Manitobans want municipalities to get half of pot revenue: survey Most Manitobans believe municipalities should get at least half of the revenues raised through recreational pot taxes, a new survey says. A Probe Research poll commissioned by the Association of Manitoba Municipalities found 59% of respondents believe municipal governments should get between one half and all of the tax revenue from marijuana sales. Another 24% felt they should get less than half of the revenue and 16% weren't sure. The total doesn't add up to 100%, due to rounding. [continues 515 words]
A new poll suggests many Manitobans are ready for marijuana retailers to set up shop in their communities. Probe Research Inc. polled 1,000 adults in the province between Nov. 23 and Dec. 14 and 58% of Manitobans said they'd be comfortable with a marijuana store opening up in their neighbourhood, as opposed to the 40% who opposed it and the 3% who were unsure. "That 58% is healthy, we seem to be OK with this," said Mary Agnes Welch, senior researcher at Probe. "But there is a flip side to this, there are differences in Winnipegger's than rural residents. Winnipegger's are somewhat more comfortable with it than rural residents, non-Winnipeggers. And as you'd expect, older people are a bit less comfortable than younger people, but even a slim majority of older folks are cool with it. It seems to be reasonably universal comfort with this." [continues 116 words]
Grieving father warns kids about dangers of drugs after son's death SMOKE from a smudging stick and the warm breath of friends and family of Jeremy Hobson filled the front yard of the house where the 21-year-old accidentally overdosed and died on the weekend, during a ceremony held Thursday. Jeremy died after taking a pill, which he thought was OxyContin, at a gettogether with friends and cousins on Saturday night, according to his father Larry Hobson. Hobson said he thinks the pill that killed his son was laced with fentanyl. [continues 792 words]
WINKLER'S mayor vows that until the smoke clears on pot legalization, his community won't vote to allow retailers to sell recreational pot. Mayor Martin Harder says his council recently decided to ignore the province's Dec. 22 deadline to vote on the issue. "Our biggest issue is the rules keep changing," Harder said on Monday. "They said you have to vote by Dec. 22 and then the next one says you can have four years to have a plebiscite. We don't want to do that. [continues 443 words]
WINKLER - The City of Winkler will not honour the province's Dec. 22 deadline to indicate whether or not they'd be willing to have marijuana sold in the community. Mayor Martin Harder was the first municipal leader in Manitoba to make that statement and he said they don't feel they have enough facts to make a decision either way. "We haven't got any information," he said. "It's a moving target, and every time we get some information it's different than what we knew before." [continues 478 words]
WHEN politicians talk about the arrival of legal cannabis, they make it sound like it's going to be more trouble than it's worth. Oh, the worry. According to the narrative coming out of the federal and provincial capitals, legalizing pot is going to involve enormous costs with very little return, in terms of tax revenue. There are expected to be increased costs for provinces and municipalities in the areas of law enforcement, public education, health care and addictions treatment at a time when governments of all levels are having trouble generating the revenues needed to sustain core services. [continues 908 words]
So, pot czar Justin Trudeau, realizing his actual street dealers were on the verge of a revolt, turned to his Mr. Big, Bill Morneau, and told him to divvy up a more saleable split of the profits from upcoming pot deals. When profits are projected to be in the billions, honour among thieves, and we say "thieves" with all due respect, begins to lose its lustre. After all, it will be the street dealers who will be taking on the majority of the risk, meaning all those premiers hypnotized by dollar signs who will have to set up their own turf, build their own drug outlets, collect the juice from the sales, and deal with law enforcement should the criminal element invade their space. [continues 501 words]
Consumer advocacy group concerned marijuana treated differently than booze A consumer choice advocacy group has condemned the Manitoba government's plan to ban homegrown marijuana when it becomes legal in the country next year. David Clement, the North American affairs manager for the Consumer Choice Centre, an independent entity that aims to promote more choice and freedom for consumers, says the decision to ban the growing of pot in homes is "silly" questions why the ability Clement said the reason the CCC has spoken out is two-fold. [continues 366 words]
Re: Manitoba's legal age for cannabis to be set at 19: source (Dec. 5) With legislation now tabled, it has now become obvious that the federal Liberals and provincial Progressive Conservatives still believe the lies their governments told about cannabis for the last 100 years. It is ridiculous to ask 18-year-olds to risk their lives for their country in military service but not permit them to smoke cannabis legally. The idea that government should protect children from anything is just as ridiculous. Parents are the proper authorities to protect their children from all of life's never-ending dangers. Crony capitalism seems to be the driving force in "legalization." Legalization policies will make enforcement even more expensive than Prohibition was. Chris Buors Selkirk [end]
Province's age restriction, home-growing ban lack common sense GOVERNMENTS in Canada have been playing politics with marijuana for some time now. The promise to legalize cannabis helped Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his federal Liberals achieve a majority government in 2015, and now provincial governments across the country are coming to grips with legalization according to their own political principles. Some provincial governments (Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick) are creating Crown corporations to be the legal marijuana dealers. Others (Manitoba, Alberta, Newfoundland) are letting the private sector run the stores. British Columbia just announced a retail solution that will include both the public and private sectors. [continues 893 words]
