Vancouver - Canada's marijuana industry is expanding rapidly and some First Nations are looking to cash in on the emerging economic opportunities. Phil Fontaine, an Indigenous politician turned marijuana executive, has spent the last year travelling the country and talking to First Nations about jobs, wealth and training opportunities the burgeoning marijuana business could bring. "Everywhere we've been, it's been the same reaction, interest, excitement. First Nations are speaking about possibilities and potential. So it's been very encouraging," said the former national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. [continues 463 words]
Vancouver has a history pioneering harm-reduction programs. In 2003, it opened North America's first supervised-injection facility, Insite. In 2014, it moved a prescription-heroin program beyond the confines of an academic study. Now B.C. will launch its most radical drug program yet. It's a plan that one of the province's top doctors says could be a partial solution to the province's opioid crisis. Tentatively scheduled to begin in March 2018, Vancouver will dispense hydromorphone-a synthetic opioid similar to heroin-in a way that, if all goes according to plan, will not require a doctor's visit and possibly not even a prescription for the powerful drug. [continues 729 words]
Feds have promised a deadline of July 1, 2018 The day marijuana advocates and enthusiasts have long been waiting for what will come in 2018 - recreational marijuana will be legalized on Canada Day. But with federal legislation comes a host of logistical and revenue issues for provinces and cities across the country. Vancouver may appear to have a head start, as the city established a licensing program for marijuana dispensaries in 2015, but it will need to follow provincial rules on the issue as well. [continues 348 words]
Making a safe opioid available in vending machines may be the next harm-reduction tool to fight the deadly overdose epidemic, says the executive medical director of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. Dr. Mark Tyndall said he envisions a regulated system where drug users would be assessed, registered and issued a card to use in vending machines to obtain hydromorphone, a painkiller commonly marketed under the brand name Dilaudid. "I'm hoping that it's kind of like supervised injection sites," he said of the program that could begin as early as next March. "At first it sounded a bit off the wall and now it's pretty well accepted." [continues 497 words]
New tools are helping - but more needs to be done December 2016 is seared into the memory of people who live or work with people from the Downtown Eastside, the epicentre of B.C.'s opioid overdose crisis. "People were going down in alleyways," Karen Ward remembers. "It was a year ago that nine people died in one weekend. "I remember the night when three people died in my building." "BC Ambulance had its busiest day in history, St. Paul's hospital was fully blocked up and we were seeing the highest rates of overdoses that we had seen in the emergency room and at Insite," Dr. Mark Lysyshyn recalls. [continues 605 words]
Marijuana could be a profitable addition to the crops grown in Central Saanich, but a proposal for a huge operation raises a recurring question about the way we use agricultural land. Why bury perfectly good, scarce agricultural land under greenhouses, which could be built just about anywhere? Shawn Galbraith proposes to build a 150,000-square foot, $25-million greenhouse on the Stanhope Dairy Farm, near the point where Lochside Drive turns into the Lochside Trail. He plans a five-to seven-year project with 21 greenhouses on 36 acres. [continues 525 words]
Dear editor: It was shocking to read that a parent and her nine-year-old child had to take on the drug-needle problem in our school grounds (Western News, Dec. 12). That secret Queen's Park shed should never have been secret in the first place. What with such a fuss being made about possible marijuana shops anywhere within sight of schools, how can discarded needles go on being all over the place, right at those schools? Wendy Hyer, school district superintendent, seems not to realize what her priorities should be, and therefore what we are paying her for. [continues 67 words]
Province releases first decisions on cannabis regulation after public engagement After receiving input from 48,951 British Columbians and submissions from 141 local and Indigenous governments and other interested stakeholders, the provincial government made some decisions on the anticipated legalization of non-medical cannabis in July 2018. On Dec. 5, the NDP government announced the following policy decisions: Minimum age The Province will set the minimum age to possess, purchase and consume cannabis at 19 years old. A minimum age of 19 is consistent with B.C.'s minimum age for alcohol and tobacco and with the age of majority in B.C. [continues 671 words]
Concerns still abound as cannabis legalization planned for this summer fast approaches A Squamish cannabis retailer thinks the province's recent announcement around the sale of marijuana is a step in the right direction but says there are still many unanswered questions. "I'm excited, but there is still not much that's changed since the announcement," says Bryan Raiser, owner of 99 North Dispensary. The federal government has said marijuana will be legalized by July 1 of next year but handed it over to the provinces to determine how to manage the details. [continues 602 words]
Nearly 7,000 life-saving naloxone kits have been used by harm reduction staff in B.C. so far this year and thousands more kits will be distributed by pharmacies to battle the effects of a contaminated drug supply. "That means you can get a kit at no charge if you use opioids or you are likely to witness an overdose," said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy. "Already, 1,900 kits have been distributed to over 200 pharmacies around the province." [continues 606 words]
Overdose Crisis: Thousands more kits to be distributed this year through pharmacies Nearly 7,000 life-saving naloxone kits have been used by harm reduction staff in B.C. so far this year and thousands more kits will be distributed by pharmacies to battle the effects of a contaminated drug supply. "That means you can get a kit at no charge if you use opioids or you are likely to witness an overdose," said Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy. "Already, 1,900 kits have been distributed to over 200 pharmacies around the province." [continues 609 words]
Life-saving drug now accessible after web tutorial People can now learn how to administer Naloxone, the antidote to opioid overdose, by watching a five-minute video online. St. Paul's emergency medical team led the project and launched the online tutorial this month to help more people access the life-saving drug. At the end of the tutorial, participants receive a certificate they can show at a nearby pharmacy, or any Naloxone dispensing site, to receive a free kit. Previously, people who wanted Naloxone would have to attend a training workshop before receiving a kit. [continues 189 words]
As a former Toronto police chief, Liberal MP Bill Blair said he understands how the federal government's legislation legalizing marijuana consumption for recreational use affects municipalities. Blair, Ottawa's point person on the pot file, was in the Tri-Cities this week, meeting with mayors and councillors, he said, to ensure cities have the tools and information ahead of the regulation changes coming next summer. "I recognize the important roles that mayors, councillors and local police officers have to make this thing work," he said in an interview Monday with The Tri-City News at Port Coquitlam city hall. "They have a big job to do here and we want to make sure they have the support they need that is required at the local level in order to make sure that this works in this community." [continues 345 words]
Complaints about marijuana dispensaries have increased each year since the City of Vancouver implemented a licensing regimen in 2015. But even after three years of consecutive growth, the number remains relatively small. In 2015, there were 30 complaints, according to data supplied by the city. Then 84 in 2016 and 112 in 2017 (up to December 6). For comparison's sake, so far in 2017 the city has received 348 complaints about other business categories (excluding illegal housing suites and short-term rentals like those on Airbnb). Meanwhile, this year there have been 5,529 complaints about potholes and 7,734 about streetlight outages. [continues 366 words]
Marijuana smokers in British Columbia might have to abide by the same public smoking rules as tobacco users when cannabis becomes legal, Premier John Horgan said Tuesday. Horgan said his government is still formulating its marijuana policy, but might follow the same provincial smoking laws and community-clean air bylaws that prohibit smoking near buildings or public spaces. "Cigarette smokers can no longer smoke in public places," Horgan said in an interview. "I think that may well be how we have to proceed with cannabis. We'll make a decision in the new year." [continues 290 words]
The B.C. government says revenue from legalized marijuana isn't going to create the financial windfall many expected once the province's thriving but illicit industry moves out of the shadows and is taxed like tobacco. On Tuesday, Finance Minister Carole James cautioned against expectations. "There will be revenue coming in after the first couple of years, but I don't see it as a big money-maker for British Columbia," James said at an editorial board meeting with The Vancouver Sun and The Province. [continues 444 words]
Re: Legalization of marijuana As the countdown continues to July, 2018 and the legalization of marijuana in Canada my concern for the future is not being addressed. A popular method of raising money today appears to be suing current governments for perceived past wrongs committed by previous governments. The door this opens, for the countless numbers that have been prosecuted for pot infractions over the years, to sue federal and provincial governments could bankrupt this nation. Would it be possible or practical to include some form of "notwithstanding" clause in the laws currently being written for enactment that would preclude this scenario? [continues 80 words]
More than 1,208 people have died from illicit drug overdoses in B.C. this year, the coroners service reported Monday. Victoria and Vancouver Island continue to be in the top townships and health areas for overdose deaths. The latest death toll in the overdose crisis includes statistics to the end of October 2017. November and December numbers will not be released until the new year. "These numbers show that this is still something on the rise," said Andy Watson of the B.C. Coroners Service. "We're cautiously optimistic [now] that we've seen two months with under 100 deaths, but November and December were the peaks of last year." [continues 431 words]
Marijuana is a social evil. Legalizing it will encourage naive people to use it. That, in turn, increases the number of potheads and the long list of problems they create. The government should hold a referendum on marijuana so people of sense can confirm the need for penalties. It isn't harmless. Regardless what the government does, don't be a dope. Don't use dope. John Cleghorn, Sechelt [end]
B.C.'s NDP government is right to get ahead of the curve and establish a framework for distributing and regulating recreational cannabis in advance of the federal government legalizing it next July. But the plan still has some shortcomings that should be addressed before we legally light up our sativa and enjoy what one vendor described as its spicy, earthy flavours. B.C. intends to make marijuana available at public and private retail outlets, supplied exclusively by the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch. The government has determined that people age 19 and over will be allowed to buy it. [continues 341 words]
A funeral home in Aldergrove decided they needed to do something after seeing so many heartbroken families lose loved ones to a drug overdose. The funeral directors have put together an awareness and prevention campaign that does aim to shock people about how deadly drugs are. In an unusual move, the BC Coroner's Office has come out against Alternative Funeral and Cremation Service's awareness campaign, saying scare tactics don't work, they only further stigmatize drug users. While it's true the D.A.R.E. program and Just Say No hasn't been successful in deterring youth from trying hard drugs, it likely did impact a few kids here and there. And at this point in this fentanyl epidemic - reaching anyone is better than doing nothing. It isn't costing taxpayers anything. [continues 180 words]
Coming soon marijuana, a magical weed that feeds and gives the brain a high, Say goodbye, to yesterday's fix in the coffee shop, a journey awaits that can put you over the top. Grow your own weed a thing called pot. Roll a joint, you'll like it a lot. Let's light up the world and create more smoke, then pray that Mother Nature doesn't choke. Booze and guns were given a shot but failed to get it done, where smoke from pot may block light from a blazing sun. [continues 72 words]
Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said more information should come in the spring Though the Province of B.C. has unveiled part of their distribution model for legal cannabis, Penticton Mayor Andrew Jakubeit said more information is needed before city hall can start generating ideas about how to deal with the changes. "In spring, we will start going out to get information to better gauge, with the community and stakeholders, to help determine how many do we want, how many is enough and what should we be putting in our own regulations to deal with the zoning and placement of dispensaries when they become legalized later in the year," said Jakubeit. "We need to, in early spring, start addressing it and by that time the province should be unveiling more information to help us formulate a plan." [continues 201 words]
Legal doesn't mean light up whenever you want Ever since, and probably long before, the federal Liberals started the process to legalize marijuana, some people have been equating legalization with deregulation. That was never in the cards. Saying 'But it's legal now, mannnnnnn,' after blowing smoke in a cop's face isn't going to carry much weight as he confiscates your joint or outfits you with a pair of pretty silver bracelets. The announcement this week that B.C.'s Liquor Distribution branch will have responsibility for distribution of non-medical marijuana shouldn't have come as a surprise, though it seems it did for many. [continues 219 words]
Like all parents, Nadine Remington wants to know her nine-year-old son is safe while on school property. But, the increasing problem of drug use on school property after hours is heightening fears for her and other parents. Earlier this week, Remington was told by her son who is in Grade 4 at Queen's Park School that people were living in a shed on the school's property and that he had seen a needle and matches nearby. After a similar experience of the boy finding drug paraphernalia at KVR Middle School while at camp this summer, she took his claims seriously and headed out to the school to see it herself. Remington and her husband didn't find anyone in the shed, but there was evidence suggesting someone was living in it recently and a needle on the ground at the door. [continues 618 words]
