Medical cannabis patients who use the plant to treat conditions ranging from eczema to cancer are coming together this Friday from 10 a.m. to noon in front of Finance Minister

Bill Morneau's downtown Toronto constituency office at 430 Parliament St., to call out the government's proposed plan to increase the already unfair and burdensome tax on medical cannabis.

Unlike medical cannabis, most prescribed medications are not taxed, creating a situation where patients are choosing medications based on financial options rather than harm reduction and efficacy.

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Health unit under fire for perceived lack of urgency in pursuing provincial funds

Matt Cascadden, who lost seven friends last year to the raging opioid epidemic, is convinced a safe injection site in Windsor would save many lives.

"It should be pushed, I think we need it big time, now," the 36-year-old Windsor man and former drug user said Thursday.

Now living in a downtown residence, Cascadden contemplated the impact such a centre - part of an overdose prevention site currently being offered by the Ontario government - would have on the growing number of addicts who shoot up in parks, alleys and backyards.

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Niagara Falls may consider the possibility of licensed cannabis consumption lounges once recreational marijuana is legalized this summer.

Coun. Wayne Thomson said he's notified Niagara Falls Tourism, of which he's the chairman, the provincial government is considering allowing such establishments, and is asking the public to weigh in on the idea.

"I've already sent it to Niagara Falls Tourism to get the feedback from some of the hotels, whether they feel that they're comfortable with this, or they're not," he said.

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Research grant of $1.4M shared by 14 projects that will help 'inform policy'

Pot czar Liberal MP Bill Blair appeared at Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health on Wednesday morning to announce the winners of a $1.4-million cannabis research grant - money that scientists say is necessary, but also too little and too late.

Blair unveiled 14 projects that would each receive $100,000 over one year. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) "catalyst" grants, a funding opportunity first announced last spring, range in focus from efforts to monitor cannabis-impaired driving to understanding the impacts of pot use in youth.

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In the hope of spreading awareness of the therapeutic benefits of MDMA, commonly known as ecstacy, one local psychotherapist is encouraging Kingstonians to explore and discuss the opportunities of psychedelic drugs.

"MDMA is an empathogen, it gives you more empathy and self-compassion, and so when you're in therapy with it you can look at your trauma with a little bit more openness," Richard Tyo, a registered psychotherapist and member of the Kingston Psychedelic Society, said on Wednesday. "It can really accelerate a lot of therapy."

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City hall bureaucrats don't think poor people should have access to legal marijuana.

Of course, in making that request to the LCBO subsidiary that will run legal pot shops, Ottawa's bureaucrats couched it in more palatable language.

City staff asked the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, which is currently looking for areas to open pot stores, to please avoid areas "experiencing socio-economic stress."

What, precisely, that means is not defined. And no neighbourhood names are attached to that request. But we can all guess what areas they're talking about - say, Vanier.

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Cambridge man back at courthouse smoking pot - this time fully clothed

KITCHENER - Jeffrey Shaver, the Cambridge man famous for his bong-smoking nearly naked protests across Waterloo Region, has been vindicated.

The professional standards branch of Waterloo Regional Police has ruled officers unlawfully arrested, searched and detained him after he smoked medical marijuana in front of the Cambridge police station on Oct. 22, 2016.

Shaver, 31, fired up a bong that day to protest a charge of marijuana possession laid on Oct. 20. On both days Shaver showed regional police officers his documents for medical marijuana. Both times he was charged with possession.

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It's tough to imagine a situation where it would be fair for a landlord to change a tenant's lease mid-term. But the impending legalization of pot consumption this summer is one.

Ontario landlords are understandably concerned that recreational users may smoke weed in their units once it's legal, leading to a deluge of complaints from other tenants when the fumes inevitably end up in their suites.

Not only would the second-hand marijuana smoke be an annoyance, parents would be rightly concerned that it will get into the lungs of their children.

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Joelle Charbonneau has three words in mind as recreational marijuana's legalization approaches.

"Train, train, train," said Charbonneau. "Information is key."

The operations manager at JTR & Custom Works attended a Timmins Chamber of Commerce presentation at the Schumacher Lions Club Tuesday, where lawyer Carly Stringer explained employers' legal obligations regarding cannabis in the workplace.

"(I wanted) to be informed of the new legislation changes, and to ensure that we'll be in compliance with the laws and regulations concerning marijuana in the workplace," said Charbonneau.

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Watson voices concern about promoting smoking and putting workers at risk

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says he won't support creation of cannabis lounges in the city, an idea being floated by the provincial government as the country heads toward legalizing recreational pot.

