Canada

Gananoque Reporter, 21 Sep 2017 - When it comes tomy son's possible future use of marijuana, I'm not sure if "It's legal, mom!" will have a material impact on my response. I have imagined this conversation, and others like it, about life's many potentially addicting substances and behaviours- alcohol, prescription and other drugs, gambling, speeding, texting and driving, pornography, sugar, etc.- because I know the kind of world we live in today and that the values of the majority are less and less aligned with the old-fashioned values espoused at my craggy old kitchen table.

Toronto Star, 20 Sep 2017 - First of its kind in Canada, program covers growing pot and its complex regulations It's got the greenhouse, the curriculum and the necessary approvals. Now all that's needed are up to 25 students keen on becoming the first crop of students to earn a post secondary certificate in growing pot.

Globe and Mail, 20 Sep 2017 - College and university graduates will be able to earn a certificate in cannabis production starting next fall, when Niagara College will launch Canada's first accredited program in the field. The program will begin months after the deadline imposed by the federal government for legalizing production, distribution and sale of the weed that is eventually expected to generate $8-billion in annual sales. With regulations not yet in place for legalized marijuana, the program may have to shift with politics.

Winnipeg Free Press, 20 Sep 2017 - AS recreational cannabis becomes legal nationally on July 1, Canadians are faced with tremendous opportunity and risk. Our country is essentially rolling back a long-existing illegal trade to facilitate a legal, regulated market. The purpose, as the federal Liberal platform says, is: "to ensure that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children and the profits out of the hands of criminals, we will legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana." With much yet to be figured out, the following focuses on the issue of how to implement retail distribution, which rests with each province.

Winnipeg Free Press, 20 Sep 2017 - THE federal government is set on legalizing marijuana by summer 2018. While the Liberals 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.

The Record, 20 Sep 2017 - A southern Ontario college says it will be the first to offer a post-secondary credential in the production of commercial cannabis. Niagara College says the graduate certificate program will launch in the fall of 2018 and aims to prepare students to work in the licensed production of cannabis, which includes marijuana, hemp fibre and hemp seed.

Hamilton Spectator, 20 Sep 2017 - RE: Legalizing pot On July 1, 2018, I predict a storm, the likes of which we have never seen. It will go right across this beautiful country of ours leaving destruction. His name? Marijuana. Cost to us, significant. With the government it's always about the money. Enough said.

Prince George Citizen, 20 Sep 2017 - 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.

London Free Press, 20 Sep 2017 - The impending legalization of marijuana has the Ontario government planning to toughen the penalties for driving drunk, not just stoned. The changes, announced by Premier Kathleen Wynne and Transportation Minister Steven Del Duca Monday morning, will particularly affect drivers under age 21, novice drivers with limited licences and commercial drivers. None of them will be permitted to have any alcohol or cannabis in their systems if they're driving, and violations will be treated with harsher roadside punishments - steeper cash penalties and, in some cases, longer driving suspensions.

The California safe injection bill comes up two votes short of passing this year, Toronto authorities ignore the pleas of pot lounge operators for a place under legalization, Virginia's Democratic attorney general comes out with a plan to fight opioid overdoses, and more.

[image:1 align:left caption:true]Marijuana Policy

New Mexico Democratic Gubernatorial Candidates Want to Legalize It, Republicans Not So Much. Three leading Democratic contenders for the party's gubernatorial nomination support legalization, while the sole Republican in the race does not. Democrat Peter DeBenedittis released a statement Monday calling for legalization, prompting Democrats Jeff Apodaca and US Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham to come out for it as well. The sole Republican, US Rep Steve Pearce opposes legalization, as does one Democrat, state Rep. Joseph Cervantes. But Cervantes noted that he has sponsored legislation reducing penalties for possession.

Medical Marijuana

Arkansas Deadline Sees Rush of Applicants for Grower, Distributor Licenses. A Monday deadline for grower and distributor applications saw applicants flood the state office building where the paperwork is delivered. Firm numbers weren't available, but applicants overwhelmed the clerks on duty and faced hours-long waits to get processed.

