Feds have promised a deadline of July 1, 2018 The day marijuana advocates and enthusiasts have long been waiting for what will come in 2018 - recreational marijuana will be legalized on Canada Day. But with federal legislation comes a host of logistical and revenue issues for provinces and cities across the country. Vancouver may appear to have a head start, as the city established a licensing program for marijuana dispensaries in 2015, but it will need to follow provincial rules on the issue as well. [continues 348 words]
Conditions can push people to commit crimes: Study Releasing people on bail on the condition they do not go to the Downtown Eastside sets them up for failure, according to research from three Canadian universities. Judges often order people on bail to avoid certain "no-go zones" or "red zones" in an effort to prevent them from committing crimes. But it, in fact, does the exact opposite, says SFU geography professor Nicholas Blomley. "These are people who have yet to be found guilty of an offence," he said. [continues 391 words]
City's health authority to use drug users' info to lower deaths Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) is rolling out an alert warning system that aims to bring drug overdose and contamination information to drug users faster. The eight-month pilot program will crowd source information from the drug users and relay it to their peers via harm reduction service providers in the community. Health providers currently post warnings whenever authorities receive word from police about a particularly dangerous batch of drugs or when service providers notice a spike in overdoses, but that information often comes a week or two after the fact, said Dr. Mark Lysyshyn, medial health officer at VCH. [continues 271 words]
One dispensary owner says licensing process is too strict It's been almost two years since Vancouver city councillors adopted new pot-shop regulations, but after dishing out more than 1,600 tickets, the city is still dealing with 57 marijuana retail businesses that are not abiding by the rules. That doesn't include the 38 dispensaries or compassion clubs that don't have licences but are exempted from ticketing because they say they are going to put an application together, said Kathryn Holm, head of licensing at the City of Vancouver. [continues 453 words]
Six people died from overdoses last week in Vancouver As the number of overdose deaths continues to rise in Vancouver, the city announced it wants to see more fentanyl test strips made available to drug users. The strips test for the presence of fentanyl and a nine-month pilot project at Insite found users who knew their drugs contained fentanyl were more likely to decrease their dose and therefore less likely to overdose. It's an approach that could save more lives, said Mayor Gregor Robertson. "Our residents are literally dying waiting for both treatment options that will get them off dangerous street drugs and save their lives, and immediate interventions like expanded drug testing that reduce overdoses," he said in a press release. [continues 111 words]
Beach Avenue along Sunset Beach closed Thursday The stage is set for today's 4-20 pot rally at Sunset Beach in Vancouver and organizers say the annual protest is here to stay despite the federal government's intention to legalize pot next year. The unpermitted event, which drew 25,000 people to the beach last year, will feature more than 300 vendor booths and live music. Park board commissioners voted against giving 4-20 event organizers a permit for this year's event but that hasn't changed things on the ground, said marijuana advocate, Dana Larsen. [continues 327 words]
Board would have been able to charge 4-20 organizers $35K This year's kerfuffle over whether Vancouver would give 4-20 event organizers a permit or not holds some lessons for next year, says the park board chairman. This year's 4-20 pot rally in Vancouver will go on without a permit, making it harder for park board staff to ensure the event does not damage the park and that people are safe, said Vancouver Park Board chairman Michael Wiebe. [continues 333 words]
Protesters and tokers refuse to change 4-20 event venue It looks like tens of thousands of people will flock to Sunset Beach on April 20th this year to smoke and to buy marijuana from hundreds of booths regardless of whether city politicians like it or not. Vancouver city council was originally going to consider finding a new location for this year's 4/20 rally but event organizers made it clear with less than a month to go, it was too late. The race to find a new location was triggered by the Vancouver Park Board's vote to reject organizers' permit application for Sunset Beach. [continues 485 words]
Pot shop experts and a local city councillor are applauding the federal government for setting a date for marijuana legalization but warn its success rests on marijuana prices and provincial funding. The federal government announced Sunday night it will introduce legislation to legalize marijuana in April and that the law would come into effect no later than Canada Day 2018. But dozens of pot shops in the city operate in a legal grey area and experts say their fate is uncertain in light of the upcoming legalization. One marijuana dispensary manager says customers are already coming in with questions about the decision. [continues 444 words]
Council to look at motion to work with organizers Vancouver city council will consider whether it should work with local 4/20 protest organizers to find a new location for the annual pot rally, which failed to receive a permit from the Park Board for Sunset Beach. The main reason for the motion is money, according to Coun. Adriane Carr, who plans to table the motion Tuesday. "I'm a pragmatic person. I rather see the event permitted and then the cost born by the event organizers, not by the citizens," she told Metro. [continues 224 words]
Activist couple arrested in Toronto, face 15 drug charges Vancouver police raided Cannabis Culture, headquarters of marijuana activists Marc and Jodie Emery, Thursday morning at the request of Toronto police. The couple were arrested in Toronto Wednesday and face 15 counts, including trafficking, drug possession and proceeds of crime charges. Police across the country have raided seven shops in the Emery chain, branded Cannabis Culture. The federal government has said it will legalize marijuana this year. A Cannabis Culture employee, who identified himself as Chris, said police took marijuana products as well as routers and computers from the store on West Hastings Street near Cambie Street. [continues 424 words]
Organizers say the rally will go ahead anyway Vancouver's Park Board has rejected an application for a special event permit for this year's 4/20 rally at Sunset Beach. Last year's unlicensed rally, which attracted at least 25,000 people to Vancouver's waterfront, was unlicensed and drew criticism from the park board chair who said the event was "unwanted and would not be welcomed back in 2017." The park board's 4-3 vote Monday night against the motion to provide a permit to event organizers reflected that sentiment, said chair Michael Wiebe. "The will of the board is we don't want it to happen in our parks. It is not okay for us to relax the bylaw for this protest group," said Wiebe. He says he is working with event organizers and the city to find a new location, not in a city park, for 4/20. [continues 299 words]
Dispensaries say it can help some dogs with anxiety Pot can help man's best friend too, say several Vancouver pot shop operators, but at least one vet is warning pet owners to proceed with caution. A sign outside Cannawide, a medical marijuana dispensary on West 4th, claims cannabis products can help dogs with anxiety and joint pain. Some people come into the store solely to buy cannabis products for their dogs with no intention of using medicinal pot products themselves, said Andrew Gordon, community integration director at the Cannawide. [continues 233 words]
Marijuana Advocates Rail Against 'Waste of Tax Dollars' Three of the 17 medical marijuana dispensaries named in injunction applications filed by the City of Vancouver last month have voluntarily closed down and more injunctions are coming by the end of the month, according to councillor Kerry Jang. He called it a small victory in the fight to regulate pot shops in the city. "We are slowly but surely getting compliance," he said. The city has handed out 351 tickets to the 52 locations that remain open past the city's closure deadline of April 29. [continues 210 words]
City Issues Injunctions - And Is Planning To Issue More The City of Vancouver has filed court injunctions to shut down 17 of 55 medical marijuana stores that have defied the city's April 29 deadline to close. City staff have issued 246 bylaw violation tickets, each worth $250, since the deadline. The 17 stores subject to the injunctions were chosen based on community feedback, the owners' response to enforcement, and their proximity to stores that have approved permits. "These stores were targeted for the first round of injunctions because they had the most complaints," said Coun. Kerry Jang. [continues 118 words]
