Needle collection, peer outreach part of initiative A new regional harm reduction strategy being developed by Fraser Health will focus on collection of used needles, provision of clean needles and smoking supplies, and outreach by recovered addicts to active drug users. The health authority has struck an agreement with RainCity Housing and Support Society to help develop the expanded services, which exist in some but not all parts of the region. Dr. Ingrid Tyler said it's hoped peer outreach led by RainCity will help educate users on safe use and discard of needles, and better persuade them to reach out for addiction treatment and other health services when they are receptive. [continues 301 words]
The lawyer who successfully overturned the former Conservative government's ban on the home growing of medical marijuana is praising a move by the federal Liberals to create a new licensing system for doctor-approved patients. Kirk Tousaw said the new Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations, which take effect Aug. 24, appear to be much the same as the old home growing licenses that prevailed until 2014 when the Conservative government tried to outlaw them and force approved patients to buy only from licensed commercial producers. [continues 694 words]
Fraser Health will quickly identify priority sites for supervised drug consumption as part of a broader strategy to contain a surge in illicit drug overdoses. Surrey is certain to be one of the proposed locations, but health authority officials aren't yet saying if they will also propose sites in other drug-troubled downtowns such as Langley City, Maple Ridge and Abbotsford. "We're at early stages of identifying priority communities and having initial conversations, dialogue and engagement with municipalities," said Dr. Victoria Lee, Fraser's chief medical health officer. [continues 742 words]
Most Overdose Fatalities Tied to Fentanyl New statistics show 308 B.C. residents died of illicit drug overdoses in the first four months of 2016, up 75 per cent from the 176 deaths in the same January to May period of 2015. And the proportion of deaths tied to the synthetic drug fentanyl has climbed further to 56 per cent of the 2016 deaths so far, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. By comparison, 31 per cent of illicit drug deaths in 2015 were linked to fentanyl, used either on its own or knowingly or unknowingly in combination with other drugs. [continues 487 words]
Illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. jumped 27 per cent in 2015 and that grim statistic was even worse in the Fraser region, where deadly overdoses soared nearly 50 per cent. A total of 465 B.C. residents died from illicit drugs last year, almost 100 more than in 2014, according to new statistics from the B.C. Coroners Service. Fraser recorded the largest number of drug deaths of any B.C. region in 2015 - a total of 166, up from 111 in 2014. [continues 347 words]
B.C. civic leaders heard conflicting views Monday on whether Vancouver's renegade approach to regulating marijuana retail stores - in defiance of federal government opposition - is legally defensible and a viable option for other communities.. Legal experts speaking to a forum on pot regulation at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention agreed the storefront sale of marijuana is illegal in Canada. But municipal lawyer Francesca Marzari said Vancouver is within its rights to set and enforce civic standards for pot stores that aren't shut down by police, who in Vancouver don't consider them a policing priority as long as they don't sell to youth or have ties to organized crime. [continues 653 words]
B.C. has a strong appetite for marijuana reform with more than 70 per cent of respondents to a new poll urging either legalization or decriminalization. The Insights West survey found 67 per cent said they support outright legalization, 28 per cent opposed it and five per cent were undecided. Support was slightly stronger among women, the under-35 age group and Vancouver Island residents, but at least 65 per cent back legalization in every region and within each age group. [continues 419 words]
B.C. has a strong appetite for marijuana reform with more than 70 per cent of respondents to a new poll urging either legalization or decriminalization. The Insights West survey found 67 per cent said they support outright legalization, 28 per cent opposed it and five per cent were undecided. Support was slightly stronger among women, the under-35 age group and Vancouver Island residents, but at least 65 per cent back legalization in every region and within each age group. [continues 420 words]
Two-thirds of British Columbians surveyed endorse marijuana legalization B.C. has a strong appetite for marijuana reform with more than 70 per cent of respondents to a new poll urging either legalization or decriminalization. The Insights West survey found 67 per cent said they support outright legalization, 28 per cent opposed it and five per cent were undecided. Support was slightly stronger among women, the under-35 age group and Vancouver Island residents, but at least 65 per cent back legalization in every region and within each age group. [continues 419 words]
