Pubdate: Wed, 11 Mar 2015
Source: Nanton News (CN AB)
Copyright: 2015 Nanton News
Contact: http://www.nantonnews.com/letters
Website: http://www.nantonnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3200
Author: Derek Wilkinson

RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA USE ON THE RISE: RCMP

Nanton RCMP met with Town council at its Feb. 17 meeting

Recent police statistics suggest that recreational use of marijuana 
is on the rise in Nanton.

An RCMP delegation presented findings at town council on Feb.17, 
revealing that rise in marijuana use has been observed in the 
communities of Nanton and High River.

However, despite the statistics, Const. John Rotheisler, Nanton's 
acting detachment commander, doesn't believe that Nantonites have 
anything to be overtly concerned about.

"It's a pretty quiet, safe little community and it's not a drug den 
of any size or matter," said Rotheisler in an interview.

"We experienced the same thing in High River and now it's happening 
here as well. It's comparable. It's mostly just high school kids and 
it's come on a little bit stronger now," he said.

Const. Rotheisler is of the opinion that perhaps the drugs find their 
way to town through High River, who find their drugs through contacts 
in Okotoks, who buy their supply from producers and dealers in the 
Calgary area.

"We're in close proximity to Calgary and the drugs slowly roll out so 
you'll see more or heavier drugs in Okotoks because of its proximity 
to the city, High River gets a little bit of overflow, usually softer 
recreational drugs, and after the flood it got really quiet, that 
sort of subculture disappeared for a while after the flood. But kids 
in High River know kids in Okotoks so it slowly rolls in and I guess 
that could perhaps be the case in Nanton," said Rotheisler.

Const. Rotheisler also believes that the higher than usual incident 
rates of recreational marijuana use could also be attributed to 
traffic stops made by police in the city. RCMP occasionally stop 
vehicles on the highway and discover marijuana in the vehicles which 
leads to a possession charge in the community and the statistics 
could be reflective of those stops. There have alsoa been a couple 
instances of marijuana possession problems at the high school, albeit 
in small amounts.

"It's hard to gauge where it's coming from and it's such small use. 
It's not a rampant problem in Nanton," he said.

When asked if the RCMP are currently taking any extra precautions to 
ensure that recreational marijuana use doesn't become a rampant 
problem in Nanton, Const. Rotheisler stated that public awareness and 
RCMP prevalence in the community are key factors.

"We work closely with the school and we have the ability to do things 
if kids are caught, we have a whole range of things from a criminal 
code charge to a youth justice charge to a diversionary program or, 
depending on the circumstance or depending on the student. We do 
monitor the situation. I'm at the school almost every other day, the 
kids see us so public awareness is a big thing."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom