Paul Peterson has some words of advice for anyone looking to establish a legal medical marijuana facility in the area - don't bother. "In my humble opinion, they're all wasting their time," said the Area K director. "What I've seen in the federal government is they're looking for huge corporate interest in growing pot, not some little guy." He told the Arrow Lakes News that about five people have asked him about establishing a facility. "I hope I talked most of them out of it, not putting too much money into it." [continues 672 words]
Editor, Re: Nakusp RCMP say more grow-op raids to come, Jan. 12 Millions of citizens, in fact nearly half the population disagrees with Cpl. Bryson Hill's (Nakusp RCMP say more grow-op raids to come, Jan. 12, 2011) claim about busting grow-ops, "It is worth it given the impact it can have." The relatively safe, extremely popular God-given plant cannabis (marijuana) is here for the duration to time and no amount of extermination can or will change that fact. One thing is certain, citizens will pay and pay and receive nothing but loss. How much does it cost citizens to pay a cop 24 hours of overtime in one day and between 16-20 hours of overtime to get nothing? Who believes anyone is ever going to go without cannabis? Truthfully, Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
Cpl. Bryson Hill is making good on the commitment he made when he first arrived here more than two years ago to crack down on drug-related crimes in the area. As reported in our Jan. 5 issue, Nakusp RCMP were recently involved in two more drug busts both in Nakusp and the Slocan area. Regionally, in 2010, the West Kootenay RCMP brought down 96 marijuana grow-operations. This is an increase from the 88 sites that were taken down in 2009. [continues 497 words]
B.C. Residents Are Boozing More And Toking Up Less, According To New Research. The average resident drank almost 9.2 litres of pure alcohol last year, up more than 10 per cent from 8.26 litres in 2002. That's among the findings of multiple B.C. academics compiled and released by the University of Victoria's Centre for Addictions Research. The province's per capita liquor intake has been almost twice as fast as the rest of Canada. B.C. has also seen a 17 per cent jump in the number of people hospitalized because of their drinking over the past 10 years. [continues 259 words]
It's a lot of hard work for a volunteer job, but being an RCMP auxiliary constable is something Arnold Alstad says he has taken pride in doing. Alstad, 55, has served as an auxiliary member of the RCMP for the past 13 years in Nakusp. "I've always had a passion for the RCMP," he says. "It was my intention to join them when I got out of high school, but unfortunately I went to work in the bush." With the forestry industry being in the dumps, Alstad has been working more and more with local RCMP. Auxiliary officers must put in 170 volunteer hours each year. Alstad says he's been averaging 400-500 hours for a few years now. [continues 268 words]
Editor, Re: Grow-ops busted in West Kootenay / Boundary amounts to 11,500 pounds So what if "the RCMP's Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment investigation section led intensive investigations into outdoor marijuana grow operations, resulting in the seizure of 14,130 plants from 88 sites across the West Kootenay / Boundary areas." What difference will it make? Last year's RCMP harvest didn't stop this year's crop and this year's RCMP harvest won't stop next year's crop. The recent outdoor "marijuana eradication" efforts by the RCMP are glaring examples of the futility of prohibition. [continues 238 words]
Over the summer months this year, the RCMP's Kootenay Boundary Regional Detachment investigation section led intensive investigations into outdoor marijuana grow operations, resulting in the seizure of 14,130 plants from 88 sites across the West Kootenay / Boundary areas. A press release from the regional detachment estimated the wholesale price of the marijuana, based on current value of "marihuana bud in the West Kootenay" to range anywhere from $14.9 million to $36.7 million. "The street value of the seized marihuana if sold in individual cigarette quantities would equate to approximately $77.5 million," the release states. [continues 241 words]
VICTORIA - There's one area of B.C. business investment that's seen a boom in rural areas. Unfortunately, it's organized crime. You may have heard the saga of Likely, a tiny community east of Williams Lake. Last fall RCMP confirmed results of a two-year investigation that found eight properties with buildings fitted for large-scale marijuana growing. At least one of those has been seized under civil forfeiture legislation, a powerful new tool in targeting proceeds of crime. Nine Lower Mainland residents, all with Asian names, were charged. [continues 551 words]
The Slocan Lake RCMP detachment has engaged a number of government agencies following a March 8 search of a Slocan residence that revealed a marijuana grow operation consisting of over 400 plants. Cpl. Todd Bowden says two Slocan residents are facing charges under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act following the execution of a search warrant at the residence. The Canada Revenue Agency is currently estimating past revenues from the grow operation to compare with income taxes paid, says Cpl. Bowden. "They will go back and do an assessment of what that person was bringing in, or what they likely brought in, based on [the RCMP's] findings and Canada Revenue Agency's findings and then we'll come up with an estimate of income for the past however long they feel this operation has been operating." [continues 284 words]
