Illegal drugs and bootlegged booze can destroy lives, rip families apart and devastate neighbourhoods. A suspected drug house at Trail's End operated for nearly three years before police swooped in during the early morning hours of May 2. Neighbours called RCMP dozens of times. Police visited the home several times. But only after the two people who rented the mobile home were arrested did the problem end. It makes one wonder: if police can't shut down a suspected crack house, what will a bunch of quasi-judicial inspectors be able to do? [continues 352 words]
Tough New Legislation Could Eliminate Drug Dealers - Hawkins Crack houses might be a thing of the past if the territorial government proceeds with legislation that could allow residents to help remove drug dens from their neighbourhoods. "I want this to be the bug spray for those cockroaches," said Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins, who has pushed the government to look at similar legislation enacted in other provinces and territories. Known as the Safe Communities and Neighbourhoods Act and already in effect in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon, the law is designed to target and shut down residential and commercial buildings that are used to commit crimes. [continues 338 words]
Could Mean the Difference Between Big Contract and Big Losses -- Consultant Without a proper drug and alcohol policy, your company might miss out on some big projects in the near future. Ed Secondiak, of ECS Safety Services, is in Inuvik this week to discuss the importance of drug testing and what it could mean for companies. His trip was sponsored by the SHARE group, which was formed by companies that have invested in the proposed pipeline. Secondiak used the worst case scenario of a company in the North losing out on jobs and projects because employees had failed drug tests. [continues 297 words]
But Officials See Learning Opportunity For Grade 7 Student The principal at Mildred Hall school hopes a Grade 7 student caught with marijuana last week can chalk it up as a learning experience. The boy had taken the drug out in class and was showing it to other students when he was discovered by a teacher, said Yasemin Heyck, principal at Mildred Hall. "It was a minuscule amount wrapped in a little piece of foil," said Heyck. "It was taken away, obviously," she added. [continues 312 words]
Sick Citizens Should Not Be Caged For Using The God-Given Plant Cannabis (Smoked Pot For Pain, Man Says, Sept. 22, 2006). One reason to re-legalize cannabis (kaneh bosm / marijuana) that doesn't get mentioned is because it is Biblically correct since Christ God Our Father indicates He created all the seed-bearing plants saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only Biblical restriction placed on cannabis (kaneh bosm / marijuana) is that it be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). Further, many people believe cannabis is the tree of life and we are told that the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations, on literally the very last page of the Bible (see Revelation 22). Stan White, Dillon, CO [end]
Yellowknife (Sep 22/06) - A 47-year-old man who said he uses his home-grown marijuana to deal with the pain of arthritis was fined $2,300 in NWT Supreme Court, Tuesday. Lindsay James Mair, who represented himself, was also sentenced to a day in jail after Alberta-based justice C. Kenny, found him guilty of growing and possessing marijuana. Mair was charged in May 2004 after police followed his son back to Mair's home in order to confiscate paint ball equipment. [continues 358 words]
Odd Squad Shows The Harsh Reality Of Drug Addiction The documentary footage was shocking: drug addicts shooting up, including a woman so strung out she dug a gaping wound into her arm, thinking there were worms living underneath her skin. The graphic and emotional imagery came courtesy of the Odd Squad - a Vancouver police unit that patrols the city's notorious downtown eastside. Two members of the unit and a former heroin unit came to Yellowknife last week to share their experiences, and talk to police and social agencies here who have their own tales to tell. [continues 446 words]
Dry Spells Good For Inuvik THE ISSUE: Marijuana WE SAY: Supply drought a good thing Just when you thought it would be a good time to watch the movie Half Baked and play some X-Box, you realize the brutal truth. Your stash can is empty and no one is holding. Inuvik has been depleted of weed once again, at least that is the word on the street. Stoners and dopers alike have been without their fix for at least a week, and it may be time for a replacement pastime. [continues 343 words]
