Premier Kathleen Wynne has ordered that school boards be given a say in where provincial marijuana stores are located, noting that boards are likely to know "where their kids go at lunchtime (and) where they go after school."

Her demand came after the announcement that Toronto's first outlet of the Ontario Cannabis Store would be located in Scarborough, 450 metres from Blantyre Public School. The Toronto District School Board said it had asked to be consulted about the location, but never was. Concerned Blantyre parents discussed the news at a school council meeting last week.

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Because the crime took place within 1,000 feet of a school, state law mandated a longer sentence, one that the council members noted "was more severe than the sentence he would have received for committing a violent crime such as rape or second-degree murder."

Twelve Metro Council members have signed a letter urging a criminal court judge to give relief to a Nashville man serving a 17-year sentence on a nonviolent drug conviction.

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Detroit's crackdown on illegally operating medical marijuana dispensaries has shuttered 167 shops since the city's regulation efforts began last year and dozens more are expected.

Detroit corporation counsel Melvin Butch Hollowell told the Free Press that 283 dispensaries were identified last year, all of which were operating illegally.

"None of them were operating lawfully," Hollowell said. "At the time I sent a letter to each one of them indicating that unless you have a fully licensed facility, you are operating at your own risk."

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Anchorage officials will mark off the minimum 500 feet between schools and pot shops by using walking distances, not a straight line, the Anchorage Assembly decided in a unanimous vote Tuesday night.

The decision means more potential properties will be available for pot businesses in Anchorage. The Assembly's vote, a reversal from two weeks earlier, effectively loosens restrictions on where businesses will be allowed to open by in some cases shrinking the off-limits zone around schools and other restricted places.

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Nathan wonders something that a few other people have asked about too: "My understanding is that it is currently illegal to consume or possess any amount of marijuana within 500 feet of a school zone, regardless if you're on private property or not. I have a two-part question. 1. Will the law allow people to consume marijuana in their private residence, regardless of where it is in relation to a school zone? 2. Will businesses be allowed to sell marijuana within 500 feet of a school zone?"

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Canadian study explored local scene and its link to high-risk behaviour

"There was so much crack in the neighbourhood that users and outreach workers nicknamed the area Rochelaga."

When anthropologist Nelson Arruda explored an east-end Montreal neighbourhood, he expected to find shooting galleries - dark, clandestine places where people inject drugs - and sex slaves addicted to the next high.

What he found in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve were crack houses - located every three blocks, and concentrated on a stretch spanning 20 streets - - governed according to strict rules that included a ban on injecting and prostitutes who on the surface operated independently.

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Republican state legislators want an apology from Governor Malloy for what they construe as his accusation that they are racist for opposing repeal of the law establishing 1,500-foot "drug-free" zones around schools, whereby mere possession of drugs is made a felony nearly everywhere in cities, where most blacks and Hispanics live, but not so much in suburbs and rural towns, where most whites live. While the governor, a Democrat, was not obliged to apologize for what he didn't quite say, he might have remembered that soft words turn away wrath and expressed regret for misunderstanding. That would have facilitated repeal of the questionable drug law instead of engendering resentment of repeal.

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I like taking my medicine in the form of a joint while walking around the block. It gets me thinking, though: Is it legal to do that as long as I'm a patient? Where are places I can smoke if I can't smoke at my apartment?

- -Juan DeRoor

A little exercise, a little medicine. You sound like a health-minded person. According to California law, medical cannabis patients are allowed to consume cannabis anywhere tobacco consumption is allowed, except for a moving vehicle, so a walk around the block is a great idea. Be aware that some cities have designated entire areas as "smoke-free zones," mostly in the chichi downtown spots (looking at you, Walnut Creek), so if you aren't paying attention, you could get a ticket. But in general, although you may get a few odd looks and maybe a knowing smile or two, a good walk and a good weed go a long way toward creating a good day.

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The riots in Baltimore in the aftermath of the death of an African-American man in police custody have produced anguished and thoughtful reactions. Here's a sampling.

David Simon, former Baltimore Sun police reporter and creator of "The Wire" TV show, in an interview with the Marshall Project: [The] drug war which Baltimore waged as aggressively as any American city was transforming in terms of police/community relations, in terms of trust, particularly between the black community and the Police Department. Probable cause was destroyed by the drug war. ... [It] made everybody in these poor communities vulnerable to the most arbitrary behavior on the part of the police officers, it taught police officers how not to distinguish in ways that they once did.

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FAIRBANKS - The Fairbanks North Star Borough mayor released a tentative map Friday of where marijuana retail sales might be allowed, including around Fairbanks International Airport, Van Horn Road, near the Alaska Railroad Corp depot, on a short stretch of College Road and along a portion of South Cushman Street.

Marijuana retail sales also might be allowed on either side of the Johansen Expressway between Peger Road and University Avenue and on the north side of Phillips Field Road near Illinois Street. The industrial area beside the Aurora Subdivision also could have pot shops.

