Yesterday's news is old news, I know, but something came to mind after I watched a crowd of people smoking pot while celebrating the legalization of "recreational" pot use in Washington State. What came to mind was an old skit done by Bob Newhart. For people of my age (mid-50s), you have likely heard Bob Newhart doing the vocal part of the head of the West Indies Company in England in a telephone conversation with Sir Walter Raleigh, who had called him from the colonies in North America. [continues 338 words]
Two things Premier Christy Clark really wants for Christmas: A big boost in tax revenue and an even bigger boost in the opinion polls. So why not legalize marijuana? After all, a large majority of British Columbians now support legalizing pot (75 per cent, according to pollster Angus Reid) and taxes on legal bud could generate $500 million a year, says the International Journal of Drug Policy. But Clark won't touch the issue with a 10-foot bong. "It's not even provincial jurisdiction, so I'm not spending my time prognosticating about it," Clark told me in a wide-ranging, year-end interview in her office this week. [continues 415 words]
An Abbotsford marijuana advocate charged with drug trafficking was acquitted Monday when a judge tossed out the evidence after ruling a police search violated the accused's Charter rights. Pot activist Tim Felger was charged with one count of possession and six counts of drug trafficking after Abbotsford Police raided his Da Kine shop on Essendene Avenue in Abbotsford on May 13, 2009. Chilliwack Supreme Court Justice Brian Joyce had ruled on Oct. 26 that Abbotsford Police had conducted an unlawful search at Da Kine, but reserved his decision about what evidence, if any, from the search would be allowed. [continues 457 words]
Medical marijuana may be an effective substitute for prescription drugs or alcohol, just as methadone is used to treat heroin addicts, says addiction researcher and former Victoria city councillor Philippe Lucas. "The fastest rate of addiction right now is to pharmaceutical opiates, and it's also the fastest rising rate of morbidity and mortality. In other words, people are [overdosing] on pharmaceutical opiates," said Lucas, who recently published a research paper online in the Journal of Addiction Research and Theory. "This is the second paper I've published this year that suggests cannabis can significantly potentially reduce the amount of pharmaceutical opiates that particularly those who suffer from chronic pain need." [continues 323 words]
Re: Doctors hesitant to be pot 'gatekeeper,' Opinion, Dec. 5 I appreciated Sharon Kirkey's wide-ranging coverage of a difficult topic. From the perspective of a doctor who supports patients who use medicinal marijuana, I was disappointed that there was not clearer acknowledgment of two details that I consider important. The first is that there is a significant difference between the use of cannabis for recreation, and its use for medicine. The difference is not well understood, but they are clearly not the same thing. [continues 128 words]
British Columbia currently has a debt of about $1.5 billion. On Nov. 30, Global reported that if B.C. were to build all the hospitals it currently needs by 2020, that is, in the next seven years, the cost would be about $80 billion. The news reporter questioned how anyone could imagine the B.C. government acquiring enough money to pay for it all. I think I can answer the question. The government needs to cultivate, sell and tax marijuana. [continues 102 words]
Re: Salomon Rayek's column "Pot legalization a bad message to send to kids." Salomon, your arguments are absurd. An authentic harm-reduction program that allows marijuana only for necessary prescription alternatives has had support among physicians. Back in the 1980s, there was a list of 17 doctors in Edmonton who would prefer to prescribe pot than synthetic drugs for pain management. The work of Dr. Mate has overwhelmed objections to providing access to substances in a controlled rehab program that gets at the addictive motivations. [continues 85 words]
Charges in High-Profile Killings Put Racist Gang Back in Spotlight In the wake of recent high-profile killings, experts look at criminal gang behaviour EDMONTON - A white supremacist gang may be linked to the random shooting of a 34-year-old Saskatoon mother and a decapitated head in a north Edmonton alley, but Mark Totten is hoping the killings don't inspire "moral panic." "The White Boy Posse is not taking over cities in western Canada," says the Ottawa-based sociologist and social worker. "We need to be concerned, but we have to be realistic. We don't need to fan the flames and create a moral panic." [continues 1279 words]
Experts: good message but questionable execution An Abbotsford Police initiative that involves sending Christmas cards featuring the chief in a Santa suit with a bullet-proof vest and assault rifle to prolific offenders is getting mixed reviews from experts. The APD Christmas card shows Chief Bob Rich in the traditional red suit and white beard as well as body armour and a rifle with the question: "Which list will you be on . . . naughty or nice?" The card then suggests that the recipient is "one choice away from changing your life," and encourages them to make a New Year's resolution to leave crime behind and provides an APD helpline number people can call. [continues 528 words]
Giving physicians control over who can get medical marijuana would be welcomed by operators of Nanaimo's newest compassion club, but some doctors worry about the move. Health Canada recently consulted doctors on giving them sole authority to issue medical marijuana licences to patients. Proponents say cannabis is useful to treat pain, nausea and as an appetite stimulant for such conditions as cancer, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis. Users must have a licence from Health Canada to legally own or grow small quantities of the drug. [continues 323 words]
