An Abbotsford Police youth officer, a physician with some expertise in addictions, and a drug and alcohol counsellor were at Robert Bateman secondary on Thursday evening to speak with parents about drugs. The event, billed Drug Harm Reduction for Parents, was the school's response to the death of student Cheryl McCormack, who died after taking the drug ecstasy. In attendance, and taking part in the discussion with parents, was Cheryl's older sister Shawna. Const. Davin Turner told the 30 to 40 parents who attended about the easy availability of drugs in Abbotsford. He said students tell him they can get whatever drug they want. Ecstasy is marketed to kids, in tablets that look like candies and costing $5 each or even less. [continues 446 words]
Nineteen-year-old Shawna had just gone to bed, but she heard her father answer the early-morning phone call to the McCormack home. There was panic in his voice. It was Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. The call had come from a friend of Shawna's younger sister, Cheryl, who was away at a sleepover. Cheryl had taken ecstasy, and was having a bad reaction. Shawna, who has an innate ability to remain calm in chaotic moments, hurried to the home with her mom. [continues 864 words]
The subject of harm reduction is heating up in Abbotsford, as city hall staff anxiously await the Fraser Health Harm Reduction Implementation Plan that will be submitted to mayor and council this spring. Recent letters in the media appear to be from citizens concerned about a mayor and council that attempt to control/impede the access to health care for the most marginalized and vulnerable in Abbotsford. Abbotsford's zoning bylaw that essentially prohibits harm reduction services in Abbotsford is in direct contradiction to national health policy, provincial health policy, Fraser Health policy, and let us not forget the BC Centre for Disease Control health policy. [continues 171 words]
On May 4, 2009 Abbotsford held a forum on "Rethinking Health and Addiction: A call for action." Participants in this forum (65 per cent) would legalize marijuana, adding that enforcement makes criminals from law abiding citizens. This kind of reasoning is simplistic, lacks common sense, denying a long standing problem criminally and socially. How can one talk about "law abiding citizens" who knowingly break the law? Simple solution: legalize the substance so as to avoid any consequence to the user! Fast forward to 2012 when we read the cover page in "The News, Feb. 2, Ecstasy: dueling with death". It continues to say that 18 people died in BC, two of whom were from Abbotsford. [continues 404 words]
Five or six men drove Myles Murphy out of town and, in the middle of nowhere, beat him and said they would kill him if he didn't pay them $5,000 by a certain date. He had been using some of the drugs he was supposed to be selling and they didn't like that he was ripping them off, so they added a "dummy tax" to what he owed. On another occasion - the first day that Myles had turned to selling hard drugs - two men stuck a gun in his face, threatened to kill him, and then stole his supply. [continues 587 words]
Muscle tension, nausea, and blurred vision. Forceful clenching of teeth and bulging eyes. Welcome to the drug ecstasy. Feelings of sadness, anxiety, depression, and memory difficulties after the high. Doesn't sound very euphoric, does it? Increased heart rate and blood pressure. Hardly fun... Interference with the body's ability to regulate its temperature, leading to hyperthermia. This is getting serious. Brain and organ damage - or death - in 75 per cent of serious overheating cases. That's the supposedly "safe" street drug known as ecstasy, or MDMA. [continues 156 words]
Despite efforts by authorities over recent years to protect the public from ecstasy pushers, the scene has quietly edged sideways and carried on. Scouring a teen's room for baby pacifiers, stuffed animals and glowing gloves will no longer yield the classic hallmarks of an E user. If you knew that those accessories are commonly associated with raves, and you already knew that a rave is a late-night dance party set to electronic music, then you might also know that ecstasy is the reason the sensory toys are popular. [continues 573 words]
No amount of ecstasy is a safe dose. That's the message from the Abbotsford Police Department and the Fraser Health Authority in the wake of 18 ecstasy deaths in B.C. since the start of 2011. This week, APD launched Operation X, an initiative intended to warn and inform teens and parents about the danger of street drugs, including ecstasy. Dr. Victoria Lee, medical health officer for the FHA, says they are also actively working with schools to get that message out. [continues 946 words]
