Is Ontario keeping too tight a lid on pot? Premier Kathleen Wynne faced that question at a town hall meeting Wednesday night in Brampton, where about 250 citizens - some with anger in their voices - grilled her about high local auto-insurance rates, health care, workers' compensation, the Tarion new home warranty system, the rising minimum wage, the recent five-week community college strike and other issues. "Can we not have the private sector?" one young man asked as the clock ticks down to the legalization of marijuana across Canada on July 1. [continues 306 words]
With legalization looming, doctors say province not ready to handle risks Ontario is slow to launch a public education campaign warning parents about the dangers of marijuana to children, which include the risk associated with second-hand pot smoke, the Pediatricians Alliance of Ontario warned Friday. "A lot more children are going to be exposed . . . They are the most at risk of harm. Their brains are still developing," Dr. Hirotaka Yamashiro said. "Ontario is not ready to deal with the risks." [continues 238 words]
Finance minister to work with Ottawa, other provinces for uniformity across Canada Ontario's biggest weed dealer is considering a retail price of about $10 a gram in a system that could bring a tax windfall of more than $100 million a year. That $10 fee - estimated after New Brunswick signed deals with two suppliers last week - is on the radar as officials here determine a price for recreational marijuana when it becomes legal next July1, Finance Minister Charles Sousa says. [continues 437 words]
Mental health group recommends strict rules on legalized weed sales When it becomes legal next July, recreational marijuana should be sold with more restrictions than that other weed - tobacco - says the Canadian Mental Health Association's Ontario branch. The group will release a position paper today calling on the province to ban pot smoking in cars with a "zero tolerance" policy, cap the amount of THC in cannabis products and use all tax revenues from them to boost addiction and mental health services. [continues 735 words]
Province aims to inform public on the risks associated with the use of marijuana Think of it as Reefer Awareness, not Reefer Madness, an over-the-top 1936 film preaching the evils of marijuana. With less than a year until the federal government legalizes recreational marijuana, Ontario is starting work on a public education campaign to highlight health and other dangers of pot - particularly to young adults. Health Minister Eric Hoskins wants the effort to hit the airwaves, newspapers and social media well before the new pot law kicks in next July 1 with 19 the likely age of majority in this province. [continues 473 words]
EDMONTON - Ontario is on track to set the legal age for recreational marijuana use at 19, Premier Kathleen Wynne says. Wynne told the Star the age of majority should be the same for pot as it is for booze once the federal government legalizes cannabis next July 1. "I have a hard time imagining Ontario will have a lower age for pot than we do for alcohol," she said in an interview at the close of the annual premiers' conference here. [continues 387 words]
Licence suspension, $180 fine take effect Sunday for those caught driving while high Motorists stopped by police for driving while high on marijuana - or other drugs - will face the same penalties as drunk drivers starting Sunday in Ontario. At a minimum, that means a fine of $180 and an immediate licence suspension under legislation passed last year to combat growing problems with drivers under the influence. Criminal charges can also be laid, as with drunk driving. Sentences can range up to five years. "What we do know from law enforcement is that there is an increase of those who are impaired by drugs, especially in combination with alcohol," Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca said this week. [continues 266 words]
Entertainment Industry, Restaurants Not Consulted on Changes to Policy Premier Kathleen Wynne says she wants to sit in the "no toking" section at the movies. Two days after her government pulled back a controversial plan to allow medical marijuana to be vaped or smoked in public places where tobacco smoking is banned, Wynne told reporters she understands the public backlash. "I have a lot of sympathy for the concerns that were raised" about second-hand smoke, the premier told reporters Saturday at a Liberal convention where party activists lined up to have her predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, autograph his new memoir. [continues 554 words]
Policy Allowing Smoking and Vaping in Public Sparks Second-Hand Smoke Concerns Ontario's plan to allow vaping and smoking of medical marijuana anywhere, any time is going back to the drawing board after a public backlash suggested it was one toke over the line. Associate Health Minister Dipika Damerla quickly reversed course Thursday over concerns about exposure to second-hand cannabis smoke in restaurants, theatres, offices and other public spaces where tobacco smoking is banned. "We will consider this feedback, look at it very carefully and see what we need to do," she told reporters. "It's too early to say whether this was a failure or not. It's important that governments be responsive." [continues 410 words]
Businesses Will Be Able to Bar Use of Drug If Concerned About Effect on Other Clients Ontario is giving the green light to smoking or vaping medical marijuana anywhere, anytime - from booze-free restaurants to stores, movie theatres, at work or in cars with children. New regulations exempt medicinal pot users from a ban on using e-cigarettes in non-smoking areas and medical marijuana is not covered by the Smoke-Free Ontario Act, which places strict limits on puffing tobacco in public places. [continues 800 words]
Drugged drivers will face the same sanctions as drunk drivers under proposed legislation aimed at cracking down on distracted driving in Ontario. "This sends a clear message to the people who think, 'I can get high and drive because I can pass a breathalyzer,' " Brian Patterson of the Ontario Safety League said Tuesday. The bill from Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca is an updated version of one tabled in March but not passed before the spring election. It increases penalties for talking or texting on hand-held smartphones, with maximum fines of $1,000 and three demerit points - the toughest in Canada. [continues 570 words]
It's a political rite of passage -- answering the question "did you inhale?" Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak on Thursday admitted to smoking marijuana, joining a long list of high-profile politicians quizzed on their reefer habits, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Premier Dalton McGuinty. "Yes, I have," Hudak replied Thursday as he reannounced his campaign promise to have a registry of homes once used as grow-ops or crystal meth labs to protect buyers. "I was wondering if this would come up. [continues 633 words]
$12 Million War Chest HAMILTON--The guns and gangs strategy started in Toronto last year is being expanded throughout the Greater Toronto Area and beyond with $12 million in funding, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday. Police are to use half the money to target the illegal gun trade and gangs. The rest will go to shutting down crystal methamphetamine labs, expanding the Ontario Provincial Police unit that seizes illegal gains from criminal organizations, and boosting intelligence gathering on gang members, among other things. [continues 290 words]
McGuinty Didn't Know About Minister's Past Opposition Urges Better Screening Of Cabinet Members GUELPH--Premier Dalton McGuinty says he was surprised to learn the man he appointed health minister over two years ago was a recovered drug addict, but he has no plans to screen the background of cabinet ministers. "I did not know that," McGuinty acknowledged when asked about George Smitherman's struggle with illegal "party drugs" in the early and mid-1990s -- a period that included Smitherman's stint as executive assistant to former Toronto mayor Barbara Hall. [continues 463 words]
