You can't smoke your medical marijuana at Supercrawl shows=C2=85 or can you? "We aren't here to judge, but illegal drugs and/or drug paraphernalia are not allowed on the premises at all. Ditto for medical marijuana," reads a Supercrawl Facebook post regarding Friday's Supercrawl show at Pier 4. Supercrawl Productions is a Hamilton-based not-for-profit that produces the annual Supercrawl festival in September and a smattering of smaller shows throughout the year, including Friday's show, which featured Caribou, Jamie xx and Jessy Lanza. [continues 218 words]
Hamilton's Own Chief of Police Championing Change So Suspended Cops Don't Get Paid There is a Hamilton cop sitting in a jail cell right now earning up to $100,000 a year. He's facing drug and organized crime charges after being swept up in a massive police project aimed at cracking a violent criminal network. He is already suspended from duty, has been arrested before and is facing 26 disciplinary charges. Yet we are still signing Det. Const. Craig Ruthowsky's hefty paycheque. [continues 643 words]
Det. Const. Craig Ruthowsky Has Been Under Police Suspension Since 2012 A veteran Hamilton gang and gun officer, suspended for the last three years, remains in a Toronto jail after being swept up in a series of raids by police targeting gang activity in the Greater Toronto Area. Officers forced their way into the Hamilton home of 41-year-old Det. Const. Craig Ruthowsky at about 5 a.m. Thursday, as similar raids were being carried out at 50 locations from St. Catharines to Durham region. [continues 752 words]
Hamilton Man Makes History by Being the First Graduate of the City's Drug Treatment Court The courtroom is packed with people who helped Carmelo Tinebra get clean. There are Crown attorneys leaning against a wall. Defence lawyers squeezed among Tinebra's mom and friends. Doctors sitting alongside counsellors. Police officers chatting with court staff and drug addicts. And a judge, seeming mighty pleased as she looks out over the lot of them. About 60 people are gathered to witness this moment. The moment when, 364 days after starting Hamilton's Drug Treatment Court (DTC), Tinebra is making history by being the very first client to graduate. [continues 547 words]
Gwenevere Repetski turns three next month and she is finally able to crawl, a milestone her parents thought they would never see.. She was just an infant when she was diagnosed with epilepsy, a debilitating neurological disorder that has left her developmentally delayed. "She was kind of like a bag of Jell-O," says her mother, Reagan Repetski. When she was two, she could hardly roll over when she was placed on her back, adds her father, Alex. Disappointed at the lack of treatment options, Alex dove down the research rabbit hole. That's when he first read articles about the success some people said they were having in reducing epileptic seizures with cannabidiol, one of several active cannabinoids found in the marijuana plant. [continues 304 words]
It's 420 =C2=85 time to smoke and protest country's pot laws Clouds covered both sky and ground at City Hall as hundreds turned out for Hamilton's 420 pot rally. A cold and wet Monday didn't stop supporters of legalization from voicing their displeasure with federal marijuana legislation. "We should be able to grow it like tomatoes," said Peter Melanson, organizer of the event and frontman for the Melanheadz Vape Lounge on York Boulevard. "I don't want anyone to go to jail for it - it's not hurting anybody." [continues 313 words]
Have a question about family life? Send it in a brief email to question@yoursocialworker.com. Due to the volume of mail, not all questions will receive a reply. Q: Whenever I visit my granddaughter's house I can smell pot smoke. I wonder if this is harmful for young children to be breathing in. Her parents are totally against second-hand cigarette smoke. I've told them about my concerns and they don't seem to think it is harmful. They tell me it's going to be legalized soon anyway so don't fret. [continues 269 words]
But navigating Drug Treatment Court leads to inspiring victories As Hamilton's Drug Treatment Court passes its one year anniversary, I want to thank Susan Clairmont at The Hamilton Spectator for her insightful, proactive coverage of this exciting new asset within the addiction treatment and legal communities. Susan has raised awareness of this program, which has developed beyond where we thought it would be after 12 months. Her articles opened a small window into the challenges and struggles facing those brave people who accept the challenge of Drug Treatment Court (DTC) and the path to recovery. That path is riddled with setbacks, challenges and disappointments. The personal victories are inspiring - reuniting with family members, regaining employment, education, community engagement, volunteering and personal growth that leads to living life without substances. [continues 528 words]
City's Estimated 50,000 Users Well Served by Retail In many ways, the recently opened Crazy Bill's on Upper Ottawa Street (the family's third location in a growing chain) is the antithesis of the classic head shop: It's large, bright and airy and the huge inventory is meticulously organized and laid out in neat, well-lit display cases. It could be a jewelry store or a computer parts supply place - but it's a head shop selling everything from $1.29 Zig-Zag rolling papers to a $1,000 limited edition Herbalizer electronic vaporizer. [continues 1121 words]
