Two children were found home alone in a suspected illegal marijuana grow op Saturday, after cops responded to a 911 hang-up call. The call came in just about noon, but when the line was disconnected police were dispatched to the Erin Woods home to determine there was no one needing help. "There were two young children in the house, aged 10 and 12, and no adults and a marijuana grow op," Insp. Rick Tuza said. Ron Cyr, who lives nearby figured there were skunks in his community and even fortified his shed to keep the critters out. [continues 611 words]
Province-wide consultations are expected to start in upcoming weeks to see what changes can be made on the provincial front to better fight marijuana grow operations. Spearheaded by Alberta Solicitor General Jonathan Denis, consultations will be not only with police but communities and others impacted by illegal grow operations. Staff Sgt. Tom Hanson, who worked with the Green Team in recent years, said there are a number of rules which could be introduced by the province to help better deal with the scourge. [continues 468 words]
After a rash of fatalities and deaths linked to ecstasy, Crimestoppers is reminding people they take drug-related tips. Averaging about 10 new tips a day, the bulk are drug-related -- everything from information on marijuana grow ops to drug dealing, spokesman Terry Hathaway said. Taking drug tips isn't anything new for the organization, but seeing a string of deaths linked to ecstasy underscores the need to help police find those peddling it, and get some of them off the streets. [continues 64 words]
Calgary's top cop says parents shouldn't delay until their child has drugs in their pockets to talk to them about the perils of drug use. Instead, starting when they are as young as seven or eight years old they can better prepare youngsters for the inevitable introduction into a world where curiosity, peer pressure and drug-dealers posing as pals can lure them if they aren't taught to avoid the hook. Chief Rick Hanson says now is the time "for parents to become parents," and arm children with the means to make good decisions. [continues 348 words]
It was in a duffle bag tossed into a high-end SUV zipping along the Yellowhead Highway. And in an Edmonton parking lot, police intercepted the courier before he could hawk his stash of little yellow ecstasy tablets, an estimated 30,000 doses, presumably being shuttled from B.C. into the Alberta market. "The bag was on the back seat in plain view," says RCMP Cpl. Mike Polegi with the Edmonton drug section. It's just one example of how dealers move ecstasy under the police radar and, although it was seized by police, a glimpse of how easy it is to do so. [continues 304 words]
Up to 25 Hospitalized by Deadly Ecstasy While some die dropping E, many have close calls. "Although the fatalities are tragic, the number of those who were hospitalized and survived is at least two to three times higher than those who died," says Dr. Mark Yarema, the Poison and Drug Information Service medical director and an ER physician. Since mid-December there have been between 20 and 25 patients who have been hospitalized and tested positive for ingesting PMMA, Yarema says. [continues 401 words]
Seeing ecstasy long lumped into the category of so-called softer drugs is a hurdle officials have to clear before the message it's dangerous will be heard. It has been around for decades and as seen in the recent rash of deaths in B.C. and Alberta, the additive of PMMA has made it even more potentially lethal. There are various batches with everything from matchsticks to battery acid and antifreeze used in producing it. "These drugs are all manufactured in different ways," says Dr. Mark Yarema, an emergency doctor who dealt with a number of the recent cases. [continues 474 words]
Calgary cops are considering offering an ecstasy amnesty in the wake of a rash of recent deaths. As members of the Calgary Police Commission met Tuesday, Commissioner Charles Pratt raised the possibility of offering an amnesty to quell a spate of fatal overdoses linked to a tainted version of the party drug. Noting the money-making drug is clearly lining peoples' pockets, Pratt questioned whether an amnesty would be a way to get some of the deadly drugs off the streets before there are more victims. [continues 390 words]
Two young women were in a Calgary hospital Saturday, one clinging to life, after overdoses on the notorious and often-deadly drug ecstasy. These latest overdoses come a day after police revealed they are probing a sixth death tied to e containing the deadly PMMA chemical. Insp. Chris Butler said a 911 call alerted authorities to a downtown hotel about 6:30 a.m., where an unconscious woman in her 20s was taken to Foothills hospital along with another woman, also in her 20s, who was not in medical distress. [continues 472 words]
CALGARY - The feds want to phase out licensing individuals to grow medicinal marijuana in Canadian communities. Under proposed regulatory changes to the Marihuana Medical Access Program, a new supply and distribution system would be established using "only licenced commercial producers," which would be the "only legal source of dried marihuana." While it's unclear what exactly changes might look like or when they might happen, some claim the current system is flawed. Many support a move to take legal grow-ops out of residential communities, albeit late in the game. [continues 538 words]
City officials and cops are concerned about risks posed by legal marijuana grow ops, those sanctioned by the federal government, running anonymously in Calgary communities. Despite being given the nod by Health Canada to see pot plants produced, the operations can pose the same peril seen with illegal outfits. A southwest house was shuttered Wednesday after officials from the city's safety response unit and health officials deemed it unfit for human habitation. It stemmed from a warrant under provincial safety codes and issues including wiring, ventilation and mould. [continues 400 words]
