French government ‘to close’ newly opened Paris cannabis coffee shops
Darkness descends on ‘le weed light’
But the French government has admitted it has been caught on the hop by the rapid proliferation of businesses offering the low dosage product.
Agnès Buzyn, the health minister, said the shops were a threat to public health because they were encouraging drug use. She said they existed because they were exploiting a legal loophole which she pledged to close, adding that the government would find a way to put them all out of business within weeks.
“We’re not fighting like mad to ensure that the French stop smoking [tobacco] for them to start smoking cannabis,” she said.
\”We will have to review the legislation and review how we put this all in order,\” she told French radio station RTL. \”It is true that the 0.2 percent legislation is perhaps a little vague.\”
The Paris Narcotics Brigade (BSP) has asked drugs investigators to begin a preliminary investigation to \”verify whether the legal conditions of sale of certain forms of cannabis are being respected\”, Le Parisien reported this week.
The report also quotes Joaquim Lousquy, the 29-year-old entrepreneur behind Cofyshop, who admitted the difficulty of identifying low THC strains, dubbed “le weed light”, with regular marijuana.
For complete article le Weed Light!
MICHIGAN VOTE NO MARIJUANA, NO ON BLOWING UP HOMES
Michigan “homes are blowing up from ‘blasting’ marijuana, a risky business,” warned former judge Brian MacKenzie last year. In Battle Creek, on July 22, 2018, a massive fire displaced more than 60 people in a four-story apartment building. The explosion started in a marijuana lab. Since the Michigan ballot would allow 12 plants per residence – more than any state – it offers an invitation to hide drug labs in the home or apartment. Could your family or neighborhood be next?
Another butane hash oil fire erupted in Battle Creek earlier this year, seriously injuring the young man who started the fire. Firemen find butane hash oil fires far more dangerous than ordinary house fires because of their heat and explosiveness.
Of all the states in the eastern half of the country, Michigan is the only one where marijuana lab explosions occur regularly, sometimes resulting in death. The drug labs, also called butane hash oil (BHO) labs provide a way to make a stronger, more potent product and to undercut the price of dispensary marijuana. People who are addicted often go for “wax,” “dabs” or “shatter” to get their fix. Michigan had two explosions in one weekend of January 2018
For complete article http://www.poppot.org/2018/10/18/michigan-vote-no-blowing-up-homes/
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Legal cannabis vs. black market: Can it compete?
The black market\’s head start
As I\’ve noted before, it\’ll be tough to lure customers away from established illegal vendors. For one thing, cannabis-infused foods and drinks aren\’t yet legal. Black markets will monopolize those products for another year.
Dried cannabis and oils are legal now but may experience shortages. But those should disappear next year as more growers become operational.
Places to legally shop are also scarce in most provinces. Québec only has 12 stores open and Ontario won\’t have any brick-and-mortar stores until spring. By contrast, Alberta has a hundred stores opening this month. As store counts grow, legal cannabis will grab more market share.
Pricing also handicaps legal vendors. They must pay fees and taxes while competing with street prices around $7.20 per gram.
However, legal cannabis might eventually undercut illegal weed. Mass production is already reducing per-gram growing costs below $0.75 and is heading for $0.20. Moving production to countries with lower wages and warmer climates could drop that to $0.05.
Promotional marketing could give legal cannabis an advantage. But federal law restricts advertising to \”informational\” purposes; no cartoon characters or happy puppies. That makes it harder to build brand reputations.
The pre-existing \”gray-market\” dispensaries further complicate the legal-illegal competition. Will most close or go legit? If not, they\’ll provide another challenge for legal retailers.
For complete story go to… Welcome to Three Drug Markets!
Other Stories
The One Thing Investors Should Do Now That Canadian Cannabis Cash http://va.newsrepublic.net/s/hpfYdv
Britain\’s first totally legal cannabis farm set to open 10 Million Pound Secret Warehouse! http://va.newsrepublic.net/s/rUfYdv
PETER HITCHENS: The ‘elites’ hellbent on legalising marijuana couldn’t care less about the families they obliterate!
