Search Results: canada (229)

Graphic: Cannabis Culture

​Canada’s federal government is expected to announce new rules for medical marijuana that would allow only a few licensed growers to be permitted to cultivate cannabis.

The move would eliminate individual and private growers from the current system, under which eligible people apply to Health Canada, which then issues the license, reports Amy Minsky at Postmedia News.
People in the medical marijuana dispensing community who have heard about the impending change said it is unwelcome, and will do more harm than good.

Photo: urbangrower
Vapes on a plane! Lisa Mamakind was told that as long as patients aren’t using the devices during the times when passengers aren’t allowed to use electronics, she was free to medicate as needed.

​Health Canada-licensed medical marijuana patients are now allowed to consume cannabis through vaporization both in airports while waiting for their flights, and while on the plane during the flight, according to Lisa Mamakind and Cannabis Culture magazine.

“At the end of May 2011, as a license-holder, I took it up myself to clear up any ambiguities in regard to where and when I’m able to medicate,” Mamakind writes in Cannabis Culture. “Up until this point, we could only speculate as to what exactly were the policies of the corporations and agencies we deal with when we choose air travel.”

Photo: Bristol County District Attorney’s Office

​The government of Nova Scotia is facing a lawsuit by a couple who say the Canadian province should pay for their equipment to grow medical marijuana because they’re too poor.

Sam and his wife, Tanya, have disabilities and are on income assistance, reports CBC News. They both have medical marijuana licenses from Health Canada, and are allowed to grow a total of 25 plants.
But the couple said they don’t have enough money to buy the lights.
“We’re out of medication quite often,” Sam said. “We can’t keep up on the amount that we need to grow.”

Graphic: Cannabis Culture

​The U.S. Department of Justice has refused imprisoned marijuana entrepreneur and activist Marc Emery’s request for transfer back to Canada, meaning that he will likely spend most or all of his five-year sentence in a U.S. federal prison.

In a phone call Friday afternoon from a prisoner transfer center in Oklahoma, Marc informed his wife and fellow activist Jodie Emery that he received a letter from the Canadian consulate with the news that the U.S. government would not approve his treaty transfer back to Canada due to the supposed “seriousness of the offense” and “law enforcement concerns,” reports Cannabis Culture.
If both the U.S. and Canadian governments had approved the transfer, Emery would have been transferred to a Canadian prison, closer to his friends and family, and would have been eligible for parole almost immediately upon his return.
“I’m really stunned and greatly saddened,” Jodie Emery told Cannabis Culture. “It looks like the DEA and the U.S. government want their pound of flesh, and they want Marc to suffer down there as a nonviolent, peaceful political party leader imprisoned for his activism. This is devastating.”
“Marc has never harmed anyone and has devoted his life to fighting oppression,” Jodie said. “He’s been punished for speaking out for the rights of tens of millions of cannabis consumers here and in the U.S., and it’s truly frightening.”

Photo: Matt Mernagh
Canadian medical marijuana patient and Toke of the Town contributor Matt Mernagh won big this week, with an Ontario judge striking down Canada’s pot laws

​An appeal by the federal government of yesterday’s Ontario court decision striking down Canada’s marijuana laws is all but certain, according to political observers.

The government is now awaiting direction from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, reports Jennifer Yang at the Toronto Star. Lawmakers and law enforcement officers are “looking for guidance” on how to react to the court ruling.
“We are disappointed with this decision,” said Tim Vail, spokesperson for Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. “The independent Public Prosecution Service has to decide whether to appeal this decision. While the courts have said that there must be reasonable access to marijuana for medical purposes, we believe that this must be done in a controlled fashion to ensure public safety.”
The Public Prosecution service is “studying” the decision and has 30 days to appeal the ruling, which it is expected to do.
In the meantime, Ontario Provincial Police will continue to enforce the marijuana laws, even though they could soon cease to exist.

Photo: Matt Mernagh
The case was brought by prominent Canadian cannabis activist, patient and writer Matt Mernagh, above, a contributor to Toke of the Town.

