Lexington's city council will likely take its first vote Tuesday on a resolution supporting state legislation that would make medical marijuana legal in Kentucky. The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council began debate on the issue during a Thursday council meeting after half a dozen people who support making marijuana legal for those with a prescription spoke at the meeting. The council will likely debate the issue during a Tuesday work session and may take its first vote during a specially-called council meeting at 5 p.m. [continues 692 words]
For all the hand-wringing that we were rushing into cannabis legalization, and that there wasn't enough time to get it right, it turns out that it wasn't that hard to figure out, after all. Proponents of legalization have long argued that it makes far more sense to regulate cannabis similar to how we regulate alcohol. All along, then, the model for cannabis retail was staring us right in the face, and the Alberta government deserves credit for not missing the glaringly obvious. [continues 584 words]
Calgarians are demonstrating strong common sense when it comes to offering advice on how marijuana should be regulated. The drug will be legalized by the federal government on July 1, but it's been left to cities to determine where pot smoking will be permitted. A survey prepared for the city by Environics Research finds that approximately 55 per cent of Calgarians believe marijuana consumption should be treated more like alcohol, rather than regarded as a product similar to tobacco. Such a conclusion is prudent and would mean that pot couldn't be smoked in public, just as imbibers can't drink beer and other alcohol in public. It's difficult to imagine people walking down the street with a glass of wine in their hand - it's equally troublesome to picture a group of Calgarians sharing a joint as they meander down the road. [continues 289 words]
Alberta could be the site of 250 cannabis stores in the first year of legalization, with retailers able to offer discount prices on bud and marijuana oil, provincial officials said Friday. No one business or person will be able to own more than 15 per cent of the locations, or a maximum of 37 stores, the government said, and the outlets must be located no closer than 100 metres from schools and health-care facilities. "This is a brand new market and we want to ensure everyone can participate, from the very small to the very large entities," said Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, adding there's no shortage of prospective retailers. [continues 613 words]
Alberta outlines specifics on cannabis sales Alberta expects to issue 250 licences for cannabis stores this year, and says anyone who wants to run a weed shop will first undergo an exhaustive check ranging from tax records to mob ties. "We believe that our regulations will strike the right balance," Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Friday in Calgary as she unveiled the new regulations for marijuana distribution. "The system that we are putting in place in Alberta will create an environment in which retailers can legally sell cannabis and provide access to safe products while keeping the health and safety of Albertans in mind." [continues 503 words]
Both the Nova Scotia and federal Liberal governments are blowing the chance to rectify years of anti-black prejudice with their marijuana legislation. For years, the government's "tough on crime" strategy gave police officers carte blanche to harass people of colour. Now that the government has decided to legalize recreational marijuana, they have no plans to issue pardons for marijuana possession convictions. Thousands of people have been charged with pot possession over the past decade. Things got so bad under the Harper government that the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police advocated for ticketing to replace criminal charges for simple possession. [continues 700 words]
In an interview with The Citizen last April during the 2017 provincial election, NDP leader John Horgan admitted that government and politicians are behind public sentiment when it comes to marijuana. Knowing it and saying it is one thing but Horgan, now the premier, still seems reluctant to act on it, based on the additional details on a provincial pot policy the NDP government announced Monday that will take effect once marijuana is legalized later this year. "Some may think that this work will end in July when non-medical cannabis is legalized by the federal government," Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said. "But the truth is our government will be dealing with this significant change in policy for years to come." [continues 640 words]
Only 32 per cent of respondents favour restrictions like those on smoking It's not like tobacco and those who want to treat it like tobacco are probably the ones who want to smoke it anywhere. More than half of Calgarians believe the way public consumption of cannabis is regulated and enforced should more closely resemble controls on drinking alcohol than those on smoking tobacco. That's according to the city's Cannabis Research Combined Study, prepared by Environics Research and released Friday. [continues 844 words]