Medical marijuana patients have a right to possess and use cannabis in the form of cookies and products other than dried bud, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday. The unanimous decision is a major victory for cannabis crusaders who argued they should not be forced only to smoke or vaporize the drug when edible or topical products are safer and provide benefits such as delayed delivery. "Inhaling marihuana can present health risks and is less effective for some conditions than administration of cannabis derivatives," the country's high court ruled. [continues 447 words]
Marijuana stores have been sprouting all over Washington State since retail trade in the drug was legalized in a referendum, but the first one has now opened within walking distance of the B.C. border. Evergreen Cannabis is aimed squarely at the Canadian market and its Blaine storefront at 922 Peace Portal Drive - with a sign that reads "recreational marijuana store" - is within sight of both the Peace Arch and White Rock. "I know I am controversial because I am close to the border," owner Jake Lamont, a Birch Bay resident, told Black Press this week. [continues 440 words]
Outlet is 'under noses' of U.S. Authorities Marijuana stores have been sprouting all over Washington State since retail trade in the drug was legalized in a referendum, but the first one has now opened within walking distance of the B.C. border. Evergreen Cannabis is aimed squarely at the Canadian market and its Blaine storefront at 922 Peace Portal Drive - with a sign that reads "recreational marijuana store" - is within sight of both the Peace Arch and White Rock. "I know I am controversial because I am close to the border," owner Jake Lamont, a Birch Bay resident, told Black Press this week. [continues 354 words]
Marijuana stores have been sprouting all over Washington State since retail trade in the drug was legalized in a referendum, but the first one has now opened within walking distance of the B.C. border. Evergreen Cannabis is aimed squarely at the Canadian market and its Blaine storefront at 922 Peace Portal Drive - with a sign that reads "recreational marijuana store" - is within sight of both the Peace Arch and White Rock. "I know I am controversial because I am close to the border," owner Jake Lamont, a Birch Bay resident, told Black Press this week. [continues 441 words]
Fewer teens South of the Fraser are drinking or taking drugs than five years ago, according to a comprehensive new study that paints a generally improved portrait of adolescent health in B.C. The McCreary Centre Society surveyed 30,000 B.C. students in grades 7 to 12 in 2013 and released itsdetailed report Tuesday on the Fraser South region, which includes Delta, Surrey and Langley school districts. On substance use, the survey found fewer youth in Fraser South had ever tried alcohol (37 per cent), marijuana (21 per cent) or tobacco (16 per cent) compared to 2008, when those rates were 48 per cent, 26 per cent and 23 per cent, respectively. [continues 359 words]
Doctors To Get Guidance On Pot Prescriptions The federal government will appeal a March 21 court injunction that lets authorized patients temporarily keep growing their own medical marijuana past April 1, when the old system was to be outlawed. The move by Health Canada keeps thousands of medical marijuana users off balance as to how long they can continue home growing under personal production licences. They had been under a federal directive to stop growing, destroy any unused pot and confirm in writing by April 30 they had done so or face potential police enforcement. [continues 347 words]
Injunction Allows Authorized Users To Keep Growing The federal government will appeal a March 21 court injunction that lets authorized patients temporarily keep growing their own medical marijuana past April 1, when the old system was to be outlawed. The move by Health Canada keeps thousands of medical marijuana users off balance as to how long they can continue home growing under personal production licences. They had been under a federal directive to stop growing, destroy any unused pot and confirm in writing by April 30 they had done so or face potential police enforcement. [continues 347 words]
Hundreds face enforcement this spring as licenses expire Some B.C. cities are vowing to do what they can to uproot licensed medical marijuana grow operations in homes that will become illegal this spring as federally approved large-scale commercial growers take over. As of April 1, an estimated 11,500 B.C. medical marijuana grow operations that have been run by or on behalf of federally licensed users are supposed to shut down voluntarily but civic leaders say Health Canada is doing almost nothing to force them to comply. [continues 542 words]
Some B.C. cities are vowing to do what they can to uproot licensed medical marijuana grow operations in homes that will become illegal this spring as federally approved large-scale commercial growers take over. As of April 1, an estimated 11,500 B.C. medical marijuana grow operations that have been run by or on behalf of federally licensed users are supposed to shut down voluntarily but civic leaders say Health Canada is doing almost nothing to force them to comply. [continues 544 words]
