tobacco

Tuesday January 23, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 23, 2018

Ontario considers allowing cannabis lounges as legalization deadline looms

Ontario is considering allowing licensed cannabis consumption lounges in the province once recreational marijuana is legalized this summer, and is asking the public to weigh in on the idea.

September 14, 2017

The proposal is being met with optimism by some cannabis activists and municipal politicians who say the provincial government’s approach on where legal weed can be consumed has been too restrictive so far.

Under rules outlined in the fall, the province intends to sell marijuana in up to 150 stores run by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario to people 19 and older, with a ban on pot’s consumption in public spaces or workplaces.

On Thursday, the province issued a request for public feedback on a slew of regulatory changes proposed to clarify where recreational and medical cannabis can be consumed. Among them is the possibility of permitting “licensed and regulated cannabis consumption lounges and venues” sometime after legalization in July.

That’s exactly what Abi Roach, the owner of Hotbox Cafe, a private Toronto cannabis lounge open since 2003, said she’s been asking the province to do for six years.

Roach appeared before a legislative committee examining the provincial government’s pot laws in November and at the time urged politicians to ease their rules around where the drug could be consumed. She said she wanted the government to shift from what she sees as building policy based on “90 years of prohibitionist mentality” to something that is “functional and realistic to the needs of the consumer.”

Current rules that intend to restrict consumption of marijuana to private residences will push people who can’t use cannabis in their own homes to places where it would create a problem, like public parks or their cars, Roach argued. (Source: CBC) 

 

Saturday September 30, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 30, 2017

McMaster going tobacco, smoke-free

McMaster University will become the province’s first tobacco and smoke-free campus next year.

As of Jan. 1, 2018, using tobacco and all oral smoking devices will be prohibited on McMaster campuses.

This includes the Hamilton campus, inside and on the grounds of the Ron Joyce Centre in Burlington, as well as at all McMaster-owned properties.

The university said it is working to help students, faculty and staff adapt to the new policy and educate the community before it comes into effect.

“McMaster University recognizes the unique relationship that many Indigenous cultures have with traditional and sacred medicines,” says a post on Mac’s Daily News website. “As such, exemptions to this policy will be granted, upon request, to members of the McMaster University community.”

There will be phased-in enforcement of the designation starting in January.

For the first months, anyone found in contravention of the policy will be asked to stop or referred to supports and resources. (Source: Hamilton Spectator) 

 

Saturday September 9, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday September 9, 2017

LCBO to run 150 marijuana stores

Premier Kathleen Wynne is cornering Ontario’s recreational marijuana market by restricting sales to 150 LCBO-run stores.

June 20, 2017

The standalone cannabis outlets, separate from provincially owned liquor stores, and a government-controlled website will be the only place weed can lawfully be sold after Ottawa legalizes it on July 1.

In a move that will close scores of illegal “dispensaries” that now dot Ontario cities, the LCBO will get its product from the medical marijuana producers licenced by Health Canada.

Only those 19 and older will be allowed to purchase or possess marijuana and pot consumption will be limited to private homes.

Smoking weed will continue to be illegal in any public space, including parks, workplaces and motorized vehicles.

Prices will be kept competitive to curb the black market.

November 27, 2015

The government expects a boost in tax revenues.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa, Attorney General Yasir Naqvi, and Health Minister Eric Hoskins unveiled the plan Friday at Queen’s Park after months of work from Ontario’s cannabis secretariat.

The Liquor Control Board of Ontario, which runs the province’s 651 liquor stores, using workers who are members of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, will oversee all retail sales and run the online service.

But the branding of the government’s new pot chain will not necessarily include the LCBO’s name.

September 24, 2015

“When it comes to retail distribution, the LCBO has the expertise, the experience and the insight, to ensure careful control of cannabis, to help us discourage illicit market activity and see that illegal dispensaries are shut down,” said Sousa, who has not yet determined how much tax revenue legalized weed will bring in.

Naqvi said the government has “heard people across Ontario are anxious about the federal legalization of cannabis.

“The province is moving forward with a safe and sensible approach to legalization that will ensure we can keep our communities and roads safe, promote public health and harm reduction, and protect Ontario’s young people,” the attorney general said.

There will be 40 LCBO weed stores in place across the province on July 1, 2018, 80 by 2019, and 150 in 2020. (Source: Toronto Star)