Langara journalism students attended the Jan. 18 Vancouver Police Board meeting When I'm not searching for the truth, or driving my sports-crazy kids around the Lower Mainland -- or deciding whether my tea of the day should be "super green matcha" or turmeric and ginger - I sometimes impart my semi-mad journalism skills on Langara College students. And sometimes, like last Thursday, those students join me on the job. We attended a Vancouver Police Board meeting, where we heard Insp. Bill Spearn of the VPD's major crime section tell us that overdose deaths in the city are still at a crisis level - at least 335 people are suspected of dying in 2017, with more than 80 per cent of the deaths connected to fentanyl. [continues 598 words]
New government rules set 19 as minimum age to buy marijuana The provincial government announced Tuesday that the BC Liquor Distribution Branch will be the wholesale distributor of non-medical cannabis once the federal government legalizes marijuana in July 2018. The policy move by the government is in addition to new rules that state buyers and consumers of recreational marijuana must be at least 19 years old, which is consistent with current laws related to alcohol and tobacco. Mike Farnworth, the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, spoke to reporters in a conference call but would not say specifically where consumers will be able to legally buy marijuana under the new rules. [continues 542 words]
I've got to say that in my years of covering city hall, I've never seen Mayor Gregor Robertson cry. He almost did Wednesday. He shifted in his chair in council chambers, made one of those faces people make before the tears roll, then paused mid-sentence. "There's a loss of hopeĀ " The mayor was referring to the drug overdose crisis and the mounting death toll. He had just heard from city staff that 216 people in Vancouver this year have died of a suspected overdose. [continues 780 words]
Officer used the nasal spray form of the drug inside Rogers Arena A Vancouver police officer working at a Vancouver Canucks hockey game has become the first member of the department to use the overdose-reversing drug naloxone on an overdose victim. Staff Sgt. Bill Spearn of the VPD's organized crime section said the officer was working with a partner Dec. 28 at a Canucks game at Rogers Arena and noticed a commotion outside one of the gates involving a man who collapsed on the ground. [continues 755 words]
t's always nice to hear from the person in charge when you have questions about what he or she is going to do to address a problem affecting a large number of people. You may not always like the answers - or get a straight answer, for that matter - but still, it's something, right? That person in charge: Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott The problem - more of an epidemic, really: the overdose death crisis that killed 922 people in 2016, not the widely reported 914 as yours truly and others have written for more than a month. (Toxicology test results of suspected drug overdose victims continue to confirm more bad news.) [continues 526 words]
The B.C. government owns more than 25 low-income hotels in community hit hardest by overdose drug deaths Mayor Gregor Robertson is calling on the provincial government to set up drug injection rooms in all of the single-room-occupancy hotels it owns in the Downtown Eastside as another measure to prevent people from dying of a drug overdose. The provincial government owns more than 25 hotels in the Downtown Eastside, where people are dying at an alarming rate of overdoses largely linked to the deadly synthetic narcotic fentanyl. [continues 985 words]
City has issued 854 tickets to pot shop operators More than 50 illegal marijuana dispensaries continue to operate in Vancouver despite the city issuing 854 tickets to owners who refuse to close their doors, according to new statistics provided to the Courier this week. The city has also filed 27 injunctions in court in an effort to shut down some of the 54 premises, which are operating without a business licence. The tickets are worth $250 each and, in some cases, were issued multiple times to a dispensary. [continues 1020 words]
Former Mixed-martial Arts Fighter, Ex-College Basketball Player Among Directors Of Marijuana Dispensary A personal trainer, an entrepreneur and a recent kinesiology grad are the three partners behind the city's first illegal marijuana dispensary to receive a business licence. Jesse Charn Rice-Jones, Harkrishan Singh Sidhu and Bradley James Quevillon are directors of Wealthshop Social Society, which plans to open the Wealth Shop retail dispensary next week at suite 104-4545 West 10th Ave in Point Grey. The trio hoped to keep a low profile before opening the shop but understood there would be media interest in learning more about the operators behind the city's first licensed dispensary. [continues 837 words]
