To the Editor, Re: Freebies for addicts wastes tax dollars, Letters, Sept. 22. J. Sharpe implies that advocates of harm reduction and health service providers for drug addicts are merely in it for the money. According to the auditor general, about 85 per cent of our drug control budget is allocated to law enforcement and interdiction, about 13 per cent is directed toward prevention and treatment, and about two per cent is invested in harm reduction. Evidently the greedy do-gooders are in the wrong business. [continues 97 words]
To the Editor, Re: City's social problems getting shuffled, Letters, Sept. 20. Susan Knight hit it right on the head. We are constantly barraged by the need to provide homes, medical treatment, free needle exchanges and food for the drug addicts who must, of necessity, use any money they can get to support their habits. And to think they get this money legally is ludicrous. Without mandatory treatment and a zero tolerance for drug use, no one should get this freebie. [continues 88 words]
To the Editor, Re: Change proposed for medicinal pot access program, June 23. I would like to address some of the misleading information provided in statements from Ron Lambert. He speaks about fire hazards created by grow-ops. There is a world of difference between a 'grow-op' and a licensed cannabis production site. How many fires has Nanaimo Fire Rescue attended in licensed sites? A huge fire hazard in illegal operations is created because of the bypassing of hydro meters to avoid detection. Legal producers have no need to do this, and because of their legal status, do not have to fear bringing in licensed electricians to ensure safety in their installations. [continues 169 words]
Proposed changes to the federal program enabling access to medical marijuana could enhance the safety of emergency responders and the community. The federal government announced Friday it is considering improvements to the program, including phasing out personal and designated production and introducing a new supply and distribution system for dried marijuana that relies on licensed commercial producers. Ron Lambert, Nanaimo Fire Rescue chief, said at the bare minimum, firefighters have lobbied the government to tell them when a grow operation exists in a private home so crews know of the dangers before they go inside. [continues 432 words]
Police in Nanaimo hope to lure kids away from drugs and alcohol with fishing trips. Cpl. Jake Ryan, head of Nanaimo RCMP's First Nation Policing Unit, was casting around for ideas to draw at-risk Snuneymuxw First Nation youth into drug and alcohol prevention education, but knew advertising an RCMP drug lecture just wouldn't work. Figuring learning should be fun, Ryan hooked onto the idea of fishing trips as a way to lure kids in. "We were looking for a fun way to try and get drug and alcohol education messages and provincial messages across," Ryan said. "So we looked to this venue and it worked really well because the kids really wanted to be there." [continues 496 words]
An after-school program that encourages teens to make healthy lifestyle choices and say no to drugs is available to John Barsby Community School students for the next year, thanks to the Nanaimo Addiction Foundation. The foundation received more than $300,000 last year to give to agencies providing addictions services in the community. It plans to become a long-term, grant-distributing organization working to raise money and awareness about addictions issues in the community. For the past year, the foundation decided to focus on youth addiction issues and announced intentions to give a grant to a youth-related organization. The foundation also organized an educational event in February, which brought more than 100 community members and professionals to the Vancouver Island Conference Centre. [continues 525 words]
To the Editor, Re: Questions raised by pot ruling, May 14. The Harper regime will ignore the court rulings, ignore the Charter, and shut the whole Health Canada program down by the end of the summer. They will site "safety concerns" and UN treaties that Canada has signed on to as reasons why the Liberals never should have started the program in the first place. Medical marijuana in Canada died on May 2. Compassion clubs? Designated growers? Home gardens? Pharmacy supply? Not a chance. [continues 135 words]
A recent Ontario superior court ruling against the federal government's medical marijuana regulations has a licensed medical marijuana user in Nanaimo wondering where she and other patients across Canada stand legally. Pam Edgar, host producer of CHLY Radio program Living Health, is a medical marijuana advocate. She is also a patient who uses the drug to control chronic pain from nerve and bone damage to her left leg from a motorcycle accident in 1975 and muscle spasms triggered by multiple sclerosis, which she was diagnosed with in 1988. [continues 616 words]
An Ontario court ruling last month should be seen as an attempt to advance the discussion about public policy on medical marijuana. The ruling, out of a constitutional challenge, determined that the federal regulations forcing patients to go through medical doctors to access medical marijuana, made obtaining it unfairly onerous. The court, which in essence echoed what many medical marijuana advocates have been saying for years, gave the government 90 days to fix the regulations with new legislation. Instead, Ottawa quickly appealed the ruling, which ironically came in the midst of a federal election campaign that eventually saw a right-wing majority government elected. [continues 160 words]
This federal election, the Nanaimo News Bulletin is getting voters involved in our campaign coverage like never before. We've sought out average Nanaimo citizens, asked them a little about themselves and their politics, delved into the key issue(s) for them personally, and then taken that issue to the candidates for a direct response. We'll be posting all these features online, at www.nanaimobulletin.com, and we invite both other voters and candidates themselves to join the conversation through our Disqus online commenting feature. From there, it's up to you, the voters, to decide on May 2. [continues 812 words]
South end residents have legitimate concerns when they voice worries about a proposed convenience store opening 24 hours. It wasn't that long ago, not even a decade, that a similar store at the exact same location was seen as a hotbed of unwanted activity, such as prostitution and drug dealing. It's tough to fault people for not forgetting all those hassles, especially given the countless hours - years, in fact - of effort toward cleaning up the area. Yet residents must also remember that part of their effort was intended to attract new business to help reinvigorate the region. [continues 202 words]
To the Editor, Re: Gabriola groups tackle homelessness, Feb. 17. Kathryn Molloy, manager of the People for a Healthy Community, suggests that residents who do not want affordable housing put next to their homes were subject to the affliction of being a NIMBY. I would like to suggest a new term - HAIYBY (How About In Your Back Yard) - to be applied to those who have a fascination with creating public housing for those in need because of drug addictions. Let Molloy donate one of her houses, in her neighbourhood, for the public housing requirements. [continues 102 words]
The federal Liberals plan to shoot down a crime bill proposed by the Conservatives that would include stiffer sentences for drug possession and could also require tens of millions, even billions of dollars to build new prisons. The Liberals also worry Bill S-10 - which was passed by the Senate and is before the House of Commons - would unfairly target younger criminals, as it would carry the same mandatory six-month sentence for possessing six marijuana plants as it would for having 200. [continues 188 words]
Youth addiction issues take the spotlight at a one-day conference and forum next week. The Nanaimo Addiction Foundation is hosting its first ever community awareness and education event Wednesday (Feb. 23) at the Coast Bastion Inn. The event, which features workshops by local service providers, a keynote speaker and a community forum, is an opportunity for parents and caregivers to meet with local service providers to talk about what's available in the community and what is needed, said Geri Sera, the foundation's executive director. [continues 611 words]
To the Editor, Wanting a better place to raise my kids, I packed up and jumped the boat for the greener pastures of Nanaimo. After I moved in and set up house, I discovered a pattern with my neighbour. Cars would pull up, someone would run in for a few seconds and then leave. The first hot day we had, I could smell a stench like I had never smelled before. It was worse than any dump I've ever been to. I went to the neighbour's house to express my concerns and could see rats on the counter in the kitchen. [continues 105 words]
Harm reduction sites and the distribution of crack kits have been a hot topic in Nanaimo since the health authority rolled out a pilot project without consultation in 2007. That project was cancelled due to public outrage and concerns that neither city council nor residents were made aware of it. This fall, the Vancouver Island Health Authority planned to roll out 10 secondary harm reduction sites across the Island and met with Nanaimo city council earlier this year. There are three in the mid-Island area, but VIHA isn't revealing exactly where those sites are or when they're open. [continues 516 words]
Addictions issues are about to get more attention in Nanaimo. The Nanaimo Addiction Foundation recently received more than $300,000 to give to agencies providing addictions services in the community. It plans to become a long-term, grant-distributing organization working to raise money and awareness in the community. "I think it's needed in Nanaimo," said president France Tellier. "Most agencies don't have fundraising abilities." The foundation formed in 2006 on the recommendation of the Nanaimo Alcohol and Drug Action Coalition - a group made up of government representatives and service providers. It became a registered charity in 2007, but without seed money, the organization could not do much in its early years, said Tellier. [continues 572 words]
