Proposed cannabis tax another hurdle for medical marijuana users Dick Sobsey slowly walks into a meeting room for an informative, thought-provoking and, really, a scratchyour-head conversation that evades the parameters of conventional thinking. "I may be retired," Sobsey said, referring to his distinguished career as Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta. "But," he paused before, almost theatrically, lowering the boom, "I'm still complaining." Quite on the contrary, to be brutally honesty. Aside from Sobsey's intellectual prowess, the role, I think, he tightly embraces the most is father to David: a 27-yearold grown man who lives with intractable epilepsy, [continues 368 words]
Everyone wants a safe work environment, including the provincial NDP government, which this week introduced a number of measures aimed at reducing injuries and deaths on job sites. Employees will now have the right to refuse work they deem to be dangerous, for instance. They've always had the ability to reject tasks they felt put them at risk, but instead of protection being included in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, it will soon form part of Bill 30, the cleverly titled An Act to Protect the Health and Well-being of Working Albertans. [continues 361 words]
Re: "Booze, drugs 'profound' woes, Suncor says," Nov. 28. There has been little concern expressed during its committee study by the Trudeau government, in its rush to legalize marijuana, about the real possibility of an increase in accidents in the workplace, once it becomes legal. Unlike alcohol, which is excreted from one's body in about 12 hours, THC remains in the system for many, many days. This means workers can show up on the job still partially stoned. There is also the real likelihood more workers will be using marijuana on the job, thereby placing themselves and co-workers at an increased risk of injury or death. [continues 53 words]
Canada is currently in the midst of an opioid overdose crisis. The two most western provinces and territories - British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and the Northwest Territories - have been hit especially hard, likely due to their relative proximity to China, where much of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl is produced. According to Government of Canada statistics from 2016, B.C. and Yukon each had more than 15 opioid overdoses per 100,000 people, while Alberta and N.W.T. each had between 10 and 14.9 overdoses per 100,000 people. [continues 514 words]
Trudeau's Liberals have been rushing their campaign promise to legalize marijuana in Canada while medical professionals, provinces, municipalities, Canada's policing community and the Conservative Opposition have raised serious concerns on the timeline and the impacts. This week the Liberal government released an online consultation about their new regulations. They are repeating many of the mistakes recently highlighted as problems in Colorado. The Colorado Spring Gazette reported that after five years of legalized marijuana the negative community and youth impacts have been significant and problematic. High school drug violations were up 71 per cent along with an increase in school suspensions. Grade school children, kids aged 5-13, saw drug violations increase 45 per cent. Marijuana use among Colorado youth was the highest in the United States, even though the legal age to purchase and possess is 21 years old. Deadly crashes where drivers tested positive for marijuana doubled in five years. Homelessness growth is among the top of their country. In fact, the legalization of marijuana has attracted many homeless to Colorado, putting strains on their supports systems. [continues 243 words]
Police and Courts OTTAWA - Alberta's premier says she's worried that marijuana legalization could drive up policing and court bills her province cannot afford to pay. The justice system is already overburdened and enforcing new pot-related measures could make things worse, Rachel Notley warned in an interview with The Canadian Press. Notley said she was surprised by the recent federal proposal to levy an excise tax on recreational marijuana once it becomes legal next July, with the provinces and territories receiving just half the revenue. [continues 359 words]
Why is the federal government in such a hurry to pass its marijuana legalization legislation when there are still so many questions and so few answers? Recently, the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police said that the legislation is coming too fast, stating that, "There is insufficient time to prepare the necessary legislative framework and regulations to ensure the public safety." The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs warned that it will be "impossible" to be ready for the government's target of legalizing marijuana by July 2018. Do these things not matter? [continues 193 words]
Re: "Warnings, plain covers for pot packaging," Nov. 22. Aside from bona fide medical use, it seems pot legalization may help lull a populace into a sleepwalking oblivion from the world and issues. More happy campers, more votes? By the way, will there be surgeon general warnings on pot packages? Marijuana effects can include secondhand smoke, dependency, mental impairment, impaired driving, seizures, psychosis, damaged blood vessels, chronic bronchitis, strokes, heart attack, etc. Cigarette producers may be rubbing their hands with glee, with finally a double standard perhaps exonerating them. Then there's the spectre of bootleg marijuana to underage people. Will the next move be a marijuana leaf Cannabian flag? Will the motto be Qu'ils mangent de la brioche - "Let them eat cake," or translated nowadays, "Let them smoke pot.' Jeff Miller, Calgary [end]
Suncor faces "profound problems" with drugs and alcohol at its oilsands operations, including accidents, injuries and death, according to documents filed to support the company's push for increased testing. The energy giant wants to start random drug and alcohol testing Friday in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo (RMWB), more than five years after Unifor local 707A won an injunction putting the proposed program on hold until an arbitration board's decision. Although the board sided with the union, a judge later overturned the ruling, a verdict upheld in September by the Alberta Court of Appeal, which ordered a new arbitration hearing. Unifor, which is seeking leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, will ask for another injunction Thursday, but Suncor argues in court documents there has been 73 safety incidents in the last four years where workers tested positive for drugs or alcohol. These include a driver whose idling, unattended truck rolled into a gas oil unit; a forklift operator lifting a 4,500-kg pipe that rolled to the ground; and a dozer driver whose machine tipped over, environment, health and safety vice-president Mike Agnew states in an affidavit. [continues 337 words]