The City of Vancouver issued Monday the first-ever business licence for a pot shop in the city's history to operators of a marijuana dispensary that will soon open on West 10th Avenue in Point Grey. Wealth Shop Society at suite 104-4545 West 10th Ave, which shares a parking lot with Safeway and in a complex that includes a law office, dentist and veterinarian, is a new retail dispensary and did not have an existing location in Vancouver. As of Tuesday, it had not opened for business but had set up a website that gave some insight into how it would operate. [continues 472 words]
Thought I'd give you a little more insight into the illegal marijuana dispensary revolution/battle/gong show playing out in this town. I'll focus on one block of Commercial Drive, from East 13th to East 14th. Along that stretch is the B.C. Pain Society (at East 13th and Commercial), the B.C. Compassion Club (southwest corner of East 14th and Commercial) and Stratford Hall private school (southeast corner of East 14th and Commercial). They are so close to each other that if staff from each place stood out on their sidewalks, they could wave to each other. But this trio of neighbours is not exactly chummy. [continues 709 words]
The city's push to issue business licences to illegal marijuana dispensaries got more complicated over the weekend as 23 pot shops were ticketed for defying an order to close their doors while another 22 abided by the city's deadline to shut down. To date, the city has issued 44 tickets, including 21 to three separate shops that did not participate in the city's new regulation scheme. Andreea Toma, the city's chief licensing inspector, said the city will continue enforcement this week and expects to issue more $250 tickets to pot shops that refused to shut their doors last Friday. Toma said additional tickets will be issued to those shops targeted over the weekend. [continues 565 words]
The oldest medicinal marijuana dispensary in Vancouver cleared a big hurdle Wednesday in its battle to keep its doors open for its 6,000 members and continue operating on Commercial Drive. The B.C. Compassion Club, which was founded in 1997 and moved to Commercial Drive in 1998, won its appeal Wednesday from the Board of Variance, overturning an earlier decision by the city that ruled the dispensary was too close to two schools to operate under the city's new regulations for pot shops. [continues 988 words]
Organizer of today's 4-20 protest at Sunset Beach predicts bigger events when pot legalized An organizer of today's 4-20 marijuana protest at Sunset Beach is welcoming the news that Canada's health minister announced that the Trudeau government will introduce legislation next spring to legalize marijuana. But Dana Larsen, who is a director of a non-profit that runs two marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver, said the public shouldn't expect the government's move will spell an end to the annual 4-20 events in Vancouver. [continues 454 words]
April Is Always a Big Month for Marijuana Enthusiasts. It's, of course, the month where pot smokers and "potificators" (my word) assemble by the hundreds on the fourth month of the year on the 20th day to smoke a joint or three. Yep, it's almost 4-20, folks. This year, it will be at Sunset Beach. You probably heard that park board chairperson Sarah Kirby-Yung wasn't exactly happy with Mayor Gregor Robertson and city staff for giving organizers the (oh, the puns) green light. [continues 541 words]
Yep, this is about to happen... I'm going to knock out 650 words on the city's board of variance. No, my editor isn't punishing me. And, no, I didn't lose a bet. I just thought you might want to know what the heck this board does because it will likely be in the news from now until at least November. Why? One word: Marijuana. From Feb. 17 until Nov. 16, the board of variance will hold separate hearings for 62 owners of illegal marijuana dispensaries whose development permit applications were rejected by the city. [continues 601 words]
Small southeastern B.C. town first in Canada to issue a business licence to an illegal marijuana dispensary For almost a year now, the City of Vancouver has said that when it eventually issues a business licence to an illegal marijuana dispensary, it will be the first municipality in Canada to do so. That history, according to city officials, could be made as early as the spring. Except the city has either forgotten or wasn't aware what occurred in Kimberley last summer: the small southeastern B.C. town's council unanimously agreed to give Tamarack Dispensaries a business licence. [continues 861 words]
Vancouver Coastal Health is pushing ahead with a plan to provide more supervised drug injection sites in the city and open them in existing community health centres. Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer for the health authority, said the plan is in its early stages and involves examining which health centres have the greatest need for the service. "If we put in another application [to Health Canada], it will be for more than one site," Daly told the Courier by telephone this week. "It wouldn't be for 10, but it would probably be for a handful of sites to start with. We've got a few that we're considering but I don't want to publicly say them right now." [continues 627 words]