"The threat comes from members of their own extended families or spouses" Step-by-step, residents of Kangirsuk are taking a stand against violence in their community, by speaking out on local radio, and marching through the streets in a protest spearheaded by the local justice committee and the school on Oct. 24. The recently re-elected mayor of Kangirsuk, Joseph Annahatak, who participated in the march against violence, received more than 75 per cent of the vote in last week's municipal election, a strong vote of confidence in his leadership during these hard times. [continues 675 words]
Funding Problems Plague Programs In Other Communities Kicking booze and drug habits just got easier for several Cambridge Bay men signed up for a three-week counselling program starting Monday at the Community Wellness Centre, but people in other communities in the region aren't nearly so lucky. "We try to run something every month," said Alice Isnor, the hamlet's wellness coordinator, who alternates male and female counselling sessions. That makes Cambridge Bay unique in the Kitikmeot. Not only can people get treatment and counselling, but they can sign up when they're ready for it -- and not just when it's available. [continues 763 words]
I am not speaking on behalf of any organization, nor am I getting paid by anyone for speaking out on something, which I feel is damaging our Inuit children. It goes back to: "Children learn what they live." As an adult, if you are part of transporting or sending drugs in any form, I hope you will stop and think before you do it again. Or is your worth in terms of money much more important than the innocent lives you are helping to destroy? If you say that you are helping the people of Canada's North in your job, don't supply drugs in a way that you think "people will never find out." Martha Peet Winnipeg [end]
"It's Really A Badge Of Honour For Us Rather Than A Stigma" Nunavut's Marijuana Party candidate appeared in court this week to face long-standing charges of drug trafficking and money laundering. Ed deVries faces four counts of laundering the proceeds of crime, one count of drug trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit trafficking. He made his first appearance in an Iqaluit courtroom on Monday, Sept. 12. The charges date back to an RCMP investigation that began during the winter of 2003 and stretched over many months. [continues 345 words]
Four Men Held In Detention Until Cases Dealt With A package deal is in the works for most of the Nunavik and Nunavut residents who were arrested during Project Crystal's drug busts in Montreal, Nunavik and Nunavut earlier this summer. During the week of Sept. 19, the cases of 19 Eastern Arctic residents, who were arrested, brought to Montreal, and then released, will be decided. Under a deal that is being worked out between prosecutors and defence lawyers, the offenders will likely plead guilty to trafficking and receive fines or other penalties, as well as periods of probation. [continues 740 words]
The premier of the Northwest Territories says it is "unbelievable" that RCMP officers stand by while drug dealers openly sell crack cocaine in public in the territorial capital city. For anyone in Yellowknife, N.W.T. who wants to buy crack cocaine, it can be had day or night as dealers ply their wares, often under the scrutiny of RCMP drug squad officers. "I just find it unbelievable that I can go down the street and tell you who the dealers are and have nothing done about it, and see the RCMP drive right past them," Premier Joe Handley says. [continues 203 words]
The premier of the Northwest Territories says it is "unbelievable" that RCMP officers stand by while drug dealers openly sell crack cocaine in public in the territorial capital city. "I just find it unbelievable that I can go down the street and tell you who the dealers are and have nothing done about it, and see the RCMP drive right past them," Premier Joe Handley says. "There's more interest among the Yellowknife drug squad in getting the big guy in Vancouver than in our local drug pushers." [continues 81 words]
As Yellowknife Residents Find Wealth From Diamond Mines, A 'Devastating' Drug Problem Explodes In Its Wake, Violent Crime Is Rising In A Region That Prided Itself On Being Safe YELLOWKNIFE, N.W.T.--The "Gaza Strip" runs for a bleak block along 50th St., between the Gold Range Hotel and the Right Spot bar, just a few metres from this city's main intersection. For anyone here who wants to buy crack cocaine, it's the place to be. Day or night, dealers ply their wares, often under the scrutiny of RCMP drug squad officers. [continues 1552 words]
I was astounded by the letter submitted to Nunatsiaq News by the Marijuana Party Candidate for Ottawa South. How can you compare a society to a race of people? So someone said "dope candidate." Is that a racial comment, such as "Eskimo rag" is? Does the society eat, sleep and breath like the Inuit? My sober thought tells me no, so how can you draw comparisons between the two? A pejorative descriptor like "dope candidate" (derogatory term as its more commonly known) can one day be reclaimed and worn with "honor." I sure as hell doubt "Eskimo rag" will ever evolve to such. Gideonie Joamie, Iqaluit [end]