The number of people in Alberta who died by accidentally overdosing on fentanyl in the first nine months of this year has exceeded the total number of deaths attributed to fentanyl in all of 2016, according to a new provincial report. The Alberta government says 400 people died between January and the end of September by accidentally consuming fatal amounts of fentanyl, compared with 357 for all of last year. On average, 1.8 people have died every day from accidentally overdosing on opioids, which include fentanyl, in the province. [continues 518 words]
Latest statistics suggest Alberta will see nearly 550 fentanyl-tied deaths this year Fentanyl-related overdoses killed 400 Albertans in the first nine months of the year, according to new statistics on the opioid crisis that also revealed a disturbing rise in the emergence of highly toxic carfentanil. The numbers, released Monday in Alberta Health's latest quarterly report, show the province has avoided any major spikes in fentanyl fatalities this year, but has also failed to stop the death toll from climbing. [continues 401 words]
Re: Paying for the privilege of smoking pot. Premier (Rachel) Notley stated this week that legal pot could see justice costs climb and questioned who should be paying - the provinces or the federal government? But additional judicial costs should not be her only concern. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use revealed the cost of marijuana-only drugged driving crashes cost Canadians in excess of $1.09 billion in 2012 alone. Marijuana use is now resulting in far too many young users being admitted to psychiatric hospitals. The level of potency and the prevalence of daily use is causing tremendous damage to the minds and health of many. Some 27% of Canadians who are 15 years of age and older who use marijuana use this drug everyday. The addiction rate for daily use is one in two. Marijuana is linked to episodes of psychiatric breaks of reality, a seven-fold increase in risk of suicide ideation, and early onset of schizophrenia - in some cases by seven years. Marijuana legalization will see more marijuana use, not less, and it will cost both the user and non-user greatly. Pamela McColl (And yet here we are.) [end]
Occasionally, Alberta's NDP government manages to demonstrate that it is capable of balance and pragmatism. Unfortunately, that also underscores the frustration of so frequently seeing them do the opposite. In preparing for legalized cannabis, the NDP must have been awfully tempted to follow the advice of their friends in the labour movement and build a network of government-built and government-operated retail outlets. But other than a pre-existing ideological bent, there really wasn't a case to be made for such an approach. The costs would be considerable, and there would not necessarily be any corresponding payoff in terms of better outcomes. Moreover, it would simply delay the rollout of legalized cannabis and prove to be a gift to the black market. [continues 556 words]
Why is the federal government in such a hurry to pass its marijuana legalization legislation when there are still so many questions and so few answers? Just last week, the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police said that the legislation is coming too fast, stating that, "There is insufficient time to prepare the necessary legislative framework and regulations to ensure the public safety." The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs warned that it will be "impossible" to be ready for the government's target of legalizing marijuana by July 2018. Do these things not matter? [continues 200 words]
Why is the federal government in such a hurry to pass marijuana legalization legislation when there are still so many questions? The Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police said the legislation is coming too fast, stating, "there is insufficient time to prepare the necessary legislative framework and regulations to ensure the public safety." Do these things not matter? Why is government not listening to its own department of health which warned youth under the age of 25, whose brains are still developing, should not be smoking marijuana? Why are they ignoring evidence that says more youth will smoke marijuana and car crashes due to impairment will increase significantly? [continues 51 words]
A Vancouver cannabis firm with holdings in Alberta and a greenhouse under construction in California expects to debut its shares on a Canadian stock exchange in the coming weeks - with big warnings to investors. Sunniva Inc. will be the first pot stock to hold an initial public offering after securities regulators set out new rules for companies with assets in the United States, where cannabis remains federally illegal. While several U.S. states have liberalized cannabis laws, securities watchdogs in Canada say there are risks with investing in cannabis stocks that have American assets, including that the companies face potential asset seizures and prosecution by federal U.S. authorities. [continues 442 words]
Why is the federal government in such a hurry to pass its marijuana legalization when there are still so many questions and so few answers? Just this week, the Alberta Association of Chiefs of Police said the legislation is coming too fast, stating, "There is insufficient time to prepare the necessary legislative framework and regulations to ensure the public safety." The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs warned it will be "impossible" to be ready for the government's target of legalizing marijuana by July 1, 2018. Do these things not matter? [continues 187 words]
The rules governing legal marijuana sales in Alberta, released by the NDP government on Thursday, are a bit uptight. Really!? Licensed pot dispensaries won't be able to sell customers tortilla chips at the same time they sell them a 4g bag of Purple Kush or Grape Ape or Bubba Rockstar? Do the NDP truly believe that consumption of Doritos leads to overdosing on weed use rather than the other way around? What's the problem with letting Albertans kill two cravings with one stoner? [continues 432 words]
Legal pot a danger to youth, he says SHERWOOD PARK - Utah Johanson wears three rings on his fingers: a skull to show that death is always close, a Harley-Davidson ring from his dad and a ring in the shape of the number 13 - unlucky 13 - to show the life he lived and his misfortunes. His T-shirt reads: "If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change your attitude." The 21-year-old, who now dreams of being an engineer or physicist, was once a drug dealer. He is currently an honours student at NorQuest College, studying physics and math. [continues 284 words]
Inside Alberta
