Patchwork Laws, Plentiful Supplies Help Spur California-Maryland Trade in the Mail James A. Buck gladly accepted the package at his Parkville office from the deliveryman wearing a UPS uniform. But minutes later, police swooped in to arrest Buck, 57, and seized the parcel, which had contained three pounds of marijuana he sent to himself from California, according to court records. Buck pleaded guilty to a possession charge, though he said in a recent interview that the drugs were for medicinal use. [continues 741 words]
TABATINGA, Brazil-Two Brazilian police bolted from a helicopter in Peru's Amazon jungle on a recent day with a squad of Peruvian commandos. Cracks of gunfire shook the forest before the group captured and destroyed a secret cocaine lab. The Brazilians had the legal status of unarmed observers during the Aug. 19 raid led by Peru's elite antidrug police. But both Brazilians carried assault rifles and faced hostile fire. The lab was in Peru, but the raiders flew from a Brazilian airport in a chopper running on Brazilian fuel to hit a target provided by a Brazilian-paid informant. From its Amazon border with Peru to its bustling cities, Brazil is getting drawn deeper into a drug war as surging cocaine use turns it into the world's biggest market after the U.S. It is a surprise since Brazilian politicians once criticized aggressive antidrug strategies espoused by the U.S. as causing more harm than good. [continues 1933 words]
Opiates pose toughest problem in local war on drugs MARION - The drug problem in Marion isn't getting better. Officials say it's getting worse. "It's bad," said Wade Ralph, Marion Fire Department public information officer. "It's bad bad. It's a major problem in Marion right now." Major Bill Collins with the Marion Police Department agrees. "It's not unusual for us to probably deal with 10 or more heroin-related calls a week," he said. "That could be somebody overdosing or a mom that found heroin instruments in her kid's room or the heroin addict who robbed a Motomart to get money for heroin. So it's hard to put a number on that unless you know exactly whether they're a heroin addict or not." [continues 835 words]
More Than Half of North Americans Support Legalizing Marijuana More than half of Canadians and Americans support the legalization of marijuana, according to a new poll. A two-country online survey by Angus Reid Public Opinion showed 57 per cent of Canadians and 54 per cent of Americans support the legalization of the drug and said it should be "readily available for those who want to use it." The highest support for marijuana legalization in Canada was in the Atlantic provinces, at 64 per cent. [continues 561 words]
People of Terrace gratefully receive cheques and new vehicles being handed out by recent lottery winner Bob Erb peers out from his half-open front door, wearing a paint- speckled maroon shirt emblazoned with a large cannabis leaf. One of his daughter Audrey's three small children screams from inside the duplex, which is surrounded by a yard filled with rusted folk art, children's toys and a yapping miniature poodle. Erb's duplex unit is identified by an A scrawled in jiffy marker on the front door. Above it is a sign - "Smile, you are on Candid Camera" - possibly scooped up during Erb's frequent garage-sale rummaging. [continues 1229 words]
Burnaby: Killing of Sukh Dhak and his bodyguard unlikely to stop violence, expert says The brazen daylight murder of Sukh Dhak and his bodyguard, Thomas Mantel, will lead to further power struggles in B.C.'s lucrative gang business, predicts a gang expert and author. "The public shouldn't mistake this gangland murder of Sukh Dhak as the end of this gang war," said Ranj Dhaliwal, the author of Daaku: The Gangster's Life. "Until we do something about the demand for hard drugs like cocaine and crack, we will never see an end to this." [continues 286 words]
Random program on hold pending union grievance ruling In a split decision, the Alberta Court of Appeal has upheld a temporary injunction that prevents Suncor Energy from starting random drug tests of employees. The decision Wednesday means that Suncor's new random testing program will remain stalled until an arbitrator rules on a grievance the union filed. While that arbitration is scheduled to begin Dec. 10, it is not known when a final decision will be reached. Two of the three appeal judges on the panel dismissed the appeal because they believed privacy rights were at stake. [continues 474 words]
print State's marijuana advocates will have to wait to be heard Marijuana advocates will have to wait another year to try to get their discussion in front of Oklahoma legislators after a committee chairman announced this week he would not schedule the interim study. Following Arkansas' near passing of medical marijuana on Nov. 6, Oklahoma marijuana advocates - including the leader of the Tulsa branch of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws - were in high hopes of getting an interim study approved to discuss bills put forward by state Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, aiming at legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. [continues 804 words]
MEXICO CITY - Mexico's outgoing president, Felipe Calderon, was never much loved. His election in 2006 was overshadowed by claims of fraud by a leftist challenger. He then struggled with a deep recession brought on by the global financial crisis. And throughout his term he sponsored an army-led "war on drugs," which has left a death toll variously estimated at between 65,000 and 100,000. Little wonder that most Mexicans are eager to see him leave office on Saturday. [continues 831 words]
A State Official Nixes the Research, Saying Legalization Would Oppose Federal Law. Marijuana advocates will have to wait another year to try to get their discussion in front of Oklahoma legislators after a committee chairman announced this week he would not schedule the interim study. Following Arkansas' near passing of medical marijuana on Nov. 6, Oklahoma marijuana advocates - including the leader of the Tulsa branch of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws - were in high hopes of getting an interim study approved to discuss bills put forward by state Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, aiming at legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. [continues 813 words]
