Poetic Riposte OTTAWA - With the Liberal cannabis legalization bill now being debated in the Senate, the Conservative Party's health critic used poetry Friday to ask for sober second thought. Marilyn Gladu implored the upper chamber to "keep our great country safe from all the weed" Friday after the Senate's first debate on Bill C-45, a federal framework for legal marijuana, got underway Thursday afternoon. The House of Commons passed the federal bill Monday. It must get through an unpredictable Senate before it can become law. So far, eight provinces and territories have unveiled plans ahead of the government's July 1, 2018, deadline for Canadians to access legal pot. [continues 429 words]
Market needs legal structure, official says OTTAWA - Police are warning it could be "impossible" for law enforcement to get trained up in time for legal marijuana in July 2018. Testifying at a House of Commons health committee Tuesday, police leaders expressed concerns about the Liberal government's impending deadline to create a legal weed market. Organizations will need to know the new laws and regulations backwards and forwards before they can prepare their officers for duty, they said. Mike Serr, deputy chief constable and chair of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police drug advisory committee, said the government should consider extending its deadline. "We ask that established legislative framework be put in place prior to legalization that will provide law enforcement with clear direction and assistance regarding funding and training," he said. [continues 495 words]
100 First Nations amenable to tax breaks, he says OTTAWA * Former Assembly of First Nations chief Phil Fontaine says his pitch to produce medical marijuana on reserves is getting lots of attention from Indigenous communities hoping to get into a potentially lucrative industry. About 100 First Nations communities and business interests are keen on the enterprise, he told the National Post this week, though some stigma remains around cannabis and its production. Fontaine's own company Ishkonigan launched a partnership in December with licensed weed producer Cronos Group, and will break ground on a flagship operation in Armstrong, B.C. later this summer. Ishkonigan has a 51 per cent share of the venture, which is expected to be operational in about eight months. [continues 618 words]
Health Canada Warns Canadian Pot Producers About Misleading Information In Advertising Health Canada has issued what some are calling a wake-up call to licensed medical marijuana producers that may be pushing the envelope when it comes to advertising. The memo, obtained by the Citizen, was sent June 30 and tells the 13 producers that have been licensed under the regulatory system brought in April 1 to immediately remove any inappropriate advertising from "websites and company materials." "The purpose of the letter was to inform licensed producers that the Government of Canada is concerned about advertisements that are false, misleading or deceptive and those that advertise marijuana and remind them of their obligations, specifically that the advertising marijuana is prohibited," Health Canada told the Citizen. [continues 827 words]
Clinical Trials of Pot Products Needed Before Health Canada Will Allow Use Roll it. Light it. Smoke it. Vaporize it. But don't cook with it. Despite Canada's strides to regulate medical marijuana, in some ways, this country trails other jurisdictions. Parts of the United States and Israel have gone further in making cannabis products, such as oils and foods, legally available as medication. Under the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, the new regulatory framework implemented April 1, only dried marijuana that is smoked or vaporized has been approved for therapeutic use in Canada. However, some contend that for children and adults with asthma or lung problems who can't smoke or inhale vapour, derivative products are a better option. [continues 1033 words]
President's Views On Medical Use Unfair, Some Say Some doctors are raising concerns that the national body representing them has outdated views on medical marijuana that are creating barriers for patients who could benefit from the herb. Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, president of the Canadian Medical Association, recently told the Citizen there isn't enough medical evidence to support medical marijuana use, and that people who seek the drug in doctors' offices are just looking for "dope." Dr. Marcia Gillman, a physician who specializes in palliative care at Montreal's Jewish General Hospital, said Monday that Francescutti has a duty to be well-informed, which is "clearly not the case here." [continues 548 words]
Practice Has Head of Cma 'Quite Frightened' Some doctors feel intimidated not only by marijuana company reps, but by patients themselves. Representatives of licensed medical marijuana companies are being sent to doctors' offices as part of the push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, leaving them caught between at least some patients looking to score drugs and the vendors looking to peddle them. [continues 921 words]
Critics Complain of 'Hard Sell' OTTAWA - Representatives for licensed medical marijuana companies are being sent to doctors' offices as part of a push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, putting them into potential confrontations with patients looking to score drugs and vendors looking to peddle them. [continues 721 words]
CMA president ' quite frightened' by push from licensed cannabis companies OTTAWA - Representatives for licensed medical marijuana companies are being sent to doctors' offices as part of a push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, putting them into potential confrontations with patients looking to score drugs and vendors looking to peddle them. [continues 662 words]
