Advocates says province would be spared millions in cost of building retail outlets A dozen cannabis producers from across Canada want to launch a cooperative in Alberta, where they would sell the drug online and in street-level stores - and they're promising extra revenues for the government. A day after the province reopened public consultations on a new cannabis market - leaving its options open on whether to pursue privately or publicly run stores - the Canadian Cannabis Co-op said its proposed retail model poses no risks or costs to taxpayers. [continues 534 words]
Alberta Federation of Labour says public system creates better jobs, more revenue The Alberta Federation of Labour is calling for the NDP government to set up a system of government-owned and operated cannabis stores in the province when recreational marijuana becomes legal next year. With Alberta's policy framework for legal cannabis released earlier this month, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said the province will only allow stand-alone stores to sell legal weed but it is still weighing whether to set up government-owned facilities or leave retail to the private sector. [continues 528 words]
Calgary police Chief Roger Chaffin said a proposed framework released by the province on legalized marijuana this week is "a start" as police examine their next steps to prepare for recreational cannabis to be legalized July 1. "On its first blush, there's not a lot of detail in that yet, but at least the framework sets up at least an idea of where the province wants to go around age limits, around consumption levels, growing the plant, so there's lots of areas there at least we can start to go to work on," Chaffin said Friday. [continues 293 words]
Justice minister set to unveil policy framework for legalized marijuana Alberta companies are eagerly waiting to see whether they can do business under the provincial government's plan for legal marijuana. On Wednesday, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley will unveil the NDP government's policy framework for cannabis once the Trudeau government legalizes recreational marijuana on July 1, 2018. Among the areas expected to be addressed by the government are the legal age for consumption, pricing and how cannabis will be distributed and sold in the province. [continues 531 words]
Stafford Drive bridge area being fenced off CP Rail is cutting off access to one of the most active illicit injection sites in the city in the coming months, which could drive up drug use in other areas of the city. In a report to Lethbridge Police Commission on Wednesday, ARCHES Executive Director Stacey Bourque told the commission when CP Rail cuts access to the area under Stafford Bridge, many drug users will lose access to an area where ARCHES cleans thousands of used needles every month. [continues 540 words]
Rules for legal weed set minimum age at 18, allow use in public places The NDP government is weighing whether to set up government-run stores to sell marijuana in Alberta or leave the market to private retailers when recreational cannabis is legalized next year. Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley unveiled the government's proposed framework for legal weed Wednesday, with the province setting 18 as the legal age for consumption - matching the age for alcohol and tobacco use in Alberta. The province will also mandate that legal weed be sold only in stand-alone stores, with no sales of alcohol, tobacco or pharmaceuticals in the same facility. [continues 789 words]
Government proposes permitting pot in provincial parks and on street corners Next July, you'll be allowed to get high standing on a downtown street corner, walking your dog through Nose Hill Park or hiking in the Rocky Mountains. In its draft framework for legalized weed, the Alberta government has proposed among the most permissive rules so far in Canada on where pot can be smoked. They're even more lax than rules in Colorado and other legalized jurisdictions south of the border, according to a researcher who has studied the industry. [continues 668 words]
The Notley government wants public feedback on its new plan to manage legalized pot in the province. Here's some free advice that could save taxpayers a boatload of cash and a chronic headache. Don't get into the retail business. At a news conference in Calgary, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said Wednesday the province is putting together a framework surrounding who can buy and sell cannabis in Alberta. This comes in response to the federal government introducing legislation to legalize marijuana by next July. [continues 830 words]
The B.C. government is making time to listen as it plans new marijuana regulations, even though the listening will leave only a few months to finish crafting the rules for the coming new era of legal pot. Mike Farnworth, minister of public safety and solicitor general, said this week that the public consultation will be finished by Nov. 1. The government will have to finish writing rules and regulations by next summer. The federal government introduced legislation in April that would legalize recreational marijuana by July 1, 2018, but is leaving it up to each province to determine its own distribution system and usage regulations. [continues 479 words]
