A set of three bills were unanimously passed this week to ban and impose stricter penalties on the sale of synthetic cannabis, commonly known as K2.

The three new bills are meant to combat the epidemic, and were passed by a 44-0 vote in a council meeting. One bill bans the sale of the synthetic drug, as well as criminalizes it. The second ensures anyone caught selling K2 will have their cigarette dealer license suspended. The third bill is meant to complement police crackdown on the chemical weed by allowing NYPD to use public nuisance regulations to put the pressure on any place making or selling the drug.

There's plenty of speculation about our upcoming federal election, much of it frankly negative.

Politics is tough, especially when you weigh up the leaders and realize that finding someone who reflects all your values is almost impossible.

When the haranguing and arguing gets me down, I simply flip on a U.S. news channel, and take a good look at what our friends to the south are dealing with. It's like they're trying to elect a new village idiot, with a surfeit of contenders - by comparison, the Canadian election is a Care Bear Countdown.

Calgary planners hope to draft bylaw amendments regulating medical marijuana counselling services by the end of the year in advance of a looming Supreme Court decision that could trigger similar businesses to proliferate across the city.

Councillors Diane Colley-Urquhart and Gian-Carlo Carra introduced a motion earlier this year asking administration to develop new rules to prevent such businesses from clustering in neighbourhoods and keep them away from schools.

Calgary’s existing business use and land-use bylaws don’t have a category to regulate medical marijuana counselling outfits — a service traditionally provided by doctors.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The three remaining defendants in the case of the so-called Kettle Falls Five were sentenced to federal prison on Friday for growing marijuana in a state where both the medical and recreational use of marijuana are legal under Washington laws.

The defendants are known as the Kettle Falls Five because of their original number. They were convicted earlier this year of growing marijuana on their rural property near Kettle Falls, in violation of federal law.

PUEBLO -

Pueblo police say a teen was shot for trying to steal marijuana from a home on the Lower Westside early Friday.

Vincent Duran, 55, was arrested for shooting the 17-year-old, who told police he climbed over Duran's fence to take marijuana from an illegal grow in his backyard.

It is a case that is eerily similar to a 2014 incident in which a 13-year-old was shot in the chest with a pellet gun for climbing into a man's backyard for his marijuana. This time, however, police say the 17-year-old and another unknown individual trespassed on a property in the 1600 block of W 13th Street, and the juvenile was shot in the right leg with a real gun.

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - The three remaining defendants in the case of the so-called Kettle Falls Five were sentenced to federal prison on Friday for growing marijuana in a state where both the medical and recreational use of marijuana are legal under Washington laws.

The defendants are known as the Kettle Falls Five because of their original number. They were convicted earlier this year of growing marijuana on their rural property near Kettle Falls, in violation of federal law.

Delegates to the 2015 Congress of Delegates here addressed a number of health policy issues, including making medications affordable for patients and conducting more research on marijuana. Other topics tackled included immunization exemptions and student loan repayment.

Affordable Medication

During the Reference Committee on Advocacy hearing on Sept. 28, family physicians discussed a pair of closely related resolutions that addressed the availability of affordable pharmaceuticals. The conversation was sparked, in part, by the recent news that Turing Pharmaceuticals had acquired the drug pyrimethamine (Daraprim) and immediately increased its price from $13.50 to $750 per tablet -- a jump of more than 5,000 percent.

In your article, Mr. Kim Hale is quoted as saying that being convicted for cultivating marijuana "turns you right into a criminal, and to me, that is barbaric."  Sorry, but committing a criminal act makes you a criminal.  A conviction merely confirms it. 

Surely even under the influence of marijuana, one must agree that breaking into your house and pilfering your TV, makes that person a criminal or robbing a bank makes that person a criminal whether they are  caught and convicted or not.

The issue of the niqab in Canadian citizenship ceremonies roared to life again in Friday’s leadership debate with Tom Mulcair trying to fight his way out of a political corner by accusing the prime minister of using the issue for political reasons.

The debate also featured a ferocious battle about values with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau demanding Stephen Harper state once and for all whether he is pro-choice. Harper retaliated by accusing him of setting a bad example to youth because the Liberals want to legalize marijuana.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A divided Ohio Democratic Party won't take a stance on Issue 3, leaving individual public officials and county parties to decide whether to back the contentious marijuana legalization amendment on the Nov. 3 ballot.

But one county chairman leading the push for his colleagues to endorse Issue 3 stands to profit if the measure passes.

Lorain County Democratic Party Chairman Tony Giardini is an investor in the company that will own one of only 10 marijuana farms allowed to grow and sell the plant under the amendment.