Where will it be legal to use recreational cannabis? Only in private residences, including apartment buildings and outdoor areas such as decks, porches and yards. But not in public places, workplaces or inside a vehicle, said the province in an announcement Friday. This approach is guided by existing laws for consuming alcohol and the Smoke-Free Ontario Act. In other words, if you can't use tobacco or drink a beer in a place, you can't use marijuana there, either. So, no smoking pot in parks or in front of a school. [continues 435 words]
There are a lot of unknowns about how marijuana will be consumed when federal legislation kicks in next year. One of the biggest: Where will users legally be able to use cannabis? It's a question Ottawa Public Health is considering. It is also speaking to other municipal agencies, and it might expand its consultations to include health and social service agencies and early intervention and treatment agencies. The city's health authority does not want pot to be smoked in cannabis cafes similar to the "coffee shops" of Amsterdam. However, it is speaking with local stakeholders "to assess the local implications of cannabis legalization, including the potential for designated spaces for some marijuana users." [continues 358 words]
Ontario's paramedics will be sending a message to the province's paramedic chiefs this week: we need to carry more naloxone in ambulances. Naloxone blocks the effect of opioids on the brain, reversing the effects on breathing. It can be used in an emergency to pull a drug user who has stopped breathing from the brink of death. Most Ontario ambulances, including those in Ottawa, carry two vials of naloxone, as well as two respirators to treat patients who have overdosed, said Darryl Wilton, president of the Professional Paramedic Association of Ottawa. [continues 340 words]
Police and drug experts say it's more complicated and expensive than nabbing those who are drunk, writes Joanne Laucius. What, exactly, does it mean to be one toke over the line? That's one of many questions that will have to be answered as Canada moves toward legalizing marijuana and police wonder if they're equipped to crack down on stoned drivers. "We're having our challenges. The most pressing one is that we don't know what the legislation will look like. It makes it hard to train and prepare," said Supt. Gord Jones of the Toronto Police, the co-chair of the Canadian Chiefs of Police traffic committee. [continues 1802 words]
Marijuana a 'human-rights issue' employers will have to consider Medical cannabis has been named among the top biggest legal risks for businesses in 2017, according to a report from Canada's largest law firm. In its annual report on key trends and regulatory changes, Borden Ladner Gervais predicts medical marijuana will have a major impact on businesses - such as the possibility of employees being stoned on the job. But that doesn't mean employers should freak out about it - because overreacting is also a risk, said Rob Weir, a partner in the law firm. [continues 436 words]
Canada's opioid crisis is worsening and health professionals and policy-makers are scrambling for a solution, a packed audience at an opioid conference in Ottawa heard Friday morning. The invitation-only conference, chaired by Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott and her Ontario counterpart Eric Hoskins, was organized to address the increasing number of overdoses and deaths due to the use of opioids. The conference heard that multiple doses of naloxone, the antidote administered to overdose patients, are now required when only a short time ago, just one dose was sufficient. "Breaking Bad is the reality," paramedic Pierre Poirier told the audience during the first panel discussion of the day. "We're not just talking about fentanyl. We're talking about what chemists are doing. We can't be callous about what's happening." [continues 631 words]
OTTAWA - Twice as many students in Grades 7 to 12 reported lighting up a marijuana joint as lighting up a cigarette in Ottawa last year. About one per cent said they used marijuana every day. About four per cent said they had used it in the past week. And 15 per cent said they had used it in the past four weeks. About three per cent of the total teen population of Ottawa reports some signs of a cannabis dependency problem, issues like feeling anxious without cannabis, or wishing they could stop. [continues 546 words]
Are teens more dazed and confused than they were a generation ago? It depends on how you look at it, as Joanne Laucius discovers In Ottawa last year, twice as many students in Grade 7 to 12 reported lighting up a marijuana joint as lighting up a cigarette. But that is only part of the picture. About one per cent said they used marijuana every day. About four per cent said they had used it in the past week. And 15 per cent said they had used it in the past four weeks. About three per cent of the total teen population of Ottawa reports some signs of a cannabis dependency problem, issues like feeling anxious without cannabis, or wishing they could stop. [continues 1112 words]
White 'Repackaged' Drug Facility Idea As Crime Prevention Tool The newcomer to Ottawa credited with being the catalyst for a new residential drug-treatment centre for youth managed the feat by "repackaging" the proposal from a health issue into a crime prevention issue. Yesterday, as a who's who of politicians and community leaders gathered for a multi-million-dollar funding announcement by Premier Dalton McGuinty, police Chief Vern White was praised for being instrumental in putting together the deal that has eluded Ottawa for two decades. [continues 759 words]
Plan Consists Of Two Treatment Centres With 20-Bed Total Capacity After two decades of lobbying, waiting and frustration, the Ottawa area will be getting a youth residential drug treatment program -- although one that is less than half the size proposed less than a year ago. The board of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network has approved a plan that would see the opening of two treatment centres for youth between the ages of 13 and 17 -- a 15-bed facility for anglophones and a separate five-bed facility for francophones. [continues 623 words]
