Long Cycle of Drug-Related Homicides Plagues Indian Immigrant Community VANCOUVER, B.C. -- The killings were brazen, often carried out execution-style, police said. The most famous case involved a masked man who walked up to a notorious drug dealer on a dance floor and fired a bullet into his head behind the ear. The dealer dropped to the crowded floor. Witnesses told police that they saw nothing. In the past 13 years, police have reported 76 young men killed in the Vancouver area in gang-related violence. The authorities blame drug deals gone bad and local turf wars, mostly involving well-to-do young people of Indian descent. [continues 1226 words]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The killings were brazen, often carried out execution-style, police said. The most famous case involved a masked man who walked up to a notorious drug dealer on a dance floor and fired a bullet into his head behind the ear. The dealer dropped to the crowded floor. Witnesses told police that they saw nothing. In the past 13 years, police have reported 76 young men killed in the Vancouver area in gang-related violence. The authorities blame drug deals gone bad and local turf wars, mostly involving well-to-do young people of Indian descent. [continues 596 words]
TORONTO, Dec. 23 - Canada's Supreme Court endorsed the enforcement of criminal penalties for smoking marijuana on Tuesday, but left open the possibility that Parliament could still decriminalize casual use of the drug at a later time. "There is no free-standing constitutional right to smoke pot for recreational purposes," the court said in a 6-to-3 decision. The ruling comes as Canada's new prime minister, Paul Martin, prepares to reintroduce a bill by which people would not be jailed for possession of small amounts of marijuana, while penalties for large growers and traffickers would increase. [continues 679 words]
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Her fingers travel up and down her arm, feeling for a good vein. Lori-Kim Veenstra opens a $7 bag of methamphetamine and pours some of the crystals onto a clean spoon. She opens a tiny blue bottle of sterile water and fills the spoon, waiting for the chemical to dissolve. Sometimes junkies use water from puddles to break down their drugs, sometimes soda pop or toilet water. Sometimes they use their own blood. Not here. Veenstra, 40, is in a clinic at the Dr. Peter Centre, where junkies who test positive for HIV can shoot up safely under supervision. This is one of the first of what are called "safe-injection sites" in North America. Soon to be sanctioned by the provincial and federal governments, it is an example of a new policy in Canada, called harm reduction, to address a pervasive drug problem plaguing Vancouver and other major cities. [continues 706 words]
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Her fingers travel up and down her arm, feeling for a good vein. Lori-Kim Veenstra opens a $7 bag of methamphetamine and pours some of the crystals onto a clean spoon. She opens a tiny blue bottle of sterile water and fills the spoon, waiting for the chemical to dissolve. Sometimes junkies use water from puddles to break down their drugs, sometimes soda pop or toilet water. Sometimes they use their own blood. Not here. Veenstra, 40, is in a clinic at the Dr. Peter Centre, where junkies who test positive for HIV can shoot up safely under supervision. This is one of the first of what are called "safe injection sites" in North America. Soon to be sanctioned by the provincial and federal governments, it is an example of a new policy in Canada, known as harm reduction, to address a pervasive drug problem plaguing Vancouver and other major cities. [continues 1910 words]
TORONTO, May 27 -- The Canadian government introduced legislation today to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, a move that U.S. officials said could increase the amount of marijuana smuggled across the border. Under the bill, possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana, about half an ounce, would become punishable by fines of up to the equivalent of about $290 U.S. for adults and $182 for minors. Backed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien's ruling Liberal Party, the measure has a good chance of passing because of the party's strong majority in Parliament, political analysts said. [continues 721 words]
TORONTO - The Canadian government introduced legislation Tuesday to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, a move that U.S. officials said could increase the amount of marijuana smuggled across the border. Under the bill, possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana, about a half-ounce, would become punishable by fines of up to the equivalent of about $290 for adults and $182 for minors. Backed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien's ruling Liberal Party, the measure has a good chance of passage due to the party's strong majority in Parliament, political analysts said. [continues 357 words]
TORONTO, May 27 -- The Canadian government introduced legislation today to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, a move that U.S. officials said could increase the amount of marijuana smuggled across the border. Under the bill, possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana, about half an ounce, would become punishable by fines of up to the equivalent of about $290 U.S. for adults and $182 for minors. Backed by Prime Minister Jean Chretien's ruling Liberal Party, the measure has a good chance of passing because of the party's strong majority in Parliament, political analysts said. [continues 398 words]
A Canadian Village Steps In To Save Its Youth SHESHATSHIU, Labrador - The dark end of the graveyard still calls him. That is where Phillip believes his dead brother, Charles, told him to go when he was sniffing the gasoline. That was before social workers apprehended Phillip from the woods, put him on a bus and sent him to a locked-door treatment facility for children who were addicted to high-octane gas in plastic bags. There they were watched 24 hours a day while they slept off the fumes. [continues 1649 words]
Tribal Effort Against Gas-Sniffing Shows Success, So Far SHESHATSHIU, Newfoundland and Labrador -- The dark end of the graveyard still calls him. That is where Phillip believes his dead brother, Charles, told him to go when he was sniffing the gasoline. That was before social workers apprehended Phillip from the woods, put him on a bus and sent him to a locked-door treatment facility for children who were addicted to high-octane gas in plastic bags. There they were watched 24 hours, given all the time in the world to sleep off the fumes. [continues 2358 words]
TORONTO, Sept. 5 -- A Canadian Senate committee has proposed that Canada legalize marijuana, allow it to be grown by licensed dealers and perhaps be sold in corner stores to people 16 or older. Such a policy would make Canada one of the world's most tolerant countries toward the drug. In a report, the committee found that marijuana was less harmful than alcohol and should not be treated as a criminal problem, but as a public health issue. The report called for amnesty for people convicted of marijuana possession. [continues 458 words]
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- A woman squats on a stoop in an alley. She holds an orange syringe in her right hand. With her left, she is squeezing the air as if trying to catch an insect that is not there. Half of the dose of heroin she had been injecting is still in her needle. She is in junkie limbo. "She has done a hit of heroin. She hasn't even finished it, it's so good," explains Mel Hennan, who is patrolling this city's back alleys. [continues 691 words]
Vancouver Seeks To Protect Addicts, Not Punish Them VANCOUVER, B.C. A woman squats on a stoop in an alley. She is holding an orange syringe in her right hand. With her left, she is squeezing the air as if trying to catch an insect that is not there. Half of the dose of heroin she had been injecting is still in her needle. She is in junkie limbo. "She has done a hit of heroin. She hasn't even finished it, it's so good," explains Mel Hennan, who is patrolling the back alleys of this city. [continues 1846 words]
Patients Have To Show Drug's Benefits The Canadian government today proposed rules that would allow terminally ill patients and people suffering from chronic illnesses such as arthritis and AIDS to buy, cultivate and use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Under the plan, which would go into effect July 31, the patients would have to prove to authorities that only marijuana could ease their suffering. The rules would allow third parties to grow marijuana for patients who can't grow the plants themselves and would legalize transport and possession for medicinal purposes. [continues 548 words]
MONTREAL -- The hit took place at 10 in the morning. Two men dressed in black walked up to a man unloading his car, pumped five bullets into his back and ran away across a parking lot. Michel Auger, the reporter who knew too much about organized crime and put it all in the newspaper, staggered but did not fall. "I saw someone without a face and a ball of smoke near his belt," Auger said. "While he was fleeing . . . I immediately knew that my work was the cause of the pains in my back." He managed to pull out his cell phone and call for help. [continues 1211 words]
