drug trade helped boost property crimes in 2015, according to city police. Acting police chief Bernie Pannell said Tuesday that increases in crimes like break-and-enters, thefts over $5,000 and possession of stolen property in 2015 compared to 2014 can be linked to the drug trade. It's part of an ongoing trend of several years, Pannell added in an interview. "There's an awful lot of opportunistic theft that is occurring and we believe it's connected to our drug trade," Pannell said. "We're seeing it increasing." [continues 428 words]
Distribution of kits encouraged to help deal with opioid overdoses The College of Physicians and Surgeons council has given its blessing for doctors to prescribe naloxone to people other than the drug users who need it. "This could be parents; it could be other family members; it could be associates; it could be shelters or police detention," said addictions specialist Peter Butt. He's overseeing a pilot project to distribute naloxone kits and had asked the college for its support. "It's not unregulated in any way, but rather is part of an integrated approach to preventing opioid overdose deaths." [continues 168 words]
An addictions specialist wants Saskatchewan doctors to be able to prescribe naloxone to family and agencies close to the patients who need the life-saving drug. "In order to be in-line with the evidence and actually to be more effective in terms of treating opioid overdoses and preventing overdose deaths, we would like to be able to prescribe it to people associated with users in a more evidence-based and practical approach," Dr. Peter Butt said. He has asked the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan to support the idea, which the college will consider at its Friday meeting. This would allow doctors, and perhaps nurse practitioners, to prescribe with a clear conscience, Butt said. [continues 339 words]
Marijuana has been in the news ever since the Liberal government made promises to make "real changes" towards legalization of the controversial drug. Stated on the Liberal website, the official party position is that "Canada's current system of marijuana prohibition does not work." While recreational use of marijuana is still strictly prohibited, doctors have prescribed medical marijuana for some time. Recently, and contrary to federal law, medical marijuana dispensaries have been popping up across the country. This past summer, Vancouver was the first city in Canada to regulate medical dispensaries in the city, despite being technically illegal and drawing criticism from former health minister and interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose. [continues 917 words]
SPECIAL REPORT: This is Part I of a three-part series that will delve into one local man's usage of medical marijuana after he sustained serious injuries. It hasn't been an easy road for the husband and father of two over the past couple of years. He has battled a stigma, lost his job and had been popping all kinds of pills until he found medical marijuana. A Moose Jaw man is frustrated with what he claims is an outdated stigma against the medicine he uses - marijuana. [continues 725 words]
This is Part II of a three-part series that will delve into one local man's usage of medical marijuana after he sustained serious injuries. Part I, which was printed in the Jan. 18 edition of the Times-Herald, outlined the plethora of prescription drugs Chris Kuntz was taking before he tried medical marijuana. He has battled stigma and lost his job over the past couple of years, but claimed marijuana has him feeling as close to full health as he has in the past several months. [continues 744 words]
Re: Addiction myths debunked, Opinion, Dec. 29 While Michael Pond supports using one substance to get off another to escape alcoholism or drug addiction, it's worth mentioning how cannabis (marijuana) has historically been used to help people. The plant is not physically addictive, hasn't killed anyone in over 5,000 years of documented use and should be available to citizens trying to get off hard drug addiction and alcoholism. Further, re-legalizing the plant in itself will lower hard drug addiction rates to begin with. Dillon, Colorado [end]
Liberals Clamp Down on Cigarettes but Make It Easier to Smoke Pot Where there's smoke - there's a strange disconnect in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's thinking. Trudeau wants Health Minister Jane Philpott to make it one of her priorities to crack down even further on tobacco companies by mandating plain packaging for cigarettes, hoping to make smoking even less of an enticement for Canadians. Trudeau wants to legalize marijuana, which will make smoking it more of an enticement to those Canadians who may have been previously deterred by its illegal status. [continues 585 words]
The sudden death of Shauna Wolf on Dec. 27 while she was being held on remand at the Pine Grove Correctional Centre raises some troubling questions, starting with the fact that provincial policy still doesn't require justice officials to publicly disclose every such death as soon as practicable. Surely, there's nothing a government in a democratic society does on our behalf that's more serious or sensitive than to deprive people of their freedom. Whenever someone who is taken into custody then dies while in lock-up, the death should become public information as soon as the person's family is notified. [continues 351 words]
The Crown has dropped multiple charges against four Saskatoon residents who were arrested after a high-profile medical marijuana dispensary bust. On Wednesday in Saskatoon provincial court, all charges relating to marijuana derivatives, such as oils, were withdrawn against Mark Phillip Hauk, Lane Anthony Britnell, Jaime Michelle Hagel and Carson Jocelyn Ramsay. Hauk, the owner of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club dispensary, and the three employees were arrested Oct. 29 after Saskatoon police raided the small shop in the 200 block of Second Avenue North. They are out on bail and still face four criminal charges relating to trafficking dried marijuana and possession of the proceeds of crime. [continues 353 words]
The sudden death of Shauna Wolf on Dec. 27 while she was being held on remand at the Pine Grove Correctional Centre raises some troubling questions, starting with the fact that provincial policy still doesn't require justice officials to publicly disclose every such death as soon as practicable. Surely, there's nothing a government in a democratic society does on our behalf that's more serious or sensitive than to deprive people of their freedom. Whenever someone who is taken into custody then dies while in lock-up, the death should become public information as soon as the person's family is notified. [continues 352 words]
Stickers bearing Saskatoon Mayor Don Atchison's name and the City of Saskatoon logo are being actively removed from surfaces throughout the city's downtown. Richard Brown, Atchison's spokesman, said there is no connection between the mayor's office and the stickers, which read: "Don Atchison for a drug and gay free Saskatoon," and appear with the green City of Saskatoon logo. Brown would not comment further on the stickers. According to a statement issued by the city, the stickers were first noticed in mid-December and have appeared in the downtown area and on parking pay stations on several occasions. [continues 197 words]
Inside Saskatchewan
