Police say booths have been selling weed to kids Despite a recent police crackdown, marijuana vendors who have been selling pot out of booths set up at Robson Square near the Vancouver Art Gallery say they have no intention of stopping. Police arrested four people on Jan. 22 and have charged a fifth person, Vancouver resident David Hill, with drug trafficking. At a press conference Tuesday morning, police said they have recommended 11 charges in total and more charges will be coming. [continues 269 words]
An insignificant number of Canadians use illicit drugs. Less than four per cent use them and less than two per cent have a problem resulting from hard drug use, notably, heroin and cocaine. The consequences, which can include death and over-dosing, place a heavy social and economic burden on society. Let's start by understanding what motivates people, and especially the young, to use drugs. Programs that address the reasons for the behaviour are far more likely to work. That said, it is about time we start treating drug use and drug addiction for what it is: a public health problem with the priorities being treatment, rehabilitation and harm reduction. [continues 62 words]
Public parks? Coffee shops? The province wants your input on pot What are the three most important rules of consuming cannabis? You know the joke - location, location, location. With the legalization of marijuana looming, the conversation has turned to where it can be safely consumed. Where should people smoke pot? Where should they consume cannabis edibles? Last week, the province asked for public feedback on the issue. Ontario has nixed consumption on the job or in public places. The 'public places' bit immediately presents problems - lots of people smoke dope in parks, and for obvious reasons. [continues 468 words]
The region served by Interior Health has been "hit hard" by the opioid epidemic, says the agency's medical health officer, but new tactics are being brought to bear in the fight. "We've come a long way, but unfortunately these deaths continue to occur," Dr. Silvina Mema on Thursday told the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen. Fentanyl is the sole reason for the Interior Health region facing the second highest number of overdose deaths in B.C., behind only the Vancouver area, she said. According to the BC Coroner's Service, almost 90 per cent of overdose victims had fentanyl in their system. [continues 293 words]
Three deaths, two hospitalizations, 48 hours. It doesn't get much scarier. As if the deadly opioid drug crisis sweeping London and the rest of Canada isn't alarming enough, London police amped up their warnings about the fallout Wednesday in the wake of three suspected drug overdose deaths and two hospital emergency cases spread over several days this week. The move came as city police and the Ontario Provincial Police held a rare joint public information meeting Wednesday night about the dangers of fentanyl, the most sinister opioid drug and one that's already been implicated in deaths in Southwestern Ontario. [continues 726 words]
To help the local youth identify and avoid the decisions that can lead to severe drug addiction, members of the Okanagan Correctional Centre were at Tuc-el-Nuit Elementary School last week to have a frank discussion with the Grade 5, 6 and 7 students. The conversation was led by assistant deputy warden Keith Pearce and security officer Mitch Fritz, who spoke about their volunteer experiences doing outreach in Vancouver's downtown Eastside. Joining them on their missions are players from the Penticton Vees. [continues 782 words]
No evidence to suggest items were stolen, force says Thousands of dollars in cash, nearly 30 kilograms of marijuana and three kilograms of cocaine are unaccounted for after an audit of Halifax police drug exhibits, but the force said there's no evidence to suggest its officers stole the missing evidence. Halifax Regional Police Supt. Jim Perrin presented his final Drug Exhibit Audit Report to the Board of Police Commissioners on Tuesday, the final step in a process that began in 2015 after allegations that an officer had stolen from the evidence lockers. [continues 614 words]
A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy has been charged with operating a large-scale drug trafficking operation in which he boasted that he hired other law enforcement officers to provide security to drug dealers and could assault people for his clients, according to court records. Kenneth Collins, a deputy assigned to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and two other men were arrested by FBI agents Tuesday morning in a sting operation when they arrived to what they thought was a drug deal, according to records unsealed following the arrest. [continues 925 words]
Just a few weeks ago, Joel A. Giambra the lobbyist was working the State Capitol's hallways advocating the legalization of marijuana. Now he works a different Capitol angle as a Republican hopeful for governor, proposing that legalized and tightly regulated marijuana sales represent the best way to address the state's massive infrastructure and mass transit needs. "I'm saying raising taxes is not the solution," he said during a Monday press conference on Niagara Street. "My job would be to convince the Legislature that this is the most appropriate way to deal with this particular problem of infrastructure." [continues 405 words]
Made-in-Alberta protocols change ways dogs sniff out fentanyl Alberta RCMP is leading the way when it comes to new police service dog drug detection protocols. Previously, sticking their nose in drugs was a police dog's business, but now the canines sit beside suspected drugs when they are found, said K Division Deputy Commissioner Todd Shean in a year-end interview. "Now the dogs are sitting back ... so if they detect it - versus putting the dogs in harm's way - they sit," Shearn said. [continues 234 words]