In the wake of several ecstasy deaths across the province, the Abbotsford school district and other agencies have set up a substance abuse review task force. District superintendent Kevin Godden said at Monday's board of education meeting that the role of the task force is to look at the agencies' "collective response" to youth drug issues and come up with recommendations. "We felt it was important to do something now," Godden said, referring to the ecstasy-related deaths of two Abbotsford young people late last year. [continues 171 words]
Tyler Miller, 20, of Abbotsford. Died Nov. 27/11. Cheryl McCormack, 17, of Abbotsford. Died Dec. 22/11. Kato Burgess, 16, of Langley. Died Jan. 15/12. Three young people. Three random, tragic deaths. One thing in common. They all took ecstasy. And it killed them. One was an accomplished figure skater and rugby player. Another was a budding musician. All had lives full of promising potential ahead of them. And it was all snuffed out, due to a little pill that was supposed to make them feel good. [continues 420 words]
Three families who have been impacted by the use of ecstasy are working with the Abbotsford Police Department (APD) in an awareness and education program about the dangers of street drugs. Const. Ian MacDonald said representatives from each of the families have given their support to the initiative, called Operation X, and will work with police in the creation of a video and school presentations. "They are tied to the community and have a vested interest in helping others ... We're talking about families committed to help other youth," MacDonald said. [continues 307 words]
Abbotsford Police are continuing to warn people about the dangers of using any form of illicit drugs, in the wake of toxicology results released from one ecstasy-related death in the Lower Mainland and five in Calgary. Provincial health officer Perry Kendall confirmed in a media teleconference today (Thursday) that one of the four recent B.C. deaths two in Abbotsford and two in Vancouver occurred because the drug was tainted by a lethal chemical known as paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA). He did not indicate which one of the individuals he was referring to. [continues 386 words]
Re: Letter from George Bochenek, Dec. 27. This is a very uninformed letter. First off, the Beatles song Let It Be is not about marijuana - - it is about Paul McCartney's mother. Now to this marijuana issue. I have a friend who contacted a disease called fibromyalgia. It is a crippling disease with no cure. Before this came on, she ran 10 miles four times a week; a mother of two and very active woman - bright, talented and positive. She has been fighting this disease for over five years. She has gone to many doctors and none have been able to help her. She is now bedridden, in excruciating pain. [continues 144 words]
Re: Medical marijuana government approved madness Stop the madness? Letter writer George Bochenek needs to give his head a shake. His concern is the effects of second-hand smoke. What about cigarettes? I still have to walk through an entrance to a store or restaurant and take a breath of someone's cigarette smoke. People who take marijuana for medical purposes don't commonly smoke it in public - that is not the purpose.The purpose is to relieve pain and they will smoke it anyway, whether a governing body says they can or not. [continues 116 words]
Ecstasy can kill you. Can that message be driven home any more acutely than it has in this community? In the past five weeks, the popular man-made drug has taken two lives, and is responsible for another that hangs in the balance. On Nov. 27, Tyler Miller, 20, took ecstasy. He was a gifted Abbotsford musician and student, with great career plans. It's all over. He was dead in eight hours. On Dec. 19, 17-year-old Cheryl McCormack of Abbotsford ingested ecstasy with some friends ostensibly as a weight loss aid. She became unresponsive, and three days later, she died. She was a bright, fun and athletic teen. [continues 229 words]
Abbotsford Parents Struggle With The Loss Of Their Only Son, Victim Of An Ecstasy Overdose Couple Share Their Story To Prevent More Deaths From Drug Tyler Miller, 20, had just finished making plans to attend the Art Institute of Vancouver to become a music producer. He was musically gifted and played the piano, guitar and drums. He was also smart, having completed the International Baccalaureate program at Abbotsford Collegiate, graduating in 2009. Tyler worked as a barista at a Starbucks coffee shop in Abbotsford, and his parents, Laurie Mossey and Russ Miller, had just bought him a Honda Accord to make the trip to and from school a little easier. [continues 676 words]
