New Brunswick Opens First Medical Marijuana Vapour Room To Serve Veterans

A marijuana vaporizer is demonstrated during the Champs Trade Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2014. New Brunswick's first medical marijuana vapour room has opened in Oromocto, just down the road from 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown. | Bloomberg via Getty Images

CBC
New Brunswick's first medical marijuana vapour room has opened in Oromocto, just down the road from 5th Canadian Division Support Base Gagetown.

Marijuana For Trauma Inc. has expanded its Restigouche Road facility to include the new room, saying it is a necessary support for Canadian Forces veterans and others suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The vapour room will allow those who pay a $5 annual membership fee to try out different machines to vaporize their prescribed marijuana.

Erin O'Toole appointed to Veterans Affairs, but Fantino stays in cabinet

Canada's Veterans Affairs Minister Julian Fantino speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa December 9, 2014. REUTERS/Chris Wattie

Murray Brewster, The Canadian Press 

On the night of last year's infamous televised showdown between Julian Fantino and angry veterans, one of those sent in ahead of time to smooth the way was Erin O'Toole, the man who on Monday took over the troubled portfolio.

Prior to the confrontation, O'Toole, two other Conservative MPs and Fantino's chief of staff met with the group of ex-soldiers, but failed to ease the concerns of the veterans, who were upset over planned office closures.

As recounted by some who were in the room, the encounter is instructive for the veterans community, which is wondering whether O'Toole's fresh face will actually mean a fresh approach in a department that has become a political liability for the Conservatives in the run-up to this year's election.

Volunteers Publish Canadian Afghanistan Veterans Shocking Stories

The Cover of "Afghanistan, A Canadian Story 2001-2014" is pictured. HO/The Canadian Press 

John Cotter | The Canadian PressVolunteers hope a book of personal stories and images they’ve compiled from soldiers who served in Afghanistan will help Canadians remember a conflict that some fear is already fading from the public eye.

“Afghanistan: A Canadian Story” also contains words submitted by police and civilians who served in places such as Kandahar, and the reminiscences of a mother of a soldier who was killed in action.

Melanie Graham, editor of the coffee-table book, said the publication this month of the human stories will help people better understand what it was like to serve in the bloody, unresolved conflict and how it has affected the soldiers.

“There was no clean closure to the Afghan mission from the Canadian perspective, or from anyone’s perspective,” said Graham, a retired military public affairs officer.