Investment firm head says he'd spend $25,000 to fight cannabis-impaired driving provisions As experts warn of flaws with the cannabis-impaired driving provisions of Bill C-46, a high-profile Canadian cannabis industry executive has vowed to bankroll a future court challenge against that aspect of the proposed law. Chuck Rifici, the CEO of cannabis industry investment firm Wheaton Income Corp., and the former chief financial officer of the Liberal Party of Canada, said he would commit up to $25,000 to fund such a challenge. [continues 1087 words]
Excluding convicted drug dealers from exoneration unfair, cannabis advocate says PRIME Minister Justin Trudeau must have expected questions about cannabis legalization at his town hall event in Winnipeg on Wednesday night, but he might not have anticipated this one. In light of the Liberal government's plans to offer some kind of amnesty to Canadians with cannabis possession convictions, Manitoba cannabis advocate Steven Stairs asked: "Would your government be considering pardons for people who are being convicted of trafficking cannabis? "Small-time drug dealers, pot sales, guy on the corner, whatever you want to call them, but those people are just as peaceful, mostly, as the other people that have been charged, and I don't find it fair that you would exclude them from the pardon system," he said. [continues 724 words]
Includes cannabis purchased for medical and recreational purposes IT'S official, according to Canada's government statistics agency: Canadians spent a ton of money on weed last year. To be exact, Statistics Canada estimates 4.9 million Canucks between the ages of 15 and 64 shelled out $5.7 billion for marijuana in 2017. For comparison, Statistics Canada offered 2016 household spending data for two other popular drugs - $22.3 billion on alcohol, and $16 billion on tobacco. The $5.7-billion figure, released Thursday morning, covers cannabis purchases for both medical and recreational purposes. More than 90 per cent of that spending was on cannabis used for non-medical purposes. [continues 823 words]
POLICE raided two locations of the Winnipeg Compassion Club last week, saying the storefronts were operating as "illegal marijuana dispensaries." Officers seized approximately $25,000 worth of marijuana, $20,000 of marijuana in alternate forms and $6,000 in cash from both locations, which were "openly selling marijuana," the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release on Wednesday. Three men were arrested and charged with several drug-possession and trafficking offences, as well as possession of the proceeds of crime. The men, ages 45, 28 and 27, have been released pending court appearances. [continues 362 words]
Province's age restriction, home-growing ban lack common sense GOVERNMENTS in Canada have been playing politics with marijuana for some time now. The promise to legalize cannabis helped Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his federal Liberals achieve a majority government in 2015, and now provincial governments across the country are coming to grips with legalization according to their own political principles. Some provincial governments (Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick) are creating Crown corporations to be the legal marijuana dealers. Others (Manitoba, Alberta, Newfoundland) are letting the private sector run the stores. British Columbia just announced a retail solution that will include both the public and private sectors. [continues 893 words]
MORE than 21 per cent of adult Manitobans used cannabis in the past year and another 21.1 per cent may try it after legalization, new data from the Liquor and Gaming Authority of Manitoba suggests. The figures come from an anonymous phone survey of 1,201 adults in September. The alcohol and gambling regulator, whose mandate will include marijuana, says its sample is "quasi-representative" of the province's adult population. The survey found 55.2 per cent of Manitobans have used cannabis, with 16 being the most common age of initiation. [continues 282 words]
A SLIGHT majority of Manitobans disagree with Premier Brian Pallister's calls to delay federal legalization of cannabis in Canada, according to a new online poll from the Angus Reid Institute. Fifty-eight per cent of Manitoba respondents say, "The timeline should not be changed." Nationwide, 53 per cent of all respondents agree. The Angus Reid Institute's online poll used a sample of 1,510 Canadians who were randomly selected members of the pollster's proprietary Angus Reid Forum, which the website describes as a representative panel of "almost 130,000 Canadian households." The poll, conducted Nov. 14 to 20, includes a sample of 101 Manitobans. [continues 450 words]
MANITOBANS will be prohibited from growing marijuana for recreational purposes at home after cannabis is legalized in 2018, should the provincial government's new Safe and Responsible Retailing of Cannabis Act become law. The bill was introduced by Justice Minister Heather Stefanson in the provincial legislative assembly Tuesday. Although the federal Cannabis Act will allow Canadian adults to grow up to four cannabis plants at their home, Stefanson said her government was banning the practice, primarily for two reasons. "This approach is consistent with our commitment to protect youth, and also responds directly to concerns that homegrown cannabis may be diverted to the black market," she told reporters Tuesday. [continues 702 words]
