Investigators have confirmed that Dennis Cheeseman and Shawn Hennessey, the brothers-in-law charged this week with four counts each of first degree murder in the deaths of four RCMP constables on a farm near Mayerthorpe in March of 2005, did not fire the bullets that killed the Constable Anthony Gordon, Constable Leo Johnston, Constable Brock Myrol and Constable Peter Schiemann. Nor were they present--or, in all likelihood, even remotely nearby--when James Roszko shot the officers and himself dead at his farm on the morning of Mar 3. [continues 338 words]
You have to hand it to the City of Lethbridge and brave, morally upright civic politicians like Mayor Bob Tarleck. According to Tarleck, city hall was flooded with angry phone calls after a January performance at the city's arena by California-based gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg at which the D-O-double-G and a good portion of the crowd were--gasp!--smokin' the reefer. "The entertainers were smoking marijuana on stage and encouraging the audience to do the same," Tarleck reported with disgust as he proudly announced new rules that will force concert promoters in the small southern city to consult police before booking an act, researching the artists' past behaviour and consulting venues in other cities that have booked them in the past. Performers deemed troublesome will have to post a "behaviour bond" of several thousand dollars before hitting the stage, money they will only get back if their performance stays within the bounds of decency. [continues 247 words]
Sick Canadians who get their certified medicinal marijuana from Health Canada might want to consider finding a new dealer. According to documents obtained by the Canadian Press under the federal Access to Information Act, Health Canada pays its sole marijuana supplier, Saskatoon-based Prairie Plant Systems, $328.75 a kg for cannabis grown by the company in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon, MB. The pot is then sold to authorized users for $150 (not including GST, of course) per 30-gram bag. This works out to about $5 000 a kg, which is a mark-up of over 1 500 per cent. [continues 115 words]
If you notice a bit of a common thread running through this week's edition of Vue, try not to freak out, as it's entirely intentional. You are not high. Well, actually, chances are you might be, which is kind of the point. Based on information both official and anecdotal, it's clear that drugs are, well, everywhere these days. Whether you blame it on the we' ve-got-money-to-burn, work-hard-and-play-harder attitude pervasive in our currently booming economy or on increasing social acceptance of and openness about recreational drug use, the fact is that more and more people are smoking, snorting or popping all kinds of things for fun in this town, but thanks to the (admittedly dissipating, but still very pervasive) social stigma surrounding the consumption of illicit substances-not to mention the fact that most are still very much illegal in this country-there is a severe lack of frank, dispassionate information available about all of these assorted smokables and snortables and what have you. [continues 288 words]
The list of chemicals anti-doping officials look for when testing high-performance athletes is long and varied. Substances ranging from potent illegal steroids to many common cold medications are banned, and athletes found with even minute levels of these drugs in their systems face incredibly harsh penalties, including suspension, punishment and the revoking of medals and titles, not to mention the damage done to the reputation of an athlete who is branded as a drug cheat. This uncompromising punitive approach is justified by the noble goal of protecting the purity of sport and preventing the cheats from gaining an advantage over athletes that follow the rules and remain clean. Few athletes, officials or spectators would ever argue that competitors trying to gain an edge by using illegal and potentially dangerous steroids or other capability-increasing drugs ought not be exposed and severely punished. [continues 408 words]
The "longest undefended border in the world" is becoming anything but. Jets and helicopters began continuous patrols of the airspace above the Montana-Alberta border starting on Mon, Oct 16, coinciding with the opening of the Great Falls Air Branch at the airport in Great Falls, Montana by the US Customs and Border Protection, part of the US Department of Homeland Security. The base is the third of five air patrol centres planned for the US-Canada border. Detachments are already up and running in Bellingham, Washington and Plattsburg, New York; bases in Detroit, Michigan and Grand Forks, North Dakota will open next year. [continues 323 words]
The Government of Canada is looking for a new pusher. Health Canada's five-year, $5.75 million contract with its current supplier of medicinal marijuana is up for renewal at the end of September and, like it does with any public project, the government will be soliciting firms and individuals to bid on the marijuana contract. The government's current supplier--Saskatoon-based Prairie Plant Systems Inc, which grows its marijuana 360 metres down a copper and zinc mine's shaft in Flin Flon, MB--will likely bid on the contract, and could be selected again, although Canadians for Safe Access, a BC-based medicinal marijuana advocacy group, is encouraging the government to get its pot from a variety of different growers to offer users more selection. [continues 86 words]
Vue Asks People Of Faith If The Demon Weed Is Really That Sinful Marijuana is not good for you. Sorry kids, but despite what the dreadlocked chick on your bus or your Pink Floyd-loving uncle or your flaky, aging-hippie 12th-grade Social Studies teacher might have led you to believe, smoking marijuana is, generally speaking, harmful to your health. Pot smoke contains known carcinogens, and smoking weed can cause respiratory problems, as well as a drop in the hormones responsible for growth and development, to name just a few of its less-pleasant impacts. [continues 889 words]
An Ottawa man has been acquitted of driving while under the influence of drugs after the judge agreed that there was no way to assess what effect being stoned had on the ability to safely operate a vehicle. Even though 33-year-old Stephen Ayotte had admitted to police that he had smoked "a couple of joints" before getting behind the wheel on May 1, 2005, Justice Richard Lajoie found him not guilty of impaired driving, citing a problem with the law's definition of "impaired." [continues 98 words]
