Program Tries To Educate Teens About Marijuana TORONTO -- More than one in four Ontario high school students used marijuana last year. So Parent Action on Drugs is launching a new provincial campaign to teach teens and their parents that marijuana is not a benign drug, that it can produce serious side effects like failing grades, sleep deprivation and anger-management problems. The "What's With Weed" program doesn't push for zero use -- the old "just say no" approach to drugs -- but instead asks students to consider whether their pot use has become a problem in their lives. [continues 349 words]
TORONTO - More than one in four Ontario high school students used marijuana last year. So Parent Action on Drugs is launching a new provincial campaign to teach teens and their parents that marijuana is not a benign drug, that it can produce serious side-effects such as failing grades, sleep deprivation and anger-management problems. The What's With Weed program doesn't push for zero use, the old "just say no" approach to drugs, but asks students to consider whether their pot use has become a problem in their lives. [continues 186 words]
Suspicious Homes To Lose Power HYDRO OFFICIALS will soon be able to cut off power to homes without warning if they suspect an illegal marijuana grow operation, Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter said. Kwinter said he will introduce legislation this fall to give hydro companies the legal authority to act swiftly against suspected pot labs. "Someone will be able to cut off your power without telling you about it, without notice, because we think you're doing something illegal," he said. [continues 226 words]
Cops, Officials Meet To Cultivate Strategies Finding six children sleeping on urine-stained mattresses on the floor was one of the more unpleasant discoveries for police officers who've busted illegal pot operations in Ontario, says Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter. Kwinter kicked off a two-day Green Tide Summit yesterday, bringing together 65 stakeholder groups including police, government officials, real estate agents and hydro representatives to discuss the worsening problem. Kwinter said an illegal grow operation busted recently in York Region had six kids living in squalor, part of an estimated 10,000 children exposed to grow houses, according to one police report. [continues 133 words]
TORONTO -- Finding six children sleeping on urine-stained mattresses on the floor was one of the more unpleasant discoveries for police officers who've busted illegal pot operations in Ontario, says Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter. Kwinter kicked off the two-day Green Tide Summit yesterday which brings together 65 stakeholder groups, including police, government officials, real estate agents and hydro representatives, to discuss the worsening problem of marijuana grow houses. Kwinter said an illegal grow operation in Toronto recently turned up six kids living in squalor, part of an estimated 10,000 children exposed to grow houses according to one police report. [continues 126 words]
Summit To Seek Ways To Counter Drug Gangs Canada has a growing reputation as a marijuana supplier to the world, and Ontario politicians are looking for ways to curtail the reefer madness. Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter said yesterday his government and police chiefs will co-host the "Green Tide Summit" to combat illegal grow-ops like the pot factory busted in a Barrie beer plant. "The fact that organized crime is behind these operations is of grave concern to police and the citizens of Ontario," he said. [continues 262 words]
The Premier Says Illegal Marijuana Operations Are No Laughing Matter ANTONELLA ARTUSO, Free Press Queen's Park Bureau Chief TORONTO -- There's nothing funny about the province going to pot, Premier Dalton McGuinty says. Unlike regular citizens who are allegedly provoked to giggles by the massive marijuana bust at a Barrie beer plant, McGuinty said the proliferation of illegal grow operations is no laughing matter. "I think it's a very serious issue,' McGuinty said yesterday. "It's becoming a too commonplace practice in Ontario. It has all kinds of problems connected with it." [continues 187 words]
Pot grow houses a 'serious issue' There's nothing funny about the province going to pot, Premier Dalton McGuinty says. Unlike regular citizens who are allegedly provoked to giggles by the massive marijuana bust at a Barrie beer plant, McGuinty said the proliferation of illegal grow operations is no laughing matter. "It's a very serious issue," McGuinty said yesterday. "It's becoming a too-commonplace practice in Ontario. It has all kinds of problems connected with it." Randall Barrs, lawyer for six of the men charged in the pot bust, has said that the public is "amused" by the police discovery. [continues 139 words]
Tougher penalties for pot houses: Chiefs An explosion in the number of marijuana grow houses is outstripping police resources and threatening communities across Ontario, the province's police chiefs say. The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police is urging governments to take this threat more seriously with a two-year minimum jail sentence for growers. The police chiefs released "Green Tide" yesterday, a study on indoor pot cultivation that found the number of "grow-ops" increased by over 250% between 2000 and 2002. [continues 224 words]
Lighter pot laws would likely lead to a tighter border with the U.S., warns Ontario Attorney General Norm Sterling. A Sun-Leger poll released this week found Canadians don't want to get tougher on puffers -- 83% of those polled support some form of decriminalization of pot. Sterling said yesterday that relaxing marijuana laws would not be high on the government's list of priorities. "I'm against this move ... primarily because it will have border implications in terms of the passage of Canadians across our border," Sterling said. "It will have, I believe, more detrimental effects than benefitting the very few people that are affected by this law." [end]