If George Bochenek (letter: Medical marijuana government approved madness, Dec. 27, 2011) investigates Canada's, or the U.S. federal government's, involvement with the medical use of cannabis (marijuana), it is apparent they are not acting at will but rather by demand by citizen involvement. The federal government would rather see their sick citizens suffer rather than be allowed to use the relatively safe God-given plant (see the first page of the Bible). The federal government is also against legalizing and regulating cannabis for responsible adults for other use but again they are going to be taken out of the equation because citizens are going to re-legalize the plant. Caging humans for using the God-given plant cannabis is one of North America's worst policy failures in history and it's about over. Citizens have had enough! Stan White [end]
Woman Battles for Her Life A 24-year-old Abbotsford woman is battling for her life after ingesting ecstasy with three friends on New Year's Eve. Abbotsford Police Const. Ian MacDonald said the woman, whose name has not been released, was at a home in the 33700 block of George Ferguson Way when she became unconscious and unresponsive. She was treated on scene at about 6 a.m. on New Year's Day by BC Ambulance and Abbotsford Fire Rescue personnel before being transported to hospital. [continues 326 words]
A group of B.C. public health officers has joined a growing coalition of policy leaders urging the legalization and taxation of marijuana. The Health Officers Council of B.C. voted to endorse Stop the Violence B.C. and called for regulation of illegal substances like marijuana to reduce the harm from substance use and the unintended consequences of government policies. "The Health Officer's Council and other experts are not saying that marijuana should be legalized and taxed because it is safe," said Dr. Paul Hasselback, a Vancouver Island medical health officer who chairs the council. [continues 282 words]
Years ago, the famous group The Beatles sang "oeLet it Be" "" code words for running from our problems by smoking marijuana which they termed "oeMother Mary." Now, thanks to some people here, we can be assured of enduring indifference to any pain or anything else through "oeMother Mary" "" medicinal marijuana. A new brave clinic has opened its doors for "oesuffering patients," who can claim a need for this marvelous miracle for self-induced Nirvana "" complete indifference to whatever is, or may be happening, to us or around us. [continues 132 words]
A Supreme Court judge has said that Abbotsford Police exceeded their powers when they gathered evidence at the scene of a medical marijuana grow-op without a search warrant in February 2009. Justice Brian Joyce ruled at the end of a voir dire (trial within a trial) in Chilliwack Supreme Court on Monday that the evidence should be thrown out against Pencho Batanov of Abbotsford. He was due to go on trial Nov. 21 on charges of unlawful production of marijuana and possession for the purpose of trafficking, but the case was delayed by the voir dire. [continues 343 words]
In the Oct. 25 edition, Greg Tyler writes "Pot smokers are not a drain on our healthcare system," "marijuana is not addictive," "it is possible to consume marijuana daily and live a normal life with no side effects." These statements are not factual, they appear to be "wistful" thinking. George Institute of New Zealand reached a case-controlled conclusion in 2005 which reads in part: "Habitual marijuana use is associated with a 10-fold increase in the risk of car crash injury." [continues 112 words]
The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) is aiming to shut down all marijuana grow operations in the city with the launch of a new project. The Marijuana Enforcement Project (MEP) was announced Thursday to focus more attention on an issue that police say is connected to other crimes and creates a public safety risk. Const. Ian MacDonald said grow-ops are the "cornerstone and cash cows" of gangs and organized crime. "There isn't a gang that deals in marijuana that doesn't deal in other drugs," he said. [continues 345 words]
A public hearing has cleared an Abbotsford Police officer of any wrongdoing during an incident three years ago when he accidentally broke the finger of a man while taking away his camera. The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) held the hearing to determine whether Const. Alex Wood used unnecessary force or abused his authority when dealing with Jonathan Peters on April 8, 2008. Wood was among officers involved in the execution of a search warrant at a suspected drug house on Crescent Way on that date, and was assigned to help contain the front of the property. [continues 385 words]
