Call it an MLS service for grow-ops. The Windsor Police Service has put into action an idea we hope other police services will adopt - publicizing buildings that were once grow-op sites. The service lists all buildings that were suspected of housing hydroponic grow-ops and were subsequently raided by police. The listings go back to 2005. They could save people a wad of cash and prevent illness. Marijuana grow-ops require high heat and humidity, which can spawn the growth of mould, and damage drywall. [continues 191 words]
More than half the people incarcerated in American federal prisons are there on drug charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, and about one-fifth of those in state prisons. This doesn't count people whose crimes were indirectly related to drugs, but it includes people jailed for life for possessing one marijuana joint. Nevertheless, the war on drugs rages on. Canada's Conservative government is choosing to copy this strategy, which has been failing non-stop since Prohibition. The reason Canada has drug addicts on its streets is supposedly that dealers aren't going to prison for long enough, so Tory Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has a bill to make the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act harsher. Judges have had the discretion to sentence drug criminals according to the evidence presented in their cases, but now Mr. Nicholson wants to change that by imposing mandatory minimum sentences. [continues 137 words]
It is impossible to believe Justice Minister Rob Nicholson when he said: "We want to put organized crime out of business in this country." All of the Conservatives' policies actually subsidize organized crime. They also subsidize wildly expensive and and ever-growing police, court, prison and rehabilitation systems. By imposing longer or mandatory sentences for large-scale growers, the government and courts subsidize the other 80 to 90 per cent of the dealers and producers who will never be caught. Any time five or more people gathering to commit a crime could be considered an organized criminal activity. By these new standards under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, any kind of group activity involving drugs could be treated more harshly than necessary - -- even five youths getting together to share a small amount of marijuana could be considered "organized crime." [continues 215 words]
Port Hope Police have had to withdraw from the Kawartha Combined Forces Drug Unit to concentrate on illegal drug problems in the municipality, says the deputy chief. "The Port Hope Police have seen an influx of crack cocaine in their community over the last three years, to the point that even our front-line officers participating in minor traffic stops are arresting and charging persons with trafficking crack cocaine," Garry Hull said. "Over the past three years the Port Hope Police have adjusted their manpower to deal with the ever changing times of illicit drug activity." [continues 202 words]
Moving into a new place in Windsor and want the peace of mind of knowing it wasn't previously used as a marijuana growing operation? Windsor police can help. The force has created a new section at www.police.windsor.on.ca listing buildings in the city that have been identified as sites for hydroponic growing of marijuana and had search warrants executed. "It's something that we felt is a public safety issue, especially with the size and sophistication of some of the grow-ops we are seeing," said Staff Sgt. Ed McNorton. [continues 374 words]
A task force has been established to try to stop methamphetamine use from becoming more prevalent in Chatham-Kent, Lambton and Essex. The Addiction Network of the Erie St. Clair Local Health Integration Network met Wedensday to discuss the threat of crystal meth in the area. By the end of the meeting, eight members of local emergency services, municipal council and health-care workers from Chatham-Kent, Lambton and Essex formed a task force to address the use of meth and other prevalent drugs. [continues 214 words]
Saying illegal drugs are dangerous and destructive, Niagara Falls MP and federal Minister of Justice and Attorney General Rob Nicholson introduced legislation Tuesday that will mean mandatory jail time for people who produce and sell illicit drugs. "Drug producers and dealers who threaten the safety of our communities must face tougher penalties," said Nicholson. The proposed legislation will mean mandatory prison sentences for drug offences involving organized crime, violence and youth. At present, the legislation has no minimum penalties. The amendments include: [continues 137 words]
Cannabis Lowers Greenhouse Emissions As environmental consciousness increases, a plant with great potential to accommodate our generation's awareness has re-emerged, but its negative associations leave some obstacles to overcome. Hemp, which is too often associated with marijuana, does come from the same family of plants, but yields a fraction of the active ingredient, THC. Hemp has the uncanny ability to help in solving many of the world's major dilemmas from nutrition problems to the greenhouse effect. In 1938, Popular Mechanics named hemp the first "billion dollar crop" for the U.S., which it could use to produce everything from fuel, paper and oil to medicine and dynamite. According to Jack Herer in his book The Emperor Wears No Clothes, if we still used the same process being used in 1916 to produce hemp paper today, it could replace 40 to 70 per cent of all pulp paper. [continues 386 words]
In an effort to change the channel from the revolting Taser death of Robert Dziekanski at the hands of the RCMP, the Conservative government has rolled out three consecutive days of crime-fighting announcements. Judging by the public furor over the Dziekanski tragedy, the Polish immigrant's fatal 50,000-volt police welcome to Canada didn't exactly leave average folk yearning for more law-and-order this week. No matter. Stephen Harper's spin department apparently couldn't wait to roll out the Conservatives' new mantra for all things crime and punishment -- "deterrence and denunciation." [continues 439 words]
