Editor: Re: Drug-Free Delta Plan a Little Too Ambitious: Chief (South Delta Leader, Oct. 27) Vancouver's police budget last year was $156 million. The chief (and many others) say 70 - 80 per cent of all crime is drug-related. This means that $105 million was wasted as we continue this 82-year-old, failed approach to drugs in our society. I am amazed that we can spend $100,000 a year jailing a person but not $10,000 a year on affordable housing. [continues 131 words]
An ambitious long-range police plan that calls for a "drug-free" Delta by 2010 may not be achievable right away, some Delta Police Board members said last Wednesday. The department's 2007-2010 strategic plan outlines multiple goals including a drug-free community, improved services for youth, better emergency preparedness and crime reduction initiatives. "We want to become the safest community in B.C." said Supt. Rich Drinovz, the officer who presented the plan. "This is going to mean a lot of work for everyone" Drinovz added. [continues 267 words]
Delta municipal employees received their first training session under the "City Watch" anti-crime program Tuesday at the North Delta Recreation Centre. The program is a B.C.-wide initiative by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that trains outside workers to recognize and report suspicious activities and locations like grow ops, meth labs and automobile "chop shops." "We're going to incorporate it into our regular crew training sessions" said Daryl Robison, president of CUPE local 454, which represents Delta civic employees. [continues 79 words]
Fifty-four-year-old Richard Griffin, who has seen his share of hard times, is hoping his two daughters won't suffer through decades of addiction like he has. "I started (abusing drugs) at the age of 15 and have used drugs of one kind or another until 17 months ago when I left the streets of Whalley and went into a recovery house. Since then I have been clean," Griffin says. A year and a half of sobriety on the heels of 40 years of substance abuse is no small feat. [continues 491 words]
The war being waged against marijuana grow-ops experienced another major development May 9 with Bill 25 passing provincial legislature. The new law requires electrical companies to forward billing information to municipalities so they can determine homes that are using excessive amounts of energy, which can sometimes point to the existence of a grow operation. The bill is in response to Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis' proposal to find new ways of shutting down grow-ops. Electrical companies will now provide the city with two years of electrical bills so investigators can isolate spikes in activity. [continues 325 words]
Heavy users of electricity will be reported to police under a new bill introduced in the legislature this week. Near the end of this month, municipalities will have BC Hydro records on demand, data which will be turned over to police to determine whether spikes in power use were caused by a marijuana grow operation. Marijuana grow ops require high power consumption, typically three to 10 times the amount used by a normal home. "This amendment will help local authorities target and shut down marijuana grow operations more quickly and more efficiently," Minister of Public Safety John Les said in the legislature Thursday, as he introduced Bill 25. "With these amendments, municipalities will now be able to obtain information from electricity companies about residences with unusual power consumption." [continues 286 words]
VICTORIA--The solution to rampant property crime, small-time armed robberies and street-level drug dealing lies in a community-based system of justice and not in stiffer jail sentences for repeat offenders, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal says. Speaking at a recent Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce lunch, Oppal said drug-related crime is a social problem that has to be addressed by the community as a whole, not only the justice system. "We can't let the judges be out there all alone solving these problems," he said. [continues 426 words]
If you smoke marijuana, Delta Police have a warning for you. It's illegal, but police also want you to know it may be laced with Crystal Meth, a highly addictive drug that can cause serious health problems. Police believe this is happening to create more Methamphetamine addicts. If you have any information about drug trafficking, including meth, in the community, police encourage you to call them. Delta Police Superintendent Brad Parker said police will investigate any information immediately. For more information on Methamphetamine visit www.deltapolice.ca/community/drug_awareness.php. [end]
The Delta Police Department is hoping to tackle the methamphetamine drug issue before it becomes a major problem in the community. The drug, also known as crystal meth or meth, is highly addictive, cheap and easy to make, and is fast becoming a problem in the Lower Mainland and across the province. "Meth has become more and more of a concern in communities," said Delta Police Const. Kim Sheridan. "We're lucky so far in that we haven't seen what our neighbours are seeing." [continues 257 words]
Editor: Re: "Can-U.S. bust," Editorial, South Delta Leader, Aug. 5 A Surrey man convicted of smuggling 14 people into the U.S. for the purposes of prostitution is sentenced to time served, four months in jail (Province, Aug 3, 2005). An ID forger with two false airline employee cards in his possession is out on bail awaiting sentencing (Province, Aug 5, 2005). Marc Emery, a Canadian citizen, is locked up in jail, at the behest of another country awaiting bail on charges of selling marijuana seeds over the internet. [continues 155 words]
Editor: Thank you for lending a voice of reason in this obnoxious debate over the arrest of Marc Emery.Other news organizations have blindly embraced and stoked the hostility towards U.S. authorities expressed by Emery's degenerate flock of supporters, characterizing him as some perverse martyr. The argument that there has been an encroachment of Canadian sovereignty is utterly vacuous.If Canada is to successfully combat social evils like drug trafficking then it is imperative that our police forces work with their counterparts abroad.Vancouver police were acting on behalf of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration pursuant to a law passed by our sovereign and democratically-elected Parliament. [continues 100 words]