He doesn't like constantly being thought of as a criminal. And, ironically, he doesn't want his name published because if we did, the criminal element in town would immediately target him. He is one of 29 people in Prince George with a licence to grow marijuana for medical purposes. He fought throat cancer. He's had dozens of rounds of chemo and radiation. Marijuana helps him. One of the downsides of beating a tough cancer is that it changes you. He explained to me that there comes a point when you realize that, even though you've beaten back the disease, you're not going to be the same person you were. [continues 444 words]
An Abbotsford restaurant owner whose home and property have become the subject of a civil forfeiture claim said he will fight the matter in court. Mario Facchin said he and his wife, Elena, were not involved in the marijuana grow operation that was discovered by police in a barn on their 4.4-acre property in April and, therefore, they did not profit from the proceeds of crime. Civil forfeiture involves the government applying to court to obtain property it claims was used for, or benefited from, criminal activity. [continues 323 words]
An Abbotsford resident said he feels violated and unprotected after discovering a renter used one of his properties for a marijuana grow-op - leaving him to clean up the mess and foot the bill. Sukhvinder Kahlon, a local berry farmer, believes better bylaws need to be implemented to protect landlords and hold criminals accountable. After police raided the home at 33848 Marshall Rd. at the end of March, Kahlon received a bill for $2,300 in policing fees, which he feels he shouldn't have to pay. [continues 364 words]
An Abbotsford home is the subject of a civil forfeiture claim in B.C. Supreme Court, with the provincial government alleging the residence was purchased with the proceeds of crime. The three-storey home is located at 3302 Siskin Drive and is registered to Iqbal Singh Gill, Sarmukh Singh Gill and Harbans Kaur Gill, who purchased the property in May 2003, according to the notice of civil claim. The director of civil forfeiture alleges the two-storey garage of the home was used as a marijuana grow-op from the time of the purchase until March 2011. [continues 295 words]
Judging from the volume of the cheers from the audience, Green Party candidate Daniel Bryce was the winner of Monday night's federal election debate. Some would argue the youthful Bryce, 29, had an edge, facing a crowd of mostly students that filled the auditorium at UFV for the event, because he graduated from the university in 2005. Even incumbent Ed Fast (Conservative) gave Bryce props, saying "he's got a great future in politics." And by the end of the evening's debating, Fast said he has been impressed by the quality of candidates running against him from the Liberal (Madeleine Hardin) and NDP (David Murray) parties as well. [continues 724 words]
Regarding your March 22 editorial, not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. [continues 79 words]
Health Canada's Policy Sparks Controversy There are houses in Abbotsford where pot is growing with the sanction of the federal government, and neither the Abbotsford Police nor city hall knows where they are. Even Health Canada, which licenses these grow-ops, is not allowed to enter these residences to enforce regulations without the owner's consent. It's a system that frustrates politicians and police across the Lower Mainland, and Abbotsford's mayor recently added his voice to the issue. [continues 1406 words]
If Canada's medicinal marijuana carried a warning of side effects, it might read something like this: Warning: may cause home invasions. Can lead to newspaper headlines. Unintended consequences may develop. The mayors of several neighbouring communities and the RCMP have called for an end to licensed home-based pot growing operations, complaining the growth in medicinal marijuana growing permits is out of control. This comes in the wake of reports about three robberies of legal licenced growing operations in Langley over the last six months. [continues 225 words]
In his March 8 letter, "Prohibition-related crime is top threat," Stan White writes in part, "roughly half of all Canadians support legalizing, regulating and taxing the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant cannabis." I would suggest that many Canadians do not realize the dangers of using the harmful, possibly addictive drug marijuana. If the adult population needs to use the drug so be it, but don't promote it as a safe drug. What are you saying to our youth? [continues 75 words]
I question the percentage of the Canadian population that is asking law enforcement agencies to support Bill S-10 (Pot grow-ops: Six months in jail for six plants? The News, March 3). North Americans having been reading that roughly half of all Canadians support legalizing, regulating and taxing the relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant cannabis (marijuana). If Bill S-10 were put to a vote by citizens, it would surely fail. Further, Abbotsford MP Ed Fast, is mistaken: The number one threat is not drug or gang-related crime, it's prohibition-related crime. And whoever supports prohibition clearly supports increased crime. Stan White [end]
