Councillor unhappy with way pot proposal dealt with, mayor says proper guidelines followed Residents and councillors should have been given more information about two medical marijuana applications that went before the city's committee of adjustment, says Coun. Carolynn Ioannoni. While public notices were posted about the committee meeting, it was described as being for the consideration of a "nursery for the growing of trees, shrubs and plants." There was no specific mention of medical marijuana, which Ioannoni said was deceiving. [continues 513 words]
This is National Addictions Awareness Week. That itself marks progress in admitting there is a problem. It is up to all of us to help fight the battle. For the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, preventing and reducing harms associated with substance use and abuse by youth is a priority. "Youth 15 to 24 years of age have the highest self-reported past-year use of illicit substances compared to older Canadians, and are approximately five times more likely than adults aged 25 years and older to report harm because of drug use," says the Centre. [continues 239 words]
OTTAWA- The NDP and Liberals say the Conservative-dominated health committee report on marijuana is biased, inherently flawed, and omits evidence that contradicts Conservative ideology. The health committee's report, called "Health Risks and Harms of Marijuana," recommends the government try to prevent marijuana use in Canada as well as raise awareness to the drug's harmful effects. Health committee chairman and Conservative MP Ben Lobb did not return QMI Agency's request for comment on Tuesday. The NDP and Liberals rejected the committee's majority report. New Democrats on the committee said testimony "that did not support (the Conservatives') pre-conceived views about marijuana ... was dismissed and eliminated." [continues 105 words]
OTTAWA - Canada's drug policy is a failure and it is killing people in communities across the country, drug-reform activists said Tuesday in Ottawa. Drug activists, health lobbyists and other leaders in the field, including the Liberal Party's health critic, gathered on Parliament Hill for a press conference to advocate for a fairer drug policy than the current one they say unfairly criminalizes drugs users and leads to the mistreatment of addiction. The speakers on Tuesday all wanted Canada's drug policies reformed, but the divergence in their messages reflected the difficulties in rallying public opinion in favour of changing the way addicts are treated and how drugs are distributed in Canada. [continues 192 words]
Former NRP Investigator Says Cocaine Flowing Over Border The local border between Canada and the U.S. is looked at by those in drug trade as an express lane according to a former Niagara cop. "Around the world we're becoming known as an easy place to get in," said Joe Maggiolo, a retired Niagara Regional Police staff sergeant who spent much of his 37-year policing career investigating drugs and organized crime. "For every shipment that gets caught, there are probably another 20 that get through." [continues 478 words]
The smell emanating from a medicinal marijuana grow-op on Lakeshore Rd. has prompted Niagara-on-the-Lake town council to send another complaint to Health Canada. Coun. Martin Mazza said the crop in the greenhouse at 1651 Lakeshore Rd. near Garrison Village will be harvested soon and already has a bad odour. The operation had been licensed under previous Health Canada regulations before new federal legislation took effect April 1. Since then, the town has passed bylaws that require marijuana greenhouses larger than 10,000 square feet to be subject to site plan controls and located at least 70 metres from sensitive land-use areas, including residential properties. [continues 237 words]
Timothy Lee Felger owned and operated a retail outlet, DaKine Store, in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The store sold marijuana-related products, not that there's anything wrong with that. But the store also had an unusual sign on its front window. It read: "No Police Officers Allowed In The Store Without A Warrant." In addition, Felger's lawyer sent a letter to the chief of the Abbotsford Police Department stating, "This letter serves as formal notification that no member of the Abbotsford Police Department is allowed onto this premise (Felger's store) without a warrant." [continues 572 words]
NDP Leader Says It Doesn't Make Sense To Criminalize Marijuana Users OTTAWA - NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair said he believes the decision to smoke weed is a personal one and not something with which the Criminal Code should concern itself. Officially, the NDP's position is in favour of decriminalization, though Mulcair says more stakeholder consultation is needed to understand the implications of changing marijuana laws. Speaking at the Canadian Medical Association's general meeting Wednesday, Mulcair said it doesn't make sense to criminalize weed smokers. [continues 178 words]
Marc Emery may think of himself as a marijuana messiah, leading the long-suffering to deliverance from pot laws they believe unfairly punish them and restrict their freedom to smoke up. No stranger to ego, Emery may even believe he's the chosen cannabis crusader. But Canada's self-styled "Prince of Pot" - just released from a U.S. prison, after doing 4 1/2 years for selling marijuana seeds into the U.S. from Vancouver - makes a poor martyr for the kind of electoral backlash he imagines he will now inspire against the federal Conservative government he vilifies. [continues 290 words]
Wife Says Laws Need to Be Changed WINDSOR, Ont. - Marc Emery, the so-called "Prince of Pot," was greeted with cheers from marijuana activists and a hug and kiss from his wife when he arrived in Canada Tuesday after serving 4 1/2 years in a Louisiana prison. Emery, escorted across the border by U.S. marshals, walked out of the Windsor customs building a free man at 4:10 p.m. "Welcome home," the crowd roared. Emery appeared dazed. "I feel good," he said. Earlier, a crowd gathered outside Windsor City Hall in anticipation of Emery's homecoming. [continues 112 words]
