Tory Plan Will Drive Up Costs, Grow-At-Home Mother Says Tamara Cartwright-Poulits sees herself as a gardener, not a grower. So when she's not chasing the three-year-old energy bundle that is her son, the 42-year-old cares for up to 130 plants in various stages of growth, from early clippings to the 30 or 40 plants that bud each month. "We're normal, everyday people just like anybody else," said Cartwright-Poulits, one of 26,000 Canadians enrolled in Health Canada's medical marijuana program. "We just want to be able to not have to be strung out on pharmaceutical drugs." [continues 722 words]
A gap between policy and practice has made the Edmonton Remand Centre ineffective in controlling illegal drug use among its inmate population, a provincial court judge has found. Judge Janet Dixon criticized the remand centre in her fatality inquiry report into the death of inmate John Pierre Boily, 49, who died from a methadone overdose on March 19, 2009. Methadone is a synthetic drug commonly used in the treatment of heroin addicts, though it was not prescribed to Boily. Boily had been in continuous custody in Calgary, Red Deer and Edmonton on various minor charges for more than a year when he died. Hours before his death, Boily told another inmate he'd taken a "couple of lines" of methadone and felt sick. Correctional officers checked on Boily in his cell four times between 6 and 9 p.m. At 10:30 p.m., he was found unresponsive. He was declared dead at the Royal Alexandra Hospital roughly an hour later. [continues 302 words]
Licensed users, police and politicians are greeting proposed changes to the federal government's problem-plagued medical marijuana program with a dose of skepticism and hope. If approved, Health Canada's Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations would create a "licensing scheme for the commercial production and distribution" of medical marijuana. Under the new system, the federal department would no longer produce or distribute medical marijuana. Production would instead be done at commercially licensed facilities, stripping patients of the ability to grow their own marijuana. It would also put the onus on physicians to prescribe the still illegal narcotic. [continues 565 words]
Re: "Legalized pot opens Pandora's box of problems," Susan Martinuk, Opinion, Dec. 7. I am not an advocate of recreational self-medication in any form. However, when a reputable paper like the Herald gives voice to the "my opinions trump your logic" crowd, I get a headache. Susan Martinuk's column is so crammed with histrionics and pseudo-intellectual rationalization, it is hard to know where to start dissecting it. The argument that because it is illegal it must be bad, is one of the more sinister aspects of the distorted reasoning that prevails with emotional issues. While law-abiding behaviour is generally a laudable trait, the context in which it is presented here seems to suggest there is no such thing as a bad law. If, as she says "... the primary reason young people gave for not using cannabis or for stopping its use was its illegal status," any consideration of the validity of the prohibition law is rendered moot! [continues 141 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]
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]
Re: "Legalized pot opens Pandora's box of problems," Susan Martinuk, Opinion, Dec. 7. Susan Martinuk seems to have a big problem with marijuana. I am curious whether she has the same problem with alcohol or cigarettes, since her issues with marijuana can be applied to them as well. She raises the issue of underage youth getting hold of pot once it's legalized. This happens even if it's not legalized, and it also happens with alcohol and cigarettes. The fact these are illegal doesn't stop most teens from partaking. [continues 208 words]
The stoners in Washington state didn't waste any time celebrating (or pushing the boundaries of) their new freedom to light up a joint. The new law went into effect Thursday, and although public consumption is banned, revellers took to the streets. At midnight Wednesday, the party began. In November, Washington voted (55 to 45 per cent) to decriminalize possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for those over 21. Of course, the notion that the 21-year-old age barrier will remain intact is ridiculous, as is the notion that the person holding the marijuana won't pass it on to others. Thus another great social experiment begins and there is little hope it will end well. [continues 598 words]
A dozen years after a landmark Alberta court ruling paved the way for greater use of medicinal marijuana in Canada, federal legislation governing its use has produced a perverse system that's failing both patients in pain and the doctors charged with their care. The ridiculous state of legalized marijuana treatment in this country is brought into sharp focus by a new Canadian Medical Association survey that finds many doctors refuse to take part in the program, often for ethical and legal reasons. In the absence of research-based guidelines and training about dosage, potency, sourcing and efficacy, they just don't feel comfortable filling out that prescription. [continues 460 words]
Principals are allowed to search students' personal cellphones to keep schools safe, say school authorities. Critics, however, say schools might be too lax in following rules designed to protect students' privacy. Strathcona High School student Alex Lee, 16, has been suspended and faces an expulsion hearing this week after he turned his cellphone over to the assistant principal at the school on Nov. 16. The assistant principal asked for Lee's phone because Lee was among a group of students involved in a confrontation off school property at lunch time that school officials believed was drug-related, Lee said. There was a text on Lee's phone from a girl asking if Lee knew where she could get marijuana, prompting the suspension and expulsion hearing set for Thursday, Lee said. [continues 536 words]