The strip search of a Quebec teen at her school for drugs, by school staff, is an unjustified breach of her privacy and assault on her dignity. If school officials can defend such a move to root out a bit of marijuana, searches of body cavities can't be far behind. School boards in Manitoba and elsewhere in Canada ought to take this example of abuse of authority as a lesson in the perils of unchecked arrogance. The stripping of the teen was initially defended by Quebec's government, but now it appears it, too, has recognized the offensive nature of the search. [continues 265 words]
Cannabis Lounge Owner Standing His Ground As Police Promise to 'Relentlessly' Enforce Laws Sitting at the bar of his new cannabis lounge on York Boulevard, a joint lying on the counter by his elbow, Peter Melanson admits that giving away marijuana as a door prize at his weekly comedy show is a bit of a risk. "It's mine. I give it to Dan (the comedy show host) and he gives it to the customer. We're not selling it, we're giving it away." [continues 601 words]
'Jack' was on the right track until he slipped up. But a kind judge has faith in him On his lunch hour, Jack hustles to the courthouse to get his gold star from the judge. He's had a drug free week and the accomplishment is met with a star for his journal and a round of applause from Justice Marjoh Agro and all the lawyers, police, addiction experts and clients in the room. They smile and greet each other with the familiarity of people who meet at the same time, in the same place, every week. [continues 670 words]
The province is not tracking how many inmates are overdosing in jails across Ontario. The government has no central database of this information, despite drugs being such a concern that the regional coroner is planning an inquest that will examine the overdose deaths of four inmates at the Barton Street jail. Non-fatal overdoses are seen by experts as a way to gauge the drug problem and predict drug deaths and violence. Federally, Correctional Service Canada tracks overdoses and other major incidents inside prisons. But in Ontario, the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services does not track this data, including for the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre. [continues 978 words]
The latest inmate to die in the Barton Street jail is one of two suspected drug-related deaths in Ontario jails last weekend - and one of four overdoses during the past week - according to the union representing jail guards. Monte Vieselmeyer, corrections division chair for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, said drug use in the jails is a major concern for guards. "We (can't say) for sure that the individual at Hamilton died of an overdose, but it's suspected," he said. [continues 319 words]
Screening Gaps Mask Air Cargo Risks: Audit Better oversight, training and detection technology are needed to keep illicit drugs and other contraband from slipping into the country in air cargo, an internal audit says. The Canada Border Services Agency audit says the findings are significant because commercial air cargo accounts for about one-quarter of all arriving shipments. The audit team visited the high volume airports in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal as well as three unidentified smaller ones in their study of the agency's air cargo examination program. [continues 215 words]
HALIFAX - Marijuana remains the drug of choice for members of the Canadian army, based on the force's latest blind drug testing report that also found cocaine is gaining popularity among some members. The report, done between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2013, found the overall drug consumption rate has been relatively stable since 2010 but suggested young, non-commissioned members were more prone to do drugs. The findings, contained in a 42 page report obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, included testing for 11 controlled substances at 26 Armed Forces units across the country. There were 4,198 participants from most ranks and age groups. [continues 200 words]
Recommendations aimed at easing the problem of inmate addictions in Ontario's jails The jury has spoken - it's now up to the government to decide whether to adopt recommendations aimed at tackling addictions in Ontario jails to prevent inmate deaths. The 17 recommendations, the result of a two-week inquest into the death of Brantford Jail inmate Robert Clause, are non-binding, which means all or none of them could be implemented. But with another inquest on the horizon into four drug-related deaths at Hamilton's Barton jail the past two years - and another death in the Brantford Jail in recent weeks - it's clear that change is needed. [continues 743 words]
