Municipalities across Metro Vancouver are considering their options when it comes to allowing legal cannabis retailers in their communities, following the release of new provincial policy around licensing. This week, the B.C. government said that under its proposed framework for the retail sales of non-medical cannabis, residents aged 19 and older will be able to buy cannabis through privately run or government-operated retail stores and online through the government once it is legalized in July. The Liquor Distribution Branch will operate public retail stores and the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch will license and monitor private stores. [continues 511 words]
The federal decision to legalize is going to have a significant impact on the country, provinces and local governments. The provincial government has given itself just over five weeks to gather input from municipalities, the public and other stakeholders about non-medical cannabis regulation in B.C. It's an ambitious deadline, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth conceded on Monday during the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver as he announced the province's plans for public consultations. [continues 778 words]
Public engagement on cannabis legalization coming in B.C. The provincial government has given itself just over five weeks to gather input from municipalities, the public and other stakeholders about non-medical cannabis regulation in B.C. It's an ambitious deadline, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth conceded on Monday during the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) conference in Vancouver as he announced the province's plans for public consultations. The goal is to collect feedback in time to draft legislation for the spring legislative session and be ready when the federal government legalizes marijuana next July. [continues 596 words]
Two locations designated for consumption have yet to materialize in fentanyl-ravaged city When Alexandra Sayers began living on 135A Street in Surrey a year ago, she was "absolutely terrified" of needles or seeing someone suffer a drug overdose. Since then, the 21-year-old has had friends die from overdoses and administered naloxone, which blocks or reverses the effect of opioids, more than a dozen times. "Now it's so regular that I can do it with my eyes blindfolded and with one hand," she said. "It's on a regular basis that people are overdosing. It's scary being out here." [continues 580 words]
Surrey will soon have a designated outreach team to deal with "public safety, public health and quality of life issues" in the city centre area. The Surrey Outreach Team was announced on Tuesday as part of the City Centre Response Plan which focuses on homelessness, addiction and mental health concerns on and around 135A Street between 106th and 108th avenues, also known as The Strip. It's an area that has seen a significant increase in the number of police, fire, ambulance and bylaw calls this year. [continues 364 words]
Four times over the B.C. Day long weekend, firefighters in Vancouver administered a life-saving drug to someone suffering from an opioid overdose. It's something that couldn't have taken place one year ago. "It's such a life-changing intervention," said Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services spokesman Capt. Jonathan Gormick. "It's literally a life-saving tool and it's made a huge difference." Gormick is talking about naloxone, an injectable medication that, if administered quickly, can reverse the effects of an overdose of an opioid drug such as heroin or fentanyl. [continues 387 words]
DEADLINE NEARS: As many as 130 businesses that don't meet city regulations could face fines, legal action In just over a week, unlicensed marijuana shops in Vancouver will have to close their doors or be subject to fines and legal action. Andreea Toma, the city's director of licensing, said it's too early to tell exactly how many will shutter, but according to figures provided by the city, that number could be as high as 130. After seeing a significant increase in the number of marijuana-related businesses in Vancouver, and in the absence of a clear regulatory framework from the federal government, the city decided to come up with its own regulations last year. [continues 595 words]
Any That Remain Open Will Be Subject To Fines And Legal Action, Official Says In just over a week, unlicensed marijuana shops in Vancouver will have to close their doors or be subject to fines and legal action. Andreea Toma, the city's director of licensing, said it's too early to tell exactly how many will shutter, but according to figures provided by the city, that number could be as high as 130. After seeing a significant increase in the number of marijuana-related businesses in Vancouver, and in the absence of a clear regulatory framework from the federal government, the city decided to come up with its own regulations last year. [continues 607 words]
More programs needed to help direct youths away from gang activity, official says Prevention and intervention - in addition to enforcement - are key to solving Surrey's problems with drugs and gun violence, according to assistant commissioner Bill Fordy. "We will arrest the people involved in these issues, but in the long term we will not arrest our way out of this issue," Fordy, the officer in charge of Surrey RCMP, said during a Surrey Board of Trade lunch on Thursday. "I believe we will educate our way out of this issue." [continues 391 words]
Police Have Teamed Up, Now Hailing 'Great Strides' In Reducing Shots-Fired Incidents When Doug Elford heard Sunday that two shootings had taken place in his neighbourhood - one five minutes from his home - his reaction was "another day, another shooting." "It's almost like the edge has worn off," said Elford, a member of the Newton Community Association. "I'm getting a little jaded." It's not surprising, considering that at the end of May the occupants of two cars shot at each other less than a block from Elford's home as residents were out enjoying a warm spring evening. [continues 610 words]
