MONCTON, N.B. (CP) - A new import from British Columbia is taking root in New Brunswick forests and the RCMP aren't too happy about it. "It's a new type of marijuana plant called B.C. Bud and we're finding it in New Brunswick," said Kent RCMP Sgt. David Mazerolle. This particular species of plant is harder for police to see from the sky because it's quite short. It's also more efficient for those who grow it because it produces as many buds as a plant more than triple its size. [continues 91 words]
Crime Stoppers and the RCMP's marijuana enforcement team is asking residents to report any suspicious activity that could be related to marijuana grow operations. The team is telling citizens that marijuana growers usually move into a new neighbourhood in the spring, and rarely try to make an effort to become a part of the community. Shortly after moving into the home, sounds of working tractors, chain saws or gas trimmers come from the yard as they clear the lot. The marijuana enforcement team is asking citizens to call crime stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS if they have information or they suspect an outdoor marijuana operation in their neighbourhood. [end]
The numbers don't paint a clear picture of marijuana use in this country, but they're enough to make people sit up and take notice at least. The UN's 2007 World Drug Report found 16.8 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 15 and 64 used pot in 2004 -- the highest rate among developed nations. By comparison, 12.6 per cent of American respondents said they have tried pot. Britain (8.7), France (8.6), Germany (6.9), and especially Japan (0.1) all reported much lower rates than Canada. [continues 188 words]
Dear Abby DEAR ABBY: I am the single mom of a terrific 6-year-old boy. "Matthew" is smart, happy and generally makes good choices when given options. My problem? I'm terrified of the future. I hear horror stories about kids who take drugs and the downward spiral their lives take. Matthew's father made poor choices regarding drugs and alcohol -- one of the many reasons I divorced him -- so my son is genetically predisposed to addiction. What is to stop him from accepting drugs from friends or acquaintances? [continues 249 words]
A drug addict asked a judge to send her to a different jail because she fears being attacked after being labelled a snitch. Tammy Mai Donelan, 33, of 64 Sunset Dr. but formerly of Minto pleaded guilty Tuesday in provincial court to a laundry list of charges, totalling 10 in all. She admitted to: * April 29 counts of using a stolen credit card and breaching her probation; * May 1 counts of theft from Sears, assault on a store security official with a syringe, possession of stolen credit cards and cheques, and breach of probation; [continues 417 words]
Street gangs in Atlantic Canada and how to deal with them will be the topic of a three-day conference here this fall bringing together professionals in law enforcement, criminal intelligence, social services, educators, school administrators, addiction counsellors, correction and probation services. The conference and workshops on different aspects of the street-gang phenomenon set for Sept. 18-20 is being hosted by the Bathurst City Police in partnership with the Bathurst Youth Centre and the National Crime Prevention Strategy. Among the guest speakers are noted Canadian author Michael Chettleburgh, who wrote the book "Young Thugs," considered by many as a must-read for front-line intervenors in youth criminal activities, and Toronto police Inspector Heinz Kuck, an expert in the area of gang graffiti and tagging and how to eradicate this type of crime. [continues 133 words]
The sale of a pen shaped like a fluid-filled hypodermic needle is sending an inappropriate message to young people, says Pat Carlson, executive director of Fredericton Emergency Shelters Inc. "One of my social-work students arrived at the shelter to show us a pen she purchased at the dollar store on the St. Mary's First Nation Mall," Carlson said. "It's an absolute replica." The head on the pen clicks in and out the same as a needle and it has a measuring rule which counts off cubic centimetres, mimicking the CC levels found on the side of a syringe. [continues 200 words]
Conclusion Of A Three-Part Focus Series Suddenly the remote island in the Bay of Fundy had a big-city drug problem and the Mounties just couldn't seem to solve it. So the locals decided to take matters into their own hands. Christopher Shulgan describes the nerve-wracking outcome GRAND MANAN, N.B. -- Before the riot, before the gunfight, before the neighbourhood women unite to prevent the fire department from extinguishing the second, more serious arson, the night begins with fisticuffs. [continues 4166 words]
Do You Know What Your Child Does When They Walk Out The Door? The issue of Illegal Drugs has been front and centre in schools across New Brunswick. Many of the schools have drug councilors that are situated in the school environment that are able to assist with the growing use of illegal drugs in schools across our communities. Illegal use of non-prescribed drugs is and has been a social and enforcement problem for many years. The most prominent drug used by young people is alcohol, in the form of beer, wine, or liquor, police said in a recent interview. Most young people will experiment with this drug at an early age (pre-teen) and then on to the teen age years, through High School. Many youth have to remember that you must be 19 years of age to consume alcohol in the province of New Brunswick. [continues 202 words]
High school students visit Hubbard Ave Elementary to answer questions about saying no to drugs and not smoking An Oromocto school teacher is praising an initiative to keep kids from using drugs, alcohol and crime. "I think the DARE program has been a huge asset to the schools," said Hubbard Avenue Elementary School teacher Michelle Dunn in a recent interview. "Having a (police) officer come to discuss discuss the issue of drug and alcohol has more of an impact then it would coming from their own teacher. [continues 340 words]
