Whitehorse Youths Want Problem Looked At WHITEHORSE - Several young people concerned about increased drug-dealing are becoming peaceful vigilantes, taking to the streets to send a message to drug dealers: Get out of Whitehorse. For the second time this week, more than two dozen young Whitehorse residents gathered outside Main Street's Capital Hotel to raise awareness of the violent effects of the city's drug trade on young people. Some of the people, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, said they were standing guard outside downtown bars to pressure drug dealers to leave town. [continues 237 words]
RCMP officers were out in numbers and the Capital Hotel is instituting a new drug policy after a group of 50 citizens descended on the downtown area Wednesday to tell drug dealers they aren't welcome in Whitehorse. Responding to questions from the Star this afternoon, Maurice Byblow, the owner of the Capital Hotel, said following an anti-drug rally he attended at Rotary Park Wednesday night, a group of 40 to 50 local residents from the rally, aged 19 to 30, peacefully entered his bar at 9 p.m. to ask a suspected drug dealer to leave. [continues 822 words]
For the second evening in a row, young people were standing guard on Main Street on Thursday to send drug dealers a message: get out of Whitehorse. At 6 p.m., about 30 young Whitehorse residents began collecting outside Main Street's Capital Hotel to raise awareness of the violent effects of the city's drug trade on young people. In a series of interviews outside the Capital, a group of young people, who spoke to the Star on a condition of anonymity, said they were again standing guard outside downtown bars to pressure drug dealers to leave town. [continues 565 words]
Whitehorse (CP) -- The Yukon will soon offer a community court option to offenders who suffer from addictions, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and other mental health problems, the territory's Justice Minister announced yesterday. "The Yukon community court will establish a process that will allow the offender the opportunity to make a concerted effort to break the cycle of drug use and criminal recidivism by providing therapeutic opportunities for offenders," Justice Minister John Edzerza said. The program is expected to be functioning by the fall. [end]
The Yukon will soon be offering a community court option to offenders who suffer from addictions, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and other mental health problems. "The Yukon community court will establish a process that will allow the offender the opportunity to make a concerted effort to break the cycle of drug use and criminal recidivism by providing therapeutic opportunities for offenders," Justice Minister John Edzerza told a press conference this morning. The $300,000 court program is expected to be functioning in Whitehorse by the fall. [continues 754 words]
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said the Conservative government doesn't want to waste taxpayers' dollars on an expensive and ineffective gun registration policy that does nothing to increase public safety. Marijuana prohibition is an expensive and ineffective policy that does nothing to increase public safety - in fact, it subsidizes organized crime and dramatically increases public danger! The Tories plan to build more jails to accommodate all the new pot-smoking and pot-growing inmates. When we measure the cost of enforcement, courts and corrections, and add that to the cost of stolen hydro, property damage, increased insurance rates, and gun violence, marijuana prohibition is wasting nearly $2 billion - every single year! Both the gun registry and the sponsorship scandal are small potatoes by comparison. Russell Barth Ottawa [end]
The Yukon government is being asked to spend $250,000 over the next three years on Porter Creek Secondary School. The school council has submitted the proposal to the territorial government in the hopes of establishing the Dogs for Drug Free Schools program in the school this fall, Bonnie Burns, a school council member, said in an interview Friday. The program would see an individual hired to be the dog's handler with the two at the school on a full-time basis. [continues 371 words]
The Yukon has become the third jurisdiction in Canada to pass safer communities and neighbourhoods legislation. The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, Bill 67, passed through its third reading in the legislative assembly Thursday. The act targets properties being used for producing, growing, selling or using illegal drugs, prostitution, solvent abuse and the unlawful sale or consumption of alcohol. It is meant to provide a flexible and responsive approach to dealing with substance abuse in the territory. The legislation mirrors a similar law in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. [continues 642 words]
During their short visit to Porter Creek Secondary School, a Medicine Hat, Alta. police officer and his canine friend have been "swamped with kids" wanting to hang out with the chocolate Labrador who's part of the Dogs for Drug Free Schools program in Medicine Hat. On Wednesday night, approximately 60 parents, students, community members and MLAs who packed the local school's cafeteria for a public meeting were asked by Medicine Hat Police Service Sgt. Randy Youngman to think about how well he'd get to know the students if he was at the school full-time with four-legged sidekick Fiddler. [continues 912 words]
Legislation was tabled in the legislative assembly Wednesday to provide communities with new tools to combat substance abuse in their neighbourhoods. The Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act targets properties being used for producing, growing, selling or using illegal drugs, prostitution, solvent abuse and the unlawful sale or consumption of alcohol. "The government heard from Yukoners that they were concerned about residences where illegal and dangerous activities are taking place," Justice Minister John Edzerza told a news conference yesterday. "We heard very real concerns from Yukoners expressing a desire to feel safe." [continues 831 words]
