Re: "Action urged on illicit cigarettes," Feb. 5. Governments at all levels have spent tens of billions trying to dissuade young people from smoking cigarettes and treating people's serious illnesses, especially cancers, from this addictive habit. These ads are actually starting to decrease the number of new smokers. Over this time, organized crime has been heavily involved, distributing illicit smokes, with zero checks on quality or the nature of ingredients. Enter Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wrong-headed move to legalize marijuana, just as addictive, and with the same or greater impact on health, because he feels "this is the best way to keep it away from those at serious risk, young Canadians by curbing black market sales." [continues 136 words]
Committee to look at report next week Sudbury could become home to a safe injection site. The community services committee will hear next week about the prospect of undertaking a feasibility study for a site, which will cost $150,000 to $200,000. Council is being asked to endorse the report. "Through community consultations, under the mental health and compassionate city community priorities, the suggested action includes the study of and possible establishment of a supervised injection site," a staff report indicates. "In addition, the establishment of (a safe injection site) has been prioritized by the community drug strategy as part of the harm reduction pillar area of responsibility." [continues 439 words]
Community Drug Strategy steps up efforts to combat opioid crisis Some 52 people were admitted to hospitals in the Sudbury area in the past six months due to drug overdose, official say. Members of Sudbury's Community Drug Strategy also said Friday they have had preliminary discussions about the need for an overdose prevention site in the city. They made the comments in response to the Ontario government's decision Thursday to expand the provincial opioid response, which they called good news. [continues 756 words]
Red Ribbon Campaign gets started, with emphasis on drivers who use marijuana Action Sudbury has kicked off its 29th annual Red Ribbon Campaign with an emphasis on educating the public about the use of cannabis, as the federal government is set to legalize recreational marijuana. "The biggest thing for the youth is to ensure they're aware of how cannabis can possibly effect their ability to operate a motor vehicle," OPP Sergeant Dave Wallbank said. Wallbank showed a presentation of drug evaluation and classification to those in attendance, including students from Confederation Secondary School and Marymount Academy. [continues 411 words]
Re: "Feds want to tax weed at $1 per gram plus GST," Nov. 10. When Justin Trudeau first floated his plan to legalize marijuana, he claimed this was the best way to keep it away from young people, who are at great risk, by cutting out blackmarket sales. Now, with his plan to reap revenue through heavy taxes, Trudeau is ensuring organized crime groups will become involved in illicit sales of the drug. High taxes on cigarettes have had the same illicit sales results. [continues 68 words]
Public will be notified of proposed location Sudbury is among the first 14 cities pegged for a government-run marijuana store. It's expected to be up and running by July. The LCBO, which will run the shops through a subsidiary, said Friday the stores will be located in Brampton, Hamilton, Kingston, Kitchener, London, Mississauga, Ottawa, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Thunder Bay, Toronto, Vaughan and Windsor. The LCBO said its representatives, along with staff from Ontario's Ministry of Finance, will meet with the municipalities in the coming weeks to determine the exact locations. [continues 408 words]
A 22-year-old Sudbury man will learn Dec. 6 how long he is going to jail, if at all, for selling a drug that contributed to another man's death. "Given the uniqueness of the case, it isn't possible for me to do this (give a sentencing decision) today," Ontario Court Justice Randall Lalande said about 5:15 p.m. Wednesday after a multi-hour sentencing hearing for David Mealey. Mealey pleaded guilty back on July 11 to a charge of trafficking MDA, a derivative of the Ecstasy drug. A pre-sentence report was ordered. [continues 1123 words]
More than a third of respondents plan to use legalized marijuana A new study by Sudbury-based researchers has found that 39 per cent, or 11.5 million adult Canadians intend to be cannabis consumers once the federal government's legalization plan becomes a reality. According to a survey of 5,000 randomly selected Canadians, done in partnership between Oraclepoll Research and cannabis marketing consultant Colin Firth, 57 per cent of Canadians support the federal government's plan to legalize marijuana by July 2018. [continues 1042 words]
It's the worst possible provincial legalization plan: Ontario's Liberal government has announced a state monopoly on the sale of legal nonmedical cannabis, combined with a massive crackdown on the existing cannabis industry. Legalization wasn't supposed to be like this. Canadians increasingly supported ending cannabis criminalization after watching billions of tax dollars wasted by law enforcement going after peaceful people for pot. Marijuana has been grown and consumed in Canada for decades without any measurable negative impact on the health and safety of society. In fact, the impact has been more positive than negative, especially for sick and suffering citizens. [continues 465 words]
'People are dying in Northern Ontario and in our community with regularity' from opioids Drug deaths are now happening at an alarming pace in Sudbury. "It's not just in Vancouver," said Lisa Toner, community outreach coordinator with the Reseau Access Network. "People are dying in Northern Ontario and in our community with regularity. It's not once a month - it's weekly, is my experience this summer." Toner, who has worked in addictions outreach for a decade, said her sense of the escalating crisis has lately been confirmed by people in the city's medical field. [continues 875 words]
