In the hope of spreading awareness of the therapeutic benefits of MDMA, commonly known as ecstacy, one local psychotherapist is encouraging Kingstonians to explore and discuss the opportunities of psychedelic drugs. "MDMA is an empathogen, it gives you more empathy and self-compassion, and so when you're in therapy with it you can look at your trauma with a little bit more openness," Richard Tyo, a registered psychotherapist and member of the Kingston Psychedelic Society, said on Wednesday. "It can really accelerate a lot of therapy." [continues 506 words]
Local LCBO employees who belong to OPSEU are excited and anxious for Kingston to get its own government-run marjiuana store. "In my 13 years I never thought this would happen, but I'm excited," Teresa Graham, president of OPSEU Local 497, said. Graham spoke with the Whig-Standard Sunday morning, before her first shift as a fulltime employee with the LCBO. "All we've been told is that there is one coming to Kingston, it's going to be a standalone store, not in the LCBO, run by OPSEU members." [continues 554 words]
Local school boards may bring 'opioid antagonist' into schools to deal with possible overdoses Local school boards are considering following their neighbours and potentially bringing naloxone into local schools in the face of the opioid overdose crisis. On Tuesday, the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario announced the overdose kits would be placed in all of its schools, located in the easternmost counties of Ontario and including the cities of Brockville and Cornwall. "We hope that these kits will never need to be used, but in the event that they are needed, the naloxone will help to buy time for someone experiencing an opioid overdose until first responders arrive," William Gartland, the board's director of education, said. [continues 1000 words]
Naloxone kits are flying off the shelves at local pharmacies and the Street Health Centre, as fentanyl continues its disastrous wave across eastern Ontario. Dr. Meredith Mackenzie, a physician at the centre, said on Wednesday that its clients are listening to their advice and reading news reports and are making an effort to curb their use, but it's not working. "People are much more aware of the drug contamination problem," Mackenzie said. "That means people are using more safely, they're using less, but they are still overdosing, even though they have a big tolerance. We're seeing people with high-opioid tolerance overdosing on smaller amounts of drugs." [continues 826 words]
A Kingston man and woman have been charged by local police after officers accompanied the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on a search warrant execution at 420 Kingston and a private residence on Friday. Sgt. Brad Brooker, of the Kingston Police street crime unit, said on Saturday that the CBSA was the lead agency on the lengthy investigation under the Customs Act and Plant Protection Act. The search warrant was approved for the business located at 736 Princess St. and the residence of the two accused on Ellesmere Avenue. [continues 179 words]
A downtown marijuana dispensary that opened earlier this week was raided by Kingston Police on Thursday night. Sgt. Brad Brooker of the police's street crime unit said the investigation into CannaGreen started on Thursday and a Controlled Substances Act search warrant was executed at approximately 9:30 p.m. Six employees were arrested at the scene: four currently live in Kingston and two hail from Ottawa. All are facing charges from police. Three customers filling out paperwork in the store were also present when the unit arrived, but were released. [continues 381 words]
Despite a completely clean campus always being the goal, top brass at Royal Military College are pleased with the results of a blind drug test conducted in mid-October that weren't exactly perfect. "Having now tangible, fact-based information is really great. It gives us a good assessment of the current situation," Brig.-Gen. Sean Friday, commandant of RMC, told the Whig-Standard on Wednesday. "The whole idea of a blind drug test is so that we can get actual information to see if our [Canadian Armed Forces] drug control program at large is succeeding or not." [continues 694 words]
If you were in possession of marijuana and didn't want to face criminal charges in 2015, statistics show Kingston was the place to be in Canada. Postmedia Network analyzed 1,132 municipalities going back to 2005, looking at marijuana-related incidents and charges. In Kingston, while there were 15.63 incidents of marijuana possession per 100,000 people in 2015, there were only 13.55 resulting charges. The years with the most incidents were 2007 -- 76.61 per 100,000 people resulting in 44.95 charges -- and 2008 -- 73.45 per 100,000 people resulting in 52.38 charges. [continues 1206 words]
Beginning Sunday, offence will match penalties faced by drunk drivers Stiffer penalties for those who choose to drive while under the influence of drugs will be meted out beginning Sunday. The Ministry of Transportation announced Wednesday afternoon that the penalties would match those faced by drivers impaired by alcohol. "You do see drug use and driving regularly," Sgt. Darren Keuhl of the Kingston Police's traffic enforcement unit said. "And maybe people are thinking, 'well, I'm not drinking and driving,' I think that is what the government is tiring to impress upon drivers that, no, it's as bad, if not worse than drinking and driving." [continues 538 words]
Kingston woman whose daughter was stuck by needle at city park wants it to be a lesson for all A Kingston business owner, blogger and mother is warning parents to talk to their children about discarded needles after her daughter stuck herself with one earlier this month. "I've anticipated what happens if they fall from a tree and their arm hurts, or if they stepped in glass, I've run through that process in my mind of what I would do I've thought through all the scenarios in my head, but this is one that never occurred to me," Natalie George, mother of four, told the Whig-Standard on Friday morning. [continues 744 words]
Crime: Kingston Police Report Startling Increase in Seizures of Crystal Methamphetamine This Year Kingston Police have seized almost twice the amount of crystal methamphetamine in the first six months of 2015 as they did in all of 2014. "It's cheap," Staff Sgt. Greg Sands, in charge of special services with the Kingston Police's Drug Unit, told the Whig- Standard Friday. "An addict is an addict, and a true hard-core addict, they're going to get high on something, and crystal meth is cheap." [continues 662 words]
