Errol Dammert just wants to drink his tea. However, given his tea contains marijuana, Dammert has had quite a struggle to do what he believes is his constitutional right. The 59-year-old Osoyoos man suffered a severely fractured spine in a motorcycle accident in 1984 and still suffers from chronic back, shoulder and leg pain. "When I smoke marijuana, it doesn't really take the pain away, but it takes my mind away from the pain," he said. He's now mired in a two-year battle with the justice system as he faces sentencing on two charges of marijuana production. [continues 462 words]
Penticton Indian Band Court Worker Lloyd Lecoy Straightened His Life Out When He Quit Drinking Alcohol and drug abuse is being handed down from generation to generation among First Nations people, says aboriginal filmmaker Tracey Jack. "The war on drugs and alcohol in our communities is being lost," said the Penticton Indian band member, who produced a half-hour film called REZcovery that will soon air on the Aboriginal Peoples' TV Network. This is National Addictions Awareness Week, and the band has scheduled workshops, a play, a walk, bowling, a banquet and other activities celebrating an addiction-free lifestyle. [continues 413 words]
A Penticton man suffering from AIDS has been given the nod by the British Columbia Compassion Club Society in Vancouverto receive a monthly supply of marijuana for medicinal purposes. James Banko, 61, joins a growing number of South Okanagan residents with life-threatening diseases who are quietly tapping into a legally sanctioned source of the weed. Banko will have approximately 20 cigarettes a month sent to him by the society's authorized growers, for which he will pay a nominal fee of $30. [continues 436 words]
A tarnished gem on the West Bench is to get a major facelift that residents hope will turn the park back into a place for families and push out the potheads. "Mariposa Park is full of druggers. It's so bad police won't even touch them. It's all week, every night," said Don Young, who lives in Red Wing Resorts. "It's to the point (that) neighbourhood kids are scared to go into the park." The 1.6-hectare park at the bottom of Vedette Drive follows the curves of a shallow gully and boasts a tennis court surrounded by trees. [continues 395 words]
Teens who use Mariposa Park on the West Bench as a place to smoke dope are getting a bad rap, according to one neighbourhood resident. Jesse Tomlinson, 19, lives one house up from the park on Vedette Drive and is familiar with the traffic. He said plans to spruce up the site simply to scare off drug users are a waste of taxpayers' money, which would be better spent on activities for teens. He decried comments by parks commission member Don Young that the park is full of druggies who are causing havoc in the neighbourhood. [continues 363 words]
Revisions to a law that allows extremely ill patients to grow and use marijuana to quell nausea are being both applauded and questioned in Penticton. Terminally ill patients with a year left to live can apply through Health Canada to legally get pot. So can people with symptoms associated with certain serious medical conditions, such as multiple sclerosis and severe arthritis. Patients with other medical conditions are eligible if their request is backed by at least two doctors. Use sanctioned by Health Canada isn't exactly new, said Penticton resident Leslie Gibbenhuck. [continues 371 words]
Landlords Should Be Diligent In Preventing Grow Ops The hopes of 24 people in making a nice cache of cash from 19 marijuana grow operations went up in smoke Monday. The RCMP's South Okanagan Marijuana Grow Eradication Team now in its second year has been at it again, working smarter and working together to apprehend regional growers. The concerted effort appears to be making headway, though team leader Terry Jacklin and Penticton Staff Sgt. Pete McLaren made clear several investigation files are still outstanding. [continues 232 words]
Raids On Indoor Grow Operations In South Okanagan Net Mounties 4,000 Marijuana Plants A series of raids has netted local police enough pot for dealers to supply each young person in the region from kindergarten to Grade 12 with 142 marijuana cigarettes. RCMP from five South Okanagan and Similkameen detachments uncovered 3,950 marijuana plants and growing equipment in an operation that saw 19 searches conducted in 15 days. "I expect we will continue these kinds of operations in future and won't announce them," said Penticton RCMP Staff Sgt. Pete McLaren. [continues 425 words]
Mountie says he and colleagues never suspected ex-partner was leaking info to crooks For months, Penticton RCMP Const. Terry Jacklin worked side by side with Const. Mark Webb without the slightest suspicion his partner had gone bad. Webb, a former member of the Penticton detachment's task force on property crime and drugs, was sentenced to two years in federal prison this week after he pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and obstruction of justice. [continues 482 words]
Ex-Cop Thrown In Jail While Other Criminals Walk Free The two-year jail term handed to former Penticton RCMP Const. Mark Webb was tough justice. While we agree with Judge Brian Weddell's assertion that police officers "face a different yardstick" than ordinary citizens, we can't help wonder why this same tough justice isn't meted out more often by the courts. Webb had earlier pleaded guilty to possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and obstructing justice. Court was told how Webb was paid $11,000 for his part in a carefully planned charade in 1998 while he was a member of the local RCMP drug squad. He confiscated 30 pounds of pot from a man involved in a drug deal and later returned it to the original drug dealers, who then resold it to the same man he confiscated it from. [continues 182 words]