Health Canada doesn't want kids smoking pot. The federal agency responsible for the health of Canadians issued a tender call Thursday for a marketing campaign to raise awareness among youth aged 13 to 24 about the harmful affects of smoking marijuana on their still-developing brains. It also wants pre- and post-campaign monitoring of the awareness of youth of the affects. The advertising campaign will roll out in anticipation of Canada's legalizing marijuana next year. Ed McHugh, a professor at St. Mary's University's marketing department, offered a warning. [continues 277 words]
Police asking for more time before marijuana legalized, Troy Cooper tells chamber Police Chief Troy Cooper has gone from doubtful to critical on Ottawa's marijuana plan, rejecting some key parts of the legislation and saying he's "nervous" about next summer's legalization deadline. Cooper has long seemed hesitant over marijuana legalization. Thursday, the day of his speech to the Chamber of Commerce, was perhaps his clearest expression of frustration over the pace of the federal plan - which foresees legal weed by July 2018. "We've asked, as a police service, please give us more time," he told the audience of local business leaders gathered at the Wildlife Federation building. [continues 614 words]
PATERSON -- About a dozen men and women sat on hard plastic chairs early Wednesday morning inside a conference room at the Well of Hope Drop-In Center on Broadway, where a flat screen television broadcast sports highlights on ESPN. Some came for the free coffee. A sign said the limit was one cup per hour. Others were there to use the showers and toilet facilities. A 57-year-old man who would only give his name as "Julius" was waiting to see a nurse about a blister on his foot. [continues 957 words]
'I don't really think that's on the table,' minister says The NDP government says it isn't considering raising Alberta's legal age of 18 for drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco as it develops its policies around legal marijuana. Alberta Health Services, in its written submission to the government's consultations on legal cannabis, suggested the province consider a minimum age of 21 for marijuana consumption, and potentially raise the drinking and smoking tobacco age to match. But outside a meeting of Premier Rachel Notley's cabinet at McDougall Centre, Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said changing the legal age for alcohol consumption is not on the agenda. [continues 119 words]
Amy Stalker says she had more control over her own health when she lived in Colorado, where marijuana can be legally prescribed as medicine. Stalker now lives in Kentucky, where medical use of marijuana is banned. A judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday against Gov. Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear that called for the legalization of medical marijuana in Kentucky. In his opinion, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate wrote that the Kentucky Supreme Court clearly established in a 2000 decision involving actor and hemp activist Woody Harrelson that the General Assembly has the sole discretion under the state Constitution to regulate the use of cannabis in the state. The courts do not have the authority to intervene, Wingate wrote. [continues 450 words]
TALLAHASSEE -- Seemingly learning from past mistakes, state health officials have issued an emergency rule outlining the application process for new medical-marijuana vendors seeking to receive licenses in two weeks. The new rule, published Wednesday and going into effect immediately, outsources the evaluation of the applications to "subject matter experts," requires "blind testing" of the applications, and includes a detailed application form --- all departures from the Department of Health's previous medical-marijuana regulations that spawned a series of legal and administrative challenges. [continues 974 words]
Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley says she's not expecting "complete consensus" as Alberta prepares to release its plan for legal cannabis in a matter of weeks. As the federal Liberal government prepares to legalize the recreational use of marijuana on July 1, 2018, it falls to the provinces to deal with issues such as the minimum age for consumption and how pot will be distributed and sold. In written submissions to its cannabis secretariat, Alberta's NDP government has heard wide-ranging options for how retail sales of marijuana should be handled, including allowing new standalone specialized stores, utilizing existing private liquor stores or government-controlled sales. [continues 417 words]
Province turns to citizens for consultation on how marijuana should be sold in Saskatchewan Love it or hate it, legislation that legalizes pot in Canada is coming. The provincial government launched a survey last week, seeking the public's response to questions ranging from where and how marijuana should be sold, to a minimum age for users, and priorities when it comes to enforcement and education. These are some of the top concerns for users, sellers, legislators, and law enforcement alike. [continues 691 words]
