Illegal booths continue to operate in downtown square despite mayor's vow to crack down After Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said to "stay tuned" to see how the city and police plan to oust illegal pot vendors from the Vancouver Art Gallery square, a handful of vendors were still operating an open drug market there. Darren Tarry, owner of DZ Buddz, is one of the unlicensed marijuana vendors regularly setting up shop on the south side of the Vancouver Art Gallery. [continues 694 words]
Growers swapping produce for marijuana A large-scale multinational Delta vegetable producer is swapping out its tomato plants for pot plants in a 1.1-million-square-foot greenhouse because it says it can make more than 10 times the money. Greenhouses operated by Village Farms International in Delta: If various levels of government allow it, the facilities here will be converted into marijuana growing greenhouses. JASON PAYNE/ PNG Village Farms International also has plans to expand five times that scale, resulting in a warning from Delta Mayor Lois Jackson about the future of farms on Agricultural Land Reserve. [continues 421 words]
Council accused of missing the mark to show they're tough on crime Dennis Robinson of the Thunderbird Fast Draw Club might have welcomed a quick-draw contest to settle a fight over a gun show with Surrey city council, but he and other gun enthusiasts instead were strung up with red tape. It's overkill, I don't think (gangsters) would be using a ball and musket in the drug turf wars in Surrey. Robinson was hoping to demonstrate his club's fast-draw competitions at this weekend's B.C. Rod and Gun Show at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds. Using wax bullets, shooters compete to see how fast they can draw their firearms from their holsters to shoot a target. [continues 386 words]
INSITE MODEL: Vancouver Coastal's chief medical health officer calls on feds to help save lives Vancouver's top doctor is calling for the new federal Liberal government to scrap a law she said was designed to ban supervised heroin injection sites and to allow more sites to open across B.C. Dr. Patricia Daly, chief medical health officer of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, said B.C. needs more sites like Insite, the first and only government-approved supervised injection site in North America, because evidence shows it helps save lives. [continues 507 words]
A marijuana shop that used cartoon characters in a TV commercial was among advertisers who violated a voluntary advertising standards code last year. Advertising Standards Canada in 2013 received nearly 1,300 complaints across Canada about 1,100 ads that ran on TV, radio, in newspapers, through direct mail, on the Internet and through "out of home" media, according to its annual complaints report. That's down from a 10-year high of 1,800 complaints in 2011, but roughly on par with the annual numbers over the past decade. [continues 378 words]
Police actions questioned in arrest of former Surrey educator on charges of drug trafficking A lawyer for a former Surrey substitute teacher arrested on drug trafficking charges near a Vancouver elementary school is hoping to beat the charges on a number of constitutional challenges. Eugenio Alfonso Bahamonde, who has pleaded not guilty to trafficking and possession of drugs for the purposes of trafficking, was arrested in his BMW X5 SUV with two baggies of marijuana, equalling 45.5 grams in total, and $1,440 in various bills rolled up in a bundle. [continues 434 words]
Squamish Valley: Police, music festival officials promise tight security After a rash of drug-related deaths and illnesses at music festivals this summer, Squamish RCMP said they'll be enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on harder drugs at the Squamish Valley Music Festival this weekend. "We are going to arrest and charge," said Sgt. Wayne Pride of the Squamish RCMP. But police will also exercise discretion depending on the type and amount of drugs. "We're not here to be heavyhanded," Pride said. "If someone is found in possession of many individually wrapped packs of cocaine, for example, we're going to take that more seriously than someone smoking a doobie in the crowd." [continues 407 words]
As many as 30 people are facing drug charges after RCMP raided 16 Kelowna and area grow-ops, including six that had licences to grow medical marijuana for personal use. Police with search warrants seized more than 10,000 plants and almost 50 kilograms of dried marijuana bud. There were 14 grams of heroin, six grams of crack cocaine, paraphernalia from the Outlaw motorcycle gang and firearms seized from one residence that was in the process of obtaining a licence to produce marijuana legally, said Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. Kris Clark. [continues 211 words]
Don't expect Washington state's new relaxed marijuana law to extend to its border crossings. A Blaine immigration lawyer said a state law passed in November that decriminalizes possession of a small amount of marijuana for personal use has led to some Canadians being refused entry to the U.S. The new lax law is state legislation but immigration and border patrol falls within federal jurisdiction. "What used to happen is they (Canadians caught with a marijuana) used to be charged criminally," said Len Saunders, a lawyer hired regularly by Canadians. [continues 200 words]
Man who led rock-bottom life can understand at-risk youth This is the first of six profiles on recipients of the 2013 Courage to Come Back Awards, presented by Coast Mental Health to six outstanding people who have overcome great obstacles only to give back to their communities. Their inspiring comebacks will be celebrated at a gala dinner at the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre on April 25. The transition from violent drug-addicted criminal to respected youth worker and First Nations artist wasn't smooth or quick for Curtis Miller Joe. [continues 690 words]
