City Wants Home Buyers To Know If Building Was Used For Growing Pot Three bedrooms, two baths, central air and vacuum - and a former illegal marijuana grow house. Soon that last crucial bit of information will be something potential homeowners and occupants will have available to them, as a part of the City of Toronto's beefed up procedures for dealing with grow houses. "This will protect people from occupying properties that are not healthy or safe," said Ann Borooah, Toronto's chief building official. "And it may protect them from purchasing a property they don't know is a potential health hazard." [continues 175 words]
Q: Are police officers allowed to pull over cars at any time or does there have to be a specific reason, such as a traffic offence? A: Police officers have the authority to stop a car at any time to determine if the driver has consumed alcohol or drugs, to inspect the mechanical fitness of the vehicle or to ensure the driver is properly licensed and the vehicle is properly insured. However, the most likely reason that a police officer will stop a vehicle is for a traffic violation. [continues 236 words]
A sign of changing times, issues like gay marriage and even the legalization of marijuana were barely debated at Tuesday night's all-candidates' debate for Trinity Spadina. The debate was truly an "all-candidates" forum with seven candidates representing the Liberal, NDP, Conservative, Green, Progressive Canadian, Marxist-Lennist and Canadian Action parties taking the stage at the Al Green Theatre in the Miles Nadal JCC. All but one candidate, the Conservative representative, Sam Goldstein, thought marijuana should be legalized - Goldstein equated the drug with gun violence. [continues 550 words]
Alcohol prohibition in the last century made heavily armed gangsters very rich and powerful. Kids went to school drunk, gun battles erupted on the streets of the U.S., the police were powerless. Eventually, prohibition was repealed, alcohol was regulated, the illegal profits disappeared, and the gun violence ended. Today, drug prohibition is causing exactly the same kinds of social ills, corruption, and gun violence. All of the major parties have the same answer, which is to "get tough". Just more of the same failed policy rhetoric. [continues 150 words]
Re: 'Drug Use, Gun Crime Linked' Letters, Nov 27. Letter writer Dan Hemphill gets at least one thing correct -- all too often gun violence is linked to drug use, True, as he notes, that is partially due to the fact illegal drug dealers and their clients have no legal recourse to settle disputes. Hence they are forced to take matters into their own hands. But even the most cursory examination of police records will reveal that the drug most closely associated with gun violence is alcohol. [continues 97 words]
Re: 'Drug lab bust shows society not free,' Letters, June 24. Alan Randell from Victoria, B.C., writes: "In a free society, those who engage in an activity that does not directly and physically harm another are not regarded as criminals. ... In a free society, therefore, drugs and prostitution would be legal." What fairy tale world is he living in? I don't know how it is in Victoria, but here in Ontario and most other places, drug users are responsible for committing thousands of crimes a day in order to obtain money for drugs. [continues 137 words]
Regarding the marijuana decriminalization bill: Now that the same-sex marriage issue has been settled (more or less), the Liberals will probably want to push forward with their alternative penalty legislation regarding marijuana, or as they keep erroneously calling it, "decriminalization". The problems with this new legislation are many. The fact the proposed fines are lower for youths than for adults suggests the Liberals think that it is OK for kids to use pot. Most Canadians think that cannabis should be regulated so that its use is restricted to adults. [continues 419 words]
Re 'Several charged in methamphetamine probe, News, June 5. In a free society, the criminal law is used solely to punish those who inflict harm upon others, for example, those with a complaining victim or, in the case of where the victim is incapacitated, a complaining family. In a free society, those who engage in an activity that does not directly and physically harm another are not regarded as criminals. By "harm" I exclude actions that make others angry, unhappy or upset, else we would imprison all divorcing parents as well as all children who didn't do their homework. In a free society, therefore, drugs and prostitution would be legal. Clearly, our society remains entangled in government-forged chains. Alan Randell from Victoria, B.C., via e-mail [end]
Prevention Is the Key in Helping Clean Up Seaton Village, Police Told the Community at a Meeting Last Week. Toronto Police Service 14 Division officers gathered with local residents at the Palmerston Library, a meeting organized by Ward 20 Councillor Olivia Chow (Trinity-Spadina) to discuss a recent shooting. The April 19 shooting between two minors was drug related, Det. Howie Page told the audience. Two marijuana dealers were engaged in a turf war. "Marijuana doesn't change the level of hostility in terms of turf wars," Page said, referring the fact that many consider marijuana to be a "softer drug". "They will arm themselves with weapons. [continues 283 words]
Torontonians are invited to help plan the city's drug strategy program. The City of Toronto is developing a municipal drug strategy based on four key components: prevention; treatment; harm reduction; and enforcement. The goal is to improve the quality of life of individuals, families and communities by creating a society that is free from the harmful qualities associated with substance use. Visit www.toronto.ca/health for details and an online survey. [end]