MORE than 21 per cent of adult Manitobans used cannabis in the past year and another 21.1 per cent may try it after legalization, new data from the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba suggests. The figures come from an anonymous phone survey of 1,201 adults in September. The alcohol and gambling regulator, whose mandate will include marijuana, says its sample is "quasi-representative" of the province's adult population. The survey found 55.2 per cent of Manitobans have used cannabis, with 16 being the most common age of initiation. [continues 282 words]
A SLIGHT majority of Manitobans disagree with Premier Brian Pallister's calls to delay federal legalization of cannabis in Canada, according to a new online poll from the Angus Reid Institute. Fifty-eight per cent of Manitoba respondents say, "The timeline should not be changed." Nationwide, 53 per cent of all respondents agree. The Angus Reid Institute's online poll used a sample of 1,510 Canadians who were randomly selected members of the pollster's proprietary Angus Reid Forum, which the website describes as a representative panel of "almost 130,000 Canadian households." The poll, conducted Nov. 14 to 20, includes a sample of 101 Manitobans. [continues 450 words]
Province sets 19 as minimum age to buy pot You'll have to be 19 to buy recreational marijuana in Manitoba and only eligible medicinal users will be able to grow weed at home. If provincial legislation introduced Tuesday passes as is, the minimum purchase and possession age for recreational cannabis will be one year older than both the federally required minimum and Manitoba's legal drinking age. The feds are set to legalize recreational pot on July 1, 2018. The province says setting a higher-than-required minimum consumption age will help keep marijuana out of schools and out of the hands of kids. [continues 825 words]
MANITOBANS will be prohibited from growing marijuana for recreational purposes at home after cannabis is legalized in 2018, should the provincial government's new Safe and Responsible Retailing of Cannabis Act become law. The bill was introduced by Justice Minister Heather Stefanson in the provincial legislative assembly Tuesday. Although the federal Cannabis Act will allow Canadian adults to grow up to four cannabis plants at their home, Stefanson said her government was banning the practice, primarily for two reasons. "This approach is consistent with our commitment to protect youth, and also responds directly to concerns that homegrown cannabis may be diverted to the black market," she told reporters Tuesday. [continues 702 words]
AS first reported in the Free Press, the Safe and Responsible Retailing of Cannabis Act will set the minimum age to buy and possess cannabis in Manitoba at 19, one year higher than the legal age requirement for purchasing alcohol. Tuesday's announcement means Manitoba is set to be the only province where the legal ages to use alcohol and cannabis don't match. Zach Walsh, a native Winnipegger who studies cannabis as a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia, said the age differential in Manitoba "seems a little incongruous." [continues 302 words]
Re: Marijuana in workplace focus of chamber panel (Nov. 29) There is a high incidence of marijuana use among fatally injured B.C. forestry workers (20 to 30 per cent), and Manitoba employers would be well advised to educate their workers on the harms posed by marijuana use. Canadians need look no further than to the country's health watchdog, Health Canada, for credible information and evidence-based advice on this matter. Health Canada's consumer information web page states unequivocally that using marijuana can impair concentration and reaction time. It is well established by scientific research that the less-than-regular user of marijuana products should not operate a motor vehicle for at least eight hours after consuming 18 mg or more of marijuana. [continues 72 words]
MANITOBANS will have to be at least 19 years of age to legally purchase and possess cannabis in the province after it is legalized, the Free Press has learned. The minimum age will be part of a new bill to be introduced today at the Manitoba Legislative Building, according to a government source familiar with the matter. According to the legislature's Monday notice paper, Justice Minister Heather Stefanson is scheduled to introduce the Safe and Responsible Retailing of Cannabis Act. [continues 322 words]
LEGALIZE and tax marijuana and the budget will balance itself - or so marijuana advocates, from stoners to recreational users to the prime minister, have tried to convince us of this for years. But they're all wrong. It makes some sense that a product so commonly used should be regulated rather than criminalized, sending its newly-enabled taxation revenues to the public coffers. Unfortunately, recent federal announcements and the examples of two U.S. states tell us that a fiscal boon from legal pot is nothing more than reefer madness. [continues 543 words]
Tracy Sanderson understood opioid addiction. Her daughter Kelsie began struggling with opioid addiction after she had a traumatic experience being tasered by RCMP officers. After drinking with some friends, Kelsie, who was 16 at the time, stole her parents' truck. When Sanderson received a call from RCMP officers, she said, "Keep my daughter overnight. She needs to learn a lesson." She did not expect to pick up a different girl the next day. "Something inside my daughter died that night," she said. That's when Kelsie's descent into fentanyl addiction began. [continues 986 words]
When the police came to Lois Fridfinnson's door and told her that her son, Michael Johnson, died from a methadone overdose, she fell to the floor. She thought that would be the worst day of her life. Her 23-year-old son struggled with opioid addiction. Michael had been waiting nearly three months to get into treatment. He had been given a two-day supply of methadone and was supposed to enter treatment on May 3, 2010. He died on May 1. [continues 1090 words]