First Nations invest in KL marijuana business KIRKLAND LAKE - Canada's marijuana industry is expanding rapidly and some First Nations are looking to cash in on the emerging economic opportunities. Phil Fontaine, an Indigenous politician turned marijuana executive, has spent the past year travelling the country and talking to First Nations about jobs, wealth and training opportunities the burgeoning marijuana business could bring. "Everywhere we've been, it's been the same reaction, interest, excitement," said the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. "First Nations are speaking about possibilities and potential. So it's been very encouraging. "Marijuana businesses represent "tremendous potential" for First Nations, partially because communities are able to get in on the ground floor, instead of fighting to catch up years later as has traditionally been the case, Fontaine said. [continues 521 words]
KIRKLAND LAKE - Councillor and Finance Chair Pat Kiely is skeptical municipalities will see extra revenue from an excise tax on cannibis. The Trudeau government says it is willing to give provinces and territories a bigger share of the revenue from a federal excise tax on cannabis, provided that the extra money is devoted to helping municipalities cope with the impact of legalizing recreational pot. The feds have proposed giving provincial and territorial governments half of the estimated $1-billion annual excise tax take once weed becomes legal next July. [continues 792 words]
The chief of Attawapiskat First Nation has solutions for the illegal drug trade in his community - but he's coming up against "frustrating " roadblocks. Ignace Gull said Thursday that Attawapiskat is dealing with Canada Post, the Northwest Company and the Ministry of Transport (which owns the airport) to stop the flow of drugs. "We're trying to do our own way of making sure that those drugs don't flow through our community," said Gull. "One of the things that costs us is with these prescriptions drugs, they're destroying young people, destroying families." [continues 726 words]
KL municipal officials have mixed views on proposed Crown corporation to manage marijuana sales in Ontario KIRKLAND LAKE - The province's proposal to create a Crown corporation to manage the sale of marijuana in Ontario has received a mixed review from Kirkland Lake's top elected municipal officials. Ontario Minister of Finance has written a letter to mayors and councillors across the province in regards to cannabis legislation. In the letter Charles Sousa states "our government is proposing to retail cannabis through a government-operated Crown Corporation, as a subsidiary of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). This approach would meet the standards of control and social responsibility that Ontarians expect, while responding to consumer demand and displacing the illegal market." [continues 807 words]
Tony Antoniazzi supports province's stand on marijuana legislation KIRKLAND LAKE - Kirkland Lake Mayor Tony Antoniazzi is in agreement with the provincial government's proposed legisilation. The Mayor stated "the province of Ontario has taken, the right, first steps, as they presented their plan for the sale and distribution of smoked or vaped recreational cannabis. It's a sensible and cautious approach." He adds "Ontarians have a good understanding and respect for our province's liquor laws. Mirroring the sale of pot to the LCBO model is a good first step. Going forward we could see the retail sale and distribution of recreational cannabis extend out to the private sector, just as we see today with liquor allowed to be sold at some highway general stores along major routes." [continues 238 words]
KLOPP commander says laws will be enforced, whatever they are KIRKLAND LAKE - With the federal government's new marijuana legislation on the horizon, Kirkland Lake OPP Detachment Commander Rick Witty says his detachment "will gladly enforce the law as we always have." He adds there are things that will change in terms of enforcement but again they will enforce the law, no matter what is is. The suite of bills - which would establish 18 as the minimum legal age to buy pot - was introduced in the House of Commons by Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, Health Minister Jane Philpott and Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland. [continues 174 words]
One of the most important and pressing challenges of 2017 will be Canada's response to opioid addiction. The sheer scale of overdoses from heroin and other opioids has already led British Columbia to declare a public health emergency, and the crisis is sweeping east. Fentanyl has washed over the West Coast like a deadly tsunami. The synthetic opioid can be up to 100 times more potent than morphine. It's not just hardened addicts who are dying. Overdose deaths have spiked among occasional drug users, with fentanyl detected in street drugs ranging from heroin to marijuana. [continues 521 words]
OTTAWA - Canada's effort to craft a legalized marijuana regime could be boosted by the move of four more U.S. states to approve recreational use of the drug, says a Halifax law professor. As it designs a new system, the Liberal government must address the fact Canada is a signatory to three international conventions that require criminalization of the production and possession of cannabis. The nod this week to recreational pot use from voters in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada should give Canada more ammunition in the court of global legal opinion, said Archie Kaiser, a professor in the schools of law and medicine at Dalhousie University. [continues 443 words]
Municipalities don't appear to be well prepared for the legalization of marijuana, says one North Bay councillor. Coun. Mark King said he was struck while attending the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference in Windsor this week by how ill-prepared even the provincial government is for marijuana legalization in Canada. "It's probably the biggest issue that I saw there," said King. "It appears that the provincial government really doesn't seem to be prepared in any way, shape or form." [continues 324 words]
