KITCHENER — A judge gave a young Kitchener pot smoker a small lecture on Friday while alluding to the Liberal promise to legalize marijuana.

Justice Colin Westman told Goran Jazic, 19, that marijuana has medicinal value but, similar to alcohol, it can have a "negative impact," especially with long-term use.

Jazic, who attended Wilfrid Laurier University for a year, is intelligent, the judge said.

"Don't compromise it with this stuff," Westman told him. "To succeed in this world, you have got to have all your wits about you."

Westman noted the Liberal government will likely legalize marijuana soon.

Supporters of a Saskatoon marijuana dispensary that was raided continue to call the crack-down an injustice. A handful of supports of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club picketed Wednesday in front of Saskatoon city hall.

Last week, the club was raided by police. The owner, Mark Hauk, and three others were arrested and face trafficking charges.

Supporters said the federally-regulated program is archaic and doesn’t have as many options as compassion clubs.

However, not everyone shares that view.

Brent Zettl, the CEO of CanniMed – a medical marijuana producer in Saskatoon, said the government’s program has improved over the years, specifically when it comes to efficiency.

Two Calgarians face charges following Thursday morning’s RCMP search of a rural property in Rocky View County that resulted in the seizure of hundreds of marijuana plants.

At approximately 9:30 a.m., members of the Airdrie RCMP including the crime reduction unit, K-9, and the ‘Green Team South’ executed a search warrant at a home at an undisclosed location near Balzac.

As a result of the search, officers discovered a marijuana grow-operation in the attached garage of the home. The street value of the 536 seized plants is estimated at $670,000.

Two people were located inside the home and arrested. A 58-year-old man and a 46-year-old woman, both from Calgary, face charges of production of marijuana and possession of property obtained by crime.

PENTICTON–“All we’re doing is providing a legal product to a legal consumer.”That’s what Jukka Laurio of Penticton says about his marijuana compassion club.The club operates out of Laurio’s Rush In and Finnish Cafe.It is not licensed by the city.

Vancouver Police Chief Adam Palmer says his department is in a good position to adapt to new marijuana laws if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau follows through on his promise to legalize the drug.

The city already has a progressive approach to softer drugs, he noted.

"My focus, since I've been chief, and with the prior chief as well, the focus was on more serious drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin and the violence associated to that."Ultimately, police will follow the new Canadian government's lead, he said.

"I know the Liberals have said they are going to legalize it for possession of small amounts of marijuana. Whatever the law of the land is, the police department will roll with it."

In 2013, renowned Leamington greenhouse growers John Cervini of Lakeside Produce and Cole Cacciavillani of CF Flowers, founded Aphria; the first and still the only 100% licensed medical marijuana greenhouse operation in Canada. We know that we have published a lot about this topic lately, but we would like to bring Aphria's professional approach once more into the spotlight, as the growers transferred years of knowledge from flower and vegetable cultivation into a 22,000 square feet advanced commercial glasshouse operation for the legal cultivation of high quality medical cannabis.

Oh! Canada! Not only did our neighbors to the north elect a handsome, progressive, yoga-practicing Prime Minister, but they put into power a man who promises to legalize marijuana across the Great White North, from VanCity to Haligonia. The Liberal Party’s Justin Trudeau pledged during his campaign to legalize recreational cannabis use “right away,” and, unlike our legislative clusterfuck known as Congress, Canada’s parliament typically pays attention to the will of its people.

OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau will unveil a cabinet filled with new faces, casting aside some experienced Liberals and some star candidates in his first move as prime minister on Wednesday. 

New MPs such as Toronto Centre’s Bill Morneau and Markham-Stouffville’s Jane Philpott will become new cabinet ministers, while star candidates such as retired Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie and Toronto MP Adam Vaughan didn’t make the cut.

Literally.

Now that Justin Trudeau and the Liberals have won the federal election, we will soon see whether our new government will follow through on its campaign promise to legalize marijuana and remove possession from the Criminal Code.

Ten years ago, before the Harper years, the nation seemed poised to revise its position on marijuana prohibition. In fact, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that something was about to change, as the debate at that time often focused on decriminalization versus outright legalization.

However, the Liberals' attempts at decriminalization didn't sit well with our American neighbours, who were vehemently opposed to such action back when George W. Bush was president.