Medical marijuana dispensaries will continue to be illegal under new regulations announced Thursday by Health Canada. The announcement comes just days after Osoyoos town council voted Tuesday to give third and final readings to a zoning bylaw amendment that prohibits the dispensaries in Osoyoos. Health Canada's announcement of new regulations, to be known as Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR), is a response to a federal court decision, Allard v. Canada, in February. These regulations, which come into effect Aug. 24, replace the Marihuana (sic) for Medical Purposes Regulations (MMPR) put in place under the Stephen Harper Conservative government. [continues 580 words]
The Town of Osoyoos is currently in the process of passing a bylaw that will in effect ban medical marijuana dispensaries. The zoning bylaw is seen as temporary. Not surprisingly, members of the public are divided and even town council, which tends to govern by consensus, is split on the issue. At a public hearing earlier this month, a number of people spoke about the merits of dispensaries themselves and the benefits of medical marijuana. That, however, was not the purpose of the hearing. Town council's role is not to debate the merits of marijuana. [continues 338 words]
It's rare that Osoyoos town council splits on an issue, but that happened Monday on the issue of medical marijuana outlets. The issue arose as council debated a staff recommendation to bring in a zoning bylaw that would effectively prohibit all marijuana operations except medical marijuana grow operations on land zoned as industrial. To be clear, none of council opposes medical marijuana for those who need it, and none support unrestricted retail outlets. The debate was whether the town needs a bylaw that Alain Cunningham, director of planning and development services, described as "a temporary and transitional zoning amendment" until the federal government clarifies the law on sales of medical marijuana. [continues 620 words]
Local citizens will have their opportunity to voice their concerns and support for or against the Town of Osoyoos potentially approving a large-scale medical marijuana grow operation (MMGO) at a public hearing scheduled for Monday, Feb. 3. Two weeks ago, town council discussed a formal application to seek a business license from Canna-Pharma Inc. a new business from Vancouver that is interested in opening a large commercial MMGO in the town's industrial park. During that meeting in early December, council directed staff to formulate an approach to processing applications for an MMGO in industrial areas, including rezoning requirements, evaluation criteria and opportunities for public input. [continues 639 words]
Local organizers of a petition aimed at changing marijuana laws are happy with the campaign even though it failed to obtain enough signatures to force a provincial referendum. Province wide the petition by Sensible BC obtained more than 200,000 signatures calling for a referendum and in the local ridings of Boundary-Similkameen and Penticton it surpassed the necessary threshold. "Considering how things have to happen here in B.C. and the numbers we needed, we did pretty well," said Osoyoos campaigner Heather Pinske, a 27-year-old mother who gathered signatures from people on the street. [continues 439 words]
The winds were blustering and several times signs and a small table blew over. But that didn't stop a small group of determined volunteers from standing on Main Street Sunday to promote a petition calling for the end of marijuana prohibition in B.C. The streets of Osoyoos were quiet on a chilly Sunday afternoon, but pedestrians and motorists stopped periodically to sign the Sensible BC Marijuana Referendum petition. Standing by the road and holding up a banner was Heather Pinske, a 27-year-old mother of a young toddler, who is the unofficial lead canvasser in Osoyoos. [continues 558 words]
Members of Town of Osoyoos council have deferred making a decision on drafting a medical marijuana production and licensing regulation bylaw until the fall in order to conduct some more research and see what other communities are doing as new federal legislation is changing the way municipalities must deal with medical marijuana production in the future. Janette Van Vienen, the town's director of corporate services, told members of council Tuesday that the federal government is changing legislation with regard to medical marijuana access and distribution, effective April 1, 2014. [continues 615 words]
Mayor Stu Wells and every member of Town of Osoyoos council were unanimous in their support of a resolution presented at last week's Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) asking the federal government to decriminalize longstanding legislation for possession of marijuana. The province's municipal politicians voted in favour of a resolution supporting marijuana decriminalization during a vocal debate last Wednesday at the UCBM annual conference in Victoria. UBCM delegates heard health policy advocates, police officers and former B.C. attorney general Geoff Plant call on municipal politicians to lead efforts that could change what they call Canada's outdated pot laws. [continues 623 words]
Editor: Re: Federal candidates have their say in Osoyoos By promising to jail more pot smokers and offering mandatory six-month jail terms for growing even one marijuana plant, Stephen Harper wants to turn our 50,000 inmate population into a 65,000-to-70,000 inmate population. This will take billions of dollars to accomplish. Instead of regulating marijuana and generating $3 billion in annual tax revenue, he wants to spend billions more every year building jails and filling them with pot users. How, exactly, is that going to help the economy? By creating jobs for lawyers, cops, gangsters and jail-builders, I guess. It will certainly make a dent in the "affordable housing" problem. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User/ Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis Nepean, Ont. [end]
Editor: I learned that fighting the provincial criminal justice system for change is a complete waste of time. I cannot argue with a system that is so seemingly not competent. B.C. has twenty thousand grow-ops. With shrunk resources it can take five hours to respond to an impaired driver and the Picton Farm investigation is costing more than $100 million. The Vancouver Eastside has 7,000 drug addicts. The U.S.A. has a huge reduction in crime and drug use, and the U.K. 40 per cent reduction. [continues 92 words]