Random program on hold pending union grievance ruling In a split decision, the Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld a temporary injunction that prevents Suncor Energy from starting random drug tests of employees. The decision Wednesday means that Suncor's new random testing program will remain stalled until an arbitrator rules on a grievance the union filed. While that arbitration is scheduled to begin Dec. 10, it is not known when a final decision will be reached. Two of the three appeal judges on the panel dismissed the appeal because they believed privacy rights were at stake. [continues 474 words]
Re: "Test cases; Canada doesn't have much experience with random on-the-job drug and alcohol testing. That may be about to change," the Journal, Nov. 24. Ed Secondiak, president of ECS Services, which has designed drug-testing programs, says that test results "are kept under lock and key with limited access, and never shared with outside agencies without the employee's permission." That is simply untrue. Having served many years on the Employment Insurance Board of Referees, I can assure you that since random drug testing became common, notably in oil-sands operations, numerous workers have been disqualified from receiving EI benefits because their employers have informed the Employment Insurance Commission, without the employees' permission, that they were dismissed because of a positive random drug test. [continues 154 words]
Study looks into addiction recovery A Calgary researcher trying to learn more about how people recover from marijuana abuse says a new study indicates users who gave up the drug for good when they quit had experienced the most severe symptoms in the past. University of Calgary PhD candidate Jonathan Stea has concluded an early analysis of data collected from 126 marijuana users who recovered from past cannabis dependency problems. About one in 10 users of the widely smoked illicit drug become hooked. But there's little solid data on cannabis abuse - and how to help those with a marijuana problem successfully recover, Stea said. [continues 257 words]
Judges to hear Suncor arguments A three-judge Alberta Court of Appeal panel will next week hear from Suncor Energy Inc. as the oilsands giant argues against an injunction blocking its proposed random employee drug testing program. Next month, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case of Irving Pulp and Paper, a New Brunswick company whose plan to have its employees submit to mandatory breathalyzer tests has been fought tooth and nail by the same union that represents Suncor workers. [continues 1228 words]
Now that neighbouring Washington state and Colorado have legalized marijuana, Ottawa can no longer claim that Canada must uphold marijuana prohibition to maintain good U.S. relations. In 2002, the Canadian Senate offered a common sense alternative to marijuana prohibition when the Special Committee on Illegal Drugs concluded that marijuana is relatively benign, prohibition contributes to organized crime, and law enforcement efforts have little impact on patterns of use. Marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure and voters across North America know it. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers confusing the drug war's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
For years, thoughtful observers have argued that lessons painfully learned during the Al Capone prohibition era were equally applicable to the "war on drugs." Whatever social, medical or moral good might have been accomplished by criminalizing alcohol, they insisted, it was outweighed by the boost prohibition gave to violent organized crime. Mexico's losing struggle with murderous drug cartels has been a perfect example of history repeating itself. Well, thanks to decisions last week by voters in two U.S. states - Colorado and Washington - North America is a large step closer to testing the theory on the least potent of restricted psychoactive drugs, marijuana. [continues 501 words]
B.C. Should Legalize Bud EDMONTON - Like the voters in two U.S. states, I'm in favour of legalizing marijuana. As a business columnist, you may wonder why I'm even writing about this topic. Well, consider this: In British Columbia, marijuana sales are believed to exceed $6 billion a year - more than twice the size of the province's top forest products company, and eight times larger than B.C.'s largest high-tech company. Simply put, selling weed is a big industry - one that happens to be illegal. But before I delve into the economics, let me explain where I'm coming from. [continues 660 words]
"I've never had a problem with drugs. I've had a problem with the police." - - Keith Richards The provincial government last week launched a consultation with cops and communities around Alberta to see what they can do to eradicate the production of a certain green, leafy substance popular among =C2=85 well. Pretty much every demographic I know. Couldn't we just heap a big pile of $100 bills in front of the legislature and set it on fire instead? [continues 546 words]
This is the intriguing subtext - or maybe dominant theme - of Tuesday night's decisive Electoral College victory by incumbent and now, more than ever, history-making U.S. President Barack Obama: The U.S. is becoming, well, Canadian. That will seem like a wild exaggeration to some. But consider. The campaign itself was as nasty and divisive as always on the advertising side, and at street level. But at the presidential level, there was courtesy. Mitt Romney-haters will disagree, but at no time in the campaign, certainly not in public, did Romney bare his fangs in anything like a Rush Limbaugh-style display of rage. He was aggressive but respectful. More to the point, his policy positions - during the campaign at least - were centrist. But it was too little centrism, too late. [continues 662 words]
Inside Alberta