The City of Vancouver is still a few months away from making Canadian history by being the first municipality in this country to issue a business licence to an illegal marijuana dispensary, according to the city's chief licence inspector. That's because city staff continues to sort through applications, collect feedback from neighbours of pot shops and wait for results of appeals by applicants initially rejected under the new regulations. Many dispensary operators are also looking for or found new locations for their businesses, said Andreaa Toma, who is overseeing the regulations brought in by city council in June 2015. [continues 749 words]
Imagine the B.C. government going out on its own and creating a system within the province that taxes and regulates the use of recreational marijuana, without approval from the federal government. That's a thought that came up in conversation with Tonia Winchester of Seattle who helped lead the campaign in 2012 to have marijuana legalized in Washington State. As the outreach director for New Approach Washington, the former prosecutor was a member of a coalition of citizens that fought successfully to allow adults 21 and over to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use. [continues 827 words]
Some of you may have read my story this week about the City of Vancouver hosting private sessions for current and potential pot shop operators on how to "successfully" obtain a business licence for the illegal dispensaries. I know, it seems contradictory doesn't it - a legal business licence for an illegal activity. But that's for the federal government to sort out as city staff embarks on its bold plan to have Vancouver become the first municipality in Canada to regulate the growing number of marijuana dispensaries. [continues 537 words]
The City of Vancouver is holding private information sessions for current and potential pot shop operators to "learn how to make a successful medical marijuana business licence application" as it embarks on its plan to become Canada's first city to regulate the illegal dispensaries. The city is advertising the sessions on its website, saying "staff will explain everything you need to know about the new regulations and how to successfully apply for permits and licences to run a marijuana-related business." [continues 680 words]
First, it was the debate over gambling expansion in 2011. In June, it was how best to regulate illegal marijuana dispensaries. Two weeks ago, it was whether city council should approve some form of barrier on the Burrard Bridge to prevent suicides. The theme linking these major public policy decisions together at city hall is how they were influenced or, at least, informed by the expert opinions and research conducted by Vancouver Coastal Health's public health and preventive medicine doctors. [continues 974 words]
So someone is officially complaining about the Vancouver Police Department's alleged lack of enforcement on the city's illegal marijuana dispensaries. That someone is Pamela McColl of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Canada. She received some media attention about her complaint, which was filed with the Vancouver Police Board and, by extension, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. I left a message with McColl on her cell last week but I hadn't heard back at the time of writing this. [continues 594 words]
Now that council decided to regulate illegal marijuana dispensaries, you probably have some questions. So I thought I'd select a few I've heard from people and do my best to answer them. Here we go... Question: Do the new regulations mean all current dispensary operators will automatically receive a business licence, if they pay the $30,000 annual fee? Answer: No. Every operator must apply to the city and go through a stringent three-phase process which involves staff reviewing the dispensary's location, past business practices, conducting criminal record checks and determining whether the pot shop meets various guidelines and building codes related to health, fire and signs. You should also know that if a dispensary meets the requirements of a non-profit "compassion club," then the fee is $1,000. [continues 538 words]
Federal Health Minister 'Deeply Disappointed' In Decision Vancouver has become the first municipality in Canada to adopt regulations for illegal marijuana dispensaries and will begin to issue business licences to a maximum of 94 pot shops in the coming months. City council voted 8-3 Wednesday to proceed with a staff proposal that calls for $30,000 annual licence fees ($1,000 for non-profit "compassion clubs"), criminal record checks and zoning regulations that prohibit pot shops from operating within 300 metres of schools, community centres and each other. [continues 978 words]
VPD Targeted Seven Dispensaries in 18 Months The business of investigating and prosecuting illegal marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver has yet to result in the successful prosecution of any suspects whom police arrested over an 18-month span while executing nine search warrants at city pot shops. In examining court records and conducting interviews with Vancouver police, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and a dispensary operator, the Courier learned that only three people were charged in connection with raids on two pot shops. [continues 1444 words]