I'm curious... does your newspaper refer to the Liberal Party as the "Fiberals," the Bloc Quebecois as "Traitorous Pepsis?" Or the Conservatives as the "American Wannabe Party?" For the benefit of your readers, Elections Canada doesn't refer to us as the "Legal Dope" party. The Marijuana Party of Canada is a legally registered party which has been in existence for five years, and the courts have ruled the substance is legal for medical use. I'm confident that the Nunatsiaq News and the Inuit community would be rightly upset if us in the South referred to you as "that Eskimo rag." You may disagree with our message, but pejorative descriptors like "dope" are uncalled for. Tim Meehan Candidate for Ottawa South Marijuana Party of Canada [end]
In his/her letter the anonymous author says marijuana is the "cause" of Inuit losing their culture. I know that marijuana is widely used in the North and that it is not an indigenous plant, so someone brought it here. I don't believe marijuana is the culprit that is taking away Inuit culture. That is such a vast and complex reality and not the fault of any one thing. There are a lot of contributing factors and the abuse of marijuana, I admit, is one of the contributors. That would be a given? The abuse of any substance only ever takes away. [continues 350 words]
It took only 25 years to eliminate our Inuit heritage because of marijuana. We are losing our tradition very fast because of marijuana. People tend to praise marijuana as a herbal medicine. That may be so, but it certainly has eliminated the heritage we had as Inuit. We had a very strong tradition where parents taught about living in a land and where mothers taught children how to make traditional clothing. All these are gone now because we are only facing our electric stoves to smoke our dope. I have abused this for a long time and I have gone nowhere because of it. [continues 115 words]
On June 8, the Vancouver Sun published an article concerning the opinions of the mayor, Larry Campbell, on another study about legalizing weed. Many of the mayor's arguments echo my thoughts about legalization and the clear advantages for us that legalization would create. Of special note to me were his comments concerning educators. Some of Nunavut's best and most dedicated teachers are users of marijuana and I believe the legalization would have a positive affect in enhancing ability to explore the topic "openly." I want the best for our young people and this is one of many "best" chances they deserve! Ed deVries Marijuana Party candidate Iqaluit [end]
From Montreal to Clyde River, network supplied 12 Nunavut and Nunavik communities Police scooped up nearly four dozen suspected drug traffickers in Nunavut, Nunavik and Montreal early Tuesday morning, breaking up a marijuana and cocaine operation that netted $250,000 a week in drug sales to the North. Police arrested 42 of 45 people by 6:24 a.m. this past Tuesday, in a coordinated set of raids that began at 6 a.m. Police allege that all those arrested are involved in a large network that fast-tracked marijuana and cocaine from Montreal to the North. [continues 699 words]
I am writing to thank Nunatsiaq News for their interest in giving the Marijuana Party and, I guess, myself, space in the paper to speak to the people of Nunavut. I feel I must apologise for a comment I made about some of the behaviour stemming from attendance at the Legion. The comment was not meant to offend, nor meant to slander the good work the Legion does, and the great many ways it and the people who frequent it contribute to our great community. [continues 124 words]
"I Can See Government-Built Greenhouses Training And Hiring Inuit Workers To Grow And Distribute Marijuana" Ed deVries, a 47-year-old traditional healer and therapist from Iqaluit, will carry the Marijuana Party's leafy banner across Nunavut in the next federal election. "I'm very much an advocate of the people and people's rights," deVries said this week, saying he's gathered 107 signatures for his nomination papers and that he'll file them the moment a federal election is called. [continues 613 words]
Growing Affluence Attracting Problems YELLOWKNIFE, N.W.T. -- A decade after Brian Chilton quit free-basing cocaine, he walked down Yellowknife's 50th Street and ran headlong into his old nemesis. "There are dealers all over, up and down that street, people walking up and asking you if you're looking," he said. "I was just walking by a downtown bar, and because I'd never actually smoked crack per se, I was curious and I bought a little bit. I had one blast of crack on the pipe and that was really all it took. I was right back where I left off." [continues 667 words]