Is Marc Emery a secret agent for the Conservative Party of Canada? It sure looks that way. It's impossible that you have not heard of the World's Most Famous Pothead. But, in the event that you have been in a coma for the past while, consider this a primer, gratis. Marc Emery is from B.C. Presently, he is a guest of the U.S. prison system, but is returning to Canada this month. He got himself in prison by selling drug stuff in the U.S. His business was called Marc Emery Direct Marijuana Seeds, which pretty accurately describes what he does for a living. [continues 563 words]
WASHINGTON - Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau might have an ally in Canada's Prince of Pot - whether he likes it or not. Allen St. Pierre - executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, the oldest pro-legalization group in the U. S. - knows Marc Emery from their time fighting pot laws. He says Emery's likely itching to return to the fray after serving time in U.S. prison for marijuana distribution. "I dare say that putting him in jail for five years did not reform him in the slightest. It only agitated him to the point where I think getting Mr. Trudeau elected as a reformer is going to be the singular thing he focuses on the most," St. Pierre said. [continues 204 words]
Ottawa has a problem with guns and gangs. Several problems actually. But the biggest one, as usual, is conceptual, because if you don't realize what you're doing wrong you can't change it. On the surface our problem is a spate of people being shot in the legs in public housing. The victims then "refuse to cooperate with the police," sociology-speak for "they won't tell the cops who did it." They know, of course. This is drug trade violence and they are shot by partner-competitors when deals go bad or over turf. But they won't talk partly because they are more afraid of their rivals than of polite society and partly because they are deeply alienated from polite society. [continues 522 words]
My column last Sunday advocating the abolition of civil jury trials caused some confusion. To be clear, I am not advocating the abolition of juries for criminal trials. The right to a jury trial is enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for anyone charged with an offence - other than under military law - for which there is a potential sentence of five years or more. More noteworthy is the fact a criminal jury can serve as society's conscience. [continues 566 words]
Good people of Scarborough-Agincourt, we give you Liberal Party candidate Arnold Chan. You should vote for him not so much for what Arnold has done - but for what the Conservative Party hasn't. To be precise, the Conservative Party hasn't behaved itself in the Toronto riding, which was formerly the domain of one Jim Karygiannis. This week, the ruling party circulated noxious flyers all over Scarborough-Agincourt, much in the way the Axis used to drop propaganda leaflets on advancing Allied troops. As in that case, the Tory propaganda is unlikely to defeat the Grit forces. [continues 507 words]
Bylaw changes for medicinal marijuana facilities received preliminary approval from town council this week. The changes would involve site plan controls for greenhouses and their proximity to properties where residents might be adversely affected by the marijuana crop. There were no comments from residents at a public meeting Monday on the proposed amendments to the zoning and site plan bylaws recommended by planning staff. The community and development advisory committee voted to require marijuana greenhouses larger than 10,000 square feet to be subject to site plan control. [continues 217 words]
Allowing marijuana medically was one battle. Allowing it for recreational use is the next one. The 11th annual 420 Rally in Niagara Falls preached one simple message for hours: Stop making criminals of cannabis users. People shouldn't need a prescription or jump through government hoops to enjoy their stash, participants said. As their yearly motto goes, Free the Weed. For head injury survivor Reggie Storm of Ridgeway, life without marijuana would be a "nightmare." Every other drug he tried kept him bedridden and depressed. [continues 455 words]
Hoffman Is Just the Latest Celebrity to Die Because of Addiction Celebrities are public figures who generally work hard to maintain a private life, but death tends to slam all the public doors shut. It's strictly a private affair for the friends and family left behind. Philip Seymour Hoffman was a hugely successful actor, and as such, was public property - for better or worse. Thanks to his work, a large audience of followers developed feelings of attachment and ownership about him. Double that for New York City, where people could see him on stage at the theatre or stand next to him in the grocery store. Now, since death belongs to the private realm, that's left a lot of people on the public side wondering what to do with their emotions. They tweet condolences. They write letters. They bring flowers and gifts to a makeshift shrine outside the building where Hoffman lived. [continues 527 words]
MP Sends Flier to Constituents Slamming Trudeau's Plan to Legalize Pot OTTAWA - The Tories are trying to smoke out some details about Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau's promise to legalize marijuana if his party forms government. Conservative MP John Williamson has sent constituents in his New Brunswick riding a flyer that slams Trudeau's policy, saying the "Liberals plan to sell marijuana in N.B. stores." "I'm trying to take Trudeau's argument to its logical conclusion," Williamson said Monday. "If the point is not to make marijuana available in stores, what's the point of legalizing it?" [continues 189 words]
