Labelling legalized marijuana products with their levels of two main active ingredients is one of the helpful recommendations released this week by a federal task force on cannabis legalization and regulation, says Saskatoon addictions expert Dr. Peter Butt. "There's no truth in labelling now because there's no testing," Butt said. He is concerned that there is no way to ensure cannabis sold for medicinal use contains any of a substance shown to produce the medical benefits marijuana is promoted to address. [continues 306 words]
Incoming packages will be inspected if there are reasonable grounds to be suspicious. This is vital when you are dealing with deadly substances like fentanyl and carfentanil. Ralph Goodale Public Safety Minister The federal government has unveiled a series of measures aimed at curtailing Canada's booming underground market in fentanyl, just as the death toll climbs and more communities sound the alarm about illicit drugs. Under Bill C-37, tabled in the House of Commons on Monday, pill-press machines used in clandestine labs to manufacture bootleg fentanyl could no longer be imported into Canada, and border guards who inspect goods coming in would have broader powers to seize and open suspect packages. [continues 697 words]
As Canada prepares to become the largest jurisdiction in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, a federal task force has told Ottawa it should also require the product to be lab-tested, safe to consume and free of harmful contaminants such as bacteria, mould and dangerous pesticides. That recommendation was part of a report released on Tuesday that will be a blueprint for new legislation expected in the spring. The call from the Federal Task Force on Cannabis Legalization for mandatory product testing and accurate depictions of potency on packaging comes after concerns were raised over a lack of regulations and consumer protection in the cannabis dispensary industry, which has proliferated this year leading up to legalization. [continues 584 words]
The federal government is looking at arming Canada's border guards with broader powers to open and seize suspect packages, as a growing volume of illicit fentanyl is smuggled into the country. Caroline Xavier, a vice-president at the Canada Border Services Agency, told a House of Commons committee examining the opioid crisis that the government is reviewing the Customs Act to determine whether restrictions that prevent guards from opening small packages should be removed. Currently, border guards who inspect goods coming into the country are not authorized to open packages weighing less than 30 grams without the consent of the recipient. They can open and inspect any package exceeding that threshold and use detection technology to screen all mail. [continues 556 words]
Study set to test oral cannabis treatment in children with rare and debilitating form of epilepsy that begins in infancy Researchers at Toronto's TORONTO Hospital for Sick Children are poised to begin a clinical trial using cannabis extracts to treat children with severe epilepsy whose seizures can't be controlled with existing medications. The trial is believed to be the first in Canada to test an oral preparation that contains both CBD and THC, compounds in marijuana that have been shown in the lab and through anecdotal reports to have anticonvulsant properties in children with treatment-resistant epilepsy. [continues 558 words]
Nanaimo firm will supply cannabis for pioneering research to help children with epilepsy Researchers at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children are about to begin a clinical trial using cannabis extracts to treat children with severe epilepsy whose seizures cannot be controlled with existing medications. The trial is believed to be the first in Canada to test an oral preparation that contains both CBD and THC, compounds in marijuana that have been shown in the laboratory and through anecdotal reports to have anticonvulsant properties in children with treatment-resistant epilepsy. [continues 821 words]
Editor's note: Reporter James McLeod had a tip: A shop in Downtown St. John's was selling pot to people who never had a prescription. He asked if we wanted him to try and buy some for a story. We said yes. The sale of marijuana is already a big issue in our community. That importance will only grow in the coming months as the federal government prepares legislation to legalize. So James proceeded and this story reflects his experience. Our hope is it informs the community and prompts necessary debate on this issue. [continues 1079 words]
Suppose 700 people died in a terrorist attack. Would you shrug it off because it didn't happen near you? Suppose 700 people died from a toxic chemical sprayed on farm vegetables. Would you still expect to see those vegetables for sale at your local supermarket? Not * likely! So why do we blandly tolerate government foot-dragging on the 700 drug overdose deaths that will happen in B.C. before the end of this year? As of October, the province had 622 deaths. Two more months will push the toll over 700. [continues 699 words]
Several economic myths have surrounded legalization of marijuana. This has maintained the illusion it would be a bonanza for federal and provincial treasuries because of the supposed enormous tax revenues that legalization would generate. The Parliamentary Budget Office in Ottawa is to be congratulated for blowing up some of these myths in its report, published this month, on projected pot tax revenues following legalization in Canada in 2017 or 2018. The first myth is legalization would "create" a market value of more than $20 billion. This number was offered in a recent Deloitte Canada report, taking into account investment. [continues 495 words]
What's in today's weed? It's what's missing that might count the most. The CBC's Marketplace tested the levels of some mind-altering chemicals in marijuana sold in Toronto dispensaries. The strains tested had much more THC - the active ingredient that provides pot's high - than the weed of decades past. Some strains reached as high at 30% THC; much higher than 3%-4% common in pot in the 1970s. [continues 368 words]
