He's never even touched the stuff, but Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay can appreciate the irony of a new nickname. It might only be a footnote in history, but even Canada's agriculture minister has to chuckle at the prospect of being dubbed the minister of marijuana. Especially, since he's now at the helm of the federal agricultural department that will one day oversee pot plantations and licensed grow ops, as well as collect scads of new tax revenue. "It didn't seem to be a big problem for Canadians and so it will be legalized," he said in an interview. "The process of legalization is still being worked out and until that happens it's tough for me to provide details." [continues 356 words]
DUNDAS - The prohibition of marijuana will eventually come to an end much like the rum in the hold of the Nellie J. Banks, suggests Cardigan MP Lawrence MacAulay. "It will take it out of the hands of criminals and put it in the hands of government like a bottle of rum," said the Island MP during a visit to the Dundas Plow Match here Friday. "Today, it seems to be available anywhere you go." MacAulay was responding to comments by Liberal leader Justin Trudeau this week that marijuana should be decriminalized and brought into the fold of government controls much like alcohol is currently distributed. The Nellie J. Banks was a famous P.E.I. rum running ship that smuggled spirits from St. Pierre-Miquelon during prohibition in the 1930s. [continues 206 words]
Panellists Say Island Youths Can Be Better Protected by Everyone Working Together MONTAGUE - Provincial court judges need to get tough on drug dealers and doctors and dentists need to reel in the prescriptions if youth drug use is going to be curtailed, an addiction forum was advised here recently. Drug use will never go away, but a panel of facilitators insisted Island youth could be better protected against the cornucopia of insidious offerings causing even greater addictions. "There was a time when marijuana and alcohol were the greatest concern, and then it grew to cocaine and opiates, and now I'm dealing with students using needles," said Tyler Larter, guidance counsellor at Colonel Gray High School in Charlottetown. [continues 578 words]
MONTAGUE -- It grows like a weed, but that's the only comparison P.E.I.'s first commercial hemp crop has to its illegal cousin. After being banned for 60 years, commercial hemp is now a legal crop in Canada and Maurice Vandaele still can't get over the growth rate. ``It went beyond my expectations,'' says the 31-year-old farmer, almost disappearing into a field of golden spears on his Kilmuir farm near here. ``If I'd been able to plant a few weeks earlier, it would have been over our heads.'' [continues 485 words]