The hare-brained idea from Toronto that the country should consider decriminalizing or legalizing illicit drugs because current policy has failed is not just "crazy," it is insane. It would be laughable if the issue weren't so deadly serious. It is a crazy thought without any merit - and it has no place in the discussion of the serious problem of opioid addiction that is destroying many young lives in the city and around the country. First proposed by a Toronto overdose panel in the wake of the deadly fentanyl crisis, it was taken up by that city's medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen De Villa, who said decriminalization of all illegal drugs could be the answer to the failure of the current approach to drugs. The key argument of the Toronto overdose action plan is that current policy has reduced neither the drugs, nor the supply. [continues 469 words]
In reply to Robert Sinclair's letter ("Gateway drug theory is flawed") defending the legalization of marijuana, and his refuting that weed may be a gateway to harder drugs, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, as late as April of this year, has stated that "an alternative to the gateway-drug hypothesis is that people who are more vulnerable to drugtaking are simply more likely to start with readily available substances such as marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol, and their subsequent social interactions with others who use drugs increases their chances of trying other drugs." [continues 240 words]
Re: "Pot legalization questionable as drug deaths spike," July 30. Letter writer Simon Guillet rails against marijuana and conflates it with opioids and heroin. He obviously is not aware that marijuana has not caused an overdose death in recorded history. It's the "safest therapeutic substance known to man safer than most foods," wrote DEA judge Francis Young after hearing hundreds of hours of testimony. U.S. states that have legalized weed have had significant drops in opioid use and overdoses. So don't fear the weed, Canada, embrace it. You'll be much better off. Jeff Meyers, Westlake Village, Calif. [end]
Re: 'Pot legalization questionable as drug deaths spike.' July 30. I am writing in response to Simon Guilett's letter in which he proposes the gateway theory to drug addiction. His idea is that marijuana leads to cocaine and cocaine leads to opiates. This position has been disproven a number of times. Whereas, it is true that likely 98 per cent of opiate addicts began by using marijuana, it is also true that only two per cent or so of marijuana users go on to use opiates. [continues 126 words]
The gruesome statistics on drug-related deaths, destroyed lives, broken relationships and demolished families are only getting worse every year. In one province, British Columbia, about 15 million hypodermic needles destined solely for illicit drug use were distributed last year to the various "safe injection" sites and agencies around the province. Fifteen million needles - it's hard to fathom the widespread addiction to various drugs and the terrible casualties inflicted. Unfortunately, it's growing in every province. In B.C., this is a 50 per cent increase from 2014 in hypos distributed for illicit use, and statistics for the rest of Canada must be similar. [continues 206 words]
City man alleges bank discriminated against his family because his son and daughter-in-law were growing medicinal marijuana A federal judge has granted a Greater Sudbury man's application for judicial review of a Canadian Human Rights Commission decision last year to dismiss his 2010 complaint, which alleged the Bank of Nova Scotia discriminated against his family by demanding repayment of a mortgage because his son and daughter-in-law were growing medicinal marijuana. Robert McIlvenna filed the complaint on Aug. 23, 2010, but the commission dismissed it in a letter in March 2012, deciding that the facts as alleged did not constitute a discriminatory practice. That decision was quashed through the Federal Court of Appeal, which sent it back to the commission for further investigation, but the commission dismissed it again, after further investigation, on June 16, 2016. [continues 1430 words]
OTTAWA - Opposition parties and legal experts are urging the Liberal government to be clear on how it plans to handle the legalization of cannabis while Canada remains party to three UN treaties that control and criminalize drug access, noting failure to provide clarity soon could cause confusion on the world stage. Canada needed to give notice on July 1 if it intended to withdraw from the treaties and stick to its plan to legalize marijuana by this time next year, said Steven Hoffman, a York University professor who specializes in global health law. It didn't, and Hoffman said he is concerned about the message this sends. [continues 388 words]
'Sudbury is a lucrative market for the gangs to expand to' The first thing Greater Sudbury Police noticed was more fentanyl showing up on local people in their arrests. "Then we noticed there were more people being arrested with Southern Ontario addresses," Insp. Dan Despatie said Friday. Something wasn't adding up. One phone call to Toronto Police and not only did it become crystal clear what was happening, but Sudbury police were suddenly up to their neck in what we now know to be Project Kronic. [continues 488 words]
Frank Elsner, a former top cop in Sudbury who resigned earlier this month as Victoria police chief, has launched a cannabis consulting business. Elsner, who is facing six misconduct allegations from his time with the Victoria department, is now the principal consultant for UMBRA Strategic Solutions, which will provide security consulting to marijuana businesses, according to a post on his Linked In profile. A message signed by Elsner on the company's website says: "After a great career in policing I started Umbra Strategic Solutions. I wanted to do something that I am passionate about while utilizing my knowledge, skills and abilities." Elsner writes that he has "come a long way" in his thinking about harm reduction, community wellness and the role police play. [continues 478 words]
High school students in North Bay are vaping marijuana juice and crushed Oxycontin before and during school. The startling news came in March when Almaguin Highlands Secondary School principal Donna Breault made a presentation to the Near North District School Board about vaping and its dangers. Board chairman David Thompson says parents need to be aware of what their kids are doing. "I think parents would be shocked," Thompson says. "Students are vaping marijuana juice, crushed Oxycontin and sharing filters, which is putting them at risk of some serious health concerns like hepatitis." [continues 386 words]