It can be bought online and shipped to your doorstep, like shoes from Zappos or a mystery novel from Amazon. It's cheap, just $40 for a gram. Nicknames: pink, U4. Potency: eight times more powerful than morphine. Death toll: at least 50 and counting. Two recent casualties should be incentive enough to clamp down on the drug's availability and the people who profit from it. Best friends Grant Seaver and Ryan Ainsworth from Park City, Utah, got their hands on the drug, formally named U-47700, through a teenage friend who bought it online from a company in Shanghai. Both Seaver and Ainsworth were 13. Grant's parents found him dead from an overdose of pink Sept. 11. Two days later, Ryan's father found his son dead on the couch. [continues 432 words]
'Huge demand' for Americans seen under flexible NAFTA rules For most of the states that voted for Trump, their principal export market is Canada. Americans wishing to flee a Donald Trump presidency could work in Canada's soon-to-be-legalized pot industry, say two immigration lawyers who dedicated a how-to podcast to our neighbours to the south. Canada is the first G7 country that has committed to legalizing marijuana, announcing at the United Nations earlier this year that it would introduce new legislation by the spring of 2017, even though doing so would breach three international treaties signed by previous Canadian governments. [continues 728 words]
Canadians, especially lawmakers, gleefully rushing headlong to legalize marijuana should pause to consider the heartbreaking stabbing death of 13-year-old Letisha Reimer, as innocent a crime victim as one can imagine. Gabriel Brandon Klein, the 21-year-old homeless man from Alberta charged with second-degree murder in the death of the Abbotsford Senior Secondary School student, and aggravated assault in the non-fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old girl in the Nov. 1 attack, was a heavy pot smoker who recently "became manic, paranoid and frightened," some of his friends told CBC. [continues 650 words]
The illicit pot market is no longer dominated by street gangs, outlaw motorcycle clubs and organized crime Meet the boss of Canada's illegal marijuana trade, Don Briere. To police and the criminal courts, he is already a familiar face, a maverick dealer and convicted grower who has served multiple prison sentences for refusing to obey this country's longstanding prohibition on pot. Briere has fought the law and lost, most of the time. And yet, even at an age when most Canadians are entering retirement, this 65-year-old British Columbian is more involved in the underground cannabis business than ever. [continues 3092 words]
Experts agree testing needed on marijuana products sold in storefronts As Canada inches closer to legalized marijuana, safety standards for dispensary-sold medical cannabis are being brought under greater scrutiny. In an investigation done by The Globe and Mail in August, one third of medical marijuana samples collected from Toronto area dispensaries showed the presence of chemicals and mould that could cause a variety of illnesses in users, such as lung infections, particularly in patients with compromised immune systems. One of the Toronto dispensaries whose product failed that test was WeeMedical, a chain that also operates in Powell River on Marine Avenue. [continues 673 words]
Ottawa's move to allow for accredited lab testing would take worry out of the safety of cannabis - and without the sense of guilt When Mandy McKnight's severely epileptic son was four, he suffered as many as 80 seizures a day. After prescription drugs failed, the Ottawa mother turned to cannabis oil, which she had heard could help. The impact was remarkable: Within 24 hours, the seizures subsided and it was 10 days until he had another. But when Ms. McKnight began administering regular doses of cannabis oil to her son, she lived in fear of punishment. Although her son's medical cannabis was obtained legally through a prescription, she had to make the oil herself at home. And having that oil tested at a lab - to ensure its potency and that the dosage was correct - was technically illegal. [continues 1119 words]
Health experts fear toxic carfentanil may already be in circulation in B.C. The extremely toxic drug carfentanil has been linked to two deaths in Alberta and may already be present in B.C.'s illicit-drug supply. Dr. Karen Grimsrud, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, announced in a statement Friday that carfentanil had been detected in the deaths of two men in their 30s, one in the Edmonton area and the other in Calgary. Carfentanil is an analogue of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which has been increasingly cut into the illicit drug supply. Fentanyl was detected in 60 per cent of 488 illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. in the first eight months of 2016. [continues 563 words]
The Pill Makers Next Door: How America's Opioid Crisis Is Spreading Ingredients for the deadly synthetic narcotic fentanyl are so easy to obtain that mom-and-pop drug labs are cropping up around the country, Breaking Bad-style SAN FRANCISCO-The married couple living in the third-floor, ocean-view apartment were friendly and ambitious. She explored the city, posting selfies on Facebook. He started a small music label at home. "They were nice people," said Ann McGlenon, their former landlady. "She's very sweet. He's a go-getter." [continues 2156 words]
Vancouver mayor says lack of federal regulation has led to boom in storefront dispensaries, leaving municipalities to deal with fallout The federal government's handling of marijuana legalization has created problems that Canada's cities are unequipped to handle, Vancouver's mayor says. Ottawa's plan to legalize the drug - a key piece of the Liberal election platform last fall - has spawned hundreds of storefront dispensaries across the country ahead of the legislation, although the federal government has taken no responsibility for the boom it has created. [continues 521 words]
Tilray says it wanted to use controversial product in belief it was being employed at non-licensed operations, but later halted its bid One of Canada's largest medical marijuana producers, which raised concerns with Health Canada over harmful chemicals found in cannabis sold at Vancouver dispensaries, sought permission to use a controversial fungicide on its own crops last year, but says it later abandoned the idea. According to the British Columbia Lobbyists Registry, Tilray asked for British Columbia's support in getting federal approval to use Nova 40W, a fungicide that contains myclobutanil - a chemical effective at controlling crop diseases, but one that has been at the centre of controversy. It is banned by several U.S. states for use on cannabis because of concerns it emits hydrogen cyanide when heated. [continues 672 words]
