Last February, the City of Dawson Creek was in the grips of a nasty "drug war" that made headlines across B.C. after a man was abducted, shot and left for dead. City police went on to field 690 calls for service that month, one of the busiest months in recent memory. Now, a monthly report that will appear before city councillors March 21 shows those numbers are down, partly because of a slowdown in drug activity. The detachment registered 585 calls this past February. [continues 611 words]
I read with interest the article reporting the Department of Public Health and Human Services' intention to continue issuing medical marijuana cards despite the Legislature's revocation of its authority to do so. As an attorney for over 37 years and a former Montana assistant attorney general, I recommend that Mr. Kemp, who made that decision, as well as the governor (since he has supervisory control over the department) consider ? 45-7-401, MCA, which makes it a criminal offense (official misconduct) for a "public servant" to "knowingly perform an act in an official capacity that the public servant knows is forbidden by law." Recipients of such cards should also consider the fact that the cards may be invalid and provide them no protection, even under Montana law. Mike McCarter Helena [end]
Marc Emery, Canada's "Prince of Pot" and a powerful voice in the debate over the decriminalization of marijuana, was sent to federal prison for five years on Friday for selling millions of cannabis seeds by mail and phone order, the culmination of a five-year prosecution and plea agreement that saw Emery extradited from Vancouver. In a statement to U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez and in a letter to the court, Emery admitted his attempt to force a change in U.S. and Canadian drug laws through "civil disobedience" and flouting the laws was "overzealous and reckless." [continues 508 words]
A former Mountlake Terrace police sergeant whose views supporting the decriminalization of marijuana led to his dismissal in 2005 has won his job back and an $815,000 settlement from the city and Snohomish County. However, Sgt. Jonathan Wender will not return to the streets. In addition to the financial settlement, the city has agreed to keep him on administrative leave and to pay him a $90,000-a-year salary for the next two years, when he will be able to retire after 20 years with the department. [continues 696 words]
A former U.S. border guard convicted of letting drugs into the United States in exchange for sex with a British Columbian prostitute was sentenced to nearly three years in prison Monday. Desmond Bastian, 31, a U.S. citizen who lived in Surrey, B.C., and worked as a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement inspector, allowed the woman to drive through the Blaine crossing while carrying large loads of marijuana and other drugs. According to the woman's testimony at Bastian's trial, she would lift her skirt and bare her breasts while being waved through the border station, and would often meet Bastian afterward for sex. [continues 297 words]
In reference to Ed Tant's tirade of Oct. 19 and most of his previous columns, he appears to be one person who just cannot find his niche in a democratic society. He is unable to accept the fact that we do have a president elected by due process. The only area of the United States with alleged spurious voting in the last election was South Florida's Broward and Palm Beach counties. Three counties are totally controlled by the Democrats. And, after all recounts, gave President Bush even more votes than the initial counting, yet Ed still cries ''unfair, illegal.'' What nonsense by Tant. Of course some citizens have legitimate questions over a potential war with Iraq. But, the vast majority of Americans support our president and Congress on this issue. There were even dissenters when we entered the second World War with Germany and Japan. Thankfully, we did go to war and defeated the enemy. If we had not, we would now be speaking German. If we had taken Hitler out in the '30s when we had a chance, there would have been no war. If we had taken Hussein out in the '90s, there possibly would be no need of war today. But as things stand, war is a necessity, and what the president is planning will be a just and necessary war. If we do not take the present threat seriously, we all will be speaking Arabic in the future. I, for one, am happy we do have a war on drugs. This is not a ''Mickey-Mouse war on cocaine and crack'' as one of Ed's favorite radical poets, Allen Ginsberg, states. This is a real war and those convicted at the federal level face no early parole. I am thankful these criminals remain in jail for a substantial period of time. It is much less expensive to keep a criminal in jail than paying the cost to society when they are released. Mike Carter [end]
VICTORIA, B.C. It could have been an unprecedented law-enforcement victory: Last year's seizure by U.S. agents of more than 2 tons of pure cocaine aboard a Canadian fishing boat off Washington's Cape Alava was the biggest drug bust ever in the Pacific Northwest. But more than 16 months later, no one has been arrested or charged with a crime in the United States or Canada. The boat's captain - caught carrying more cocaine than is usually seized in all of Canada in a year - is protected from prosecution by the very system he betrayed. [continues 2887 words]
The largest cocaine bust by U.S. officials in the Northwest will be prosecuted in Canada, sources confirmed yesterday. Law-enforcement officials on both sides of the border say the United States Attorney's Office in Seattle and Canadian officials have agreed that Canada will handle the case, involving two tons of cocaine taken off a Canadian fishing boat by the U.S. Coast Guard last week. The ship and the drugs, estimated by authorities as worth between $30 million and $40 million on the street, apparently were bound for Canada. [continues 377 words]
The largest cocaine bust by U.S. officials in the Northwest will be prosecuted in Canada, sources confirmed today. Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border say the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle and Canadian officials have agreed that Canada will handle the case, involving two tons of cocaine taken off a Canadian fishing boat by the U.S. Coast Guard last week. The ship and the drugs, worth between $30 million and $40 million, apparently were bound for Canada, the officials said. [continues 389 words]
Authorities are touting unprecedented cooperation between U.S. and Canadian authorities in cracking a marijuana-smuggling ring that used a helicopter to bring potent "B.C. Bud" into Washington and then return to British Columbia with cocaine. The crime ring has direct ties to outlaw motorcycle gangs in Calgary, said an official with British Columbia's Organized Crime Agency. The 18-month investigation resulted in the seizure of a house, two luxury cars, a boat, numerous firearms, cash, drugs and a helicopter. Fourteen people, most of them Canadians, have been arrested so far, said Cpl. Garry Begg of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. [continues 431 words]
The Seattle Police Department's Drug Abatement Program was established to get drugs off the streets, but some undercover cops have an odd way of doing it: They've given junkies narcotics for helping set up drug deals. The deal is called a "buy-bust." It involves an undercover officer soliciting drugs and buying them with marked money. The undercover cop then leaves the area, and uniformed or plainclothes officers swoop in and arrest the seller. The confiscated money is proof the deal went down. [continues 1454 words]
SALT LAKE CITY -- In a case that challenged the government's ability to regulate natural remedies, a federal judge Tuesday ordered the Food and Drug Administration to lift its ban on imports of a dietary supplement containing a cholesterol-reducing drug. The chemical lovastatin occurs naturally in ``red yeast'' rice powder from China, and the company that markets the powder under the name Cholestin had sought a preliminary injunction against the FDA. The dispute was the first challenge to the FDA's powers under the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act. The law provided for the widespread sale of herbs, teas and capsules containing ingredients that are not FDA-approved as safe and effective. [continues 111 words]
