New Brunswick Woman Ran 'Cannabis Cafe', Claimed Drug Sold Only To Medicinal Users A New Brunswick judge has sentenced a pregnant woman to jail -- forcing her to have her baby behind bars this summer -- for selling marijuana in what she claims was a compassion club for medical users. Lynn Wood, 32, is six months pregnant. Her lawyer had pleaded with New Brunswick Provincial Court Judge Murray Cain to place Ms. Wood under house arrest to let her deliver her baby at home. [continues 495 words]
RICHIBUCTO, N.B. -- Police say chemical tests have determined a recent explosion that levelled a home in eastern New Brunswick started in a drug lab in the house. RCMP Sergeant David Mazerolle said yesterday police still don't have the final analysis, but a cannabis extraction laboratory is suspected. No one was in the house in Saint-Gabriel-de-Kent when it blew up last Thursday, forcing the evacuation of neighbouring houses. [end]
Saint John Police Want To Train Regional Officers To Recognize Those Driving Under Influence Of Marijuana Officers come across a horrific automobile accident that claimed the lives of two teenagers and leaves a third clinging to life. Blood tests eventually reveal that the teenage driver of the vehicle has one of the highest levels of THC, the active chemical in marijuana, experts had ever found in anyone's system. Police in British Columbia hadn't requested a blood test from the young driver because they hadn't seen any sign of impairment. [continues 671 words]
Lynn Wood Awaits Sentencing on Trafficking Charge After Cannabis Cafe Closure. Local Compassion Club Members Left Out in the Cold When you're a florist, not everything is bound to come up roses. Just ask Allen Merritt. The 25-year year veteran of the floral industry has had more than his fair share of misfortune - though he'd probably talk about most of it with a crooked smile on his face, and enough laughs to make you smile with him. His heavy head of black curls shaking back and forth, the cane-carrying man is full of stories and ambition. Having battled with HIV for close to 18 years, Merritt has lived through bouts of disease and poverty in good humour, though his blue eyes darken as he describes his arrest at the Cannabis Caf? back in 2003. [continues 1166 words]
A man accused of slaying an elderly Minto couple told American Customs officers he was an off-duty assassin before being allowed to cross the border, says a Charlotte County man who was seeking entry into Maine at the same time. "That's the reason I remember him. He said he was an assassin," Eddie Young, of Pennfield, said Monday. Mr. Young, who works in the aquaculture industry, said he was in the U.S. Customs office in Calais, Me., on Monday, April 25. He said he sat next to a man with a Mohawk hairstyle, wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying brass knuckles, swords and a chainsaw. [continues 852 words]
A former corrections officer and one of Canada's most outspoken medicinal marijuana activists says that calls for tougher drug sentencing following the recent slayings of the four RCMP officers in northern Alberta is not the answer. "It angers me that government uses this as an outlet" says Alison Myrden, who spoke at Mount Allison University this past week on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). "This was not about marijuana at all. This was about stolen car parts. This was about a very deranged man who needed help." [continues 911 words]
How the regulation of marijuana can prevent violence and crime Marijuana legalization is a hot topic in today's society. Although marijuana use is certainly not exclusive to student aged users, the debate of its legalization (or even decriminalization) has a popular appeal to many students. There are convincing arguments for both sides of the debate, and one organization called LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) makes a strong case for drug regulation. LEAP argues that prohibition is failing and drug regulation is one way to help make the streets a little safer. LEAP's mission statement is "to reduce the multitude of harms resulting from fighting the war on drugs and to lessen the incidence of death, disease, crime and addiction by ultimately ending drug prohibition." Basically, their main issue is with the violence that drugs have brought into our communities. [continues 956 words]
Former Corrections Officer Speaks At Mount Allison Thursday A former corrections officer, who will advocate the legalization of drugs when she speaks at Mount Allison University Thursday night, says last week's slayings of four RCMP officers in northern Alberta is clouding the debate over the issue. "It's sad that (federal Public Safety Minister) Anne McLellan and the RCMP are using this tragedy to push for tougher laws. We think that's absolutely wrong," says Alison Myrden, who will speak on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. The group, made up of current and former law professionals, believes the war on drugs has only increased society's problems. [continues 549 words]
Unreason Prevails In The Case Of The Cannabis Cafe I want to support Jim and Lynn Wood, really I do. I think the owners of the Cannabis Cafe are getting a raw deal from the cops and the courts for selling marijuana to consenting adults. After all, we live in a liberal society and people should be allowed to mess themselves up any way they choose, within reason. I think most Saint Johners think the way I do - kind hearted, live and let live types who see nothing wrong with marijuana use. Heck, we even occasionally enjoy pot ourselves and we're eager to see it legalized. [continues 618 words]
SAINT JOHN, N.B. - Ottawa's slow and cautious response to requests for medicinal marijuana has become an issue for the defence in a New Brunswick drug trafficking trial. Final arguments were made Wednesday in the trial of Lynn Wood, co-owner of the Cannabis Cafe in Saint John, N.B., who has been charged with two counts of trafficking in marijuana. Wood's lawyer, Richard Northrup, said the Cannabis Cafe is a compassion club where customers have to sign a sworn declaration or produce a doctor's certificate stating they need marijuana to ease a medical condition. [continues 482 words]
In bars all over Fredericton, people go out to relax, meet new people, and have a few drinks and a good time. In some cases the evening goes wrong, or even becomes deadly. GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol -- the most common club drugs, also known as "date rape drugs" -- are easily obtained and concealed. They dissolve quickly in liquids; GHB and Ketamine ("Special K") even look like water, so they are virtually undetectable. Combined with alcohol, their effects are increased even as they are rendered even less detectable. [continues 462 words]
If You Demonize Marijuana, Drug Education Goes Up In Smoke Has there ever been a dumber slogan than "Just say 'no' to drugs?" There in five words you have the ultimate in institutional stupidity writ small. Was there really a highpaid agency somewhere that decided, after days of deliberation around a boardroom table, that the best way to teach kids was to tell them "no" and watch as they fell in line? AGENCY REP: Hey, what if we just told children not to do it? [continues 702 words]
(RE: "Drugs Of Choice," Jan. 13, here) Nancy Hicks is misleading people when she says that 30 per cent of pot smokers develop an addiction. Where is she getting this evidence? This opinion flies in the face of all the recent hard science on the subject, which has shown that cannabis is non-addictive. Cannabis can be habit forming for some people, but so can TV, video games, and chocolate. Caffeine is far more "addictive" and damaging to the body than even heavy cannabis use. To people like Hicks, "all use is abuse," and anyone who uses cannabis more than occasionally is an "addict." If something like cannabis takes up to 20 years to developed a dependence on, then it is hardly a danger to the public. [continues 263 words]
Mike Parker Talks With Young Drug Users - Both Casual Users And Addicts - About Drug Use And Abuse 'Jan" (not her real name) is a tall, dark-haired university student who enjoys smoking pot with her friends. A former call centre employee, she pays her own tuition, contributes to her parents' household and holds down a job. About twice a month, she and her friends chip in and purchase a bag of weed, the way others get together for beer. She has smoked pot regularly since she was 13 years old and considers it relatively harmless. "I think I've had more harm from smoking cigarettes than from smoking pot," she says. [continues 1753 words]
Cannabis Cafe Co-Owner Charged With Possession For The Purpose Of Trafficking A 25-year-old who has suffered from severe pain since he was 12 because of Crohn's disease and arthritis testified in defence of the Cannabis Cafe's compassion club Wednesday. Patrick Hardy began using marijuana as medicine when he was about 19 after suffering side effects from prescription drugs from the opiate class. Lynn Wood, who, with her husband Jim, runs the Cannabis Cafe in Saint John, is facing jail on two charges of possession of marijuana for the purposes of trafficking after police raids in April and June of 2004. [continues 494 words]
SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- New Brunswick's chief coroner says the recent death of a woman from an overdose of a "rape drug" proves the need for more drug awareness programs among students. In Dianne Kelly's annual report, released last week, the coroner cites the Nov. 26 death of a 37-year-old Saint John woman from a combination of alcohol and gamma hydroxy butyrate, or GHB. The woman died at a private party. Kelly said the incident was included in her report to increase education and awareness programs at colleges and universities in New Brunswick, where the use of designer drugs such as GHB and ecstasy are on the rise. [continues 132 words]
Moncton's drug problem is getting worse, with yet another needle turning up in a public place. What's being done to help users and protect the public at large? It was right there, lying in the middle of the path. Nearly covered by the empty cigarette package, you could just see the little tube sticking out. A syringe used for who-knows-what, lying in a path walked daily by dozens of people. Luckily, the needle itself was gone; it had been broken off the end of the syringe. Whoever had used it had been considerate enough to do that much. [continues 1419 words]
Rehab Program Graduates 31 21-year-old credits Portage New brunswick with helping him break a pattern of addiction that started in junior high Chris MacNeil is feeling better today than he has felt in years. Thanks to Portage New Brunswick, the 21-year-old is well on his way to beginning a new drug-free life. Mr. MacNeil is one of 31 young people recognized on Sunday for successfully completing the Portage New Brunswick program at Cassidy Lake. Of those, 14 young people graduated from the program after completing a one-year transitional program, where they learned social skills, how to reintegrate into the community and how to deal with their addiction outside of Portage. [continues 413 words]
FREDERICTON - New Brunswick's drug trade is on the rise, sparked by an increasing number of marijuana growing operations, a new report on organized crime said Wednesday. The report, the first public one released by the Criminal Intelligence Service New Brunswick, also shows that the province has one of the country's highest rates of fraud. In 2003, for example, 200 New Brunswickers were victims of identity theft, where criminals gain access to personal and banking information to drain accounts and run up big credit card bills. The losses totalled $261,000, the report said. [continues 281 words]
Fredericton - A new report says organized crime is on the rise in New Brunswick. The Criminal Intelligence Service of New Brunswick reports that drug-based crime groups now dominate much of the province. Director Mike Connolly said marijuana grow operations are increasing, and more synthetic drug production is expected. He said there has been such a rise in fraud that the province now has one of the highest rates in the country. [end]
Inside New Brunswick