Editor: Saskatchewan Cabinet Minister Don Morgan is the latest provincial politician to say he wants marijuana legalization delayed for at least a year. ............ Why? Trudeau promised his government would legalize marijuana two years ago. Ontario has already announced its plans on how it will integrate legal marijuana into its economy. (Is Morgan insinuating that Ontario is somehow superior to our province?) The only people who could possibly benefit from a delay in marijuana legalization are the organized crime figures who currently control most of the market. Why on earth are Saskatchewan politicians defending the interests of organized crime above that of ordinary, law-abiding citizens? Makes you wonder. Gordon Robert Dumont Prince Albert, Sask [end]
Society needs to understand why people abuse substances There'll come a day, long after we're gone, when people will react with disbelief at how we now treat mental health. Those future Canadians will shake their collective heads in amazement in the manner we do today when looking back to a time when surgeons would routinely perform operations without first washing their hands. How could they have been so ignorant, will be the future common comment. But there's a chink of light emerging with next summer's planned legislation of cannabis use across Canada. Not that smoking dope is going to cure anyone's mental issues, probably the opposite, but it is recognition that locking people up as criminals because of an urge to consume mind-altering substances is being jettisoned as a long lost proposition. [continues 559 words]
AHS: Consider unifying minimum age for cannabis, liquor, tobacco Alberta Health Services says the provincial government should consider a minimum age of 21 for consumption of legal cannabis - and potentially raise the minimum age for smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol to match. In its submission to the NDP government's cannabis secretariat, the provincial health authority also says the government should be in control of distribution and retail of marijuana when it becomes legal next year and calls for bans on public smoking and promotion of cannabis use. [continues 795 words]
He was licensed to grow hemp in Kentucky. Police say they found marijuana instead. Kentucky officials are reviewing a case that could result in a former sheriff being kicked out of the state's pilot program to grow industrial hemp after he was charged with cultivating marijuana. Former Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman is thought to the first participant in the hemp program to be arrested for allegedly growing marijuana, hemp's psychoactive cousin. Peyman has been approved to grow hemp since 2015, the year after he lost reelection and left office, according to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. [continues 570 words]
Preparing for the legalization of marijuana nationwide next July, the Government of Saskatchewan is looking to gain public input. The provincial government will be conducting an online consultation survey from Sept. 8 to Oct. 6 with the goal of gauging public opinion on parts of the federal legislation that has been left up to the provinces. "The legalization of cannabis represents a big change," said Don Morgan, justice minister and attorney general. "We want to take the time to listen to and consult with the people of this province to ensure we implement the parts of this legislation that are under our control in a way that works for Saskatchewan." [continues 488 words]
A new online survey allows Saskatchewan residents to weigh in on what the province's marijuana regime should look like Saskatchewan residents can now share their thoughts on who should be able to buy, sell and grow marijuana, with just a few clicks on a government survey. Ottawa plans to legalize marijuana by July of 2018, but is leaving it up to the provinces to design their own regulatory system. The provincial government launched an online survey Friday to solicit public feedback. It's open to any Saskatchewan resident over the age of 18, and is set to run until October 6. [continues 593 words]
Former Jackson County Sheriff Denny Peyman was involved in a marijuana-growing operation and possessed enough anabolic steroids to indicate he was trafficking in the drug, Kentucky State Police have charged. A detective for the state police Drug Enforcement/Special Investigations unit for the eastern half of the state arrested Peyman at his farm south of McKee Wednesday at 4:44 p.m. after serving a search warrant, according to the citation. The citation said the warrant was the culmination of an investigation in which 61 marijuana plants had been found earlier growing at Peyman's farm. [continues 353 words]
Regulatory burden has fallen unfairly on towns like hers, says Nelson politician While provincial governments want more time to determine how they'll handle legalized pot, the mayor of Nelson, B.C., wished it happened yesterday. And, no, Deb Kozak isn't a massive devotee of the B.C. bud that's made her region of the West Kootenays a renowned producer of designer cannabis. That sentiment comes from the headaches in regulating a cannabis retail industry she says has been foisted on her town of 10,500 by higher levels of government well ahead of recreational legalization scheduled for July 1, 2018. [continues 441 words]
Re: Pot use can make your sperm lazy, Sept. 1 This article shed light on the very serious implication of the use of marijuana products on reproductive health. In 2016, I testified before the federal task force on the legalization of marijuana and started my six-hour presentation against the legalization of marijuana with a question for the Health Canada lawyer and the committee. The question was simply: "How does a responsible government legalize a drug for recreational purposes when their health 'watchdog' agency, Health Canada, acknowledges the science and in turn warns all Canadian men who wish to start a family not to use this drug due to the substantiated risks to reproductive health?" [continues 75 words]