Coaltion Creates Petition Against City Dispensary Plan A new group calling itself the Coalition For Dispensary Free Communities surfaced this week and is urging the public to sign a petition and support its call to oppose the city's proposal to regulate marijuana dispensaries. The group set up a website and has Facebook and Twitter accounts aimed at convincing city council to oppose the city staff's proposal, which goes to public hearing next Wednesday. The city wants to regulate the growing number of pot shops, which total more than 80 at the city's last count, by charging an annual $30,000 licence fee, require criminal record checks and ensure the businesses are at least 300 metres from a school or community centre. [continues 503 words]
Proposed Regulations Called Restrictive Some of B.C.'s high-profile marijuana advocates sent a strong and consistent message to city council Wednesday night that it must make significant changes to a set of proposed rules to regulate pot shops before adopting legislation. Though many of the 17 speakers on the first night of a public hearing commended city staff for the proposal, they argued that a $30,000 annual licensing fee was too expensive, that restricting pot shops within 300 metres of each other is unfair and banning marijuana-laced goods for sale would create an unregulated market for "edibles" such as cookies and brownies. [continues 856 words]
Harper government says dispensaries are illegal At least 65 people have signed up to speak at a public hearing next Wednesday to weigh in on whether the city should regulate the growing number of marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver. More speakers are expected to register as the hearing nears, but the biggest critic of the city's proposal - the federal government of Stephen Harper - has not committed to send any representatives to city hall and likely won't participate. In an email exchange this week with Health Minister Rona Ambrose's office, the minister's press secretary Michael Bolkenius told the Courier that Ambrose already outlined the government's opposition in a letter sent in April to Mayor Gregor Robertson. [continues 881 words]
In her own words, Dr. Patricia Daly is a "prevention physician." What does that mean? "My main goal is to prevent the harm associated with any psychoactive substance," says the chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health. By psychoactive substance, she means drugs. Heroin, cocaine, marijuana, for example. So how do you prevent harm? Some readers might be shocked by Daly's answer. She is, after all, a doctor and very much in the business of wanting to keep people alive. [continues 636 words]
'Edibles' banned in proposed city rules If city council decides to regulate the growing number of marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver, that will mean an end to all marijuana goods sold in pot shops. So no more cookies, brownies, butter or ice cream. And Don Briere, who co-owns more than a dozen Weeds Glass and Gifts pot shops, is perfectly fine with dumping what are commonly referred to in the industry as edibles from his inventory. At least for now. "There's amateurs out there and they're not consistent and they don't know what they're doing," he said of the variety of homemade goods available for sale in pot shops. "It's like people who make backyard gin, people can go blind drinking it.They didn't do it intentionally, but it can happen." [continues 683 words]
Let me begin with a message from the Government of Canada. "Like the vast majority of Canadians, the government expects that police will enforce the laws of Canada as written." I pulled that quote out of a letter sent April 28 to city councillors from federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose and Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney. The topic: Marijuana dispensaries, which openly sell cannabis, hashish, hash oil and products such as cookies, brownies and butter, all of which contain the herb. [continues 591 words]
The public will have a say in the city's proposal to regulate the growing number of marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver after city council decided Tuesday to send the issue to public hearing. The move, which is unprecedented by a Canadian municipal government, came after city manager Penny Ballem outlined a series of regulations to ensure the city has some control over the 85 pot shops. Regulations call for an annual $30,000 licence fee for dispensary operators, criminal record checks and keeping pot shops 300 metres from schools and community centres. [continues 951 words]
Health Canada yet to weigh in on current "illegal" injection facility Vancouver Coastal Health will consider adding supervised drug injection services to existing health clinics, if Health Canada grants an exemption to a downtown facility that has "illegally" operated an injection room for its registered clients since February 2002. Dr. Patricia Daly, the chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health, said the health authority is still waiting for Health Canada's decision on the Dr. Peter Centre before it looks to expand injection services in the city. [continues 625 words]
