With medical marijuana dispensaries continuing to open in defiance of federal law, more B.C. communities have joined the call for local authority to regulate what are often little more than retail pot stores. Lower Mainland communities found majority support at last week's Union of B.C. Municipalities convention to bypass legal wrangling over medical marijuana access, as a court challenge continues against the Conservative government's strict controls on growing and selling it legally. Maple Ridge Coun. Corisa Bell said other cities are facing the same issues as Vancouver, where about 100 dispensaries have opened in a free-for all with street-level marketing to young people. Vancouver ignored instructions from federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose to use authorized sources of medical marijuana, and adopted a licensing system last spring to keep pot shops away from schools, community centres and each other. [continues 241 words]
Those vying for the new Courtenay-Alberni riding lean to decriminalization, or even legalization, of pot use. Candidates in the new Courtenay-Alberni riding lean to decriminalizing or even legalizing marijuana. "I don't think you want to stigmatize or criminalize people for youthful indiscretions," said current Conservative MP and Government Whip John Duncan. "The fact is for users, marijuana has largely been decriminalized. (The) government's position on marijuana is actually striking a very good balance. I think it's a recognition of societal acceptance of the status quo." [continues 385 words]
There is no better evidence of the change in attitudes about marijuana than the forbearance demonstrated by the Winnipeg Police Service in connection with a man who is openly selling pot from a storefront operation. The police service issued a news release Monday saying it would not tolerate the lawless conduct of Glenn Price, who has been selling what he calls medical marijuana even though he is not licensed by Health Canada and his product has not been acquired from authorized government dispensers. [continues 553 words]
Young Girl's Epilepsy Has Left Her Developmentally Delayed; Oil Combats Seizures THORNHILL, Ont. - Gwenevere Repetski turns three next month and she is finally able to crawl, a milestone her parents thought they would never see. She was just an infant when she was diagnosed with epilepsy, a debilitating neurological disorder that has left her developmentally delayed. "She was kind of like a bag of Jell-O," says her mother, Reagan Repetski. When she was two years old, she could hardly roll over when she was placed on her back, adds her father, Alex. [continues 1231 words]
Cannabix Marijuana Breathalyzer May Allow Police to Conduct Roadside Tests for THC in the Near Future Detecting and successfully prosecuting drug impaired drivers on B.C.'s highways is not a simple task. Currently the Criminal Code provisions for Drug Recognition Expert examination is the only method used to qualify drug induced impairment where the driver is not obviously incapable of physical control. One day in the not too distant future, the Cannabix marijuana breathalyzer may allow police to deal with the problem though a roadside breath test just as they would an alcohol impaired driver. [continues 229 words]
Fewer students in Grades 7 to 12 across central Vancouver Island are smoking tobacco, marijuana or drinking and driving, according to the results of a health study released this month. But computer and cell phone usage is causing a chronic lack of sleep; and there have been no improvements in the percentage of students attempting suicide or deliberately harming themselves. The McCreary Centre, a non-government, nonprofit organization committed to improving youth health in B.C., released the Central Vancouver Island results of their 2013 survey. The results represent school districts in Port Alberni, Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Qualicum and the Cowichan Valley. About 250 students in Alberni were selected to take part in the survey, making up about 14 per cent of respondents. [continues 417 words]
Re: "Marijuana legalization could have fearful price," ( Alberni Valley Times, Feb. 5) I'd like to address some of the issues raised by Bruce Hornidge in his recent letter. Legalization of cannabis would actually alleviate some of his concerns. Study after study has concluded that the harms of prohibition far outweigh any potential harms of cannabis use. The medical effects of cannabis have been far better documented in the long term than those of many pharmaceuticals, which are often recalled after discovering potentially fatal flaws. [continues 232 words]
Perhaps I would agree with legalizing marijuana use if I really believed that it is wholly for the treatment of medical issues. Some people claim that pot controls pain and makes living more comfortable. As a cure for anything, marijuana use is not proven and is therefore speculative. As a medium for creativity in the arts, pot may help that minority of the "gifted" in society, but legalization is unnecessary. The "turn off" for me is the attitude displayed before the media camera by people who favour legalizing pot. Comments like "can't stop it anyway so save the taxpayer the enforcement costs by getting into the business and tax it." [continues 177 words]
Local crime numbers from October show a decline in calls for service, bringing a more manageable workload for the Port Alberni RCMP. Reports to the local detachment normally peak in the summer months, as traffic through Port Alberni increases. After calls for service reached 934 in August, the autumn has brought a decline with 859 incidents in September and 845 last month. "Our calls for service came down to more normalized numbers, which really has eased some of the pressures on the detachment," said Insp. Mac Richards of the Port Alberni RCMP. [continues 194 words]
So much work and money have been put into two separate epic campaigns, it's hard not to think they will both eventually be successful. On one hand, a popular movement to relax prohibitive laws is chipping away at restrictions on the use of one relatively benign substance. On the other, monumental lawsuits and education campaigns have penalized the producers and shamed the users of a toxic product. Some time in the next several years, both movements will arrive at their destinations. Marijuana and tobacco will change places. [continues 597 words]