Ever since, and probably long before, the federal Liberals started the process to legalize marijuana, some people have been equating legalization with deregulation. That was never in the cards. Saying 'But it's legal now, mannnnnnn,' after blowing smoke in a cop's face just isn't going to carry much weight with him as he confiscates your joint or outfits you with a pair of pretty silver bracelets. The announcement this week that B.C.'s Liquor Distribution branch will have responsibility for distribution of non-medical marijuana shouldn't have come as a surprise, though it seems it did for many. [continues 216 words]
One thing the government's round of cannabis consultation discovered is how firmly established the underground marijuana business is in B.C. The legalization of marijuana next July across Canada is going to be a dramatic change. But judging by the interest groups that made submissions on how to go about it, it's a relatively short hop in B.C. from the current situation to the historic new regime. They're already organized, up-front and pretty open about what's going on. [continues 631 words]
The B.C. NDP government tipped its hand Tuesday on how it plans to regulate the legal sale of marijuana. Besides setting the age at 19 to buy, possess and consume pot, similar to alcohol and tobacco, the province said the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch will be the sole supplier, distributing pot to private and public stores in the same manner it already does with booze. The government didn't address exactly who will sell pot but it looks like the NDP will take a different tact from the model already laid out in Ontario, where legal pot will only be available in about 150 stores, all operated by that province's liquor control board. [continues 604 words]
The picture of legal marijuana in B.C. got a little clearer this week, as the provincial government released some of its planned regulations. While some decisions have yet to be made - or made public - three important ones are in place: minimum age, wholesale distribution and retail policy. The government has wisely set the minimum age for cannabis at 19. That's the same as for alcohol and tobacco, and matches the age of majority in B.C. Having different ages for different vices would confuse everyone, and regulators have to keep in mind the studies that say cannabis has a harmful effect on the developing brains of teenagers. [continues 405 words]
New government rules set 19 as minimum age to buy marijuana The provincial government announced Tuesday that the BC Liquor Distribution Branch will be the wholesale distributor of non-medical cannabis once the federal government legalizes marijuana in July 2018. The policy move by the government is in addition to new rules that state buyers and consumers of recreational marijuana must be at least 19 years old, which is consistent with current laws related to alcohol and tobacco. Mike Farnworth, the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, spoke to reporters in a conference call but would not say specifically where consumers will be able to legally buy marijuana under the new rules. [continues 542 words]
On July 1, 2018, marijuana is going to be legalized in Canada. However, there is no need to fear. In fact, Canadians should feel more at ease as July 1 approaches. Legalization means many things for Canadians. Once a substance is legalized, it directly and aggressively hemorrhages revenue from the black market. When criminal organizations lose money, they lose power. When they lose power, they lose their ability to negatively affect society. This will be akin to what occurred when prohibition ceased in the United States. All these criminal organizations lost their power and wealth once alcohol was relegalized. Legalization, in turn, made society at large safer and more hospitable. [continues 105 words]
Liquor branch will be sole distributor, retail system to be unveiled British Columbians will have to be at least 19 years of age to buy and use marijuanaonce the federal government legalizes recreational pot in the summer. B.C. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth announced the minimum age limit Tuesday in releasing a series of policy decisions on the regulation of non-medicinal marijuana. He said the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch will be the wholesale distributor of marijuana in the province. [continues 726 words]
There was a captivating point made during the consultations on how recreational marijuana should be retailed in B.C. once it's legal next July. The B.C. Government Employees Union and an association of private liquor stores are both keenly interested in shunting all those dispensaries off to the sidelines and snagging monopoly rights to sell marijuana. The union wants the jobs, and the association wants the business. They made their pitch to government under the banner of the "Responsible Marijuana Retail Alliance of B.C." [continues 659 words]
Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Mike Morris said the provincial government has made a good first step on regulating recreational marijuana use, but the issue is complex and a lot of work remains to be done. On Tuesday, the NDP government unveiled plans which will set the minimum age for marijuana use at 19, see recreational marijuana distributed through the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch and pledged to develop a retail model with both public and private sellers (see related story). "I'm glad to see they've arranged for a point for the distribution," Morris said. "There needs to be strict controls who whoever grows it. They need to control the quality... and the THC content of the drug. Public health is one of the big concerns we had." [continues 636 words]
Plans unveiled: Province announces legal age for buying recreational marijuana to be set at 19 Recreational marijuana will be available for sale at private and public retail outlets to people age 19 and older once the drug becomes legal next year, said the B.C. government. With legalization looming in July 2018, Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth unveiled details Tuesday on how B.C. plans to deal with the distribution and sale of non-medical pot - a move that would require amending or introducing 18 bills in the legislature. [continues 503 words]
B.C. decides marijuana will be sold in both gov't and privately owned outlets The B.C. government's decision that the private sector can have a role in the sale of marijuana next year comes as expected but still welcome news to Rob Lindsay. Lindsay, spokesman for one of the existing Kelowna pot shops, said he was "thrilled" with Victoria's announcement Tuesday that the retailing of marijuana will be accomplished through a mix of government-controlled and privately owned outlets. [continues 552 words]
British Columbia will introduce a system of public and private retailers to sell recreational cannabis and set a minimum age of 19 to buy and use the drug when it is legal next year. Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth released the NDP government's preliminary vision for legal cannabis on Tuesday after a consultation process that received nearly 50,000 submissions and sought input from First Nations and local governments. However, the precise details of how those public and private sales will be regulated won't be released until the end of next month, and Mr. Farnworth said the province is still determining whether the hundreds of people currently selling cannabis illegally through dispensaries will be allowed to enter the new market. [continues 400 words]
Legal age set at 19, but no word on pot being sold in liquor stores, pharmacies Recreational marijuana will be available for sale at private and public retail outlets to people age 19 and older once the drug becomes legal next year, said the B.C. government. With legalization looming in July 2018, solicitor general Mike Farnworth unveiled details Tuesday on how B.C. plans to deal with the distribution and sale of non-medical pot - a move that would require amending or introducing 18 bills in the legislature. [continues 760 words]
The fentanyl epidemic is a social crisis, not a medical one according to Dr. Mark Tyndall, who spoke last week at an event organized by Nelson's Fentanyl Task Force. Tyndall is a provincial expert on the opioid overdose crisis who brings a background in the study of disease in controlled populations to his work crafting policy for the provincial government at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. Speaking to about 100 local residents at the Prestige Lakeside Resort last Thursday, he argued that the opioid overdose epidemic has been amplified by the way in which drug policy has been enforced across the province. [continues 421 words]
Council also, planning public consultation on new cannabis rules Nelson council will place a moratorium on the opening of recreational cannabis retail businesses in Nelson until July 2018. At its Monday meeting, council made this commitment in anticipation of as-yet-unknown provincial and federal rules about recreational marijuana cultivation and sales. Council also decided to set up a process in January and February to ask the public what it thinks about recreational cannabis businesses in Nelson. "Do you want recreational cannabis dispensaries, where might they be, how many, what should the bylaws include in terms of consumption? And we want to hear from a broad spectrum of the community," Mayor Deb Kozak said. [continues 563 words]
The B.C. government stepped up its fight against the growing number of drug overdose deaths Friday with the launch of a new emergency response centre that will link to regional and community action teams on Vancouver Island and elsewhere. The emergency centre will have about 10 full- and part-time staff based at Vancouver General Hospital and backed by a team of experts. The centre will analyze data, spot trends and work with new regional teams at Island Health and the other four health authorities to improve front-line services. [continues 632 words]
Lessons are still being digested after a lethal batch of opioids in October put emergency workers to the test The first warning came mid-afternoon on a Thursday in late October, from a client at a downtown Victoria HIV/AIDS and harm-reduction facility. It was the day after "cheque day," when social-assistance payments are issued in B.C. - a period linked to an increase in overdoses and other related harms. But even with that factored in, front-line workers were getting the sense that things were worse than usual. [continues 1201 words]
Motacan Compassion Society is exempt from business licence requirement, operator argues A medical marijuana dispensary is suing the City of Abbotsford in an effort to remain open and avoid paying thousands of dollars in tickets. Motacan Compassion Society, which operates a storefront location in an alley off Montrose Avenue in downtown Abbotsford, says it is exempt from bylaws requiring a business licence due to its not-for-profit society status. In a petition filed last week in B.C. Supreme Court, "principal operator" David Smith claims Motacan is a registered society that provides "reasonable access to medical cannabis to members of the society on a highly subsidized basis." [continues 266 words]
West Kelowna is the latest B.C. city to petition the court to stop cannabis dispensaries from doing business. The city is alleging that the Black Crow Herbals Association, Okanagan Cannabis Solutions Society, Selina Lau, Ralph Krehbiel and Matthew Nicholas are operating without business licenses and it is petitioning the court for an order to stop them from continuing to do so. In the petition to the court, it says once the order is issued, the RCMP would be given the ability to arrest and remove any person who is contravening any provision of this order within the properties listed. [continues 198 words]
The Liberal government has released its draft legislation for Bill C-45, known in shorthand as the 'Cannabis Act' for legalizing marijuana. And according to Kootenay Outdoor Producers Cooperative co-founder Todd Veri, it's better than just good news for small producers - it's everything they'd hoped for. "Our big concern was that they wouldn't allow outdoor growing or that they'd make life impossible for the co-operative model," says Veri. "Based on the report the government put together last year, we believed the government was going to go in the right direction but might need a nudge from us. It seems they took into account our documentation - we had five or six points we wanted to address and they addressed them all in the draft legislation." [continues 670 words]
Reading the CBC News report, 'Associations call for ban on homegrown weed in BC once it becomes legal,' I have to question the judgment of the Doctors of BC, who default to pharmaceutical drugs quite unquestioningly, yet challenge more natural modes of treatment such as cannabis and homeopathy. Cannabis cannot be tied to a single death or overdose. Meanwhile we are experiencing an opioid crisis. The CDC noted in one report that: "Among the more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids) with over 20,000 overdose deaths." According to news website Vox, "More Americans died of drug overdoses in 2016 than died in the entirety of the Vietnam War - the result of the US's opioid epidemic." [continues 355 words]
Vancouver comic Mark Hughes interviews fentanyl dealer as part of recently launched podcast Death has been a constant in Kyle's life for 25 years. It's a narrative that goes hand in hand with his lifestyle, and shows no signs of abating. Kyle - not his real name - is a fentanyl dealer. He says he's killed people with his own hands, and by extension, through his line of work. Kyle spoke to Vancouver comedian Mark Hughes as part of Hughes' recently-launched podcast called Pulling the Trigger. The Courier attempted to speak with Kyle, but he declined on more than one occasion. [continues 806 words]
Some cities want to prohibit all recreational marijuana sales; others have already started licensing dispensaries Ottawa's Cannabis Act, Bill C-45, passed third reading in the House of Commons on November 27, little more than seven months before the federal government's July 1, 2018, target date for legalizing recreational marijuana. The bill must be approved by the Senate and achieve Royal Assent but the writing is on the wall that legalization is on the way. The B.C. government has yet to reveal how it plans to regulate retail sales for non-medicinal marijuana. [continues 1445 words]
Packed event featured seven speakers, plenty of questions The fentanyl death toll is rising in B.C., but so is local interest in finding solutions to the crisis. A packed room at the Hume Hotel heard stories and statistics Wednesday evening from a seven-person panel at an event called Growing Hope: A Community Conversation on the Current Fentanyl Crisis, which was put on by Nelson's Fentanyl Task Force. Cheryl Dowden, executive director of ANKORS, co-hosted the evening with Nelson Police Department chief Paul Burkart. The event had been planned to run two hours, but ended up stretching to three as the audience peppered speakers with questions. [continues 600 words]
It's late afternoon and you receive a text message: "Friends coming for dinner. Please pick up wine." You pull into the neighbourhood liquor store, pick up a bottle of your favourite wine and head home. A familiar scene taking place across the province every day. When you go into your local liquor store, you have confidence knowing you're buying a quality product in a secure environment, with stores conveniently located in every community across the province. B.C.'s public and private liquor stores have a proven track record over many decades, selling controlled alcohol products to adults in a responsible manner, with more than a 90 per cent compliance rate in restricting sales to minors. [continues 517 words]