After a unanimous vote of support by the Sarasota City Commission, medical marijuana dispensaries will now be operational in the city and those with prescriptions will be able to utilize them immediately. State legislation had preempted the city's ability to regulate the dispensaries, which led to commissioners placing a temporary ban on them until a solution could be found. That solution happened last month when commissioners approved a plan to change zoning codes, paving the way for those prescribed the drug for various medical ailments to obtain it locally. [continues 342 words]
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Legislature is poised to allow anyone to purchase and use a cannabis-derived extract believed to have therapeutic benefits, following a key vote by the state Senate on Monday. Cannabidiol, or CBD, is derived from marijuana and hemp, though the substance, typically sold as an oil, lacks enough of the main psychoactive component THC to get high. Lawmakers approved a law last year allowing those with severe forms of epilepsy to purchase and possess CBD. But the law conflicted with an earlier industrial hemp law approved by the Legislature, and no sooner had it gone into effect than state excise police cracked down on the sale of CBD. [continues 291 words]
Health advocates are hopeful the 2017 numbers will show a decline. Across Florida the number of babies born to opioid-addicted mothers spiked in 2016. According to the state's Agency for Health Care Administration, 1,903 infants at Florida hospitals suffered from neonatal abstinence syndrome in 2014. That number climbed to 2,487 in 2015 and to 4,215 in 2016. At Sarasota Memorial Hospital, babies suffering from opioid addiction withdrawal numbered 67 in 2014, jumped to 110 in 2015 and peaked at 114 in 2016. [continues 329 words]
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana House has passed a resolution calling for a study of the benefits of medical marijuana. The resolution was approved Thursday without opposition and comes as 29 other states have passed laws allowing medical marijuana in some form. Republican majority leader Matt Lehman of Berne says it's time for a legislative study committee to conduct its own research. The measure is backed by Rep. Jim Lucas, a Libertarian-leaning Republican from Seymour is an outspoken advocate for legalizing medical marijuana. [continues 53 words]
The opioid crisis affecting Canada and the world has surfaced in a significant dangerous way here in Lethbridge. This rampant drug abuse involving fentanyl, labelled as the "new alcohol," is being driven by factors that can and should be controlled by our own community activities or lack thereof. Much is being done to deal with the crisis, i.e. safe Injection site and other initiatives. Nevertheless, little is being done to deal with the underlying causes driving this crisis. Currently, our own Lethbridge Shelter is accommodating homeless citizens, many of whom are affected by addictions, homelessness, job loss, poverty. Many are selling drugs to put food in their bellies. On average, 65 per cent of the clientele are aboriginal. The shelter has become a refuge for drug dealers and users banished from the Blood Reserve - many as a direct result of the new "trespass" policy on the reserve. The Blood Tribe does not want them, and neither does Lethbridge. [continues 204 words]
Drunk driving laws have not stopped impaired drivers and pot will be no different Last Sunday, I was driving on John Laurie Blvd. when I caught up to a motorist in the passing lane who was doing 40 km/h in a 70 km/h zone. As I pulled out to pass him on the right, I could smell the stench of marijuana coming from his car. Wait until marijuana is legal in Canada and then more of these bozos will be on the road. In Colorado, where marijuana has been legal for almost four years, a recent poll by the Colorado Department of Transportation showed that 55 per cent of people there think it's perfectly all right to drive while stoned. As Time magazine reported, the poll also found that of the people surveyed who had used pot in the past 30 days, half thought it was fine to drive while high. Why should Alberta's potheads think any differently when legalization arrives here? Some of them, like the guy on John Laurie, aren't even waiting till then. [continues 499 words]
Dear editor: When is enough enough? Twelve years ago my wife and I decided that we wanted to move to the Okanagan. After a lot of thought and visits, we chose Penticton. What an absolutely wonderful place: sunshine, beaches, festivals, sports and if you stayed all winter very bearable But what has been happening is more break-ins, both on the personal level as well as businesses, thefts are a regular occurrence (the police know who most of these criminals are, it's mostly drug related) resulting in more and more fear amongst good honest citizens. [continues 340 words]
Young adults responded to a voluntary survey about what they think about the legalization of marijuana. Here's what they had to say: These are some thoughts from some Prince Albert young people who were asked a few questions about what they think about the soon to be legalization of marijuana. I was interested and thought others might be too. The students were given a 10-question written questionnaire. They were aged 16 to 21. When asked what its legalization meant to them personally, the consensus was that it was a good idea and mainly because of what they considered to be the medicinal values of the plant. They spoke of its ability to help people with cancer, seizures, and anxiety. They felt it could treat people with pain and stress. They felt it could calm people down. They saw it as a natural product as it comes from a plant. They saw its legalization as "freedom". [continues 246 words]
