About 40 Algonquins of Pikwakanagan took part in a community walk Wednesday to demonstrate solidarity against illicit drug use and trafficking in the community. Organizers said the walk is the first in a series of initiatives organized by the community's relatively new "War of Drugs" Task Force. The community walk's theme was 'protect the next generation -our children, our future.' "What we want to try and do is educate people and draw awareness," said Pikwakanagan Chief Kirby Whiteduck. "As a group of concerned individuals including council, we realize that illicit drug use has a negative impact on families, on individuals and on our community." [continues 335 words]
Only Facility In Renfrew County To Serve People Fighting Opiate Addiction The imminent opening of a methadone clinic in Pembroke is raising some eyebrows -and some hackles -in the city. The clinic is located at 140 Pembroke Street West, in the former location of Pembroke Jewellers in the middle of downtown. Officially it opens on Monday. The clinic is one of 25 in Ontario operated by Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres (OATC). Rhonda Daiter, director of operations for OATC, said there is a need for a clinic in this area. [continues 1314 words]
Drivers Suspected of Drug Use Face Fine for Refusing Test A new federal law that came into effect July 2 seeks to penalize drug impaired and alcohol impaired drivers equally. Bill C-32 puts alcohol and drugs on equal footing for roadside checks for impaired driving by police. Previous to the enactment of Bill C-32, a police officer who suspected a driver of being impaired by drugs could request that the driver undergo voluntary testing to confirm impairment, however, there was no penalty if the driver refused. [continues 593 words]
Choices Have Consequences And The Opp Want Children Making The Right Choices. This was the message delivered to 43 Grade 6 students at Rockwood Public School by Const. Beth Ethier of the Upper Ottawa Valley Detachment of the OPP through the DARE Program. DARE is an acronym for both Drug Abuse Resistance Education and also Define, Assess, Respond and Evaluate. The program seeks, through preventative education, to provide children with alternatives to substance abuse and succumbing to peer pressure. "We cover lots of different topics that young people are faced with these days," Const. Ethier said. "I think it's a good idea to give them some information and a heads up before they head off to high school." [continues 216 words]
Gallant Supports Crackdown Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MP Cheryl Gallant is solidly behind the federal government's plan to crackdown on drug-impaired driving. The changes to the Criminal Code of Canada were recently tabled in the House of Commons. They seek to give police improved powers to apprehend and test drivers suspected of being impaired by drugs, strength the penalties to those that drive impaired and generate awareness of the problem. "Drug-impaired drivers are involved in an estimated one out of every eight fatal collisions on our streets and this new legislation clearly demonstrates that Canada's new government is prepared to take action to prevent future incidents. The objective of this proposed legislation is to avoid reckless deaths and injuries of innocent people," Ms. Gallant said. [continues 653 words]
WILNO -- The Killaloe Rastaman, AKA Rick Reimer, believes a lack of police understanding led to his arrest early Sunday morning at the Atlantic Hemp Fest in Nova Scotia. The marijuana activist was charged with being intoxicated in a public place and held overnight in a holding cell in Kingston, Nova Scotia, a situation Mr. Reimer believes could have been avoided if police better understood the rights of those granted the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. "This just makes it so obvious that the police have taken an ostrich attitude about medical marijuana (and stuck their heads in the sand)," Mr. Reimer said from his home outside of Wilno on Tuesday. "Maybe they don't like it, but they are going to have to accept that it's a part of society and therefore taxpayers and the government have taken a different attitude but it's like the police have said, 'we're not going to learn about this.'" [continues 84 words]