A proven system is already in place, Stephanie Smith and Damian Kettlewell write. It's late afternoon and you receive a text message: "Please pick up wine." You pull into the neighbourhood liquor store, pick up a bottle and head home. A familiar scene taking place across the province every day. When you go into your local liquor store, you know you are buying a quality product in a secure environment, with stores conveniently located across the province. B.C.'s public and private liquor stores have a proven track record selling controlled alcohol products to adults in a responsible manner, with more than a 90 per cent compliance rate in restricting sales to minors. [continues 535 words]
A man has been acquitted after evidence that he had checked in a suitcase containing a large quantity of drugs at Vancouver International Airport was thrown out of court. David Edward Herman checked in two pieces of luggage when he arrived at the airport for a flight to Toronto on March 17, 2013. One of the suitcases passed through security without any incident and was loaded onto the plane but screening of the second suitcase indicated the possible existence of explosives. [continues 220 words]
North Shore residents should be able to buy marijuana in either private or government-run outlets, similar to liquor stores, but there should be strict regulations banning youth under 19 from accessing weed and roadside suspensions for drivers impaired by pot. Local municipalities also want a cut of marijuana revenues to help with enforcement of the rules and a say about where pot shops are set up. Those are some of the messages put forward by all three North Shore municipalities in response to a provincial call for submissions as B.C. considers how legal marijuana will be sold and regulated next year. Those responses received are now posted online by the province. [continues 310 words]
The District of North Vancouver is going to fight another pot shop in the courts. The municipality filed court documents Nov. 15 in B.C. Supreme Court, asking for an order that the owners of Medicinal Mary Jane Iprio Inc. operating at 1488 Pemberton Ave. stop selling marijuana and marijuana products, in contravention of local bylaws. The court documents also ask for an order authorizing police to arrest anyone who contravenes a judge's order in the case. Six people - residents of Vancouver, New Westminster and Richmond who are directors of the company, are named in the lawsuit, along with Orient Holdings Ltd, which owns the property where the marijuana retail shop operates. Legal documents also name the Medicinal Mary-Jane Canada Society and three people who are directors of the society, including Aaron Sinnathamby of Burnaby who is also a director of Medicinal Mary Jane Iprio Inc. [continues 450 words]
A man has been acquitted after evidence that he had checked in a suitcase containing a large quantity of drugs at Vancouver International Airport was thrown out of court. David Edward Herman checked in two pieces of luggage when he arrived at the airport for a flight to Toronto on March 17, 2013. One of the suitcases passed through security without incident and was loaded onto the plane, but a screening of the second suggested it might contain explosives. When the suitcase was examined by security officers, they discovered drugs later determined to be marijuana and hashish. [continues 429 words]
Re: "Smoking pot hard on health." The reason that "disparate points of view on the whole issue" exist is simply because those in the prohibitionist camp seem to be highly selective about what they choose to acknowledge as fact. Tobacco use provides the No. 1 source of preventable deaths in Canada and no one in the span of recorded history has ever died just from smoking cannabis. At the same time, studies that indicate that the use of cannabis slows or even stops the growth of tumors are completely ignored. [continues 189 words]
B.C. cannabis company has wait-list of 1,500 orders, but some experts warn such illegal seasonal novelties pose potential health risks A Vancouver cannabis company is scrambling to keep up with a flood of orders for marijuana-filled Advent calendars, but the novel take on a popular Christmas tradition has some health experts ringing alarm bells. Lorilee Fedler of Coast to Coast Medicinals said she's been overwhelmed by the response since launching the holiday calendars earlier this month. [continues 578 words]
A Vancouver cannabis company is scrambling to keep up with a flood of orders for marijuana-filled advent calendars, but the novel take on a popular Christmas tradition has some health experts ringing alarm bells. Lorilee Fedler of Coast to Coast Medicinals said she's been overwhelmed by the response since launching the holiday calendars earlier this month. "We just wanted something fun and different for adults," Fedler said, adding that she came up with the idea after seeing versions containing beer. [continues 289 words]
On a flight home last week, I was having a conversation about the introduction of Bill C-45 or the "Cannabis Act." The person I was talking to is working with local governments to sort out the multitude of bylaws and regulations which will be necessitated by the legislation. Different municipalities are taking varying approaches and have disparate points of view on the whole issue. After all, not everyone is in favour of legalizing marijuana nor sure what exactly that means. [continues 719 words]
The ramifications of legalized marijuana keep popping up, as governments try to prepare for the new reality that is rapidly approaching. Municipalities are at the sharp end of the issue. As so often happens, they will have the bulk of the responsibility, while having the least power and the fewest resources. Victoria city council has offered a list of suggestions to the provincial government, as the province tries to answer its own slice of the many questions about the production, sale and use of marijuana. The city's list gives a taste of the many possibilities that policymakers have to foresee. [continues 507 words]
West Kelowna floods shops with fines, while Kelowna takes them to court The City of West Kelowna has issued $60,000 in fines to the operators of pot shops since Nov. 1, but none of the tickets has been paid. Bylaw officers regularly visit the five stores that sell marijuana, handing out $1,000 tickets each time for not having a business licence, city spokesperson Kirsten Jones says. But the City of Kelowna has opted for a different approach in trying to force the closure of five pot shops operating without a business licence in that municipality. [continues 567 words]
Having worked as a police officer for many years, I have to admit, it requires a shift in thinking to look at marijuana as a legal substance. Countless policing hours were dedicated to keeping it out of our homes, schools and communities, but the future will be different. Since the federal government announcement earlier this year, the law enforcement community began work to determine what public safety issues might arise with the availability of legal marijuana. Much of the public discourse was simple: legalize it, regulate it, tax it and use the revenues for everything, from health care to education spending. Unfortunately, it is not that simple from a public safety perspective, and the Delta police, along with our policing partners have done a great deal of work to identify and address key issues. [continues 302 words]
Best-selling author Johann Hari weighs in on B.C. housing and opioid crises Graeme Wood / Richmond News Adequate, affordable housing - not a misguided, unscientific and subjective approach to drug criminalization - is the cornerstone of preventing and overcoming drug addiction. That's the message British author and drug war critic Johann Hari brought to Richmond Monday at a conference hosted by Housing Central (BC Non-profit Housing Association, Co-op Housing Federation of BC, Aboriginal Housing Management Association and the Pacific Housing Research Network.) [continues 529 words]
Richmond residents petition Tory leader The Richmond-based Marijuana Legalization Concern Group, led by Coun. Chak Au, has taken its fight one step further by presenting an opposition letter and petition to Andrew Scheer, leader of the Conservative Party. Two of the group members, Jonathan Ho, who is also a Richmond school trustee, and Zenbia Chan, along with more than 10 supporters, handed their opposition letter and petition - which had more than 9,000 signatures - to Scheer last Wednesday night in White Rock. [continues 322 words]
Dear Editor, Re: "Trustee: Stop sending our youth mixed pot messages," Letters, Nov. 17. When are the reefer madness people going to let it go? For three generations, marijuana prohibition has been tried and is a complete failure. Some members of society should not have the power to impose their own moral code on adults when no harm is being done to others. Some of us are against alcohol and/or gambling, yet people are free to make their own choices. This is true despite the health dangers of booze and the chance that gambling can ruin lives financially. [continues 207 words]
Dear Editor, Re: "School trustee needs history lesson," Letters, Nov. 17. I fully support Mayor Brodie and councillors plus trustees Ho and Hamaguchi and other like-minded persons with their pot legalization concerns. May I suggest pot proponents substitute ingesting tablets identified as DDD as an alternative to all available recreational drugs. The history of failed reliance on education to avoid the use of recreational drugs and abuse of prescription drugs has been demonstrated by the overdose death tragedy. Surely, serious and meaningful consequences must be applied in addition to education. Why do we assess financial consequences for illegal parking, speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, etc., while ignoring this available significant deterrence and financial resource asset? [continues 110 words]
Dear Editor, Re: "School trustee needs history lesson," Letters, Nov. 17. I'd like to thank Brad Kilburn for bringing up that key fact from anti-cannabis history. The USA criminalized marijuana originally to keep the prohibition bureaucracy and police budgets going. Canada, however, did it mainly as an attack on the Chinese in our West Coast port city of Vancouver. Legalization, with basic regulation, including age limits and laws against black market production and sales, is coming. That's a given. [continues 79 words]
To the editor, Re: Providing drugs would curb crime, Letters, Nov. 9. The question is not when our government will decriminalize personal possession and provide a safe clean drug source, like we do for alcohol and soon to be marijuana, but how many more families will be devastated with the loss of a loved one before a government is brave enough to value lives over votes. In Portugal, possession is not a criminal offence if you have a 10-day personal supply in your possession. By decriminalizing personal possession, we can then start to rid the negative stigma that is associated with addiction. [continues 208 words]
There are many absurdities in Victoria city council's pot-regulation proposals: Second-hand smoke, whether it is from tobacco or pot, affects everyone in the vicinity. When you add pot's psychoactive components into the mix, non-users get all the unhealthy tar and lung contaminant and they also get stoned. Not everyone has a pleasant reaction to cannabis. While I can decline a drink if it is offered, I can't decline the effect of pot smoke in my air, whether it's from a pot lounge or seeping through the ventilation system of a building. [continues 129 words]
It's late afternoon and you receive a text message: 'Friends coming for dinner. Please pick up wine.' You pull into the neighbourhood liquor store, pick up a bottle of your favourite wine and head home. A familiar scene taking place across the province every day. When you go into your local liquor store, you have confidence knowing that you're buying a quality product in a secure environment, with stores conveniently located in every community across the province. B.C.'s public and private liquor stores have a proven track record over many decades, selling controlled alcohol products to adults in a responsible manner, with more than a 90 per cent compliance rate in restricting sales to minors. [continues 533 words]
Drug reliance stems from lack of social bonds, trauma: Expert To Janice Abbott, the link between housing and addiction is a direct line. "One of the things that happens when women don't have housing is that women use (drugs) to stay safe," the CEO of Atira Women's Resource Society told attendees at the Housing Central Conference in Richmond on Monday. "Young women on the streets use speed, any upper, to be able to stay awake so they can keep themselves safe from all the predation that's on the streets." [continues 461 words]
Dear editor: On Oct. 19, I was saddened and outraged while viewing Global Okanagan's interview with West Kelowna city councillor, Rusty Ensign, regarding the pulling of business licences of the city's medical cannabis dispensaries. Last week, I attended one of West Kelowna's cannabis dispensaries to purchase some edible products which help to control my pain and allow me to get some quality sleep, and, contrary to Ensign's claims that such stores service 20-30-year-old males, there were none in the shop, only three other ladies, of which only one was under the age of 65. [continues 210 words]
B.C. lobbying to preserve producers' licences as hectic spring looms While the New Democrats prepare to do their share on marijuana legalization, they are also lobbying Ottawa to preserve the province's position as one of the leading producers of what has been called B.C.'s largest cash crop. "The reality is this," said solicitor general Mike Farnworth, lead minister on the file for B.C. "We have had in this province an industry that's been in place for a very long time. Some of it underpins the economy, for example, no surprise, in the Kootenays, certain parts of Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the coast." [continues 837 words]
Doctors of B.C. is asking the provincial government to consider banning individuals from growing recreational pot at home when it becomes legal in July. The group was one of more than 130 stakeholders offering feedback to the B.C. government as part of its consultation on cannabis regulation and distribution. The variety of submissions reflects the complex decisions government faces. Doctors of B.C. provided a list of "considerations" since there isn't enough evidence to make a strong recommendation, said president-elect Dr. Eric Cadesky. [continues 473 words]
Doctors of B.C. is asking the provincial government to consider banning individuals from growing recreational pot at home when it becomes legal in July. The group was one of more than 130 stakeholders offering feedback to the B.C. government as part of its consultation on cannabis regulation and distribution. The variety of submissions points to the complex decisions government faces. Doctors of B.C. provided a list of "considerations" since there isn't enough evidence to make a strong recommendation, said president-elect Dr. Eric Cadesky. "There isn't a consensus amongst doctors. The feedback we got contained many different points of view." [continues 246 words]
Regularly imposed bail condition is an untenable method of punishment and sets up marginalized people for failure Imagine you have a serious medical condition requiring regular care. You are charged with a minor offence, for which you are innocent until proved guilty, and your first step into the justice system is to stand before a judge who will determine whether you will be released on bail. The judge says you are free to go, but as a condition of release you are not to be within the 10 square-block area that constitutes the downtown - even though your doctor, your pharmacy and your social supports such as friends and family are all within that area. You have been "red zoned" from your community. [continues 835 words]