By PETER HITCHENS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 14 October 2018
Just as modish elite opinion swings ever more swiftly towards legalising marijuana, shocking and undeniable new evidence of its grave and frightening harms comes to light. Which will win? Fashion, and the prejudice of the chattering class? Or common sense?
The truth about this very dangerous and far-from-soft drug can no longer be hidden. As The Mail on Sunday reveals today, there have been more than 125,000 hospital admissions related to cannabis or similar drugs in the past five years. These are concentrated among the young. Just how ill did the users of this supposedly harmless drug have to be, for them to end up in hospital casualty departments? How many others suffered panic and misery alone and untreated?
Yet this country faces a grim race, between a fanatical and sometimes greedy campaign to decriminalise marijuana at all costs, and the accumulating evidence that such a move would be an irreparable disaster.
This country faces a grim race, between a fanatical and sometimes greedy campaign to decriminalise marijuana at all costs, and the accumulating evidence that such a move would be an irreparable disaster
For years, the billionaire-backed proponents of a cannabis free-for-all have sneered at warnings offered by me and many others that the drug is a major danger to mental health. Where was the proof of the damage it did, they would ask, ignoring the tragic evidence in every town centre of homeless, shattered, trembling men and women, plainly broken by drug abuse. These wicked cynics have, I believe, known all along that many individuals and families would pay a high and painful price for their pleasure, wealth and convenience.
In much the same way, Big Tobacco knew for years that cigarettes were doing terrible damage to smokers, but carried on making millions from them and resisted attempts to restrict advertising and sales.
The marijuana lobby, who I call Big Dope, are equally ready to overlook the horror of irreversible mental illness, for what some of them see as a good cause, and others see as a pot of gold.
At a debate on the subject at Durham University on Monday, in which I opposed decriminalisation, supporters of drug legalisation openly conceded that marijuana does damage the mental health of some of its users.
But it seems they don’t really care. They have dismissed as ‘anecdotal’ hundreds of individual stories in which the link between the drug and mental illness has been startling. Psychiatrists have little doubt. Dr Humphrey Needham-Bennett, medical director and consultant psychiatrist of the Cygnet Hospital in Sevenoaks, Kent, says that among his patients ‘cannabis use is so common that I assume that people use or used it. It’s quite surprising when people say, “No, I don’t use drugs.” ’ Even then, they may not be telling the truth. Other psychiatrists report that cannabis use is now so common among the young that many who smoke it do not even regard it as a drug.
Yet, until very recently, there was hardly any research into the link, and when it took place, in a Swedish Army survey that showed a clear connection, it was ignored
An enormous, wealthy and powerful lobby wants marijuana laws liberalised at almost any cost, and will, if it is not stopped, force its views on this country very soon
When the great foreign correspondent Patrick Cockburn bravely disclosed the harrowing story of his son Henry’s descent into severe mental illness after smoking marijuana at his Canterbury grammar school, he suddenly discovered that many friends and colleagues had been quietly hiding similar tragedies. He said he was ‘amazed to discover how many friends had a relative disabled by schizophrenia. The common feature in these tragedies was that the victim had taken cannabis in significant quantities at a young age.’
So why did these facts have so little impact? As Patrick puts it ‘supporters of decriminalisation in the media and among the intelligentsia see cannabis as harmless and discount opposition to it as ill-informed prejudice’.
For complete article https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-6273587/PETER-HITCHINS-elites-hellbent-legalising-marijuana.html
Canadians are going to need to force government to protect kids from smoking
PAMELA MCCOLL Published:October 13, 2018
A Langley resident has launched a petition to convince the provincial government to ban smoking in all condominiums and apartment buildings.
No amount of second-hand smoke is safe. Children exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to develop lung diseases and other health problems. Second-hand smoke is a cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The fact that one in six infants and toddlers admitted to a Colorado hospital with symptoms of bronchiolitis tested positive for marijuana exposure should be of grave concern to Canadians as they move to legalization.
The dangers of second-hand, carcinogenic and psychoactive chemically-laden marijuana smoke were ignored by the Trudeau government in its push to legalize pot. This government in fact sanctioned the smoking of marijuana in the presence of children.
The government did not commission an in-depth child risk assessment of the draft legalization framework, a study called for by child advocates across the country.
