Doug Ford says he is "dead against" supervised injection sites and believes the focus should be on drug rehabilitation instead. And if elected premier of Ontario in June, the Progressive Conservative Leader says he will do everything he can to fight the opioid crisis and get people who are struggling with addiction the help they need. "If your son, daughter, loved one ever had an addiction, would you want them to go in a little area and do more drugs? I am dead against that," Mr. Ford said Friday. "We have to help these people. We can't just keep feeding them and feeding them." [continues 541 words]
Online cannabis dispensaries are the latest to cash in on the holiday shopping frenzy, with some offering dramatic markdowns or novelty products as the season known for consumer spending gets underway. Several online cannabis stores are holding Black Friday sales for the first time this year in an effort to stay competitive and draw new customers in what they call an increasingly competitive market. Savings typically range from 10 to 35 per cent, though some deals advertised go as high as 45 per cent off. [continues 388 words]
A southern Ontario college says it will be the first to offer a post-secondary credential in the production of commercial cannabis. Niagara College says the graduate certificate program will launch in the fall of 2018 and aims to prepare students to work in the licensed production of cannabis, which includes marijuana, hemp fibre and hemp seed. The school says the one-year postgraduate program was approved this summer by the Ontario Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development. It will be open to those with a diploma or degree in agribusiness, agricultural science, environmental science/resource studies, horticulture or natural sciences, or an acceptable combination of education and experience. [continues 213 words]
TORONTO - Hundreds of adoptions have been put on hold in Ontario as a provincially appointed commission reviews child protection cases involving flawed drug tests. The Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies said Monday between 200 and 300 cases have been flagged for review because they involved a now discredited program that used hair analysis to test for drug and alcohol use. Mary Ballantyne, the organization's CEO, said that includes cases where a child has been placed in an adoptive home but the adoption has not yet been finalized, as well as those where a child was eventually to be placed in an adoptive home. [continues 455 words]
Marijuana activist Matt Mernagh likes to show off Toronto's cannabis community, which he considers one of its untapped tourist attractions When police raided the Kindred Cafe Nov. 20 for allegedly trafficking marijuana, it shone a spotlight on one of the city's biggest open secrets. There are places where you can smoke weed with relative impunity, provided you don't make a scene. With a couple of well-known pot cafes and a smattering of private smokers' clubs - not to mention a thriving network of bong shops and hemp stores - Toronto's marijuana scene rivals Vancouver's, according to some herb aficionados. [continues 593 words]
Owner Of Coffee House Raided Last Week Turns Himself In To Police Hours After Protest A small crowd of pot activists lit up on the steps of Old City Hall yesterday morning to protest against last week's police raid on the Kindred Cafe, a local hangout for medicinal and recreational marijuana smokers. "We're here, we're high, get used to it," chanted the group of about 20 people, some waving flags emblazoned with the marijuana leaf, others crowned with wreaths of bright green foliage. [continues 350 words]
