The Quebec government wants to hear from you about how legal marijuana should be regulated in this province.

Quebec Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois announced Monday that public hearings will be scheduled throughout the province beginning Tuesday and continuing until Sept. 12.

In a statement made public Monday, the government says the hearings will "allow citizens to have their say, hear their opinions on what decisions should be taken and identify the necessary measures to ensure the protection of their health and safety."

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So-called bath salts, other street drugs are not a safe way to seek pleasure

When someone offers a tiny packet of "bath salts" for sale with a price tag somewhere between $30 and $50, you know that it is not meant to be sprinkled into a bathtub. These "bath salts," commonly available in head shops, online and even in some convenience stores, may sport a label declaring "not for human consumption," but they are clearly designed to cater to the insides of the body rather than the outside.

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For Ottawa residents, getting a naloxone kit to help protect against overdose deaths is as easy as finding a pharmacy and going through a 30-minute information session.

Across the river in Gatineau, however, the situation is much different.

The Ministry of Health and Social Services in Quebec does not provide funding for naloxone kits like its Ontario counterpart. Some municipal public health units, like Sante Montreal, provide kits, but only within that specific city.

For residents of cities like Gatineau, where neither the province nor the municipality provides coverage for naloxone, drug users may be left in the lurch.

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Fears legalization may 'normalize' use of marijuana

Teenagers who go from occasional pot smoking to weekly or daily use are two-and-a-half times more likely to have recurrent psychotic-like experiences, a new Montreal study says.

And with legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada less than a year away, the study's senior author says governments are ill-prepared for the fact that adolescents will interpret the policy change as proof it's OK to smoke pot.

"Our data show that transitioning to daily or weekly use of cannabis very significantly increases adolescents' risk of having more exaggerated and more frequent psychotic-like experiences," Patricia Conrod, a professor at the Universite de Montreal's psychiatry department, said in an interview.

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On school corridor and feared too close to Marguerite-Bourgeoys elementary

Parents at a downtown Montreal elementary school say a safe-injection site in their neighbourhood should be moved.

In September, Spectre de rue, an intervention centre for drug users, will begin operating a supervised injection site. The centre is on the corner of Ontario St. and Visitation Ave., about 200 metres from the Marguerite-Bourgeoys elementary school.

The parents are circulating a petition calling for the site to be moved to a location outside of the school corridor, a route designated by the city for children to walk safely to school.

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After years of lobbying for safe injection sites, outreach workers at Cactus Montreal have opened a facility that will allow people to use intravenous drugs under medical supervision.

Drugs users began entering the site on Berger St. in downtown Montreal on Monday afternoon, injecting drugs in the presence of a nurse and staff member.

"This is an important tool to reduce deaths and avoid infections," said Sandhia Vadlamudy, the executive director of Cactus. "We have been waiting for this for a long time."

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Montrealers have a well-earned reputation as a society of bon vivants with our abundant terrasses, fun festivals and depanneurs stocked with beer.

But with the countdown on to the legalization of marijuana in Canada, which is scheduled to happen just over a year from now, on July 1, 2018, Quebecers are raining on the parade.

It started with the Quebec government, expressing skepticism about the social costs versus the anticipated windfalls. Quebec's public health institute has raised red flags about potential harm from stoned driving or the effects of cannabis on developing brains. And now the concern apparently extends to ordinary citizens, who have expressed serious reservations about the implications of permitting recreational pot use compared to other Canadians.

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Drug use in jail is a reality and reducing harm is vital, say Richard Elliott and Rick Lines.

Almost one-third of federal prisoners reported using drugs during the past six months.

In December 2016, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott committed her government to a new national drug strategy that reinstates harm reduction as a non-negotiable pillar. It was a welcome announcement, signalling a modest shift away from the last decade's emphasis on prohibition and punishment - policies that continue to kill people who use drugs in Canada.

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If all goes according to the Liberal government's recently announced plan, marijuana will be legal for adults in Canada as of July 1, 2018. This is a welcome reversal of Canada's 80-year prohibition on pot, which has never managed to control the demand for the recreational drug and left a black market in the hands of organized crime. But while the necessary legislative and practical preparations are undertaken, it remains a crime for Canadians to possess even small amounts for personal consumption. This creates unnecessary problems. It is senseless to go ahead with criminal charges for an offence that will no longer be a crime in a matter of months, wasting precious court resources in a justice system already struggling to handle more serious cases in a timely manner. It is also grossly unfair. Saddling people with criminal records for something legislators are the process of legitimizing has devastating consequences. Yet that's exactly what's been happening for years. Prime! Minister Justin Trudeau has cited this injustice as one of the reasons for finally legalizing pot.

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Far from putting Canadians at risk, the move will be beneficial, Jerry Golick says.

I would prefer to have a child experimenting with cannabis rather than with booze or tobacco.

Far from putting Canadians at higher risk, as Benjamin Anson suggested in his opinion article earlier this week ("Legalization of marijuana is courting disaster" April 18), the national legalization of cannabis will provide a much safer society, as well as innumerable other benefits.

The experience of jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis suggests there is little change in consumption rates post-legalization. Generally speaking, anyone wishing access to cannabis in a pre-legalization landscape can easily obtain it today. All we are changing is from whom it is purchased.