Did you happen to catch Corner Gas the other night? It was a classic. Cranky old Oscar somehow ended up as a replacement school bus driver and, knowing today's kids are all unruly hooligans, he imposed an immediate zero-tolerance policy. After his search for booze among the clean-cut, church-going teenagers (who all called him "sir") turned up nothing, he banned reading and confiscated their pens, until he finally provoked a riot. I wonder if Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was watching. [continues 612 words]
Showcase Television Helps Break More Taboos With Cult Favourite Weeds NEXT TIME YOU light a spliff and sit in front of the tube, why not flip to a show that portrays the industry of the reefer you're enjoying? A new phase in the presence of marijuana in the entertainment media seems to be signaled by the rising popularity of Weeds, the blazed comedy/drama carried by the cable network Showcase. The greener grass is the bona-fide star of the show, produced by Vancouver-based Lions Gate Entertainment. Weeds follows the misadventures of the recently widowed Nancy Botwin (portrayed by the acclaimed thespian Mary-Louise Parker), suburban mother of two and would-be drug lord. [continues 554 words]
Addiction Gripping All Levels of Society A mom who pimped out her young daughter. A retired autoworker who lost everything. A newborn baby who suffered such severe withdrawal symptoms -- passed on from the mom -- that human contact was agonizing. Those were the pictures of crack cocaine addiction painted for a packed house Tuesday during a workshop called Cracked II. "Once you try the devil's candy, it won't let you go," said Sophia Martin, one of four sisters addicted to crack at various times. "People who smoke crack cocaine are possessed by it. When you inhale it, you inhale the breath of death." [continues 567 words]
"Honey, that sign we just passed, did it say 'Welcome To The Wainfleet Bog' or 'Welcome To The Wainfleet Bong'?" I was shocked, I tell you, shocked to learn that MJK Greenhouses, a large cucumber hot house operation over on Sider Road were not, as the original agricultural zoning bylaw allowed, producing cucumbers. As it turns out the 14 long, plastic covered hot houses were in fact growing grass. Which would be okay except they're not a licensed sod farm either. [continues 686 words]
Ex-Grow-Op Rented Without Disclosure, Tenant Alleges It was a dream home and a fresh start for Steve Flood - until the neighbours told him what had happened there, and his son got sick. Shortly after the Flood family moved into 1652 Chornoby Cresc. in Tecumseh, under a lease-to-own agreement, the neighbours told them the house was once a marijuana grow operation. They shrugged it off at first. But they started noticing mould in vents and on walls and ceilings. There were electrical problems. Baseboards buckled out from the walls, there were cracks in the drywall and the ceiling had bubbled, apparently from the moisture created in a grow operation. [continues 709 words]
A Peel Regional Police officer arrested in 2005 over allegations he was attempting to traffic cocaine is in court this week for a preliminary hearing. Const. Sheldon Cook, 39, who works out of 12 Division (east Mississauga), is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday as his hearing continues. Proceedings, which began this past week, will determine if the Crown has enough evidence to warrant a trial. Evidence given during the preliminary hearing is under a publication ban. Cook is charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, along with attempt to possess a controlled substance for the purpose of trafficking. [continues 167 words]
Pot Activists Hail Ruling OTTAWA -- Marijuana activists are hailing a recent court ruling as the beginning of the end of Canada's prohibition on pot, but the Crown dismisses the decision as non-binding. A trial judge in Oshawa, Ont., threw out charges of simple possession of marijuana against three young men on Oct. 19, relying on a previous court ruling that found Canada's pot law unconstitutional. In making his decision, Judge Norman Edmondson cited a decision last July by a fellow judge of the Ontario Court of Justice. [continues 241 words]
Are Those Who Inhale Really Smarter Than Those Who Don't? So last week a swiss study was published saying teens who use only cannabis appear to function better than those who also use tobacco, and are more socially driven and have no more psychosocial problems than those who abstain from both substances. And all the potheads in the world said, "Booyah! See? Pass the cookies." What can we glean from this? That occasional tokers are smarter, more motivated, sportier and more sociable than non-tokers? Could be. [continues 709 words]
Re: "Pot can be a poison-prison or creative catalyst"Nov. 6, 2007 To the editor: First of all, what kind of advice are you giving people that haven't tried this monster of a drug? You suggest that they "take a hit to see if it's for you." This sounds like the smooth-talk of a pusher. I wouldn't be surprised if you also sold the devil-herb and these are the lines you call out to innocent children as you lurk on the edges of high schools. If this kind of under-the-radar suggestion was used with other narcotics, we would all be addicted to heroin and PCP. [continues 146 words]
re: 'Time to end drug prohibition,' letter to the editor, Friday, Nov. 2, 2007 Imagine if you had no "drug-related crime." Imagine if your overall crime rate was a small fraction of your current crime rate. We once had such a situation here in the United States. Prior to the passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term "drug-related crime" didn't exist. And drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we know them today, didn't exist either. [continues 102 words]
It is sickening and absurd that in a country where we boast about our freedoms, we are free to wear a plastic poppy on our lapel but not to grow a single poppy plant in our own backyard. The irony is that this pain-relieving plant is illegal, and therefore lucrative for the Taliban, who are using the money they make from opium prohibition to kill more soldiers. Some freedom. Russell Barth Medical Marijuana Licence Holder Ottawa [end]
Inside Ontario
