The Regional District of Nanaimo has put out a response to residential opposition to a licence application for a new medical marijuana facility in the Nanoose area. However, the regional government says its hands are effectively tied with regards to the project and is asking residents to address their questions and complaints to senior levels of government. A group of residents living close to the proposed facility plan on meeting Tuesday to prepare their next steps. Vancouver-based medical marijuana producer Wildflower Marijuana Inc. has two applications for licences in the works with Health Canada, the federal agency that regulates medical marijuana production. One of the applications is for the facility in Nanoose, while another is for an operation in Yellow Point. [continues 238 words]
The City of Nanaimo and a number of Nanaimo service clubs are giving financial assistance to a program dedicated to dealing with drug abuse in the province's schools. The city is giving $2,500 to support the RCMP-led Drug Abuse Resistance Education program; the Women of the Moose gave $500, the Knights of Columbus contributed $300 and the Royal Canadian Legion #10 gave $200. The D.A.R.E. B.C. Society is a Canadian-registered charity whose purpose is to empower the children of B.C. with the critical thinking and life skills necessary to choose a drug-free life. [continues 99 words]
Vice-president of Tilray in Nanaimo challenges the idea in paper at symposium A medical study of Canadian cancer patients challenges the claim that marijuana is a so-called "gateway drug," says a Nanaimo man who was involved in the research. Phillippe Lucas returned last week from the annual symposium of the International Cannabinoid Research Society conference, where he presented the as-yet unpublished research paper. Lucas, who is the Tilray vice-president of patient research and services, has a doctorate from the University of Victoria and is a graduate researcher with the Centre for Addiction Research B.C. [continues 382 words]
The public is being asked to provide input on whether mandatory criminal record checks for elected trustees in the Nanaimo-Ladysmith school district should be implemented. The board decided in a close 5-4 vote last week to proceed with the process and district spokeswoman Donna Reimer said the public will have 30 days to give input into the issue, although she couldn't say whether the 30 day period would begin this summer, or wait until the fall. Trustee Jamie Brennan was one of the four who opposed the motion, calling it "intrusive and unnecessary." [continues 185 words]
The province has followed the city of Nanaimo's lead to plug a potential tax loophole for medical marijuana growers. The B.C. government will exclude federally-licensed medical marijuana production from the list of agricultural uses that qualify for farm classification for assessment and property tax purposes. It was a concern for city council before medical pot producer Tilray set up shop at a Duke Point industrial site. "I'm very, very pleased, and it's definitely the right way to go," said Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan. [continues 259 words]
Medical marijuana producers setting up shop in British Columbia won't be able to claim a lucrative property tax break designed for farms and other agricultural operations, the provincial government said Tuesday. Mayors in B.C. have been warning for months that commercial grow-ops could get out of paying nearly 90 per cent of their property taxes if they're lumped together with farms, even if they're operating on expensive industrial land. The province's agriculture minister, Norm Letnick, said medical marijuana facilities are complex industrial operations - and that's how they'll be taxed. [continues 349 words]
New Nanaimo business says customer list burgeoning, plans to hire another 40 people for operation Business is budding at Nanaimo's industrial producer of legal medical marijuana. Since Tilray put its first shipment of pot on a delivery truck from its Duke Point plant in late April, its customer list has grown to more than 1,000. It's good news for the Seattle based company, and for Nanaimo's tax base and labour force. With the buyer list now topping the 1,000 mark, company officials are pleasantly surprised - that's about 10 per cent higher than expectations. [continues 190 words]
Mandatory criminal record checks for elected school trustees in Nanaimo-Ladysmith are on the table again. The school board has asked staff to develop a policy for trustees to provide a criminal record check once elected. The policy will likely be tabled in July in time for the next municipal elections on November. Trustee Donna Allen introduced the motion at a board meeting this week. Allen delayed taking her oath of office for several weeks after she was re-elected in the last elections in 2011 because she didn't think new trustee Bill Bard should be allowed to serve because of his 2006 conviction for the cultivation of marijuana. [continues 200 words]
