Brighton - People consume marijuana because it relaxes them but the prospect of its recreational use becoming legal is making police anxious. "Anticipated issues" include "easier access for the youth population," impaired operation of vehicles, and the "facilitation of trafficking," OPP Detective-Sergeant Rick Dupuis said in a presentation to Brighton council on the implications of the federal law that is to take effect sometime after July 1. "The provincial and federal governments indicate that this act was introduced to minimize or mitigate accessibility to our young population but in my professional opinion I believe that is ... counterintuitive," he told council Feb. 20. "It's going to make it much easier." [continues 690 words]
It would be interesting to know if the delay in implementing the new marijuana legalization legislation will mean police will continue to waste time and resources dragging people through the courts for "pot" related offences, right up until 11:59 p.m. on the eve of the day it becomes legal. Scott Campbell Grow-ops will still be illegal even after pot isn't. [end]
Bank of Montreal is open to more deals with cannabis companies, as long as those firms can get past "traps" in the lender's due-diligence process, chief executive Darryl White said. The Toronto-based lender became the first major Canadian bank to arrange a stock sale for a company tied to cannabis this month when its capital-markets unit helped lead a $200.7-million equity financing for Canopy Growth Corp. In his first public comments about the deal, Mr. White called the marijuana producer "a bona fide business operating within the boundaries of the law." [continues 530 words]
ALBANY - Veterans groups are pressing Gov. Andrew Cuomo to allow those with post-traumatic stress disorder to use medical marijuana, urging him to sign a bill that will soon head to his desk. The state Senate voted late last month to add PTSD to the list of illnesses and ailments eligible for the state's medical-marijuana program, about six weeks after the Assembly voted to do the same. It remains unclear, however, whether Cuomo will sign the bill that could significantly expand the number of eligible patients in New York's medical-marijuana program, which is among the more restrictive in the nation. [continues 517 words]
A store caught by police allegedly selling marijuana and illegal marijuana-related products has been the recipient of numerous City of Richmond bylaw infraction tickets. The Richmond News reported last week how Richmond RCMP executed a search warrant at the at the WeeMedical Wellness Center on Anderson Road, just a few yards from the front door of Richmond City Hall. Police said that, during the search, they found dozens of bags of illegal marijuana and marijuana-based products, including candy-like items, for sale. [continues 317 words]
It is time to face reality. We must actively seek new solutions to address the fentanyl crisis and be more proactive on an emergent basis. The existing strategies to treat the disease called drug addiction are not working - more than 800 people will die in B.C. this year. We expect this number to continue to grow as more and varied compounds are introduced both domestically and from overseas. Think of the steps that were implemented immediately to prevent and treat SARS and the Zika virus. [continues 353 words]
It is time to face reality. We must actively seek new solutions to address the fentanyl crisis and be more proactive on an emergent basis. The existing strategies to treat the disease called drug addiction are not working - over 800 people will die in B.C. this year. We expect this number to continue to grow as more and varied compounds are introduced both domestically and from overseas. Think of the steps that were implemented immediately to prevent and treat SARS and the Zika virus. And yet we refuse to move quickly and decisively on what is described in B.C. as a public health emergency. Why has this not been declared a public health emergency in the rest of Canada? [continues 452 words]
On Question 2: We're considering here a plant that has been used in every recorded civilization and I can't really believe that the U.S. of A. got onto a magic secret in 1930 that made it worthwhile to destroy lives for its possession. Even now, in many states, if police confiscate assets in a search, they don't need to return these assets if the case is lost or not pursued. While this often does not include actual plant material, it does often include cash. Legislation encourages state/federal tension. [continues 79 words]
In a 'virtually unprecedented' move, New Brunswick government invests $4-million in medical-pot startup Zenabis Kevin Coft and his medical marijuana startup are benefiting in a big way as the New Brunswick government embraces the job opportunities this budding industry could bring to the province. On Aug. 23, the government invested $4-million in Zenabis, a company Mr. Coft launched to build a proposed medical marijuana facility in Atholville, N.B. The money comes in the form of a repayable loan, and Mr. Coft says it signals that Premier Brian Gallant's Liberal government is serious about supporting the sector. [continues 585 words]