You've got to admire the courage - blind though it may be - of city politicians Mike Del Grande and Jim Karygiannis in their efforts to curb the explosion of marijuana grow houses in their corner of Toronto. Ward 39 Councillor Del Grande (Scarborough-Agincourt) and Liberal MP Karygiannis (Scarborough-Agincourt) have been busy knocking on doors in their neighbourhoods in a bid to identify and shut down these criminal operations. Their commitment to ridding the city of marijuana grow houses is laudable. Their tactics, however, require some scrutiny. [continues 326 words]
MP Jim Karygiannis (Scarborough-Agincourt) is unapologetic about his practice of canvassing the streets of his riding for suspected marijuana grow houses, despite the fact that police say the politician is putting himself and investigations at risk by doing so. "I'm working with the police and working with the stakeholders to get rid of these," Karygiannis said. "They've got some concerns and I understand their concerns and I will keep on working with all the stakeholders." Karygiannis made the comments after it was revealed that he and Ward 39 Councillor Mike Del Grande (Scarborough-Agincourt) have been canvassing neighbourhoods in the northwest Scarborough community to root out illegal grow houses. [continues 579 words]
You might call it reefer madness, but I'm starting to wonder if there may be something positive that will come out of the two politicians going door to door in their area, in search of marijuana grow houses. There's a bumper crop of examples of crime-fighting duos in the movies, literature and on TV. Often they're our heroes. Just think of Sherlock Holmes and Watson, or Starsky and Hutch, Freebie and the Bean, or Clint Eastwood and Clyde, the orangutan. [continues 735 words]
Re: "Police drug tests send wrong message" Editorial, Feb. 18. I believe police officers, teachers, church leaders, politicians and anyone who is working with and for the public should be tested randomly for drugs. Everyone should be tested if asked. Unless there is something to hide, they wouldn't object to this. You state in your editorial that it violates our civil liberties and the law currently states that fact. This law should be changed as times are changing and becoming more violent. [continues 58 words]
Re: 'Pot must not be supported', Dec. 3. I must agree with the letter writer that marijuana is indeed a "gateway" drug. Very easily said, but the reason that this is a fact, I believe, is more complex than such a simple statement. The problem is rooted within the law itself. If pot was not prohibited, it would not be sold by criminals, but by licensed retailers. Licensed retailers are not likely to offer the customer a piece of crack cocaine; on the other hand someone that makes a living selling illegal goods is quite likely to offer your kids a taste of something deadly. Or for that matter they might offer to sell them 'hot' merchandise, ultimately desensitizing our youth to the evils of real crime. [continues 211 words]
Several studies have confirmed that marijuana and alcohol are economic substitutes with cross-price elasticities, like butter and margarine. When marijuana use goes up, alcohol and other hard drug use goes down. Since the LCBO contributed nearly a billion dollars in revenue to provincial coffers in 2002-2003, could the increasing demand for marijuana - and the resulting potential for decreasing taxation revenue on alcohol-- be the real reason for MPP Monte Kwinter's (York Centre) new effort to demonize marijuana growers? It's interesting that hydroponic gardeners have been growing tomatoes and other legal plants indoors for years without a similar governmental response. Tim Meehan Director of communications NORML Canada National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada [end]
Re: 'Legalize use of pot,' Letters, Nov. 19. All I can say is that pot is the "gateway" drug to the use of cocaine, heroin and so on. These drugs shatter lives and families and once hooked, it is extremely difficult to stop using them. Just ask the users themselves. M. Riordan [end]
Several studies have confirmed that marijuana and alcohol are economic substitutes with cross-price elasticities, like butter and margarine. When marijuana use goes up, alcohol and other hard drug use goes down. Since the LCBO contributed nearly a billion dollars in revenue to provincial coffers in 2002-2003, could the increasing demand for marijuana - - and the resulting potential for decreasing taxation revenue on alcohol-- be the real reason for MPP Monte Kwinter's (York Centre) new effort to demonize marijuana growers? It's interesting that hydroponic gardeners have been growing tomatoes and other legal plants indoors for years without a similar governmental response. Tim Meehan Director of Communications, NORML Canada National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in Canada [end]
Re: 'Work together against grow-ops,' Editorial, Nov. 12. The only way society is ever going to get rid of grow-ops in residential neighbourhoods is to legalize and regulate the growing of marijuana. Pot grown in a commercial setting could be taxed and growers would be more than willing to pay for electricity used. This would also eliminate the criminal gangs and all of the alleged dangers in growing. Did the people who enjoyed a drink at a speakeasy during Prohibition create the violence of the bootleggers or did an unjust law? I would much prefer to buy my pot at the beer store, but I have never been allowed to do so. It's time for society to stop telling people that one drug is OK, but another less harmful is not. Jason Le Clair [end]
It's hard to escape the pungent irony of a federal government that is planning to decriminalize pot possession in Canada while law enforcement and municipal officials here at home are gearing up for an all-out assault on marijuana grow houses. The federal Liberals surely have good intentions in their bid to reduce criminal penalties for simple possession, but the scourge of grow operations in Toronto clearly demonstrate that there is much more to recreational marijuana use than taking the occasional toke. [continues 413 words]