An Ontario court has struck down Canada’s marijuana laws. The court struck down laws against possessing and growing cannabis as part of a ruling that found the country’s medical marijuana program is failing to provide access to the herb for patients who need it.

BUT. (And don’t you hate this?) That doesn’t mean smoking pot is legal yet, reports Adrian Morrow at The Globe and Mail. The federal government now has three months to launch an appeal or change its regulations to fix the problems identified by the court.
Justice Donald Taliano of the Ontario Superior Court struck down the Marihuana Medical Access Regulations, arguing they aren’t doing enough to ensure patients can obtain permission to use cannabis.

Photo: Canadian Made Cannabis Health Journal
This is a bag of Canadian government medical “marihuana.”

​When you get marijuana from the government, is satisfaction guaranteed? A Canadian medical cannabis patient is bummed out by Health Canada’s failure to refund $450 after he cancelled his government marijuana delivery service three months ago.

Lloyd Summerfield, 55, of Scarborough, Ontario, was one of many licensed users across Canada whose cannabis arrived regularly by courier from a grower under contract to the federal government, reports Tom Godfrey at the Toronto Sun. After Summerfield was run over by a taxi in 2006, his doctor prescribed marijuana to help with leg and body pains.
Summerfield said he borrowed $450 from a friend and used it to buy 90 grams of government-licensed cannabis, which was delivered to his apartment by a courier last November.
But he was told by his doctor that the government pot wasn’t strong enough to help him, so we returned the unopened package of marijuana to Health Canada.

Photo: The Vancouver Sun
Dana Larsen holds marijuana at The Medical Cannabis Dispensary, which he operates in Vancouver, in this 2008 photo.

​Longtime Canadian marijuana activist Dana Larsen has become the first candidate to enter the British Columbia NDP leadership race, announcing that he plans to make cannabis legalization an election issue.
Larsen, 39, officially kicked off his campaign Wednesday morning, reports CBC News.
“I support B.C. NDP policies which call for cannabis to be legally taxed and regulated,” Larsen said. “Cannabis is British Columbia’s biggest industry and it should be brought above ground.”

Graphic: Magickal Graphics
David Hodgkinson got the equivalent of a lump of coal in his Christmas stocking from the RCMP.

B.C. Man May Be Spending Christmas In The Dark

Medical marijuana grower David Hodgkinson may be having a dark Christmas after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police swooped in on his home Friday, busted up his grow operation and cut off his power, reports Robert Barron at the Nanaimo Daily News.
Hodgkinson has been growing medicinal cannabis for about a year under a government license from Health Canada, and was licensed to grow up to 49 plants. But his license expired in August, despite the fact that he applied for its renewal eight full weeks before its expiration date, as stipulated by the government.
But since Health Canada over the past year has experienced a “sharp rise” of applications to grow medical marijuana that have “slowed the process down,” according to a spokeswoman, Hodgkinson’s license wasn’t renewed in a timely manner.
Did that delay result in an apology for laggardliness from the government or its health ministry, especially since their slowness could impact the health of patients?
No, it got Hodgkinson, of Cedar, British Columbia, an armed police raid and his electrical power cut off.

Graphic: Democracy Cell Project

​Electricity usage records are now effectively the property of the police in Canada — and they don’t even need a warrant. Law enforcement did not overstep their powers when they asked a Calgary electricity company to spy on one of its customers by installing a special tracking device to find if he was growing marijuana, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Wednesday.

In a 7-2 decision, Canada’s badly split highest court argued over privacy rights, but overturned an Alberta Court of Appeal judgment that ordered a new trial for Daniel Gomboc, reports The Canadian Press.
“As is true of all constitutional rights, the Charter’s protection is not absolute,” Madam Justice Marie Deschamps wrote for the majority, as she sold out the privacy rights of Canadians. “The Constitution does not cloak the home in an impenetrable veil of privacy. To expect such protection would not only be impractical; it would also be unreasonable.”
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