To the Editor, I recently had the dubious pleasure of attending the Hospital Area Neighbourhood Association's meeting on the proposed homeless/low-income wet housing being put on Townsite Road. For those that don't know, 'wet housing' is designed for those with possible issues surrounding addiction. It basically means that users can live in the unit without fear of eviction or legal complication, so long as they keep their drug/alcohol use in their room. This is not a shelter; residents are long-term and expected to pay rent, and to interact with their neighbourhood in a productive manner. Failure to do so results in eviction, just like in any other housing arrangement. The only differences being that drug users won't be evicted or arrested for using in their room, nor will they be required to be sober in order to get housing, a barrier for many of our most destitute. [continues 359 words]
Harm reduction will be the top priority at a conference hosted by NARSF Programs Ltd. and the Vancouver Island Health Authority. The aim of the forum, on Dec. 6 at the Coast Bastion Inn, will be to exchange ideas and strategies, promote dialogue to increase understanding and acceptance of attitudes toward addictions and mental health, encourage safe harm reduction approaches for First Nation members and provide stakeholders with an opportunity to build on current innovative practices. Benedickt Fischer from the B.C. Centre of Addiction Research will discuss his recent study on crack cocaine use. Other topics will include understanding and communicating harm reduction, balancing the needs of advocates, neighbours and service providers and taking a public health approach to the war on drugs. [continues 56 words]
Irony is a discrepancy between the expected and actual state of affairs. Only irony, as defined by the folks at Canadian Oxford and not Alanis Morissette, could describe how owners of marijuana grow-ops are actually leading the way when it comes to being power smart in B.C. While discussing the advantages of Smart Meters in reducing power consumption and identifying illegal grow-ops, a B.C. Hydro spokeswoman noted that the criminals who grow marijuana are among the most avid power conservationists out there. [continues 190 words]
To the Editor, Re: Study backs crack kit distribution, Sept. 28. Frankly, I could not believe what I was reading. When did the brain-trust involved come to the conclusion that it was preferable to pour taxpayers' dollars into "trying" to protect the health of addicts by providing drug paraphernalia? As I see it, the main focus needs to be on treatment with a minor focus on prevention - getting people off drugs and their addictions is by far of greater importance than giving them clean drug kits. [continues 136 words]
To the Editor, Re: More inmates worsen jail situation, Wright Turn, Sept. 25. When it comes to drugs, mandatory minimum prison sentences are proven failures. If harsh sentences deterred illicit drug use, Canada's southern neighbour would be a drug-free America. That's not the case. The U.S. drug war has done little other give the land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. The drug war is a cure worse than the disease. Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug-war spending. [continues 85 words]
Just as the Vancouver Island Health Authority prepares to roll out its harm reduction strategy in Nanaimo, a new study by a health sciences researcher finds that prevention, treatment and harm reduction programs are lacking in the city. This fall, VIHA plans to open another fixed site to provide crack smoking materials and needles to Nanaimo residents. Harris House Health Clinic on Franklyn Street will also begin distributing crack smoking kits, along with the needle exchange and infectious disease testing that's been offered in the city for 15 years. [continues 576 words]
We're sending more people to prison. A lot more. Is it a crime wave of epic proportions sweeping across the country? Hardly. Despite what Conservative MP James Lunney would have his constituents believe, it's widely accepted and regularly proven through statistical compilations that crime rates are falling across Canada, and have been for some time. Yet with our inadequate prisons already overcrowded, our federal Conservative government is making things even worse. Its get-tough-on-crime legislation eliminates 'two-for-one' provisions - giving two years off a sentence for every one year spend in remand awaiting trial - meaning people convicted of a crime will spend more time in jail. [continues 507 words]
To the Editor, Re: Smart meters will save energy, Energy Solutions, Aug. 21. B.C. Hydro would merely insert another flyer in our bills for people who don't understand peak demand. It's when you get up to go work and get home to cook supper and everything is on - a no-brainer. Also a no-brainer is another billion dollars to fight the 'war' on marijuana. As plain as the nose on your face, this war is an ongoing complete failure, funded by taxpaying suckers pumped full of propaganda. [continues 63 words]