Perth District Health Unit highlights harm reduction for drug users Nearly a year after the Perth District Health Unit (PDHU) began offering free Naloxone kits to residents in Stratford and across Perth County, the harm reduction benefits for opioid users are quite clear. Naloxone, more commonly referred to by its brand name Narcan, can be administered as a nasal spray and is used to stop overdoses. At the PDHU's Festival Square office at 10 Downie St. in Stratford, staff have been giving away kits containing two doses of Narcan each to opioid users, their friends, relatives or caregivers who feel they or their loved ones are at risk of overdosing. [continues 791 words]
Gov. Chris Christie is growing impatient with the Trump administration over its delay in declaring the opioid epidemic a national emergency. Christie said during an interview with MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes on Tuesday night that too many lives are being lost to drug overdoses for a formal declaration to wait any longer. "I think it's time for the president and White House staff to get on this and for the president to demand that they get the papers in front of him so he can sign it," Christie said. [continues 454 words]
Tasty Budds president Mal McMeekin is "very sorry" about alleged illegal activities that police say were occuring at his company's storefronts. "We want to be very clear that the alleged illegal activity was occuring at one Tasty Budds location (Sackville Location)," reads a written statement sent to The Chronicle Herald and attributed to Mal McMeekin. "This only came to our attention through the recent police activity and investigation. This is a gross violation of our code of conduct, our ethics, and everything that Tasty Budds stands for." [continues 343 words]
Three years ago, Karen moved her pungent garden into an outbuilding in the heavily timbered mountains outside Nelson. Under metal-hooded halide lamps and its own ventilation system, the woman soil-cultivates about 250 marijuana plants at various stages of growth, an operation that yields about 14 kg of bud every two months. "It's not a high-yield cannabis, it's a more specialized, high-CBD strain," said Karen - not her real name - referring to the marijuana ingredient considered to have the best medical applications. [continues 286 words]
Members of producers' co-op hope to safeguard their iconic industry A British Columbia region's legacy of Vietnam War draft dodgers and illicit cannabis gardens wants a place at the legalized recreational marijuana table. Fears that corporate cannabis producers could accomplish what law enforcement never could - uproot the Kootenay region's famed marijuana cultivators - has local producers mobilizing to protect what they call a longtime bedrock of their local economy. "There's been a lot of grey and black-market cannabis growers here for a long time and we don't want to lose that business," said Todd Veri, president of the fledgling Kootenay Outdoor Producer Co-op. [continues 1145 words]
Other states allow medical marijuana. Judge asks why Kentucky shouldn't join them. A Franklin Circuit Court judge on Tuesday asked attorneys for the state why Kentucky should not make medical marijuana available to patients who believe it might help them, given that "we've pretty much decriminalized" the drug around much of the nation and even in parts of the state. Judge Thomas Wingate is considering motions by Gov. Matt Bevin and Attorney General Andy Beshear to dismiss a lawsuit filed in June by three Kentuckians who want the legal right to use marijuana as medicine in the state where they live. Wingate said he expects to hand down a decision on the motion in the near future. [continues 649 words]
Alberta's justice minister says the province's law enforcement communities are having to "constantly" adapt in their efforts to combat the evolving methods of illicit drug manufacturers. Following news that health workers have found possible fentanyl-laced stickers in Calgary and Edmonton, Kathleen Ganley told reporters that police are doing a "very good job" of staying on top of emerging drug trends. That vigilance on the part of authorities is key, Ganley says. "It's like this with most types of drugs, they're sort of constantly adapting to continue to try to keep those hidden and we're having to constantly adapt to continue to try to find those. We'll continue to use intelligence to move forward." [continues 213 words]
Associate minister confident Ottawa will approve proposal for Beltway operation A proposed supervised drug-consumption site at the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre will receive a $1.2-million funding boost from the province, as the number of fentanyl-related overdoses in Alberta continues to mount. Associate minister of health Brandy Payne said the funds will go toward renovating the Beltline health centre that is expected to eventually house Calgary's first supervised drug-consumption site. No timeline for the facility's opening has been confirmed, but Payne said the latest data on drug deaths across the province reaffirms the need for harm-reduction services. [continues 511 words]
