On Wednesday, ex-Toronto mayor Rob Ford came out with the somewhat surprising news that - only days before Election Day - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper would be joining him for a Saturday campaign rally. "We're going to show ' em what a real rally is about," said Ford's brother Doug, in a Wednesday interview with CP24. By all indications, Harper is not a fan of Toronto's most well-known political dynasty. Admitted crack users are typically kept as far as possible from Tory campaign events. And the Ford's boisterous good-ol'-boy style clashes with the Harper image of sober, responsible leadership. [continues 453 words]
On Wednesday, ex-Toronto mayor Rob Ford came out with the somewhat surprising news that - only days before Election Day - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper would be joining him for a Saturday campaign rally. "We're going to show 'em what a real rally is about," said Ford's brother Doug, in a Wednesday interview with CP24. By all indications, Harper is not a fan of Toronto's most well-known political dynasty. Admitted crack users are typically kept as far as possible from Tory campaign events. [continues 469 words]
Polarizing figures pose campaign dilemma for all three major parties On Wednesday, ex- Toronto mayor Rob Ford came out with the somewhat surprising news that - only days before Election Day - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper would be joining him for a Saturday campaign rally. "We're going to show ' em what a real rally is about," said Ford's brother Doug, in a Wednesday interview with CP24. By all indications, Harper is not a fan of Toronto's most well-known political dynasty. [continues 481 words]
Another ode in melodic election In this daily feature until Election Day, the National Post captures a telling moment in time from the 2015 campaign trail. Two teens in baggy, vintage "Canada" sweaters stroll through the nighttime streets of Montreal's Hochelaga neighbourhood. "Stoners of the world, vote for Justin Trudeau," says rapper y.not against a solid hip-hop beat flecked with sampled quotes from Justin and Pierre Trudeau. So goes the music video for Stoners for Justin, the latest song to hit a 2015 campaign that has turned out to be surprisingly musical. [continues 533 words]
In this daily feature until Election Day, the National Post captures a telling moment in time from the 2015 campaign trail. Two teens in baggy, vintage Canada sweaters stroll through the nighttime streets of Montreal's Hochelaga neighbourhood. "Stoners of the world, vote for Justin Trudeau," rapper y.not says against a solid hip-hop beat flecked with sampled quotes from Justin and Pierre Trudeau. So goes the music video for Stoners for Justin, the latest song to hit a 2015 campaign that has turned out to be surprisingly musical. [continues 534 words]
A joint might still get you arrested in Iqaluit or rural Saskatchewan, but in large corners of this country, it is easier to get high now than it could ever be under legalization If several thousand people gathered in downtown Vancouver for a mass light-up of cigarettes, it would be assailed by condemnations from the city's chief medical health officer. If they came to chug moonshine, the gathering would be stopped in its tracks by riot police. But when a mid-sized town's worth of people convene to smoke marijuana in the heart of Vancouver, it is essentially a civic institution. [continues 1260 words]
Vancouver dispensaries test limits of Canada's pot laws We do have a priority-based approach to policing here in Vancouver A woman stands outside Vancouver's Canna Clinic, offering passersby free in-house medical consultations. One of Vancouver's 30-plus marijuana dispensaries, many of which have opened in only the last 12 months, Canna Clinic sells pot-infused ketchup, olive oil and brownies, as well as pre-rolled blunts and two dozen strains of pure B.C. Bud. The only catch is that prospective buyers have to present photo I.D., sign a form pledging not to share, and receive a diagnosis from an onsite naturopath confirming they have any ailment ranging from cancer to ADHD to sleep disorders. [continues 1211 words]
VANCOUVER - Canada's most famous nude beach is getting its own police detachment of sorts - a pair of RCMP officers posted in a tent. Nudity, open containers, acoustic guitars and even drug use are still legal on Wreck Beach, but Mounties say they will crack down on overdoses and open-air sexual activity. "There's about 465 stairs to that beach, and that's really the only point of access unless you come in from the water," said Sgt. Drew Grainger with the RCMP's University of British Columbia detachment. [continues 558 words]
VANCOUVER * Just five weeks after Ottawa outlawed B.C.'s cottage industry of cannabis dispensaries, one of them has just opened Canada's first marijuana vending machine. "Half an ounce for $50, which is unthinkable in the city," said local hip hop artist Ray Gill, speaking Monday in a YouTube video promoting the new machine. "It's like they're just giving it away!" The machine is operated by the B.C. Pain Society, a recently opened medical marijuana dispensary located a few blocks from the heart of Vancouver's hip Commercial Drive district. [continues 692 words]