To the Editor, Re: If gambling is good, why not legalize pot? Guest Comment, July 27. While I understand completely the rationalization between linking prohibition of pot to the hypocrisy of government-endorsed online gambling (while running voluntary self-exclusion programs for in-person gambling), I do not feel that is the best method to highlight the argument. Pot should be legalized for a host of reasons, most of which the writer touched upon: reducing organized crime, the repeated failures of the war on drugs to be anything but a war on the poor, harm reduction, and the myths and complete fallacies perpetuated by uninformed officials. [continues 393 words]
To the Editor, Re: Building new prisons wrong decision, Letters, Aug. 7. I would like to begin with commending the letter writer William Perry to whom I'm responding to for his service in the police force. In William's letter he stated his objections to the Conservative's plan to build more prisons as a way of deterring violent crime. He says that the U.S. has failed in this approach and we should instead have shorter sentences and early parole so there is more room in prisons. He also states that to change the current Criminal Code would be a very expensive challenge because it will be in conflict with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. [continues 256 words]
I spoke to Kevin Krueger this week to ask him to explain the difference between his party's voracious criticism of gambling expansion (in particular online wagering) while in opposition and the fact it is salivating as it expands gambling like no other government in North America. During the conversation, the Kamloops-South Thompson MLA and tourism minister compared government involvement in cyber-casinos to the failed prohibition experience of eight decades ago. "There's no going back," he said of government's foray into gambling. "It's like alcohol. Prohibition ended up benefitting organized crime and government changed its mind." [continues 601 words]
To the Editor, Re: If gambling is good, why not legaize pot?, Letters, July 27. Chris Foulds would have us believe marijuana is harmless. What about the damage to the lungs of smokers? Endless amounts of money on advertising to quit smoking and he wants more people to start? Including children? I hate walking past people smoking, it bothers my allergy and asthma. Now he wants us to have to put up with the horrible smell of pot? Hit the streets people, stop the insanity now! Foulds is under the influence and must be stopped. Frank Stevens Nanaimo [end]
There are only so many ways police can get the point across to drivers not to leave valuables in their vehicles. That applies when leaving your car for any length of time - downtown, in a park and especially in your driveway. Historically, thefts from vehicles have often been related to the drug trade. Frequently, thieves have stolen CDs, wallets, loose change, sunglasses and anything else they perceive to be of value from a vehicle to sell for enough money to secure their next hit. [continues 195 words]
To the Editor, Re: HST opponents fail to offer solutions, Letters, June 2. I shall repeat that we are in this situation because of fiscal mismanagement at the hands of the B.C. Liberals. They went on a spending spree on themselves - large wage increases for themselves, an oversize bureaucracy, the Olympics, etc. What we need is a new forward-thinking party. Gordon Campbell has sold our resources to foreign corporations. Is anybody paying attention? Our public resources were never for sale. [continues 217 words]
A Nanaimo man's attempt to overturn the forfeiture of the house he used to run a sophisticated marijuana grow-op has failed. Cuc Van Bui and his wife, Thu Thi Tran, were convicted of production of marijuana, possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and theft of electricity following a police raid of the Montgomery Way house in September 2003. At the time, the pair were living in the house with their four children. Police found Bui and Tran in the crawl space tending a 625-plant grow-op. [continues 393 words]
To the Editor, Re: Club reopens to sell medical pot, May 13. I'm in the process of going through another tiring round with Health Canada over medical marijuana, so it was a relief to read Bob Estes has opened a place to obtain a better quality product and possibly without the hassles one encounters via Health Canada. I find it incredulous how I can walk into a medi-centre and immediately obtain narcotics for my condition. Narcotics that are addictive can damage the liver and cause a host of side effects. These damaging narcotics, which have generously been prescribed to me over the years, can be refilled with ease, discounted through Pharmacare (which medicinal marijuana isn't), yet they never fully alleviated the ramifications of my condition. And they have the potential to cause me other health problems due to their side effects. [continues 302 words]
