Grow-Op Charges Stayed by Justice A judge has stayed charges against two men who were accused in Niagara's largest-ever pot bust, and has blasted senior Niagara Regional Police officers -- including Chief Wendy Southall -- for doing nothing about what he called misconduct by three cops. In a scathing written decision Tuesday, Judge Peter Hambly maintained the three officers who spearheaded a May 2008 grow op bust that netted $16 million in marijuana and eight suspects deliberately hid the name of a tipster who led them to the illegal enterprise from the courts. [continues 557 words]
The man in the middle of a court case that could see Canada's pot laws go up in smoke celebrated the landmark ruling by turning his green thumbs back to cultivating medical marijuana. St. Catharines native Matthew Mernagh said he planted some germinated marijuana seeds Tuesday night, hours after learning a judge threw out pot production and possession charges against him and deemed the federal medical marijuana program unconstitutional. "I'm starting already," Mernagh said Wednesday morning. "There's no reason for me to wait. I'm exempt from the marijuana law. I'm not going to wait." [continues 773 words]
Signs used by Niagara Regional Police to alert the public when it's conducting marijuana grow-op raids are unlike ones that landed police in another Ontario city in hot water with the provincial privacy commissioner, the service's deputy chief says. Cornwall's police department came under fire last year after it began a controversial practice of posting signs on the lawns of homes that had been searched for illegal drugs. The large signs carried the notice, "Drug Search Warrant Executed At ," giving investigators space to fill in the street address. [continues 641 words]
The big white van isn't something you'd want to see parked in your neighbour's driveway. At least double the length of a typical family minivan and tall enough to stand in, this one comes with large magnetic signs that can easily be stuck on the door panels. There's no mistaking the message conveyed by the big black lettering on the signs. Marihuana (sic) Grow-Op Raid. Police Raid in Progress. The magnets, which would cover about half a normal fridge, aim to turn heads at houses across Niagara where the owners shy away from the limelight and hope to blend in - at least from the view on the street. [continues 496 words]
Police are tracking the fallout of a large Niagara drug bust that netted 20 people, waiting to see who tries to pick up the slack in the local narcotics trade. "The key to investigations like this is not only taking those people out, but monitoring the streets and finding out who's going to take over that business from these guys," said Hamilton Police Insp. Ted Davis, who oversaw the joint forces operation. Davis was speaking Wednesday as Niagara Regional Police displayed cash, guns and drugs seized as part of a nine-month investigation into a St. Catharines drug-trafficking ring. [continues 390 words]
Mornings bring the greatest agony. Those seven or eight hours of sleep most people count on for rejuvenation leave Matthew Mernagh in physical torment. His thin body stiffens during the idle hours he's in bed. It's as though the cartilage in his joints and between the discs of his spine has been somehow removed during the night and replaced by quick-setting cement. Rising from bed and trying to unlock his frame from the rigour mortis-like grip of severe osteoarthritis sends currents of pain radiating along his crumbling spine, through his legs and down the bones of his swollen arms to his clenched hands. [continues 1715 words]
The organization representing Niagara pharmacies isn't opposed to a Health Canada plan to make government-certified marijuana available through drug stores. But it doesn't expect the proposed change to generate many sales because so few people are approved to use medical marijuana, said Niagara Falls pharmacist Brian White, interim president of the Pharmacists' Association of Niagara Peninsula. Currently, there are only 78 people across the country who have been certified to buy Health Canada marijuana. Even if pharmacies were permitted to sell the drug for medicinal purposes, it wouldn't make sense for them to stock it unless there were more government-approved users, said White. [continues 441 words]
Police charge 18-year-old for allegedly supplying girl with the illegal drug NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. -- What began as a pre-birthday bash for a 15-year-old Niagara girl nearly turned to tragedy when a dose of the hallucinogenic drug ecstasy left her barely clinging to life. And Niagara Regional Police have charged a Hamilton teen for allegedly supplying the girl with the illegal drug. Suffering a severe adverse reaction to the potent pill, the girl was rushed to a London hospital unconscious and in critical condition early Sunday from Greater Niagara General Hospital in Niagara Falls. [continues 282 words]