Health Canada has granted Vancouver's Insite supervised drug injection site an exemption to operate for another year, Vancouver Coastal Health announced in a statement Wednesday. But the city's former drug policy coordinator is worried legislation passed by the Harper government this week in the House of Commons will make it difficult for more injection sites to open in Vancouver and across the country. "That's the problem with all this," said Donald Macpherson, the director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition. "I know how much work it is to apply for one of those exemptions. So this is really a make-work project by the federal government for health authorities, community groups and provincial governments. It's a lot of work." [continues 646 words]
Mayor Won't Share Details of Deliberations Time to test your memory, people. Remember last September when Mayor Gregor Robertson and Police Chief Jim Chu told us how this city was in a mental health crisis? Remember when one month later Robertson announced at city council that he was creating a task force to tackle the problem of mental health - and addictions? I remember all this because I wrote about it. But, you ask, what ever happened to that task force? [continues 434 words]
Activist Dean Wilson says he's no longer a drug user Dean Wilson is having a good laugh as he recalls the time a popular Canadian author assessed the drug activist's celebrity status way back in the day. "Michael Ondaatje told me I was Canada's most famous junkie." Famous because of his real-life role in Fix: The Story of an Addicted City, a documentary film by Nettie Wild that captured Wilson's battles with addiction and his fight with city hall to do something about the mounting drug deaths. [continues 986 words]
A Vancouver provincial court judge ruled Wednesday that applying the Harper government's mandatory minimum sentence law of one year in prison to a small-time drug dealer constitutes "cruel and unusual punishment" and declared it to be "of no force and effect" in B.C. Judge Joseph Galati made the ruling in sentencing long time offender Joseph Ryan Lloyd, 25, who was convicted on three counts of possession of small amounts of crack cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin for the purpose of trafficking. [continues 681 words]
The Vancouver Police Department says it has no plans to investigate a non-profit society for selling crack cocaine pipes from two vending machines located in the Downtown Eastside. The PHS Community Services Society, which also co-manages the Insite supervised drug injection site, installed the vending machines eight months ago and has sold an average of 700 pipes per week for 25 cents each. "While there may be sections within the Criminal Code [of Canada] that could be applicable to the sale of such an item, the police have to consider the likelihood of a conviction and public interest when contemplating any investigation or recommending charges," said Const. Brian Montague, a VPD liaison officer, in an email to the Courier. "At this time, it is being considered a public health matter and there are no plans to begin a criminal investigation." [continues 559 words]
Feds Set Out Long List of Criteria for Prospective Supervised Injection Sites The operator and funder of the city's supervised injection site is worried about the detrimental health effects new federal legislation could have on the future of injection sites in Vancouver and the rest of the country. Vancouver Coastal Health posted a statement on its website that questions the federal government's introduction last week of legislation to "raise the bar" for applications to renew or open injection sites. [continues 530 words]
An unprecedented initiative led by Vancouver Coastal Health that saw 150,000 crack cocaine smoking kits distributed in the city is expected to continue, according to the agency's chief medical health officer. Dr. Patricia Daly said the number one recommendation of a draft report on the initiative, which included an experiment that monitored 250 crack smokers in the Downtown Eastside, is to hand out more kits. Participants of the experiment and non-participants received the kits and Daly said supplies are still available, although increasing the number of kits and extending the experiment is a decision of Vancouver Coastal Health's harm reduction committee. The program so far has cost $100,000, according to Vancouver Coastal Health. [continues 412 words]
Facility would need to be for scientific purposes The chief medical health officer for Vancouver Coastal Health says she supports opening a designated space in the city for people to legally smoke crack cocaine. But Dr. Patricia Daly said she would only support such a facility if it were opened solely for the purposes of a scientific study to examine its effect on crack smokers. "We're not saying let's open it now," Daly told the Courier. "We're saying if you're going to do it, you need to do it in the context of a research study." [continues 475 words]