B.C. is heading for another record year for fentanyl overdose deaths. Despite making Naloxone antidote kits widely available, the death rate is up 88 per cent over last year, which was also a record year. Last year, according to figures available online, B.C. had 935 deaths from drug overdoses. This year, the province had 780 deaths by the end of June. If the rate continues, the province will hit 1,400 deaths by the end of the year. But in the welter of data, I find two facts interesting. [continues 465 words]
ARCHES identifies former downtown area nightclub as a future medically-supervised drug consumption site A former downtown area nightclub has been pegged as the location for a future medically-supervised drug consumption site. ARCHES Lethbridge, a harm reduction agency, made the announcement on Wednesday that it had filed an application on July 31 with Health Canada to establish the services at the site formerly known as Pulse Nightclub. The facility requires a federal exemption to allow drug use inside the building. [continues 1130 words]
Johnsie Gooslin spent Jan. 16, 2015, tending his babies -- that's what he called his marijuana plants. More than 70 of them were growing in a hydroponic system of his own design. Sometimes, he'd stay in his barn for 16 hours straight, perfecting his technique. That night, he left around 8 o'clock to head home. The moon was waning, down to a sliver, which left the sky as dark as the ridges that lined it. As he pulled away, the lights from his late-model Kia swept across his childhood hollow and his parents' trailer, which stood just up the road from the barn. He turned onto West Virginia Route 65. Crossing Mingo County, he passed the Delbarton Mine, where he had worked on and off for 14 years before his back gave out. Though Johnsie was built like a linebacker, falling once from a coal truck and twice from end loaders had taken a toll. At 36, his disks were a mess, and sciatica sometimes shot pain to his knees. [continues 4150 words]
Some so-called experts say the human brain keeps growing until age 25 and a CTV poll found a majority of people said the legal age for marijuana should be 21 or 25 This does not make sense to me. In Canada, you can join the military at 18, get a driver's licence at 16 and vote at 18. A lot of kids 18 and younger are smoking marijuana. Bought legally, it will be safer than from the black market. Government, instead of organized crime, should be profiting from the sale of cannabis. Drug stores are the best place to sell marijuana and the legal age should be 18. [continues 55 words]
Energy drinks could be a gateway to cocaine use, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Public Health found that young adults who said they'd consumed energy drinks yearly between ages 21 and 24 were at greater risk for subsequently doing cocaine, using prescription stimulants for non-medical uses and problem drinking. The 1,099 study participants were recruited as 18-year-old college students. Those who didn't consume energy drinks as they got older were less likely to develop substance-abuse problems. [continues 338 words]
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump met with Cabinet members and senior staff at his golf club in Bedminster to discuss the opioid crisis. Missing at the meeting was Gov. Chris Christie, the chairman of the president's commission charged with studying the national rise of heroin and opioid addiction. Christie is on vacation. While the governor missed the meeting, the president is missing the message Christie has been sending for several years: treatment over incarceration will save lives. Long before his approval rating tanked at 15 percent, Christie used his then sizable political capital to focus on treatment and rehabilitation. He did it when he pushed for drug courts. He did it when he eloquently spoke of a law student friend who died because of addiction. And during his presidential bid, Christie resonated most effectively with voters when talking about drug addiction. [continues 473 words]
Send addicts immediately to treatment; bust dealers Holiday Mondays are ordinarily a quiet time to work around The Herald office, especially early in the morning. That wasn't the case yesterday as a a Good Samaratan was greeted in our back alley by a woman passed out, looking nearly dead, as a result of what appeared to be a drug overdose. I pulled in a few minutes afterward, having been passed on Winnipeg Street by an ambulance. A 911 call and five emergency personnel responded, reviving the woman before taking her away voluntarily, presumably to the hospital for treatment. [continues 216 words]
When it comes to the state's medical marijuana law, progress has come in increments rather than great strides. New Jersey's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, state law since 2010, has been implemented ever so slowly under Gov. Chris Christie, who has never hidden his disdain for the law. Yet those disappointed by the snail's pace of the law, and the establishment of new medical marijuana centers, have new reason to take heart. As Staff Writer Lindy Washburn reported, North Jersey will soon be welcoming the state's largest dispensary of medical marijuana yet -- at a 10,000-square-foot facility on Meadowlands Parkway in Secaucus. Once it opens, the dispensary plans to serve up to 4,000 patients a month with a variety of strains of cannabis. The Christie administration has issued a permit to grow medical marijuana to Harmony Foundation and will consider issuing a permit to dispense marijuana after the crop is tested later this year. [continues 357 words]
