nova scotia

By NICK MOORE, Daily Gleaner

 

New Brunswick has some of Canada's more medical marijuana-friendly physicians, and a national group says it expects even more provincial doctors to be writing these prescriptions in the year to come.

 

The latest numbers from Health Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information suggest that about three per cent of New Brunswick's 1,447 physicians support the authorization for patients to have possession of marijuana for medical purposes.

 

Nova Scotia leads all provinces and territories for physicians who support medical marijuana use, with 7.2 per cent.

 

By: EVA HOARE Published: Chronicle Herald

 

NOVA SCOTIANS use more medical marijuana per capita than anyone else in the country, the latest Health Canada figures show.

 

About one person for every 1,914 Nova Scotians is authorized by the federal government to use the drug, compared to one for every 8,013 people in Ontario and one for every 4,420 in British Columbia.

 

The ratios are based on Statistics Canada’s population number of 940,744 for Nova Scotia, and its figures for Ontario and British Columbia.

 

The feds have approved 491 Nova Scotians to use the drug, while there are 159 doctors in the province who support prescribing it, according to figures from Health Canada’s website.

 

By Richard Foot, Canwest News Service

 

HALIFAX — Advocates of medical marijuana are hailing a landmark Nova Scotia court ruling, hoping it leads the way to taxpayer-funded pot supplies for low-income patients across Canada.

 

Last week the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ordered the provincial government to pick up the tab for the medical marijuana smoked by Sally Campbell, a chronically ill woman on welfare.

 

Some provinces already pay for the marijuana prescribed to patients under workers' compensation claims. Since 2008, the federal government has also paid for the marijuana consumed by a handful of military veterans receiving disability benefits.

 

CBC News

A Nova Scotia man who buys medical marijuana from drug dealers says it should be tax deductible because the government-supplied drug is poor quality.

Tom McMullin, 45, has Health Canada's approval to use marijuana to deal with chronic nerve pain in his back and legs.

The Prospect man smokes five grams a day and says that's costing him thousands of dollars a year out of his meagre income.

"When you're going through the black market, you're spending a lot of money … taking $1,200 to $1,300 out of your household income a month," he said.

McMullin said he would rather not buy his medicine from illegal drug dealers, but said the Health Canada marijuana is weak.

A legal decision ordering the province to pay for a woman’s pot has Justice Minister Ross Landry musing about the merits of decriminalization.

Landry suggested to reporters at Province House on Thursday that his department will probably eventually discuss whether prosecuting someone for possessing a small amount of marijuana is a good use of resources.

"We have to be more administratively efficient when dealing with people in the small uses of marijuana," Landry said.

"We have to be more efficient on how you process someone who’s in a small possession of marijuana, and the cost to justice. Whether it goes beyond that at this time, I think it needs further examination and reflection."

By: BEVERLEY WARE South Shore Bureau, Published Chronicle Herald

Sally Campbell no longer has to choose between buying a bag of apples or a few grams of marijuana.

The Halifax woman is on social assistance and the subject of a Nova Scotia Supreme Court ruling that the Community Services Department must now pay for her medical marijuana.

"I’m really glad it’s over," the 61-year-old woman said of her five-year court battle to get her federally approved marijuana covered as a special need by the department.

"It’s been a long road, but I feel justice has been served. I can’t believe it, I was overwhelmed yesterday," she said Thursday, the day after learning of the decision.

The Canadian Press Published: Globe and Mail

The Nova Scotia government is concerned about the potential implications of a court order requiring it to pay for the medical marijuana of a woman on social assistance.

Premier Darrell Dexter said Thursday the province needs time to review the decision because it could also apply to other treatments not currently covered by the province.

“It appears it could have wide-ranging implications that could go far beyond this particular coverage,” he said outside a cabinet meeting.

“There could be a wide range of drugs that are not on that formulary, then an order to cover one may extend to other drugs as well.”

 

The province has been ordered to pay for the medical marijuana used by a woman who is on social assistance.

In a decision released this afternoon, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has ordered the Department of Community Services to pay for Sally Campbell's prescription pot.

She suffers from a number of ailments and has a certificate from Health Canada giving her permission to use marijuana to help alleviate her pain and nausea.

The province had denied Campbell's request that it increase her monthly allowance to cover the cost of the marijuana. Campbell appealed that decision to a one-person appeal board, which also denied her request.

 

Canadian Press

 

SYDNEY, N.S. — A partnership that formed after numerous prescription drug-related deaths in Cape Breton six years ago is being disbanded.

Police Chief Myles Burke announced Thursday that the Breton Community Partnership on Drug Abuse will end April 30.

 

As chair of the group, Burke said there was an overlap in resources from various partners at the Cape Breton District Health Authority, Cape Breton University and the regional police force.
“We felt that it was time to probably look at what’s best for the community, our resources, etc.,” Burke said.

 

He said the police service is open to continuing the work with their partners, as long as staff and volunteer resources are used wisely.