Five people filed a lawsuit alleging that Ottawa had violated their charter rights VANCOUVER - A group of addicts in Vancouver who were part of a clinical trial examining the use of prescription heroin have won a temporary injunction that will allow them to continue accessing the drug at least until a court challenge is heard. The ruling, issued Thursday by a B.C. Supreme Court judge, is the second time in recent months that courts have interfered with Ottawa's attempt to rein in the medical use of otherwise illegal drugs. [continues 454 words]
Medical marijuana might not cause headaches for its users, but it's continuing to cause headaches for municipal councillors. Ever since Ottawa changed the laws to switch medical-marijuana production from home-based grow-ops to large industrial ones, municipal governments have been dealing with the fallout. The latest example of collateral damage from the federal decision could be on local tax bills. Although they don't look any more agricultural than a typical warehouse, industrial marijuana buildings are classified as agriculture, according to the Agricultural Land Commission. [continues 430 words]
A Vancouver Island company that voluntarily recalled a batch of "purple kush" last week is not based out of Nanaimo. Although Greenleaf Medicinals has a post office Box in Nanaimo, the company - believed to be the first to ever recall marijuana under Health Canada's new commercial marijuana program - has a facility in North Cowichan, the municipality's planning and zoning department confirmed. A Health Canada spokeswoman said she couldn't confirm or deny where the company was producing its cannabis, but Greenleaf Medicinals has a licensed business on Drinkwater Road in North Cowichan that is zoned for medical marijuana production. [continues 217 words]
A Nanaimo medicinal pot factory received its license from Health Canada last week and is now officially able to distribute cannabis across Canada. Tilray, located at Duke Point, has been busy trimming, photographing and testing marijuana as it prepares for its first shipments, according to company vice president Philippe Lucas. Tilray has also had a steady stream of interest from locals, with over 1,000 applications being taken in since the company started accepting resumes. "We're settling into a really nice groove," said Lucas. [continues 109 words]
Resolutions Address Four Key Issues A Nanaimo-sponsored resolution calling for more municipal control over medical marijuana production has been endorsed by the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities. However, AVICC delegates rejected a resolution from the Harbour City calling on the province to give municipalities immediate power to regulate animal trapping, with some rural representatives voicing concerns. The local government group assembled earlier this month in Parksville and Qualicum Beach for its 2014 AGM and convention. The list of 20-plus resolutions included four from Nanaimo. [continues 364 words]
Re: 'Officer finds it difficult to see 'children suffer' ( Opinion, April 9) Kudos to that B.C. police officer. I was hoping that members of the police force would speak out about decriminalization and ultimately legalization of marijuana. I, too, find it difficult to see children suffer. How does it start? Marijuana. Then it leads to more drugs and addiction. We need to have drug rehabilitation hospitals where addicts can go for help and have the best treatment possible - the best possible medical help available. But the taxpayer should not have to pay. [continues 258 words]
Delegates From Dozens Of Municipalities Meet On Weekend To Talk Medicinal Pot, Animal Trapping, Etc. Representatives from the City of Nanaimo are headed to Parksville and Qualicum Beach this weekend to debate a handful of hot topics with other coastal communities. Delegates from dozens of cities, towns, districts and villages will take part in the Association of Vancouver island and Coastal Communities 2014 conference, and will debate a number of resolutions requesting action on the part of the province. Among the list will be a resolution from Nanaimo calling on the province to remove medical marijuana production as a "farm use" for tax assessment purposes. [continues 330 words]
In view of the ongoing discussions about the decriminalization, and ultimately the legalization of marijuana, I cannot help but see an important casualty in this battle that has received little attention: Young children. Children do not get to choose their parents, social standing, living conditions, food allocation, educational opportunities or personal safety boundaries to name just a few. Children are dependent on their parents and so it should be. Most parents try to nurture and provide for their children and generally will do what they can to see their children grow and be prepared to face the life ahead. [continues 449 words]
Those Who Grow for Pain and Other Medicinal Purposes Fear They Must Go Without or Break the Law They might have a temporary reprieve, but pain stricken Canadians who grow their own medical marijuana say they could soon face a difficult choice: go without the weed they need or break the law to get it. A Federal Court judge recently granted an injunction that allows thousands of patients to continue cultivating their own marijuana at home, or designate someone to grow it for them - at least until their legal challenge of planned new rules can be argued more fully. [continues 684 words]