SURREY: RCMP investigation into rash of shootings, however, has been stymied by unco-operative victims Police have linked two of the three Surrey shootings in the past week to a low-level drug turf war, but their probe has been stymied by uncooperative victims. Since early March, there have been more than 30 shootings in Surrey, 18 of which are connected to the dispute in the Newton area. "I'm very disappointed in the lack of co-operation," Mayor Linda Hepner said at a news conference outside the Surrey RCMP main detachment Monday. [continues 382 words]
A B.C. man is one step closer to reclaiming some of the money seized from him by border officers at the Vancouver International Airport almost four years ago, following a recent decision by the Federal Court of Appeal. On Jan. 5, 2011, Robert Bo Da Huang was scheduled to fly out of Vancouver International Airport to Hong Kong. In the departures area, he was approached by a Canada Border Services Agency officer. Huang admitted to the officer that he was carrying more than $10,000 in cash and he had not reported that fact. [continues 287 words]
Medical Marijuana: Prospective licensed producers say winner will be the consumer Upcoming changes to federal medical marijuana regulations will lead to higher-quality pot for consumers, according to some prospective licensed producers. "The winner here will end up being the consumer," said Pete Martin, operations and quality assurance manager for Richmond's MediJean. "They'll end up being able to get a product that far exceeds the quality of what's available on the streets now." As of April 1, the only legal access to marijuana for medical purposes will be through licensed producers under the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, which will replace the current Marijuana Medical Access Program. The regulations will create a commercial industry that's responsible for production and distribution of medical marijuana. [continues 220 words]
Three billboards have gone up next to Lower Mainland highways to raise awareness of and recruit volunteers for Sensible B.C.'s initiative petition to change how marijuana possession and use is policed in B.C. One billboard is beside Highway 91 at the Alex Fraser Bridge and two are beside Highway 99 at the Massey Tunnel. Marijuana activist Dana Larsen, who is the founder and director of Sensible B.C., has prepared a draft piece of legislation called the Sensible Policing Act, which would prohibit the use of police resources to enforce current laws regarding simple possession and use of marijuana by adults. [continues 204 words]
A B.C. Supreme Court jury in New Westminster began hearing the case Wednesday afternoon of a marijuana activist accused of selling drugs from his Mission business. Timothy Felger is charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. On March 2, 2011, police executed a search warrant on Das Bhang, a store and political office on Horne Street in Mission operated by Felger. They arrested Felger, who was alone in the office, and seized a number of items, including a number of small packages of marijuana, personal documents and, according to Crown prosecutor J. Michael Le Dressay, "a very interesting notebook." [continues 92 words]
A young man who used to deal and consume drugs has been jailed for more than nine years after pleading guilty to attempted murder and pointing a firearm. B.C. Provincial Court Judge Peder Gulbransen sitting in Surrey said Tuesday in his reasons for sentence that 21-year-old Samuel Chand's involvement in the "drug lifestyle" led him to commit the two violent offences. On April 12, 2010, Chand was under the influence and "in a very dangerous state of mind" when he drove to a gas station on Scott Road in Surrey and got into a verbal altercation with a person who was paying for gas. [continues 109 words]
A judge has ordered a man to surrender two of three Vancouver properties that were used for marijuana grow operations. Even though Sarban Singh Rai did not know there were grow-ops in the houses he rented out, B. C. Supreme Court Justice Arne Silverman concluded that Rai was "wilfully blind" and received proceeds of illegal activity. Rai's trial was the first conducted in B. C. conducted under the Civil Forfeiture Act. Rai owned three houses on Boundary Road. When police searched the houses in May 2008 they found major modifications to all three and a total of 2,254 plants in varying stages of development, worth up to $507,000. [continues 137 words]
Although he's incarcerated in an American prison far from his family and friends, Marc Emery is in good spirits, according to a B.C. MLA who visited him this month. "He didn't appear too despondent," said Delta North NDP MLA Guy Gentner. "He has a pretty positive attitude." Gentner was visiting family for the holidays in Gainesville, Fla., and decided to go see Emery on Jan. 2 at the D. Ray James Correctional Facility in Folkston, Ga., one state over. [continues 463 words]
B.C. Supreme Court: Woman Testifies Border Guard Told Her She Had To Comply Or Be Jailed An American woman alleged Wednesday that Canadian border official Daniel Johnson Greenhalgh strip-searched her outdoors on a cold, drizzly night three years ago. The woman, who can't be identified due to a publication ban, was on her way into Canada at the Peace Arch crossing for a short vacation with two friends on April 13, 2007, when the trio were stopped at the border. [continues 433 words]
Targeted prevention and treatment programs can help crack users in smaller communities, according to a study from a Simon Fraser University researcher. In a paper to be published in Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, health sciences researcher Benedikt Fischer's team documents a recent investigation of the social, health and drug-use characteristics of 148 primary crack cocaine users in the mid-sized communities of Nanaimo, Campbell River and Prince George. "In many B.C. communities, crack use is the No. 1 street drug problem, yet we give it much lower attention than other forms of drug use," Fischer said in a news release. [continues 203 words]
