Pot operations aren't legal, and so can't obtain business licence The City of Abbotsford can continue to fine marijuana dispensaries, the province's Supreme Court ruled this week. Justice Miriam Gropper ruled that Abbotsford's bylaws that don't allow dispensaries to obtain a business licence are constitutional, and that the operator of a now-closed dispensary was in breach of city rules. The city had maintained that because dispensaries are illegal under federal law, they could not issue a business licence to such operations. That meant that any dispensaries operating in the city are in breach of the city's business licence and zoning bylaw and hence subject to fines. [continues 244 words]
The combination of cheaper, more-potent drugs and a lack of housing may have helped push the Abbotsford homeless population to unprecedented levels last summer, according to a "disturbing" report provided to the city last fall. In just six months, the number of homeless people living in the bush and not accessing any services had risen from around 150 in the spring to 273 by the late summer, according to an informal count by a Salvation Army outreach worker. Other service providers reported similar spikes in the number of homeless people needing help. [continues 911 words]
As B.C. continues to cope with a stunning number of fatal opioid overdoses, the province has significantly expanded the number of places where people can use drugs, knowing help is nearby in case of an overdose. It's a stop-gap measure to try to save lives now, while (hopefully) longer-term measures are put in place. Nevertheless, with dozens dying every week, some have suggested a link between the presence of the long-running supervised injection site, InSite in Vancouver, and the current overdose epidemic. [continues 485 words]
Crown counsel suggested letter to traffickers was a bad idea Abbotsford Police Chief Bob Rich wants to find a way to bring the full weight of the law down on opioid dealers whose customers overdose and die. Rich told Abbotsford council Monday that he had penned a letter to drug dealers warning them that they could be charged with extremely serious crimes if their customers suffer fatal overdoses. But Rich said that Crown counsel thought the letter, as written, was not a good idea. Nevertheless, Rich said he's still looking at ways to deter drug dealers with the threat of charges beyond simply trafficking and was considering modifying the letter for distribution. [continues 281 words]
Braun says too early to say if safe injection site desired As communities around British Columbia continue to see startling numbers of opioid overdoses, Abbotsford council will discuss ongoing harm-reduction policies in the city this fall, Mayor Henry Braun said. But while the mayors of two Interior cities have come out in support of supervised injection sites in their communities, Braun said he doesn't want to weigh in on such facilities in Abbotsford before council analyzes the issue. The mayors of both Kelowna and Kamloops said this week that they would welcome a supervised sites in their respective cities as their regional health authority considers setting up such a facility. [continues 518 words]
Documents Shed Light On Council Decision To Settle Pharmacy Case Newly released documents by the District of Mission show the municipality spent more than $60,000 unsuccessfully defending itself in a lawsuit it eventually concluded it was destined to lose. A settlement reached in early 2013 - prior to the presiding judge making a final ruling - also saw the district pay $8,199 for the legal costs of the plaintiff, who alleged the municipality failed to comply with the Local Government Act and acted in bad faith when it changed a bylaw to prohibit a pharmacy from opening on First Avenue. The total cost to the district was $70,028, with staff time not included in that number. [continues 863 words]
Hope Signs Send Positive Message to Fellow Band Members on Reserve Once again, the message is loud and clear: drugs and alcohol are unwelcome on the Skwah First Nation. Following on the heels of last year's successful Walk For Peace, dozens of Skwah members gathered last Friday for dinner and to craft two dozen signs touting a healthy lifestyle. The colourful signs, with slogans like "Give Hugs, Not Drugs" and "Evict Drugs," now decorate power poles around the reserve. It's the latest in ongoing attempts by Skwah leaders and community members to up the pressure on their fellow residents. [continues 425 words]
Trial Gives A Behind-thescenes Look At RCMP Raid At 7: 45 a.m., on the morning of Sept. 9, 2009, a loud alarm rang through the trees that ringed the small farm at 7630 Nixon Rd. Up the driveway, past a white quonset hut and inside a two-storey farmhouse, 61-year-old Darryl Francis Ness looked at a video screen. This wasn't the first time the alarm for the property's front gate had been triggered. Over the five-anda-half months Ness had lived in the farmhouse, a bear, coyotes and birds had all set the alarm ringing. [continues 720 words]
Darryl Ness says he never noticed the smell of marijuana coming from a 10,000-plant operation located on a property he was caretaking For five and a half months in 2009, Darryl Francis Ness lived in a Nixon Road farmhouse on the same property that housed the largest, most sophisticated marijuana grow operation in Chilliwack history. Beneath a Quonset hut on the property grew more than 10,000 marijuana plants, which produced a yearly crop that could be sold for between $3 million and $5 million. [continues 820 words]
Medicinal Pot Users Feeling Persecuted by B.C.'S Mayors Aside from its dull green colour, the substance looks like any other lotion or cream. It gives off a mild, medicinal smell with a hint of something organic. There is none of the harsh pungency of Tiger Balm, which is used for a similar purpose. The only thing remarkable about it is the fact that only 200-or-so people in Chilliwack are legally allowed to use it. That's because the lotion is a balm in which cannabis is the main ingredient. It belongs to, and is used by, a Chilliwack man with a medical marijuana licence. We'll call the man John. He agreed to speak to the Times on the condition that he not be identified; "I don't want somebody to come and steal my medicine," he said. [continues 611 words]