TORONTO -- Lighter pot laws would likely lead to a tighter border with the U.S., warns Ontario Attorney General Norm Sterling. A Sun-Leger poll released this week found Canadians don't want to get tougher on puffers -- 83 per cent of those polled support some form of decriminalization of marijuana. Sterling said yesterday relaxing pot laws would not be high on the government's list of priorities. "I'm against this move . . . primarily because it will have border implications in terms of the passage of Canadians across our border," Sterling said. [continues 98 words]
Ontario health minister vows to fight safe sites for heroin users Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement says he'll fight any attempt to push for a safe-injection site for heroin users in Toronto. A parliamentary committee recommended yesterday that the federal government set up sites in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal where addicts can "safely" shoot heroin. "I'm quite frankly appalled," Clement said. "There's lots that we can do to increase education, to increase awareness, to increase treatment, to increase rehabilitation. [continues 301 words]
Marijuana Big Business in Ontario Canada is third only to Mexico and Colombia as a supplier of high-grade marijuana to the United States market, Public Safety and Security Commissioner Bob Runciman says. "That's not something to be proud of," Runciman told Sun Media. "We can see the United States wanting us to play a more active role in dealing with this." Runciman will push the federal government to bring in minimum sentences for pot house operators when he meets with his federal and provincial justice ministers in Calgary this week. [continues 307 words]
Growers Need To Be Punished: Security Head TORONTO -- Canada is third only to Mexico and Columbia as a supplier of high-grade marijuana to the United States market, says Public Safety and Security Commissioner Bob Runciman. "That's not something to be proud of," Runciman told Sun Media. "We can see the United States wanting us to play a more active role in dealing with this." Runciman will push the federal government to bring in minimum sentences for pot house operators when he meets with his federal and provincial justice ministers in Calgary this week. [continues 292 words]
Canada Next To Only Mexico, Columbia In Supplying U.S. With Pot TORONTO -- Canada is third only to Mexico and Columbia as a supplier of high-grade marijuana to the U.S. market, says Ontario's Public Safety and Security Commissioner Bob Runciman. "That's not something to be proud of," Runciman told Sun Media. "We can see the United States wanting us to play a more active role in dealing with this." Runciman will push the federal government to bring in minimum sentences for pot-house operators when he meets with his federal and provincial justice ministers in Calgary this week. [continues 307 words]
We Trail Only Mexico And Colombia In Exporting High-Grade Marijuana South. TORONTO -- Canada is third only to Mexico and Colombia as a supplier of high-grade marijuana to the United States market, says Ontario Public Safety and Security Commissioner Bob Runciman. "That's not something to be proud of," Runciman said. "We can see the United States wanting us to play a more active role in dealing with this." Runciman will push the federal government to bring in minimum sentences for pot house operators when he meets with his federal and provincial justice ministers in Calgary this week. [continues 306 words]
TORONTO--Hydroponic pot growing operations -- such as one broken up last night in Greely -- are stealing as much as $500 million in electricity each year at an estimated cost to provincial consumers of $3-5 a month on their hydro bills. Liberal MPP Michael Bryant yesterday called for the provincial government to weed out these illegal pot labs. "I think Ontarians would be rightly steamed to learn that while they're being asked to conserve electricity, some pot-growing energy thief next door is toking up all the electricity, causing brownouts and blackouts, driving up electricity prices, and sending the neighbourhood up in smoke," Bryant. [continues 238 words]
Hydroponic pot growers are stealing as much as $500 million in electricity each year at an estimated cost to provincial consumers of $3 to $5 a month on their hydro bills. Liberal MPP Michael Bryant yesterday called for the provincial government to weed out the pot labs, which are increasingly found in residential homes. "I think Ontarians would be rightly steamed to learn that while they're being asked to conserve electricity, some pot-growing energy thief next door is toking up all the electricity, causing brownouts and blackouts, driving up electricity prices, and sending the neighbourhood up in smoke," Bryant said. [continues 132 words]
TORONTO -- Hydroponic pot growers are stealing as much as $500 million in electricity each year at an estimated cost to provincial consumers of $3 to $5 a month on their hydro bills. Liberal MP Michael Bryant yesterday called for the provincial government to weed out these illegal pot labs which are increasingly found in residential homes. "I think Ontarians would be rightly steamed to learn that while they're being asked to conserve electricity, some pot-growing energy thief next door is toking up all the electricity, causing brownouts and blackouts, driving up electricity prices, and sending the neighbourhood up in smoke," Bryant. [continues 151 words]
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE -- Mandatory drug and alcohol treatment for addicted welfare recipients will begin in a handful of Ontario communities by early next year, the provincial government announced yesterday. Premier Mike Harris and Community and Social Services Minister John Baird also announced that mandatory literacy testing and training is in the works. Those who refuse treatment or training will be taken off the welfare roll, they said. "They're not cut off if they have addiction problems. They're cut off if they refuse help for their addiction problems," Harris said. "We believe very strongly we must do everything we can to help people lead productive lives." [continues 336 words]
