What are the RCMP doing about the crack dealers? Queen Charlotte resident Clyde Greenough raised the question after listening to Sgt. Rob Knapton's report to the village council on July 20. It was Sgt. Knapton's first time presenting a report on calls and crime statistics, something he intends to do on a quarterly basis in the future. He told Mr. Greenough that getting the public involved is key when it comes to drug dealers. "The biggest thing we can do is reduce demand," he said. [continues 426 words]
"He's in no man's land," say the parents of a 17-year-old youth who has become estranged from his family for months at a time because of his involvement with drugs. Susan Jones and Peter Smith (not their real names) say their son has admitted he has a drug problem, but they cannot find him the immediate help he needs to stay off drugs such as crystal meth. Although they have received many sympathetic responses from front-line workers, their son cannot access many services because he hasn't been in trouble with the law and doesn't come from a battered home. They've been through programs at his school and other agencies, but none have offered sustained help. [continues 677 words]
With 20/20 hindsight, 17-year-old Devon Fuller from Houston wonders why anyone would want to take the extremely popular and highly addictive methamphetamine known as crystal meth. But what he knows now and what he knew back in May are worlds apart. Back then Fuller spent the entire month high on crystal meth - at one point awake for 13 days straight. "I lost 30 pounds in one month. I couldn't sleep or eat," he said. Although he claimed he tried to stay away from the drug, most of the friends he has known since childhood were doing it and he started to. [continues 761 words]
Although Nettie Wild's film, Fix - The Story of an Addicted City, may sound like it's about a drug problem far removed from northern B.C., she wants to assure us that it is not. "When you go into [Vancouver's] downtown eastside and talk to people, the majority are from small towns like Hazelton, Smithers, Gitanyow or the Nass," said acclaimed documentary maker Wild. Locals may remember her from when she filmed Blockade in the region 10 years ago or from A Place Called Chiapas. [continues 573 words]
Bulkley Valley School District No. 54 board passed a motion on Jan. 21 to officially oppose the federal government's proposed decriminalization of marijuana legislation. The justice minister is expected to introduce legislation early in 2003 to decriminalize the use and possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. The use and possession would remain illegal, but jail sentences and criminal records would be replaced with fines. Most of those convicted of possession of marijuana do not go to jail, but do receive a criminal record. [continues 259 words]