And Overall Crime In Area Is Down 22% This Year Osoyoos/Oliver RCMP are cracking down on drug crime, Staff Sgt. Kurt Lozinski told Council in his quarterly report at last Wednesday's Council meeting. Lozinski also said overall crime in the area has decreased 22 per cent. "The file count has gone up, but that doesn't mean that there's more drugs out there," he explained. "It means we're being more diligent in finding these people." The sergeant said that while 10 search warrants were issued by the detachment in 2006, 19 have been issued so far this year. [continues 394 words]
New Program Set Up At Elementary & High Schools Oliver-Osoyoos RCMP Staff Sergeant Kurt Lozinski says the new school liaison program, which co-ordinates visits to the elementary and high schools by local officers, is about building trust between youth and the police. "I want the youths to see us as people, friends, fathers, mothers, and not just as police officers. I want the youths to have trust and confidence in the police," Lozinski says. In addition to the DARE (Drug Awareness Resistance Education) program, which places officers in the elementary school to teach a 10-week program to Grade 5 students, Lozinski says the school liaison officers will attend the schools on a regular basis. [continues 587 words]
RCMP Says They've Moved To A 'Proactive' Approach Oliver-Osoyoos RCMP Detachment Corporal Mike Field says increased and targeted enforcement is having a positive impact on the crime rate in both communities. Monthly enforcement nights - involving the local detachment, South Okanagan Traffic Services, Integrated Road Safety Unit and Police Dog Services - have helped police check into criminal activity and allowed them "to move from a 'reactive' approach to a 'proactive' approach." Compared with 2004-05, where Field says reports hit a plateau, September 2005 to September 2006 saw a slight drop in Criminal Code and Drug offences reported. [continues 224 words]
Penticton Crackdown Pushes Criminals South To Oliver & Osoyoos Osoyoos RCMP Staff Sergeant Kurt Lozinski agrees with Penticton's Inspector Dan Fudge -- criminals are feeling the heat due to stepped up enforcement in that city's crime reduction strategy. But while the recently released 2005 annual RCMP report finds Penticton's crime rate has dropped, it also finds that pressure on drug activity has displaced criminals south to the Osoyoos/Oliver area. "Once you start targeting bad guys, you either put them in jail or displace them. Knowing that, we're prepared to deal with additional criminal activity, and Oliver has been the first to feel that impact," Lozinski says. [continues 198 words]
A couple of weeks ago we used this space to say "Welcome" to two important new people in Osoyoos -- the new top administrator for the Town and the new elementary school principal. There's another new face in town and, while he hasn't even moved here yet, he is already providing evidence that he will be a very welcome addition to our community. Staff Sgt. Kurt Lozinski is the new commander of the Osoyoos RCMP detachment. He is in the process of moving here from his previous assignment in Princeton. [continues 194 words]
- -- Many Task Force Activities Planned The battle against crystal meth in Osoyoos and Oliver has begun - and it has started with a bang. Forty-eight people attended an August 17th meeting in Osoyoos to form the new South Okanagan Crystal Meth Task Force, a number that delighted the initiative's co-ordinator, Tamara Aspell. The meeting heard support from representatives of the two towns as well as a variety of agencies, including the RCMP. Osoyoos Mayor John Slater told the group he is pleased to see the two towns working together on this important initiative. [continues 861 words]
Editor: Who is welcome in Osoyoos? Drug-pushing fruit pickers and transients, or tourists? First I would like to ask the Mayor of Osoyoos if he is more focused with the overgrowth of the town with all the condos and townhouses, that you do not need, or the infestation of drug fruit pickers and transients? It seems that this town has lost its quaintness with the overgrowth of the town and the lack of respect for the tourists that come there to vacation and spend their money. Our family has been going to Osoyoos for years and I find that over the last 2 years, this year in particular, it is running rampant with drugs, hippie fruit pickers and transients. [continues 242 words]
Editor: My husband and I and our two school-aged children have been coming to Osoyoos for summer holidays for many years. We have always enjoyed spending the afternoon at the lake, in particular, Gyro Beach. I am writing to express our significant dismay at the state of the aforementioned beach. Last week our family was sitting next to a group of French-Canadian fruit pickers who pulled out all sorts of drug paraphernalia (lighters, pipes, plastic 2-litre bottles, etc.) and began heating up a clear, colourless liquid and passing it amongst their group of approximately 12 people (only these 12 were in the drug using group; the number of fruit pickers at the beach was likely closer to 50). I believe this drug to have been either crack cocaine or crystal methamphetamine. [continues 212 words]
$ 20,000 Initiative To Include Reps From Many Groups Tamara Aspell says despite what some people believe, the ravages of crystal meth use aren't just in Vancouver and other Lower Mainland communities. This devastating drug problem has arrived in the South Okanagan, and the Oliver mother and counsellor -- along with many others -- is determined to do something about it. With funding from the provincial government's major offensive against the growing use of methamphetamine, Aspell is heading up a $20,000 initiative in Osoyoos and Oliver to create a Crystal Meth Task Force that will tackle the problem head-on. [continues 1341 words]
The residents of Harbour Key Drive have shown what can be done when you do things the right way. When suspected drug dealers moved into their neighbourhood, these residents turned anger into action. Not only did the residents come together to find a solution to their problem, but they also brought in the RCMP, who quite willingly worked with the residents in a monitoring program that eventually led to the drug dealers leaving the neighbourhood. Both the residents and the RCMP deserve credit. [continues 171 words]
