Tag Archives: Marijuana

Newfoundland and Labrador’s marijuana-themed wish list for the federal government

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[Picture source: Creative Commons]

By Amber-Dawn Davison

The topic: Newfoundland and Labrador is assembling a list of requests for the federal government in preparation for the legalization of marijuana in 2018.

What’s new: A series of briefing notes from Service NL acquired through a Freedom of Information request lay out several expectations that the province has of the federal government.

In a September 2016 briefing note, the province asked that the federal government develop a roadside testing device that can accurately detect marijuana, and that it incur “costs associated with development, purchase and training of law enforcement officials related to roadside testing devices.”

Service NL said in a second briefing note from October of 2016 that it expects the federal government to establish a national impairment limit on marijuana and amend the Criminal Code of Canada to “support law enforcement.”



Why it’s important: St. John’s has the highest municipal rate of impaired driving offences in the country, at over 400 cases per 100,000 people. Service NL is concerned that the province’s already troublesome impaired driving situation will be made worse when marijuana becomes legal.

Service NL responded by making several amendments to the province’s Highway Traffic Act in early March, ahead of anticipated federal guidelines on the legalization process. The amendments were based on recommendations from MADD, and lay the groundwork for marijuana legalization by banning alcohol and psychoactive drugs for drivers 21 and under, and increasing impaired driving penalties for everyone.

Service NL hopes these amendments will help ease the eventual integration of federal guidelines into provincial legislation.

What the government says: The province is working with MADD to address existing issues with impaired driving, and future problems they foresee with cannabis. Minister Trimper of Service NL says the primary concern is not eradicating cannabis, but rather finding a way to manage it.

“The issue we are dealing with is that across the country, some 40 per cent of young adults are now using this drug. When you look at that type of statistic, it’s better to find a way that [marijuana] can be perhaps safely consumed and our roads can be protected from its use.”

He stated that the recent amendments to provincial road safety legislation have helped the already-attentive law enforcement agencies to curb the problem.

“Because we have become more sensitive to it, police have certainly become more vigilant than they have been,” Trimper says. “In terms of moving forward, we’ll be working closely with the two police forces we have here.”

What others say: Patricia Hynes Coates is the National President of MADD Canada is from Newfoundland, and has been working closely with Service NL. She says that the provincial government’s position reflect what MADD is seeing across the country: determination to deter everyone, especially youth, from impaired driving.

“We know that we’re not going to catch everyone, so our focus is on deterring people,” says Hynes Coates. “I lost my stepson Nicholas Coates several years ago, and nothing I do at this point is going to bring him back. But if we can stop somebody else from driving while impaired and save a life, well that’s what’s important to us.”

Another Newfoundland native, Rick Janes, says that although he is against legalization, he trusts that the provincial government’s policies will be sound. “At the end of the day, I am confident that as Canadians we can implement [adequate policies surrounding road safety and marijuana],” he says. “I just hope we can do it with minimal loss of life.”

What’s next: The federal government’s official announcement regarding the legalization of marijuana is expected on Thursday. Service NL is awaiting federal direction on the process, including anticipated amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada, roadside testing devices, and funding options.

Minister Trimper says that the process will be bumpy, but he expects the federal government’s national strategy will make the transition easier to swallow. “The roll out of [marijuana] will come in one voice, one direction, instead of each of us taking up our own cause and going in different directions,” he says. “I would suspect we’re going to see not only consistency in Newfoundland, but across the entire country as well.”

ATIP documents:



Canadian medical pot supplier ups spending to prepare for legalization

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Photo Credit: Brett Levin Source: Flickr
Photo Credit: Brett Levin
Source: Flickr

Canada’s largest medical marijuana company nearly quadrupled its investment in research and development from 2014 to 2015, according to its most recent financial statement. During the second quarter for fiscal year 2016, Canopy Growth Corp. spent nearly $250,000 on research and development, compared to just over $58,000 in that same time the previous year.

Canopy spokesperson Jordan Sinclair said most of that money was spent on increasing output and improving techniques to extract oil from the cannabis—both of which will be beneficial to the company when pot isn’t only sold with a prescription, something Sinclair said the company is always preparing for.

A portion of Canopy’s Management’s Data and Analysis annotated in DocumentCloud:
(click inside the annotation to see the entire document and other annotations)


Source: Canopy Growth Corp.

Dr. Michael Mulvey. Source: Telfer School of Management
Dr. Michael Mulvey
Source: Telfer School of Management

There’s also the recent $900,000 acquisition of Bedrocan—a Netherlands-based company Sinclair said has a more “medical-oriented” feel, compared to the parent company’s other branch, Tweed, which is more “approachable” and would “thrive in a recreational system.”

Consumer behavioural researcher Dr. Michael Mulvey said these distinctions are going to become more apparent as companies look to target recreational users.

“Just like if you go to your LCBO, your Beer Store, you’ll find different varieties,” Mulvey said. “Well, you’re going to find a similar parallel when it comes to marijuana use.”

In October, following the federal election and Liberal win, Canopy’s shares surged, reaching their highest point since the company became publicly traded in April 2014. During the campaign, Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana in his term, as long as it doesn’t get in the hands of minors. 