It will be a workout with a message. On Aug. 16, children and teens will start their Kids Against Drugs run through the Blood Reserve. The two-day event aims "to keep the momentum going for awareness, and to send a message that fentanyl and all drugs are not welcomed in the children's lives," says spokesperson Pamela Little Bear. "Too many children, on and off reserves and in the general community are affected in a negative way with these drugs," she says. [continues 136 words]
Alberta Health Services encourages those at risk of overdose to carry kits Attendees at the Chasing Summer music festival will not be allowed to carry naloxone kits on festival grounds, organizers of the event said Wednesday. "Given our on-site medical resources and commitment to the health and welfare of all our fans, we want to ensure that only trained medical professionals administer medications to third parties, so we do not permit guests to carry private naloxone kits within festival grounds," said Colin Mathie, director of health and safety for Chasing Summer, which takes place Saturday and Sunday at Max Bell Centre grounds. [continues 370 words]
U.S. Sen. Cory Booker introduced a bill Tuesday to make marijuana legal at the federal level, marking the first time the New Jersey Democrat has come out in favor of full legalization and further stoking tensions with a Trump administration that has sought to roll back the clock on federal drug policy. The Marijuana Justice Act, as Booker is calling his bill, would also allow people serving time for marijuana-related offenses to be resentenced and automatically expunge federal marijuana use and possession crimes. States whose marijuana laws disproportionately affect minorities or poor people would lose federal funding for law enforcement and prison construction, among other funds. [continues 699 words]
The call to legalize marijuana in New Jersey has been loud and clear, lately. Legalization rallies have occurred in groups in Trenton, and front-runners from both parties of the gubernational primary elections have been vocal in their support of legalization. What is there to know about the legalization of marijuana in New Jersey? The state's medical marijuana program added 5,000 participants last year, and total enrollment now exceeds 10,000, according to the state's Health Department. There are five state-licensed dispensaries, also known as alternative treatment centers, and Secaucus just got approval to open its own dispensary. [continues 179 words]
Regarding "Marijuana should be legalized" (Your Views, June 6): The points the writer raises regarding legalizing cannabis are ignorant and obviously not factual. They are clearly just his uneducated opinion. Just how will legalization reduce street drug markets? Issues of increased tax revenue, economic boost to retail and job creation, and not contributing to homelessness and violence are irrelevant. Do you want to be driving your car at 70 miles an hour on the Turnpike with your kid in the back, next to someone who is high because he just finished smoking a recreational joint? [continues 152 words]
Regarding "Opioid crisis continues to grow" (Editorial, July 22): Most of the efforts on overdosing of opioids in Governor Christie's programs have to do with treating the addict. We need more to be done to prevent the addiction from happening in the first place. And at the same time, we should not shame people who want to use soft drugs. When we have a legal drug, alcohol, which causes far more harm than cannabis does, there is something wrong. We need to acknowledge that some people have a need to benefit from cannabis, and we gain nothing by censuring them. The "stigma" hasn't really worked very well. People have found benefit from this plant. We would be better off accepting this rather than putting them through arrests and worse. Roy Sutton Rahway, July 25 [end]
A year ago, the marijuana boss for the city of Denver laid out for Ontario municipalities just how deep an impact the legalization of the drug could have on their cities and towns. She should know. Recreational pot use was legalized in Colorado in 2014. Youth programs, zoning near schools and daycares, odour control, electricity usage, licensing, inspection, policing, public health - the long list of things to think about took Ashley Kilroy, the executive director of marijuana policy, about 45 minutes just to outline to the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) at its annual conference last August. [continues 1623 words]
Dear Editor: There's been a 35 per cent jump in crime in our little haven of Penticton recently. Now most of the increase in crime is connected to the drug trade and is expected to grow if the economy continues to dwindle especially since jobs began drying up in the oil patch. The justice system must not be weak in their sentencings. It has become a revolving door for most drug dealers and they take full advantage of the situation. We must be the role models and give these people the maximum sentences in order to deter them and send them out of Penticton. If not, our safety will eventually be compromised. James Banko Penticton [end]