Brantford inmate died unnoticed on floor of cell after overdosing Robert Clause was awaiting trial for the murder of a Hamilton man when he overdosed and died on the floor of his cell at the Brantford Jail in 2011. In 2012, one of the correctional officers who had been working the night of his death took his own life, leaving a note for the inmate's family, apologizing for their loss. "That's not what his family wanted," his family's lawyer, Sarah Dubois Dover, said Thursday outside the Brantford Superior Courthouse, where an inquest is being conducted into the 33-year-old Six Nations man's death. [continues 598 words]
The death of RCMP Corporal Ron Francis, who helped draw attention to post-traumatic stress disorder among emergency first responders, is a terrible loss that underscores the need to deal with the issue, the RCMP's commanding officer in New Brunswick said Tuesday. "It's unfortunate that this condition, if you will, took over and consumed him, but he didn't let go," assistant commissioner Roger Brown told a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Fredericton. "His goal was to try to make some sense of it himself and to bring an awareness to what this is all about." [continues 322 words]
Canada's largest mental health and addiction treatment and research centre is calling for the legalization of marijuana, with strict controls that would govern who could buy weed, from where, and in what quantity. In a policy statement released Thursday, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto said cannabis should be sold through a government-controlled monopoly and with limited availability and an age limit, possibly through outlets similar to provincially operated liquor stores. "Legalization means that we remove all penalties for cannabis possession and use by adults," said Jurgen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at CAMH. [continues 224 words]
Q: I read with interest your column of a few weeks ago, concerning the student leaving home for school, with his mother's worry about drugs, and the misuse of them. Your advice was, I believe, very correct in pointing out the inherent dangers of marijuana use. I have yet to hear from any professional source that marijuana use is anything but harmful to young adults, trying to forge their way in a difficult world. The current public debate surrounding legalizing marijuana is very troubling. I request that professionals such as yourself contribute to the public discussion, especially since I believe the stakes are so high for our young people. [continues 323 words]
Facility Offers Safe Place for Medical and Recreational Users Hamilton's pot lovers and cannabis crusaders may have found a new home - Melan-Headz Hamilton Vape, a just-opened "vapour lounge" on Barton Street East that advertises itself as "420 friendly." Judging by the puffs of sweet smoke that leak out the front door, and the bongs and spliffs and vaporizers bubbling and sparking and baking at every table and booth and counter, they are not so much "420 friendly" as they are madly in love with it. [continues 1037 words]
Efficiency issues with tracking system implemented by province A provincial overdose-tracking database that launched this year is not giving a clear picture of Ontario's drug problem, doctors say. "We're just not finding that it's giving us a good source of data to say when something is going on," says Hamilton's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson. The real-time tracking system was designed to provide the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care with live stats about opiate-related visits and deaths in hospital emergency rooms across the province. [continues 536 words]
Councillors Concerned About Open Sales of Smoking Materials, Especially in School Neighbourhoods A city councillor is hoping public health officials can find a way to restrict the display and sale of drug and pipe paraphernalia in Hamilton stores. Ward 8 Councillor Terry Whitehead is asking public health staff to see if current licensing rules can be employed to prevent convenience stores from openly displaying devices such as bongs and hookah pipes, which can be used for smoking drugs. He also wants to explore the possibility of preventing their sale in stores that are within a certain distance of schools. [continues 374 words]
City officials looking for samples, while handing out free emergency antidote kits to avoid more deaths Hamilton police say they've not yet seized samples of a lethal grade of heroin being sold across the city. "We don't at this point, and that is part of the problem," Deputy Police Chief Eric Girt said at a media briefing Thursday about a recent spike in suspected heroin deaths. "It could be all kinds of combinations of drugs. One of the things that has recently emerged is Fentanyl, which has a high potency =C2=85 but it could be anything - cocaine, crack. We do know, historically, dealers have used things like rat poison, baking soda =C2=85 they're not particularly interested i n quality control." [continues 543 words]
As bizarre as it might seem, ecstasy seems to restructure a patient's relationship to trauma ... permanently WHEN IT COMES to psychedelics, an under-the-radar nonprofit research group is opening people's minds. The Santa Cruz-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is making serious headway toward bending the boundaries of modern medicine. In several American federally approved clinical trials, the group is effectively treating psychiatric disorders - notably post-traumatic stress disorder - with MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy. "It permits the possibility of cures, whereas current psychiatric medications are about minimally reducing symptoms," said Rick Doblin, the Harvard-educated founder and executive director of MAPS. [continues 1393 words]
After a spike of overdoses across the city, police are warning intravenous drug users about a potentially fatal strain of heroin being sold here. Hamilton police Acting Detective Sergeant Phil Peckford of the vice and drug unit said police are aware of eight non-fatal overdoses over a 48-hour period starting Tuesday and are concerned someone could die. "It's noteworthy," he said. It's not clear if the heroin is tainted or if it's just a very high potency, Peckford said. [continues 211 words]
Planning Committee Moves Forward With Zoning Regulations for Marijuana Production The city is blazing ahead with plans to allow medical marijuana growers to set up production in industrial Hamilton. The planning committee voted Tuesday to move forward with recommendations to change zoning rules on where medical marijuana can be grown and harvested. The federal government has specified that growers must comply with local bylaws, but under Hamilton's previous rules, "growing" of any sort was allowed only in agricultural zones. Now, the city has decided medical marijuana growers will be able to grow in former industrial facilities. [continues 361 words]
It's smart to clear the way for medical marijuana growers to help the city redevelop brownfield industrial sites. Hamilton has sites, the city is well located for transport, and the tax revenue would be welcome. The planning committee wants to move forward with zoning changes covering where medical marijuana can be grown. The issue goes to council next week. As it stands, commercial growing - of anything - is permitted only in agricultural zones. The changes would allow growers to take over former industrial facilities, which tend to be concentrated in the lower city. [continues 102 words]
Lawyer found not guilty in heroin overdose of friend An out-of-work Hamilton lawyer who supplied her friend with the heroin that ultimately killed him is not responsible for his death, an Ontario court has ruled. Justice Bernd Zabel found Sarah Jackson, 36, not guilty of manslaughter in the January 2013 overdose death of 36-year-old Ed Cieslik. He made the ruling Friday morning, more than seven weeks after the trial wrapped up. Zabel found the victim was "persistent in his quest to take heroin," and "wore down" Jackson to supply him with the drug. [continues 471 words]
Horizon Shared Data With Police Voluntarily An Ontario court has ruled that a pair of Hamilton drug traffickers do not have a Charter-enshrined right to privacy when it comes to their hydro usage. Maria Del Carmen Orlandis-Habsburgo and Edwin Robert Lefrancois don't deny they were growing marijuana at the Victoria Avenue South home they began renting about eight years ago, said their lawyer Paul Lewin. The issue is that Horizon Utilities voluntarily sent police their hydro data - showing usage seven to 40 times higher than similar-sized homes - sparking an investigation that led to their arrests. [continues 486 words]
Some Purposely Arrested To 'Unload' At Barton Facility Some of the inmates at Barton jail are not only there on criminal charges - they're also there on business. People - drug mules - are willingly stuffing their rectums with drug-filled plastic candy eggs and then purposely getting arrested in order to "unload" their goods in jail. The drugs are worth 10 times as much as they are on the street. "It's not rocket science," a Barton inmate says bluntly. "We're in here 24-7, 365 days a year some of us. All we've got to do is think ... and think of ways to outsmart the system." [continues 1020 words]
The two new tunnels discovered this past week along the San Diego-Mexico border mark the sixth and seventh cross-border passages that authorities have located in the last four years. Officials have found more than 80 tunnels from California to Arizona since 2006. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in San Diego announced the discovery of the two new drug-smuggling tunnels Friday, calling them sophisticated and elaborate. On Wednesday, ICE officials arrested a 73-year-old Chula Vista, Calif., woman on suspicion of overseeing the operation of an underground tunnel leading under the border to an Otay Mesa industrial park in San Diego. [continues 414 words]
Re: Medical marijuana changes unconstitutional: lawyer (Mar. 19) Health Canada's decision to make approved users of medical marijuana purchase it through licensed producers has resulted in increased costs to the people who need it for medical purposes. The most enthusiasm for the Conservative government's actions is among street sellers, who now will provide the drug to those who in the past grew their own. If this government had been in charge when alcohol was outlawed and was a major problem, it would've never been legalized. However, the decision to legalize it has enabled governments to obtain significant revenue and control usage. [continues 137 words]