Pot Advocate Ted Smith Has High Hopes For The Future Shortly after his 16th birthday, Leon (Ted) Smith smoked his first joint. He was on a family vacation in Ontario and joined his cousin and some of his cousin's friends at a rented fishing cabin. "I remember feeling quite intoxicated and being intimidated that I had to go back to supper with my parents completely out of sorts," recalls Smith in a telephone interview. Smith was born in the farming community of Monkton, Ont. - population approximately 540. It was 1985 when Smith smoked his first joint. His parents didn't approve or partake themselves, although they had close friends who did. [continues 441 words]
Re: "Doctors uneasy about medical marijuana; Survey reveals reluctance to assume gatekeeper role," the Journal, Dec. 5. I commend Sharon Kirkey for her articles on pain and would like to add a few clarifying points. More that 57 per cent of physicians in a recent survey said they lacked information on the risks and benefits of medical marijuana. This issue goes well beyond prescribing marijuana: most physicians in Canada are not trained to help patients suffering from chronic pain because it is not taught in most medical schools. [continues 164 words]
On Thursday, a man walked into Carmichael Outreach, just like he does most days. Frostbitten, he announced he couldn't find a place to rest his head that night. Danielle Goulden, executive director of Carmichael Outreach, made eight unsuccessful calls to six different health-care branches in hopes of helping the homeless man she described as "severely incontinent" and "in declining health." At each turn, she was directed to someone else. Goulden estimated the 54-year-old has been admitted to hospital more than 100 times in the last six months. Thursday night, he ended up staying there again. [continues 425 words]
Recent Drug Trials Bring Up a Past Life It was Heraclitus, or perplexingly, according to some Internet sources, Pocahontas, who said you can never step into the same river twice. I am experiencing some side of this truism with all the news about the use of MDMA in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder. The item has been all over: a small number of labs have been licensed to produce MDMA - 3,4-methylenedioxy-methylampheta-mine, an illegal substance much better known by its usual street name, Ecstasy - for research purposes. A handful of therapists have been granted permission to use it. The results in patients suffering from PTSD have been nothing short of miraculous. The word has appeared: cure. [continues 1083 words]
Imagine the sight: crowds of people smoking marijuana openly in public with no fear of handcuffs being slapped on them. It may sound strange, but that's exactly what unfolded in Washington State early Thursday as throngs celebrated a new law that officially makes marijuana legal there. But don't expect the streets of Seattle to be filled with puffs of blue smoke any time soon. As Reuters reports, smoking marijuana in public will remain off-limits, just like the public consumption of alcohol in that state. However, police officers have been instructed to issue warnings to those breaking the rules, not arrest them - at least for now. [continues 294 words]
Imagine you have cancer. Your doctor prescribes marijuana to relieve your pain. For those who don't want to smoke the dried government bud or grow the plant, medical cannabis dispensaries make marijuana accessible in other forms such as baked goods, said Rielle Capler, a co-ordinator of a UBC Peter Wall Solutions Initiative project to certify dispensaries. But dispensaries aren't exactly legal or well understood. In an effort to legitimize what they do in the eyes of patients, physicians, lawmakers and the public, the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries teamed up with the UBC researchers to create a certification program. [continues 682 words]
Former NDP leadership candidate Dana Larsen appears to have a thoughtful, well-considered plan to force the powers-that-be to reconsider their stance on marijuana. It is matched by his rationale as to why this potential policy shift is a good idea. Let's hope these two simple facts can coincide in such a way that we can finally get one of our country's more ridiculous laws off the books. Legal marijuana is not a panacea for all that ails our society. It is not going to cure cancer, halt global warming or make us all just get along. [continues 235 words]
Expanded harm-reduction services helpful, but more medical care also needed, Victoria councillors say Victoria councillors are lauding an initiative to help those with addiction and mental-health problems, but some are urging the Vancouver Island Health Authority to invest in treatment as well as harm reduction. In an effort to reach the most vulnerable people, the Access Health Centre on Johnson Street and the Withdrawal Management complex (the Sobering Centre) at Cook and Pembroke streets will expand their services. The two hubs will offer a needle exchange and activities ranging from addictions counselling and methadone maintenance at the Access Centre to art therapy and peer-support groups at the Cook/Pembroke site. [continues 277 words]
Re: Our View: Time to Rethink War On Drugs, Nov. 29 Capital News. Who writes this drivel? If it was written to get a reaction, you certainly succeeded from this individual. If written because it really is, "Our View," it is obvious to me that those responsible have ingested too much of the product they believe should be legalized and that alone should be sufficient evidence to negate the argument that more revenue for government wins the day. More money in the hands of government does not convince me that we should legalize cannabis. [continues 78 words]
Old Dopers Seem to Be Returning to the Pot Habits of Their Youth Paula has quit. At 68, the manager of a health-food store has put away the rolling paper, stopped buying her beloved hashish and is going straight. "I'm trying to find more peace," she says. Her adult children, now with children of their own, used to smoke pot but have stopped, as has her husband, also a former hard-core indulger. But Barry, a 65-year-old Ottawa radiologist, has no intention of giving up his one or two or maybe three-joints-a-day habit. Semi-retired, five minutes after looking at the last X-ray, Barry is in his car and firing up the marijuana joint he keeps in the ashtray for the ride home. [continues 1109 words]
Inside Canada
