Busy day? Here are five stories popular with Globe readers to help you catch up.
Tories' false claims about pot laws put youth at risk: drug policy centre
Conservative politicians in Canada are perpetuating myths about marijuana use, and these false claims are leading to policies that can do more harm than good to youth.
That’s according to an international network of drug policy scientists and academics, a group that attempted to inject itself into the federal election campaign on Wednesday by releasing a list of 11 common claims about pot that research shows are actually incorrect, Mike Hager reports.
At a campaign stop this week, Stephen Harper said that statistics from places like Colorado show that moving toward legalizing marijuana makes it more readily available to children and leads to more addicts.
But the group’s research tells a different story: that recent marijuana use by teens in Colorado has gone down from 22 per cent to 20 per cent in the first year that the state regulated recreational pot sales. The group also notes that less than 10 per cent of people who use cannabis throughout their life will become dependent on it.
The Liberals have said they would legalize the drug, while the NDP would at least decriminalize it and study legalization.
Wright cites Scripture to explain secrecy of Duffy payment
Why did Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff keep secret his decision to personally repay beleaguered Senator Mike Duffy’s questionable expenses? For the answer, Nigel Wright turned to the Bible during his second day of testimony in court, Steven Chase reports.
After being asked to elaborate on why he instructed a fellow PMO staffer to tell no one about the $90,000 bank draft, Wright cited a book of the New Testament, Matthew 6, verse 3.
“This is sort of Matthew 6: You should do those things quietly and not let your right hand know what your left is doing,” he told the Ottawa court.
A generally accepted version of the verse in question discusses how people should not boast of alms to the poor: “When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.”
Don’t buy a house at the expense of your RRSP
The Conservatives made a campaign pledge this week that they would raise the amount first-time home buyers can withdraw tax-free from their RRSPs to $35,000 from $25,000. But is that a good idea?
As Rob Carrick points out, if you’re smart and fortunate enough to have significant money in your RRSP in your young adult years, you get to benefit from three or four decades’ worth of compounding. Take the money out of your RRSP to buy a house and you waste that benefit.
And home ownership comes with a lot of costs besides a mortgage. Saving for retirement could end up on your list of future projects, just after putting an island in your kitchen and a deck in the backyard.
So a memo to whoever wins the election: Encourage retirement saving and let housing take care of itself.
Low oil and gas prices not expected to go away any time soon
Three more years: that’s how long you can expect to see low oil and gas prices, Moody’s Investors Service says. This will put more pressure on energy companies to slash development, production and overhead costs, Jeffrey Jones reports.
Deeper cuts are on tap for the North American exploration and production sector after major cost reductions in the first half of this year to deal with squelched cash flows, the credit-rating agency said in a new report that studied 90 companies.
Moody’s said the commodities could remain weak through 2018, averaging $50 a barrel this year and not rebounding to $60 until 2017.
Sorry, my “granny” hair is here to stay
These days Instagram is filled with grey-haired selfies. Models parade down runways with grey manes. Celebs are going silver too. If you’re in your 20s, “granny” hair is cool.
All of which made Sarah Hampson, who has been colouring her grey hair a more youthful colour for almost 20 years, stop and think: I’m fed up with the age-defiance game. So she let the grey hairs grow.
But her decision was no streak of defiant feminism, as many see the granny hair trend. Simply put, she was getting too old for the irritation. Now?
“When I look at my white hair, I feel a new respect for the body that has carried me this far, creating beautiful babies, taking me to wonderful parts of the world, grounding me in the moment, feeling hurt and pain and love and joy.” The grey is here to stay.