CALGARY - It looks like Canadian Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Ross Rebagliati may have been right all along. Rebagliati, the first Olympic gold medalist for Men's Snowboarding at the 1998 Winter Olympics, was initially disqualified after THC, the main ingredient in marijuana, was found in his system in a drug test. The decision was eventually overturned since cannabis wasn't a banned substance but Rebagliati maintained the positive drug test was the result of second-hand smoke. Now a study from the Cummings School of Medicine at the University of Calgary seems to support his claim. [continues 358 words]
'It just shocks me,' says Calgary police chief Calgary's police chief says the Alberta government has to take more aggressive action on fentanyl if it wants to help addicts and families who are being destroyed. "It is a crisis," said Calgary Police Chief Roger Chaffin in an interview with The Canadian Press. "Look at the numbers of deaths. Numbers of homicides and traffic fatalities don't come anywhere near the deaths associated with these drugs." In the first 10 months of 2016, 338 Albertans died from opioid-related overdoses, with fentanyl linked to 193 of those deaths. [continues 784 words]
Calgary's police chief says the Alberta government has to take more aggressive action on fentanyl if it wants to help addicts and families who are being destroyed. "It is a crisis," said Calgary police Chief Roger Chaffin. "Look at the numbers of deaths. Numbers of homicides and traffic fatalities don't come anywhere near the deaths associated with these drugs." Chaffin said there is a huge demand for highly addictive opiods such as fentanyl - a drug used as a painkiller for terminally ill cancer patients and 100 times more powerful than heroin - or its more powerful cousin carfentanyl. Reducing the supply increases the price and make its users more desperate, he said. [continues 349 words]
Police say they were forced to bring in extra officers to a pot rally for the arrest of a marijuana activist because the crowd had become agitated. "The crowd became aware of that occurring, then a number of people came out and it =C2=85 elevated the incident somewhat as people were becoming upset," Calgary Police Inspector Mike Bossley said Thursday after Dana Larsen was charged. "That really required additional response from the police just to make sure that it stayed as a peaceful event." [continues 334 words]
Test-grown poppies thrive in southern Alberta Premier Rachel Notley is backing a push for the federal government to unravel the red tape that prevents farmers from cultivating poppies in southern Alberta. Thebaine poppies are prohibited under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Canada imports about $600 million worth of thebaine each year from Australia and Europe, because it is not available in North America. Pharmaceutical companies process it into pain relievers such as morphine, codeine and oxycodone. API Labs of Lethbridge says it has been test-growing the poppies and they appear to thrive in southern Alberta, which is best known for grain, potatoes and corn. The company wants to build a $120-million processing plant and take advantage of a potentially huge market. [continues 461 words]
CALGARY - Alberta's justice minister says illegal marijuana grow-ops in the province have reached a "chronic" level and ideas are needed on how to deal with them. Jonathan Denis announced plans Friday to get input from the public and relevant groups on ways to address health and safety concerns and to tackle criminal activity that stems from the illegal operations. "What I'm interested in is what we can do as a province to address issues such as the grow-op you see behind me and to try and improve people's lives - and also to try and shut down the proceeds of organized crime," said Denis, who used a former grow-op home with a red security fence in northeast Calgary as a backdrop. [continues 130 words]
Haven For Smugglers WHISKEY GAP, Alta. - Once a favourite route for Prohibition whiskey smugglers like the notorious Emilio Picariello, this small valley in southern Alberta now has only a historical marker to remind visitors of its colourful past. But its remote location just a stone's throw from the United States border makes it ideal for continued use by modern smugglers who deal instead in marijuana, cocaine and human cargo. "When you get out to the farmland and the Prairie land down here, it's definitely an attractive venue for some of them, and they definitely do come out and try," said RCMP Const. Jeff Smith of I-BET, the Integrated Border Enforcement Team based in Raymond, Alta. [continues 400 words]
CALGARY -- Frustrated by intense security along the B.C.-Washington border, smugglers of both drugs and people are heading to Alberta in search of an easier route into the United States, officials say. "They will continue to move wherever they can get through," said Monique Hirko of immigration customs enforcement in Helena, Mont. "It's just a game for them. Wherever it's easiest to go across, that's where they're going to move. Ms. Hirko said there have been definite signs that smuggling is picking up inland. [continues 228 words]