Hamilton Considers Marijuana-Growing Operations in Industrial Areas Hamilton councillors want our old industrial buildings to go to pot. The city is poised to limit medical marijuana growers to rural areas by labelling them agricultural operations - but councillors Tuesday asked city staff to explore zoning exceptions to allow the booming, federally licensed businesses in industrial areas. Several large-scale pot producers want to set up shop in Hamilton now that the federal government requires medical marijuana users, as of April 1, to buy cannabis exclusively from security-conscious, indoor commercial operations licensed by Health Canada. [continues 423 words]
OTTAWA The Conservative government is seriously considering more lenient marijuana laws that would allow police to ticket, not charge, people caught with small amounts of the drug, says Justice Minister Peter MacKay. "We're not talking about decriminalization or legalization," he said Wednesday on Parliament Hill. "The Criminal Code would still be available to police, but we would look at options that would give police the ability, much like the treatment of open liquor =C2=85 to ticket those types of offences," he sa id. [continues 346 words]
Dear Prudence: My wife and I have been happily married for more than a decade. We saw a therapist together for a couple of years; my wife wasn't interested in sex, and I was. We got much better at it. You once advised a woman to schedule a weekly sex date with her husband and hoped both of them came to look forward to it. We did that, and it's been working well. Except my wife prefers to be drunk to do the deed. She barely drinks at all otherwise. But to get frisky she likes two or three glasses of wine because, she says, it shuts up her self-consciousness and resistance and the other things that get in the way. My drunk wife is great in bed. My sober wife doesn't want to be touched. I enjoy sex with my intoxicated wife, but I don't love that she needs to be several sheets to the wind to get in between the sheets. Maybe more sex therapy could help, but who has time for appointments with three young kids and jobs? And maybe it's fine as is? [continues 451 words]
Addicts Are Packing Naloxone to Help Fellow Drug Users Who Have 'Gone Down' TORONTO - David Wheeler deftly snaps off the top of a tiny vial of naloxone, draws the drug up into a syringe and gives it several sharp raps with his fingernail to make sure it contains no air. The next step would be to plunge the needle into a drug user who has "gone down." This is a demonstration, but Wheeler has been through this process for real 19 times - six of those for one person - reversing heroin or other opiate overdoses in fellow drug users, most of them living in his downtown Toronto apartment building. [continues 572 words]
If the tone and content of a leaked Conservative strategy document are any indication, the Harper government is very worried indeed about the political threat posed by the Justin Trudeau-led Liberals. The six-page document, obtained by the Toronto Star, outlines a plan to "drive, disrupt and dismay" delegates to the Liberal convention scheduled for late February. The plan is to focus on attacking Trudeau at a personal level, using messaging such as "Trudeau is over his head, has poor judgment, only interested in legalizing marijuana vs. PM's strong, stable leadership, focused on what matters most to Canadians." [continues 357 words]
There's no reason for premature hand-wringing over news that at least a couple of companies are making inquiries about launching legal marijuana growing operations to provide medicinal pot to people who qualify for it under Health Canada regulations. New rules will force medical marijuana users to buy cannabis exclusively from security-conscious, indoor industrial operations as of April. In the past, users could grow their own pot or buy from cottage industry producers. That was a recipe for abuse and the new model should be a marked improvement. [continues 100 words]
City unsure of how to handle inquiries Large-scale medical pot producers are sniffing around rural and industrial Hamilton for a place to grow. As of April 1, new federal regulations will force medical marijuana users to buy cannabis exclusively from security-conscious, indoor commercial operations licensed by Health Canada. In the past, licensed pot users could grow their own plants or buy from cottage industry producers, a tough-to-monitor regime unpopular with police. Hamilton is now racing to figure out how to deal with the changes as would-be mega pot producers kick the tires on sites in Flamborough and east Hamilton. [continues 571 words]
Liberals Will Be Watching How Pot Legalization Plays Out When Justin Trudeau dove into the legalized marijuana debate last summer, it initially looked like an unnecessarily polarizing position that too easily allowed his opponents to depict him as a lightweight unable to grapple with more pressing issues. The Liberal leader still surely doesn't want to get freighted down by his pot ponderings, and it is never going to become the centrepiece of a party platform. But there is a case to be made that it will be an issue that can move votes in 2015. [continues 677 words]