"Every Community In Nunavut Has A Drug Problem, Without Exception" Nunavut police have vowed to continue their crack-down on drug trafficking in Nunavut, as they emerge from a bountiful year of arrests and marijuana seizures. RCMP recently compiled their crime statistics for 2004, revealing a sizeable increase in drug charges. Last year, the RCMP drug squad and regular officers carried out drug busts and laid 382 charges, a 25 per cent increase from 2003, when police laid 308 charges. Insp. Paul Young, a senior officer with the RCMP's "V" Division in Nunavut, credited the increase to the drug squad's decision to pay less attention to lower-rung dealers. [continues 437 words]
Live-in Program Provides Alternative to Treatment Outside Territory Cambridge Bay counsellors are reaching out to Nunavut women addicted to drugs or booze, in an effort to provide help that is unavailable in the rest of the territory. The community is welcoming applications from any women who want to join other troubled Nunavummiut in the only live-in treatment program in the territory. The program offers four weeks of intensive counselling for free to women who show they are willing and able to face their addictions. [continues 496 words]
There is a growing concern with the escalation in crime in our region. The police are constantly dealing with hate, hurt and other violent acts. An estimated 95 per cent of the violence we deal with is directly related to drug and alcohol abuse. Drug and alcohol abuse is at an all-time high and considering the fact that our population is growing, it seems that it will only get higher. Organized crime, once only a distant problem that we read about or saw as images of biker gangs and terrorists on television, has started to touch our communities. Organized crime has impacted not only the police force, but also the citizens. The police are taking a stand and not tolerating illegal activities related to drug and alcohol trafficking. [continues 514 words]
Curbing Drug and Alcohol Abuse First Step In Crime Prevention Insp. Doug Reti, head of the RCMP's criminal operations department in Nunavut, said the rising crime stats could be a result of the territory's population boom, and an influx of money into some communities. He said these changes usually lead to increased social problems, such as alcoholism. "We have a problem in Nunavut with violence, and a lot of that violence is spurred on by alcohol," Reti said. He cautioned the bleak statistics might reflect Nunavummiut's increased access to police, instead of a drastic jump in crime. [continues 400 words]
Police Hope They Have 74 New Fighters In The War against Drugs. Princess Alexandra hosted graduation ceremonies Wednesday for the 2004 Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. RCMP Const. Neala Dollard led the program, and says the graduates were "74 wonderful students" in three Grade 6 classes. The program covers ways to say no, consequences of drug use and ways to avoid violence. It is an interactive program that includes lots of skits and role-playing, some of which were demonstrated for parents and teachers on Wednesday. [continues 145 words]
To the police forces working to better the Arctic: I would like to extend my appreciation to all the police forces working in the North to make the North a better place to live in. I say thank you to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Surete du Quebec (the Quebec provincial police), the Montreal police force, the Eeyoo Cree Regional Police Force, and especially, the Kativik Regional Police Force. Keep up the good work and keep up the war on drugs. I for one, as a mayor, am happy with the progress that has been made with your commitment to decrease or halt completely the sale of illegal drugs. Thank you. Johnny Oovaut Mayor Northern Village of Quaqtaq [end]
Kuujjuaraapik Man Skips Court, Forfeits $15,000 Police in Nunavik are seizing both drugs and money in an attempt to discourage the rising drug trade in the region. Last week, in Kuujjuaq, police found nearly a kilo of marijuana in coffee cans, king-sized beer cans and several bottles of hard liquor in the luggage of an Aupaluk resident who was flying in from Montreal. Charges in this incident are pending as police investigate. Any seized drugs or booze destined for the black market are destroyed, but now the Kativik Regional Police Force is also going after the proceeds of suspected drug-trafficking. [continues 445 words]
The people who keep stats for the RCMP thought Sgt. Don Fisher was making mistakes in the way he reported serious assaults. But it was no mistake, assaults are up in Hay River. Fisher cautions that it's no reason for alarm - yet. "We're not talking hundreds of cases of increase," he said, tempering his speech. "There is a marked increase." He says the increase in assaults can be traced fairly directly to an increase in the use of crack cocaine in Hay River. [continues 137 words]