Companies making the pitch OTTAWA - Representatives for licensed medical marijuana companies are being sent to doctors' offices as part of a push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, putting them into potential confrontations with patients looking to score drugs and vendors looking to peddle them. "I'm actually quite frightened," he said. Francescutti said some of Canada's 13 licensed marijuana producers are operating in the same way that pharmaceutical companies do. [continues 896 words]
OTTAWA - Licensed medical marijuana companies are sending representatives to doctors' offices as part of a push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, leaving them caught between at least some patients looking to score drugs and the vendors looking to peddle them. "I'm actually quite frightened," he said. [continues 699 words]
"If marijuana is so magical, then how come the trials aren't out there?" Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti OTTAWA - Representatives for licensed medical marijuana companies are being sent to doctors' offices as part of a push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, putting them into potential confrontations with patients looking to score drugs and vendors looking to peddle them. [continues 386 words]
CMA president 'actually quite frightened' OTTAWA - Representatives for licensed medical marijuana companies are being sent to doctors' offices as part of a push to get hesitant physicians to prescribe the drug more often. It's a development that has dismayed Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, who says that a largely unproven treatment is now being thrust upon doctors, putting them into potential confrontations with patients looking to score drugs and vendors looking to peddle them. [continues 923 words]
Boy Can't Use Cannabis Oil Treatment, the Most Effective Remedy to Combat His Epilepsy OTTAWA - Liam McKnight signed his medical marijuana licence when he was just five years old. The Ottawa boy suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It can cause nearly constant seizures that last three to four minutes each. His condition led him to miss time during kindergarten. Liam had 67 seizures the day before starting cannabis oil treatment. The first 10 days he used cannabis oil, he was seizure-free, his mother says. "He had new words," said Liam's mother, Mandy. "He was horseback riding. He was in a boat, he went tubing. He was so happy. We had a little glimpse of what life could be like." [continues 411 words]
OTTAWA - Liam McKnight signed his medical marijuana licence when he was just five years old. The Ottawa boy suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It can cause nearly constant seizures that last three to four minutes each. His condition led him to miss time during kindergarten. Liam had 67 seizures the day before starting cannabis oil treatment. The first 10 days he used cannabis oil, he was seizure-free, his mother says. "He had new words," said Liam's mother, Mandy. [continues 616 words]
Boy went from 67 epileptic seizures a day to 10 days seizure-free following treatment using a liquid form of medical marijuana Liam McKnight signed his medical marijuana licence when he was just five years old. The boy from Constance Bay suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It can cause nearly constant seizures that last three to four minutes each. His condition led him to miss time during kindergarten. Liam had 67 seizures the day before starting cannabis oil treatment. The first 10 days he used cannabis oil, he was seizure-free, his mother says. [continues 1004 words]
Boy with rare form of epilepsy has found relief OTTAWA - Liam McKnight signed his medical marijuana licence when he was just five years old. The Ottawa boy suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It can cause nearly constant seizures that last three to four minutes each. His condition led him to miss time in kindergarten. Liam had 67 seizures the day before starting cannabis oil treatment. The first 10 days he used cannabis oil, he was seizure free, his mother says. [continues 630 words]
Parents face complicated procedure OTTAWA * Liam McKnight signed his medical marijuana licence when he was just five years old. The Ottawa boy suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It can cause nearly constant seizures lasting three to four minutes each, which have made it hard for him to attend kindergarten. That's all changed for the better. The first 10 days he used cannabis oil, he had no seizures, says his mother, compared with the 67 seizures he had the day before. [continues 551 words]
Boy takes extracted oil, in violation of new regulations OTTAWA - Liam McKnight signed his medical marijuana licence when he was just five years old. The Ottawa boy suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It can cause nearly constant seizures that last three to four minutes each. His condition led him to miss time during kindergarten. Liam had 67 seizures the day before starting cannabis oil treatment. The first 10 days he used cannabis oil, he was seizure free, his mother says. [continues 625 words]
OTTAWA- Liam McKnight signed his medical marijuana licence when he was just five years old. The Ottawa boy suffers from Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe form of epilepsy. It can cause nearly constant seizures that last three to four minutes each. His condition led him to miss time during kindergarten. Liam had 67 seizures the day before starting cannabis oil treatment. The first 10 days he used cannabis oil, he was seizure-free, his mother says. "He had new words," said Liam's mother, Mandy. "He was horseback riding. He was in a boat, he went tubing. He was so happy. We had a little glimpse of what life could be like." [continues 277 words]