A longtime local advocate for users of medical marijuana failed to convince a Superior Court judge in Timmins that drug charges police laid against him were unconstitutional. Robert Neron argued in his own defence that recent federal court rulings, including a decision in February striking down the Medical Marijuana Access Regulations in Canada, was directly applicable to his own case. Neron was charged in March 2011 with 11 drug offenses including several counts each of production and possession of controlled substances, and possession for the purpose of trafficking. [continues 429 words]
Ottawa Health Centre Joins List of Proposed Safe-Injection Sites OTTAWA - Public consultations begin Monday on a controversial proposal by the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre to give injection-drug users a safe place to feed their addictions. The health centre wants to add a small-scale facility - with room for four or five injection drug users - to its existing cluster of services. "The goal for us is to provide some education to the local community in terms of some of the myths and misunderstandings about a supervised injection service," said health centre executive Rob Boyd. "And we want to hear what they have to say about our service model." [continues 711 words]
TIMMINS - An effort is being made to cut off the flow of illegal drugs making its way into Moose Cree First Nation. The First Nation announced Wednesday it will be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of its own money to pay for two additional police officers and their equipment to begin working in the island community for the next year to crack down on drug trafficking. The additional officers will be sent to Moose Factory from the Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service (NAPS) but according to the force they will be regular-duty officers, not drug enforcement officers. [continues 429 words]
With the possibility of liberalized marijuana laws being passed in Canada in this year, there is also a concern about how that will play out in terms of impaired driving caused by drugs. Steve Meunier, the president of the Ti mm ins chapter of MADD Canada (Mother's Against Drunk Driving), said the concern is a valid one. "MADD is obviously concerned about this at a corporate level, and that focuses down to the chapters as well, and of course we are all concerned," said Meunier. [continues 846 words]
Activists in Quebec Expect New Federal Government to Approve Plans MONTREAL - Quebec healthcare workers and politicians say they expect the new federal government to approve their application for supervised, illicit-drug injection sites in Montreal, which will make the city the second in Canada to host the controversial harm-reduction program. But some are warning the strict law passed before the Conservatives left office will mean potential injection site operators will have to navigate a complicated legal maze aimed at preventing these sites from opening. [continues 620 words]
We're in this for the long haul. Well, at least for four years. While only 39.5% of the electorate voted for Liberal candidates, Justin Trudeau will be governing with a majority mandate. It's full steam ahead with his agenda. There will be plenty of time to critique his forthcoming missteps and gaffes. And make no mistake, they're coming. But let's take a look at several upcoming issues that Trudeau will hopefully get right in a way that most Canadians should applaud him for: [continues 525 words]
Recreational use of marijuana has been illegal in Canada since 1908, but this has never really stopped people from using it. According to a Statistics Canada study released this past spring, half of all Canadian men and a bit more than one-third of women have used marijuana before. At the same time, however, the widespread availability of marijuana has allowed 30% of youth under 18 to use it as well. That data is self-reported, which has a problem of respondents giving what they believe is the socially acceptable answer, so the number of people using marijuana is likely higher than that for both adults and minors. [continues 702 words]
Those entitled to marijuana for medical reasons can now have drug in edible forms, such as pot brownies Munch away, medical pot users. The Supreme Court of Canada says those entitled to use marijuana for medical reasons can now have edible forms of the drug, such as pot brownies or cookies, not just dried leaf to smoke. The law had limited licenced users to only using dried marijuana and any other form could lead to criminal charges. Owen Smith was charged in 2009 with possession and trafficking marijuana while he was the head of the Cannabis Buyers Club of Canada. [continues 288 words]
KIRKLAND LAKE - Cannabis activist Dana Larsen says "much more serious" civil disobedience could be coming to Kirkland Lake if police opt to raid a local bong shop again. Posting online in response to an opinion piece by Northern News senior reporter Rick Owen regarding last week's cannabis rally in Kirkland Lake, Larsen said the peaceful march may have been just the beginning of things to come. "If the OPP decide to ignore our rally and try to raid The Tripping Daisy again, then I will be back to Kirkland Lake, and we will put on bigger, ongoing rallies and protests that will involve much more serious civil disobedience than smoking a few joints on the sidewalk," Larsen said in one post. "We're not going to back down on this." [continues 306 words]
I do strongly object if you openly disregard the values of this community and then expect the community to support your cause. On Monday we saw something in Kirkland Lake that we don't often see, a protest march. The march was held to support Tripping Daisy owner Darren Delaney in his efforts to sell water pipes, known as bongs and vaporizers. The OPP Organized Crime Bureau executed a search warrant on his shop on February 5, and seized his merchandise. The store owner estimates the cost of the merchandise to be about $25,000. [continues 1000 words]
KIRKLAND LAKE - The protest against the law that allows police to confiscate merchandise that could be used for the consumption of illicit substances attracted about 30 people Monday evening. The protest was being held to support the Tripping Daisy and its owner Darren Delaney after The OPP Organized Crime Unit executed a search warrant on the business Feb. 5, 2015 and according to the owner confiscated about $25,000 worth of merchandise. The OPP have since laid a charge against Delaney. [continues 981 words]