Another day, another Trudeau Liberal lie That fury you hear? The betrayal medical cannabis patients and activists feel after the federal government went back on yet another promise surrounding legal marijuana. Last Friday, the Department of Finance announced a federal tax proposal that could see an excise charge of $1/gram or 10% (whichever is higher) on both recreational and medical cannabis. According to Ottawa, the revenues will be shared equally between the feds, provinces and territories. So what are they smoking? The shady government is apparently 'concerned' users will lie to their doctors, pretend to be sick and navigate the complex workings of the medical cannabis system in order to save the extra 10% tax that would be reserved for recreational pot. [continues 482 words]
Doctors of B.C. is asking the provincial government to consider banning individuals from growing recreational pot at home when it becomes legal in July. The group was one of more than 130 stakeholders offering feedback to the B.C. government as part of its consultation on cannabis regulation and distribution. The variety of submissions points to the complex decisions government faces. Doctors of B.C. provided a list of "considerations" since there isn't enough evidence to make strong a recommendation, said president-elect Dr. Eric Cadesky. "There isn't a consensus amongst doctors. The feedback we got contained many different points of view." [continues 457 words]
Staff at Revelstoke Secondary School now have a new tool to keep students safe. The high school received two Naloxone kits at the end of September. Naloxone is used to counteract the effects of an opioid overdose. With a focus on student safety and well-being, principal Greg Kenyon said that getting the kits was an obvious decision, despite the school being low-risk for drug overdoses. "It's just another thing we do and have," said Kenyon. "It's like we're trained for responding to anaphylaxis and we're trained now to respond to Naloxone and administering that." [continues 635 words]
Pot entrepreneurs should be encouraged, says Paul Clark. Entrepreneurial ism and innovation are key ingredients to Canada's domestic economy and its international competitiveness. For example, France has a vibrant wine industry, Cuba is recognized for its cigars, China has a strong manufacturing role, and Italy and France have their fashion brands. To this end, the Government of Canada invests a considerable amount of money and effort into sparking and supporting entrepreneurial activities. For example, government-funded Entrepreneurial Incubators exist across the country, loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses are widely promoted, and other agencies such as Community Futures support entrepreneurial activity. [continues 568 words]
The fentanyl crisis in B.C. continues to worsen. In the past five years, the province has gone from 12 fentanyl-related deaths to 823 between between January and August this year. There have been no fentanyl-related deaths reported in Revelstoke, but RCMP still believe that the powerful opioid has made its way into the community. With the number of fatalities in the province climbing, it makes sense that community institutions would arm themselves with a resource to combat opioid overdoses. [continues 229 words]
Editor: The question is not when our government will decriminalize personal possession and provide a safe clean drug source, like we do for alcohol and soon to be marijuana, but how many more families will be devastated with the loss of a loved one before a government is brave enough to value lives over votes. In Portugal, possession is not a criminal offence if you have a 10 day personal supply in your possession. If it is more than that then it's treated as trafficking. By decriminalizing personal possession, we can then start to rid the negative stigma that is associated with addiction. [continues 210 words]
Being illegal - for now - makes it hard to pin down just how big the market for marijuana is, but one estimate suggests it's at least as large as hard liquor sales, about $5 billion annually. The report, from financial services firm Deloitte, estimates the market for legalized recreational marijuana could give Canada's economy a $22.6 billion annual boost when you include growers, equipment suppliers and the like. With that much of an economic boost at stake, it's a little hard to understand the fear-mongering coming from many levels of society as the date for the promised legalization approaches. [continues 234 words]
The Vernon School District is taking a proactive approach to battling the opioid crisis. Rather than waiting for drug problems to develop, school counsellors, backed by the district, are tackling potential problems before they materialize through a new program. Preventure, a school-based preventative drug and alcohol program, aims to reduce drug and alcohol use in high-risk teenagers. "The starting point is prevention, then intervention," said Doug Rogers, district substance abuse prevention counsellor. The Canadian-developed program screens Grade 8 students for four personality traits that are considered at risk: sensation-seeking, impulsiveness, anxiety sensitivity and hopelessness, as research indicates that up to 90 per cent of at risk youth can be identified from these traits. [continues 595 words]
A quarter-century ago, Abbotsford had its moment of clarity with respect to drugs and gangs. After repeated denials by the city's municipal police department that gangs were active in the Fraser Valley city, the truth was laid bare when 18-year-old Kirby Martin was shot and killed in a parking lot of a mall along the city's main strip, South Fraser Way. His death was followed by acknowledgment from police that gangs were indeed part of life in the city and many community forums followed. [continues 598 words]
The event will feature stories from the front lines Nelson's Fentanyl Task Force is set to host Growing Hope: A Community Conversation on the Current Fentanyl Crisis at Nelson's Hume Hotel on Nov. 22. The discussion will feature health care professionals, emergency responders, educators and community leaders across the West Kootenay. "What will have the biggest effect on death is reducing stigma for people who are using drugs," says Chloe Sage, an educator at Nelson's ANKORS who will be part of a seven-person panel of speakers at the event. "One of the goals of these panels is to be able to talk about all the issues that involve people who use drugs and people who are at risk of dying from fentanyl overdose. When we start lowering the stigma and people can talk about what they are going through, then we will have less deaths because people will be able to seek the help they need." [continues 1291 words]
The province should develop a licensing regime to allow for designated cannabis-consumption lounges when marijuana becomes legal next year, say Victoria councillors. "We're seeing a need for it in our community right now, as there are lounges that are operating illegally based on our regulations and current laws," said Coun. Jeremy Loveday. The recommendation will be part of a suite of suggestions the city will forward to the province for consideration as it crafts regulations governing the production, sale and use of marijuana, which the federal government plans to make legal by next summer. [continues 497 words]
The guidelines are strict but it won't matter According to new marijuana marketing guidelines released Wednesday by The Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Branding after working with Advertising Standards Canada, companies marketing marijuana will not be able to use animals to sell pot nor will be they be able to promote the use of cannabis itself ( just brand preference) and they will be required to advertise in places where over 70 per cent of the audience is adult (or above the age of majority in the particular province). [continues 380 words]
Five of the six marijuana dispensaries located in West Kelowna are defying the city's order to shut down. And, as a result, they are each facing hefty fines that, if left unpaid, could result in court action. A week after the deadline the city gave the dispensaries to wrap up their operations in West Kelowna, only one has complied. So the city has started fining the dispensaries $1,000 a day each for contravening city bylaws. According to the city, West Kelowna bylaw officers visited the six dispensaries Nov. 1 and only one said it has stopped dispensing marijuana. [continues 269 words]
5 West Kelowna stores rack up daily fines as they continue to sell marijuana despite loss of their business licences No business licence, no problem. That seems to be the defiant attitude of five West Kelowna pot shops, which continue to sell marijuana despite orders from the city to shut down. "We are open for business as we speak," Selina Lau of Black Crow Herbal Solutions said Monday. The operators of each store are being fined $1,000 a day for not having a business licence. The fines began Nov. 1 and will continue indefinitely, the City of West Kelowna says. [continues 370 words]
Dear editor: Congratulations Mr. Miller, on your promotion. Re: Your Editorial of Nov. 1, 2017. The move on the part of our national government to "legalize" the recreational use of marijuana without putting in place a nation-wide format of what their "legalization" really means is utterly disgraceful. Their offloading this responsibility to each provincial jurisdiction to rush together a set of laws and regulations by next summer is truly unacceptable behaviour. Once again we will have a situation of utter confusion with what is legal or permissible from one local town or city to the next. Such poor performance, to fulfill one campaign promise, at the cost of creating so many new problems across our country. Tom Crawford, Penticton [end]
Group against drunk driving says injuries, deaths due to driving high likely to increase after pot use is legalized in Canada next summer Crashes caused by drivers high on pot are likely to spike after the drug is legalized next summer, MADD Canada says. American states that have already approved the use of marijuana have seen sharp increases in fatal accidents in which a driver was impaired by the drug, MADD's western region manager for chapter services said Sunday. "That's certainly been the experience in Washington state and Colorado, and we will probably see an increase in deaths and injuries related to cannabis use here after it's legalized next July," Tracy Crawford said after a MADD-hosted candlelight vigil for victims of impaired driving. [continues 349 words]
Province widens availability of device for detecting the presence of fentanyl; medical health officer says lives will be saved British Columbia has expanded a program allowing people to check their street drugs for fentanyl before using, becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to facilitate the experimental testing on a wide scale. Health officials have also purchased a device that detects both the presence and quantities of deadly adulterants and can provide a more detailed analysis of not just fentanyl, but other chemically similar drugs being cut into the local supply. [continues 684 words]
Conditions can push people to commit crimes: Study Releasing people on bail on the condition they do not go to the Downtown Eastside sets them up for failure, according to research from three Canadian universities. Judges often order people on bail to avoid certain "no-go zones" or "red zones" in an effort to prevent them from committing crimes. But it, in fact, does the exact opposite, says SFU geography professor Nicholas Blomley. "These are people who have yet to be found guilty of an offence," he said. [continues 391 words]
When Lisa was released on bail, following an arrest for possession for the purpose of trafficking, British Columbia's Provincial Court ordered the Downtown Eastside resident to stay away from the busy hub of Hastings Street. But she says that condition, that she stay away from the street where she was arrested, made little sense. "My bank was there, my home was there, my probation was there, my doctor was there, like come on guys! All of Hastings Street? Hello! My whole life is there! They're going to arrest you every time you want to go home?" [continues 535 words]
Legalizing marijuana will dramatically increase the workload for police forces across the country, says Victoria Police Chief Del Manak. "The Cannabis Act will legalize cannabis, and I can assure you that the work for the police department and every police agency across this country is going to exponentially increase," Manak told city councillors during a budget workshop on Tuesday. Efforts to keep drugs out of the hands of organized crime and youth and to deal with drivers who are impaired by cannabis "will not happen overnight," Manak said. [continues 474 words]
Here in Vancouver, it's tempting to praise ourselves for our forward-thinking approaches to illicit drug use. We're home to Insite, the first supervised-injection facility in North America, the success of which paved the way for Health Canada to start approving prospective supervised-injection sites in other cities across the country this year. We're also home to the first and only prescription heroin program on the continent, which has proven how life-changing it can be for a person entrenched in opiate addiction to have access to a clean, regulated supply of drugs. [continues 970 words]
Most Canadians are in favour of legalizing marijuana and for many different reasons. Little Kyla Williams in Summerland became a poster child across North America for the benefits of medical cannabis. Recreational users affirm that pot is less harmful than alcohol. (Most cops agree that drunks are far harder to deal with than stoners.) A suggestion by the Green Party is to take distribution out of the control of organized crime and tax it like they do for alcohol and tobacco. A portion of tax collected can then be directed for education and treatment programs for those who become addicted. [continues 225 words]
The majority of Canadians are in favour of legalizing marijuana and for many different reasons. Little Kyla Williams in Summerland became a poster child across North America for the wonderful benefits of medical cannabis. Recreational users affirm that pot is less harmful than alcohol. (Most cops agree that drunks are far harder to deal with than stoners.) A suggestion that the Green party has been saying for years is take distribution out of the hands of organized crime, tax it like they do alcohol and cigarettes, and spend the money on education and treatment programs. [continues 210 words]
Tory Leader open to new ideas for tackling crisis in B.C., but remains leery of supervised drug-use sites and further decriminalization Federal Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says he is trying to keep an open mind on options for dealing with the opioid overdose crisis in British Columbia, but is not backing off key tenets on harm reduction his party pushed in government. That includes reservations about supervised drug-use sites. In an interview on Wednesday ahead of a visit later this month to the Lower Mainland, Mr. Scheer also said prosecuting drug users may steer them into rehabilitation programs that would reduce the risk of overdoses. [continues 591 words]
