Much has been made of the number of medical cannabis cardholders in Montana. Even people who claim to have voted in favor of Initiative 148 say they are surprised at the number of people who have obtained cards. In 2004, perhaps many Montanans who voted "yes" for I-148 thought that they were just voting for severely disabled people or people on their death beds to have access to cannabis. Medical cannabis has numerous applications in these medical instances, but it also is quite effective in the treatment of chronic illnesses. For many Montana citizens suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, spinal conditions, neuropathy, glaucoma, chronic pain, chronic nausea, etc., there is the need for long-term medication. [continues 195 words]
If the Montana Medical Marijuana law is not repealed, who loses? The black market loses. There are thousands of pounds of illegal pot constantly coming into the United States from Mexico and other countries. The illegal drug trade is run by gangs and the mob, and accompanied by the murder, corruption and violence inherent to the underground sales of drugs. If, as some legislators and law enforcement officials have suggested, the medical marijuana industry in Montana is providing for all the illegal pot in the state now, then the black market is being displaced here and losing millions of dollars. If the law is repealed, do you think they will be back and the kids will be safe from them? [continues 194 words]
When is our city council going to get serious about the police budget? Vancouver is the most understaffed and under-equipped municipal police force in Canada, likely in North America. Every major city in Canada has greater police resources than Vancouver. Calgary, with a significantly smaller population and less big-city crime, has 30 per cent more cops on the street than Vancouver, as well as a police helicopter that has all but eradicated stolen car chases in their city. Our city council hasn't noticed Vancouver is a global city with global criminals and global problems. We have seven Hell's Angels chapters in B.C. whose members frequent our city and conduct their business here unchallenged. Gang violence has boosted our murder rate. There have been approximately 84 non-lethal shootings in Vancouver this year, the majority in the downtown night club core. [continues 102 words]
I am a 26-year-old single mom of three beautiful girls. Two of my girls attend St. Alphonsus elementary school. I deliver papers in that area at 3 a.m. and I am scared about how many hookers, drug dealers, needles, broken light bulbs used for crack and used condoms there are all over that area and in the apartment building right across the street. The hookers and drug dealers surround my van banging on the windows, trying to sell me weed and sex. [continues 96 words]
One's Legal, And One's Not, But Maybe Our Laws Have It Backwards Summer and smoking pot. They go together like backyards and barbecues, and it's usually when I'm in the former, huddled over the latter, that the telltale smells come wafting up from the ravine behind the house. Or is that the residual smell of garbage from T.O? No matter. The pot smells have been pretty scarce lately. And no wonder, what with the $95-million drug bust last week in Hamilton, and parts of Quebec and Nova Scotia. Most of it was pot and marijuana plants, with some cocaine and hash thrown in. [continues 613 words]
That's Why Traditional Ways Of Fighting Drug Use Don't Work I have had, shall we say, a colourful past. Have I got stories! Like the time I filled a page with "I am so stoned" in my Grade 9 typing class instead of the assigned exercise. (I wasn't caught. I threw up shortly afterward, the effects of too much smoke and too little food. Trust me, no one wanted to go near my typewriter.) Or the time I went to church still drunk from the night before and passed out in the aisle. (No one noticed. It was a Pentecostal church. People fall over all the time. It's called being "slain in the spirit.") [continues 623 words]
There You Go Again, Folks, Shooting The Messenger It always surprises me when I see the "shoot the messenger" reaction to bad news. It shouldn't, I know. After 12 years in the news business, I've taken my share of bullets (so to speak). But there I was, feeling shocked (shocked!) that readers were incensed with the Toronto Sun and other newspapers for revealing that Air Transat pilot Robert Piche spent nearly two years in U.S. jails for drug trafficking in the 1980s. Apparently, his Piper Aztec turboprop plane was found containing 53 bales of pot (not for medicinal purposes, I presume). [continues 623 words]
Report On Shooting Was Released Sunday GEORGETOWN | A spokesman for the Georgetown County Sheriff's Office Monday said Sheriff Lane Cribb would no longer comment on the 80-page SLED report released Sunday. The State Law Enforcement Division report dealt with the shooting death of Matthew Martin, the Georgetown man killed April 28 following a chase through a Pawleys Island neighborhood. Cribb's decision is based on advice from Jack Scoville, the county attorney, spokesman Bill Nichols said. Scoville advised Cribb to avoid making comments because of pending litigation. He said Scoville advised Cribb, "Because of pending litigation we heard about, it's off limits." Cribb had refused to make comments on the investigation while it was ongoing, but said he would comment once the report was released. [continues 376 words]
Having just given birth to my first child last week, I know about pain. That the process was drug-free was due in no small part to its speed: careening through the pre-rush hour dawn of Toronto we arrived at the hospital emergency entrance at 6:45 a.m. We welcomed our daughter into the world at 6:51. Most women are not so fortunate. And labour is only one kind of pain. Thankfully, in this country we have a long tradition of chemical pain relief - from the most common over-the-counter oral tablets - aspirin and acetaminophen - to cocaine derivatives administered through a spinal injection. [continues 584 words]
