Whether you are soused from alcohol or high on whatever, the result is the same when you get behind the wheel. You are a potential killer. The only real difference is those impaired by drugs have been getting away with it for years. That's because, in Canada's Criminal Code, there was no authority for police to demand a physical sobriety test or bodily fluid samples to determine drug impairment. Canada's Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has put an end to that. [continues 489 words]
Re: Students Learn Drug Lesson, Dec. 11 As a federal medical marijuana licence holder who is also married to one, I deeply resent this policy. Drug use is a health issue, and we should have nurses instructing kids about them, not cops. Sending in a cop to talk to kids about drugs is like sending in a priest to teach them about sex; "Just don't do it, mister, or you'll be in big trouble." Especially the notoriously dishonest RCMP! [continues 306 words]
I'm sure RCMP Const. Dave Higgs means well (Students Learn Drug Lesson, Dec. 11, 2007). However one substance on the list he talked extensively about was out of place, if truth be told. Cannabis (marijuana) is a plant, not a drug, and it is safer than alcohol especially compared to whiskey, less addictive than coffee and hasn't killed one person in over 5,000 years of documented use while cigarettes kill over 1,000 North Americans daily. In fact, the most dangerous side effect of cannabis is being caged for using it by RCMP Const. Dave Higgs. [continues 53 words]
Yesterday, La Verendrye School students learned a whole lot about illegal drugs. Their instructor, RCMP Const. Dave Higgs, talked to a room filled with Grade 7 and 8 students in an information session on common street drugs. Amongst the "oohs" and "aahs" and the occasional exclamation from the kids, Higgs went through some of the illegal drugs Portage RCMP encounter most often in Portage la Prairie. "Dave (Higgs) was kind enough to come and share some information about drug awareness. We feel the best prevention method is education, and we encourage our students to be smart and make good choices," said teacher Blair Hordeski. "We try to give kids the tool to make good choices." [continues 316 words]
Everyone feels a need that they try to indulge with something that makes them feel fulfilled, if only temporarily. Some are adrenalin junkies who push themselves in sports, while others choose to help those in need because helping others makes them feel good, too. There can be many positive means, but there are also many destructive ones. Addictions to vices such as drugs, alcohol and gambling are at the opposite end of the spectrum. At best, they can affect a person's ability to function to their full potential at work and in their home. At their worst, they can lead a person into a life of crime and even death. [continues 608 words]
Portage La Prairie - A group of about 10 citizens who live near Portage Collegiate Institute made a surprise appearance at Portage la Prairie School Division's meeting last night to voice concerns about students loitering in their neighborhood. Despite arriving unannounced, the board voted to allow Kevin Barnett 15 minutes to speak on behalf of the group. Barnett told school trustees the neighbourhood is experiencing an increasing amount of PCI students loitering due to a policy that forces them off school property to smoke. He said the loitering has been lasting all day long and is causing issues with littering and vandalism, but the issue is much larger to Barnett. [continues 371 words]
Use of cocaine and ecstasy among younger people, including those who attend Portage Collegiate Institute, is growing in Portage la Prairie. "There's a rising concern with the use of cocaine in the younger population," said Barry Rud, prevention education consultant for Addictions Foundation of Manitoba. Brenda Foster works with students at PCI four days a week. The AFM rehabilitation worker offers services in the form of education and prevention, accepts referrals for people using or affected by drug use and conducts assessments for addictions. [continues 493 words]
The timing could have been better for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In the midst of National Addictions Awareness Week, his Conservative government has introduced legislation that will target drivers who get behind the wheel while stoned on drugs. The proposed legislation, tabled on Tuesday, aims to make drug-impaired driving as socially unacceptable as drunk driving has become, says the prime minister. Under the Tory bill, the minimum fine for a first offence of either drug-or alcohol-impaired driving would be $1,000 rather than the current $600. A second offence would bring a mandatory 30 days behind bars rather than 14, and a third offence would result in a 120-day jail sentence instead of the current 90. [continues 422 words]