Delegates at the Third District Republican Convention last weekend overwhelmingly voiced their support for the expansion of Georgia's laws on cannabis/marijuana-derived medicine, and for allowing the medicine to be produced in Georgia. A resolution supporting expanding the number of conditions that can be treated with oil containing cannabidiol (CBD), a component of marijuana, and in-state cultivation of cannabis used to make the oil, passed with very little opposition at the convention, held April 16 in Newnan. The resolution passed on a voice vote. Dale Jackson, Third District chairman for the Georgia Republican Party and a lobbyist for medical cannabis, said there were approximately 200 delegates and he only saw about three 'no' votes. [continues 359 words]
To the Editor: Your article says the United States has not seen death rates among young white adults so high "since the end of the AIDS epidemic more than two decades ago." Not only is the AIDS epidemic not over - 50,000 people in the United States are newly infected every year - but the rise in drug abuse is spawning a new generation of H.I.V. infections, most recently in Indiana and Kentucky. We cannot ignore the spike in deaths from overdoses. But neither can we be blind to the direct correlation between drug abuse and H.I.V.-AIDS. [continues 74 words]
Ex-Mayor Renews His Call for Decriminalizing Marijuana in Wake of 300-Plus Killings University of Baltimore President Kurt L. Schmoke condemned the city's "subculture of violence" on Sunday and reiterated his call for the decriminalization of marijuana and an increase in employment opportunities, as the city's annual homicide total hit 300 for the first time since he was mayor in the 1990s. Speaking on a panel on WMAR's "Square Off" talk show with Richard Sher, Schmoke called the mounting death toll an "absolute tragedy" and said the community must take a stand against the violence to stop it. [continues 515 words]
Legalization Bill Will Become Law Unless Mccrory Vetoes Spring Hope Has One of the Only Hemp Processing Plants in the Country Supporters Battle Stigma: 'We're For Rope, Not Dope' Farmers in North Carolina are likely to wake up Saturday morning with a new option for growing crops: Industrial hemp production is expected to become legal at the stroke of midnight. Lawmakers passed the legalization legislation in September, in the final days of the session. The proposal hadn't previously been made public, and some conservative groups worry that questions about the plant's connections to its cousin, marijuana, didn't get answered. [continues 1072 words]
Growing marijuana under any circumstances is now illegal in Lathrop. The Lathrop City Council on Monday voted 4-1 with councilman Omar Ornelas dissenting - to approve a resolution that will make it a crime to cultivate any marijuana, indoor or outdoor, within the limits even if the person is a licensed California medical marijuana cardholder. The item was requested by the council for review and is partially in response to recent amended California law that restricts the square footage that individual cardholders can use to grow marijuana - limiting the space down to 100 square-feet for individuals and up to 500 square-feet for a small cooperative of five people or less. [continues 742 words]
Jake Holmes' property is hidden in the dense woods on a stretch of rolling hills in Monroe, Maine, where dirt roads seem to go nowhere and GPS devices are useless. "We're working behind the house"-that's the last hint before the cell service goes out. And then, there they are: a bright red pair of heavy-duty gardening gloves sitting on the raised flag of a mailbox, the sign that this is where he lives and works. [continues 1674 words]
Chuck Lyon lives in a house he built "one concrete slab at a time" in the hills of Mendocino County, California. Lyon, 62, only uses about 5 gallons of well water each day, including the 1.5 gallons it takes for him to take what he called "navy showers." The average American uses more than 16 times that amount each day, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. And when it comes to irrigating his garden, which includes six marijuana plants just a few steps off the front porch of his home, he takes it a step further. Lyon captures about 60,000 gallons of rainwater in massive silos each year and uses that to water his cannabis. [continues 997 words]
With a federal ban on marijuana, states are left to craft their own medical pot rules-whether they work or not After waiting in line for hours at a booth during a medical marijuana convention in San Francisco, Jeff Harrington needed only a two-minute consultation and a written recommendation to become a medical marijuana patient in California. He now can legally purchase and possess marijuana from any one of thousands of marijuana businesses in the state. Across the country in Connecticut, an established physician-patient relationship is required before patients are deemed qualified for medical marijuana, and only licensed pharmacists can own and operate dispensaries. [continues 961 words]
State by State, Medical Marijuana Gets Radically Different Treatment. After waiting for hours at a booth during a medical marijuana convention in San Francisco, Jeff Harrington needed only a two-minute consultation and a written recommendation to become a medical marijuana patient. He now can legally purchase and possess marijuana from any one of thousands of businesses in California. Across the country in Connecticut, an established physician-patient relationship is required before patients are qualified for medical marijuana, and only licensed pharmacists operate dispensaries. [continues 1107 words]