VICTORIA -- The "honour system" has finally been abandoned on the Greater Vancouver buses. The establishment of "fare paid zones" beyond the driver's seat and at least the theoretical appearance of someone to check tickets is an effort to stem the problem of people refusing to pay and assaulting drivers who remind them the ride isn't quite free. It seems that once a city reaches a certain size, it doesn't have enough honour left for honour systems. Surveys indicated that Ottawa doesn't yet have bus anarchy, but Toronto does. [continues 833 words]
Faith Louis-Adams has been hired as the new Youth Addictions Counsellor for Nakusp & Area, including New Denver. She is employed by Freedom Quest, a regional youth services provider, and is based in an office in the Arrow & Slocan Lakes Community Services building in Nakusp. Her services and the programs provided by Freedom Quest are available to young people aged 19 and under who are experiencing or have been impacted in their lives by addictions issues or have difficulties in their lives due to alcohol and/or drug abuse or misuse and who what to make change in their lives. [continues 340 words]
VICTORIA -- Last week's column touched on crime rates around the province, which the B.C. government tracks by health region. If you look at violent crime, serious property crime and non-cannabis drug crime, the safest place to live in B.C. is Vancouver Island. Next best is the Interior region, which encompasses the Kootenays, Okanagan and Cariboo. In the middle of the pack is the Fraser region, the largest in the province by population, extending from Burnaby through the Fraser Valley to Hope. [continues 833 words]
Have you noticed the Crystal Meth campaign in Arrow Lakes News? We hope you have and that you have read it carefully - preferably with your children. We also tried to localize this growing problem, and were pleasantly surprised to learn there was no issue in Nakusp. My best advice is not to get too comfortable or complacent about that bit of information. It is very important to work hard if we are to keep our community free of crystal meth use and manufacturing. [continues 466 words]
The ugly scourge that is crystal meth has yet to surface in Nakusp and area according to local and regional social workers and addictions counselors. Let's hope it remains that way, since according to those involved in seeking to help those who become hooked on the highly addictive and destructive drug say that there is limited success in treating an addiction. They focus their efforts on education and prevention before the drug takes over the users life -- often hooking them for good on the first or second use. [continues 689 words]
What is it about the changing of the annual calendar that brings scandal to our B.C. Liberal government? Twelve months ago, 2003 was barely a couple of weeks old when Premier Gordon Campbell downed one too many martinis and wound up in the Maui drunk tank. And how else would we ring in another year, but with the sight of cops carting off boxes of evidence from the legislature in Victoria? The police say the search warrants executed at the legislature and in homes and businesses in the Vancouver and Victoria areas are connected to what began 20 months ago as a cross-border drug smuggling investigation. [continues 207 words]
Is it now legal to possess small amounts of marijuana for personal use? The simple answer is no, it's still illegal, but a recent court decision has definitely shifted the politics of pot in favour of the smokers. On Sept. 4, Judge Patrick Chen ruled "there is no offence known to law at this time for simple possession of marijuana." Chen's decision, while not binding on the B.C. Supreme Court, makes B.C. the fourth province, along with Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, to strike down the federal pot-possession law. [continues 277 words]
When the federal government passes legislation decriminalizing marijuana, as it's expected to do this week, don't expect anybody in the Kootenays, or anywhere else in B.C., to stand up and cheer Ottawa for its progressive, free thinking ways. While we're all happy to hear the government will no longer be going after criminal convictions for possessing under 15 grams of the demon weed (now you'll only get nailed with a $150 fine for possession), we also realize that for most pot smoking B.C.ers, decriminalizing our most precious underground export won't make a scrap of difference to how much, or how often, they like to toke up. [continues 251 words]
Yvonne Schoff's Oct. 3rd letter to the editor on the growing use of amphetamine in B.C. brought to mind the crack epidemic the United States experienced during the ' 80s. New York City chose the zero tolerance approach, opting to arrest and incarcerate as many offenders as possible. Meanwhile, Washington DC Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack and the U.S. capital had the highest per capita murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously. [continues 146 words]
The Editor: While my 15-month old son and I were out for a leisurely stroll Monday morning we came across a small plastic "baggie" lying on the sidewalk. This baggie turned out to be a bitter, shocking reminder of the ungodly past we had just escaped three months previous. Moving from Athabasca, Alberta to Nakusp was an agonizing attempt to leave behind family, friends and a town that was being consumed by methamphetamines (crystal meth, speed, quick, jib). Call it what you will, it nearly destroyed my life and was now lying on the street in front of me in the very town I had come to seek refuge and healing. [continues 561 words]