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Re: "City will ensure it gets share of taxes" (Montreal Gazette, April 20)

The ink is not even dry on the legislation to legalize marijuana and already Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre has plans to demand his share. It is time to send a clear message to all levels of government that we are all adults and do not need advice from self-serving politicians.

Let the government pass the legislation and then see how it is received. I suggest using the restaurant model. A permit is issued to sell the legal product and allowing the government to do spot inspections, to ensure the vendor is in full compliance with the law. Why Quebec has to complicate a simple situation is unbelievable.

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When young Justin Trudeau announced during has election campaign that a Liberal government would legalize the personal possession of marijuana for recreational purposes, the overall political impact could best be described as a collective response somewhere between indifference to "it's about time." For most, the issue of marijuana legalization was pretty low on totem pole of concerns, given more pressing issues. At most, the proposal helped solidify young Justin's reputation as a hip, modern alternative to the depressing crankiness of his predecessor.

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So, you've decided you're going to start smoking pot again. Congratulations! First, though, stop calling it "pot." These days, the cool kids call it "weed," and that's 30 percent the point of this entire exercise, right? To be cool again, just like you were in your twenties when you wore a bandana and regularly smoking doobies.

Don't say "doobies." Or wear a bandana.

Getting the lingo down is just one of the many things you'll have to relearn after these many, many years since you last smoked the ganja. (Do not say "the ganja.")

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"Far out, man!" That's likely what teenaged me would have said if a visitor from the future had said Prime Minister Trudeau had legalized marijuana in 2018. Then I might have said "What? Trudeau is still prime minister?" Then, "Wow, this is some boss weed if I'm talking to some dude from the future." I might have added "Hey, visitor, when did the Leafs win their next Cup?"

Truth be told, your scribe was not much of stoner in his youth, though he effected some of the look and lifestyle. Long hair. Check. Tie-dyed shirts. Check. Bare-foot summers. Check. But a regular consumer of marijuana products? Pas a mon gout. Didn't really have the mental constitution for it. In fact, it's always been a mystery, and the subject of mountains of research, how people react differently when tetrahydrocannabinol hits their bloodstream.

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Tweets take aim at Ottawa

Quebec Health Minister Gaetan Barrette took to social media on Sunday to complain that Ottawa's marijuana legalization drops plenty of responsibilities on the provinces but little in the way of money.

Barrette, who has been decidedly cool to the Trudeau government's plan to legalize recreational marijuana use, wrote on his Twitter account that "Fed Libs political anthem: High visibility, low cost (to them). Always. Latest example? Pot legalization."

The minister then went on to muse over whether the provinces should get a share of any federal tax revenue generated by legal marijuana sales, writing "Pot: all consequences and responsibilities being imposed on PTs shoulders shouldn't fed taxes also be transferred to PTs!"

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As an employer and father, Benjamin Anson is alarmed

As an employer and father to three young children, I am alarmed by the federal government's plan to legalize marijuana.

There is already a deadly opioid crisis underway, but the government remains fixated on making marijuana freely available. The legalization of marijuana is a far more drastic, normalizing step than decriminalization would ever be.

Legalization will encourage marijuana use, thereby putting all Canadians at risk.

Marijuana is already being openly marketed in anticipation of legalization. If this statement sounds far-fetched, then look out for the billboards that already loom over Montreal streets advertising a website that indicates where marijuana can be bought.

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Longtime advocate says legalization process puts 'fox in charge of hen house'

Jodie Emery fought the law and the law won.

At least, that's the short version of how things went down when Emery and her husband Marc tried to open five illegal marijuana dispensaries in Montreal last December.

Hours after the dispensaries' carnival-like grand opening, the Emerys were in handcuffs and police shut down all of their storefronts. Though Emery had escaped the initial crackdown, undercover officers caught up to her at a downtown hotel.

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Will you be able to pick up a bag of pot at a Societe du cannabis du Quebec, run by the same people who sell you wine and scotch?

Employees of the province's liquor stores - the Societe des alcools du Quebec (SAQ) - hope so.

But Montreal's public-health system is dead set against that idea, suggesting the SAQ should not be a model because it promotes the use of alcohol to fill government coffers.

On Thursday, Ottawa announced its long-awaited legalization plan, saying it wants to provide regulated access to recreational cannabis no later than July 2018.

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Province wants cash to implement new policing, prevention responsibilities

Show us the money. The Quebec government said Thursday it is disappointed in the federal government's long awaited plan to legalize recreational marijuana.

Not only is Ottawa's plan vague and full of holes, it off-loads a whole new series of responsibilities and problems - from the need for more policing to the creation of prevention programs - onto the provinces, said Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois.

Worse, it fails to pledge the money to cover the enormous cost of applying the plan.

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Re: "Trudeau's pot legalization a headache for Quebec" (Montreal Gazette, April 13)

Certain politicians seem not to be in touch with their constituents, or even reality, on the subject of marijuana legalization.

Some are saying legalizing pot would not reduce the effect of organized crime on this industry.

Are they for real?

If the federal government goes ahead with what's proposed and prices this product properly, the black market for pot will simply dry up.

It seems it's popular these days for politicians to say outlandish things so they can appear on TV instead of proposing reasonable ideas that are less sensationalistic.

Let's listen to our candidates - and vote them out of office when need be.

Alex Wilson, Montreal

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