A University of Calgary researcher says the city's supervised consumption site is important not only for people who use opioids, but for those who consume other substances such as meth, which was cited as the most frequently used substance during a recent study of drug users in Calgary. The research was conducted as part of a harm reduction needs assessment for Calgary that launched in June 2017 and wrapped up in the fall. The study included 370 people in the city who use substances other than alcohol or marijuana. [continues 472 words]
The region served by Interior Health has been "hit hard" by the opioid epidemic, says the agency's medical health officer, but new tactics are being brought to bear in the fight. "We've come a long way, but unfortunately these deaths continue to occur," Dr. Silvina Mema on Thursday told the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen. Fentanyl is the sole reason for the Interior Health region facing the second highest number of overdose deaths in B.C., behind only the Vancouver area, she said. According to the BC Coroner's Service, almost 90 per cent of overdose victims had fentanyl in their system. [continues 293 words]
More than 40 client support workers have been hired With staff training well underway, officials at the city's supervised drug consumption centre will be ready once building contractors have finished their work. Renovations on the 1 Avenue S. structure - a night club and bar for many decades - started last fall. Stacey Bourque, executive director of the Arches harm reduction agency, says it's a little behind schedule because of a decision to install a new fire detection and sprinkler system. [continues 285 words]
With legalization right around the corner, one P.A. resident wants to help educate people on the benefits of marijuana Mike McCaul is not your average cannabis activist. McCaul, who moved to Prince Albert from Calgary in 2008, first began using marijuana to help alleviate severe back problems. He rarely uses cannabis these days as his injuries have healed, but his passion for helping others understand the medical benefits remains. "It's the education aspect and the health aspect, the benefits of it," McCaul explained. "Legalization is right around the corner, but I'm trying to help people understand that there is a medical side to it." [continues 326 words]
Having done drug enforcement over two decades, anyone who believes Justin Trudeau when he says "legalization is the best way to keep this dangerous drug away from our kids" is living in fantasy land. There will still be a flourishing black market, as there is in Colorado and Washington states. By allowing anyone over 19 to grow their own pot supplies, children in such residences will have easy access, plus be exposed to dangerous contaminants emitted from the pot plants. In Colorado, young kids are flooding ERs after getting into their parents' pot supplies, especially edibles containing high concentrations of THC. We can expect the same here. Sunny Days are not ahead for Canadian kids! Larry Comeau Ottawa, Ont. [end]
Permanent facility replaces stop-gap trailer at Chumir Health Centre A permanent supervised drug consumption site will open its doors in the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre on Monday, replacing a temporary facility that handled 2,551 visits by more than 300 people in two months. Claire O'Gorman, program coordinator with Safeworks, said 55 overdoses were reversed between Oct. 30 and Dec. 31 at the trailer outside the health centre. "There's 55 lives saved already," she said during a tour of the facility Friday. "We're making a difference here in our community." [continues 450 words]
CHICAGO -- The Latest on lawsuit to allow 11-year-old to receive marijuana treatment while at school. The Illinois attorney general's office has told a federal court it will allow a suburban Chicago school district to administer medical marijuana to an 11-year-old leukemia patient to treat her for seizure disorders. The commitment made to Judge John Blakey on Friday came two days after the student's parents sued Schaumburg-based District 54 and the state for the girl's right to take medical marijuana at school. Illinois' medical cannabis law prohibits possessing or using marijuana on school grounds or buses. [continues 251 words]
The methods Penticton police used to search phones connected to a drug investigation were again called into question on Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court. Jennifer Montgomery, 31, is facing one charge of possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking and two counts of simple possession of heroin and methamphetamine. Her trial began Wednesday. Montgomery's phone was seized by police after a search warrant was executed June 22, 2016, at her Penticton home, where RCMP Const. Chad Jackson testified drugs and paraphernalia associated with drug dealing were found. [continues 310 words]