High school drug users and sellers may get even harsher consequences than those proposed last month by DISS principal Greg Storey. At a meeting of the Hay River District Education Authority Wednesday night, members debated whether a student should get a five-day or a ten-day suspension the first time he or she is caught with drugs. Currently, the proposed policy supports a five-day suspension. "What if that first offence includes dealing?" asked DISS principal Greg Storey. "Is it more serious? If we change [the proposed policy's first offence consequences] to 10 days of suspension, we have more discretion." [continues 140 words]
Hay River and similar towns are, in many ways, the bottom of the drug food chain. Few, if any, drugs are produced here: cocaine, crack and marijuana are imported for consumption. The impact of narcotics and narcotics legislation is felt from the local hospital and schools, to the drug farms of Bolivia. At a conference in Mexico, Feb. 12 through 15, legislators, scholars and drug business people from North and South America and Europe, met to discuss the decriminalization of drugs. [continues 126 words]
The two drug busts in the South Slave over the holidays show the North has a problem with illegal substances. And the problem doesn't just lie with the addicts themselves. Drug busts mean drug users, and drug users use up government cash like no other group. From the police that chase the traffickers, to the doctors that treat the overdoses, to the treatment centres and counselors who rehabilitate addicts, drug abuse is harrowingly expensive. This territory can use all the money it can get. [continues 184 words]
Does Hay River have a drug problem? Absolutely. And the worst drug of all is alcohol - mostly because it is so accepted. When police bust people for pot possession, it's news all over town, and the RCMP issue a press release. When they catch a bootlegger or arrest someone for driving while intoxicated, it doesn't get a mention. That's not to say the police are at fault. Our justice system is a reflection of our society - one that is not, as the frightening alcoholism and social services statistics show, doing enough to addressing the problem of alcohol abuse. [continues 52 words]
To the editor: re: Dare program to benefit from Oldtimers Hockey program (Sept. 4 Hub) Good intentions are no substitute for effective drug prevention. While Canadian schools are just beginning to implement the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, schools in the U.S. are dropping it. Every independent methodologically sound evaluation of DARE has found the program to be either ineffective or counterproductive. The scare tactics used do more harm than good. Students who realize they've been lied to about marijuana often make the mistake of assuming that harder drugs like heroin are relatively harmless as well. This is a recipe for disaster. Drug education programs must be reality-based or they may backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers. [continues 114 words]
RCMP efforts to eradicate the marijuana trade are no doubt well-intended, but ultimately counter productive. The drug war's distortion of basic supply and demand dynamics makes an easily grown weed literally worth its weight in gold. Canadian tax dollars are being wasted on anti-drug strategies that only make marijuana growing more profitable. And let's not kid ourselves about protecting children. The thriving black market has no controls for age, making it easier for teenagers to buy illegal drugs than to buy beer. Politicians need to stop worrying about the message drug policy reform sends to children and start thinking about the children themselves. [continues 140 words]
RCMP efforts to eradicate the marijuana trade are no doubt well-intended, but ultimately counterproductive. The drug war's distortion of basic supply and demand dynamics makes an easily grown weed literally worth its weight in gold. Canadian tax dollars are being wasted on anti-drug strategies that only make marijuana growing more profitable. And let's not kid ourselves about protecting children. The thriving black market has no controls for age, making it easier for teenagers to buy illegal drugs than than they can buy beer. Politicians need to stop worrying about the message drug policy reform sends to children and start thinking about the children themselves. [continues 145 words]