Canopy Growth Corp.’s stock prices:

Source: Tradingview.com

Canopy, one of 27 licenced suppliers in Canada, has also invested heavily in building up its infrastructure, spending over $3 million on additions and renovations—two-thirds of which was tied up in an expansion at the company’s Smith Falls’ location. According to an August news release, these additions included an extraction room, which will facilitate the large-scale production of marijuana by-products.

A portion of the news release issued by Canopy in August:
(click inside the annotation to see the entire document and other annotations)


Source: Canopy Growth Corp.

In summer 2015, Health Canada rewrote its rules, allowing for the production of marijuana extractions, such as oil and butter. Since then, it has provided 16 medical marijuana suppliers, including Canopy, with the proper licence to begin the process. Canopy is waiting for a final inspection from Health Canada, and hopes to begin selling oils, edibles, and other smoking-substitutes to its clients as early as February.

Jordan Sinclair. Source: LinkedIn
Jordan Sinclair
Source: LinkedIn

“We’ve already been producing it,” Sinclair said. “We have an inventory in our vault. We’re basically ready to go.” Sinclair expects extracted products to be popular in a recreational market, citing Colorado, which legalized marijuana in 2012 and generates a large amount of income from extracted product.

However, JP Caron, a habitual marijuana user, said he doesn’t plan on changing the way he sources the product upon legalization, and that’s something medical marijuana companies looking to break into the recreational market need to consider. “The government is going to tax a whole lot and there’s still going to be a market for people who grow their own and sell for more affordable price,” Caron said.

Mulvey said medical marijuana companies also need to address international competition, which it doesn’t consider in its analysis of the most recent financial statement.  

A portion of Canopy’s Management’s Data and Analysis annotated in DocumentCloud:
(click inside the annotation to see the entire document and other annotations)


Source: Canopy Growth Corp.

Sinclair said he isn’t worried, adding the company currently controls between 20 and 25 per cent of the market share in Canada, and is first focused on the sale of extracted products, and second, on the legalization and sale of recreational marijuana.

“There’s a pretty solid pattern that we’ve shown we’ve been able to increase sales quarter over quarter,” he said. “We’re excited for the next numbers to come out.”

Those numbers are scheduled to be released at the end of February.

Cannabis offence rate skyrockets in Ottawa’s capital ward

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Bank St., one of the main streets in Ottawa's capital ward.
Bank St., one of the main streets in capital ward. Photo: Emanuela Campanella

The cannabis offence rate in Ottawa’s capital ward almost doubled in 2013 compared to 2012, according to an analysis of Ottawa police reported crime data.

Sgt. Jeff Pilon of the Ottawa Police Drug Unit said this might be the result of the shifting Canadian attitude towards marijuana possession.

The cause was definitely not due to increased enforcement, he added. “We work all across the city and we do have targeted areas but we haven’t had any there.”

The hike is most likely then, the result of more people committing cannabis offences in the Capital ward, he said.

According to a poll commissioned by the federal Justice Department earlier this year, 70 per cent of Canadians want to see the current marijuana laws become more relaxed, at the very least, and one-in-three back full legalization.

Click the play buttons below to hear what residents of the Capital ward  had to say about marijuana possession.

Bill Singleton, retired.

Cynthia Scoop, public servant.

Frans Verenicen, Crane operator.

Hannah Smith, Carleton University Student.

John Bert, Public Servant.

Here is a breakdown by ward of cannabis offence rate changes in 2013.


 

In Ottawa, there are more than 1,000 police-reported cannabis offences and out of those, 67 were in the Capital ward. These numbers are small compared to Ottawa’s top criminal offence  – thefts of $5,000 and under – which stand at approximately 12,000 this year. Still, Ottawa’s cannabis offence rate is on the rise and Capital ward had the sharpest increase in pot arrests. The map below shows the percent change by ward. 

Criminal defence lawyer Paul Lewin said he is shocked with the high increase of Capital ward’s cannabis offense rate.

“I would think that a fairly urban Ottawa ward would have more serious matters to concern themselves with,” said Lewin who is also the Ontario Regional Director of Norml Canada, an organization advocating for the reform of marijuana laws.

Offences related to cannabis possession are victimless, he said. “These are not victim offences where someone was raped or someone was beaten up.”

As we approach next year’s federal election, legalization of marijuana has become a heated debate. Liberal leader, Justin Trudeau, made legalization one of his campaign priorities. And as Canadians move closer to casting their ballots, the legalization debate will intensify further.

Lewin said legalization would free up police resources to pursue other criminal activity. “Huge police manpower goes into investigating marijuana offences.”

It’s also a waste of money, said Lewin. “When I show up for the first day of a marijuana trial, let’s say it’s three days or four days long, it’s common for me to see a dozen or 14 or 16 cops all standing around in suits, and they are all getting paid at a very lucrative rate, waiting to be called as witnesses.”

Just a year ago, the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police proposed a ticketing option for simple possession cases, saying that the procedure of sending cases to criminal court was straining the justice system.

According to a 2013 report by Statistics Canada, over the past decade, there’s an increase in police-reported drug offences. The debate for and against legalizing marijuana continues to rage and will become more prominent to Canadians as we reach next year’s federal election. 

Report by Statistics Canada on police reported crimes in Canada 2013: