Re: "Treason," Letter, Jan. 14., and "Ecstasy victims showed extreme symptoms," Jan. 16. Much like Ronald Reagan's Just Say No policy of the 1980s, Dave Reesor's idea of harsh minimum penalties for drug producers belongs in a museum. Claiming that illegal organizations produce and distribute illegal drugs for anything but profit is an opinion-biased argument. Using the case study of the United States as an example for failed drug policy, it is clear that harsher prohibition has not affected the consumer demand for drugs in any way. Instead, it has pushed production south, into Mexico, where a violent drug war has claimed an estimated 47,500 lives since 2007 as gangs fight for control over unregulated distribution networks into the U.S.A. [continues 119 words]
First Nation Taking Steps to Put an End to Violence For sheer grit and determination in fighting back against the crime that's plaguing their reserve, you have to hand it to the Samson Cree First Nation, one of four First Nations in Hobbema, 90 kilometres south of Edmonton. Recently, the band voted to adopt an eviction bylaw to get troublemakers off the reserve, similar to a bylaw enacted seven years ago by the Enoch First Nation, which is located west of Edmonton. [continues 476 words]
CALGARY - Emergency doctors and nurses call it "crack dancing," the involuntary spasms and jerks of a delirious patient, suspected of having overdosed on cocaine, methamphetamine or ecstasy. It's an all-too-familiar signal for emergency room doctor Mark Yarema that a patient has been abusing drugs. But last month, the 15-year ER veteran encountered a sudden rash of patients admitted to hospital with symptoms well beyond the typical. "They presented with extreme manifestations," Yarema recalled in an interview with the Herald. "Instead of just being agitated, they were comatose. Instead of an irregular or fast heart rate, they may have already been in cardiac arrest, and they often didn't present with the odd movements and crack dancing because their bodies were extremely rigid." [continues 380 words]
Re: "Time to take drug growers' power theft seriously," Diane Colley-Urquhart, Opinion, Jan. 13. Thank you for this great column - from all the right perspectives! The only thing is that it shouldn't have been happening in the first place. I think we need a law to hold power distribution companies responsible to monitor usage, within some reasonable limits, and to inform the police of suspected or probable theft so that swift action can be taken and marijuana production reduced, at least. [continues 110 words]
Re: "Warnings ramped up over street drug spiked with lethal chemical,"Jan. 12. We need to rethink our attitudes and legal posture toward those who engage for profit in potentially lethal activities directed at Canadian citizens. I have long believed that organizations such as the Hells Angels are, de facto, engaged in an action against the state when they distribute drugs, and engage in other activities that systematically undermine society, requiring the state to expend money, and cause agents of the state to be at risk, when defending against their illegal activities. These activities go beyond random criminal acts. [continues 101 words]
Much has changed over the past decade since deregulation of the retail electricity market, as the Herald recently profiled - including the theft of power. I have one way of curbing utility rates in Alberta; stop organized crime from stealing power. Every month when you and I pay our utility bill, we are subsidizing organized crime operations. Outraged? You should be. Organized crime steals unbelievable amounts of power to run their marijuana growing farms in houses across our city. The problem is much bigger than you could ever imagine. [continues 929 words]
Alberta's Chief Medical Examiner has confirmed that a batch of the street drug ecstasy, believed to be behind a spate of recent deaths, may have been tainted with a lethal chemical never before seen in Calgary by police. Calgary police and provincial health authorities are again warning about the dangers of the drug following the release of preliminary toxicology reports into five Calgary-area deaths. Results show that paramethoxymethamphetamine, or PMMA, and methamphetamine, not previously associated with ecstasy, were present in toxicology results in each of the overdose deaths, officials said Wednesday. [continues 395 words]
The first time, it was pure heaven. "Everything was happiness," is how 55-year-old Jane describes her nascent experience with MDMA, the drug known by its street name ecstasy. Another time, it wasn't so great. "I was up all night sweating profusely and it felt as though my brain cells were on fire," says the Calgary based artist. After that she says she has stopped doing the recreational drug known for its "party hearty" qualities. Among other recreational drug users of her generation, ecstasy has fallen out of favour over the past decade. [continues 728 words]
Five overdose deaths in just over a month have been linked to a batch of the street drug ecstasy tainted with a lethal chemical never before seen in Calgary by police. Toxicology reports by the province's chief medical examiner revealed the presence of a dangerous chemical, paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) and methamphetamine, resulting in a compound five times more toxic than typical ecstasy, or MDMA. On Wednesday, police and health officials sounded the alarm, renewing warnings to the public of the dangers of the drug and shedding light on the city's recent spate of overdose deaths. [continues 641 words]
Supposedly An Ardent Decentralist, This PM Certainly Is Bent On Centralizing What He Wants To Control The Gardner key to understanding Stephen Harper's federalism is heroin. Got your attention? Good. The word "oefederalism" tends to put people to sleep, but this is important stuff so I'll try to sex it up. Hence, heroin. There's lots of it in Vancouver's benighted downtown eastside, as there has been for decades. Law enforcement and social services tried everything they could think of to get rid of the drugs and the crime and the social blights. But things only got worse. [continues 906 words]