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In the past year, to my great satisfaction, the NJ family court has taken a beating in both the federal and state appeals courts.

In Malhan vs Malhan, five parents filed a class action lawsuit in federal court alleging that the NJ family court system fails to provide adequate "due process" rights to parents in child custody proceedings. Surender Malhan, the father, lost his custody rights on a mere two hours' notice based on a bogus accusation from the mother without him having an opportunity to refute his estranged wife's allegations.

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What happens on a school campus is frequently a reflection of what is going on at home. Which is why campus calls to the cops are inevitable.

Rowdy behavior, assaults, petty theft, fake 911 calls and vandalism are typical infractions that will bring badges to the door.

Compared to other trouble, however, calls for bringing narcotics to campus have been relatively few in the Verde Valley. Considering the availability of so many illicit and prescription drugs and the overall number of arrests of adults in the Verde Valley for drug crimes, the public schools have been pretty effective with their drug-free zones.

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As communities and state officials ponder what to do with closed correctional facilities, state Sen. Michael Nozzolio has an idea of his own: Transform the shuttered prisons into substance abuse treatment centers.

Nozzolio, R-Fayette, has introduced legislation in the state Senate that would require the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services and the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision to explore whether the prisons could be used as drug treatment facilities.

The bill, S7655A, was one of 25 legislative proposals included in a report released Wednesday by the Joint Senate Task Force on Heroin and Opioid Abuse. The task force released its report after conducting several hearings around the state, including a forum May 8 in Auburn.

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Back in the day, the Cass Corridor in Detroit was a highway for heroin and other drugs. Junkies would blend in among students and the homeless, making it hard to differentiate between those three classes of urban dwellers. Homeless shelters seemed to be on every other corner from Forrest to I-375. Drug houses were smartly camouflaged within the area, which ran from West Grand Boulevard down to Michigan Avenue, and from John R over to the Lodge freeway. That grid was a virtual 24-7 Detroit Woodstock, the main thoroughfare for locals and suburbanites alike, shopping for their drug of choice.

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Narcotics prosecutors across the state are forming a task force to respond to the state's new marijuana decriminalization bill, Frederick County State's Attorney Charlie Smith said.

The Maryland State's Attorneys' Association, of which Smith is president of the board, met Thursday to discuss the new legislation, which police and prosecutors say has critical omissions.

The bill makes it a civil offense, no longer a crime, to possess or use less than 10 grams of marijuana. But the bill failed to establish rules for drug-free zones, smoking in schools and smoking in public, among other things, Smith said.

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The Olympia City Council will consider a new law at its April 1 meeting that would establish several drug-free zones downtown.

The proposed ordinance is part of an effort to combat the use of illegal drugs such as heroin and methamphetamine. If approved, the ordinance would designate five "civic centers" where drug use is prohibited within 1,000 feet. These publicly owned and operated civic centers include the Hands On Children's Museum, The Washington Center, The Olympia Center, Olympia City Hall and the Olympia Timberland Regional Library.

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The Olympia City Council seems more determined than ever to rescue the downtown core from urban decay and prevalent violent crime. At its annual retreat, the council discussed strategies to tackle these twin downtown issues and is wasting no time putting its plans into action.

This week, the council unanimously moved closer to utilizing the Community Renewal Area to improve downtown blighted properties. Last week, it met with the Thurston County Commission to address the epidemic of heroin addiction and discarded syringes.

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Stiffer Penalties for Those With Drugs Within 1,500 Feet of a School, Day Care Center or Public Housing Unfairly Targets Those in Urban Areas, Where Spaces Are Far Tighter Than in the Suburbs.

Back in the 1980s, many state legislatures passed laws establishing "drug free" zones around schools on the theory they would protect children from being preyed upon by people selling marijuana, heroin and cocaine. It seemed like a good idea at the time but then facts intervened and the drug free law turned out to be nothing more than a "feel good" action that provided the illusion of fighting the war on drugs without actually accomplishing much beyond filling prisons.

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Letter to the editor

I was happy to read that the Connecticut Sentencing Commission unanimously recommended shrinking drug-free zones from 1,500 to 200 feet from public school property [Dec. 20, Page 1, "Drug-Free School Zones Could Shrink"].

When I was student body president at UConn, I saw the impact of our current laws first-hand. Since E.O. Smith High School is right next to campus, its drug-free zone includes many UConn dorms and apartments. If caught with drugs, the more than 2,700 students living in the zone were at risk of astronomically higher penalties than their peers living right across the street.

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Protective Zones Around Schools Raise Questions

Do crime-free zones around schools and other places where children gather actually protect children?

The question will be aired in the next session of the General Assembly because of two proposals, one that seeks to reduce the size of drug-free zones around schools and another that would create zones around schools where sex offenders couldn't live.

The Connecticut Sentencing Commission has unanimously approved a recommendation to scale back the state's drug-free zone from 1,500 feet to 200 feet of school property. Meanwhile, two legislators are proposing a bill that would prohibit registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or day-care center.

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