Last week, police and school district officials announced a new course about "drug-facilitated sexual assaults" for Grade 10 students, but it's been in the works for some time. Jan Sippel, the Vancouver School Board's abuse prevention manager, said the VPD approached the board about the issue and staff have been working on the three-lesson course since 2009. It's been inserted into the Grade 10 Planning class and was piloted at Tupper, John Oliver and Gladstone secondary schools last spring. [continues 408 words]
13 Of 34 Refugee Students Mexican Mariana Ruiz took a seat in a small office at Britannia secondary during a break from studying Macbeth in English 11 Monday. When the soft-spoken teen started to speak, it was a surprise to learn she's only been in Canada for "one year and two days"--her comprehension and grammar are quite good. But the teenager is one of a growing number of Mexican refugees attending Vancouver schools after fleeing corruption and violence triggered by drug cartels. [continues 590 words]
No Evidence To Support Schoolyard 'Strawberry Quick' Warning Do you know "strawberry quick"? Coloured pink, it looks like strawberry pop rocks--the candy that sizzles and pops in your mouth--but it's actually crystal methamphetamine circulated in schoolyards to lure kids into drug use. Kids ingest it, believing it's candy, and must be rushed to hospital. The drug also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cola, cherry, grape and orange. This warning is being circulated through email as the new school year approaches. People who receive it are asked to read it and tell their kids. [continues 474 words]
Trustee Touts Drug Prevention Program The Vancouver School Board wants to expand a fledgling drug and alcohol abuse prevention program, a pilot project that began at Sir Charles Tupper and Kitsilano secondary schools in 2006/07. Called SACY--the School-Age Children and Youth substance abuse prevention program--it's since expanded to seven schools, but officials envision it being implemented across the district. The program is aimed at prevention, delaying teens' use of illegal substances and reducing drug and alcohol use for those already immersed in the culture by focusing on four areas: youth, parents, teacher training and classroom curriculum, and policy. [continues 434 words]
Pot Activist Plans to Learn French in Jail Vancouver's Prince of Pot, Marc Emery, remains an unapologetic marijuana proponent despite facing five years in prison. He was arrested by Canadian police in 2005 at the request of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and faced extradition to the U.S. for selling pot seeds over the Internet. An extradition hearing was scheduled for later this month, but less than a week ago Emery agreed to a tentative five-year prison deal, which prohibits him from being eligible for early release. The agreement must be approved by American and Canadian courts and is contingent on keeping Emery's co-accused Michelle Reaney, who has Crohn's disease, and Greg Williams, out of jail. [continues 569 words]
A recent wedding announcement in a local paper expressed hope that the couple spends many happy years together in beautiful British Columbia. Considering one of the betrothed is Marc Emery, that seems unlikely. The so-called Prince of Pot faces extradition to the United States for selling marijuana seeds over the Internet to American buyers, but that didn't dissuade him from popping the question to Jodie Giesz-Ramsay last January. The pair marry at the Queen Elizabeth Park Rose Garden, July 23. It's both an optimistic and practical plan. [continues 466 words]
A lack of research on why and how young people use drugs in Vancouver has prompted Vancouver Coastal Health to survey 16- to 24-year-olds' attitudes and experience with drugs. More than 450 youth will be interviewed over a three-month period to gauge drug use patterns, trends and causes that lead to harmful use. "There's not a great deal of this type of surveillance work currently done in Canada. This is commonplace in Australia where I'm from," said Dr. Cameron Duff, research lead for Vancouver Coastal Health's youth addiction services. "I was working on research like this in Melbourne. It's also common in the States and the UK." [continues 375 words]
Nearly 300 Dunbarites crowded into a church hall Monday night demanding to know what civic election candidates think about a controversial proposal to create housing units for recovering addicts at 16th Avenue and Dunbar. Many left the meeting, hosted by the Dunbar Residents' Association, confused about how the proposal came to be, although candidates promised public consultations would be held before any final decisions were made for the property's use. The city bought the land last spring to build social housing. According to one option under consideration, that housing could be provided to drug and alcohol addicts who've been clean for 60 days. The city is working with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority on a citywide supported housing plan, and the recommended use of the site will come from that plan. [continues 455 words]
A potential housing facility at 16th Avenue and Dunbar for people with drug and alcohol addiction is being taken by local residents as further proof they are being ignored by city hall. The property, on the southeast corner, extending from 16th to 17th avenues and from Dunbar east down to 16th Avenue, was purchased by the city for supportive social housing. According to the Dunbar Residents' Association, which met with the city last month, the site would provide 32,000 square feet of development with retail space on the ground floor and housing units above. It would be managed by a non-profit society and could cater to addicts who've been dry for 60 days. [continues 399 words]
A visit to Kabul, Afghanistan for a drug policy conference reconfirmed former mayor Philip Owen's support for Vancouver's Four Pillars approach. Owen, who was invited to speak at the late September event organized by the Senlis Council, a European-based drug policy think tank formed in 2002, said many countries present supported or were interested in Vancouver's policies. "I guess you wonder, is Vancouver wrong in what it initiated? No. Would Vancouver do it again? Yes," he said. "You come back with confidence that you're on the right side of the page with the world community-you understand what they're doing and they understand what you're doing. Vancouver is on the map." [continues 581 words]
