Denyse Doran is what you might call a pot pro. For more than 20 years, she and her family have owned and operated the Jupiter Cannabis Shop on Whyte Avenue. The business has been so successful, they've franchised, with five shops now around Edmonton, and others in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. At the moment, they sell primarily marijuana "paraphernalia" - pipes, vaporizers, rolling papers, grinders, and such. But no actual cannabis. "If I sold pot, I'd be in jail," she laughs. "We're in this weird in-between period." [continues 687 words]
McLellan to lead advisory group through a tangle of thorny questions "I've always been more interested in policy than politics," says Edmonton lawyer and former Liberal deputy prime minister Anne McLellan. Former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan has just been named to chair the federal government's Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation. That's handy because late last week McLellan was named chairwoman of federal government's new Task Force on Marijuana Legalization and Regulation. She's going to need all of her policy-wonk passion - and all her expertise as Canada's former minister of health, minister of justice and minister of public safety - to succeed. [continues 663 words]
A new Mainstreet/Postmedia poll says 44 per cent of Edmontonians surveyed support the establishment of a safe injection site for IV drug users in this city. Another 30 per cent opposed the idea, while 26 per cent were undecided. That's not overwhelming public support. But it suggests an intriguing degree of public receptiveness. And this is the right time for us to be having that discussion. Historically, heroin hasn't been a problem drug in Edmonton. But that's changing. In 2013, there were 19 visits to emergency rooms in the Edmonton health zone because of heroin overdoses. Last year, there were 118. In the first two months of 2016, there were about as many heroin overdoses as there were in all of 2013. [continues 625 words]
But it seems easier than tackling root causes of drug addiction When I first heard about the proposed ban on bath salts about two weeks ago, I was baffled. I was driving into the office, when I flicked on CBC Radio halfway into an interview about all the dreadful social and medical damage done by bath salts in the Maritimes and New England. I'm not much of a fan of adding perfumy stuff to my bath water, but I couldn't for the life of me figure why a ban would be necessary. As soon as I parked, I whipped out my phone to Google bath salts. That was the first I learned about a powerful new synthetic street drug made with ingredients such as methylenedioxpyrovalene (MDPV), mephedrone, methylone and high doses of caffeine. Right now, bath salts are legal in Canada and relatively cheap. [continues 631 words]
Addicted Teen Can Be Held Briefly, but Not Forced Into Treatment The father who called me on the phone is in despair. And it's easy to understand why. He, his wife and their 14-year-old daughter moved to Alberta from the United Kingdom in 2009. The couple adopted their daughter when she was seven. They knew her biological mother was an addict with mental health issues. They knew their daughter had been neglected by her birth family and abused in foster care. Still, they were confident they could help their little girl overcome her childhood traumas. [continues 924 words]
But In Seizing The Proceeds Of Crime, Province Risks Trampling Civil Liberties So who's toughest on crime? The Conservatives or the Liberals? Alberta's Justice Minister Alison Redford and Liberal justice critic Kent Hehr spent the better part of Monday trying to one-up each other on just that question. Redford fired the first round Monday morning, when she held a press conference to tout the merits of her government's new Victims Restitution and Compensation Payment Act. The law, which came into full effect this January, allows the police and the province to seize the proceeds and instruments of crime, sell them off and use the money to fund programs that compensate crime victims. [continues 869 words]
Stelmach's Ministers Have Quietly Rolled Out Low-Key Package Of Social Measures His name is Stelmach. Ed Stelmach. And he'd like you to know he's tough on crime. Statistics that show crime rates falling don't distract him. Alberta's top gun knows the citizens of his province have been unnerved by the kind of brazen drug-linked violence that has plagued cities across Alberta this autumn. He knows, too, that with both the Liberals and New Democrats constantly asking about police funding in the house, and with the mayor of Calgary, Alberta's unofficial opposition leader, making police funding a huge issue, he has to give the appearance of being as tough on bad guys as anyone else. [continues 756 words]