Heroin and Prescription Opioids

Virginia Attorney General Releases Plan to Fight Opioid Epidemic. State Attorney General Mark Herring (D) on Monday released a plan to address the growing number of deaths caused by the use of heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioids. Among the proposals: harsher laws for people dealing in fentanyl, enhanced electronic prescription monitoring, requiring health insurers to cover alternative treatments for pain, teaching schoolchildren about opioids beginning in middle school, and an investigation into price gouging by companies selling naloxone. News accounts don't indicate any discussion in Herring's plan of the need to ensure the availability of opioid pain relievers to those patients who do need them, nor any critical examination of his proposal for increased sentences.

Harm Reduction

California Safe Injection Site Bill Falls Short in State Senate. A bill that would have opened the way to safe injection sites in the state has come up two votes short in the state Senate. The measure, Assembly Bill 186, is not dead, however. Even though the Senate did not vote to pass it, it did vote to reconsider it next year.

International

Toronto Just Says No to Marijuana Lounges. Despite the pleas of pot consumption lounge owners, some of whom have been open for years, the city's municipal standards and licensing committee voted 4-1 to limit marijuana businesses to government-run stores. The committee also voted to increase penalties for businesses that allow on-site consumption. The city is staying within the parameters set by the Ontario provincial government, which recently announced plans for a government monopoly on pot sales.

Lesotho Becomes First African County to Issue Medical Marijuana License. The country's health ministry has licensed a South African company, Verve Dynamics, to manufacture medical marijuana products, marking a first for the continent.

Peru Medical Marijuana Bill Advances. Spurred by a recent raid on a makeshift medical marijuana facility that mothers were using to soothe their sick children, the Peruvian congress is advancing a medical marijuana bill. The bill has now passed the congressional Committee on National Defense and heads to the full Congress for debate and a final vote. President Pablo Kucyzinski has supported the legislation.

Amnesty International Criticizes Indonesia's Turn to Harsh Drug War. The government's tough stance against drug dealers is leading to an increasing death toll, the human rights group said. Amnesty's Indonesian affiliate said some 80 people had been killed by police in the drug war so far this year, more than four times as many as last year.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org"s lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)

Toronto Star, 19 Sep 2017 - A city committee has endorsed the province's highly regulated approach to marijuanalegislation, despite pleas from dispensary operators and pot users. The licensing committee voted 4-1 Monday in favour of city staff recommendations endorsing Premier Kathleen Wynne's plan to sell marijuana only in government run, LCBO-type shops across Ontario after federal legalization takes effect next year.

London Free Press, 19 Sep 2017 - Zero-tolerance rules for drivers impaired by drugs or alcohol applauded by police A blast from the past - and jacked-up fines - will usher in legal pot in Ontario as the province races to put the brakes to drug-impaired driving, including by marijuana, before weed becomes legal next summer.

Ottawa Sun, 19 Sep 2017 - Pot legalization brings tougher penalties for all impaired drivers The impending legalization of marijuana has the Ontario government planning to toughen the penalties for driving drunk, not just stoned.

Toronto Star, 19 Sep 2017 - Ontario modelled new laws on U.S. drunk-driving fines Ontario will have a "zero tolerance" policy toward young drivers and truckers who use marijuana. Premier Kathleen Wynne on Monday said those 21 and under, commercial drivers and novice motorists will face stiffer penalties if caught behind the wheel while under the influence of cannabis or booze.

The Record, 19 Sep 2017 - TORONTO - Ontario plans to introduce tough new penalties for drug-impaired drivers ahead of the legalization of recreational marijuana next July. Premier Kathleen Wynne said Monday there will be zero tolerance for young people aged 21 and under, novice drivers and all commercial drivers in Ontario who have a detectable presence of drugs or alcohol in their system. The province will also increase all monetary penalties and suspensions for impaired driving offences.

London Free Press, 19 Sep 2017 - 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.

Toronto Star, 19 Sep 2017 - News that Toronto is one big step closer to a long-term safe injection site is most welcome, particularly as this city, like many in North America, grapples with a growing opioid addiction crisis. It's also a reminder of the important work ahead. In the month since a pop-up injection site opened in Moss Park, the volunteer staff has accommodated nearly 2,700 visits and administered 26 doses of naloxone, the antidote to these deadly drugs.