A handful of protesters descended on Nanaimo-Alberni Conservative MP James Lunney's office Wednesday to protest the extradition of Marc Emery and call for change in legislation regarding marijuana. Mik Mann, who uses medical marijuana to treat his spinal arthritis, said the recent extradition of Emery made all the unresolved issues around marijuana bubble to the surface. Emery is the leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party and sold marijuana seeds over the Internet to customers in Canada and the U.S. for more than 10 years. The U.S. government sought Emery to lay charges of drug trafficking. [continues 264 words]
To the Editor, Re: Bunk pot rules raise problems, Opinion, May 13. There is much about this program that the government doesn't talk about, and it has been an ongoing fiasco for almost a decade. Here are some things that Canadians need to know about the medical marijuana fiasco at Health Canada: - - The prohibition of marijuana died in the courts in 1997 and '99. The medical program was put in place to prop up the dead law in a Weekend At Bernie's kind of way - to convince the public that pot was still illegal even though the law was just struck down. [continues 508 words]
Although a medical marijuana compassion club was shut down in Oceanside a few years ago, Bob Estes believes the mid-Island is ready for the service. It is legal for people with a Health Canada licence or doctor's note to use medical marijuana in Canada, but it is not legal for people to buy or sell it. As of April 2, 1,405 people were licensed to possess marihuana for medical purposes in B.C. and 4,907 in Canada. [continues 958 words]
A controversial harm reduction strategy will go ahead in Nanaimo, this time with city council's consultation. The Vancouver Island Health Authority's original foray into providing safer tools for drug users three years ago was met with outrage from both council and neighbourhood groups because of a lack of consultation. This time, VIHA will use several fixed sites in areas known to be havens for drug users instead of a mobile van. Lorna Medd, a medical health officer with VIHA, spoke to city council Monday, though neighbourhood groups continue to look in from the outside where consultation is concerned. [continues 303 words]
Central Island youth are doing more drugs, having more sex and are more likely to seriously consider suicide than their peers provincewide. The McCreary Centre Society's Adolescent Health Survey canvassed more than 29,000 Grades 7-12 students across B.C. in 2008. The survey, the results of which were recently released, paints a comprehensive picture of the physical and emotional health of B.C. youth, including risk and protective factors. The survey is administered every five years by public health nurses in 50 of the 60 school districts, including Nanaimo. [continues 519 words]
Re: Addressing addiction requires discussion, Letters, April 1. Brian Blood thinks harm reduction measures are a waste of money because they don't reduce drug use, property crime or prostitution. He is wrong on the facts and wrong about the goal of harm reduction. The evidence about harm reduction is in - it does provide an access point to addiction services which leads to reduced drug use and therefore reduced criminality. But even if it did not, so what? The goal of harm reduction is to save lives and reduce the spread of disease. And it achieves those goals very, very well. [continues 109 words]
The Conservatives preach a zero tolerance policy to drug use and plan to impose mandatory jail time for people who grow even one marijuana plant in a rented dwelling. However, when the husband of an MP gets caught drunk driving and in possession of cocaine, he gets to plead down to "reckless driving." One can only assume that Rahim Jaffer got some help from his friends in very high places. One law for them, another law for the "little people." Maybe now more Canadians will realize what a bunch of brazen hypocrites these so-called "conservatives" really are. Russell Barth Nepean, Ont. [end]
Iproject aims to bring wider public awareness to substance abuse and addiction issues. Third and fourth year nursing students at Vancouver Island University hope to raise awareness about substance abuse and increase compassion toward people with addictions. The students, part of a VIU student-led action group called Faces of Addiction, will unveil a new website - http://FacesOfAddiction.ca - at a student research symposium today (April 1). "Our website will be a useful community resource for anyone seeking information about substance abuse and addictions," said Guillaume Jacques. "We want to promote public education and awareness to reduce prejudice and misunderstandings towards people with addictions." [continues 284 words]
To the Editor, Re: Residents want conversation with VIHA, March 27. Ad hoc approaches to our community's drug abuse problem, such as that proposed by the Vancouver Island Health Authority, are more likely to be counter-productive than a strategy that integrates the interests of all the players which means every last one of us. Since the province slashed the VIHA budget by $45 million, CEO Howard Waldner and the board of directors have been scrambling to enact cost saving measures without angering the public. [continues 271 words]