Eight days after the sudden disappearance of Toronto born OHL player Terry Trafford, Michigan Police confirmed Tuesday that they have found his body in a Wal-Mart parking lot only a few kilometres away from where he was last seen alive. A player for Michigan's Saginaw Spirit, Mr. Trafford, 20, had a history of depression and had reportedly threatened suicide only hours before his March 3 disappearance. "We all had been praying for a better end to this story," wrote fellow Saginaw Spirit Gregg Sutch in a Tuesday night web post. [continues 414 words]
In this occasional feature, the National Post tells you everything you need to know about a complicated issue. Today, Tristin Hopper looks at B.C.'S fresh drug debate: Q - B.C.'s chief medical officer, Dr. Perry Kendall said Wednesday that the drug MDMA ("ecstasy") is safe in pure form. Didn't it kill all those people? A - Over the past year, 16 people in Alberta, B.C., and Saskatchewan have indeed died after ingesting ecstasy. But the problem was not the ecstasy itself, it was an added ingredient, PMMA, that caused the users' body temperatures to rocket to lethal levels. Dr, Kendall posited this week that if production of MDMA was regulated, and if it was sold in government-regulated liquor stores, it would keep users out of the morgue. An Australian paper released this week would seem to agree. On Wednesday, researchers at the Royal Perth Hospital reported that increasingly impure ecstasy had recently caused three otherwise healthy Perth residents to suffer severe heart attacks. [continues 540 words]
By opening up its industrial areas to medical marijuana growers, the coastal B.C. community of Sechelt is poised to become the first community in Canada cleared for large-scale legal pot farms. Located two hours northwest of Vancouver, Sechelt first conceived of the change after a would-be producer approached councillors with a proposal to set up shop in a renovated building in the city's industrial quarter. John Henderson, the city's development-minded Mayor, immediately took notice. "We don't care if it's a rocket-launching business or a legal medical marijuana growing operation - if somebody approaches us to have some zoning bylaws amended we'll look at them carefully," he said. [continues 355 words]
Every week brings a new crop of contraband items passing through the gates of Toronto's Pearson International Airport. "Last week we caught a guy hiding a snake under his shirt," said a superintendent with the airport branch of the Canada Border Services Agency. Rounding up smugglers is key to the Conservative government's plans for a "North American perimeter," so the feds are on a campaign to ramp up border security to U.S. levels and, in the words of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews, "convince the Americans that our country is a safe country." [continues 525 words]
A new strain of marijuana named after pop star Justin Bieber, pictured, is rumoured to be changing hands in Toronto drug circles. Called JB Kush after Mr. Bieber's initials -the drug purportedly carries the sales message "to help you get through those tough times with your loved one, and make you closer." The story appears to have originated Sunday on the Celebrity blog zacktaylor.ca, which also quoted a source close to Mr. Bieber as saying the drug "is definitely not an authorized use of his name." Clerks at Toronto-area head shops contacted by the National Post were unable to confirm the existence of the strain and were "extremely uninterested in finding out." Mr. Bieber has been the subject of several hoaxes since his 2008 rise to stardom. Last summer, an Internet rumour circulated that Justin Bieber's mother, Pattie Mallette, was being offered $50,000 to pose topless in Playboy. His mother denied the rumour. [end]
Get caught passing a joint to a 17-year-old and you'll spend two years in the slammer, says a federal bill only weeks from becoming law. Bill C-15, introduced last March in the House of Commons, calls for mandatory minimum sentencing on drug crimes, removing a judge's power of discretion. "It absolutely will not and cannot achieve its goals, and everyone knows that," said Kirk Tousaw, executive director of the Vancouver-based Beyond Prohibition foundation. "Drug consumption and drug-related crime seem to be unaffected, in any measurable way, by severe (mandatory minimum sentencing)," reads a 2002 report commissioned by the Canadian Department of Justice. [continues 1081 words]
Salvia divonorum, commonly known as salvia, thanks to its powerful psychedelic punch and its availability in legitimate retailers, has made a huge jump into Canada's recreational drug scene, particularly among youth. "It's a very intense hallucinogenic experience that is thankfully short-lived-usually 15 minutes, some people report five minutes and the longest would be half an hour," said Wende Wood, a psychiatric pharmacist with the Toronto-based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. Native to Mexico, the drug was originally used by the Mazatec culture for spiritual journeys. [continues 987 words]