"As the former Minister of Health Promotion, Mayor Watson does not want to make it easier for people to smoke any substance, including cannabis, in lounges," said a statement from Watson's office. "This would also put the health of workers at risk by inhaling second-hand smoke."

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CAMBRIDGE - Coun. Frank Monteiro has a lot of questions he hopes he can get answers to.

He, along with Coun. Mike Mann and two city employees, will visit supervised injectionsites in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver to learn more about how the sites work and what doesn't work.

Monteiro says that before any decisions can be made locally, more information is needed on how the sites function and how the neighbourhoods around them have been affected.

"We want to know what their experience has been since they were established and are people using it," he said.

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City asks LCBO to keep cannabis out of disadvantaged districts

As the LCBO scouts the city for places to open cannabis stores, City of Ottawa planners have asked the agency to avoid neighbourhoods that are "experiencing socio-economic stress."

Staff declined to elaborate on which neighbourhoods should be off-limits. But the request raises the question of whether residents of disadvantaged neighbourhoods should be protected - or excluded, depending on your point of view - from having a legal cannabis store.

The Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, a subsidiary of the LCBO, is asking municipalities for advice as it selects sites for the 40 shops it plans to open when the federal government legalizes recreational marijuana. That's expected in July.

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Ontario landlords want the right to immediately ban the use of pot in rental properties when recreational marijuana is legalized this summer, arguing they should be allowed to change tenants' existing leases to stop the drug from being consumed in their units.

Some marijuana users say, however, that the situation would leave renters with few places to legally use weed, given the province's already restrictive rules around the drug.

Under rules announced in the fall, the province is planning a ban on recreational pot consumption in public spaces and workplaces, allowing it only in private residences. Medical marijuana use will be permitted anywhere that cigarette smoking is allowed, the legislation says.

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Londoner says security officers, often first on the scene, should be trained to use life-saving naloxone kits

In the wake of several overdose deaths and an experience saving a man's life, a London security guard wants to spread the word about life-saving naloxone.

"The really neat thing with the naloxone kits is anybody is able to use it. It sounds like a scary thing and it can be, but it is one of those things that can be used by anybody," Mathew Granger said.

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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.

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An insignificant number of Canadians use illicit drugs. Less than four per cent use them and less than two per cent have a problem resulting from hard drug use, notably, heroin and cocaine. The consequences, which can include death and over-dosing, place a heavy social and economic burden on society.

Let's start by understanding what motivates people, and especially the young, to use drugs. Programs that address the reasons for the behaviour are far more likely to work.

That said, it is about time we start treating drug use and drug addiction for what it is: a public health problem with the priorities being treatment, rehabilitation and harm reduction.

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'Crystal meth … in this city is a much worse problem than opioids'

The opioid epidemic that has overtaken Ontario has left its mark on Lambton County, but a more insidious problem - the widespread use of crystal methamphetamine -will have an equal, if not greater effect on crime in the future, according to the head of Sarnia Police Service's Vice Unit.

Det. Sgt. John Pearce spoke about the prevalence of opioids and methamphetamine in Sarnia, the inherent dangers of these drugs, and the legalization of marijuana during a recent presentation at the Central Forum Speaker Series.

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Ontario is considering allowing licensed cannabis-consumption lounges in the province once recreational marijuana is legalized this summer, and is asking the public to weigh in on the idea.

The proposal is being met with optimism by some cannabis activists and municipal politicians who say the provincial government's approach on where legal weed can be consumed has been too restrictive so far.

Under rules outlined in the fall, the province intends to sell marijuana in up to 150 stores run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to people 19 and older, with a ban on pot's consumption in public spaces or workplaces.

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Ontario is considering allowing licensed cannabis consumption lounges in the province once recreational marijuana is legalized this summer, and is asking the public to weigh in on the idea.

The proposal is being met with optimism by some cannabis activists and municipal politicians who say the provincial government's approach on where legal weed can be consumed has been too restrictive so far.

Under rules outlined in the fall, the province intends to sell marijuana in up to 150 stores run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to people 19 and older, with a ban on pot's consumption in public spaces or workplaces.

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Public parks? Coffee shops? The province wants your input on pot

What are the three most important rules of consuming cannabis?

You know the joke - location, location, location.

With the legalization of marijuana looming, the conversation has turned to where it can be safely consumed.

Where should people smoke pot? Where should they consume cannabis edibles?

Last week, the province asked for public feedback on the issue. Ontario has nixed consumption on the job or in public places. The 'public places' bit immediately presents problems - lots of people smoke dope in parks, and for obvious reasons.

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