Jennifer Montgomery, 31, was charged with a number of drug offences after Mounties obtained a search warrant for her home Police had every right to use text messages found on a woman's phone to launch a subsequent drug investigation inside the home she had just left, a judge ruled Wednesday in Penticton. The validity of that tactic was challenged in a voir dire at the outset of the B.C. Supreme Court trial for Jennifer Montgomery, 31, who is charged with possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, plus simple possession of heroin and methamphetamine. [continues 357 words]
Let's shift our approach, writes Dr. Trina Larsen Soles The opioid epidemic is the biggest public health crisis to hit in decades. One potential response, in addition to opening more supervised consumption sites, providing better access to Naloxone kits, urging people not to use alone, and trying to stop tainted drugs from being accessible - could be to deepen our public understanding and shift our approach to a more compassionate and effective outcome: recognizing and addressing the underlying role of adverse childhood experiences and how they make individuals more vulnerable to substance use. [continues 575 words]
Re: "Marijuana isn't without its risks," Letter, Jan. 4. As is typical of marijuana scaremongers, Jack Falk misconstrues the fact that marijuana metabolites are detectable in the body for a longer period than alcohol. The effects of marijuana (the high, if you will), however, are fairly short-lived (two to three hours if smoked, six to 12 hours if ingested). The letter writer needs to educate himself a little before making such easily repudiated claims. Ted Tarrant, Calgary [end]
At least 200 potential marijuana retailers have expressed interest in setting up shop in Calgary, says the city official responsible for planning for the impending legalization of recreational cannabis. Matt Zabloski said retail expectations could be getting out of hand, depending on provincial directives on how such shops will be located and regulated - guidelines that should be provided next month. "There are a lot of people putting a lot of money into this now and there are no guarantees," said Zabloski, who's working with as many as 17 city business units to prepare for legalization, expected to take effect this summer. [continues 535 words]
Second-hand smoke concerns will cut into consumption The war on drugs is about to get a lot more interesting, here in Alberta. And not because of another tough-talking "lock everyone up and throw away the keys" politician. Heck, we've seen that lot come and go without making the slightest dent in an age-old problem, though it did help get them elected. Nope, that was just blather, bluster and tossing peanuts to the gallery. Sure, politicians and law enforcement agencies love that standby news conference where oodles of some drugs, bundles of cash and a few handguns and semiautomatic weapons are proudly displayed for effect. [continues 588 words]
Re: "Nothing to fear from legal pot," Letter, Jan. 3. Comparing pot's effects to alcohol is apples and oranges. The effects of alcohol leave the body when the alcohol is gone (or soon after). The effects of pot most assuredly do not. Consider this the next time you're returning from vacation on a late-night flight: The air traffic controller has returned from days off, during which time he can use weed as he wishes. It's a quiet night, and he sits back, all mellow and relaxed, then starts issuing instructions to the wrong aircraft. This is but one possibility. Think about jobs such as an oil worker on the floor of a drilling rig, or a highrise construction worker - or your surgeon poised over your brain with a scalpel. Jack Falk, Calgary [end]
Marijuana dispensary firms' efforts to launch dozens of franchises and shops in Calgary has ignited concerns of a chaotic scramble ahead of the drug's recreational legalization. Calgary-based Spiritleaf has attracted 40 entrepreneurs willing to put up a $25,000 franchise fee to operate a cannabis retailing store under the company's name, said CEO Darren Bondar. "We're well-positioned to be ahead of the game and being an iconic brand based in Alberta," said Bondar, who has exhibited at marijuana industry expos in the city. [continues 512 words]
Re: "Pot's harm exceeds value of tax revenue," Letter, Dec. 29. The letter writer's opinion could not be further off the mark. Legalization has nothing to do with a legacy for the prime minister. It is about fulfilling a campaign promise (finally) and growing scientific data. I voted for Justin Trudeau based on that promise. The prohibition of marijuana has been a complete failure. I encourage you to not make statements based on your own fears and absence of facts. And let me guess - you brought in the new year drinking alcohol, which was once prohibited because of its dangers to our social fabric. The hypocrisy is coming to end, thankfully. Wes Armitage, Calgary [end]
Dear editor: Re: "Looking ahead to 2018," editorial by James Miller (Daily Courier, Jan. 2). Miller's statement that "most Canadians support legalizing pot," where does he get his information on this presumption? I believe it's completely opposite to Miller's so-called facts. Most Canadians do not support Prime Minister Trudeau's pot plan for Canada. We will become potheads all because of just a few potheads from the big cities like Vancouver and back east. I would guess that 80 per cent of Canadians are against it, or maybe as high as 90 per cent. So 10 or 20 per cent doesn't sound to me as "most Canadians." [continues 150 words]