As the province wraps up its short consultation period with local governments and the public on the impending legalization of marijuana, city councils - including Merritt - are being put in the hot seat. The federal government will introduce legislation which will see marijuana legalized for recreational use across the country on July 1, 2018. While the feds will retain control over, provinces will be tasked with deciding how to deal with crafting their own rules regarding the enforcement and sale of cannabis products. [continues 444 words]
Although the topic of the finance minister and his assets that were not held in a blind trust, leaving a potential conflict of interest investigation looming remains an active one in Ottawa, it will not be the topic of this week's report. Instead, I would like to solicit your thoughts on the pending legalization of marijuana. For those of you unfamiliar, the Liberals in the last election openly campaigned on the legalization of marijuana. I raise that point as I believe the Liberals received a democratic mandate from voters to move ahead with marijuana legalization. [continues 392 words]
Re: "Legalized pot expected to have 'significant impact' on police work," Nov. 1. I just read an article about legalized marijuana dramatically increasing the workload for police forces across the country. This makes no sense. I believe the police currently check for possession, driving while high, etc. They talk to kids about drugs now. They do surveillance on gangs and bust grow-ops. Will things change that much after legalization? If the object is to reduce or eliminate the black market, many of these problems will be reduced, not increased. [continues 93 words]
VANCOUVER - New rules for legalized marijuana need to consider the impact on workplaces and clarify the rights of both employers and employees, say some business groups. Ottawa has set July 1 as the deadline for regulations to be in place and many provinces and territories are still working to craft legislation, including B.C., where a public consultation on legal pot wrapped up this week. Anita Huberman, CEO of the Surrey Board of Trade, said large and small companies need guidance from the provincial and federal governments on how they should balance employee privacy with safety in the workplace. [continues 422 words]
Customers suspected of selling opioids A Nanaimo pot shop has been shut down after RCMP suspected customers of selling illegal opioids inside the store. Nanaimo RCMP raided the Limelife Society marijuana dispensary at 119 Nicol St. about 8 p.m. Thursday, acting on information that patrons were trafficking opioids, said Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O'Brien. Two men were arrested and found to be in possession of eight purple tablets. The tablets will be sent for testing to determine if they contain fentanyl, O'Brien said. [continues 246 words]
To: Mayor and Council of the City of West Kelowna I find myself writing this in support of the cannabis dispensaries in West Kelowna which have either been closed or are threatened to be closed by this current council. Over the past one-and-a-half years I have been a regular customer of a number of those businesses. They have become an important part of our daily lives dealing with arthritis, achy backs, anxiety, stomach issues, restless leg syndrome, etc. etc. The cannabis products provided by these businesses have been instrumental in helping us enjoy our time at this point in our lives. We (my wife and I ) are in our late 50s and have found that we prefer to use more natural methods to tend to our more minor health issues if possible and these dispensaries provide this for us and thousands of others in your community. [continues 380 words]
Canadian municipalities aren't the only ones trying to figure out how they're going to respond when marijuana becomes legal across Canada next summer. A recent Maclean's story shows universities across the country are also struggling with how to adapt. UNBC is no different. "Senior administration is giving this issue thought and some of our operational units are discussing it as well," UNBC provost and vice-president, academic, Dan Ryan said in a written statement. "UNBC is developing a response but we will have to consult with various people/units around the university, including the Board of Governors, and make sure the response is framed appropriately and that we're going in the right direction." [continues 427 words]
Kelowna city staff say cannabis should only be sold from storefront dispensaries licenced by the provincial government and under rules similar to existing liquor stores. And their locations and operations should be controlled by municipal land use zoning and bylaws. Those are the key recommendations in a report to go to city council Monday morning after the province asked municipalities across the B.C. for input about how marijuana and cannabis products should be distributed once the federal government makes them legal next July. [continues 586 words]
Mayor and council of the City of Quesnel developed, discussed and passed a response to provincial government for policy considerations for a regulatory framework for non-medical cannabis in British Columbia at its Oct. 24 meeting. Following the 2015 federal election, the Liberal government started working on its campaign promise to legalize cannabis across the country. The revision of Cannabis Act and the Criminal Code are underway and it's expected these bills will be passed by July 2018. The provinces will be responsible for the regulation of the distribution and sale of cannabis. [continues 705 words]
VANCOUVER - Police departments and local governments are asking British Columbia for a cut of marijuana revenues as the province crafts regulations for legalized pot. The provincial government asked for public input last month as it develops new rules. Submissions are posted online and will be accepted until Wednesday. Feedback so far includes recommendations from View Royal and Port Coquitlam for pot profits to be directed to municipalities to address costs associated with enforcement. The British Columbia Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police echoes that recommendation, saying in its submission that the "cost download" of enforcement needs to be considered when a revenue-sharing system is developed. [continues 509 words]
Many Canadians can hardly wait for the day that the recreational use of marijuana becomes legal. As a medical doctor, I'm far less enthusiastic. I worry about two things: the experimental nature of marijuana in medical practice and the public-health consequences of legalized marijuana. Before you write me off as overly prudish or an anti-marijuana conservative, let me say out of the gate that I'm not opposed to legalized marijuana in principle - I'm just paying attention to the evidence, or rather, the lack of it. My concern is that as marijuana becomes more easily available, Canadians might become more inclined to self-medicate with this so-called "miracle drug." [continues 638 words]
West Kelowna councillor declares conflict of interest during discussion of B.C.'s policy on sale of marijuana West Kelowna city Coun. Rosalind Neis did not participate this week in discussions about how marijuana should be distributed when it is legalized. At the outset of Tuesday's deliberations, Neis declared a conflict of interest. "As you're all well aware, I hold stock in publicly traded cannabis companies, so I will be excusing myself from this discussion," Neis told her council colleagues before leaving the meeting room. [continues 122 words]
At a special council meeting, Tuesday city council lit up its marijuana advice for the provincial government. Mayor Doug Findlater and his council provided feedback for the ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General on the legalization of non-medical marijuana. Council came up with these suggestions: * The minimum age to buy, grow and possess marijuana should be 19. * Province should prohibit public cannabis smoking altogether, but allow cannabis vaping wherever tobacco smoking and vaping are allowed. [continues 623 words]
Recommendations to province include municipalities sharing in cannabis economy Local municipalities should share in the revenues of a legal recreational marijuana economy and should retain the authority to regulate retailers and suppliers in their communities. Those were among the recommendations approved by Parksville city council Monday, Oct. 23, in response to a request for input by the provincial government into provincial regulation of marijuana beginning in July of 2018. The non-binding recommendations followed a report from Keeva Kehler, the city's director of administrative services. [continues 499 words]
Canadian municipalities aren't the only ones trying to figure out how they're going to respond when marijuana becomes legal across Canada next summer. A recent Maclean's story shows universities across the country are also struggling with how to adapt. UNBC is no different. "Senior administration is giving this issue thought and some of our operational units are discussing it as well," UNBC provost and vice-president, academic, Dan Ryan said in a written statement. "UNBC is developing a response but we will have to consult with various people/ units around the university, including the Board of Governors, and make sure the response is framed appropriately and that we're going in the right direction." [continues 418 words]
Editor: We need to seriously consider legalization of illegal substances, as this cannot continue. In countries such as Portugal, statistics show overdoses, crime and addiction rates decreased following legalization. With fewer arrests and lifelong sentences, some prisons became so vacant that they were refurbished to apartments and living quarters. These could be used by low income people or those on government assistance, homeless or recovering addicts. Like those in living in RVs on farmland down Gulley Road who need a place to live, this would be perfect for Vancouver and Kelowna with their high rents, lack of housing and the mild climate that many homeless come to (or are sent to) for the winter. [continues 116 words]
Members of city council agree on need for tight regulatory framework once marijuana is legalized next summer Marijuana should be sold only in government-controlled stores when the drug is legalized next summer, West Kelowna council says. A tight regulatory framework is preferable to a free-market approach, at least in the initial stages of the drug's legalization, city councillors said Tuesday. "It could be loosened (over time), as it seems reasonable to do so," Coun. Bryden Winsby said. "There'd be all kinds of opportunities later, if it works, to change the retailing system," Coun. Duane Ophus said. [continues 335 words]
From the head of DEA to the pimple-faced skater punk, everybody knows that you can't kill weed - you may as well try to rid the world of dandelions and rainbows. Ready or not, weed will do what weeds do - they spread. But not to worry Mr. and Mrs. Buzzkill; think of marijuana as a phase that society is going through. Like a teenager going through a rebellious stage. Just like 99.9 per cent of the people reading this, teenagers will also try things like alcohol, tobacco and fornication. [continues 512 words]
Editor: I am one of the 700 medical patients that is being affected by West Kelowna city council. I am told that I am like most of the other clients that happily visit the Black Crow Herbals weekly for my medication. I am older (57) and need help in maintaining my health due to chronic back pain (since 2004), constant nausea, etc. Three years ago, my doctor sadly told me that he could not continue providing prescriptions for percocet to help me with my constant pain, since narcotics were being abused throughout the country. [continues 313 words]
Dear Editor, Re: "This bud's for you?" Feature, Oct. 20. With money laundering being "uncovered" at our largest casino, a burgeoning birth tourism industry displacing tax-paying Canadians requiring a hospital bed and the expanding opiate (fentanyl) addiction crisis, this "Marijuana Legalization Concern Group" and the city councillors who support them (Mr. Au and Mr. McNulty), all need a reality check as to what the real issues are today within Richmond. Their list of demands to the federal government regarding cannabis legalization demonstrate a collective ignorance towards addiction, the negative effects prohibition has had on society, and the root causes of criminality. [continues 75 words]
This post to the Richmond News Facebook received a large number of "likes." Re: "This bud's for you?" Feature, Oct. 20. This honestly makes me laugh. We're OK with corruption, illegal money laundering, buildings built without proper zoning, misuse of our ALR, shootings of gang members, birthing "hotels" in residential and agricultural lands, passport babies, etc. Yet, some are overly concerned about the legalization of marijuana? Council should be protecting our citizens from the illegal things going on in Richmond, and prepare properly for the eventuality of the legalization of pot because it will no longer be the 'underground' activity it has been for decades. Debra 'Dee' Wells [end]
Dear Editor, Re: "This bud's for you?" Feature, Oct. 20. I'm surprised Coun. Chak Au is so worried about marijuana legislation, when the proposed legislation is designed to regulate marijuana, not encourage its use. Right now, marijuana is an unregulated seven billion dollar industry, much of it in the hands of criminals, and the government is right to seek to regulate and control the sale of it. Washington State has not seen a dramatic increase of use in marijuana amongst youth since legalization, nor has crime increased, which seems to be the main fear for Chak Au and his "concerned" group. [continues 60 words]
Marijuana will cause problems: Mayor Brodie Richmond city council voted unanimously to oppose marijuana legalization and send a letter to the provincial and federal governments expressing its concerns and requesting "proper" regulations. In the letter, the city will ask for the right to regulate cannabis at the municipal level, should it become legalized. This would enable the city to impose stricter rules and regulate it through land-use bylaws. "If you legalize it, then it's really like saying it doesn't cause problems when it really does," Mayor Malcolm Brodie told the Richmond News. [continues 445 words]
Mayor asserts city has numerous supporters as it looks to ban the sale of cannabis once provincial legislation is set next spring At least one Vancouver suburb wants to explore outlawing retail sales of cannabis within its city limits, even after the drug is legalized next year. Richmond city council's opposition to recreational cannabis underscores the balance British Columbia is trying to achieve with its coming rules as it assures communities there will not be a provincewide, one-size-fits-all approach to legal sales of the substance. The NDP government has established a 19-member committee of municipal politicians and bureaucrats to discuss a host of controversial issues surrounding legalization with the province, but Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said on Tuesday his community is opposed to the sale and use of recreational cannabis. Richmond will await the new provincial rules - expected next spring - before exploring its options, he said. [continues 874 words]
Many Canadians can hardly wait for the day that the recreational use of marijuana becomes legal. As a doctor, I'm far less enthusiastic. I worry about two things: the experimental nature of marijuana in medical practice, and the public health consequences of legalized marijuana. Before you write me off as overly prudish or an anti-marijuana conservative, let me say that I'm not opposed to legalized marijuana in principle. I'm just paying attention to the evidence, or rather, the lack of it. My concern is that as marijuana becomes more easily available, Canadians may become more inclined to self-medicate with this drug. [continues 632 words]