To the Editor, Re: Public process left out of harm reduction plan, March 20. It was interesting to read the last line of this article that states, "distributed sites reduce the congregation aspects associated with one site." Of course they do. Do they reduce the use of drugs? No. Do they help drug addicts get off drugs? No. Do they keep drug users and pushers out of the areas they are in now? No. The Vancouver Island Health Authority is using funds to hopefully reduce medical costs associated with drug use without any real benefit to the taxpayers because all of the other costs such as law enforcement, judicial and all of the various expenses associated with monitoring the drug industry. No need to involve the public. They'd only make waves about this support of the drug culture. J. Sharpe Nanaimo [end]
Nanaimo's Hempology 101 Club wants to offer some perspective on the controversial debate over the use and legalization of marijuana during an upcoming Cannabis Convention. The Vancouver Island University club, an activist group working within the legal system to change the laws regarding cannabis use, is hosting its first Cannabis Convention Sunday (March 28). The focus is education and organizers emphasize the convention isn't a smoking event. The main theme is the medical use of marijuana and how it's being distributed in Canada. People will also receive information about the cannabis movement and why marijuana is banned in Canada. [continues 237 words]
Many mid-Island drug users are increasing their risk of infection with hepatitis C and HIV by sharing needles and pipes, according to a recent survey. The I-Track survey, a national, disease monitoring program implemented by the Public Health Agency of Canada, collected information from people on the central and North Island regions who inject drugs for the first time in the fall of 2008. Sixty-four Nanaimo users were interviewed, along with 34 from Duncan and 26 from Port Alberni. [continues 331 words]
To the Editor, Re: Bill would tilt justice scales, Opinion, Dec. 22. You opined that the Senate amendments to Bill C-15 (mandatory jail terms for drug offences) were a welcome change to allow judges to differentiate between small and larger-scale marijuana production offences. I agree with the sentiment. But even with the Senate amendments, Bill C-15 will impose mandatory nine-month jail terms for even one cannabis plant grown for the purpose of trafficking if it happens in a rental house or if a potential risk of danger to the public is created in a residential area. [continues 187 words]
It's no secret drug production - most often marijuana grow-ops or meth labs - are a major source of income for the criminal element of our society. In order to keep up the appearance of being tough on crime, the federal Conservatives are pushing through a bill that would apply stiff mandatory sentences to anyone involved in any scale of grow-op, from a few plants in the basement to major operations involving hundreds of plants. Nobody wants a marijuana grow-op in their neighbourhood. Often set up in rented homes, they're messy and destructive to the building they're set up in. It's not uncommon for the substandard wiring to cause fires. [continues 174 words]
To the Editor, Re: Firefighters raise legal grow-op concerns, Dec. 8. Bob Simpson is making some very bold statements, but offers no actual proof. Maligning licensed medical marijuana producers in such a way is absolutely beneath contempt and could expose him - and paper editors and publishers - to lawsuits and wildly expensive human rights complaints. Unless he has some solid proof as to the supposed 'dangers' posed by legal medical grows, he should keep his mouth shut. It is bad enough that we have to carry special papers around with us everywhere we go in order to keep us out of jail because we have medical conditions (which is medical segregation), now we have to be subjected to this outrageous public discrimination on the part of taxpayer-paid officials. [continues 63 words]
To the Editor, Re: Firefighters raise legal grow-op concerns, Dec. 8. Bob Simpson needs to provide some support of his personal opinions before they are translated into public policy. I would expect that the majority of legal indoor grow set-ups are done professionally and in compliance with building codes. Simpson probably never sees the 97 per cent of home grows that are not problematic. Dave Lane Santa Cruz, CA [end]
To the Editor, Re: Most criminal activity starts with drug issues, Dec. 5. With all due respect to RCMP Const. Gary O'Brien, he did a disservice to readers and his badge when he stated drugs are the reason for 85 per cent of crime issues. Most of us in 2009 know that it is drug prohibition which causes 85 per cent of crime issues. The deadliest drug in Canada, tobacco, generates zero crime. The sale of the second deadliest drug, alcohol, results in zero crime. [continues 58 words]
