Canada

[freshstarz]

Wow... the fun in comparisons. Gas is more expensive here after the conversion (of course depending on where you are).

After living both in the US and Canada - I find that the taxes (income) are NOT much different than the U.S. It is a bit more here, as Angie pointed out, but as OT pointed out, you get quite a bit more for what we pay in.

Not to mention the fact that if you lose your job, the province picks up your health insurance, drugs, etc.

Not to mention the better support we get as old people.

[OperaTenor]

Hi FS,

That's all part of why you went back, right?

[Marye]

I own an Prius so I hardly have to buy gas any more ... what's the price? (j/k)

I think Toronto housing is more expensive than Montreal and Calgary but not as much as Vancouver. My 1100 square foot condo in downtown Toronto would cost you close to $300,000 to purchase. Everything else is about equal... My employer picks up 80% of my dental bills, drugs, eyeglasses, private room in a hospital, flight from another country if I am sick and need to return... stress leave for six weeks to a year ... maternity leave for up to a year (since I never had children I should get two stress leaves )

But Toronto has more pollution and arrogance .. Calgary has the Stampede and the beautiful Cascade Mountains near by (Ang.. Cascade? is that right) and Montreal, well they have the most beautiful people.

[freshstarz]

Hahaha@Mary. Yes - Montreal has beautiful people as we discussed earlier. And so well-dressed.

Anyway to OT - I did move here because of all those things. The biggest complaint I have so far is that Quebec liks to be different and is sometimes so autonomous, that some federal gov't agencies seem redundant because Quebec runs their own services. And the red-tape to get things done can be frustrating. but all in all - great place

[Angie Parkes]

Originally posted by Marye:
Montreal, well they have the most beautiful people.

I dunno, Mary. There's you in Toronto and me in Calgary, and we're both dead ringers for Shania, aren't we?

[piqaboo]

You two are definitely among the beautiful people!

I pay ~ 28% with state, fed, social sec, etc.
Perhaps I am bad at "doing" my taxes, and could be paying less.....

Angie, is marijuana legal for use as an anti-nausea, appetite stimulating drug? It is "sort of" legal here in CA. CA votes it in, the Feds say we cant, and back and forth and Back and Forth and BACK and FORTH......

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

The marijuana thing again. Eck.

It's a drug. It's a useful drug with appropriate applications. It should be standardized with respect to purity and dosage, and sold in pharmacies subject to the same rules as work for other non-opiate "addictive" substances. The resistance to the proper use of the stuff is all politics and hysteria. And it's annoyed me for decades, now. It's a drug, it belongs in the pharmacy, my doctor should be able to prescribe it.

And if the FDA would just come around to my entirely reasonable point of view, the amateur recreational use of the herb would then logically fall into the same "recreational use" category as the recreational use of other prescription drugs.

My other objection to the use of marijuana is mostly that I distrust amateur growers about as much as I distrust amateur chemists. How clean are they, how pure is the product, is it free of contaminants like bug spray, and so forth.

For recreational use, I view rules similar to those that apply to alcohol as a reasonable set of restrictions. Folk that are high don't need to be driving, operating machinery, etc.

This is like when I argue contraception with the Pope. Neither the Pope nor the FDA want to listen to me

[Angie Parkes]

Medicinal marijuana is legal in Canada, and there are government approved grow ops. There is also a ton of red-tape involved, requiring applications for three or four different permits.

I agree with you, Selma, and I think the world would be a better place if the Pope and the FDA heeded your advice. Even when you've got all the necessary permits, the chances of getting a standardized and uncontaminated dose are quite small.

When I lost my hair I didn't bother with wigs or scarves, and just went bald, so my condition was obvious. One of my colleagues, who relishes his reputation as a blackguard and hell-raiser, offered to score some good stuff, clean and potent, to help out. I thought it was a very sweet gesture but never took him up on it. If I had, it would have been illegal, but probably more effective and perhaps safer than whatever I could have got through tortuous legal channels.

[GreatCarouser]

Just curious, OT. As a veteran don't you have access to the VA health services?

[Marye]

Originally posted by Angie:

Originally posted by Marye:
[b]Montreal, well they have the most beautiful people.

I dunno, Mary. There's you in Toronto and me in Calgary, and we're both dead ringers for Shania, aren't we? [/b]

Wish I saw this yesterday... could have used the laugh.... no wait.. I mean yes we are. Yoo hoo Tim!

Just saw the Marijuana post. Just down the street from where we live is a teller-like pharmacy, you could say, that dispenses marijuana. You must have a prescription. The office front is dark and does not advertise its existence but we know about it.

<small>[ 06-03-2005, 04:17 PM: Message edited by: Marye ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

Hi GC,

To be honest, I'm not sure of the requirements for eligibility to enroll in the VA system. I'm pretty sure I have to prove some level of indigency to qualify. But I could be wrong.

Just looked it up, and there is a financial hitch. Depending on whether the treatment is for service related conditions and income, copayments may be applied. Financial status may also disqualify an applicant for enrollment.

I wouldn't exactly generally classify it as first-class health care, either.

[Marye]

OT... in the trauma unit at the Canadian hospital I frequent these days (trying to keep in line with the thread) morphine and ativan have been liberally used to help these past seven weeks. When you were badly injured were you on an intravenous drip of these drugs for this length of time? Were you able to "withdraw" from them easily?

[Shapley]

OT,

RE:I wouldn't exactly generally classify it as first-class health care, either.

But it's government run. I thought you advocated that.

V/R
Shapley

[OperaTenor]

Hi Shap,

Nice try.

Hi Mary,

I'm allergic to morphine, so I was given a "synthetic", dilodid(sp?), either intraveneously or with a PSA. The best pain medication I've ever had.

[Marye]

I think it is Dilaudid, if I am not mistaken.

Andrew is suffering withdrawal from morphine and ativan and a host of other drugs used to keep him heavily sedated. It is a nightmare I cannot begin to tell you about... AND he has now developed a pulmonary embolism. Learned that one 15 minutes ago..

So perhaps his tremendous suffering has been the embolism. I don't know. Makes me weep. Thanks for responding.

<small>[ 06-03-2005, 06:05 PM: Message edited by: Marye ]</small>

[OperaTenor]

Hi Mary,

I'm very sorry to hear about these latest complications.

I failed to answer part of your earlier question. I've been on lots of pain meds over the years, and have never had any addiction problems. I'm very fortunate.

[Marye]

Hey Fresh!

I see Quebec gets to keep that horror Karla Homolka. Even though she comes from Ontario and deserves to remain in jail for the rest of her life, I think she should have been made to come back to Ontario and remained the problem of this province not Quebec.

What's Bred in the bone....

[piqaboo]

Ye gods.
I hope they never let her out. Some other sick m-f will track her down and she'll work with him/her exactly the same way.
There goes lunch.

[Marye]

She is out next month. Some other sick m-f has tracked her down. She has been corresponding with a rodent from another prison in Canada. He merely killed his girlfriend.. WAIT... maybe she should hook up with him... hmmmmm

[mmichaelson]

<LOL> No state taxes here - I LOVE it!