Trudeau Brings Some Badly Needed Honesty to the Pot Debate Is anyone really surprised that Justin Trudeau "once" smoked pot at a dinner party with his wife and friends and, important to note, sans enfants? Really? I'm not. What I find surprising is his admission that he did, in fact, smoke a spliff. I hope he inhaled it deeply and to great effect. Good for you, Justin, for coming clean. So many people hide the fact for the repercussions it brings. [continues 680 words]
Pot-Smoking Leader Winning So Far, but Everyone's Luck Runs Out Justin Trudeau is flying awfully close to the flame. He may yet get scorched. Since entering federal politics, the Liberal leader has taken a series of risks. They've all been calculated risks, but risks nonetheless. He has profited from many and appears to have survived them all, but by playing the political game in such an unconventional manner, there is no guarantee that this string of good fortune can be sustained. [continues 665 words]
Fair play also applies to letter writers (Letters, Aug. 12) Several articles/opinions have been expressed concerning the effects of smoking cannabis. For the last hundred years, ignorance has labelled cannabis a dangerous drug. Yet I cannot for the life of me find one single case of death due to cannabis consumption. Actually, my independent research indicates that the harm in smoking cannabis is limited to: munchies and apathy. Is there a reference that could be provided me that I could verify any of these hundred year old myths that still get printed in the daily paper? And then could we compare the violence and disaster that the "war on drugs" perpetrates and have a reasonable discussion on which is worse: the intoxicant or the war against it? [continues 104 words]
Making Marijuana Legal Could Severely Impact Gangs Legalizing marijuana use in Canada could be the best way, and maybe the only way, to protect children inclined or forced to use the stuff. That's the view of Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, and the only Canadian political figure of note to have the guts to speak to the issue. Immediately and predictably attacked by his political opponents, Trudeau is nonetheless right to suggest that we, as a society, need to consider new approaches to an old problem. [continues 607 words]
Is Justin Trudeau going too far too fast by embracing the legalization, taxation and regulation of marijuana? On one level, no, because his party adopted legalization back in 2012. Trudeau was skeptical at the time, preferring to take the incremental step of decriminalization. Recently, he changed his mind, saying he has given the matter much thought and attention, and now favours legalization. Don't panic. What he actually said was: "... I realized that going the road of legalization is actually a responsible thing to look at and do." That's a recognition of the fact that not only does Trudeau first need to get an electoral mandate, but also that there would be numerous challenges to overcome before outright legalization could be accomplished. We're talking years. Trudeau also knows legalization will be a killer campaign issue in conservative strongholds. [continues 326 words]
It took eight years and $80,000, but Gator Ted's has come out on top. The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has dismissed a complaint against the Guelph Line sports bar, bringing an end to a nearly decadelong dispute between owner Ted Kindos and a patron who smokes medicinal marijuana. "It's a huge victory against Big Brother," Kindos said. "We protected our restaurant, at the end of the day. We knew we did nothing wrong." Steve Gibson, a restaurant regular, launched the complaint in 2005, saying he was discriminated against when Kindos asked him not to smoke marijuana outside the establishment's front door. Customers had complained about the smell, the owner said. [continues 343 words]
In Dispute With His Insurance Company Over the Value Marijuana Plants Stolen From Yard A Hamilton judge has ruled against a licensed medical marijuana user who claimed his insurance company did not reimburse him for the full value of marijuana plants stolen from his yard. It's the first known case of its kind in Canada. Darren Stewart, licensed by Health Canada to grow weed for his own medical use, wasn't satisfied with the $6,000 that TD General Insurance Company paid him in 2009 for six stolen plants and $5,000 in 2011 for five plants taken from his property in Rockwood. [continues 426 words]
Michelle Kanashiro is concerned after the bust of a Hamilton criminal organization that police say used Canada's medical marijuana program as a front for alleged drug trafficking. "These people have made us all look bad," said Kanashiro, who believes the charges further stigmatize legitimately licensed medical marijuana users. "We're not bad, we're sick." Kanashiro has used 10 to 15 grams of weed a day over the last three years for a roster of ailments that include hepatitis B, which has caused painful liver problems. She is one of about 28,000 people licensed by Health Canada to possess marijuana for medical purposes or to produce small amounts for themselves or others. [continues 314 words]