The Alberta Ministry of Children’s Services’ Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act Placement Resource Policy on Environmental Safety states that a foster parent must be aware of, and committed to provide a non-smoking environment by not allowing smoking in the home when a foster child is placed; not allowing smoking in a vehicle when a foster child is present; and not allowing use of smokeless tobacco when a foster child is present. As the Alberta government’s policy contains all-inclusive language of “non-smoking environment,” the same rules have been extend to legalized marijuana. Some children in the province of Alberta have been protected under the policy while the majority of Albertan children and other children in Canada should rightly ask: “What About Us?”
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms secures the safety of children from threats to their health and their life. Section 15 of the Charter prohibits discrimination perpetrated by the governments of Canada. The Equality Rights section states that every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. The provisions that protect children in foster care should extend to every child.
For complete article https://theprovince.com/opinion/op-ed/pamela-mccoll-canadians-are-going-to-need-to-force-government-to-protect-kids-from-smoking
Devastating figures reveal true toll of cannabis on the UK\’s health as 125,000 people are admitted to hospital over the drug in just five years
- Some 15,000 teenagers have been hospitalised after taking cannabis since 2013
- The levels of admissions in England have jumped by more than 50 per cent
- Last year, 31,330 people required hospital treatment having taken cannabis
- Experts fear regular cannabis use can interfere with brain function and memory
By STEPHEN ADAMS and SANCHEZ MANNING FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY PUBLISHED: 08:01 AEDT, 14 October 2018
The devastating effect of cannabis on Britain’s mental health can be revealed for the first time today.
Analysis carried out by NHS officials for this paper has also revealed how children below the age of ten have been admitted to hospital after taking the powerful and addictive substance. Some people hooked on the drug have taken their own lives after suffering hallucinations and many more are now unable to lead normal lives, according to doctors.
The number of cannabis-related hospitalisations per year in England has leapt by more than 50 per cent since 2013 — from 19,765 to 31,130.
The dramatic rise has coincided with an increasingly liberal approach to policing the Class B drug in many parts of the country. In Durham, police now turn a blind eye to possession — and even small-scale cultivation. Last week, the Royal College of Psychiatrists announced it was setting up a panel to consider backing legalisation of cannabis — arguing that could be a way to control its increasing strength.
But evidence from the US, where nine states have legalised recreational use, shows that is not happening. In Colorado and Washington State, for example, the average strength of the drug is going up. And since it was legalised in Colorado in 2014, cannabis-related trips to emergency rooms by teenagers have quadrupled, according to an academic report.
Evidence is also building that regularly smoking cannabis during teenage years can affect brain development — shrinking the hippocampus, essential for memory and regulating emotions.
Last night, Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said the figures were a stark wake-up call to those considering legalisation. ‘Far too few people are aware of the severe mental health problems cannabis can cause, particularly on younger, developing brains,’ he said. ‘Caving in to populist demands to legalise a harmful drug is not the way to deal with preventing its normalisation and use.’
Around 2.4 million people in Britain smoke cannabis, including a million 16- to 24-year-olds. While rates are little changed over the last decade, there are signs teens are starting to use it more. Cannabis has been growing stronger and stronger over the years — a key reason why more people are ending up in hospital, say doctors.
Powerful varieties known as skunk now account for 94 per cent of cannabis consumed in Britain, according to recent research.
It contains at least four times as much of the main psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol as previously dominant types of cannabis. ‘THC’ is strongly linked to increased risk of psychosis.
Yet there is a growing perception among youngsters that cannabis is harmless. Experts say many interpret the Government’s decision to let doctors prescribe cannabis-based medicines as a green light to smoke it — even though the medicines and street drugs have hugely different effects. Addiction specialist Dr Cyrus Abbasian said: ‘The main reason we are seeing more cannabis-related hospital admissions is its increasing strength.’
In some areas cannabis strength has increased tenfold since the 1990s, from two to 20 per cent THC, he added, with less powerful forms so hard to find in the UK that users go online to buy from overseas.