Six months in jail for six pot plants. Sound fair? What will be the cost to build new prisons when the current ones are full, plus extra court costs and policing. Make no mistake, this government is planning to privatize prisons just like the current slave prisons in the U.S.A., where inmates are forced to work for about 25 cents an hour to make anything from jeans to furniture, yielding huge profits for the 'prison corporations' and putting others out of work. [continues 138 words]
Pot growers will get six months in jail if they have a grow-op with six or more plants, if the federal Conservatives can pass a tough-on-crime bill, says Abbotsford MP Ed Fast. Since taking office, Stephen Harper's government has been trying to establish a minimum jail sentence for growers, Fast said. "This is a very important bill for us," he said. "Just look at Abbotsford - the number one threat is drug-related and gang-related crime." Fast is chairman of the Justice Committee which reviews all criminal justice legislation. He said the government brought forward similar legislation in an earlier bill called C-15. It passed Parliament, but it was "gutted" by the Senate, which was then dominated by the Liberal party. He said the Senate wanted to have minimum jail time for grows of 200 plants. That was not acceptable to the Conservatives. [continues 1239 words]
The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) is taking its anti-gang messaging on the road - literally. The APD unveiled its newest project today in its battle to turn young people away from the gang lifestyle. Operation Reclamation involved transforming a sand-coloured 2004 Hummer H2 into a vehicle sporting the APD's black-and-white theme, police lights, and a "skin" of graphics and messages. The vehicle was property forfeited to the province after a Victoria man was convicted of drug trafficking and weapons offences. [continues 387 words]
Former UN Gang leader Clay Roueche filed a notice of civil claim today (Friday) against the attorney general of B.C. and the Vancouver and Abbotsford police departments (VPD and APD). Roueche, who earlier this week had his 30-year U.S. prison sentence upheld, claims several police agencies were involved in arranging his "unlawful" arrest in Mexico on May 17, 2008. He claims the Combined Special Forces Enforcement Unit, the Organized Crime Agency of B.C., the RCMP, the BC Integrated Gang Task Force, the VPD and the APD breached his rights under the Privacy Act when they informed U.S. authorities of his plans to travel to Mexico. [continues 225 words]
0.1 per cent of Canadian police cases involve officers resorting to force Deputy Chief Rick Lucy addressed the issue at Tuesday's police board meeting, saying it is timely because of recent high-profile situations. This week, Abbotsford Police completed their investigation into whether a Kelowna RCMP officer used excessive force with a man who was kicked in the head during his arrest. The incident was captured on video by a news reporter. Police have recommended that Const. Geoff Mantler be charged with assault causing bodily harm. [continues 516 words]
The District of Mission is facing a class action lawsuit from residents who say their homes were illegally searched by the grow-op busting Public Safety Inspection Team, and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, working on their behalf, is in discussion with lawyers this week. The litigants claim the program, with its $5,200 inspection fees, is little more than a cash cow for the municipality. In 2009, Mission dealt with 219 files and levied 137 inspection fees, bringing $712,400 to the district for the year. [continues 506 words]
Police say they're trying to put a lid on a new round of violence that has threatened to erupt between Metro Vancouver gangs. Tensions have risen in recent weeks in the wake of the high-profile targeted murder of a suspected gangster in October at a Burnaby mall. Several men in their late 20s have been arrested since then and multiple guns seized in connection with four recent incidents, according to Sgt. Shinder Kirk of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. [continues 239 words]
I promised to pound my pens into plow shears. However, a recent letter from Diane Davies discrediting the Abbotsford Police deserves a response. As a retired Abbotsford police officer who has been awarded with two Governor General Medals for 30 years of exemplary service as well as the first recipient of the Abbotsford's Outstanding Community Service Award, I would like to relate an incident which I was personally drawn into while alone and on routine patrol in the Garden Park area of Abbotsford. [continues 286 words]