Recent arrests show drugs and money moving in Baffin. Suspected Baffin pot peddlers working out of Iqaluit have been feeling the long arm of the law recently. In five separate incidents since Oct. 24, RCMP officers have arrested five people in possession of large amounts of either drugs or money. The RCMP only released details of the string of the arrests to the media on Nov. 6. "We've just been so busy we didn't have time to do the press releases as each thing was unfolding," said Cpl. Ken Goodine of the Nunavut drug section. [continues 547 words]
Wealthy Iqaluit A Drug Capital. IQALUIT - Nunavut residents out-toke, out-snort and out-sniff the average Canadian by a wide margin. And according to Nunavut's drug cops, substance abuse in the territory is fast getting worse. Cpl. Jim Christensen spent two years as the head of drug enforcement for the RCMP's V Division before retiring last month. In that time he saw the flow of narcotics into Nunavut become a flood. "There's dramatically more," he said. "And it's better quality - more potent. Its use is widespread. I'm surprised by the amount of people who use it." [continues 1150 words]
Re: "Pot is even good for PMS," (Nunatsiaq News, Jan. 19) Your reader wrote "I know for myself, if there was no pot at hand, my PMS would triple! My cramps would be much worse, and I'm not alone." While in Colorado I saw a collection of old bottles. One of them was labeled "Extract of Hemp. It said "For relief of menstrual cramps." How long will prohibitionist authorities allow the suffering to go on? Richard Marchese [end]
Operation Guinness EDMONTON - The biggest drug bust in the history of the Northwest Territories threatens to cripple the Northern justice system -- another instance in which police crime-fighting is outpacing the justice system's ability to respond. The RCMP's year-long Operation Guinness, which yielded 63 arrests last week, broke the backs of two organized crime rings who controlled the lion's share of the territory's drug trade. But the head of the territory's legal aid plan, which is expected to represent as many as 56 of the defendants, says he may not have enough money to do the job. [continues 488 words]
YELLOWKNIFE -- A year-long police investigation that spread over two provinces and the Northwest Territories has resulted in the North's largest drug bust. Police made 63 arrests and laid 153 charges after pre-dawn raids yesterday in Yellowknife, Edmonton and Calgary, as well as Parry Sound and Scarborough in Ontario. The charges include selling cocaine, marijuana and MDA (an amphetamine) as well as weapons offences that include selling handguns. "We didn't target users, but rather the highest-level traffickers we could find," said Sgt. Dave Grundy of Yellowknife RCMP. [continues 118 words]
IQALUIT, Nunavut - The Hells Angels have set up shop north of sixty. Attracted by the lure of easy money and the mini-economic boom sparked by the creation of Canada's newest territory, the motorcycle gang has taken control of Nunavut's drug trade and is seeking new marketplaces. "There's been a major, major increase in the last year," Corporal Jim Christensen, head of the RCMP's Nunavut Drug Section, said in a recent interview. "Criminal organizations in the south realize the potential and are seizing the moment." [continues 739 words]
The Surete du Quebec and the Kativik Regional Police Force have arrested members of a drug-dealing operation with ties to the Hells Angels. MONTREAL - A joint investigation by the Surete du Quebec and the Kativik Regional Police Force has resulted in a major seizure of drugs bound for Nunavik and Nunavut. On Tuesday, 40 police officers from both forces descended on several residences in and around Montreal. "We netted six kilos of hash, 21 grams of cocaine, three vehicles and $130,000 in cash," said the KRPF's special investigator, Lucien Brassard. [continues 337 words]
The addictive practice of freebasing cocaine is growing rapidly among Iqaluit and south Baffin residents. IQALUIT - Iqaluit RCMP arrested an Apex resident last week after seizing what one police officer said amounted to about "an ounce and a half" of cocaine. Police made the arrest after conducting a search of a house in Apex May 24. Guy Berube, 50, was charged with possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. Berube is scheduled to appear in territorial court in Iqaluit July 31. [continues 331 words]
Kugluktuk's Hamlet Council Says They Are Getting No Help From The Court System In Cleaning Up The Community's Program. IQALUIT - Hamlet officials, RCMP members and residents of Kugluktuk are outraged over the sentences two drug dealers received last week. Last Thursday Nunavut court justice Beverly Browne gave Colin Nick Junior Adjun, 34, an eight-month conditional sentence for a drug-related offense. Adjun was arrested in Yellowknife on July 9, 1999 and charged with possession for the intent of trafficking after he was found with 228 grams of marijuana on his body. This quantity of marijuana has a street value of $20,000 in Kugluktuk. [continues 220 words]
Inside Northwest Territories