Whether it's needles, condoms or crack pipes, officials doling out tools of the trade is tantamount to giving up on those battling addictions. Unless the effort goes beyond simply enabling, it risks being a short-term, simplistic and flawed solution in lieu of one which works. Retired Calgary police drug expert Pat Tetley says giving crack pipes to addicts is "an admission we have failed in harm reduction and perpetrating the offence." It is, he says, "nonsense." Alberta Health officials disagree and have, thousands of times, demonstrated that position by distributing free pipes quietly in recent years. [continues 617 words]
CALGARY - Cops say recent cases of people hospitalized after using cocaine tainted with a dangerous veterinary drug is another reminder illicit substances come with no quality-control. Winnipeg health officials blame cocaine tainted with levamisole, a chemical compound developed to treat intestinal worms, for sending two individuals to hospital with a potentially fatal illness over the past two weeks. Similar tainting of cocaine has also been found in Alberta in the last year. Calgary Drug Unit acting Staff Sgt. Collin Harris said cases of levamisole-tainted cocaine have been documented across Canada and the United States. [continues 213 words]
Calgary cops say recent cases of people hospitalized after using cocaine tainted with a dangerous veterinary drug is another reminder illicit substances come with no quality-control. Winnipeg health officials blame cocaine tainted with levamisole, a chemical compound developed to treat intestinal worms, for sending the two individuals to hospital with a potentially fatal illness over the past two weeks. Similar tainting of cocaine has also been found in Alberta in the last year. Drug Unit acting Staff Sgt. Collin Harris said cases of levamisole-tainted cocaine, which can lead to a rare and potentially deadly illness, are documented across Canada and the States. [continues 334 words]
Plans to clean up the city's core may shift some crime to other communities but ultimately lead to an overall drop in incidents, police say. This month, 62 beat patrol officers will be on the streets in the inner city -- a posse out to combat crime from social disorder to drug dealing. Chief Rick Hanson said while results won't be overnight, plans are in place to save the downtown from otherwise certain decay. "We hope people don't think we will create a nirvana ... (but) we recognize there are a whole lot of issues and problems and we have a plan," he said yesterday. [continues 244 words]
Dog Successfully Sniffs Out Contraband In Jails DRUMHELLER -- Zoom has found them hidden in chocolate bars, concealed in boxes of clothing detergent, stuffed in pillows, bags and balloons or in the soles of shoes. His habit of hounding - searching inmate cells and visitors - has uncovered everything from weapons and ammunition to drugs from crack cocaine to meth, marijuana, ecstasy and heroin. The Correctional Service Canada detection dog recognizes more than a dozen drugs and can sniff out weapons, ammunition and cellphones that have traces of drugs on them, which they often do. [continues 305 words]
Calgarian In U.S. Prison Wants To Come Home He was found with $350,000 in cash in October 2007. He's one of dozens of Canadians-turned-criminals across the border wanting to come home to do their time. Williams said her brother's international transfer was approved nine months ago but has bogged down in bureaucracy, with the feds sitting on processing necessary documents to make it happen. Richardson said it costs money to bring a criminal back to Canada and house them, but the ultimate intent behind such transfers is to try to see inmates rehabilitated rather than turned into a hardened criminals. [continues 128 words]
Seized Since 2006 Legislation Gave Province Power More than 100 kids have been apprehended from drug houses or drug dealers in Alberta since the province introduced Canada's first legislation to protect youngsters from such situations. "Essentially, drug activity has been increasing - unfortunately, innocent kids are often caught up in the middle of it," said Alberta Children and Youth Services spokesman Lisa Elliot. The legislation, enacted in November 2006, is designed to protect children from parents or caregivers who put them at risk by drug trafficking or manufacturing. [continues 271 words]
At Least 55 Seized From Calgary-Area Grow-Ops More than 100 kids have been taken from their families since the province introduced the nation's first legislation to protect youngsters being raised in drug houses or by drug dealers. Between November 2006, when the Drug Endangered Children Act (DECA) became law, and the end of this February, at least 55 are from the Calgary area -- accounting for more than half of the children seized under the act. "That's a huge number out of the Calgary region," said Calgary and Area Child and Family Services spokeswoman Dawn Delaney. [continues 344 words]
If there's a positive following an accidental leak of erroneous information which created worry for parents and school staff, police say it's to remind kids repeatedly not to be tempted by drugs. Earlier this week, an internal e-mail sent by two detectives to drug unit colleagues was somehow sent out to the public. It spread through the city looking like an official police memo warning of a new form of crystal meth, dubbed "strawberry quick," designed to appeal to children with its pink colour and strawberry scent. The e-mail said the kid-friendly methamphetamine is being handed out in school yards and unsuspecting people end up in hospital. [continues 96 words]