Producers and traffickers of crystal meth will face stiffer penalties as high as life in prison, the federal government announced Thursday. Methamphetamine, sometimes known as "the poor man's cocaine" because it is cheap to make, will join drugs like cocaine and heroin covered under Ottawa's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. That moves the maximum penalty for production, trafficking, possession and importing or exporting of meth from a present 10 years to life in prison. Crystal meth is easily produced in small clandestine labs, often in kitchens and bathrooms, but are notoriously dangerous, often causing hazardous chemical fires. Meth addicts are also among the most difficult to treat. [end]
Marc Emery, the colourful leader of the B.C. Marijuana Party, was arrested last week in an international police operation that alleges his Internet marijuana seed sales were destined for the U.S. He's currently being held in Canada for extradition hearings that could take up to two years and may result in his extradition to the U.S. on the charges. While Canada has a much more lenient or tolerant attitude on the subject than our counterparts in the U.S., some of the reaction on this side of the border has been over the top. Certainly the arrest and raid on Emery's Vancouver marijuana business was done by Canadian authorities in coordination with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and Emery faces severe penalties in the U.S. if extradited and convicted, but any hand-wringing over our "loss of sovereignty" is unrealistic. [continues 194 words]
B. C. has become the preferred area for crime in North America and will be stepping up its laws and increasing penalties as a result, B.C.'s "top cop", Solicitor General Rich Coleman told a Delta Chamber of Commerce luncheon yesterday, Nov. 27. Speaking at the Coast Tsawwassen Inn, Coleman said both small-time and organized crime were locating in B.C. but said he believes the tide can be turned to make the province less hospitable by implementing new laws that will both increase penalties and enable seizure of assets. [continues 258 words]
The federal government's proposed overhaul of the Criminal Code to reduce penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana could mean increased crime and higher policing costs, Mayor Lois Jackson and police spokesperson Const. Sharlene Brooks warned. The amended law, unveiled in Ottawa last Tuesday by federal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, would reduce the punishment for possessing small amounts of pot to a ticketed fine, which would not result in a criminal record. At the same time the law would double the maximum possible prison term for running a marijuana grow operation from seven to 14 years. [continues 258 words]
A survey of youth drug use in the Lower Mainland has found Delta has the lowest rate of drug use among 12 to 24-year-olds of six communities surveyed. The review by Pacific Community Resources also found youth in Delta had the hardest time obtaining drugs, especially hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and speed. Results of the study were presented to Delta council Monday by youth drug prevention worker Cynthia Voo, who said the difference is likely because Ladner and Tsawwassen in South Delta are, effectively, "rural" communities surrounded by farmland, which impedes the flow of drugs in and out. [continues 293 words]
Two bylaws restricting methadone dispensing to hospital zones were given preliminary approval by Delta council Monday night. The regulations, which tighten zoning and business bylaws requirements, are a response to a Surrey crackdown against pharmacies that make methadone-selling their primary business. Delta councillors say they want to ensure the Surrey dispensaries don't relocate to neighbouring Delta as a result. "We don't want the kind of problems our neighbours to the east have been struggling with," Coun. Scott Hamilton said. [continues 72 words]
Methadone dispensing in Delta will be restricted to hospital zones, if a bylaw is adopted as planned next Monday. The Leader has learned that Delta staff will present a bylaw to council amid concerns of an influx of methadone dispensaries trying to avoid the high cost of licenses to run the business in Surrey. A number of Surrey councillors feel the stand-alone methadone dispensaries are poorly regulated, and attract people who are addicted to drugs other than methadone. Last November, the city cranked up the price of a methadone dispensing business licence from $195 per year to $10,000 annually. In addition, Surrey will be considering a bylaw next week that allows senior RCMP officers to examine the client lists of the pharmacies. Delta Mayor Lois Jackson told The Leader last week she feared an influx of methadone dispensaries during Surrey's crackdown. [end]
The Delta Police drug section is currently investigating about 10 suspected grow ops in South Delta, a far cry from neighbouring communities such as Richmond where RCMP officials believe that as many as 500 illegal, and very lucrative operations are being undertaken. "The reputation of Delta taking a hard line in investigating and shutting down grow ops is one of the reasons for the comparatively few numbers," claimed Delta Police spokesperson Sharlene Brooks. The last reported grow op bust was in November last year when a warehouse in the Tilbury Industrial Park was found to contain 523 marijuana plants worth approximately $500,000. [continues 123 words]
Editor, The Leader: Re: Record Grow Op Busted (Leader, Nov. 22). I'm begging you, please change the way you report these drug busts. Please include, not only the comments of those arrested, but those of people like me who feel we are plain NUTS to continue with drug prohibition when it has clearly failed on all fronts and is totally without logic in any event. If we prohibit drugs because they are harmful, why don't we prohibit alcohol and tobacco? [continues 67 words]