Former Penticton cop handed two-year term for role in theft of marijuana and for helping drug dealer avoid police raids KELOWNA - A Penticton Mountie who accepted money from drug dealers in exchange for police information was jailed for two years Tuesday. Former Const. Mark Webb, who pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana for the purposes of trafficking and obstructing justice, asked for house arrest by way of a conditional sentence. But Judge Brian Weddell said RCMP officers "face a different yardstick" than ordinary citizens and imposed the jail term. [continues 634 words]
Politicians Should Also Have To Pass Drug Tests To Collect Cash The Ontario government is perpetuating the myth of welfare bums with its controversial plan to force recipients to undergo drug tests. Social Services Minister John Baird insists the plan is designed to help drug addicts rather than punish them. Out the one side of his mouth, Baird says the Ontario government "is not prepared to simply turn its back and write anyone off." Yet, out the other side, he threatens that individuals who test positive and then refuse treatment would be ineligible for assistance. It's an ultimatum: get off drugs now or we'll throw you into the street. [continues 191 words]
Byelection Candidate Says Party Can't Keep Up With People Who Are Taking Signs Almost As Fast As They Go Up. An election sign is an election - unless it has a metre-high marijuana leaf on it. The usual fate of signs has been turned on its head in the Okanagan-Coquihalla byelection. Typically, opponents trash them at every opportunity, leaving a trail of bad feelings. But supporters and the merely curious are taking a shime to the Marijuana Party placards. [continues 482 words]
A Penticton man sentenced to almost two years in jail for his part in a massive marijuana grow operation near 100 Mile House, was freed on bail Thursday, pending an appeal. Kenneth Orrin McLennan, 53, and co-accused David Munro, 53, of Surrey, were charged after police stumbled on the 2,400-plant grow operation when a fire broke out in a shed housing a diesel generator used to power the operation. McLennan had been a resident on the property outside 100 Mile House, while Munro and his wife were the owners. Charges of trafficking were dropped when McLennan and Munro pleaded guilty to production. [continues 346 words]
The Crime Stoppers program both locally and around the province continues to be success story - solving thousands of crimes and recovering millions of dollars in stolen property. From its inception in Jan. 1992 to April 2000, the local South Okanagan Similkameen Crime Stoppers has received 1748 tips. "There have been 355 cases cleared because of those tips and it's resulted in 407 arrests," said Al Sismey of Penticton, president of the B.C. Crime Stoppers Advisory Board. He said the tips have also resulted in the recovery of $1.1 million worth of stolen property and drugs valued at $3.7 million. [continues 187 words]
Canada's Response To Vietnam Too Little, And Far Too Late It's hard to say which of the two establishment groups in this country turned in a more shameful performance over the execution of a Canadian citizen in Vietnam: the federal government or the national media. We'll call it a tie for last place. First place, at least in this area, goes to Keith Sutfin, who put principles before profit and has refused to do further business with Vietnam. [continues 246 words]
Stakes raised to deadly levels in illegal pot growing trade The fine art of marijuana-growing certainly isn't what it used to be. The stereotypical image of pot-smoking hippies growing a few plants has long been replaced by sophisticated grow operations, complete with hydroponics and intense grow lights. It's big business - a multi-million-dollar trade that has a growing potential for violence. That point couldn't have been made clearer than by this week's display of 37 weapons seized by RCMP after raids on 22 marijuana grow operations throughout the South Okanagan-Similkameen over the past few weeks. The guns included a 16-gauge sawed-off shotgun with a makeshift silencer and a .22 calibre assault rifle. Presumably they weren't meant to scare away the bugs. [continues 197 words]
Police Bust 22 Grow Ops In 15-day Sweep Throughout Region Marijuana grow operations are on the increase, both in sophistication and in potential for violence according to police who have wrapped up a two-week crackdown. Police busted 22 "grow ops" in a 15-day operation and seized 3,781 plants, 36 pounds of drying marijuana bud, $5,000 in stolen property and assorted growing equipment. Of particular concern to Mounties was the associated seizure of 37 guns, including rifles, handguns, an assault rifle and a sawed-off shotgun with a home-made silencer. Many of the firearms were fully loaded and kept near doors or beside beds. [continues 409 words]
A Penticton RCMP constable has been charged with nine narcotics offences relating to activities while he was on the job between May, 1998 up to his suspension last August. Const. Mark Webb appeared briefly in court Tuesday and was ordered to appear again April 17. Among the charges are obstructing justice, bribery, theft and conspiracy to commit theft of marijuana, and trafficking and conspiracy to traffic marijuana. Penticton Insp. Stew McLeod said a criminal investigation, which had been underway for months before Webb's initial arrest, was launched immediately upon receipt of allegations against Webb. [continues 391 words]
Penticton RCMP are expected to announce today the results of a major drug investigation targeting marijuana 'grow ops' throughout the South Okanagan. Inspector Stew McLeod confirmed police here have cooperated with other RCMP units in the region to raid several indoor marijuana growing operations. The operation is believed to have been completed over the past few days, and McLeod said he expects to release details at a press conference this morning. While the actual number of raids has not been released, it is known local RCMP detachments have been focussing on marijuana growing as one of their prime targets over the past two years. Last year the Penticton RCMP Task Force nailed 23 grow ops, as they are commonly known by police, and seized approximately $5 million worth of marijuana. [continues 370 words]
