Author archives: wpengine

RANDOMLY DRUG TESTING STUDENTS – A school district in Clark County, Indiana, will soon be randomly drug testing students who want to participate in extracurricular activities like sports, band, and driving to school. I suspect it may not achieve the intended result of discouraging “students from bringing drugs to school” as much as discourage “students who want to participate in extracurricular activities.”

A school district in Clark County, Indiana, will soon be randomly drug testing students who want to participate in extracurricular activities like sports, band, and driving to school. Source: School District to Begin Randomly Drug Testing Students

THE GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO SCAN SOCIAL MEDIA TO SEE IF YOU SMOKE WEED – The initiative will look for self-reported usage patterns (how much, what kind, and where) and activities such as buying and selling weed. The government will also be scanning social media for “criminal activities associated with cannabis use”—driving under the influence, for example. The initiative will also capture metadata, such as self-reported location and demographics, but according to the tender the data “must exclude individual unique identifiers.”

The data will allegedly be anonymous, and the government will also look into activity on dark web markets. Source: The Canadian Government Is Going to Scan Social Media to See If You Smoke Pot

This is such a sad incident of a mental health issue being dealt with by the criminal justice system by punishment rather than the ability to actually deal with people’s needs. This man does not understand the reality of the charges against him. He doesn’t belong where he was shoved aside to.

Don Evans says his son, who had the intellect of a 7-year-old, was suicidal and should have been monitored more closely. Source: ‘This never should have happened,’ says father of Burnside jail inmate who died | CBC News

JURY SECRECY – I wholeheartedly agree with the policy that keeps jurors’ identities and deliberations secret. I also agree there should be specific exceptions for academic purposes and resultant mental health needs.

OTTAWA — Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould says she will look at possible changes to a law forbidding jurors from talking about closed-door deliberations — a secrecy provision that prevents stressed-out former jury members from discussing difficult trials with mental-health professionals. Source: Feds agree to look at easing jury secrecy provision as part of justice review

CANNABIS AND DRIVING – “Civil liberties advocates worry the Canadian government has adopted a “zero tolerance” approach based on inconclusive science. Studies show that there is no amount of cannabis that one can use without hitting the limit imposed by C-46. One joint of even one puff can put a user over the limit.”

In a little over two months, it will be legal in Canada to make use of cannabis recreationally, a significant […] Source: Driving under the influence under the Canada’s Cannabis Act an unmarked road