Re: "Test cases; Canada doesn't have much experience with random on-the-job drug and alcohol testing. That may be about to change," the Journal, Nov. 24. Ed Secondiak, president of ECS Services, which has designed drug-testing programs, says that test results "are kept under lock and key with limited access, and never shared with outside agencies without the employee's permission." That is simply untrue. Having served many years on the Employment Insurance Board of Referees, I can assure you that since random drug testing became common, notably in oil-sands operations, numerous workers have been disqualified from receiving EI benefits because their employers have informed the Employment Insurance Commission, without the employees' permission, that they were dismissed because of a positive random drug test. [continues 154 words]
Why the War on Drugs Is a War Against Black People Attorney Michelle Alexander has been shaking things up across the nation over the past two years, yet you may not have heard of her. Her book, The New Jim Crow, Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, takes on race and the War on Drugs in ways few people would dare to approach. The point of her book is that there is a new Jim Crow system that traps many African-Americans in a permanent underclass. That system is driven by the War on Drugs which causes many young people to be stigmatized by felony records - for a victimless crime - that keep them from employment, education and housing. [continues 923 words]
Don't expect the Keystone State to be the Key-stoned State anytime soon. While voters in Colorado and Washington approved citizen-proposed referendums this month legalizing recreational marijuana use, Pennsylvania has a long way to go before such a question makes its way on the ballot, midstate attorneys and legalization advocates agree. Supporters say legalizing marijuana would be a boon for the economy, potentially generating millions in tax revenue, while opponents argue readily available pot would lead to people using drugs with more devastating effects. [continues 477 words]
SOUTHINGTON -- Police have proposed adding synthetic marijuana to a list of products that can't be sold or possessed under local ordinance. An updated list of "objectionable products" was presented to the Town Council Monday night by Town Attorney Mark Sciota, who focused on synthetic marijuana. The product is often sold in convenience stores and gas stations. The list is compiled and overseen by the police department, but the council receives reports when the new version is compiled. "The biggest change you will see has popped up in the last year," Sciota said. "(Synthetic marijuana) is becoming a dangerous thing in Southington and throughout the state." [continues 382 words]
Washington and Colorado have voted in favour of the legalization of marijuana. After this happened, B.C. marijuana advocates did not wait a minute to start campaigning for pot legalization. The biggest deterrent the federal government had to prevent changing the law is gone: that legalization, even decriminalization, would create unbearable tensions with our biggest economic partner and neighbour in the south. Pot activists argue that marijuana is not dangerous to our health, that legalization would bring millions of dollars in tax revenue, and that it will decrease crime. [continues 556 words]
On questions surrounding cannabis aka marijuana aka hemp, the states are light years ahead of the federal government. The Obama administration and Congress should get out of the way of state reforms aimed at transforming a vast underground economy into a regulated source of taxation. Unlike about half the states, Kentucky has shown little official interest in legitimizing marijuana for medical or recreational use. But there is long-standing support in Kentucky for bringing back a crop that was once common here. Fiber, oil and seed from industrial hemp are in demand by U.S. manufacturers but now have to be imported. [continues 414 words]
What is really at stake if B.C. follows Washington state and Colorado and successfully legalizes marijuana? Money, of course, that other green substance. Let's start with the estimated value of the illicit pot growing industry here in B.C. It's often claimed to be between $6 billion and $8 billion, a fairly rough estimate given that none of the principals are filling out any corporate tax forms or quarterly earning reports. Even if it's lower than the estimates, it's a huge industry. By contrast, in 2011 the entire forest industry had a value of just under $10 billion. [continues 533 words]
Police are enlisting youthful offenders for work that's risky, unregulated and sometimes deadly, says Sarah Stillman On the evening of May 7, 2008, a 23-year-old woman named Rachel Hoffman got into her silver Volvo sedan, put on calming jam-band music, and headed north to a public park in Tallahassee, Fla. A recent graduate of Florida State, she was dressed to blend into a crowd: jeans, T-shirt, black Reef flip-flops. On the passenger seat beside her was a handbag that contained $13,000 in marked bills. [continues 2492 words]
Our panelists examine the possible choices Canada faces after Colorado and Washington states legalized recreational marijuana earlier this month Continue Status Quo Colton Carrick, ArtSci '16 With the recent legalization of marijuana in the US, many Canadians were left in awe at the decision made by our traditionally more conservative neighbour. For decades we Canadians have considered ourselves substantially more progressive on issues such as gay marriage, abortion, healthcare and until now - drug use. However with America's decision, we are now looking to our own drug laws and questioning their relevance and effectiveness in our modern age. Is the legalization of marijuana the right move for the Canadian government? Absolutely not. [continues 1877 words]
Re: "B.C.'s poverty rate ranks 2nd worst in nation, report says," Nov. 22. Let's kill a whole flock of birds with just one stone. B.C.'s child-poverty problem is disgraceful. Money is urgently needed to begin remedying this unacceptable situation. Yet the government is already cash-strapped, or so we're told. The Times Colonist recently reported that British Columbians buy an estimated half-billion dollars worth of marijuana annually. That is a half-billion dollars of untaxed economic activity. The province doesn't collect sales and excise tax on the end-user transactions. It doesn't collect business taxes nor does it receive any of the income tax that ought to be paid by producers and their employees. Instead, these tax scofflaws use those unremitted revenues to purchase other consumables brought into the province, including guns, heroin, cocaine and meth. [continues 130 words]