Staff report to be considered today by Kelowna city council recommends marijuana be sold at private, public stores subject to municipal zoning Marijuana should be sold at privately owned pot shops as well as government-controlled stores, Kelowna officials say. But municipalities should be able to control the number of pot shops, as well as set regulations covering their size and location, says a report going to city council today. City officials also suggest an unspecified minimum distance be set between liquor stores and pot shops. [continues 357 words]
The question is not when our government will decriminalize personal possession and provide a safe, clean drug source, as we do for alcohol and soon for marijuana, but how many more families will be devastated with the loss of a loved one before a government is brave enough to value lives over votes. By decriminalizing personal possession, we could start to get rid the stigma that is associated with addiction. People are being poisoned and dying due to a clean source not being available. [continues 169 words]
Province receiving input on legalized marijuana rules Police departments and local governments are asking British Columbia for a cut of marijuana revenue as the province crafts regulations for legalized pot. The provincial government asked for public input last month as it develops new rules. Submissions are posted online and will be accepted until Wednesday. Feedback so far includes recommendations from Port Coquitlam and View Royal, on Vancouver Island, for pot profits to be directed to municipalities to address costs associated with enforcement. [continues 514 words]
Abbotsford police issue warning after three men, two women die from overdoses in 10-hour period on Friday Five people died within 10 hours from suspected drug overdoses in Abbotsford Friday. The victims were between the ages of 40 and 67, and most were found inside their Abbotsford homes. Between 10:15 a.m. and 7:20 p.m., first-responders attended dozens of calls about residents overdosing on drugs. Five of those were fatal. Const. Ian MacDonald says while overdoses have become normal in the city, it is shocking to see so many die in a day. He said the high amount of fentanyl and carfentanil in street drugs is horrifying. [continues 289 words]
Ontario's proposed liquor-style monopoly would keep black market, cost taxpayers We need a made-in-B.C. solution to cannabis legalization that pays attention to public health and safety, but also considers economic development in B.C.'s mature cannabis industry. Speaking to the recent meeting of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said it was "important to get it [cannabis legalization] right." "We are unique in B.C.," the minister said, adding that we have a "long, established history." [continues 714 words]
Dealers who hand out drugs laced with fentanyl could face manslaughter charges if their customers die, B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said recently. It's a harsh measure, but nothing else seems to stem the waves of poison that are killing people across the province. When even dead customers are not enough to stop a callous retailer, society must put its collective conscience where the dealer's is absent. Farnworth's suggestion is not new. Other jurisdictions, fed up with the senseless deaths, are coming down hard on those who, in the minister's words, are "dealing death." [continues 510 words]
Dealers who hand out drugs laced with fentanyl could face manslaughter charges if their customers die, B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said recently. It's a harsh measure, but nothing else seems to stem the waves of poison that are killing people across the province. When even dead customers are not enough to stop a callous retailer, society must put its collective conscience where the dealer's is absent. Farnworth's suggestion is not new. Other jurisdictions, fed up with the senseless deaths, are coming down hard on those who, in the minister's words, are "dealing death." [continues 522 words]
As little as five years ago, we imagine most people would have scoffed at the idea of needing a special group to pick up discarded needles in the community. Though the Comox Valley is not as badly affected as others, which are in the middle of a needle epidemic directly related to the opioid crisis that has killed so many across B.C. in the last several years, it isn't immune, either. The provincial statistics for 2017 to date are horrifying. This province has never faced a drug threat like that of fentanyl. [continues 224 words]
Action needed as legalization looms, Dr. Jessica Ross says. That was definitely vomit, I thought as I stepped in a slippery substance and caught the rail of the stretcher to avoid sliding underneath. That bilious smell doesn't come out of shoes. After ordering an intravenous, a cocktail of anti-emetics and a change of footwear for myself, I run through a mental list. What causes a 14-year-old patient to vomit like this? Appendicitis? Meningitis? Overdose? As an emergency room physician, it's always Big Bad Diagnoses that run through my mind first. [continues 639 words]
New NDP leader supports harm-reduction model The response to Canada's opioid overdose problem should be elevated as a national issue with a significant harm reduction approach, new NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said during his first visit to Vancouver as party head Friday. "Thousands of people are dying in our country as a result of this crisis and it needs to be named a national crisis first," said Singh, speaking after taking a tour of Chinatown. Singh's first official visit to the city after winning the federal NDP leadership Oct. 1 came a day after the City of Vancouver released the latest grim statistics on the overdose crisis - 275 suspected overdose deaths to the end of Oct. 9 - and a week after it was revealed that possible overdose deaths across B.C. surpassed all of 2016 at the end of August with 1,013. [continues 238 words]
Health and legal experts are urging caution about the idea of charging fentanyl dealers with manslaughter, saying such a move would do little to deter sellers and could instead punish those who are already struggling with substance-use disorders. B.C. Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth mentioned the idea to reporters at an unrelated event last week, saying it was raised at a recent meeting of federal and provincial public safety ministers. "We strongly believe that if you're dealing fentanyl, you're dealing death, and you should be facing much more severe penalties such as manslaughter charges," Mr. Farnworth said. [continues 727 words]
Criminal charges have been laid against Silver International Investment, a money-transfer business that RCMP allege was involved in money laundering, had ties to underground banking and used suspected drug cash to fund Chinese VIP gamblers in B.C. casinos. During the RCMP's so-called E-Pirate probe, Mounties allege they uncovered $500 million-plus from a Richmond money-laundering service that they said handled up to $1.5 million a day. "The Public Prosecution Service of Canada can confirm that charges have been laid against Caixuan Qin, Jian Jun Zhu, and Silver International Investments Ltd. in relation to Project E-Pirate," spokeswoman Nathalie Houle said Wednesday in an email. "We have no other information to provide at this time." [continues 685 words]
Thirteen Canadians a day were hospitalized for an opioid overdose in 2014-2015, according to the Canadian Institute of Health Information, and the rate of opioid poisoning hospitalizations has been steadily rising. What began with the over-prescription of opioids such as OxyContin, a painkiller once thought to have a low potential for addiction, led to the diversion of legal drugs to the illegal market, and later to the dramatic expansion of the illegal production of fentanyl. As the horror stories of addiction and death multiply, it is clear that what was once a medical issue is now a population-health crisis. [continues 634 words]
Last week, it was announced that opioid deaths have already exceeded last year's numbers, and the trend continues to point to an increasing use. Yet we open "incite" places to shoot up and open shelters where drug use is rampant. As long as society tolerates and supports this lifestyle, can there really be any other outcome? Burnside Gorge Community Association has said enough, but Victoria city council approved another shelter, ignoring the voters. Drugs will destroy lives and communities unless there is concerted effort to outlaw their use and stop enabling users. Chris Sheldon Victoria [end]
Students to learn to detect overdoses and reverse them using naloxone kits The University of B.C.'s Alma Mater Society is organizing mass training events to teach students to recognize and reverse drug overdoses amid a devastating provincial health emergency that shows no sign of slowing down. Organizers say 120 students are registered for a two-hour training session Thursday in the student union building at UBC's Vancouver campus, where they'll learn the signs of an overdose, how to use a naloxone kit and the role stigma-free language plays in improving the lives of people who use drugs. [continues 547 words]
John De Villa and his wife, Maxine, are afraid he'll lose access to the cannabis products that keep him seizure-free. The otherwise healthy software technician wasn't born with epilepsy, didn't drink or smoke, and hadn't taken as much as a Tylenol in decades. During the course of the next eight months, he would suffer a total of 12 grand mal seizures. Doctors would later tell him the effects on his brain were equivalent to what one would experience after a series of back-to-back concussions. [continues 1408 words]
Researchers say governments will have to legalize pot shops or incorporate elements from them into new model UBC researchers are cautioning policy-makers not to alter a cannabis distribution system that, while not yet legal, works well. Photo contributedUBC Okanagan psychology professor Zach Walsh recently published a study examining the roles independent marijuana dispensaries play in cannabis access. Associate professor Zach Walsh, who teaches at UBC's Okanagan campus, and PhD candidate Rielle Capler say storefront dispensaries - often under fire from bylaw enforcement and city governments - are a tried and true method of selling cannabis. The pair recently published a study on medicinal cannabis dispensaries and determined customers prefer the independent storefront as opposed to growing their own or getting it from a dealer. [continues 464 words]
A pot shop in Courtenay has been raided a second time after it reopened in defiance of RCMP orders. Two employees were arrested and marijuana, cannabis-infused food, cannabis concentrate and cash were seized by Comox Valley RCMP from the Leaf Compassion dispensary on Thursday. The employees are facing charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. They were released on a promise to appear in court on strict conditions not to return to the dispensary, according to dispensary owner Kyle Cheyne. [continues 273 words]
Meanwhile, City of Richmond is concerned over regulatory framework for weed legalization Legalized recreational marijuana is coming to Richmond, but the city's not ready, according to a new group led by Coun. Chak Au. The "2018 Marijuana Legalization Concern Group" has asked the federal government to postpone or suspend the July, 2018 deadline for pot legalization until all regulations are in place. "Once the gate of legalization is opened, it cannot be reverted back," said Au at the group's press conference held Oct. 13. [continues 1055 words]
Re: "Opioid deaths rising, yet drug use tolerated," letter, Oct. 17. The letter-writer hypothesized that the opioid-overdose epidemic is a consequence of increased use, stemming from our tolerance of drug use, as demonstrated by supervised-injection sites and homeless shelters. In reality, the most significant driver of increased opioid use has been opioid prescriptions. The spike in overdose deaths has been caused by the introduction of fentanyl and other potent synthetic opioids into the illicit-drug supply. There has never been a fatal overdose at a supervised-injection site, although many have been averted. There is no evidence that supervised-injection sites encourage, perpetuate or "enable" drug use. On the contrary, injection sites shepherd drug users into detox and treatment. Vancouver's Insite, for example, shares a building with a detox clinic called Onsite. Perhaps we should leave life-and-death theorizing to public-health professionals who are familiar with the literature on the subject. Matthew M. Elrod Victoria [end]
Dealers who hand out drugs laced with fentanyl could face manslaughter charges if their customers die, B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said on the weekend. It's a harsh measure, but nothing else seems to stem the waves of poison that are killing people across the province. When even dead customers are not enough to stop a callous retailer, society must put its collective conscience where the dealer's is absent. Farnworth's suggestion is not new. Other jurisdictions, fed up with the senseless deaths, are coming down hard on those who, in the minister's words, are "dealing death." [continues 521 words]
Concerns over where legal marijuana will be grown has local governments looking for right to designate production areas The looming deadline for legalized marijuana has local governments in British Columbia crafting wish lists for provincial legislation, from where pot should be grown to how it should be sold. Ottawa has said regulations must be in place by July 1 and the B.C. government announced last month that it wants public input on shaping the rules. While some municipal politicians worry the timeline for regulations is too short, Vancouver Councillor Kerry Jang thinks legalization can't come soon enough. [continues 578 words]
A new window onto B.C.'s fentanyl crisis might have opened. It appears organized crime groups are using casinos to launder enormous quantities of cash, some of which comes from the traffic in street drugs. Not all of the laundered money derives from this source. But Canada-wide, illicit-drug sales account for nearly 60 per cent of gang-related income. In B.C., that could amount to $5 billion or more, a portion of which was certainly raised selling fentanyl. [continues 525 words]
Courtenay's mayor has received death threats from people upset that the RCMP shut down the community's first cannabis dispensary. Mayor Larry Jangula said someone posted online comments threatening to shoot him after inaccurate information that he had directed Comox Valley RCMP to raid Leaf Compassion dispensary on Wednesday circulated on social media. "It's been a very upsetting day," Jangula said. He said he has been threatened during his 27-year policing career, but never in his role as mayor. [continues 400 words]
City council today expected to rescind business licences for 2 marijuana dispensaries The owners of two West Kelowna pot shops today face the revocation of their business licence and subsequent closure. City council is expected to rescind licences for Black Crow Herbals and The Healing Company, a move staff say would force the businesses to close. "(T)he licence holder has engaged in the illegal dispensing of cannabis, which is in contravention of the Criminal Code of Canada or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act," reads the identical wording in two separate staff reports to be considered at today's council meeting. [continues 413 words]