Stephen Harper must have a lot of friends who are drug dealers. He plans to implement mandatory minimum sentences for people who grow marijuana, and he should have no problem getting enough Liberal and Bloc votes to push that policy through. History, science, and common sense show us this policy would act as no deterrent, drive up the street price, drive up the dealers' profits, and therefore drive up the competition. This will inevitably lead to more gun-violence, more robberies, and more ruined properties. [continues 330 words]
Re: Dogs for Drug Free Schools (Star, March 3) There are a number of disturbing aspects to this article, not the least of which is Tanya Mickey's dishonesty in claiming she wants to keep drugs out of her child's school, when what she really means is she wants to keep illegal drugs out of school. She seems to have no problem with the plethora of drugs and carcinogens contained in the junk food sold in schools, or with the presence of legal pharmaceutical drugs. [continues 350 words]
Tanya Mickey wants to keep drugs out of her son's school and believes the Dogs for Drug Free Schools program could be the right step toward that. "This ain't going away," she told the Porter Creek Secondary School Council at its meeting Tuesday night after proposing the program. The council opted to invite Sgt. Randy Youngman of the Medicine Hat (Alta.) Police Service to the territory to discuss the program with school, Department of Education, RCMP and other community organizations which could be involved. [continues 485 words]
The use of illegal drugs in the Whitehorse Correctional Centre (WCC) poses a threat to the health and safety of the corrections officers working there. That's the opinion of Laurie Butterworth, the president of the Yukon Employees Union. He says he is encouraging union members to file complaints with the Yukon Workers Compensation Health and Safety Board. "(Inmates smoking drugs) is something that has come to light to me since taking office (in 2005). People took me aside and said, 'We are having a problem with this,' " Butterworth said in an interview Wednesday. [continues 275 words]
The Yukon government is following up on a unanimously agreed to motion passed during the fall sitting of the legislative assembly aimed at creating safer communities. Consultation on the creation of safer communities and neighbourhoods legislation will begin this coming Monday in the form of a public meeting, at the High Country Inn at 7 p.m. The push for safer neighbourhood and communities legislation was headed by the NDP during the early part of the fall sitting of the legislature. [continues 396 words]
In its fight to reduce the risk of spreading HIV and Hepatitis C, Blood Ties Four Directions and the Outreach van began distributing safe crack kits Thursday in Whitehorse. Patricia Bacon, executive director of Blood Ties, said in an interview this morning the kits are aimed at promoting safe practices among users of crack cocaine. The risk of spreading HIV and Hep C occurs when users with open sores in their mouths or chapped lips share crack pipes, Bacon said. Crack pipes, she added, can become hot and cause blistering of the lips and such. [continues 344 words]
Since it's cheap, easy to produce and more addictive than cocaine, many groups in Whitehorse are concerned that crystal meth may be the next drug on the horizon. Crystal meth is white, brown or cream-coloured and comes in both powder and crystal from. It can be smoked, snorted, injected or eaten. While it has not yet reached the territory in significant quantities, laboratories producing the drug are spreading across the country. Demand for synthetic drugs like crystal meth and ecstasy is growing, according to Ontario RCMP. [continues 1410 words]
"The Yukon Party has turned a deaf ear to the calls from Yukon people for concrete actions that would make their homes and communities safer," says NDP Leader Todd Hardy. On Wednesday, MLAs debated a motion put forth by Hardy, asking Justice Minister John Edzerza to develop a Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act. The act would shut down buildings where illegal activities are occurring. Similar legislation exists in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Yukon Party has "refused to take action" on the proposed legislation, said Hardy. [continues 869 words]
The night Heather Benson died in RCMP custody, some regulations were not followed, a coroner's inquest heard Tuesday. Benson died while being transported by the RCMP from Tagish to Whitehorse, when the police cruiser rolled off the road and into the ditch. She was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene of the accident as a result of chest wounds, on Sept. 27, 2003. Const. Jeff Monkman, who was driving the car, was convicted of careless driving in a trial held last February and fined $1,000. While the detachment commander must be notified when officers are seeking a search warrant, Monkman did not phone Sgt. Dan Otterbein when he began seeking a search warrant for Benson's home on Sept. 26. [continues 667 words]
Next week's meeting of the Association of Yukon Fire Chiefs will be an opportunity for the territory's fire fighters to learn and exchange information, says Whitehorse fire chief Clive Sparks. The Association has their convention next week, Aug. 17-20, at the city's Gold Rush Inn and will see about 40 firefighters from across the territory come to Whitehorse to take part in the event. "This particular convention is open to all firefighters from across the territory," Sparks said. [continues 329 words]
Inside Yukon Territory