Re: Just say no to the evil of harm reduction. What would you rather have, a person addicted to drugs, or a person addicted to drugs spreading HIV or Hep C through dirty needles? Harm reduction is an essential first step to encouraging addicts to recover. Show them some respect. Show them that society cares enough to help them limit their risk of preventable diseases. Andrew Brown [end]
Not having a great deal of experience standing before a judge, I always puzzle over the rationale of sentencing. Why for instance does a man who hits another, just once, get six years in federal prison, while a woman who admittedly drinks at least three glasses of wine before driving, kills a child, maims her aunt and injures her grandparents, receives only two and a half years? How too do drug smugglers, by offering up the apparently acceptable excuse that "I didn't know it was in my truck," get off scott-free? [continues 543 words]
The District of Mission is reviewing its grow-op inspection process after complaints from those who have run afoul of the bylaw. Meanwhile, Abbotsford's program is operating at a lower level than in its early days. The local Public Safety Inspection program was formed in 2005, modeled after a similar program in Surrey. By 2007 there were three teams of inspectors, who looked at 725 properties and 150 confirmed grow-ops were shut down that year. So far this year, there have been only 44 grow-ops dismantled in Abbotsford. [continues 565 words]
Abbotsford Police are holding the first in a series of information meetings for parents next Wednesday (Oct. 27) as part of the Operation Lodestar initiative, the latest in a series of police programs designed to keep kids away from drugs and gangs. The session, for parents of students at Robert Bateman Secondary and Clayburn Middle School, begins at 7 p.m. at Bateman school. Const. Ian MacDonald said the series will include 12 sessions, enabling police to invite parents of all local schools. One will be open to the public and two will be conducted in both Punjabi and English. [continues 203 words]
Ed Schellenberg would likely still be alive today if the justice system did not take an "anything but jail" approach to dealing with criminals, his brother-in-law told a crowd attending a town hall meeting earlier tonight in Abbotsford. Steve Brown said two of the four people killed in the Surrey Six slayings had "shocking criminal histories" and should have been in jail. Instead, they were among the four that became the targets of an alleged gang hit in which Schellenberg, 55, of Abbotsford was an innocent bystander, along with Chris Mohan, 22. [continues 531 words]
I attended church Sunday and was nearly sickened by the odour of marijuana coming from a residence next door. I contacted the police who advised me that they knew of the marijuana production there but were unable to do anything because it was a legal grow operation. I find this absolutely astounding. This particular "legal" grow is within 50 yards of an elementary school, directly across from a park and next door to a church. Where are my rights? The children's rights? The neighbours' rights? To go to school, work and church without smelling the obnoxious odour of marijuana, without the fear of possible grow-rip violence from organized crime? To be able to walk freely along the streets of Canada and live in communities where safety for our children is the number one priority for government? Neil Biggerstaff [end]
Abbotsford is using the Community Charter to help warn unsuspecting homebuyers about grow-ops. Council has been allowing Section 57 notices to be filed against the titles of properties involved in producing marijuana. "It acts as an alert to anyone who is interested in the property," explained Gordon Ferguson, Abbotsford's manager of bylaw enforcement. Under Section 57 of the charter, municipal governments have the right to file a notice in vthe land title office if construction or safety concerns in regard to a structure are observed or if any work has been performed without a permit of inspection. [continues 238 words]
Abbotsford Police Sgt. Mike Novakowski had just finished speaking to a gathering of middle school kids about the dangers of the gangster lifestyle when he was approached by a student with a vital message. "I want to stop doing drugs. I want to give you the number of my drug dealer," the boy told Novakowski. The student had the number memorized, and Novakowski wrote it down. He passed it on to the Abbotsford Police Department's (APD) "beats and bikes" squad. [continues 419 words]