Growers swapping produce for marijuana A large-scale multinational Delta vegetable producer is swapping out its tomato plants for pot plants in a 1.1-million-square-foot greenhouse because it says it can make more than 10 times the money. Greenhouses operated by Village Farms International in Delta: If various levels of government allow it, the facilities here will be converted into marijuana growing greenhouses. JASON PAYNE/ PNG Village Farms International also has plans to expand five times that scale, resulting in a warning from Delta Mayor Lois Jackson about the future of farms on Agricultural Land Reserve. [continues 421 words]
VANCOUVER - Canada's political leaders must take bold action by joining forces to decriminalize illicit drugs and save lives in the midst of an unprecedented overdose crisis, a leading drug-policy expert says. Donald MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's stance on legalizing marijuana to protect youth and stop the flow of profits to organized crime must also apply to drugs that have killed thousands of Canadians. "That's very sad that he can't see the logic that he's using so loudly on cannabis to shift that logic to a far more serious problem," MacPherson said Wednesday. [continues 582 words]
VANCOUVER - Canada's political leaders must take bold action by joining forces to decriminalize illicit drugs and save lives in the midst of an unprecedented overdose crisis, a leading drug-policy expert says. Donald MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's stance on legalizing marijuana to protect youth and stop the flow of profits to organized crime must also apply to drugs that have killed thousands of Canadians. "That's very sad that he can't see the logic that he's using so loudly on cannabis to shift that logic to a far more serious problem," MacPherson said Wednesday. [continues 451 words]
The federal government plans to legalize marijuana this summer and they say they want their fair share of tax revenue. A dollar tax on anything up to $10 - and a 10% tax on anything above that amount - to be split 50/50 between the federal and provincial governments. But wait, Trudeau says, it's not about the money. "Nobody's mindset on this approach is about bringing in tax revenue on this. The mindset with which we have approached the legalization and control of marijuana from the very beginning has been from public health and safety standpoint," Trudeau said during a press conference flanked by premiers at the first ministers meeting in Ottawa this week. What they want to do is, "Remove the black market from accessing the billions of dollars of profit that they do every year off of this." [continues 349 words]
People on the front lines of British Columbia's opioid overdose crisis are applauding the government's announcement of more funding in an attempt to stem the death toll. Premier John Horgan announced Friday the province will spend more than $31 million over the next three years to increase access to treatment programs, offer more free kits of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, help front-line workers and empower communities to keep people safe. Speaking to a crowd of politicians at the Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention, Horgan noted 876 people died in the province between January and July of this year. [continues 546 words]
B.C. should follow California's lead as it transitions to a legal cannabis environment and authorizes retail marijuana sales next July. Both jurisdictions are pot-culture capitals and are dealing with too-tight deadlines and too many nuanced problems to properly meet expectations. California state voters in 2016 endorsed Proposition 64, which approved legal cannabis with retail pot sales starting Jan. 1, 2018. As of November, adults over 21 could possess (and give each other) up to 28 grams, as well as seven grams of hash, and they can grow up to six plants. [continues 690 words]
Mayor Deb Kozak reflects on Union of BC Municipalities conference For a small city like Nelson, it's been a gargantuan task to introduce regulations to two burgeoning industries: cannabis and short-term rentals. But following a hectic week at the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver, Mayor Deb Kozak is feeling buoyed by the provincial attention they've garnered for their work. "Nelson is always seen to be on the leading edge of things," Kozak told the Star, upon her return. [continues 869 words]
They say B.C.'s pot laws have taken so long to sort out because May's provincial election delayed the process. Either that, or our guys were hot-boxing a van behind the legislature and simply forgot to get it done. In any case, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth left more questions than answers Monday when, rather than unveiling the regulations many expected, he merely announced a public consultation process. Ontario might already have its pot plans in place, but here in the birthplace of B.C. Bud, we prefer a more relaxed approach: We'll gather information from stakeholders and the public, or maybe listen to a little Allman Brothers, until Nov. 1. [continues 559 words]
Residents speak of need for local marijuana shop For some Qualicum Beach residents, medical marijuana is part of their everyday lives. But they will still have to go out of town for remedies for their ailments. At Monday's (Oct. 2) regular council meeting a motion to issue a temporary-use permit for a medical marijuana dispensary on Fir Street failed. Only councillors Bill Luchtmeijer and Neil Horner voted in favour of issuing the temporary-use permit. While discussing the permit later in the meeting, Luchtmeijer said Qualicum Beach is probably a very appropriate place for a medical marijuana dispensary. [continues 440 words]
The federal decision to legalize is going to have a significant impact on the country, provinces and local governments. The provincial government has given itself just over five weeks to gather input from municipalities, the public and other stakeholders about non-medical cannabis regulation in B.C. It's an ambitious deadline, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth conceded on Monday during the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver as he announced the province's plans for public consultations. [continues 778 words]
Editor: Re: Bill Good's "Emery pot bust makes no sense," Sept. 22. Instead of continuing to waste money on the failed War on Drugs, we should end drug prohibition and spend the money we save on making all schools safe places to learn. I have recently returned from Ottawa after being invited to testify as an expert witness to the Standing Committee on Health regarding Cannabis Act C-45 in the House of Commons on Sept. 13. The topic of the panel was Legal Age for Possession and Cannabis Youth Use. [continues 276 words]
Ontario has already decided how it will distribute recreational marijuana once it's legal next summer. But many other provinces are in differing stages of identifying how this shift in federal drug policies and policing will be handled. In B.C., consultation started Monday - with a reportedly swift and massive response - while municipalities are wondering how they will manage this change, especially in the area of zoning, policing and managing costs. Others wonder how potent the pot strains will be and if there will even be enough supply to meet demand. [continues 88 words]
The B.C. government is making time to listen as it plans new marijuana regulations, even though the listening will leave only a few months to finish crafting the rules for the coming new era of legal pot. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said this week that the public consultation will be finished by Nov. 1. The government will have to finish writing rules and regulations by next summer. The federal government introduced legislation in April that would legalize recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018, but is leaving it up to each province to determine its own distribution system and usage regulations. [continues 479 words]
Six months after seizing a quantity of marijuana, Williams Lake RCMP announced Tuesday charges have been approved against the manager and a former employee of Mary Jane's Glass and Gifts. Mary Jane's, which is located on Oliver Street in downtown Williams Lake, was stripped of its inventory in April following a search and seizure by police. Mark Cowan faces one charge of trafficking a controlled substance contrary to section 5(1) of the Canadian Drug and Substance Act (CDSA) and one of possession for the purpose of trafficking contrary to section 5(2) of the CDSA. [continues 453 words]
Lois Jackson says municipal hall is receiving five to 10 inquiries a day as legalization date less than a year off There are a lot of questions that need answering before recreational marijuana is legalized, says Mayor Lois Jackson. There are a lot of questions that need answering before recreational marijuana is legalized, says Mayor Lois Jackson, who's troubled Delta could become the pot growing capital of Canada. Jackson is attending the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Vancouver this week where members on Wednesday endorsed a resolution asking for cities to have meaningful consultation on legalizing pot. [continues 572 words]
The fledgling B.C. NDP government has decided how it will deal with the looming legalization of marijuana: continue talking it to death. Dispensary owners, illegal producers, consumers, patients, parents - Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth explained Monday that everyone's opinion is being sought because "one size does not fit all" and "we need to get it right." Until four o'clock on the Day of the Dead, Nov. 1, Farnworth says anyone can participate in a new province-wide conversation on pot - the minimum age, personal possession limits, public consumption, drug-impaired driving, personal cultivation, distribution, retail models Â… It's all on the table. "We want to hear from as many people as possible about how we can best protect our kids, keep our roads safe and lock criminals out of the non-medical cannabis industry," he told a packed meeting room at the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in downtown Vancouver. "Public engagement is crucial." [continues 480 words]
The fledgling B.C. NDP government has decided how it will deal with the looming legalization of marijuana: continue talking it to death. Dispensary owners, illegal producers, consumers, patients, parents - Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth explained Monday that everyone's opinion is being sought because "one size does not fit all" and "we need to get it right." Until 4 p.m. on the Day of the Dead, Nov. 1, Farnworth says anyone can participate in a provincewide conversation on pot - the minimum age, personal possession limits, public consumption, drug-impaired driving, personal cultivation, distribution, retail models ... It's all on the table. [continues 491 words]
They say B.C.'s pot laws have taken so long to sort out because May's provincial election delayed the process. Either that, or our guys were hot-boxing a van behind the legislature and simply forgot to get it done. In any case, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth left more questions than answers Monday when, rather than unveiling the regulations many expected, he merely announced a public consultation process. Ontario might already have its pot plans in place, but here in the birthplace of B.C. Bud, we prefer a more relaxed approach: We'll gather information from stakeholders and the public, or maybe listen to a little Allman Brothers, until Nov. 1. [continues 634 words]
Mayor says share of taxes from sale of legal marijuana should go to municipalities to cover extra policing costs Municipalities should get a share of tax revenue collected by the provincial government when marijuana becomes legal, says Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran. "We want to make sure we get our cut of the profits," Basran said Monday from the Union of B.C. Municipalities conference in Vancouver. If the government ultimately chooses to allow private stores to sell pot next year, additional policing costs are likely to arise to ensure such operations abide by all relevant rules and regulations, Basran said. [continues 534 words]
The B.C. government has launched a five-week consultation process around the legalization of marijuana and says the way the drug is purchased could differ from city to city. The minister in charge of the file told a news conference Monday that Vancouverites might prefer to continue buying marijuana through dispensaries, while other communities opt for something else. "One size does not fit all," B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth told reporters. The federal government has committed to legalizing the recreational use of marijuana by July. [continues 610 words]
Recreational pot could be sold at dispensaries in one city and corner stores in another when it becomes legal next summer. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said the province is embarking on public consultation for non-medicinal marijuana regulation, but doesn't expect to force a retail model on local governments. "I think it's important that local government is not only heard and at the table, but there's an understanding that one size does not fit all," Farnworth said. [continues 713 words]
Public engagement on cannabis legalization coming in B.C. The provincial government has given itself just over five weeks to gather input from municipalities, the public and other stakeholders about non-medical cannabis regulation in B.C. It's an ambitious deadline, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth conceded on Monday during the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver as he announced the province's plans for public consultations. The goal is to collect feedback in time to draft legislation for the spring legislative session and be ready when the federal government legalizes marijuana next July. [continues 596 words]
The B.C. government is making time to listen as it plans new marijuana regulations, even though the listening will leave only a few months to finish crafting the rules for the coming new era of legal pot. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said this week that the public consultation will be finished by Nov. 1. The government will have to finish writing rules and regulations by next summer. The federal government introduced legislation in April that would legalize recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018, but is leaving it up to each province to determine its own distribution system and usage regulations. [continues 503 words]
Councillors and mayors will have first chance to suss out party's stand on issues such as marijuana legalization at annual convention B. C.'s mayors and councillors are pouring into Vancouver this week with one main goal at their annual convention - to get a handle on what changes the new NDP government will be bringing them. The more than 1,800 attendees - a higher than usual number - are looking for signs of what Premier John Horgan's team will do about the impending explosion of retail marijuana, housing and mental health, drug and overdose issues, say councillors on the executive of the Union of B.C. Municipalities. [continues 575 words]
Editor: Re: Police want date pushed back on legalizing pot, Sept. 20 The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police insists it needs more time to adapt to cannabis legislation. Well, too bad for the chiefs. The Liberals have been in power for close to two years, medicinal cannabis has been around for even longer and models from other jurisdictions (Holland, Portugal, etc.) have long matured. More delays mean more otherwise unnecessary criminalization, imprisonment and benefits for violent gangs. Legalization is long overdue and prohibition's time is up. Victor Yao [end]