Re: "Why the big rush to legalize pot?," Letter, Dec. 23. Mike Priaro has it right. We must look in the direction of Colorado in the U.S. They were a vanguard state in the legalization of marijuana. Originally, the idea was sold on the promise of all this additional tax revenue from pot sales. Unfortunately, it did not turn out the way they had envisioned it. What happened, among other negatives, was that the newly created health care costs exceeded the tax income by a large margin. So, the initial win-win situation turned into a lose-lose proposition. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's wish to legalize marijuana in Canada is about creating his legacy. Caspar Pfenninger, Calgary [end]
Police use discretion when deciding whether to lay charges for possession Despite the Liberal government's plan to legalize marijuana possession next July, the drug's possession remains illegal. But while the law is still in place, police officers have discretion not to lay charges, a senior officer with the Calgary Police Service said. Staff Sgt. Mark Hatchette, of the strategic enforcement unit, said officers have and will continue to have leeway when it comes to pot possession. "We don't target (simple possession)," Hatchette said in a recent interview. [continues 437 words]
With the plague of opiate overdoses, some doctors are prescribing pot to get people off opioids. There are many positive medical applications which help many people with everything from mental illness, terminal conditions, to severe physical disabilities. Fact is we have never had legal recreational pot, so how can you say it's going to destroy communities? I would like to point out how legalizing it has worked for Colorado and I think the red light district in Amsterdam would also beg to differ. [continues 73 words]
With the coming switch to legal sales, shops hope to keep their market niche After decades of trail-blazing cannabis-related retail - often under police scrutiny - Calgary head shops say legal recreational marijuana offers them a hazy future. Despite a perception looming legislative changes might affirm their bong-and-roach-clip business model, those first in on cannabis monetization say the coming reality leaves them in uncharted waters. It's not entirely clear what head shops' role will be in the sale of legal bud, or if coming pot dispensaries will burn their business by also selling accessories, said Fred Pattison, owner of the Next Level store. Even marijuana's mainstreaming and the expansion of e-retail poses a threat, he said. [continues 421 words]
Opioids linked to 95% of overdoses in provincial facilities through 2016 Alberta correctional facilities have recorded more than 120 overdoses in the past two years, and dozens more in federal prisons in the province, new statistics show. Postmedia obtained the data after a string of overdoses at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Since Nov. 29, at least three inmates at the remand centre have been found unresponsive in their cells after apparent overdoses, one of whom died. Despite efforts to keep contraband out of correctional institutions - including use of ion scanners, body scanners and detector dogs - the statistics show deadly opioids such as fentanyl are still getting in. [continues 602 words]
Re: "Pot use likely to plague workplaces," Letter, Nov. 30. I have to disagree with Larry Comeau. Marijuana is not a dangerous drug. There is not a "greatly enhanced risk" of young people developing psychosis as a result of cannabis usage. The medical evidence is equivocal, and, of course, as a physician, I would caution the use of marijuana in people under the age of 25. (Not that advice would make any difference anyway). However, the almost hysterical opposition to legalization of marijuana is simply wrong, by all scientific standards. James Currie, Calgary [end]
Dear editor: It was shocking to read that a parent and her nine-year-old child had to take on the drug-needle problem in our school grounds (Western News, Dec. 12). That secret Queen's Park shed should never have been secret in the first place. What with such a fuss being made about possible marijuana shops anywhere within sight of schools, how can discarded needles go on being all over the place, right at those schools? Wendy Hyer, school district superintendent, seems not to realize what her priorities should be, and therefore what we are paying her for. [continues 67 words]
Billions of dollars have been spent by Canadian governments dissuading young people from taking up tobacco use, and it is finally having a positive effect. Therefore, now making an even more dangerous and addictive drug, legal, certainly will require public education aimed at parents and young children. With studies in the U.K., U.S.A. and by the Canadian Medical Association all conclusively showing young people using cannabis run a greatly enhanced risk of suffering psychosis and other mental issues later in life, education should have preceded legalization. Larry Comeau, Ottawa [end]
