Advocates says province would be spared millions in cost of building retail outlets A dozen cannabis producers from across Canada want to launch a cooperative in Alberta, where they would sell the drug online and in street-level stores - and they're promising extra revenues for the government. A day after the province reopened public consultations on a new cannabis market - leaving its options open on whether to pursue privately or publicly run stores - the Canadian Cannabis Co-op said its proposed retail model poses no risks or costs to taxpayers. [continues 534 words]
Alberta Federation of Labour says public system creates better jobs, more revenue The Alberta Federation of Labour is calling for the NDP government to set up a system of government-owned and operated cannabis stores in the province when recreational marijuana becomes legal next year. With Alberta's policy framework for legal cannabis released earlier this month, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said the province will only allow stand-alone stores to sell legal weed but it is still weighing whether to set up government-owned facilities or leave retail to the private sector. [continues 528 words]
Calgary police Chief Roger Chaffin said a proposed framework released by the province on legalized marijuana this week is "a start" as police examine their next steps to prepare for recreational cannabis to be legalized July 1. "On its first blush, there's not a lot of detail in that yet, but at least the framework sets up at least an idea of where the province wants to go around age limits, around consumption levels, growing the plant, so there's lots of areas there at least we can start to go to work on," Chaffin said Friday. [continues 293 words]
Justice minister set to unveil policy framework for legalized marijuana Alberta companies are eagerly waiting to see whether they can do business under the provincial government's plan for legal marijuana. On Wednesday, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley will unveil the NDP government's policy framework for cannabis once the Trudeau government legalizes recreational marijuana on July 1, 2018. Among the areas expected to be addressed by the government are the legal age for consumption, pricing and how cannabis will be distributed and sold in the province. [continues 531 words]
Stafford Drive bridge area being fenced off CP Rail is cutting off access to one of the most active illicit injection sites in the city in the coming months, which could drive up drug use in other areas of the city. In a report to Lethbridge Police Commission on Wednesday, ARCHES Executive Director Stacey Bourque told the commission when CP Rail cuts access to the area under Stafford Bridge, many drug users will lose access to an area where ARCHES cleans thousands of used needles every month. [continues 540 words]
Rules for legal weed set minimum age at 18, allow use in public places The NDP government is weighing whether to set up government-run stores to sell marijuana in Alberta or leave the market to private retailers when recreational cannabis is legalized next year. Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley unveiled the government's proposed framework for legal weed Wednesday, with the province setting 18 as the legal age for consumption - matching the age for alcohol and tobacco use in Alberta. The province will also mandate that legal weed be sold only in stand-alone stores, with no sales of alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals in the same facility. [continues 789 words]
Government proposes permitting pot in provincial parks and on street corners Next July, you'll be allowed to get high standing on a downtown street corner, walking your dog through Nose Hill Park or hiking in the Rocky Mountains. In its draft framework for legalized weed, the Alberta government has proposed among the most permissive rules so far in Canada on where pot can be smoked. They're even more lax than rules in Colorado and other legalized jurisdictions south of the border, according to a researcher who has studied the industry. [continues 668 words]
The Notley government wants public feedback on its new plan to manage legalized pot in the province. Here's some free advice that could save taxpayers a boatload of cash and a chronic headache. Don't get into the retail business. At a news conference in Calgary, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Wednesday the province is putting together a framework surrounding who can buy and sell cannabis in Alberta. This comes in response to the federal government introducing legislation to legalize marijuana by next July. [continues 830 words]
The B.C. government is making time to listen as it plans new marijuana regulations, even though the listening will leave only a few months to finish crafting the rules for the coming new era of legal pot. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said this week that the public consultation will be finished by Nov. 1. The government will have to finish writing rules and regulations by next summer. The federal government introduced legislation in April that would legalize recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018, but is leaving it up to each province to determine its own distribution system and usage regulations. [continues 479 words]
Health Canada doesn't want kids smoking pot. The federal agency responsible for the health of Canadians issued a tender call Thursday for a marketing campaign to raise awareness among youth aged 13 to 24 about the harmful affects of smoking marijuana on their still-developing brains. It also wants pre- and post-campaign monitoring of the awareness of youth of the affects. The advertising campaign will roll out in anticipation of Canada's legalizing marijuana next year. Ed McHugh, a professor at St. Mary's University's marketing department, offered a warning. [continues 277 words]
Police asking for more time before marijuana legalized, Troy Cooper tells chamber Police Chief Troy Cooper has gone from doubtful to critical on Ottawa's marijuana plan, rejecting some key parts of the legislation and saying he's "nervous" about next summer's legalization deadline. Cooper has long seemed hesitant over marijuana legalization. Thursday, the day of his speech to the Chamber of Commerce, was perhaps his clearest expression of frustration over the pace of the federal plan - which foresees legal weed by July 2018. "We've asked, as a police service, please give us more time," he told the audience of local business leaders gathered at the Wildlife Federation building. [continues 614 words]