Nanaimo residents with licences to grow their own medical marijuana will be able to continue to do so for the immediate future, despite a changeover to new Health Canada regulations yesterday. Health Canada had announced that users of medical marijuana would no longer be able to access the drug through person licences to grow the substance, and would instead have to access it through licensed commercial growers under the new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations. Legal marijuana users were told to destroy all marijuana in their possession by March 31. [continues 261 words]
A Nanaimo commercial medical cannabis producer hasn't changed plans, despite a legal challenge that allows patients to continue growing pot at home. Abbotsford lawyer John Conroy launched a Charter of Rights challenge of Health Canada rules against home-grown pot, citing the same legal argument that legalized medical marijuana in the courts a decade ago. There has been speculation the uncertainty of a court challenge might cause applicants to ditch business plans, or at least sideline their plans temporarily. A recent job fair in Nanaimo, put on by U.S.-based Tilray attracted 400 applicants for jobs growing, processing, packaging and shipping a variety of strains of medical marijuana to patients across Canada. [continues 190 words]
Province demanded senior officials step aside VANCOUVER - The board and senior managers of Vancouver's groundbreaking safe injection site have resigned amid concerns over spending by the group behind the initiative. Mark Townsend, executive director for the non-profit Portland Hotel Society, said the provincial government presented an ultimatum demanding senior officials step aside or risk the loss of funding and contracts. Townsend said Wednesday that rather than jeopardize programs, he and the others will leave their posts by the end of the month. [continues 259 words]
Move Comes After Tories Mock Trudeau's Stance on Issue The Conservative government is seriously considering more lenient marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket anyone caught with small amounts of pot instead of laying charges, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said Wednesday. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," MacKay said following the weekly Conservative caucus meeting on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would . . . allow police to ticket those types of offences." [continues 447 words]
Tilray filtered through more than 400 applications for jobs at its Duke Point medical marijuana factory during a unique hiring fair over the weekend. Selected candidates were invited to a downtown hotel where they interviewed for jobs to cultivate, sell, trim, secure and ship cannabis in the first event of its kind ever to hit Nanaimo. Tilray's medical marijuana facility will open April 1 when law changes take cannabis growth out of homes and into large-scale production. Tilray Vice President Philippe Lucas said in an interview on Sunday that job fair attendees were "enthusiastic." [continues 208 words]
Mountie Document Before Federal Court Claims Current System Prone to Abuses Mountie files affidavit in federal court saying they have uncovered abuses by medicinal pot growers There is an "overwhelming temptation" for growers of medical marijuana to supplement their income under the current system by selling extra pot, the RCMP says. Police investigations have revealed various abuses of the federal medical marijuana program, including trafficking for personal gain, violent theft of homegrown pot and involvement of organized crime, RCMP Cpl. Shane Holmquist says in an affidavit filed in the Federal Court of Canada. [continues 476 words]
Now that odours from marijuana and compost are getting under control in Cedar, the Harmac Mill and biogas cogeneration plant will be reviewed. The Regional District of Nanaimo's Alec McPherson, who directs the Cedar area, says that he sees things improving in the near future, but things could still get better, which is why he plans to talk to company owners. The ICC Group's composting facility was recently handed a $1 million bill for odour abatement and are complying. Meanwhile marijuana odours from home growers are expected to subside after April 1, when legislation changes take medical marijuana growth out of homes and into large scale production. McPherson regularly receives complaints from residents over foul smells. [continues 146 words]
It is the dawn of Marijuana Inc. and dollars have begun to flow into Nanaimo by the millions. A Duke Point construction site was abuzz with activity on Tuesday as contractors worked to transform an industrial warehouse into a legal growing operation that is expected to supply medical marijuana users across the country. Health Canada will formally launch its new medicinal marijuana program on April 1, but in the meantime marijuana producer Tilray says the construction budget for its Nanaimo facility exceeds $10 million. [continues 503 words]
