Mayor says the district is 'dealing with it' Agassiz has a new resident. The Weemedical Dispensary Society has a storefront on Pioneer Avenue and they claim to provide, quality, legal medical marijuana products to patients in the communities of Agassiz and Harrison. On their promotional sites, The Society states that they are in the business of easing the suffering of the chronically ill. But, is the store legal? If the store is selling paraphernalia only, it could be in compliance of legal business laws, but if it's selling marijuana of any kind, it's illegal according to Staff Sergeant Darren Rennie. [continues 214 words]
My recent columns on B.C.'s struggle with the growing westward migration of transients have produced responses that fall mainly into two groups. The largest is people relieved that somebody is questioning the urban media narrative. That's the one where drifters, drug addicts, welfare shoppers and thieves are the victims and working people, whose hard-earned communities are being degraded, are the problem because of their selfish, uncaring attitudes. Then there are readers so marinated in our nanny-state education, media and political system they object to anything other than a big-government response. They tend to ask, what's your solution, Tom? [continues 511 words]
Tom Fletcher missed the bull's eye regarding cannabis (marijuana) implying (Bowing to the power of judges, March 1, 2016), it's an "inconsistent" herbal remedy that hasn't been studied much because it's been illegal. Government subsidized prohibitionists in North America have hindered research progress. However, the plant has been documented medically for over 5,000 years without a single death. That's safety and consistency on a Biblical scale. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
Though it was an election promise, Justin Trudeau's Liberals aren't going to be able to legalize marijuana overnight. In fact, the legalization of pot might take longer than the four years they are guaranteed before the next federal election in Oct. 2019. Undoubtedly, the federal government would like to get started on this promise, since it's worth millions of tax dollars every year. But when you consider what they already have on their plate, what with ISIS, Syrian refugees, assisted dying and, oh yes, the economy, it's understandable that legalizing pot might not be the top item on the Liberals to-do list. [continues 223 words]
VICTORIA - On April 1, medical marijuana growing licences expire across the country, and only licensed commercial growers will be able to legally fill a prescription for pot. Ottawa is moving to clean up the mess it created by issuing medical licences all over the country. Since then, municipalities have complained that small-scale medical licences have been greatly exceeded, with many used as fronts for a criminal drug trade that has made B.C. infamous around the world. How big is the problem? There are about 38,000 Canadians licensed to carry marijuana for medical purposes, and half of them live in B.C. Their permission to grow their own or buy it from designated small-scale growers is withdrawn in a couple of months. [continues 496 words]
I won't be signing the "Sensible B.C." petition to demand a provincewide referendum on marijuana enforcement. You shouldn't either, and here are a few reasons why. Let me start by saying I've been calling for legalization and regulation of pot for 20 years, to conserve police resources and reduce violent crime. Our war on drugs is a failure even for heroin and cocaine, and marijuana is obviously much easier to produce. But the current effort led by Dana Larsen, B.C.'s clown prince of pot, is not only misguided, it's dangerous. [continues 516 words]
The province's highest voice on all things medical, Dr. Perry Kendall, made a pretty bold statement earlier this week when he claimed that MDMA should be legalized in order to be regulated. MDMA, as in ecstasy. MDMA as in the drug that claimed the lives of numerous young people over the last year in this very health region. But we have to wonder what the point would be in regulating MDMA at all. This isn't a pain killer. It doesn't have positive qualities that make it useful in pharmacology, health care or even psychiatry. Does it? [continues 309 words]
It is good that a lower mainland coalition of eight mayors are asking for the decriminalization of marijuana. While there are those who oppose this move on the grounds that pot is a gateway drug to more dangerous drugs here is my opinion as to why they are both right, and wrong. If pot were a gateway drug then a large percentage of those over 50 would be either dead from overdose, criminally supporting a habit or just totally wasted each day from their addictions. That is my argument against the 'gateway' concept. [continues 102 words]
Yes, there are intravenous drug users living in the Agassiz area, a counsellor told council Monday night. "The stats are there," said Kim Lloyd, from Pacific Community Resources. "There are users here." And because of that, she said the community would benefit from a needle exchange program. Council listened intently to Lloyd, who is a counsellor and HIV/AID prevention coordinator with PCR in Chilliwack, where a mobile needle exchange and harm reduction program has been operating for a number of years. [continues 342 words]
Drug Seizures To Blame For Search Of Prison Cells And Inmates Kent Institution was locked down Monday, to allow staff to search for drugs. The lockdown is due to a recent spate of drug seizures and drug activity within the maximum security prison, in Agassiz. Officials said in a press release Monday that the search is expected to take about seven days. They'll be looking methodically throughout the prison, including cells and inmates. Scheduled visits are being curtailed and those who have previously scheduled visits are asked to phone the institution with their enquires. [continues 66 words]