AS first reported in the Free Press, the Safe and Responsible Retailing of Cannabis Act will set the minimum age to buy and possess cannabis in Manitoba at 19, one year higher than the legal age requirement for purchasing alcohol. Tuesday's announcement means Manitoba is set to be the only province where the legal ages to use alcohol and cannabis don't match. Zach Walsh, a native Winnipegger who studies cannabis as a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia, said the age differential in Manitoba "seems a little incongruous." [continues 302 words]
MANITOBANS will have to be at least 19 years of age to legally purchase and possess cannabis in the province after it is legalized, the Free Press has learned. The minimum age will be part of a new bill to be introduced today at the Manitoba Legislative Building, according to a government source familiar with the matter. According to the legislature's Monday notice paper, Justice Minister Heather Stefanson is scheduled to introduce the Safe and Responsible Retailing of Cannabis Act. [continues 322 words]
Ottawa seeks to undercut black market using 'small-scale growers' OTTAWA - The federal government has revealed part of its strategy for regulating recreational cannabis when it becomes legal in July, proposing to allow "micro-cultivation" while modifying the existing federal licensing scheme for medical marijuana producers to let them sell into the future market. Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor released a 75-page consultation document Tuesday afternoon kicking off a 60-day period for officials, groups and citizens to respond to the plan. [continues 854 words]
MANITOBA has become the first province to allow the private sector to play a central role in the future retail sales of recreational cannabis in Canada. The federal Cannabis Act, which is not yet law, would make the federal government responsible for regulating the production of recreational cannabis. Designing a system for distribution and sales will be up to provinces and territories. The Manitoba government's plan, which will let private retailers operate cannabis stores in conjunction with a government-owned regulation, distribution and supply regime, is a far cry from the all-public plans already revealed by some other provinces. [continues 299 words]
'That doesn't mean I like it,' Pallister says PREMIER Brian Pallister said Manitoba is "ahead of most other provinces" when it comes to preparing for federal legalization of cannabis by July 1. "That doesn't mean I like it,"he added at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "I'm going to continue to express my concerns about the rapidity of this change; this is a significant change." The provincial government will unveil its approach to cannabis legalization "over the course of the next few weeks," Manitoba Justice Minister Heather Stefanson said. [continues 371 words]
MANITOBA - Public Insurance announced a new public education campaign against drug-impaired driving on Thursday, with a focus on cannabis ahead of the expected legalization of that substance next year. The campaign, launched in co-operation with Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada, will include messaging focused on new teen drivers, youth in general, the medical community and the general public, with taglines such as "Think you're a better driver when you're high? Think again." MPI chief administrative officer Ward Keith said the campaign was developed in response to "a number of things that are lining up to give us real concerns about the risk of cannabis-impaired driving" after legalization. [continues 397 words]
THE government of Manitoba wants Ottawa to provide "further clarity" on how it will support provinces in implementing Bill C45, the Cannabis Act. In a Tuesday news release, Manitoba Justice Minister Heather Stefanson described cannabis legalization as "a significant shift in public policy with many challenges for the provinces and territories to address." Road safety is an area of particular concern, said Stefanson, who expects that topic to be front and centre when justice ministers from the federal, provincial and territorial governments meet in Vancouver from today to Friday. [continues 272 words]
Government union says public sales model best bet for health and safety CANADA'S most populous province has announced a plan to sell legal marijuana through a publicly owned system, which is music to the ears of the Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union. MGEU president Michelle Gawronsky said she hopes Ontario's plan to sell cannabis separately from alcohol in publicly owned, stand-alone stores will set an example for Manitoba. A public sales model operated by Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corporation would be the best possible option from a public health and safety perspective, she argued. [continues 1189 words]
Manitobans OK with toking neighbours: survey MOST Manitobans are unfazed by the thought of a pot-smoking neighbour, but are less comfortable with the prospect of drivers under the influence of cannabis - or the idea of selling edible marijuana products in bars, according to a Probe Research poll commissioned by CTV Winnipeg. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents said they wouldn't be bothered to learn their neighbour "was a regular marijuana user as opposed to a regular alcohol drinker," an attitude that was consistent across all age groups. [continues 345 words]