Nanaimo council has voted in support of a zoning amendment to bar medical marijuana production in areas zoned for industrial use, sending the issue to a public hearing sometime in next few weeks. However, Coun. Bill McKay voted against first and second reading of the zoning amendment bylaw. He said he is concerned that medical marijuana production could potentially shift away from industrial to agricultural areas in the city, which is currently allowed under provincial regulations. The vote, which took place at last night's council meeting, will not affect a proposed new facility at 1100 Maughan Rd. At Duke Point, which has already received support from council. [continues 162 words]
Nanaimo city council to consider zoning amendment on Monday to remove potential industrial-land use Nanaimo city hall is moving to to address what it says could be a threat to its industrial tax base from new medical marijuana facilities. City council will consider a zoning amendment Monday that would remove medical marihuana as a permitted use on land zoned industrial (14) in the city, primarily in the Duke Point area. The proposed change is coming forward to address concerns that marijuana producers on industrial land within the city could apply to be assessed under the farm category and therefore pay a significantly lower tax rate. [continues 303 words]
For those living with marijuana-growing operations in their neighbourhoods, April 1 can't come fast enough. That's the date Health Canada has set when private producers and distributors of medicinal marijuana will need to be located on commercial property. Duke Point has been targeted as the most likely and preferable location for such an operation. Until then, neighbourhoods will have grow-ops of various sizes and descriptions that the RCMP cannot close down because they are licensed for producing medicinal marijuana. [continues 490 words]
New Health Canada rules mean municipalities must look at the impact on their zoning bylaws. Local food producers are generally receptive to the possibility that Agricultural Land Reserve areas might be used for medicinal marijuana production. The Regional District of Nanaimo has announced a public hearing on Thursday to consider proposed amendments to its zoning bylaws to allow for medicinal marijuana production in rural areas. Health Canada has begun a transition to a system of licenced private producers and distributors in a new medical marijuana regime that comes into full force on April 1, 2014. [continues 335 words]
Even the financial TV news channels are agog at the sight of Colorado's new retail marijuana shops, which opened for business Wednesday. Note: they are not dispensaries; the state has done away with the medical window dressing so zealously clung to by Health Canada. More important for B.C., Washington state will soon follow and allow recreational sales. Please note that the economic consequences for B.C. have absolutely nothing to do with anyone's personal consumption, approval or disapproval. During America's disastrous 14-year prohibition of beer, wine or liquor, immense fortunes were made in Canada, including the Bronfman's Seagram's empire. But tens of thousands in salaries were also paid, and the money Canadians spent on beverage alcohol stayed in the country. [continues 200 words]
Medicinal pot facility slated for Duke Point City of Nanaimo officials expect to issue a building permit for a new medical marijuana facility in the Duke Point area next month. City staff members also expect to receive confirmation from the province soon that a covenant tied to land rezoning for the development has been formally registered. Once that step is complete, the city intends to formally adopt land use changes to allow capital work on the project to proceed. Lafitte Ventures, a B.C. company, wants to set up a medical marijuana production facility at 1100 Maughan Rd., which is currently zoned I2 'light industrial.' The company wants the zoning changed to I4 'industrial,' which the city had previously designated as the appropriate zoning for marijuana production. However, the city became aware earlier this year that property owners running marijuana facilities could apply to have their property assessed under 'farm status,' meaning the land would be assessed at a comparatively much lower rate. [continues 138 words]
Sensible B.C. founder Dana Larsen says he is not worried that an organizer with the campaign's Nanaimo-North Cowichan chapter is facing drug charges. Barbara Kohlman's next scheduled court appearance was set for Nov. 25, when a decision related to two charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is expected to be handed down. Kohlman has been charged with production of a controlled substance and possession for the purpose of trafficking, in relation to marijuana cultivation. The charges were the result of a federal-level RCMP investigation that led to the execution of a search warrant on her home on Sept. 18, 2012, prior to the campaign. [continues 235 words]
Group Believes They Are Being Silenced After Series of Rejections The local chapter of a provincial campaign to change B.C.'s marijuana laws feel they are being silenced. The Nanaimo Downtown Farmer's Market board recently voted unanimously to prevent Sensible B.C. from setting up an information kiosk at the Friday events. Sensible B.C. received a similar response in July when it attempted to set up shop during the Nanaimo Marine Festival's bathtub races. During a time when Canada's marijuana laws have come under increased scrutiny, Sensible B.C. has been given the go-ahead by Elections B.C. to gather the signatures required to launch a provincial referendum on decriminalization in 2014. [continues 345 words]
