The local public health agency says smoking marijuana should be banned in multi-unit buildings, including balconies The local health unit is throwing its support behind the City of Ottawa's public health agency after they called for a ban on smoking marijuana inside multi-unit residential buildings - including on balconies. Last week, Ottawa's acting medical officer of health recommended the Ontario government extend its proposed ban on pot smoking in common areas of condos, apartment buildings and university residences, hotels and their balconies. [continues 400 words]
New provincial funding to help police officers detect impaired drivers is a good start, but Brockville's chief of police says they are still being left with too many unanswered questions. The province announced Friday it is "stepping up support for municipalities and law enforcement to help ensure communities and roads are safe in advance of the federal government's legalization of cannabis." This will be done, they said, by providing $40 million of its revenue from the federal duty on recreational cannabis over two years to help all municipalities with implementation costs related to the legalization of cannabis. [continues 638 words]
Prescott - The town's fire department has joined the growing number of volunteer fire companies in Leeds and Grenville that refuse to carry naloxone to counter opioid overdoses. Fire Chief Barry Moorhouse said his department based its decision partly on the fact naloxone-carrying paramedics are based in Johnstown, only eight minutes away as the ambulance flies. Usually, the EMS can get to a medical call in Prescott before his volunteer department, Moorhouse said. As well, Moorhouse said he fears the slippery slope of having his trucks carrying drugs to medical calls. The department is far more likely to encounter diabetic patients or people felled by allergic reactions than people affected by opioid overdoses. Should firefighters be required to carry EPIPENS and insulin, too? he wondered. [continues 415 words]
Municipal governments across Leeds and Grenville have been grappling with the question of whether or not their volunteer firefighters should carry naloxone kits to treat patients who overdose on opioids. And they have been coming up with different answers. In the Township of Leeds and the Thousand Islands, for example, the council has voted to supply the lifesaving antidote to its firefighters and have them trained in its use. Likewise in the Town of Gananoque where both its firefighters and police officers have access to the kits and know how to use them. Mayor Erika Demchuk said her town's police and fire departments have carried the kits for months, both for their own protection and that of the public. [continues 658 words]
The fire department in ElizabethtownKitley wants to opt out of carrying naloxone kits in its fire trucks. In a report to council set to be discussed on Monday, the township's fire department says it unanimously decided it does not want to participate in the Ontario Naloxone Program at this time. The provincial fire marshal and chief of emergency management informed the township in December they will be expanding the naloxone program to include funding for two naloxone kits for each fire truck used in their role as first responders. [continues 553 words]
Police in Kingston found a driver sleeping with drugs. This may well be an indication of what we can expect when marijuana becomes legal next summer and should trouble everyone, especially the police. Since pot was legalized in Colorado and Washington states the number of road deaths have doubled. In Canada there still is no simple roadside test for impairment by marijuana consumption, as Trudeau placed the cart before the horse by legalizing pot so quickly. Unlike alcohol, which is excreted from the system in about 12 hours, THC in marijuana that causes someone to get stoned remains in the system for many, many days. This means someone may end up driving impaired without having smoked marijuana recently, or having smoked a small amount. No wonder the Chiefs of Police have said they simply are not ready for marijuana legalization! Larry Comeau Ottawa [end]
It will become legal next year, but the local health unit is grappling with what role it will play in dealing with recreational cannabis. The federal government has laid out the legal framework to legalize recreational cannabis use by June, and the province has already set out how it plans to regulate use throughout Ontario. The sale of marijuana will only be allowed through government-regulated stores overseen by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) and the proposed minimum age to use, purchase and possess will be 19. [continues 475 words]
When Justin Trudeau first floated his plan to legalize marijuana he said that this was the best way to keep this dangerous drug away from our children by curbing black market sales. As we have seen with the sale of cigarettes, after tens of millions spent fighting against organized crime's involvement selling illicit smokes, the battle is far from won. Organized crime is involved in growing and selling pot in Colorado and Washington states and will do the same here. This has been made easier for criminal groups, as anyone is entitled to grow four plants; virtually impossible to police. [continues 115 words]
Leeds-Grenville was left out in the weeds as the province announced the first 14 cities that will get government-run pot shops next summer. The LCBO, the agency responsible for running the new dispensaries, announced the first batch of selected locations Friday, and though the area may be home to Tweed, the country's largest cannabis manufacturing company, you won't be able to buy it at any physical location throughout the counties. The closest stores will be located in Kingston and Ottawa. [continues 496 words]
Millions of parents are concerned over what legalized marijuana means for their young children. Studies in the United Kingdom, America and here have all shown conclusively that marijuana can cause psychosis and other mental problems to those who use this drug when young. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's idea that legalization is the best way to curb black market sales, thereby keeping it away from our children, is right out of fantasyland. In both Colorado and Washington States organized crime is involved in the distribution of marijuana since it was made legal there. There has been a rush on Colorado ERs by young people who had used the drug. Expect organized crime groups to quickly get involved here meaning access to our youth. Colorado officials warned the Trudeau government that legalization is easy, but that everything that comes thereafter is much more difficult. We already have police departments across the country saying they are not prepared for legalization next July. [continues 121 words]
ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Canada's public safety minister says the federal government is anxious to legalize marijuana by next summer despite police services saying there's zero chance they'll be ready. Ralph Goodale said Wednesday the Liberals just announced $274 million over the next five years to help with police training and fight the involvement of organized crime. On Tuesday, police from Ontario, Saskatoon and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police told the Commons health committee that they need more time. They say they require an extra six months to a year for proper police training and public education - without which organized crime will flourish. [continues 471 words]
To the editor: I was a volunteer for the lung association for 30 years. I was President of the Ontario Lung Association for two years and appointed to the Canadian Lung Association for two years. During those years, I met many doctors who pointed out the dangers of tobacco to human health. Those same doctors told me that smoking marijuana was even more unhealthy because marijuana contained several more carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) than tobacco. The federal government is well aware of the tremendous costs to health care of tobacco smoking and yet it is proceeding with legalizing to allow the use of marijuana by selling it openly. [continues 85 words]
Regional Catholic board has purchased Naxalone to counter possible opioid overdoses The region's Catholic education board is responding to the growing threat of opioids in Eastern Ontario by placing overdose remedy kits in all of its schools. The Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario( CDSBEO) announced Tuesday it has purchased Naloxone kits for all of its schools in response to the growing Fentanyl crisis that is making its way through the counties, and in some cases claiming lives. "We hope that these kits will never need to be used, but in the event that they are needed, the Naloxone will help to buy time for someone experiencing an opioid overdose until first responders arrive," said the board's director of education, William Gartland. [continues 355 words]
Canada loves being way up there, even No. 1, in those surveys about the best places to visit or live. Not so cool? We're also No. 1 in alcohol-related vehicle deaths among wealthy countries, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reporting on 2015. If we can't get our game together on alcohol, what's going to happen when we add legalized marijuana to the mix? I pity the cops tasked with judging a cornucopia of drug-addled drivers, dabbling from both the illegal and legal sides of the aisle. [continues 773 words]
To the editor: Whether it be teen and pre-teen angst, home life trauma or latent mental illness, something is causing the pain that has our children turning to the medicine cabinet for relief. Once they do, they may trigger a mental illness, an inherited addiction, or a need for a bigger thrill (party on!). Our children have to be approached early on in order to head off the need for drugs to alleviate emotional pain. Strong and sympathetic parents, or teachers/counsellors, are needed to help us understand and appreciate their pain or the pain their peers are experiencing. Group discussion may also greatly benefit our children. Drugs are not the answer; sympathy, compassion and early intervention are. And legalized marijuana will only exacerbate the opioid crisis. Michael Nihme [end]
Area OPP constables among those testing equipment measuring drug impairment LONG SAULT - SDG provincial police officers are testing cuttingedge, high-tech equipment that will eventually be used to detect drivers who are under the influence of drugs. In this far-east portion of the East Region, Ontario Provincial Police Consts. Pat Dussault and Mike Roy - both with the Highway Safety Division unit - are the hands-on officers, testing two devices: a Securetec drug reader, and an Alere mobile forensic test system. [continues 486 words]
To the editor: Recent letter writer Stan White of Colorado claims organized crime in Colorado has diminished. Nothing could be further from the truth. Some pot advocates simply refuse to see any negative side of legalizing marijuana. Had he done proper research, he would discover that Colorado drug traffickers are making millions shipping Colorado marijuana, which they grow illicitly, to other states. In one raid alone, state and federal officials seized over 22,000 pounds of the drug destined for other states. Organized crime is also taking advantage of legalized marijuana in Washington state and selling it on the black market. In Canada, as organized crime groups already have a network established for selling illegal tobacco projects, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out they will simply switch to selling homegrown marijuana for more profit. Larry Comeau Ottawa [end]
Visiting British Columbia is like going to a foreign land without using your passport. Having spent most of my early life there, it's always fun to see how much has changed. When I was a kid, for example, there was a major moral panic over marijuana use and another about Vancouver being the heroin gateway to North America. The drug scene today is the opposite of a moral panic. It's more an everyday complacency. With pot soon to be legal across the country, B.C. provides a glimpse of our future. If you wander through B.C. today, as we did over the Christmas break, more or less normal Albertans might be forgiven for thinking that the whole province is stoned. [continues 484 words]
To the editor: Re: "Time to treat addiction as a mental health issue" by Chris Nelson, December 27, Recorder and Times I would certainly agree with columnist Chris Nelson that cannabis should be legalized. Cannabis prohibition has been a complete failure. He is correct when he says that drug prohibition is "among the deadliest and costliest exercises society has tried." Regulating cannabis is a much better approach to take. We must, also, recognize that accurate, scientific, reality-based information is necessary, in order for people to make informed decisions about cannabis use. [continues 315 words]
Driving under influence of marijuana increasing, Ontario survey says TORONTO - With Ottawa poised to legalize recreational marijuana next year, researchers are keeping a close eye on use of the drug, which has been steadily trending upward over the last couple of decades. In Ontario, for instance, a survey released Wednesday by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found that past-year cannabis use virtually doubled between 1996 and 2015, rising from about eight per cent to almost 15 per cent of respondents. [continues 808 words]
