Former gang member shares harrowing tales with students from South Okanagan schools If you don't think gangs have a presence in your small community, think again. "Street-level drug trafficking groups in Williams Lake or Osoyoos don't have the ability to import kilos of cocaine from Mexico or Central America," said Staff-Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, which fights gang activity across B.C. "Drugs come from somewhere, and there's a direct nexus between street-level drug trafficking, gangs and organized crime groups extending all the way to the highest levels in some cases." [continues 527 words]
Dear Editor: In today's Herald, Bruce Wallace puts out quite a listing of urgent needs and demands for comprehensive harm-reduction services. "We need supervised-consumption services, we need access to safer substances, we need to end the illegal market, we need prescription heroin, we need to stop stigmatizing druggies, we need societal changes and we need to responses to be responsive." Heck, why not just open the flood gates? Better idea! Lets adopt a governing style with policies to combat the drug scourge similar to those implemented by President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. Paul Crossley Penticton [end]
In a Dec. 30, 2015, Victoria Times Colonist commentary, I wrote: "In these final days of 2015, there have been almost daily fatal overdose deaths in our communities" and that the Times Colonist was reporting how the "drug death tally continues to climb." I warned that "public-health messages are not enough. There is a need for public-health services." My message was: "Let's make a resolution that by Christmas 2016, we will have comprehensive harm-reduction services throughout Greater Victoria, including supervised-consumption services." [continues 625 words]
Dear Editor: I definitely have trouble wrapping my head around the idea of spending money to provide a safe monitored space for fentanyl and other drug users, giving them a second chance to inject another death wish. Our friends are grandparents to a beautiful three-year-old granddaughter, Emma who was born like so many children to a life of suffering and pain with no future antidote in sight. She lived with a loving mother and father just a few miles north of Penticton. Emma was buried on Dec. 29, 2016. This beautiful tiny tot had no chance at a long life on earth but as she enters heaven, I pray that God has a special place saved for her - a place where she can play and be happy and pain free with those many other babies that went to heaven before her. [continues 109 words]
Dear Editor: The time has come for Canadians to stand up and deal with street drugs in a different way. No matter how much money, time and heartache goes into trying to cope with the current plague of overdoses, there will never be an end to it. When a drug dealer/manufacturer is caught, the repercussions do not fit the crime. A slap on the wrist, confiscation of property, fines or even short prison terms do not stop these entitled criminals. [continues 152 words]
Dear Editor: Omnipotence R us? To start with, we need to see what the meaning of omnipotence is. Quote from a legal source dictionary: "The quality of having unlimited or very great power." There are several other synonyms that can be used in place of omnipotence. Some of these are: "all-powerfulness, almightiness, supremacy, pre-eminence, supreme power, absolute power, unlimited power; invincibility." Where am going with this, you might ask? Somehow the word and its relatives apply to city council in some of its dealings as of late. [continues 300 words]
Dear editor: Council is at it again. At what you might ask? Council seems to be setting precedents everywhere. The Prime Minister is in trouble as City of Penticton is on the loose. This is shown by council's decision to issue temporary business licenses to marijuana purveyors. Before I go any further and for those who are ardent marijuana advocates, I will clarify my stance on the subject. This is my personal opinion and only my personal opinion on the issue. I am not totally against marijuana use for anyone else (except youngsters and small children). [continues 383 words]
Licences issued to 2 dispensaries that have 'made every effort to work with the city' After nearly three hours of public consultation and debate, Penticton city council reached a compromise Tuesday on the contentious issue of medical marijuana dispensaries. By a 4-2 vote, council approved six-month licences for shops at 101-351 Westminster Ave. and 409 Martin St., and denied five other requests. "It's happening whether you like it or not, and pretending that it isn't happening isn't going to fix what is happening," Coun. Max Picton said. [continues 704 words]
The final outcome of Tuesday's marathon session of Penticton City Council was a decent compromise. Council approved short-term licensing for two Penticton dispensaries, denying five other requests. It's a temporary six-month license as Penticton - as well as the rest of Canada - waits for direction from the federal government. In fairness to municipalities like Osoyoos and Penticton, the Liberals have left local governments and RCMP holding the bag. The majority of Canadians are in favour of legalizing marijuana and making it easier for those who require it for medical purposes to obtain it safely and conveniently. [continues 316 words]
Dear Editor: Currently in Canada the sale of marijuana and other cannabis products for recreational use is against the law. This will likely change at some time in the future but that is not the point of this letter. If the administration of the City of Penticton or any other city provides a business permit to "pot shops," they would be both condoning and enabling what is currently a crime. There will almost certainly be a time when the provision of permits to cannabis dispensaries will be a reality but it should be when these businesses are both legal and properly regulated. Robert Swan Penticton [end]
