News

He was a friendless high school loner struggling with autism. So why did an undercover cop target him as a drug dealer?

This month, a new company is set to light up the TSX Venture Exchange in a first-of-its-kind public offering. It's not a tech darling or a renewable energy startup. It's a pot grower.

Youth outreach workers and counsellors say they aren't surprised an increasing number of young Albertans are seeking help to overcome addictions related to crystal meth.

First Month of Recreational Sales Yields $2 Million DENVER (AP) - Colorado made roughly $ 2 million in marijuana taxes in January, state revenue officials reported Monday in the world's first accounting of the recreational pot business.

Opinions

More of your co-workers may soon be regular marijuana users as the law about how people get the drug for health reasons is eased.

Al Graham was in town the other day. He and I have a relationship not unlike those based on social media; we have mutual friends. We met for the first time eight years ago, at a gathering of many experts on the subject of the medical use of cannabis.

EVERY day, desperate Australians are breaking the law by acquiring or growing their own marijuana to treat problems ranging from chronic pain to uncontrolled seizures and chemotherapy-induced nausea.

Michigan legislature is currently debating the merits of edible pieces of medical marijuana -- non-smokable forms of the medicine. The effects of medical marijuana are beneficial for those diagnosed with a number of diseases. The Court of Appeals' decision to outlaw non-inhalable forms of medical marijuana limits the efficacy of the drug by alienating patients who have difficulties inhaling smoke. Michigan legislators need to strongly consider passing House Bill 5104 to allow the legal distribution of edibles.

Letters

Dr. Russell Schilling called marijuana a gateway drug in his March 2 op-ed. The real gateway is marijuana prohibition. As long as marijuana remains illegal and distributed by drug cartels, consumers will come into contact with sellers of meth, cocaine and heroin. Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is deadly.

Re: Conservative government eyeing looser pot laws, March 5 If it wasn't just a cynical tax grab dressed up as another vote-buying electoral scheme, one would be almost heartened to hear that the law and order Conservatives may finally be realizing that Canadians are far more like the people of Colorado and Washington states than Texas and Alabama.

I can see ticketing for consumption of marijuana in a place or manner likely to be a threat to public safety - kind of like liquor laws. But, I do not understand why consumption of marijuana in a private place without causing any harm would lead to any action by police.

The March 10 letter by Debby Richards Perugini ("Legal pot's dark side") has me scratching my head and wondering why every parent in the country is not this passionate about Alcohol and the effects it has on our young people - and anybody else!

Kristine Lessard's account of the tragic loss of her son to heroin ["This addiction doesn't follow any rules," Local Opinions, March 2] struck a deep chord with me, as my husband and I lost our son to a cocaine addiction several years ago.

Re: "Police chiefs seek pot money; Group urges more money for marijuana enforcement," March 6 news story.

Re: VPD to feds: We won't enforce new pot law, March 5 I'm pleased the Vancouver police will refuse to enforce the new pot law by allowing medical-marijuana dispensaries to continue operating. A truly absurd aspect of the federal Conservatives' "free market" scheme is that the product only be delivered by "secure courier."