Running a grow op in Agassiz just got a little more dicey. Council recently updated their noxious offences bylaw, upping fines for those found growing pot. When a grow operation is located, the District imposes a charge for safety inspections. That charge is payable by the homeowner, whether the home owner was complicit in the operation or not. Up until now, that charge was $400, the same as Chilliwack. However, in light of the extensive costs involved with the safety inspections, staff proposed to raise that fee to $3,500. [continues 296 words]
One of the tactical vehicles recently added to the RCMP's arsenal has been used in a drug raid close to Agassiz. Last Tuesday, RCMP used their new Tactical Armoured Vehicle, or TAV, to gain access to a property on Fielder Road, between Agassiz and Harrison Mills. Corporal Scott Stoughton says that the use of the vehicle is "a sign of the times" and that the public will notice the TAV being used regularly. "I think the plan, from what I understand, is to use it frequently," the Agassiz RCMP member says. [continues 533 words]
Sixteen students at Chehalis community school will soon have some new tools to fight drug addiction, alcoholism and gangs. The remote school, tucked away on the Chehalis Reserve west of Agassiz, has been chosen for a national pilot project called Aboriginal Shield. It's modeled in the same manner as DARE, in which local police officers work directly with students in the classroom. Subject matter for DARE includes facing peer pressure and the dangers of smoking, drugs and alcohol. Aboriginal Shield includes those lessons, as well as issues like gang violence and family addictions. It also draws heavily on First Nations culture, encouraging communicating with mentors and elders. [continues 208 words]
Fraser Cascade School District's drug awareness website has secured new funding to take their program to the next level and give students a new skill set while doing it. Intervention and education help is available for students fighting the pressure to use drugs through a medium they know best. Fraser Cascade School District #78 and Hope Web Development Firm have paired up to bring them Hi(R)GRND, an anti-drug website complete with content created for teens by teens and with stories from rock bottom from peers they can relate to. Rudy Kehler, of The Simplify Company, one of the School District's project partners knows that kids are internet savvy. [continues 811 words]
A new poll shows B.C. residents strongly support a series of proposed justice reforms to curb gang activity and nearly two-thirds also back the legalization of marijuana. Angus Reid Strategies surveyed Canadians across the country and found at least 95 per cent of the B.C. respondents back mandatory minimum sentences for serious drug crime like drive-by shootings and designating gang-related homicide first-degree murder. Those proposed changes are being spearheaded by the federal Conservative government. The B.C. government's call to loosen evidence disclosure laws to allow speedier prosecution of gangsters also got 86 per cent support in the province. [continues 178 words]
Local Cheam Band member Chemaine Douglas recently shared her story of drug addiction and the road to sobriety in a DVD commissioned by the Sto:lo Tribal Council and filmed by Bear Image Productions called Drugs Destruction. The video was shown at the late February conference on drugs, gangs, and organized crime at the Ramada Conference Centre in Abbotsford. In addition to Chemaine, it features three others interviewed - two of those are mothers of addicts and the other is a youth whose father is an addict. [continues 1322 words]
A report by Correctional Services Canada has confirmed that stricter anti-drug strategies played a role in fomenting a major riot at Mountain Institution that left two inmates dead and thousands of dollars in damages. A heavily censored copy of the national investigation report – obtained by The Progress through a Freedom of Information request – listed inmate dissatisfaction with increased drug control strategies, introduced by then new warden Alex Lubimit, as a precipitating factor to the riot. The report confirms a story first published by The Progress last July. [continues 387 words]
Dear Editor, Police and prosecutors are not the problem; I think it is the judges and their soft hearts to get raises (are they paid out of the same ministry that funds prisons?). So they hand out light sentences to leave more money in the system for them to draw on and keep the government bottom-line happy. Prisons are expensive to build and operate. Want to save money? Legalize marijuana (the laws do more harm than the drug) tax it, and double the fight on drugs that kill. [continues 115 words]
Tom Fletcher (BC Losing War On Drug Gangs, Jan. 13), isn't just accurately describing the way things are; He's describing the direction things are move too. In the early 1970's the Le Dain Commission's report along with Canada's 2002, Senate Committee on Illegal Drugs' report unanimously recommended to regulate cannabis (marijuana) the same way as alcohol. Since Canada ignored those recommendations, the problems associated with prohibiting the relatively safe, socially acceptable, God-given plant cannabis have escalated. And it's not limited to Canada; look at what's happening in the U.S. and Mexico. [continues 137 words]
RE: Province Losing The War On Drug Gangs The War On Certain Drugs was never meant to be won, it was meant to be continuous. The War was designed to reduce the civil rights and liberties of the general population, accustom them to an ongoing and ever-growing police presence, drain taxpayers' dollars, and to keep lawyers rich, cops busy, and jails full. In that regard, it has been a huge success. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana Use / Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis [end]