The new man in charge of the local RCMP district says he is looking forward to working in Oromocto. "I actually asked to come to Oromocto," said RCMP Insp. Mike O'Malley in a recent interview. "Knowing the community and the area and the district, I thought it was a good move for myself work-wise but also for my family as well." The father of two children said he enjoys the small town feel of Oromocto and its convenient location near a major New Brunswick city. [continues 421 words]
Police Announce Controversial Stun Gun Program When Nick Scott heard about the Fredericton police department's decision to spend $40,000 on 12 new Tasers, it brought back some bad memories. "Getting shocked with a Taser is like somebody injecting anxiety into your heart," said Scott, a 23-year-old sociology student at St. Thomas University. In 2001, police tasered Scott a dozen times while he attended an anti-globalization protest in Halifax. Like other human rights activists, he has serious concerns about the new toys taxpayers recently purchased for Fredericton's boys in blue. [continues 592 words]
Barry Cooper's new DVD, Never Get Busted Again, which went on sale over the internet late last month, will probably not sell very well outside the United States, because in most other countries the possession of marijuana for personal use is treated as a misdemeanour or simply ignored by the police. But it will sell very well in the U.S., where many thousands of casual marijuana users are hit with savage jail terms every year in a nationwide game of Russian roulette in which most people indulge their habit unharmed while a few unfortunates have their lives ruined. [continues 661 words]
Snoop Dogg was convicted of having cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Martha Stewart was convicted of lying. Calvin Broadus, A.K.A. Snoop Dogg, was also arrested three times in the past four months for illegal possession of weapons and was once tried for murder (he was cleared in the murder and the three weapons charges haven't yet been dealt with in court). As for Martha, well, besides her white collar crime of lying to investigators about a stock transaction it is also alleged she is sometimes mean to her staff. [continues 1150 words]
A corporal from the Truro area is one of five soldiers charged with drug trafficking at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick. Cpl. Brian Stevens called his parents in Salmon River, Colchester County, early Thursday morning from the Fredericton airport to tell them he was about to fly to Edmonton with an escort. The 31-year-old soldier will go through a month of drug rehabilitation before learning in January if military prosecutors will send his case to court martial. "They're going to try to fix him up, but they waited too late," said his father, Donald Stevens. [continues 593 words]
ST. ANDREWS -- Two Grand Manan men will spend the next year under house arrest for their part in setting fire to a house during a confrontation that turned ugly this summer between island residents and a suspected drug dealer and his friends. As well, Lloyd Stanley Bainbridge, 31, and Michael Dean Small, 27, have each been ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution, for a total of $10,000, within the next three months to Ronnie Ross, the owner of the suspected crack house that was eventually burned to the ground July 22. [continues 1374 words]
Judge Gives Conditional Sentences In Attack On Alleged Crack Dealer Four New Brunswick men at the centre of a violent vigilante uprising against an alleged community drug dealer will not go to jail for their crimes. A New Brunswick judge handed out three conditional sentences and a conditional discharge yesterday, five months after the men joined rioters in attacking an unwelcome neighbour and burning his house to the ground. The four are residents of Grand Manan Island, a normally quiet fishing community in the Bay of Fundy. Grand Manan erupted in violence on the night of July 21 when a mob of up to 100 people marched on the home of (redacted), an alleged cocaine dealer. [continues 396 words]
ST. ANDREWS -- One man walked free, two others were released pending sentencing and two more were remanded to jail after a jury delivered its verdicts on charges connected to what the judge in the case described as a "nightmare situation" July 21 and 22 on Grand Manan that saw gunfire exchanged, fistfights and brawls and eventually resulted in a suspected drug dealer's house being burned to the ground. Michael Dean Small, 27, and Lloyd Stanley Bainbridge, 31, were found guilty of arson and were remanded into custody until Dec. 4 at 1:30 p.m. when they will be sentenced at the Charlotte County Court House by Mr. Justice Hugh McLellan. [continues 1176 words]
Verdict In Vigilante Case Unpopular. Four New Brunswick Men Found Guilty In Torching House Of Suspected Crack Seller Guilty verdicts against four New Brunswick men involved in a riot on Grand Manan Island send a message that the island is an "open house" for drug dealers, a friend of the accused said after the verdicts came down yesterday. The four men, along with a fifth who was found not guilty, said they acted in self-defence when they torched the house of a suspected drug dealer in July. [continues 604 words]
Children Learn Life Lessons By Working Through Possible Scenarios And Formulating Their Own Conclusions This is the problem that four students in the back of Mrs. Leblanc's Grade 5 class are tackling: What do they do if some popular kids come to their house and brought with them some wine coolers. The exercise comes out of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program handbook. The Grade 5 Hubbard Elementary School students are being lead through the DARE program by Cst. Marie Dumont of the District 2 RCMP. [continues 556 words]
Inside New Brunswick