. . . Than the B.C. Average When It Comes to Legally Producing Pot For Medical Purposes Chilliwack residents are more than three times more likely than the average British Columbian to be licenced to grow or possess medical marijuana, according to Health Canada numbers obtained by the Times. According to the figures, which were released after an Access to Information request, 193 Chilliwack residents are licenced to produce marijuana for medical purposes and 238 people are licenced to possess it for medical reasons. [continues 606 words]
On television or in the movies, the climax usually comes when a judge or jury pronounces an accused criminal guilty or innocent. As a reporter, though, one quickly learns that most of the drama comes during the sentencing hearing, after that supposed climax. There's a couple reasons for this. First, of course, is the fact that in the vast majority of cases, the accused pleads guilty to a selection of charges. When cases do go to trial, there is usually little dispute of the core facts, e.g. whether A stabbed B. Instead, cases usually revolve around matters of intent, constitutional rights, and what can be proven and what is just inferred. [continues 419 words]
One Arrested in Connection With Home Invasion in East Chilliwack On Monday One man is under arrest, but at least two others are at large, after the home invasion of a licensed medical marijuana grower early Monday morning. Mounties say they received a report of a home invasion in East Chilliwack just after 3 a.m. Monday. Police found two vehicles attempting to flee and used a spike belt to disable one of the cars, a grey 2005 Acura TL four-door sedan. Officers were able to arrest the 25-year-old driver but the passenger fled on foot. Although he tore one of the legs off his black sweat pants, he was able to evade police and their dogs. [continues 148 words]
Infrared Camera Can Be Used by Landlords to Detect the Presence of A Marijuana Grow Op A local security company is offering a new weapon in the ongoing battle between marijuana grow operators and Chilliwack landlords. Griffin Investigation & Security Services says it has acquired a new infrared camera can both detect grow ops and prevent them from taking over, and destroying homes, in the first place. Griffin's chairman and chief executive officer Brain Goldstone said landlords can hire his company to perform monthly heat checks of their homes. The camera takes an image of a structure's "heat signature." Grow operations typically require vast amounts of heat and energy and, Goldstone says, are easy to spot using the camera. [continues 336 words]
The owner of a Chilliwack "compassion club" shut down by police last week is vowing to try again once he speaks with the RCMP and City of Chilliwack. Speaking to the Times on Monday, Be Kind Medical Clinic owner Bob Kay blamed a lack of communication for the raid of his short-lived clinic last week. Last Wednesday, police raided Be Kind, seized four to to five pounds of marijuana and arrested an Abbotsford man. The clinic, located on Yale Road just east of Five Corners, had posted an advertisement on Craigslist last Friday. It said its doctors would help qualified patients obtain medical marijuana cards and that a "compassion club" would distribute pot to licensed medical marijuana users. The opening date was listed as June 20. [continues 599 words]
'Compassion Club' Part of Business Plan Mayor Sharon Gaetz said the city was taken by surprise when a new medical clinic in Chilliwack opened this week with a focus on medical marijuana. Operating out of a Yale Road office near Five Corners, the Be Kind Medical Clinic opened in Chilliwack this week. A Craigslist posting states that the clinic will employ medical doctors, a doctor of chinese medicine, and a pharmacist. The ad says that the clinic's medical team will meet with prospective patients and assist those who qualify with obtaining a card that allows them to access medical marijuana. [continues 329 words]
Chilliwack's mayor is giving the thumbs up to proposed changes to laws that govern medical marijuana growers. Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced Friday that the government will hold public consultations into a number of proposed changes to the laws. Among the changes, Health Canada is proposing to eliminate individual and private growers. Aglukkaq said the government hopes the changes will "reduce the risk of abuse . . . while significantly improving the way program participants access marijuana for medical purposes." Gaetz has been outspoken about what she believes is the risk posed by medical marijuana growers in Chilliwack. Gaetz has said that the city may be home to hundreds of private marijuana grow ops, that those operations may pose structural risks to the buildings they inhabit, and that it is often impossible to ensure that growers are abiding by the terms of their licences. [continues 362 words]
If the City of Chilliwack wants to hit the owners of marijuana grow houses harder, it doesn't have to look far. The District of Kent recently upped its fine for grow house owners from $400 to $3,500, but those dollars represent just the tip of the financial iceberg facing unwary grow house owners; for years it has been levying fees more than six times that on other grow-op owners. Kent chief administrative officer Wallace Mah said the district has billed an Agassiz property owner more than $20,000 to recover police, fire and district costs associated with a grow-op caused fire that burnt down his Pioneer Road auto body shop in July. [continues 493 words]
The Chilliwack RCMP has said no more to a drug education program at local schools. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (DARE) operated by the Mounties has been cancelled because the RCMP says it needs officers on the street instead of in the classroom. Last year the program operated at just half its normal levels, but even that cut-back service taxed the RCMP. "We're experiencing some capacity issues with some of the crime issues and files that we're dealing with in town," said RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Lea-Anne Dunlop. "We have to do the best we can with the resources that we have." [continues 427 words]
In the last six years, police have busted more than 250 marijuana grow operations. The City of Chilliwack has garnered--or "recovered," as Mayor Sharon Gaetz puts it--hundreds of thousands of dollars from the owners of grow houses. And dozens of people have been charged and convicted. But eight years after city officials were first told they had a major problem on their hands, nobody can say the situation is any better. Two and a half weeks ago, on Oct. 15, Lower Mainland drug officers swarmed a rural property in Chilliwack's Eastern Hillsides. [continues 652 words]