Renfrew Business Raided in February After Cops Receive Complaints A Vancouver-area man who says he operates a "medical cannabis" dispensary is facing drug charges along with his mother. Vancouver police raided the iMedikate store on Renfrew Street in February after receiving complaints from neighbours about drug activity. "We received numerous complaints about the sale of drugs and the fact that it existed close to a school," said police spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton. B.C.-wide warrants were issued for Linda Marlene Klokeid, 51, of Maple Ridge and Mark Thomas Klokeid, 30, of Burnaby. [continues 211 words]
Estranged Wife Accuses Olympic Gold Medallist of Using Pot While Caring for Son Olympic snowboarding gold medallist Ross Rebagliati is in a bitter divorce fight with the mother of their toddler with allegations of his marijuana use at the forefront of a custody battle. Alexandra Rebagliati, 33, a Kelowna real-estate agent, has accused Rebagliati - who was briefly stripped of his 1998 Winter Olympics gold medal after infamously testing positive for marijuana after the race - of smoking pot around their three-year-old son, of whom they share custody, according to an interim agreement in January. [continues 694 words]
A complaint of police misconduct by a woman strip-searched for drugs in the washroom of an Abbotsford gas station has been dismissed by a police complaints adjudicator. The woman alleged the three officers were guilty of "abuse of authority" under the Police Act for "oppressive conduct" toward her for "intentionally or recklessly searching" her, according to the adjudicator William Diebolt's report. The complainant was stopped by the officers on Aug. 15, 2009, after a prisoner they were transporting recognized her in another vehicle and suggested police would find drugs in her car because he had bought drugs from her before. [continues 290 words]
Dozens of Mission homeowners whose houses have been inspected as suspected marijuana grow operations are launching a class-action lawsuit to recoup the thousands of dollars the inspections have cost them. The district had passed a bylaw allowing authorities to inspect properties with higher-than-average hydro usage, charging the homeowners up to $10,000 for the inspection and repair fees, even when no grow ops were found. The class-action lawsuit is supported by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which is holding a press conference Wednesday to announce it. [continues 240 words]
High Electricity Bills Prompt Searches Dozens of Mission homeowners whose houses have been inspected as suspected marijuana grow operations are launching a class-action lawsuit to recoup the thousands of dollars the inspections have cost them. The district had passed a bylaw allowing authorities to inspect properties with higher than average hydro usage, charging the homeowners up to $10,000 for the inspection and repair fees, even when no grow-ops were found. The class-action lawsuit is supported by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which is holding a news conference today to announce it. [continues 212 words]
'One Of Largest Drug Busts In B.C. History . . . Hits Organized Crime Hard' Two men have been charged with drug smuggling after police seized a metric tonne of cocaine off the northern tip of Vancouver Island in what they call one of the largest drug busts in B.C.'s history. Police suspect the drugs are linked to organized crime. The 1,001 kilograms of white powder were packaged in one-kg bricks about the size of a hard-cover novel and bound with packing or duct tape. The bricks formed a metre-high wall four bricks deep with enough left over to stuff five large sports bags. [continues 292 words]
Crime Fueled By Soaring Price Of Cocaine The explosion of violence -- fueled by the soaring price of cocaine -- that rocked Metro Vancouver this week will likely escalate, gang experts predict. "You usually get a half-dozen events of this kind," said Robert Gordon, director of Simon Fraser University's criminology centre. Sgt. Shinder Kirk of the Integrated Gang Task Force said the violence tends to erupt in waves. "We know the violence occurs in cycles," said Kirk. "We also know that this violence can occur at any time." [continues 375 words]
Nearly $18 Paid For Each Methadone Dose Dispensed Addictions doctors in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside have complained for months about pharmacists luring heroin addicts for their lucrative methadone prescriptions, and say rules around dispensing fees have to change. "A lot of doctors have been frustrated by this," said Dr. Stan deVlaming, medical director for Inner City Primary Health Care for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority. "There have been numerous complaints spread over months for at least a year. . . It's a big problem, not a small one." [continues 216 words]
At Least One Pharmacy Allegedly Gave Cash to Addicts for Prescriptions A pharmacy in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside is being investigated for offering heroin addicts cash in exchange for filling their methadone prescriptions. The methadone maintenance program can be lucrative for pharmacies, representing as much as $54 million a year in provincially paid dispensing fees. "We have received at least one complaint; there may be more," said Health Minister George Abbott. "We received one letter from a Vancouver physician in January" about the practice at the pharmacy. [continues 588 words]
Metro Vancouver is one of three Canadian hubs for organized crime, crime that is becoming more sophisticated and high-tech, according to a report by Canada's spy agency. Criminal Intelligence Service Canada's 2008 report identified 900 gangs across Canada and found the drug trade remains the largest criminal activity. In B.C. alone, marijuana and grow operations generate $6 billion in revenue every year, said RCMP B.C. spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields. He said gangs are also involved in crystal meth, cocaine and heroin trafficking, identity theft, credit-card fraud, prostitution, gun smuggling, human trafficking and money laundering. [continues 384 words]
