In the mellow suburban town of Clarkston, where aging hippies mingle easily with refugees, arrests for marijuana violations were never a top priority. So it wasn't much of a surprise when the city passed Georgia's most relaxed marijuana law, reducing the fine for possession of less than an ounce of the drug to $75. That was two and a half months ago. In that time, town leaders and residents are proud to say, the law has resulted in absolutely no changes. Clarkston is still Clarkston, not a drug haven. As more time passes, some say, leaders of other cities might look at the town and see that nothing bad happens when you get rid of $1,000 fines and threats of a criminal record for marijuana consumption. [end]
Moral dilemmas, NIMBY-ism and budgets pose obstacles Coun. Donna Skelly was curious what safe injection places for drug addicts look like. So Dr. Jessica Hopkins, Hamilton associate medical officer of health, drew her attention to slides of the Insite facility in Vancouver, one of two legally operating injection sites in Canada, both in Gastown. It has subdued lighting and shiny floors. It has mirrored booths where junkies can shoot up with heroin or any other illegal drugs they get their shaky hands on. [continues 612 words]
A Saskatchewan First Nation seeking to keep its territory free of drug dealers and pedophiles is moving to pass a law allowing it to banish "undesirable people." Chief Austin Bear of Muskoday First Nation said in an interview this week that the band council will conduct a referendum before the end of October asking members to approve a banishment law that he said will be the first of its kind in Canada. Muskoday and other Canadian First Nations have in the past used band council resolutions to evict people from their communities, but Bear said such resolutions would not withstand a court challenge. Muskoday's law will fall under a partial self-government regime called the First Nations Land Management Act, which gives signatory bands the power to manage their own lands. [continues 459 words]
All the nationwide rhetoric over lamentable black-on-black killings and lives matter doesn't ever seem to highlight the obvious reality that most of the shootings are drug-turf related. Every gang protects its square blocks and guns down intruders, unfortunately putting innocent people in the crossfire no matter where. If the Russians or Mexicans carved out turf and gunfire erupted, the conversation would revolve around white on brown killings, for instance. Decades ago I read about a supposedly true event in a New York county where Latinos and whites had installed themselves in a poor town where virtually all industries had closed. The underfunded city and county police couldn't cope with them. [continues 94 words]
I believe that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's plan to decriminalize and regulate the production, sale and use of marijuana is correct and should be applied to other drugs as well, like cocaine, for example. I feel this way not because I am in favour of drug use (I wouldn't dream of using these substances myself ), but because an iron-fisted "war on drugs" attempt to eradicate drug use doesn't work and is counterproductive, in the sense that greater problems are caused by making drugs illegal than by the effects of the drugs themselves. [continues 308 words]
Hamilton will join the vanguard of Ontario cities studying whether to give drug users a legal, supervised site to inject opioids such as heroin. The board of health voted Monday to study supervised injection sites - so long as the cost fits within the 2017 budget. But the panel asked for emphasis on public consultation in areas that could host such a centre. The vote was one of several Monday that will move the city from laggard to provincial pioneer in public health "harm reduction" strategies, including a decision to offer free, clean crack pipes and potentially expanding distribution of anti-overdose kits. [continues 607 words]
NASHVILLE - Willie Nelson's famous habit of smoking marijuana is not seen as a badge of outlaw courage here anymore, so much as the frivolous foible of an eccentric uncle. A popular FM station disgorging the Boomer rock hits of yesteryear calls itself Hippie Radio 94.5; one of its sponsors is a smoke shop that incessantly hawks glass pipes and detox kits. Even mainstream country acts mention smoking marijuana now and again among the litany of acceptable American pastimes. So perhaps it is not surprising as much as telling that this city, which residents often refer to as the Buckle of the Bible Belt, may be on the cusp of joining the long roster of American cities, including New York, that have decriminalized the stuff. [continues 1074 words]
Since it opened in February, the narcotics treatment center Zac Talbott co-owns in North Georgia has been booming, admitting more than 250 people with addictions to painkillers and heroin amid a nationwide opioid overdose epidemic that is killing thousands of people each year. For Talbott, the work is personal. He started using pain pills for minor back pain when he was in graduate school. That habit spiraled into an addiction, and he started buying pills on the street. Talbott eventually got help and has been recovering for several years. So he was dismayed when he learned just how many pain medication prescriptions were issued in Georgia last year: a whopping 7.8 million, equivalent to more than one prescription for every single adult in the Peach State. [end]
In cities like Seattle and Vancouver, the marijuana icon has become almost as common on storefronts as the Starbucks mermaid. But there's one big difference between the products on offer: A venti latte tastes the same everywhere and provides an identical caffeine rush, while marijuana stores offer the drug's active ingredients in varying combinations, potencies and formats. There is no consistency in testing, standards or labeling. This matters because marijuana's two psychoactive ingredients, tetrohydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), have contrasting effects on the brain. "THC makes you feel high," said Catharine Winstanley, a psychology professor at the University of British Columbia who does research on marijuana, while CBD "is responsible for its analgesic, antiseizure and purported anticancer effects." [continues 548 words]
Re: "More charged in A&M death -- 10 now facing drug charges following Frisco teen's overdose," Saturday Metro story. Anton Gridnev, 19, of Frisco is the latest tragic, preventable drug overdose death to make the news. College Station Medical Center received two calls from his fraternity house asking what to do when someone has overdosed. The caller asked the medical center not to call the police because of "substances" at their location. By the time someone finally did, it was too late to save Gridne v. [continues 146 words]
