The haze around pot revenue for cities is beginning to clear, but one Southwestern Ontario mayor doesn't like what he's seeing. Municipalities are no longer in the dark about the dollars they'll get to deal with the rollout of legalized marijuana, after the province announced Friday that $40 million from the tax on legalized marijuana will flow to cities in the next two years. Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said the numbers don't add up, pointing to the 444 municipalities in Ontario that have to share that cash. [continues 305 words]
Health emergencies don't wait for plans and procedures. As drug overdose deaths continue to plague London - with five lives claimed by suspected overdoses in the first three weeks of 2018 alone - - city staff and politicians hustled to keep up with zoning rules for supervised consumption facilities. Residents and experts agree that London needs the sites - the first of which, a temporary overdose-prevention site, was announced Friday - where drug users have a safe place to inject and easy access to an overdose antidote and community supports. [continues 369 words]
Temporary facility overdue 'because with every tick of the clock, someone else's life could end,' says ex-addict In a city where drug overdose deaths in the first three weeks of 2018 have nearly matched the entire 2017 death toll, there's finally an answer. Or at least a good start. Advocates say London's newly unveiled overdose prevention site at 186 King St. - the first of its kind in Ontario - is key to stemming the tide of overdose deaths in the city. [continues 555 words]
Three deaths, two hospitalizations, 48 hours. It doesn't get much scarier. As if the deadly opioid drug crisis sweeping London and the rest of Canada isn't alarming enough, London police amped up their warnings about the fallout Wednesday in the wake of three suspected drug overdose deaths and two hospital emergency cases spread over several days this week. The move came as city police and the Ontario Provincial Police held a rare joint public information meeting Wednesday night about the dangers of fentanyl, the most sinister opioid drug and one that's already been implicated in deaths in Southwestern Ontario. [continues 726 words]
Amnesty for marijuana possession convictions could be in the cards for Canadians, but not before recreational pot is legal. That's the word from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who wrapped up a two-day federal cabinet retreat in London on Friday. With Trudeau and his cabinet in town, questions swirled around the potential for a legal amnesty program that may offer Canadians relief when it comes to criminal convictions for simple possession of marijuana. The federal government's plan to legalize marijuana is just months away from hitting London, with the first local pot shop set to open by July 1. That's the same deadline that's been promised by the Liberal government for legalization. [continues 399 words]
There may be as much as $1 billion in tax revenue at stake as Canada readies for legalized marijuana next summer. The cut for cities? So far, zero. Municipalities may be left in the cold when it comes to sharing in the cash from legalized pot sales, with the federal government proposing a 10 per cent excise tax - or $1 per gram, whichever is higher - to be split evenly between the provinces and the feds. Little has been said about how many, if any, tax dollars will flow to cities bearing the burden of costs associated with policing, licensing and enforcement of marijuana sales after July 1. [continues 441 words]
There may be as much as a billion dollars in tax revenue at stake as Canada readies for legalized marijuana next summer. The cut for cities? So far, zero. Municipalities may be left in the cold when it comes to sharing in the cash from legalized pot sales, with the federal government proposing a 10 per cent excise tax - or $1 per gram, whichever is higher - to be split evenly between the provinces and the feds. Little has been said about how many, if any, tax dollars will flow to cities bearing the burden of costs associated with policing, licensing and enforcement of marijuana sales after July 1. [continues 379 words]
A police crackdown on London's most brazen new marijuana dispensary was inevitable, and residents shouldn't expect legalization to put an end to those raids, one pot advocate said. Police descended on the London Relief Centre Wednesday morning, arresting five. A woman who witnessed the raid said more than half a dozen officers burst through the door about 10 a.m., yelling for everyone to get out of the Richmond Row business. "It was pretty scary. They just kind of came out of nowhere," said Paula, a customer who didn't want to give her full name. "I'm still a little rattled." [continues 298 words]
While politicians were busy debating whether to create a new group to deal with an opioid crisis, community agencies went ahead and formed it themselves. That created a confusing conversation at a city hall committee on Monday night, when politicians debated the opioid crisis working group for the third time since Aug. 1. But third time's the charm. Originally, Mayor Matt Brown asked council to establish the group, billed as a task force that would help address the opioid crisis that's killing dozens of Londoners each year. [continues 386 words]
Council committee backs mayor's crisis working group. London's response to the opioid crisis might become nearly as complex as the addictions that require it. City politicians voted in favour of yet another group focusing on solutions to opioid abuse Tuesday, but several admitted they were unclear on what, exactly, they were supporting. "I need to know this is going to be effective," Coun. Phil Squire told the community and protective services committee. His motion to send the plan back to staff for clarification was narrowly defeated. [continues 429 words]
Maybe they go to school without a lunch. A doctor's appointment is missed. Little fingers are without mittens in the frosty winter air. All parents can relate to that sinking feeling that comes with forgetting something a child needs. But sometimes those experiences turn from an innocent mistake to a pattern of red flags. Those red flags could be pointing to an addiction. Challenges with substance use are certainly not uncommon in Oxford -- a region that once earned the nickname "Oxy County," and not just because of similarities in name. [continues 1610 words]
CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY: The third in a series marking the 120th anniversary of the Oxford agency Maybe they go to school without a lunch. A doctor's appointment is missed. Little fingers are without mittens in the frosty winter air. All parents can relate to that sinking feeling that comes with forgetting something a child needs. But sometimes those experiences turn from an innocent mistake to a pattern of red flags. Those red flags could be pointing to an addiction. [continues 1712 words]