Plan Consists Of Two Treatment Centres With 20-Bed Total Capacity After two decades of lobbying, waiting and frustration, the Ottawa area will be getting a youth residential drug treatment program -- although one that is less than half the size proposed less than a year ago. The board of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network has approved a plan that would see the opening of two treatment centres for youth between the ages of 13 and 17 -- a 15-bed facility for anglophones and a separate five-bed facility for francophones. [continues 624 words]
'It's Gonna Happen,' Region's Health Chief Says Of Two Facilities For Drug-Addicted Youths The Ottawa area will be getting two residential drug treatment centres for youth between the ages of 13 and 17, says the chief executive of the Champlain Local Health Integration Network. The long-awaited plan, which will goes before the health network board for approval on May 28, calls for a 15-bed residential facility for English-speaking youth on the west side and a separate five-bed facility for francophone youth on the east side. [continues 654 words]
An Ottawa police officer ordered to resign after stealing crack cocaine for his own use has lost an appeal to keep his job. Const. Kevin Hall, now 44, was dismissed last December after a Police Services Act hearing officer said his conduct fell "far short" of the "most minimal standards" demanded by the public and his employer. Const. Hall appealed the decision -- which placed him back under paid suspension -- arguing that the sentence was "unduly harsh and punitive." He said hearing officer Terence Kelly did not give proper consideration to the fact that drug addiction is considered a disability under the Ontario Human Rights Code. His appeal also argued that Mr. Kelly's decision did not give sufficient weight to his rehabilitation efforts. [continues 386 words]
Eight Studies Show Risk of Schizophrenia Increases From Twofold to Threefold A pair of articles in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has resurrected the "reefer madness" argument about marijuana and its links to mental illness. Cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia in people already vulnerable to the mental illness -- and this fact should shape marijuana policy, argue two psychiatric epidemiologists in this month's journal. The link between marijuana use and schizophrenia is generally accepted in the psychiatric community. The problem is that the vulnerable population -- mostly teenagers -- generally isn't eager to absorb the message. [continues 471 words]
Called 'Reefer Madness' In the Olden Days A pair of articles in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has resurrected the "reefer madness" argument about marijuana and its links to mental illness. Cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia in people already vulnerable to the illness -- and this fact should shape marijuana policy, argue two psychiatric epidemiologists. The link between marijuana use and schizophrenia is generally accepted in the psychiatric community. The problem is that the vulnerable population -- mostly teenagers -- generally aren't eager to absorb the message. [continues 352 words]
Pot May Lead To Schizophrenia A pair of articles in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has resurrected the "reefer madness" argument about marijuana and its links to mental illness. Cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia in people already vulnerable to the mental illness -- and this fact should shape marijuana policy, argue two psychiatric epidemiologists in this month's journal. The link between marijuana use and schizophrenia is generally accepted in the psychiatric community. The problem is that the vulnerable population -- mostly teenagers -- generally isn't eager to absorb the message. [continues 486 words]
A pair of articles in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has resurrected the "reefer madness" argument about marijuana and its links to mental illness. Cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia in people already vulnerable to the mental illness -- and this fact should shape marijuana policy, argue two psychiatric epidemiologists in this month's journal. The link between marijuana use and schizophrenia is generally accepted in the psychiatric community. The problem is that the vulnerable population -- mostly teenagers -- generally isn't eager to absorb the message. [continues 165 words]
A pair of articles in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has resurrected the "reefer madness" argument about marijuana and its links to mental illness. Cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia in people already vulnerable to the mental illness -- and this fact should shape marijuana policy, argue two psychiatric epidemiologists in this month's journal. The link between marijuana use and schizophrenia is generally accepted in the psychiatric community. The problem is that the vulnerable population -- mostly teenagers -- generally isn't eager to absorb the message. [continues 447 words]
A pair of articles in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has resurrected the "reefer madness" argument about marijuana and its links to mental illness. Cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia in people already vulnerable to the mental illness -- and this fact should shape marijuana policy, argue two psychiatric epidemiologists in this month's journal. The link between marijuana use and schizophrenia is generally accepted in the psychiatric community. The problem is that the vulnerable population -- mostly teenagers -- generally isn't eager to absorb the message. [continues 518 words]
Studies Of Teens And Young Adults Link Marijuana Smoking To Schizophrenia A pair of articles in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry has resurrected the "reefer madness" argument about marijuana and its links to mental illness. Cannabis use can trigger schizophrenia in people already vulnerable to the mental illness - and this fact should shape marijuana policy, argue two psychiatric epidemiologists in this month's journal. The link between marijuana use and schizophrenia is generally accepted in the psychiatric community. The problem is that the vulnerable population - mostly teenagers - generally isn't eager to absorb the message. [continues 652 words]