Man Pleads Guilty to Growing Marijuana, but Says His Health Canada Licence Was Up for Renewal A Port Alberni man plead guilty Monday to illegally growing marijuana in his home, but says he's hoping for a lenient sentence because his legal licence to grow the substance was up for renewal at the time. "I'm not a drug dealer," Randall Fox told the Alberni Valley Times Monday after entering guilty pleas on three charges in Port Alberni Supreme Court. "I don't think I should be punished as hard... because Health Canada dropped the ball." [continues 469 words]
Even the financial TV news channels are agog at the sight of Colorado's new retail marijuana shops, which opened for business Wednesday. Note: they are not dispensaries; the state has done away with the medical window dressing so zealously clung to by Health Canada. More important for B.C., Washington state will soon follow and allow recreational sales. Please note that the economic consequences for B.C. have absolutely nothing to do with anyone's personal consumption, approval or disapproval. [continues 246 words]
Our neighbours on the Olympic Peninsula will get their first pot shop next weekend. Sea Change Cannabis will open in Discovery Bay, near Port Townsend. Two other marijuana stores hope to be in business in Jefferson County soon. Straight across the strait from Victoria, the state liquor board has allocated six more licences to Clallam County, where stores will include Sparket and Mr. Buds in Port Angeles proper and the Hidden Bush and Weed-R-Us on the highway into town. [continues 1028 words]
Regional District Directors Will Soon Make a Decision on the Allowance of Legal Grow-Ops in Rural Areas At a hearing Monday night to discuss amendments to a bylaw that will allow medical marijuana facilities to be built in the Alberni Valley's rural areas, just one member of the public attended to voice concerns. The bylaw will now go back to Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District's board of directors for third reading at their public meeting on June 25, according to ACRD manager of planning and development Mike Irg. [continues 345 words]
Re: "Applications roll in for medical pot," ( Alberni Valley Times, May 27) Once again, denial keeps all the players from understanding what's really at stake - our food insecurity in a rapidly changing climate. A recent report of 170 glaciers on the Island in the 1970s, with only five remaining, persistent deepening drought in California and the culprit, GHG emissions, continuing to rise exponentially all point in the same direction. Sensible people will tell you we urgently need proactive policies. Denial is a well-known mental illness. When it comes to denial there is no sense, only overwhelming inner pressure to keep the truth out of sight and out of mind. [continues 212 words]
Body Governing Legal Medical Marijuana Overloaded With Business Applications to Grow New Medicine OTTAWA, Ont. - There's no business like grow business. Health Canada is struggling to process a mountain of applications for licences to grow medical marijuana as the country experiences a "greenrush" of firms wanting to grab a piece of the coming boom. The department had received 858 applications as of late last month, and new ones were coming in the door at an average of 25 a week. [continues 697 words]
Zoning amendments receive opposition The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District is pushing ahead with allowing large-scale medicinal marijuana growing operations in the municipality by proposing a zoning amendment to accommodate public concerns. Four applications for grow-op licences in the Alberni Valley currently await Health Canada's approval under the new federal guidelines that came into effect April 1. The new Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) require companies to grow medicinal marijuana in fully-enclosed buildings approved by Canada's health authority. [continues 539 words]
The lawsuits challenging Ottawa's attempted overhaul of the medical marijuana system continue to pile up, meaning the government will be forced to defend the new regulations in multiple courts as patients across the country claim they have a charter right to grow their own pot. Hundreds of people have filed lawsuits in recent months in various courts, arguing new regulations that took effect in April restricting marijuana production to licensed commercial growers are unconstitutional. Most of those cases have been delayed until the results of an ongoing Federal Court case, expected to be heard in February of next year, challenging the new regime. The judge in that case issued an injunction allowing many patients to continue growing at home in the meantime. [continues 408 words]
Proposed Bylaw Set to Go Through Second and Third Readings at Meeting Tomorrow The future of medical marijuana production in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District will be one step closer to reality tomorrow. A staff-initiated bylaw to allow facilities to set up in the electoral areas of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District has gone through its public hearing and is set to receive second and third readings by area directors tomorrow in a public meeting. The bylaw, as it stands, will allow for licensed medical pot grow-ops on properties at least 1.62 hectares in size, and in buildings located a minimum of 30.48 metres from all lot lines. [continues 559 words]
Residents of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District are invited to attend a public hearing regarding the possible allowing of medical marijuana facilities in electoral areas. The hearing takes place on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the ACRD district office on Fifth Avenue in Port Alberni. ACRD chief administrative officer Russell Dyson said the bylaw is to prepare for changes to the production of medical marijuana coming from Ottawa. "With the changes in the rules by the federal government, it's something that we have to prepare for and address," Dyson said. "Along with other municipalities and regional districts across the province, we're just ensuring that our land use regulations reflect [the new rules]." [continues 235 words]
