It's possible, even likely, that at some point next year, Ontarians will be able to search store shelves for 'purple haze', 'blue dream' and 'kosher kush' marijuana alongside their VQA merlots, sauvignon blancs and moscatos. Work is well underway to lay the foundation for marijuana legalization in this country, with legislation expected in the spring. Pot advocates have long argued legalization could give our economy a lift. A new report suggests that lift could surpass anyone's wildest prophecy. A study produced by the Deloitte firm - titled Recreational Marijuana: Insights and Opportunities - suggests a legal marijuana industry in Canada could be worth an incredible $22.6 billion - more than the sales of wine, spirits and beer combined. [continues 210 words]
The Liberals' election promise to legalize marijuana use will take legislative form in about a year, but few entrepreneurs seem prepared to wait. Apparently, dispensaries are springing up like, well, buds in Toronto, just as they have in Vancouver. The CBC reports that along one stretch of the Danforth alone, three dispensaries have sprouted in recent weeks. Similar facilities have also opened on Barrie's Dunlop Street. It seems there's a greater demand for medical marijuana than most of us imagined. [continues 271 words]
The legalization of marijuana is not near the top of the agenda for Justin Trudeau's Liberal government. But maybe it should be. Governments, police, businesses, users and aspiring entrepreneurs alike are all increasingly anxious to get some clarity on where Canada is headed on this issue. A lot of people are seeing dollar signs. Last week, the Globe and Mail revealed both Shoppers Drug Mart and London Drugs are working toward becoming distributors of medical marijuana. [continues 265 words]
South Simcoe Municipalities Not Sure How to Zone Operations Clearview Mayor Ken Ferguson speaks very positively about his experience with a commercial medical marijuana producer that's been operating in his township for the past two years. Ferguson said the municipality does not regulate the grower The Peace Naturals Project through zoning bylaws and so far things have worked out fine. He said it was clear to him from the get-go that the medical marijuana operation was just another type of farming. [continues 569 words]
Once again the Town of New Tecumseth is left in the unenviable position of having to draft regulations for a business after it has already pretty much set up shop in town. This time it's a methadone clinic currently being renovated for use behind Groundswell Coffee House on Victoria Street. The last time such a problem arose it was in the same neighbourhood. The drug paraphernalia shop, Happy Dayz, drew the ire of neighbouring business with its window displays of bongs and other drug accoutrements. [continues 492 words]
Can't Stop It, but Can Regulate It Through Licensing ALLISTON - New Tecumseth may not be able to stop a methadone treatment clinic from opening in downtown Alliston, but it can regulate it. Monday night, New Tecumseth council approved a business licencing bylaw for methadone maintenance treatment establishments. The town is also amending its zoning bylaw to prevent future methadone treatment clinics from opening in one the downtown core of Alliston, Beeton or Tottenham. Council chambers was packed Monday night, with people standing along the walls and in the hallway outside, to hear the town's take on the methadone treatment clinic. Speakers were also set up outside council chambers and in the lobby on the first floor as town staff anticipated a big turnout for the meeting. [continues 857 words]
ALLISTON - Downtown Alliston business owners have concerns and are even threatening to close if a methadone treatment clinic opens on Victoria Street West. Incoming chair of the Alliston Business Improvement Association Janette Vander Zaag told New Tecumseth council Monday night that renovations are being made to a unit at 96 Victoria St. W. for a methadone clinic. The unit is accessed at the back of the building, where there are also entrances for Curves and the Good Shepherd Food Bank. She said the clinic will be run by Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres (OATC). [continues 275 words]
Parents can look forward to some positive changes to Ontario's elementary school curriculum this fall. While the jury is still out on proposed changes to the sex-education program, the provincial government is moving ahead with curriculum adjustments on a number of fronts, including bullying, gambling and drug abuse. "About 90 per cent of the proposed health and physical-education curriculum is going forward, and that relates to such issues as gym, fitness, healthy eating, drug abuse," Education ministry spokesperson Frank Clarke told The Canadian Press. [continues 289 words]
A lawyer representing former Alberta Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, who was charged with drunk driving and cocaine possession last September, said the case should come to a resolution on March 9. Jaffer is the husband of Simcoe-Grey Conservative MP and Minister of State (Status of Women), Helena Guergis Howard Rubel, appearing in Orangeville court Feb. 18 on behalf of his client, had met with the judge earlier in the morning in advance of a scheduled judicial pre-trial at 10:30 a.m. [continues 164 words]
Re: Cookstown was birthplace of one of Canada's "Famous Five" (Oct. 6 Alliston Herald): The racist, puritan crackpot Emily Murphy is responsible for Canada's original 1923 prohibition on marijuana, and the mess that has followed. Her diatribe in The Black Candle aimed the prohibition at dark-skinned people, who she wanted to see removed or eradicated from the continent. It was what prompted parliament to add marijuana to the Opium Tax Act. Now, despite the LeDain Commission's report of the early 1970s and the 2002 Senate Committee Report on Drugs, one government after another has treated marijuana like a serious "danger to society," when in fact, it is only a danger to the pharmaceutical industry. If we wanted to put this woman's face on paper, it shouldn't be our money, it should be on our toilet paper. Russell Barth, Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Nepean, Ont. [end]
There aren't official numbers showing the affect Drug Abuse Resistance Education has had locally, but there's no doubt in leader Harry Lawrenson's mind that it is making an impact. "What I can say is prior to DARE and those DARE students getting into high school, vandalism and truancy was pretty rampant. Once those kids got into high school there was a tremendous drop," he said. "I suspect it's because they had some education." DARE is in its 12th year in the area. Each year about 1,000 Grade 6 students at the 18 schools in the Nottawasaga OPP detachment area receive the nine, one-hour DARE lessons. [continues 223 words]