Terry Lake, the former B.C. health minister who oversaw the declaration of a public-health emergency amid the deadly fentanyl crisis, is urging more research on the effects of marijuana on opioid addictions. Now a vice-president at a medical cannabis company, Lake said there is preliminary evidence that shows marijuana can help people with addictions reduce their use of hard drugs and ease the painful symptoms of withdrawal. "I'm not saying it's the answer to the opioid crisis. I'm saying it's one of the options we should explore," said Lake, who chose not to run in last spring's provincial election. "It's very promising and deserving of further research and there's no better place to do that than in British Columbia." [continues 475 words]
Three weeks after Ontario said it would fast-track creation of temporary safer drug-injection sites, the province has finally cleared away the bureaucratic red tape - a move that will soon lead to a site or sites in London. The red tape - the Ontario government had promised a 14-day turnaround - - was the last barrier to health units across Ontario to creating safer places to lessen the death toll of opioids. The Middlesex-London Health Unit used the last three weeks to have its application ready to go. [continues 497 words]
Re: Here's why it's time to legalize all drugs, Jan. 10 An insignificant number of Canadians use illicit drugs. Less than four per cent use them and less than two per cent have a problem resulting from hard drug use, notably, heroin and cocaine. The consequences, which can include death and overdosing, place a heavy social and economic burden on society. Let's start by understanding what motivates people, and especially the young, to use drugs. Programs that address the reasons for the behaviour are far more likely to work. [continues 95 words]
To the editor: Re: Legalized marijuana will be a gateway drug, Letters, Dec. 28. I read with interest the opinion that marijuana will lead to becoming a junkie. From the age of 25 to around the age of 55, I smoked pot every day. I never encountered the day the marijuana failed to get me high. Some strains were more effective than others, but with the hundreds of fellow smokers I met over this time, only a few would go on cocaine benders but never made it a habit. There were doctors, lawyers, mechanics, school teachers and just about every walk of life who enjoyed a puff every day. In my life I have seen many more lives ravaged by booze than pot. [continues 72 words]
London police are warning the public that cocaine seized in November contained the deadly opioid fentanyl. Health Canada tests confirmed the presence of fentanyl - an opioid 100 times more powerful than morphine - in drugs found on a 33-year-old London man after he was arrested. "This is the first time in London that both cocaine and fentanyl were discovered in the same sample," police said in a news release Sunday. "It is not confirmed if the drugs were intentionally or inadvertently mixed." [continues 334 words]
ALERT boss says officers will focus on keeping up with tech-savvy bad guys Disarming and dismantling the upper echelon of organized crime groups in Alberta is in the sights of the province's dedicated guns and gang investigators in 2018, says the province's integrated law enforcement boss. But in order to disrupt the complex networks of drug-running and gun-toting criminals in Alberta, officers will need to stay ahead of the technology curve as these groups - which include some of the province's most notorious outlaw motorcycle gangs - are becoming increasingly tech savvy. [continues 483 words]
Grieving father warns kids about dangers of drugs after son's death SMOKE from a smudging stick and the warm breath of friends and family of Jeremy Hobson filled the front yard of the house where the 21-year-old accidentally overdosed and died on the weekend, during a ceremony held Thursday. Jeremy died after taking a pill, which he thought was OxyContin, at a gettogether with friends and cousins on Saturday night, according to his father Larry Hobson. Hobson said he thinks the pill that killed his son was laced with fentanyl. [continues 792 words]
During his election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana if we chose him as our leader. That day is near, and marijuana might be legalized on Canada Day 2018. Such a decision should not be taken lightly. Our country is not ready for this change. To clarify, I don't want to come across as cynical. I know that medical marijuana has its place in treating patients with chronic or terminal illness. I also don't agree with throwing people in jail for carrying small amounts for personal use. I see this as a waste of time, money and resources. At the same time, however, I don't think that the legalization of marijuana is what our country needs. And I certainly don't think it will make our country healthier, happier or safer. The decision to legalize marijuana has implications for health, society and our youth. [continues 547 words]
During his election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana if we chose him as our leader. That day is near, and marijuana might be legalized on Canada Day 2018. Such a decision should not be taken lightly. Our country is not ready for this change. To clarify, I don't want to come across as cynical. I know that medical marijuana has its place in treating patients with chronic or terminal illness. I also don't agree with throwing people in jail for carrying small amounts for personal use. I see this as a waste of time, money and resources. At the same time, however, I don't think that the legalization of marijuana is what our country needs. And I certainly don't think it will make our country healthier, happier or safer. The decision to legalize marijuana has implications for health, society and our youth. [continues 467 words]
Most Albertans support the provincial government's proposed regulations for legalized marijuana, according to a new Insights West poll. Almost two-thirds of respondents to the online poll agree with the decision to prevent pot stores from selling alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals, while 77 per cent favour setting 18 as the legal age for buying marijuana. While 60 per cent of Albertans support legalization, up five percentage points since a national poll done in October 2016, the poll found a split along party lines. [continues 310 words]
