There are good days for West Tarricone. Days when she can laugh and live like any other 9-year-old. Days when she can play with her brother, Blake, and watch "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on her iPad. But there are also bad days. Days when her body weathers 100 seizures. Days when it has closer to 1,000 - some lasting more than 90 minutes. Lately, she's been having more good days thanks to Connecticut's new experiment with medical marijuana. [continues 2285 words]
Opioid Dealers Embrace the Dark Web to Send Deadly Drugs by Mail Anonymous online sales are surging, and people are dying. Despite dozens of arrests, new merchants - many based in Asia - quickly pop up. As the nation's opioid crisis worsens, the authorities are confronting a resurgent, unruly player in the illicit trade of the deadly drugs, one that threatens to be even more formidable than the cartels. The internet. In a growing number of arrests and overdoses, law enforcement officials say, the drugs are being bought online. Internet sales have allowed powerful synthetic opioids such as fentanyl - the fastest-growing cause of overdoses nationwide - to reach living rooms in nearly every region of the country, as they arrive in small packages in the mail. [continues 1657 words]
One day in 1964, Nicholas Sand, a Brooklyn-born son of a spy for the Soviet Union, took his first acid trip. He had been fascinated by psychedelic drugs since reading about them as a student at Brooklyn College and had experimented with mescaline and peyote. Now, at a retreat run by friends in Putnam County, N.Y., he took his first dose of LSD, still legal at the time. Sitting naked in the lotus position, before a crackling fire, he surrendered to the experience. A sensation of peace and joy washed over him. Then he felt himself transported to the far reaches of the cosmos. [continues 1480 words]
A Western professor says it's easier to do heroin research than his marijuana work Steven Laviolette is trying to score some pot, but not just any marijuana will do. The Western University neuroscientist is sourcing pure tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive component in cannabis that gives users the euphoric high feeling. Unlike a gram of marijuana that can be bought for $10 on the street or at an illegal dispensary, the same amount of pure THC costs more than $2,000 and is nearly impossible to find in Canada, said Laviolette, who researches marijuana's effect on the brain. [continues 475 words]
One positive outcome of the legalization of cannabis will be the increase in the amount of research that will result when more and more Canadians consume it. We will learn - in 10 years or less - what happens to lips, tongues, lungs, hearts and brains when they are exposed to THC and the other chemical compounds found in marijuana. Millions of young Canadians will be the guinea pigs in this experiment, and hospitals and morgues could be the research sites. Jerry Steinberg, Surrey [end]
The Record speaks to a wide range of people who shun normal painkillers KITCHENER - William Campbell and his wife were on their way to a friend's 25th wedding anniversary one night in 2008 when a drunk driver pulled out in front of them. They didn't have time to stop. Campbell, 53, was hospitalized after the head-on collision, and everything in his life would change. Earlier that day, he'd aced an exam to become a lab technician, after getting laid off from a furniture factory where he'd worked for 22 years. [continues 2148 words]
How drug units deal with fentanyl The death toll for fentanyl continues to rise in 2017, with nearly double the number of deaths being reported in the first six weeks of the year. According to Health Canada, from Jan. 1 to Feb, 11, 51 people died from overdosing on fentanyl. In 2016 during the same six weeks, 28 Albertans died as a result of a fentanyl overdose. The drug was first found in St. Albert in 2014 and since then the St. Albert RCMP's drug unit said that currently there is at least one pill found in around 80 per cent of their overall drug cases. [continues 938 words]
Legal intoxication is big business and getting bigger. More states have legalized marijuana, leading some in the alcohol industry to regard it as a threat to their profit margin. Those concerns are warranted in some cases. In Colorado, Oregon and Washington, where recreational use has been legal for several years, beer sales are down, mostly among mass-market brews. The liquor industry opposed several marijuana legalization initiatives last year, and has expressed fears for its bottom line. The fine wine industry, however, has not panicked. Despite occasional efforts to pit wine and weed against each other, many in the wine business exude an air of mellow acceptance that the two substances can coexist in harmony. [continues 1174 words]
The province is reviewing Ottawa's bill, which legalizes public possession of 30g of marijuana The federal government has introduced legislation to legalize marijuana, while placing stricter limits on impaired driving and heavy sanctions on those who provide the drug to minors. The government said the legislation, known as the Cannabis Act, should be in force no later than July 2018. Tabled on Thursday, it will allow adults over the age of 18 to legally possess up to 30 grams of marijuana in public, and to grow up to four plants of up to one metre in height. [continues 645 words]
The elegant white box shipped from the Tweed Inc. medical marijuana plant in Smiths Falls is stamped with a gold cannabis leaf that signals the dried bud inside is endorsed by Snoop Dogg himself. The rapper who once boasted of smoking 80 blunts a day has a partnership with Tweed that helps both parties: Snoop promotes his Leafs by Snoop cannabis line and Tweed benefits from an association with "the world's most renowned cannabis connoisseur," as Tweed describes Snoop. Tweed is poised to jump into the recreational market, and the marketing deal with Snoop Dogg was a major coup. [continues 963 words]
As Ottawa readies legislation, researchers say there are gaps in understanding its effect on brain After punching a string of numbers into a bolted-down, fireproof, alarm-protected safe - the location of which can't be divulged for security reasons - Steven Laviolette pulls out a tiny vial. Inside that vial is an even tinier dab of dark tar. The tar is purified THC, the mind-altering compound in marijuana. The street price for a gram of weed is about $10. A gram of this stuff costs about $2,000, not counting the cost of the researcher's time acquiring it. Laviolette, a professor in the departments of anatomy and cell biology and psychiatry at Western University's Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, studies the effects of marijuana on the brain. His lab is investigating the troubling brain changes associated with THC, and also - a rapidly growing avenue of research - the very different and perhaps protective brain changes associated with cannabidiol, or CBD, another compound found in the plant. [continues 2308 words]