Since he can remember, Geoff has made a conscious decision to search out clean needles as he continues to fight his heroin addiction. Now that the 39-year-old homeless man with Hepatitis C uses a one-stop service where he can exchange his used needles for new ones, his health concerns are lessened. Geoff, who didn't want his surname published to protect his privacy, found a needle exchange in the neighbourhood in which he panhandles and sleeps on the streets. "I was one of the original people to start using it," he said by telephone Tuesday as he walked down a noisy alley. [continues 508 words]
Here's a news flash: People continue to inject illegal drugs in the Downtown Eastside. Tell us something we don't know, you say. But what if I told you not everyone shooting illegal drugs is using the Insite supervised drug injection facility on East Hastings. Yes, you say again, that makes sense since Vancouver Coastal Health estimates there are 12,000 to 14,000 injection drug users in the city, with more than one third living in the Downtown Eastside. [continues 385 words]
Staff discovered man in bathtub around 2 a.m. A 46-year-old chronic drug user has died in the housing facility attached to the city's supervised drug injection site on East Hastings Street. The death occurred Sept. 14 and marks the first time someone died in the building that houses a detox centre, the injection site and temporary housing for recovering drug users. The B.C. Coroners Service is investigating and hasn't concluded the cause of death, although operators of the housing facility say the man had a long history of drug use. [continues 498 words]
Lot of talk lately about the herb. You know-pot, weed, dope, ganja, grass. Maybe you heard that a resolution went before the Union of B.C. Municipalities in Victoria Wednesday calling for the decriminalization of marijuana. It passed, by the way. The Vancouver Island municipality of Metchosin introduced the resolution, but I wouldn't have been surprised if Vancouver had led the charge to tax and regulate Mary Jane. For the record, Mayor Gregor Robertson and city council-and a whole bunch of municipalities, doctors and former B.C. attorney generals, including Liberal Geoff Plant and NDPer Ujjal Dosanjh-have publicly stated their support to decriminalize the weed. [continues 555 words]
Coroner Investigating 28 Suspected Drug Overdose Deaths Since September The number of heroin users at the city's supervised drug injection site requiring the use of a potentially life-saving medication to counter the effects of an overdose has steadily increased since September. Coupled with the increased use of Narcan at Insite on East Hastings is the B.C. Coroners Service's investigation into 28 suspected illicit drug overdose deaths in Vancouver since September, eight of which occurred in January. None died at Insite but neither the coroners service nor Vancouver Coastal Health would provide the location of the suspected deaths or details of the deceased. [continues 860 words]
Robertson in 2008 Supported 'More Injection Sites' In Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson will not lead a charge to get more drug injection sites open in the city despite his belief three years ago that more facilities were needed in Vancouver. Robertson said during his bid to become mayor in 2008 that "there is a place for more injection sites" in Vancouver. He made the statement in an October 2008 debate at the Vancouver Public Library. Three years later, Robertson said he still believes in the benefits of injection sites such as Insite on East Hastings, which won a major victory Sept. 30 after the Supreme Court of Canada allowed the facility to remain open indefinitely. [continues 583 words]
Clark Notes David Eby's Drug Stance All political eyes will be on the byelection in Vancouver-Point Grey today as Premier Christy Clark attempts to win a seat in the legislature to complete her political comeback. But standing in Clark's way is the NDP's David Eby and four other lesser known candidates who never got a chance to debate the recently crowned leader of the B.C. Liberal Party. "People who live in Vancouver-Point Grey are happy that I've taken almost all the time I've had available to campaign to speak to them because I think that's important," Clark told the Courier Monday after a press conference at a cancer centre on West 10th Avenue where she announced free nicotine gum and patches to help British Columbians quit smoking. [continues 501 words]
Advocate Calls for More Drug Injection Sites A total of 274 people died of drug overdoses in Vancouver between 2005 and 2009, according to preliminary statistics released to the Courier by the B.C. Coroners Service. Though the number of deaths is significant, Thomas Kerr, a research scientist for the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, said the death toll should be put into context. Kerr said the number of drug overdose deaths in Vancouver has declined significantly since the 1990s. [continues 508 words]