Re: "Up the charges," Letter, Jan. 3. What an incredibly novel idea! Let's subject illegal drug vendors to harsh jail sentences. Oh, wait! The U.S. already does that, resulting in part in one of the highest per capita incarceration rates in the world. It has certainly solved their illegal drug seller problem. Just ask the Mexicans! Mark Botkin, Calgary [end]
The narrow approval of a residency bylaw at Samson Cree Nation sends a mixed message from the troubled central Alberta reserve. Only 29 per cent of eligible band members voted in Wednesday's referendum and just 56 per cent of the 849 ballots cast were in favour of the bylaw that would allow for the eviction of any person deemed to be causing danger to the health or safety of the community. Those numbers suggest there is clear opposition in that community of 7,500 to this controversial new approach for addressing the pervasive problems of drug use and gun violence on the reserve. [continues 402 words]
Re: "Powerful warning in ecstasy death," Dec. 31. The recent tragedy of a death from ecstasy is simply an example of our failed drugs policy. I don't approve of drug abuse and don't think young people should try them. It's quite obviously a dangerous behaviour, but it also obviously continues to happen. A psychiatrist commented last year in the British Medical Journal that his son climbed Everest. That is also clearly risky behaviour (mortality 10 per cent), but as he said, at least his son had the benefit of firstclass equipment. [continues 95 words]
Re: "Legalize drugs," Letter, Jan. 4. James Currie is way off base to suggest that legalizing drugs makes them safe. And to compare climbing mountains to taking drugs is pretty daft. As far as I know, even if ecstasy weren't laced with other harmful substances and provided by reputable people, it can still have dire consequences in certain people. Legalizing harmful things isn't always the answer. Even if it's used, moderation sometimes doesn't work; whereas most of us could use a little hike now and again. Jill McWilliam, Calgary [end]
On Mistawasis First Nation, west of Prince Albert, Sask., a particularly troublesome resident who persisted in selling drugs was the first - and only - band member to be exiled under a new banishment law. That move in 2006 served as a wakeup call to other potential miscreants and has not been invoked since. "It set a precedent," said Chief Norma Johnstone, "They know the ban means business." Banishment is an old way of dealing with modern problems and it has become the latest tool being used by aboriginal communities plagued by scourges such as drugs, crime and gang violence. Samson Cree Nation, a band in Hobbema, Alta. that became etched in the national consciousness as a place where children have been shot while simply being at homes, voted into the evening on Wednesday about whether it too should also adopt the ancient practice. [continues 541 words]
Police Say Ecstasy Pills Vary In Content And Potency Ecstasy is a drug that authorities describe as dangerous in any amount, but anecdotal evidence from three recent deaths in Calgary suggests they involve users who consumed large quantities of the drug. As Calgary police continue to probe whether a fourth death, on New Year's Eve, was related to ecstasy, mourners held a funeral Monday for a 25-year-old man who died Dec. 23 after taking the drug. A friend took Robert Harding to Foothills Hospital, but medical staff weren't able to revive him. [continues 555 words]
Re: "New Year's death linked to drug use," Jan. 2. How tragic and wasteful is any death such as this of mainly young people. Perhaps charging the provider, the seller and the manufacturer of the drug mont Saturday evening. It is surely a mild winter here in Calgary, but it makes one think that with criminal negligence, manslaughter or second degree murder would have some effect. Warren Hindle, Calgary [end]
Three ecstasy-related deaths, including two young men in the days leading up to Christmas, and dozens of alarming ER visits have health officials warning Calgarians about the dangers of the street drug. Police are still investigating the two most recent deaths - both men, aged 18 and 25, believed to have died after taking the drug last week. And on Thursday, Alberta Health Services issued a warning to the public. "People need to be aware of the extreme danger of ingesting this drug," said Dr. Judy MacDonald, medical officer of health for AHS's Calgary zone. [continues 435 words]
Teen's Organs Donated Days after Daniel Dahl died in hospital, his slender body overtaken by a mass of monitors, tubes and intravenous lines, his 18-year-old heart continued to beat. The powerfully toxic drug that destroyed his liver and cooked his brain, ending his life on Dec. 19, had left the artist's strong heart untouched. Within 23 hours of his death, Daniel's heart, lungs and pancreas were harvested for transplant. The fact that small pieces of him endure means everything to mother Carol Dahl, who hopes her son's story will serve as a warning to others. [continues 873 words]
Drugs are drugs, and kids are kids. Fort Saskatchewan is not immune to drug use, and it's only fair to admit to ourselves that, yes, students are smoking up. You can live in a world of beautiful delusion and ignorance if you'd like, but the Fort isn't some secluded colony where no teenagers have heard of drugs. The problem is it seems those who have accepted that teens use drugs are now simply letting it happen. That's not to say Fort Saskatchewan RCMP aren't revving up against drug use in the city because they are. And it's not a stretch to say there are community members helping police in that endeavor. [continues 454 words]
Inside Alberta