Scientists at the University of B.C. have identified about 30 genes related to the characteristic flavours of cannabis, from the nose-wrinkling funk of skunk to the distinctive earthiness of purple kush. The finding, published Wednesday in the journal Plos One, is a first step toward standardizing different varieties of B.C.'s iconic intoxicant. As Canada hurtles toward a new legal environment for recreational cannabis, breeders and growers will be anxious to identify different varieties of cannabis for flavour, but also for their psychoactive effects and potency, said Jorg Bohlmann, a professor in the Michael Smith Laboratories. [continues 273 words]
There are at least 18 storefront marijuana dispensaries operating illegally in Hamilton. Despite raids by police, these storefront operations keep bouncing back, primed for the time that pot becomes legal STEP INSIDE ONE OF HAMILTON'S medical marijuana dispensaries and you will find rows of dried marijuana stored inside sealed glass jars, everything from bath balms to shaving cream, and knowledgeable staff - often called bud tenders - willing to help you find just the right product. The businesses range from spa-like to head shop, yet all are in public storefronts, demanding to be seen. But make no mistake - they are illegal. Owners know their businesses are illegal but believe without them, patients would not be able to access relief. They claim the product, which is only available online from Health Canada's licensed providers, is too expensive, can be difficult to access and isn't as good as what's available from seasoned (albeit illegal) growers. [continues 1375 words]
Sales rules in place next year: justice minister Alberta should have regulations in place to allow recreational marijuana sales next year, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Tuesday. The federal government has vowed to introduce legislation this spring to legalize pot, but Ganley said packaging, distribution, zoning, building codes and other details must be worked out before people can smoke and eat cannabis in the province without breaking the law. "I'm not sure whether that has yet penetrated the public's consciousness fully. There's an enormous amount of work that has to be done," she said following a speech to the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties convention in the Shaw Conference Centre. [continues 272 words]
Justice minister says devil in the details as NDP works to put regulations in place Alberta should have regulations in place to allow recreational marijuana sales next year, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Tuesday. The federal government has vowed to introduce legislation this spring to legalize pot, but Ganley said packaging, distribution, zoning, building codes and other details must be worked out before people can smoke and eat cannabis in the province without breaking the law. "I'm not sure whether that has yet penetrated the public's consciousness fully. There's an enormous amount of work that has to be done," she said following a speech to the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties convention in the Shaw Conference Centre. [continues 273 words]
A group of Canadian military veterans who say they are suffering from health problems after consuming tainted medical marijuana is calling on Health Minister Jane Philpott to launch a formal investigation, saying the department has failed to examine the problem properly and fairly on behalf of patients. Scott Wood, a retired military policeman whose career involved investigating military wrongdoing and guarding heads of state, said he believes Health Canada is trying to sweep the problem under the rug without a proper investigation. [continues 1139 words]
With the medical-marijuana industry caught in a tainted-cannabis scare that Health Canada has yet to fully confront, one company has struck out on its own to devise a solution to the controversy - and hopes the rest of the sector will voluntarily follow suit. Aurora Cannabis Inc., one of 38 federally licensed producers of medical cannabis, is expected to announce on Thursday that it is unveiling the industry's strictest consumer safety regime, testing all of its products for contaminants at a federally accredited lab, then making those certified test results public. [continues 752 words]
Illegal marijuana dispensaries in B.C., Ontario work on protocol system for detecting contaminants Illegal marijuana dispensaries in British Columbia and Ontario say they are developing a system of testing standards amid concerns about contaminants in cannabis - both at unauthorized storefronts and in the federally regulated system. The proposal from the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, whose 25 members represent a fraction of the hundreds of illegal dispensaries operating across the country, to set up a testing system by May comes ahead of federal legislation to legalize the drug. The Liberal government has not said where recreational marijuana will be sold, but dispensaries have lobbied to be included in the new system. [continues 547 words]
The largest association of medical-marijuana companies in Canada has agreed to implement new standards on product safety and transparency, after a series of recalls due to banned pesticides that have shaken consumer confidence in the industry. Directors of the Cannabis Canada Association, which represents 15 federally licensed medical marijuana companies - including several of the country's biggest - voted unanimously in favour of the new health and safety standards at a board meeting Thursday. The stricter measures include independent lab testing for banned pesticides, bacteria, mould, heavy metals and other contaminants, and - - most importantly - disclosing those results to consumers. [continues 823 words]
A federally regulated medical marijuana company caught selling products tainted with a banned pesticide that can cause debilitating health problems has been unable to determine how the chemical got into its supply, raising new questions about the oversight of the industry. Organigram Inc. said on Monday that it has wrapped up an internal investigation into a product recall announced in December but the findings are "inconclusive," with "no hard evidence leading to the source of the contamination." The company also said it would offer full refunds to customers who bought the tainted product, after refusing over the past two months to give patients their money back. [continues 852 words]