PATERSON -- About a dozen men and women sat on hard plastic chairs early Wednesday morning inside a conference room at the Well of Hope Drop-In Center on Broadway, where a flat screen television broadcast sports highlights on ESPN. Some came for the free coffee. A sign said the limit was one cup per hour. Others were there to use the showers and toilet facilities. A 57-year-old man who would only give his name as "Julius" was waiting to see a nurse about a blister on his foot. [continues 957 words]
'I don't really think that's on the table,' minister says The NDP government says it isn't considering raising Alberta's legal age of 18 for drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco as it develops its policies around legal marijuana. Alberta Health Services, in its written submission to the government's consultations on legal cannabis, suggested the province consider a minimum age of 21 for marijuana consumption, and potentially raise the drinking and smoking tobacco age to match. But outside a meeting of Premier Rachel Notley's cabinet at McDougall Centre, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said changing the legal age for alcohol consumption is not on the agenda. [continues 119 words]
Amy Stalker says she had more control over her own health when she lived in Colorado, where marijuana can be legally prescribed as medicine. Stalker now lives in Kentucky, where medical use of marijuana is banned. A judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday against Gov. Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear that called for the legalization of medical marijuana in Kentucky. In his opinion, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate wrote that the Kentucky Supreme Court clearly established in a 2000 decision involving actor and hemp activist Woody Harrelson that the General Assembly has the sole discretion under the state Constitution to regulate the use of cannabis in the state. The courts do not have the authority to intervene, Wingate wrote. [continues 450 words]
TALLAHASSEE -- Seemingly learning from past mistakes, state health officials have issued an emergency rule outlining the application process for new medical-marijuana vendors seeking to receive licenses in two weeks. The new rule, published Wednesday and going into effect immediately, outsources the evaluation of the applications to "subject matter experts," requires "blind testing" of the applications, and includes a detailed application form --- all departures from the Department of Health's previous medical-marijuana regulations that spawned a series of legal and administrative challenges. [continues 974 words]
Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley says she's not expecting "complete consensus" as Alberta prepares to release its plan for legal cannabis in a matter of weeks. As the federal Liberal government prepares to legalize the recreational use of marijuana on July 1, 2018, it falls to the provinces to deal with issues such as the minimum age for consumption and how pot will be distributed and sold. In written submissions to its cannabis secretariat, Alberta's NDP government has heard wide-ranging options for how retail sales of marijuana should be handled, including allowing new standalone specialized stores, utilizing existing private liquor stores or government-controlled sales. [continues 417 words]
Province turns to citizens for consultation on how marijuana should be sold in Saskatchewan Love it or hate it, legislation that legalizes pot in Canada is coming. The provincial government launched a survey last week, seeking the public's response to questions ranging from where and how marijuana should be sold, to a minimum age for users, and priorities when it comes to enforcement and education. These are some of the top concerns for users, sellers, legislators, and law enforcement alike. [continues 691 words]
Editor: Saskatchewan Cabinet Minister Don Morgan is the latest provincial politician to say he wants marijuana legalization delayed for at least a year. ............ Why? Trudeau promised his government would legalize marijuana two years ago. Ontario has already announced its plans on how it will integrate legal marijuana into its economy. (Is Morgan insinuating that Ontario is somehow superior to our province?) The only people who could possibly benefit from a delay in marijuana legalization are the organized crime figures who currently control most of the market. Why on earth are Saskatchewan politicians defending the interests of organized crime above that of ordinary, law-abiding citizens? Makes you wonder. Gordon Robert Dumont Prince Albert, Sask [end]
Society needs to understand why people abuse substances There'll come a day, long after we're gone, when people will react with disbelief at how we now treat mental health. Those future Canadians will shake their collective heads in amazement in the manner we do today when looking back to a time when surgeons would routinely perform operations without first washing their hands. How could they have been so ignorant, will be the future common comment. But there's a chink of light emerging with next summer's planned legislation of cannabis use across Canada. Not that smoking dope is going to cure anyone's mental issues, probably the opposite, but it is recognition that locking people up as criminals because of an urge to consume mind-altering substances is being jettisoned as a long lost proposition. [continues 559 words]
AHS: Consider unifying minimum age for cannabis, liquor, tobacco Alberta Health Services says the provincial government should consider a minimum age of 21 for consumption of legal cannabis - and potentially raise the minimum age for smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol to match. In its submission to the NDP government's cannabis secretariat, the provincial health authority also says the government should be in control of distribution and retail of marijuana when it becomes legal next year and calls for bans on public smoking and promotion of cannabis use. [continues 795 words]