Legal officials might soon have some ammunition to convict drivers who are suspected of driving under the influence of illegal drugs. In House of Commons on Tuesday, Justice Minister Vic Toews tabled a bill on drugs, similar to the existing law regarding driving while under the influence of alcohol. Under the proposed legislation, impaired drivers can be prosecuted under Criminal Code of Canada, but the code is devoid of offences specifically related to drug impairment. The Conservative government wants to give police the hardware and authority to apprehend and test drivers suspected of driving while drug-impaired. [continues 488 words]
RCMP Seek To Raise Public Awareness Of Addictive Drug At Public Meeting PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE -- Crystal meth can take away your life. That is the message from the RCMP, which held a public awareness meeting in Portage la Prairie last night. About 30 adults attended the two-hour meeting at Herman Prior 55-plus Centre. During his presentation, Manitoba RCMP division's drug awareness co- ordinator, Sgt. Marc Samson, focused on crystal methamphetamine, an addictive drug, which more kids are using. [continues 458 words]
First Nations Join Together to Raise Awareness of Healthy Living DAKOTA TIPI FIRST NATION -- Members of several First Nations communities in the Portage la Prairie area banded together to walk for sobriety yesterday. In an effort to raise awareness during Addictions Awareness Week, about 34 members of Dakota Tipi, Long Plain and Sandy Bay First Nations came together to participate in the inaugural event. Walkers left from Dakota Tipi Community Gaming Centre, south of Portage la Prairie, at 10 a.m. and headed to Long Plain's Keeshkeemaquah Conference and Gaming Centre on Crescent Road West . [continues 373 words]
PORTAGE LA PRAIRIE -- With gang violence in the spotlight in the provincial capital recently, Portage la Prairie RCMP are hoping public awareness and education will combat the problem here. "We are aware that there is a problem here in the city," said Insp. Ken Turner, head of the Portage detachment. "There's evidence in some of the tagging that's been going on in city limits." Tagging is a gang marking its territory with graffiti which includes its symbol or name, said Turner. [continues 458 words]
Local MS Sufferer Hoping New Drug Will Ease His Pain Darwin Wowk is counting on a new drug to ease the pain he experiences from multiple sclerosis. "I'm hoping this will be one of the greatest reprieves I've had in a long time," said the Portager, referring to the drug Sativex, a peppermint-flavoured mouth spray containing marijuana that gives MS sufferers another choice in treating pain. Sativex was approved by Health Canada about two months ago. Canada is the first country in the world in which the drug is available as a prescribed treatment for MS-related pain. [continues 371 words]
Stan Wawzonek rode his bike a long way to get to Portage la Prairie. The 60-year-old grandfather from Brantford, Ont. started his trip in St. John's, Nfld., and by the time it's over, he will have visited more than 90 Canadian towns and cities this summer, spreading the word about the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. "On my ride across the country, I want to increase awareness of the benefits the program can bring," said Wawzonek. "I plan to meet with police detachments and dare them to set up DARE programs in their communities following my visit." [continues 449 words]
A judge didn't buy a Portage la Prairie man's argument he needs to use marijuana to ease his unbearable pain, the result of a work-related accident. Judge John Guy convicted Kenneth James Miller, 41, of possession of the illegal drug despite his claim the marijuana and drug-related paraphernalia RCMP seized during a raid on his home three years ago was for medicinal purposes. "Simply put, you have nothing to show that you have been granted a government exemption from being prosecuted for marijuana possession, do you?" Guy asked Miller, when he took the stand at his trial in Portage provincial court yesterday. [continues 554 words]
Many doctors in Manitoba say they have a problem with the federal government's decision to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes. "The drug ... has never been studied in such a way to know what the effects are going to be and what the dosage should be," said Dr. Mike Omichinski, co-chairman of the medical advisory committee for the Regional Health Authority - Central Manitoba Inc. The doctors' concerns about the legislation were taken to the RHA's board of directors in hopes it will develop a policy. [continues 518 words]