Metro, 19 Sep 2017 - We need to figure out how to sell weed in Nova Scotia - we also need to get more stores to sell healthy food. Maybe we can use one problem to solve the other: allow stores to sell weed if they also offer a minimum quantity and quality of fruit and vegetables.

Sudbury Star, 19 Sep 2017 - More than a third of respondents plan to use legalized marijuana A new study by Sudbury-based researchers has found that 39 per cent, or 11.5 million adult Canadians intend to be cannabis consumers once the federal government's legalization plan becomes a reality.

Bostonians celebrate marijuana legalization, California calls for its rescheduling, state attorneys general urge health insurers to reduce opioid prescriptions, Maxine Waters files a bill to end mandatory minimums for drug sentences, and more.

[image:1 align:right caption:true]Marijuana Policy

California Officially Calls for Marijuana Rescheduling. The Assembly last Thursday passed a resolution calling on the federal government to reschedule marijuana. The Senate had approved the resolution earlier. "The Legislature urges the Congress of the United States to pass a law to reschedule marijuana or cannabis and its derivatives from a Schedule I drug to an alternative schedule, therefore allowing the legal research and development of marijuana or cannabis for medical use," reads the joint resolution.

Boston Freedom Rally Draws Thousands to Celebrate Legalization. For the first time since voters legalized marijuana last November, the annual event demanding legalization was held this past weekend. Thousands flocked to Boston Common for the 28th Annual Boston Freedom Rally for live music, speeches, educational panels, and -- of course -- plentiful pot-smoking. Even though public marijuana use is illegal, police reported no arrests.

Nevada Supreme Court Throws a Wrench in Marijuana Distribution Licensing. The state's highest court issued a temporary injunction last Friday barring the Department of Taxation from granting any more pot distribution licenses. This means supply chain issues will continue to plague pot shops in the near term. The initiative that legalized pot in the state reserved such licenses for liquor distributors for the first 18 months, but the Tax Commission had voted to allow other distributors to get in on the action after determining that the booze distributors couldn't keep up with demand. The liquor distributors took legal action to block the new licenses, and here we are. Oral arguments in the case are set for October 3.

Heroin and Prescription Opioids

State Attorneys General Urge Insurers to Seek Alternatives for Opioids. Attorneys general from 35 states, Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico announced a bipartisan coalition to fight opioid addiction on Monday and rolled out their effort by jointly calling on health insurers to review pain management treatment policies in a bid to promote more use of alternatives to prescription opioids. The AGs said they didn't want health insurers to unintentionally contribute to the crisis. News articles didn't indicate whether the AGs noted the need to ensure that patients who do need opioids receive them.

Harm Reduction

Philadelphia DA Candidates Are Open to Safe Injection Sites. Larry Krasner, the Democratic frontrunner to be the next district attorney, has come out in support of city-sanctioned safe injection sites for drug users. His Republican foe, Beth Grossman, wouldn't go that far, but said she is open to discussion on the issue. Safe injection sites were mentioned in Mayor Jim Kenney's opioid task force report in May, but they were the most controversial of the report's 18 recommendations. Although efforts are underway in several cities, including New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, no officially-sanctioned safe injection sites operate in the US, although one unsanctioned one is reportedly operating in an unnamed US city.

Sentencing

Maxine Waters Files Bill to End Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) has filed House Resolution 3800 "to eliminate mandatory minimum sentences for all drug offenses." The bill text is not yet available on the congressional web site.

International

Toronto Pot Lounges Want Right to Exist Under Legalization. Faced with a provincial plan to impose a government monopoly on retail marijuana sales, Toronto's existing pot consumption lounges, some of which have been around since before the turn of the century, are asking the city's Municipal Licensing and Standards Committee to regulate them instead of shutting them down. They argue that the shops are needed in the city, which bans public pot smoking and where many renters and apartment dwellers have no legal place to indulge.

(This article was prepared by StoptheDrugWar.org's lobbying arm, the Drug Reform Coordination Network, which also pays the cost of maintaining this web site. DRCNet Foundation takes no positions on candidates for public office, in compliance with section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and does not pay for reporting that could be interpreted or misinterpreted as doing so.)