When former mayor Philip Owen was pushing drug policy reform in this city, he likely never thought he'd need kidnapping and ransom insurance to spread the message across the globe. But three years after leaving municipal politics, Owen and wife Brita are preparing for a trip to Afghanistan where he's been invited to participate in the Kabul International Symposium on Global Drug Policy in late September. It's organized by the Senlis Council, a European-based drug policy think tank formed in 2002. [continues 680 words]
Shortly before he's scheduled to speak at the Maritimes United for Medical Marijuana music festival in Lawrencetown, Nova Scotia, Marc Emery heads to town for a bite to eat. The 47-year-old well-known pot activist orders chowder for lunch, but decides it's too runny and requests something else. Slowly the restaurant empties of customers, and a man sits down at the counter to speak to the waitress. She seems nervous and appears to want Emery to leave. [continues 3439 words]
Kirk Tousaw is ready for battle. The campaign manager for the B.C. Marijuana Party is determined to derail U.S. attempts to extradite Marc Emery, along with two other marijuana activists, for marijuana-related federal charges south of the border. Whether he and supporters will succeed is in question, but Tousaw, who learned of the arrests right after finishing a law society bar exam, is convinced ordinary Canadians are behind the cause and oppose U.S. attempts to influence drug policy in this country. [continues 490 words]
Special agent Jeffrey Eig, spokes-person at the DEA office's Seattle Field Division, doesn't mince words when talking about Marc Emery, who faces extradition to the U.S. on marijuana-related charges. "Mr. Emery was engaged in a criminal enterprise when he was sending 75 per cent of his seeds to the United States. We went after him because he's a major criminal-a head of a criminal organization," Eig said Thursday by phone from Seattle. "His organization is tied to multiple marijuana grows and marijuana seeders in the United States, as well as illegal money movement, and when you consider in the United States that there are more young people in treatment from marijuana than all other drugs combined, it's a serious issue and we're going to attack the problem by taking off the leadership." [continues 423 words]
Christmas may be over, but that hasn't stopped the B.C. Civil Liberties Association from drawing up a naughty and nice list for 2004. Both the Vancouver Police Department and TransLink landed in the group's bad books for a pair of controversial decisions. Police are criticized for what the association characterizes as "their silly public show of force in closing the Da Kine Caf, down." The Commercial Drive business was raided for selling pot last October. Given the department's $5 million deficit, the BCCLA called the move "a shocking waste" of police resources. [continues 398 words]
Council will decide Tuesday whether to endorse a controversial proposal for a 39-unit rehab centre on Fraser Street for mentally ill drug addicts. Last week, dozens of opponents and proponents of the project lined up to speak about the issue during two nights of public hearings. Opponents argue the centre will put children at nearby schools in danger and that another location should be considered. The site is less than a block north of John Oliver secondary and two blocks west of Mackenzie elementary. [continues 419 words]
Eight years after researchers proposed free prescription heroin to treat addicts, the project is close to reality. Recruitment for the short-term scientific trial, known as the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI), will start this month, with the first clients beginning treatment early in the new year. Endless hurdles have delayed the study's startup. Not only did a site have to be found that neighbours didn't object to, but several Health Canada conditions had to be met. Researchers are waiting for an exemption under the Narcotics Act to prescribe the drug. But the end is in sight, which comes as a relief to clinical lead Dr. David Marsh. [continues 490 words]
The Vancouver School Board won't try to derail a proposed 39-unit drug recovery centre for the mentally ill near John Oliver secondary and Mackenzie elementary schools. Triage Emergency Services Society, along with the city and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, wants to open the four-storey facility at 5616 Fraser St. despite widespread opposition from neighbouring residents and business owners-hundreds of whom showed up at John Oliver for two public meetings in early October. COPE trustee Allen Wong also attended. Last Tuesday, Wong told the school board's planning and facilities committee about the meeting, and members agreed to draw up a letter to city council indicating the recovery centre does not constitute an "incompatible land use" near a school. [continues 341 words]
The city was told about the controversial Da Kine pot cafe's intention to openly sell marijuana at least eight months ago, according to East Side community policing centre workers. Chris Taulu, executive director of the Collingwood Community Policing Centre, said Da Kine owner Carol Gwilt met with neighbourhood groups late last year when residents got wind of the cafe's plan. Gwilt apparently had first considered opening in Collingwood before settling on the Commercial Drive site, according to Taulu. "We told them if they got a proper licence to legally sell and if they had an agreement with [Vancouver] Coastal Health, they could open [in Collingwood]. Other than that, no," she said. "They said, 'Oh no. We're opening up on Commercial Drive.' They were very open about it." [continues 476 words]
The Vancouver Coastal Health Authority has asked the school board to help it track the number of discarded needles in the city. In March of 2004, 343 needles were recovered from a one-block radius surrounding Strathcona elementary school. During the same month, 80 were picked up around Lord Roberts. Although far fewer were collected near Britannia, MacDonald, Grandview and Queen Alexandra schools, the troublesome problem of drug users dumping dirty needles exists in those neighbourhoods as well. Fear that blood-borne pathogens will spread to adults or children who come into contact with the needles prompted the health authority to launch needle exchange and recovery programs several years ago. [continues 235 words]