Ex-mental health nurse Ian Hamilton, a lecturer at York University, said people were increasingly ending up in A&Es with ‘absolutely terrifying’ cannabis-induced psychotic episodes, as its growing strength meant they had no idea how much THC they were consuming. ‘People can see things, hear things, become hyper-anxious, or enter a state of “depersonalisation” where they don’t feel they are real,’ he said.
They can end up vomiting, while the anxiety can ‘make your heart-rate go through the roof’.
Consultant psychologist Matthew Gaskell, of Leeds and York Partnership NHS Trust, said stronger cannabis — including the synthetic version spice — was leading to ‘more cannabis dependence in addiction services, and great difficulty stopping’ among regular users. He said: ‘Acute intoxication can have severe effects including a rapid heart rate, vomiting, violent behaviour, seizures and suicidal thoughts.’
The NHS figures show there were 125,290 cannabis and spice-related hospital admissions in England from April 2013 to March 2018, including 14,888 under-20s. Of those, nine were admissions of children under ten.
For complete article https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6273159/UK-hospitals-treat-125-000-cannabis-users-past-five-years.html
What About Us? October 2018
No amount of second-hand smoke is safe. Children exposed to second-hand smoke are more likely to develop lung diseases and other health problems. Second hand-smoke is a cause of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The fact that one in six infants and toddlers admitted to a Colorado hospital with symptoms of bronchiolitis tested positive for marijuana exposure should be of grave to Canadians as they too have moved to legalization.
The dangers of second-hand, carcinogenic and psychoactive chemically-laden marijuana smoke were ignored by the Trudeau government in their push to legalize pot. This government in fact sanctioned the smoking of marijuana in the presence of children.
The government did not commission an in-depth child risk assessment of the draft legalization framework, a study called for by child advocates across the country.
The Alberta Ministry of Children’s Services’ – Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act Placement Resource Policy on Environmental Safety states; that a foster parent must be aware of, and committed to provide a non-smoking environment by not allowing smoking in the home when a foster child is placed; not allowing smoking in a vehicle when a foster child is present; and not allowing use of smokeless tobacco when a foster child is present. As the Alberta government’s policy contains all-inclusive language of “non-smoking environment,” the same rules have been extend to legalized marijuana. Some children in the province of Alberta have been protected under policy while the majority of Albertan children and other children in Canada should rightly ask: “What About Us?”
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms secures the safety of children from threats to their health and their life. Section 15 of the Charter prohibits discrimination perpetrated by the governments of Canada. The Equality Rights section states that every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination. The provisions that protect children in foster care should extend to every child.
Section 7 of the Charter is a constitutional provision that protects an individual’s personal legal rights from actions of the government of Canada, the right to life, liberty and security of the person. The Cannabis Act fails to protect Canadian children’s right to security of the self. The right to security of the person consists of the rights to privacy of the body and its health and of the right protecting the “psychological integrity” of an individual. Exposure to marijuana in poorly ventilated spaces exposes the non-user to the impact of a psychotropic high, including the distortion of one’s sense of reality.
Canada is a party to the Rights of the Child Treaty, the most widely ratified piece of human rights law in history. The treaty establishes the human rights of children to health and to protection under law. Placing marijuana products and plants into children’s homes fails to protect their rights under international treaty obligations.
A petition, before the BC Government Legislative Assembly via the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, seeks to make all multi-unit dwellings in BC smoke-free. Smoke-free housing is needed to protect the non-user’s health. Smoke travels, it escapes and contaminates beyond a single unit. Law consists, primarily, in preserving a person from death and violence and in securing their free enjoyment of their property. The Cannabis Act fails to preserve the rights of non-users of marijuana. It rests with citizens to stand up for their rights and those of children. Be prepared this will be an ugly, costly and lengthy process.
“We think that the true rule of law is, that the person who for his own purposes brings on his land and collects and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it at his peril, and, if he does not do so, is prima facia answerable for all the damage which is the natural consequence of its escape. “ House of Lords Rule. Doctrine of Strict Liability of Dangerous Conditions Rylands versus Fletcher — 1868. Successful argued in Delta, Canada 1983. Individual prevented from smoking in his residence.
Provincial governments can correct the mistakes made by the federal government. Concerned citizens must see that they do.
Pamela McColl — www.cleartheairnow.org
Vancouver BC Canada [email protected]