Judge struggles with 'lawful prescription becoming unlawful due to its use,' by driver under its influence SARNIA - In what's believed to be a Canadian first, a judge here is having to wrestle with whether having medicinal pot on you is illegal if you're driving under its influence. In a case heard Wednesday, federal drug prosecutor Michael Robb said the issue hadn't come up before in the government's prosecution service. Anthony Francis Barr, 27, of St. Clair Township near Sarnia, pleaded guilty to driving while impaired by marijuana and to possessing marijuana. [continues 308 words]
In reply to Robert Sinclair's letter ("Gateway drug theory is flawed") defending the legalization of marijuana, and his refuting that weed may be a gateway to harder drugs, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, as late as April of this year, has stated that "an alternative to the gateway-drug hypothesis is that people who are more vulnerable to drugtaking are simply more likely to start with readily available substances such as marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol, and their subsequent social interactions with others who use drugs increases their chances of trying other drugs." [continues 240 words]
In light of two recent arrests involving what Prince George RCMP are referring to as an "illegal storefront business," members of a provincial marijuana advocacy group are not about to give up. "Prince George has a fair population and lots of people who do physical work and require pain relief," said MayJoan Liu, director of the WeeMedical Society. "We are all people. Everyone has aches and pains. Why should someone have to travel all the way to Vancouver to find pain relief?" [continues 458 words]
Part one of two RCMP are still making pot arrests, in Prince George, in 2017, less than a year before marijuana becomes legal in Canada. It'd be funny if it wasn't so silly. Police are so backward on pot that their press releases still spell it as "marihuana," which is how it's spelled in the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the basis for the latest local charges. Maybe they should pronounce it the way they spell it? Now that might be funny. [continues 850 words]
In the 1960s, the name Abe Snidanko sent chills up the spine of every hippie in Vancouver. Snidanko worked undercover with the RCMP drug squad and busted longhairs for pot and other drugs. Snidanko's fame went international when former Vancouverite Tommy Chong used him as the inspiration for Sgt. Stadanko, the opening track on Cheech and Chong's 1973 comedy album Los Cochinos. The fictional Sgt. Stadanko also appeared in the Cheech and Chong films Up in Smoke and Nice Dreams. But what the real Sgt. Snidanko thought about his fictional counterpart is unknown - he declined interviews. [continues 861 words]
Making everything legal 'crazy,' but might help, city officials say Decriminalizing all illegal drugs - not just marijuana - may help decrease the devastating effects of drug use and addiction in Ottawa, city officials said Wednesday. They were responding to a suggestion by Toronto's medical officer of health that such a drastic move could help address Canada's spiralling opioid crisis. Dr. Eileen De Villa told reporters last week the current approach to drugs in her city and across the country "doesn't seem to be having the desired impact." [continues 921 words]
Legal pot was inevitable the moment society became inexorably bound to runaway technology. Friday, with a digital lifeline severed, pasty-faced, disoriented humans stumbled out of the disrupted dichotomy - separate connection - to join other disoriented, confused survivors wandering, lost and untethered, in the foreign world of a decade back. Sitting stoned alone in your backyard would clearly be a healthier psychological response. When everything depends on one thing, and that one thing is undependable, dupable and destructible, there needs to be a fallback, and "who gives a crap" is a viable option. [continues 641 words]
Part two of two Marijuana is like Pink Floyd. The English group remains hugely popular. A cover band played Prince George earlier this year, sold out the Playhouse and earned a standing ovation at the end. Former Floyd man Roger Waters is currently touring the biggest arena venues in North America, mixing in a few new songs with the Floyd classics. Not bad for a band that except for two songs - Another Brick In The Wall and Money - had little commercial radio presence in their heyday. Unlike Fleetwood Mac, Elton John and the Eagles, who poured out radio-friendly four-minute classics at will during the 1970s, the Floyd released dense concept albums with songs more than 10 minutes long, odd time signatures and lengthy instrumental passages. [continues 845 words]