Starting Sept. 9, the Sensible B.C. campaign will begin collecting signatures in support of ending police enforcement of the law against possession of small quantities of cannabis in B.C. More than 400,000 signatures will be required, including 10% of the electorate in each riding. This would be a cost-saving measure, and would free up police resources to spend more time enforcing laws that protect our citizens. Another benefit would be the avoidance of criminalizing otherwise law-abiding citizens. The stigma of a criminal record is life-changing, limiting opportunities in employment, education, and travel. [continues 106 words]
Evidence Missing From Storage Locker A policeman who worked with a Nanaimo RCMP drug squad when $10,000 and some cocaine went missing from a storage locker has been internally reprimanded for mishandling evidence. Const. Tyler Jensen was docked a total of six days' worth of pay and given formal reprimands in a public decision handed down in Nanaimo on Tuesday. The mystery of what happened to the money and the 0.3 grams of cocaine that disappeared from a temporary exhibit locker in February 2011 remains unsolved. [continues 248 words]
Nanaimo recruiters have less than a month to sign up 200 volunteers in a quest to decriminalize the simple possession of marijuana. As Washington State prepares to move toward a state-controlled marijuana distribution system, pro-cannabis organizers from the group Sensible BC have taken a cue from the recent, successful campaign to kill the HST through B.C. referendum laws. Nanaimo organizers want to find 250 canvassers before the official campaign begins, but have only about 45, just less than a month from the Sept. 9 start of the province wide campaign. [continues 171 words]
Re: 'We owe it to drug addicts to be judgmental' (Opinion, July 26) What this opinion piece fails to acknowledge is that the biggest problem is that drugs are still sold by black market dealers with no age or quality controls. Most people who overdose do so because of unknown purity of the drugs they consume. I do not know what Al Arsenault does not understand about personal responsibility, or why he thinks the government needs to control what people put into their own bodies, but the policies he supports are killing people and making the world a less desirable place for those of us that don't use drugs. [continues 61 words]
Following federal politics is fascinating, particularly when it comes to watching what the media covers, and chooses to ignore. Canada's lowest ever poverty rate and lower crime statistics for the ninth consecutive year are important items, but were barely mentioned. Is that because they may, perhaps, have something to do with federal government policies? Prime Minister Stephen Harper is an actual economist, but he's often described as a "policy wonk", controlling, distant, uncaring. . . Meanwhile, the "Trudeaumedia" machine keeps generating headlines and flattering photos regardless of the topic, including the Liberal leader's outrageous call for legalizing marijuana. The media's love-in with Justin Trudeau continues unabated. Handsome, dashing, articulate . the adjectives are almost always favourable. [continues 447 words]
Although I wouldn't say that Cory Monteith died directly because of INSITE, I would say he met his demise because of the ideology that promotes the idea that poisons can be ingested in a supposedly 'safe' manner. It's poison regardless if a nurse is watching or not. This pro-drug stance Vancouver has taken promotes harm, as the drugs taken by Monteith (and yes being sold on the very doorstep of the SIS), were done so with an illusion of a reduced likelihood of harm or even death. [continues 545 words]
Those Without Criminal Records Used As Fronts, Says Report The RCMP says organized criminal networks are taking advantage of Canada's medical marijuana program to produce the drug and supply it to the illicit market. A newly released intelligence report by the national police force warns that criminals are using family members and associates with clean police records to get around program safeguards. "Gaining access to or control of a medical marijuana grow operation is highly desirable for criminal networks due to the array of opportunities it would present for the illicit production and diversion of high-grade medical marijuana," says the report, completed in May 2012. [continues 210 words]
Neighbours Want Legal Grow Op Closed Kathryn Seymour has had enough of the pungent aroma from a legal marijuana growing operation as it drifts into her yard, over her neighbour's fence. After hearing her concerns, the Regional District of Nanaimo board of directors directed staff members to research options to regulate cannabis cultivation, before new federal drug production laws take effect next spring. Seymour, who lives in the Nanaimo River-White Rapids road area, took her concerns to the regional board this week. [continues 238 words]