Re: "Irksome issues around cannabis legalization," Licia Corbella, Opinion, Dec. 16. Canadians need to be surveyed on far more marijuana harms than just the risk of driving marijuana impaired. Health Canada has identified conditions for which the use of marijuana is strictly contraindicated. Our country's health watchdog advises men to avoid the use of marijuana if they want to start a family. How many Canadians understand the science that links marijuana to a heightened probability of testicular cancer, sterility and damage to DNA? How many Canadians are aware of the scientific evidence that suggests marijuana can negatively impact pre- and post-natal development? Such warnings, provided from Health Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Use, are not the rantings of reefer madness, but rather, statements by highly regarded institutions. Pamela McColl, Vancouver [end]
Most Albertans support the provincial government's proposed regulations for legalized marijuana, according to a new Insights West poll. Almost two-thirds of respondents to the online poll agree with the decision to prevent pot stores from selling alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals, while 77 per cent favour setting 18 as the legal age for buying marijuana. While 60 per cent of Albertans support legalization, up five percentage points since a national poll done in October 2016, the poll found a split along party lines. [continues 310 words]
Since being equipped with naloxone nasal spray last December, Calgary firefighters have administered the opioid overdose antidote to 326 patients. That's nearly once a day, said fire Chief Steve Dongworth, who noted the department has also seen an increase in overdose calls. "We often go to overdose calls where we don't necessarily administer Narcan (the trade name of the drug), for one reason or another, and we've seen a significant increase in the volume of those, year over year - from under 400 calls in 2016 to nearly 1,100 in 2017 to date," said Dongworth. "So that's close to a 300 per cent increase." [continues 387 words]
MANCHACA, Texas -- When California rings in the new year with the sale of recreational pot for the first time, Texas will be tiptoeing into its own marijuana milestone: a medical cannabis program so restrictive that doubts swirl over who will even use it. Texas is the last big state to allow some form of medical marijuana, albeit an oil extract so low in the psychoactive component, THC, that it couldn't get a person high. Though it might seem that Texas policymakers have softened their attitude toward the drug, bringing them more in line with the U.S. population as a whole, they have not. A joint could still land you in jail in Texas, and the state's embrace of medical marijuana comes with a heavy dose of caution. [continues 796 words]
The federal Crown has decided to drop its appeal of a ruling dismissing charges against a prominent cannabis activist who was arrested in Calgary during a national tour to give away millions of marijuana seeds to the public. On Monday, Dana Larsen said he was served notice at his home in Vancouver and the case was to be heard July 2 in the Alberta Court of Appeal. But after a subsequent review this week, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said it is dropping the case. [continues 395 words]
Certain cannabis crimes ... will vanish altogether, thus resulting in less enforcement. The city's claims that cannabis legalization is going to be a big money loser for them should certainly not be taken with a grain of salt, but rather, a few kilos of it. Or, to put it another way, what are they smoking down at city hall? A council committee last week heard the details on administration's latest estimates around the cost of legalization: about $10 million or so a year, or about the equivalent of a one per cent increase in property taxes. [continues 584 words]
Laziness, not criminal intent, was likely behind a city police officer's decision to take home seized drugs, a judge ruled Tuesday. Provincial court Judge Jerry LeGrandeur said he had a reasonable doubt Const. Robert Cumming took home marijuana handed over to him by an undercover officer for his own personal use. LeGrandeur said Cumming's conduct in placing the contraband in his garbage bin in the alley behind his house before retrieving it hours later supported the suspended officer's story. [continues 466 words]
Nenshi wants share of federal tax revenues The legalization of recreational marijuana will cost the city of Calgary more than $10 million annually in policing, bylaw and administration costs - a tab the mayor wants the federal government to ease by giving municipalities a one-third share of tax revenues from pot sales. Council's Intergovernmental Affairs Committee heard Thursday that administration's latest estimates peg the price of cannabis legalization on city coffers at between $9 million and $12 million every year - the equivalent of about a one per cent increase in property taxes annually. [continues 428 words]
A New Brunswick-based medical marijuana producer in partnership with both the provincial government and the Trailer Park Boys has had a lawsuit against it expanded to include possible health effects. A class action was filed on March 3 against Health Canada-certified medical cannabis producer Organigram Inc. for containing unauthorized pesticides. Halifax-based injury lawyer Ray Wagner, who is representing the plaintiffs, told The Chronicle Herald the suit was originally economic in nature - essentially to return to clients the money they paid for the recalled product - but last month it was expanded to take into account the health impacts of using the tainted product. [continues 573 words]