Editor: There is no doubt in my mind that the proposal by the prime minister to legalize marijuana has not been well thought out, especially with the devastating drug problems we are now facing. The effect of narcotics on the development of the brain has been well researched. Scientific studies have proven that mental disorders, schizophrenia, suicides, etc. are much higher among those who take these drugs than those who do not. Postnatal brain development occurs over a long period that lasts into adolescence and some say into the 20s. Our youth are at risk. We certainly do not need more soft drugs on the street that are available to an impressionable age group trying to cope with their own stresses at school, at home, on the street, etc. [continues 288 words]
Victoria, Langford battle dispensaries amid uncertainty over legalization plans Court battles are brewing in B.C. municipalities over cannabis dispensaries amid a hazy regulatory landscape. The City of Victoria, the only municipality in Greater Victoria to regulate cannabis businesses, is facing a lawsuit by one business fighting to stay open and is taking another business to court to shut it down. The City of Langford's hard line against pot shops played out in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday, with the municipality successfully keeping a dispensary shuttered. [continues 676 words]
Attendees given a taste of what kind of work is possible as marijuana moves into mainstream On Thursday morning, Marco Cacchione put on a black button-up shirt, combed his hair, and walked down Robson Street to a job fair, hoping to snag a gig in an industry that is quickly emerging from the underground. After a decade as a line cook, currently at one of Vancouver's casual fine-dining chains, the 28-year-old said he is ready to make the leap into cannabis, which is expected to be legalized next July. The industry will require thousands of workers to meet the likely demand. [continues 433 words]
Re: "Chiefs on high alert as pot legalization looms," Sept. 26. With no simply roadside test for impairment by pot inhalation available and a certainty of more impaired drivers on our highways leading to more road deaths, police chiefs have every right to be concerned. Then we have to factor in the idea that, in Ontario, everyone can grow four marijuana plants, have no more than 30 ounces on their person, only smoke the drug in their residence and that nobody under 19 can legally possess pot. This means from a policing perspective, enforcement is much more complicated than when the drug was illegal. Then with its resources already stretched, the police will have to investigate the illicit distribution of pot by organized crime, which will become involved just as it has in Colorado and Washington states. Liberal politicians simply refuse to accept that organized crime will be a major problem once pot become legal, no matter what they sell the drug for! [continues 127 words]
Pot shops that have opened in North Vancouver are hoping to stay when the province creates regulations about how marijuana should be sold when it's legalized next year. "Obviously we're hoping we'll still play a part in the whole thing. It sounds like there's room," said Michael Wuest, owner of the Weeds store at 991 Marine Dr. Wuest's was the first storefront to open up on the North Shore, in April 2015. Six storefront "dispensaries" currently operate in North Vancouver, five of those within city boundaries. [continues 531 words]
Over the past few weeks, the talk has really started to ramp up on one topic in Canada. It's not hurricanes, earthquakes and a war of (hopefully just) words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un - all very serious, global problems. Not in Canada, dude, we're talking about pot. As if we need any help with our reputation as the growers of ganja. B.C. has long been seen as a premier supplier of the best pot in the world, even when it was illegal to grow. [continues 504 words]
The Kootenay Outdoor Producers' Co-op, a local coalition formed to create the first legal marijuana production operation in the West Kootenay, has elected its first board. The inaugural meeting for the co-op was held at Taghum Hall May 16 with a standing-room only audience. But president Todd Veri says there remain many uncertainties as Ottawa and the provinces drag their feet on finalizing legislation. "We have been patiently waiting for some word or direction on the upcoming regulations from government and how they will apply to our business plan," says Veri. "Unfortunately, no information has been forthcoming. Will it be - as we initially feared - that preference is once more going to be given to large corporate weed factories?" [continues 707 words]
What police have called an "illegal storefront business" continues to operate but minus a key aspect. The City of Prince George granted WeeMedical a business licence on Sept. 13, two days after the chain agreed with a court order prohibiting it from dispensing marijuana. The Third Avenue downtown store was the subject of an RCMP raid in early August. Police seized a "considerable amount" of marijuana and cannabis-infused food as well as other items in support of charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Two people were also arrested and later released on promises to appear in court on Oct. 11. [continues 249 words]
B.C. municipalities intend to debate next week how to press the provincial government to include them in its plans for cannabis as federal legalization approaches. The Union of B.C. Municipalities will vote on a special resolution at its annual convention next Wednesday. The resolution, which addresses their role in a provincial cannabis framework ahead of federal legalization expected next July, was put forth by the union's executive. It calls for "fulsome and meaningful" consultation with Victoria, adequate provincial funding to cover costs related to implementing its framework, a fair share of taxes for cities and respect for municipalities' "choice, jurisdiction and authority" with regards to land use, zoning and other city hall concerns. [continues 560 words]
With one year left in this term, council recently took the opportunity to reflect, refresh, and reset strategic priorities that were established at the beginning of our term. The pace we keep leaves little time for reflection and this was an important day. A portion of the day was spent discussing change: what was anticipated, what was not, and how council responded to emerging issues. Council regulates. What this means is that council sets the framework on a number of issues for community through bylaws. Bylaws are constructed with the unique needs of community in mind. When council considers adopting new bylaws, it is done with the goal of developing balance between diverse community values and opinions. [continues 828 words]
Marc and Jodie Emery are in trouble with the law again. Toronto police arrested them recently at Pearson International Airport on their way to Spain. Ten years ago I would have said, "Tough luck, you broke the law." The so-called Prince of Pot made a name for himself defying the law and thumbing his nose at authorities in his single-minded attempt to make marijuana acceptable, and legal. His arrogance cost him four years in U.S. prisons, but he did his time and returned to Canada determined to continue his crusade along with his wife Jodie. [continues 427 words]
Nothing seems to have the cops and local and provincial politicians scrambling more these days than their attempts to get ahead of the federal government's plans to make marijuana legal by next summer. But that should hardly be too much of distraction to allow the toker in the Prime Minister's office, the cute and clever Justin Trudeau, off the hook when it comes to effectively dealing with a more immediately critical drug issue, the opioid crisis. Yet is seems to have. [continues 650 words]
While Trudeau gov't will look progressive, the provinces will do the heavy lifting The federal government is set on legalizing marijuana by summer 2018. While they will enjoy the political payoff of appearing progressive, all the problems and the logistics of legalizing pot will fall on the shoulders of the provincial governments. There are strong correlations between how a drug or an indulgence, such as gambling, is made available to the public and the propensity for individuals to indulge in it, and the negative health and social outcomes associated with its use. [continues 610 words]
Re: "Postpone legal pot, police exhort feds," Sept. 13. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police seem to see their role as being an obstruction to the implementation of public policy. To this end, they want a delay of at least six months in the legalization of marijuana. They say this is necessary in order to train officers and certify more officers to conduct roadside tests. Their overriding concern with the legalization of marijuana is a dramatic increase in the number of people driving stoned. Let me assure them this will not happen. They can sleep peacefully, without the fear that hordes of stoned zombies are suddenly going to be driving amok on our streets. Nothing is going to change. The simple fact is, people have been getting high for 50 years. The reason marijuana is being legalized is because almost everyone already uses it. [continues 77 words]
Cannabis dispensaries should be afraid, very afraid, about what is in store when the federal government legalizes cannabis for recreational use. Justice ministers are meeting in Vancouver and the House of Commons health committee this week has been examining the legalization law - and the clock is ticking for those trying to cash in on the current chaos. There are widespread concerns about everything from the massive impact of legal cannabis on impaired driving enforcement to the fallout of allowing anyone over 18 to grow up to four pot plants. [continues 633 words]
Federal minister, provincial counterparts meet to establish common ground on issues After two days of meetings in Vancouver, the nation's justice and public safety ministers were vague and hazy Friday about what the looming legalization of cannabis will actually look like. The ministers said they had a "robust" discussion about the weed, but seemed to agree only that many challenges remained - not the least of which was meeting what was called an "ambitious" July 1 deadline for ending the near-century-old pot prohibition. [continues 605 words]
The B.C. government plans to consult with police, local governments and the public before deciding how to sell and distribute recreational marijuana once the federal government legalizes pot next summer. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth told reporters Thursday that "all options are on the table," including selling marijuana through government liquor stores. "We have not made any decisions about that," he said. Farnworth said the government intends to gather suggestions on ways to sell and distribute marijuana, as well as on the appropriate age limit for purchasing it. [continues 556 words]
Provinces still looking for more direction from federal government B.C.'s top cop says the province remains undecided on how it will tax, distribute and regulate the use of marijuana once the federal government legalizes it next summer. Solicitor General Mike Farnworth said he hopes to hear more ideas from his provincial and federal counterparts Friday as they continue a meeting in Vancouver. Ottawa intends to legalize pot within 10 months, forcing the provinces to develop their own rules. "It's certainly a challenging deadline, not just for British Columbia but all provinces, and I think both ministers and premiers have been saying that to the federal government," Farnworth said Thursday. "We know it is a challenge in B.C., but one we're working toward." [continues 567 words]
Cannabis retailers waiting to learn fate Like a vignette of small-town life, a laid-back shopkeeper sits at a yellow table beside the unlocked bicycle leaning against the storefront, smiles, puts down his coffee mug and greets a customer by name. "Hey Fred, how ya doing?" Jeremy Jacob said to his visitor Thursday, welcoming his old friend into the shop. Jacob and his wife Andrea Dobbs run a family business in Kitsilano, a bright, airy space where a loud waterfall rushes outside, dozens of cannabis products line the shelves inside, and a Pomeranian named Lego lounges on the ground. [continues 743 words]
A federal New Democratic leadership hopeful has pledged to make it party policy to decriminalize petty drug possession if he is elected leader, supporting calls by an increasing number of health officials who say it would help lift the stigma around addiction. Jagmeet Singh made his pledge on Sunday at an NDP leadership debate in Vancouver, a city that had recorded nearly 250 suspected overdose deaths by the end of August. Across British Columbia, 876 people died of illicit-drug overdoses from January through July of this year. [continues 765 words]
The provincial health officer is asking B.C. schools to consider buying naloxone The provincial health officer is recommending B.C. schools - including those in Sea to Sky area - obtain the tools to deal with opioid overdoses. A letter sent to superintendents across B.C. said that while schools aren't considered high-risk environments, they are advised to have naloxone kits and train staff to use them. This advisory comes in the midst of what provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall has called a "public health emergency" - the use of fentanyl has been blamed for a sharp increase in the amount of deaths from drug overdoses. [continues 347 words]
Ontario's plan to sell marijuana from government-operated stores would never fly in B.C., a local pot advocate says. Vancouver's Dana Larsen suggests a provincial government store could never compete with established and independent dispensaries in offering the same variety of products that consumers seek - such as different strains and edibles - and that the Ontario government won't be able to open shops fast enough to keep pace with demand. "Police raids aside, I don't think this model of legalization competes at all with what current dispensaries can offer," he told Postmedia from Toronto, where he was attending the Karma Cup cannabis competition and festival on Saturday. [continues 257 words]
The Trudeau government is set on legalizing marijuana by next summer. While they will enjoy the political payoff of appearing progressive on the issue, all of the problems and logistics of legalizing pot will fall on the provinces. There are strong correlations between how a drug or an indulgence like gambling is made available to the public and the propensity for individuals to indulge in it, and the negative health and social outcomes associated with its use. Provincial governments might want to draw lessons from the last time an illegal substance was legalized - alcohol - following prohibition in the late 1920s, as well as insights from the current public health efforts to eliminate tobacco use. For starters, it might make sense to make acquiring recreational marijuana reasonably expensive and somewhat difficult. [continues 584 words]
* Drug deaths on Vancouver Island in July: 14 * Total drug deaths in B.C. so far this year: 876 At least 14 people died from illicit drug overdoses on Vancouver Island in July, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. This is a decrease from June, in which 23 people died, but still places the Island and Victoria among the top regions for overdose deaths. From January to July, 138 people on the Island died. Lisa Lapointe, the province's chief coroner, said the numbers are further evidence that the overdose crisis cannot be easily solved. [continues 607 words]
Inside British Columbia