Liquor violations throughout Nanaimo plunged from January to March, compared to numbers in 2012 Crime trends were mostly stagnant in the first quarter of this year, but liquor violations and other violations saw some big shifts. That's according to a quarterly police report presented by Nanaimo RCMP Supt. Norm McPhail at Nanaimo council this week. McPhail reported Nanaimo has seen a 4.3 per cent dip in its crime severity index, just short of an RCMP E Division target of five per cent for the city. [continues 319 words]
Current users worry that price could soar once new Health Canada regulations are put in place When Glenda Barr started using medical marijuana, it was to get relief from the pain of arthritis in her left ankle. But she made a surprise personal discovery - cannabinoids, the range of active ingredients in pot - got rid of the inflammation that causes the pain. Next year, changes to Health Canada regulations for growing and accessing medical marijuana take effect. The changes will likely make it easier for people like Barr to get a prescription for the drug, but she's worried about the cost of medical pot as a result of the new rules. [continues 320 words]
A medical marijuana dispensary that operated from a Harewood storefront has been shut down. Operators closed the Stash Box at 640 Fifth St., after Nanaimo RCMP bike patrol officers paid a visit two weeks ago and spelled out for them the legal problems the business faced. Neighbours claimed they saw increased drug-related activity after the business opened last year; from increased pedestrian traffic through trespassing and discarded hypodermic needles. The situation led to a city bylaw review to rein in cannabis production and sales. [continues 301 words]
New Regulations Next Year Will Make Shutting Down Illegal Operations Easier The number of illegal marijuana grow-ops in Nanaimo dropped significantly during the last half of 2012, and the city's RCMP detachment says that's due to an increased number of medical marijuana licenses in the city. The number of illegal marijuana grow-ops dropped 35 per cent between July to September last year compared to the same period in 2011, dropping to 24 violations compared to 37. From October to December 2012, RCMP recorded a 33 per cent decrease in grow-ops, ending up at 12 cases, down from 18 the previous year. [continues 266 words]
Report expected by April Zoning bylaws to control medical marijuana production and sales could soon be on the books at city hall. City planners attended a legal workshop this week to prepare for new federal laws that will change how medical marijuana is produced and sold. Next spring, third-party growers will no longer be licensed to grow several cannabis plans at home to supply licensed medical marijuana users. Instead, Health Canada will limit the production and sale of cannabis to commercial operators, similar to how other drugs are made and distributed. [continues 308 words]
I am one of the probably vast majority of people who do not resent smart meters. To me they represent another method of measuring our use of the luxury of electricity. I trust the integrity of B.C. Hydro. People who have grow-ops are breaking the law of the land. To me the law breakers are not being loyal to their country. The vast majority of people - innocent people, those who abide by the law - must pay large taxes to cover the costs of police, lawyers, judges and prison costs. It is much easier to be good than to be bad. Ralph Forshaw Nanaimo [end]
Local medical marijuana activists have mixed feelings about proposed changes to the federal government's medicinal pot system. Activists opposed to the changes, set to take place next year, staged a nationwide protest on Thursday. However other local advocates say the proposed changes aren't necessarily a bad thing as long as patients with medical marijuana prescriptions are guaranteed access. There are currently 13,362 British Columbians with medical marijuana prescriptions, according to Health Canada. Under the current system, patients can grow their own marijuana, or purchase it from a designated grower, or from Health Canada. [continues 315 words]
City planners are taking a look at regulations to control the sale of medical marijuana. Health Canada recently announced it will get out of the business of producing and distributing cannabis to patients legally licensed to use pot to control pain or treat ailments. Last year the Paradise Island Compassion Society, a medical marijuana club, opened jointly with the Stash Box, a smoking paraphernalia shop, at 640 Fifth St. Neighbours of the nearby quiet, residential street say the business attracts undesirables. An escort agency is listed at the same address with the city licensing department. [continues 275 words]
City Official Says Escort Service Listed at Same Address Hillcrest Avenue residents are banding together to express concerns about a medical marijuana dispensary they say brings undesirables into the neighbourhood. The Stash Box sells pipes and other smoking paraphernalia at 640 Fifth St. It is also home of Paradise Island Compassion Society, a dispensary for medical cannabis users and, according to the City of Nanaimo, is the registered address for an escort agency. Since it opened last year, residents on adjacent Hillcrest Avenue say they have noticed an increase in drug users, crime and needles in their south Nanaimo neighbourhood. [continues 266 words]