Re: Youth Centre And Police Team Up For Drug Awareness The Herald Weekend Edition, May 12. I applaud anyone's effort to keep kids off of drugs, but many of these programs have proven to cause more harm than good. As a federal medical marijuana license holder, I resent some of the non-factual information on marijuana, and the use is abuse attitude. Adults have lost credibility when it comes to drugs, because they lie and exaggerate the so-called "dangers" of marijuana. They tell kids that marijuana is 10 times more potent than before, will cause cancer, schizophrenia, impotence, permanent stupidity, and an addiction to hard drugs. When kids discover the truth on their own, they will realize they have been systematically lied to by people they once trusted. They will likely conclude that if adults lied about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and marijuana, they must be lying about meth, crack, heroin, ecstasy, booze, weapons, extreme sports, safe sex and safe driving, too. [continues 91 words]
Recognize The Signs Of Drug Use Sgt. Tim Melanson said the most important thing parents can do with their kids is talk to them. The Nottawasaga OPP officer held a drug awareness seminar at The Door Youth Centre in Angus Monday night. It was co-hosted by the centre and the Essa Community Policing Committee. As a former member of the OPP's Huronia Combined Drug Forces unit and high-school liaison officer, Melanson has experience with both kids and drugs. [continues 488 words]
Bringing police and drug dogs into high schools, whether for drug sweeps or DARE, seems like a giant waste of resources and a great way to alienate students. If time and money are going to be spent on such extracurricular activities, maybe it should be spent on teachers and equipment for the students rather than for the police. Paul DeFelice Nelson, British Columbia [end]
Students Chose Suspensions Over Charges Voluntarily turning over illegal narcotics during a police drug sweep of a local high school saved seven students from facing criminal charges. Police discovered drugs and drug-sale paraphernalia in a sweep of St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Tottenham last Thursday. No charges are being laid against the students carrying them because they turned them over when given a chance at the start of the raid, before police conducted and intensive search using sniffer dogs. [continues 243 words]
Lost in the debate over marijuana is the ugly truth behind marijuana prohibition. North America's marijuana laws are based on culture and xenophobia, not science. The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican migration during the early 1900s. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana and frees users from the stigma of criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with age controls. Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with addictive drugs like cocaine. This "gateway" is the direct result of a fundamentally flawed policy. Drug policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children are more important than the message. Robert Sharpe, Washington, DC [end]
As parents of children and teenagers, we do what we can to keep them safe. We buckle them into their car seats, we teach them how to cross the road safely and we make sure they wear their bike helmets. As they get older, keeping them safe doesn't get any easier, especially once they enter adolescence and begin to make their own decisions about certain issues, including drugs. So, what can we do when it comes to drugs and our children? We can start by being honest and talking to our children about them. The fact is, drugs are an everyday part of our lives. From over the counter medications like headache pills to cough drops, our children have learned from an early age that drugs can make them feel better. They also see tobacco and alcohol used around them, whether that's by family members or by those they see on television or in the movies. [continues 433 words]
Re: Liberal policies provide addicts with drugs Helena Guergis' latest missive to The Alliston Herald was another classic example of her and the Conservative Party's sensationalistic rhetoric. As usual she can only point out the flaws of the Liberal Party while offering the voting public nothing in the way of an alternative. To read her letter one would imagine that Paul Martin himself were riding an ice-cream truck around Vancouver throwing bags of heroine to all and sundry. The pilot project in Vancouver is a very limited and small-scale program with rigorous controls. It's purpose is not "to ensure no heroine addict must go without" but rather an effort to find an alternative to throwing offenders into a prison system that by all accounts is better supplied with drugs than any place outside. [continues 60 words]
In a recent letter to the editor, Vaughan Harris shared the view of many of my Liberal colleagues in Ottawa when it comes to crime. While the Liberal Party is always concerned with the rights of criminals, law-abiding citizens are increasingly being victimized. A young woman from Saskatchewan has taken the unusual step of suing her old drug dealer because he is now back on the streets. The Liberals provide mobile units in Vancouver to ensure no heroin addict must go without their fix. They want to legalize marijuana and recently refused to raise the age of consent to protect children under the age of 16 from adult exploiters. [continues 131 words]
It seems our local MP, Helena Guergis, is blindly following the Alliance, Reform, Conservative Party's line which states there is a law and order issue in Canada. Lately she has been touring with local police detachments to get first-hand look at crime and crime prevention. However, during this ride in police vehicles, she is promoting the old Conservative line that there is, or should be, "heightened cause for concern" because of the lack of action in Ottawa. Of course our local MP blames the federal Liberals, but she may have missed the point that the federal government does not fund the ordinary municipal forces or the provincial ones. She also misses the fact that some of the rates in crime categories are down and the population of Canada is increasing. [continues 240 words]