Licensing fees from 7 marijuana dispensaries could net city more than $50,000 per year Granting temporary-use permits to seven marijuana dispensaries could net the cash-strapped City of Penticton $52,500 in licensing fees, council is expected to hear at its meeting tonight. Planning manager Blake Laven in his report recommends the city charge marijuana dispensaries a $5,000 licensing fee, in addition to other levies that go along with starting a business. He's also recommending council attach 10 conditions to the temporary-use permits, issuance of which would first require consultation with neighbours. Those conditions include: [continues 410 words]
Sadly kids are not told the truth very often like 100 people die each day directly from tobacco use. It must make them wonder why tobacco is legal while no one has ever died directly from cannabis use which is illegal. Another sad fact is underage drinking was much higher during the prohibition of alcohol and only went down after booze was legal again. If you understand history you are less likely to repeat its mistakes. Doug Sharpe (Herald, Nov. 21) believes the Liberals are to blame for everything wrong in our nation yet these are the same problems that the Conservatives failed to fix. [continues 51 words]
Dear Editor: This is in response to the letter entitled "Once addicted, addicted for life" by Ralph Wand of Penticton (Herald, Nov. 28). Judging by his letter, I would only have to guess that Mr. Wand is completely ignorant and uneducated when it comes to marijuana. I have many friends past and present who smoke pot and have never ever tried anything more potent in the form of chemical drugs. Let's substitute "booze" for "pot" in his letter for a second. Here goes. [continues 319 words]
Businesses in Penticton's downtown core will be polled this week on the contentious issue of marijuana dispensaries. "The Downtown Penticton Association cannot endorse or support the illegal use, temporary or otherwise, of any retail space in downtown Penticton," DPA executive director Lynn Allin said in an interview with The Herald. The issue is scheduled to come before Penticton city council at its Dec. 6 meeting, when temporary-use permits could be allowed for as many as seven dispensaries in Penticton. Three of them are for locations on Westminster Avenue, three on Main Street (two of which are downtown and one in the 1600 block) and one on Martin Street. [continues 253 words]
Dear Editor: The federal government legalized euthanasia up against the backdrop of a rash of suicides on First Nations reserves and at a time when there was (and still is) no national suicide strategy or national palliative care strategy in place. Now, while people are dying by the hundreds from an epidemic of opioid drug use, the federal government marches on with their plan to legalize marijuana. It can't be just me. Others must see the blindness of our Members of Parliament in Ottawa. But you know who isn't blind? Our children. They are watching our government make these kinds of decisions and some regrettably are believing the narratives cobbled together around the justifications for the government's reckless actions. And worse yet, some children will buy into the lie that suicide is justifiable and drug use must be okay. Because their government says so. Thank God parents and those who will vote in 2019 are watching too. Doug Sharpe Summerland [end]
There was a frank exchange of views on the subject of drug addiction after Friday's column about two addicts' outlook on the issue. As in: "Fire this writer at once. Thanks for stigmatizing this population which you clearly have zero understanding of." "Heartless." One writer credited me with some intelligence, "but it was a bit hidden today." The piece in question was my reaction to CBC Victoria's revealing interview with two addicted young women who sounded quite cavalier about the danger they were facing every day. It was written mostly out of frustration over the absence of any indication they were thinking of changing course. [continues 592 words]
Dear Editor: The Royal Bank of Canada has stated its policy on industries or businesses which deal with products involving marijuana. The bank has stated that it will not loan money to any company or business which deals with marijuana. The rationale the bank gives for this policy is that is too much of a financial risk for the bank to undertake. This comes on the eve of marijuana becoming legalized in Canada and flies in the face of all the evidence which states that marijuana is a very useful medication for thousands of Canadians. [continues 228 words]
City politicians, never shy about demanding more money from beleaguered taxpayers, are now trying to get a cut of future cannabis taxes. In last year's Liberal election platform, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to legalize marijuana, touting a "new system of strict marijuana sales and distribution, with appropriate federal and provincial excise taxes applied." By leaving out the possibility of city taxes, Trudeau raised the hackles of mayors across the nation. Now the mayors are pushing back - they want a piece of the green. [continues 465 words]
City staff working on rules to govern pot shops before Ottawa moves to decriminalize drug Penticton is set to become the first community in the Okanagan to regulate the budding medical marijuana dispensary business. Council by a 5-2 vote on Tuesday directed staff to begin consulting with the public and drafting rules to govern pot shops ahead of the federal government's planned decriminalization of marijuana. Other communities in B.C. that have adopted a similar stance include Victoria, Squamish and Port Alberni. [continues 365 words]
Dr. David Hepburn to speak in Penticton on Sept.14 about benefits of cannabis Cannabis can be an effective medication when properly prescribed says UBC medical instructor, syndicated columnist and physician for the Olympic Games, Dr. David Hepburn. "I used to be opposed to it (medical cannabis) as everyone else, but I was open-minded and I listened to patients. I've learned from them. They're interested in getting help, not high," Hepburn said. The Victoria-based physician will be in Penticton on Wednesday, Sept. 14, speaking on the appropriate use and legal aspects of medical cannabis. [continues 403 words]
