News

A city committee has endorsed the province's highly regulated approach to marijuanalegislation, despite pleas from dispensary operators and pot users.

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.

Ontario uses pending cannabis legalization as chance to toughen penalties for both The impending legalization of marijuana has the Ontario government planning to toughen the penalties for driving drunk, not just stoned.

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.

Opinions

Just a couple of years ago, discussions of how to deal with marijuana in the Inland Empire were limited. Now, several Inland jurisdictions are considering opening up to marijuana businesses, an overdue development given the failure of prohibition and the anticipated availability of commercial sales of marijuana in 2018.

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.

We need to figure out how to sell weed in Nova Scotia - we also need to get more stores to sell healthy food.

The change in the weather you're feeling is not the approach of autumn - - it's hot air from Ottawa colliding with the cold front of turbulent outrage that hangs over modern politics.

Letters

Saskatchewan cabinet minister Don Morgan is the latest provincial politician to say he wants marijuana legalization delayed for at least a year. Why?

Re: Big Weed will capitalize on cannabis at any cost to society, Opinion, Sept. 12 The government and Health Canada should fix the issues of access within the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations first. It's nothing short of pathetic that those previously licensed under the old regulations still don't have access. The government and Health Canada also need to end their sanctioned consortiums' profiteering off the backs of their clients. This has already cost Canadian veterans their coverage.

Re: Police urge feds to delay implementing legal pot plan, Sept. 13 Canada's police chiefs say they cannot police the limit of four pot plants per household. Do they currently police all households with respect to underage drinking? Of course they don't. It's impossible. There are some laws that cannot be fully enforced.

Although I would prefer a wider storefront distribution scheme that includes private dispensaries, I am OK with the government's initial plan for marijuana distribution. The coverage of the announcement mostly glosses over an important point: Online sales will be immediate, as soon as it is legalized.

Re: Lighting up the nanny narrative, Cohn, Sept. 12 Martin Regg Cohn argues a government-monopolized model is the best way to sell legal weed, as evidenced by the LCBO and the Beer Store.

Re: "Postpone legal pot, police exhort feds," Sept. 13. The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police seem to see their role as being an obstruction to the implementation of public policy. To this end, they want a delay of at least six months in the legalization of marijuana. They say this is necessary in order to train officers and certify more officers to conduct roadside tests.

Marijuana should have been decriminalized immediately by the new government, and money, time and precious limited court facilities not wasted on 16,000 unnecessary cases of possession in 2016 (plus how many this year and next until the promised summer of 2018?).