Justice Minister Panders To Fear Of Crime By Pinning Court Delays On Defence Counsel It was a great piece of political theatre, diversionary magic David Copperfield himself would envy. The day after the news of the reused syringe scandal broke, Ed Stelmach held his regular Tuesday press conference. But no one got a chance to ask about the High Prairie hospital. Instead, the premier, flanked by a phalanx of police chiefs and officers in dress uniforms, announced plans to fight gang crime by putting more cops on the street. [continues 836 words]
When I picked up my paper Monday morning to read about the latest senseless murder on the Samson First Nation -- the third in four weeks -- I wanted to bang out a column demanding that the federal and provincial governments send more RCMP officers to the reserve to restore order. The latest victim was young mother Delena Dixon, 20, who died after her house was peppered with bullets late Saturday night. It was the second attack on the house. The night before, a man in the same house was shot, but in his case, the bullet only grazed his arm. [continues 851 words]
Could Legal Tactic Inspire Others and Put Drug Dealers Out of Business? On May 5, 2004, a 19-year-old from Biggar, Sask., named Sandra Bergen paid a visit to the home of her former classmate, Clinton Davey. The two had known each other since kindergarten. Bergen was a self-described alcohol and drug abuser who had started using crystal methamphetamine around the time she turned 18. On that night in May, Bergen claims, Davey sold her some meth for $40. Davey claims there was no sale, that they shared the drugs, as friends would. [continues 957 words]
Onus on Criminals to Prove Innocence If you are accused of a crime in Canada, the Crown must prove your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. You don't have to establish your innocence. The burden of proof falls upon the state. Why? Because it is such a drastic thing for a government to deprive a citizen of liberty. The state has plenty of weapons in its arsenal to make its case. It has police officers, Crown prosecutors, a budget to hire expert witnesses. A defendant doesn't have access to the same resources. [continues 839 words]
Capital Grants Are No Problem For McDougall House -- Operating Money Is Another Story "I have nine brothers and sisters. All of them are either drug addicts or recovering drug addicts. It's like that old Hank Williams song. It's a family tradition." Tammy, 38, is a vivacious hairdresser from small-town Alberta, a mother of two with a quirky sense of humour. She's also a recovering crack addict. Since March 28, Tammy's been living at McDougall House, a 14-bed long-term residential treatment centre for women battling drug, alcohol and gambling addictions. Women stay for at least three months of intensive one-on-one counselling and group therapy. [continues 863 words]
EDMONTON -- Jim Roszko was a child molester. He was a thief. He was obsessed with guns. He was a paranoid, who believed the world was out to get him. He was also growing some marijuana plants in a Quonset hut on his farm near Rochfort Bridge. Ever since Roszko shot and killed four RCMP officers last week, politicians and pundits have been using the murders as a platform to debate Canada's drug laws. RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan and Premier Ralph Klein were all eager to connect the murders to the need for tougher laws against marijuana grow operations. [continues 772 words]
Officers Deserve Better Jim Roszko was a child molester. He was a thief. He was obsessed with guns. He was a paranoid, who believed the world was out to get him. He was also growing some marijuana plants in a Quonset hut on his farm near Rochfort Bridge. Ever since Roszko shot and killed four RCMP officers last week, politicians and pundits have been using those murders as a platform to debate Canada's drug laws. RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan and Premier Ralph Klein were all very eager to connect the murders to the need for tougher laws against marijuana grow operations. [continues 802 words]
Ed's a handsome, articulate, forceful guy in his mid-40s, with neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper hair and a moustache and deep hazel eyes. And from the outside, Ed's life looked like the quintessential Alberta success story. Only the discreet "CA" pin on the label of his leather coat hints that his story has an unexpected twist. A bright kid from a small town north of Edmonton, Ed disliked school and school work. So he dropped out of high school and went to work on drilling rigs in the Beaufort Sea. [continues 1168 words]
Tougher laws and longer jail terms can't cure social ills, or stop the killings So Sheriff Billy wants the bad guys out of Dodge. "Get out of Edmonton. Get out of Alberta," Mayor Smith told the city's drug merchants and drug users yesterday. I understand his frustration. The recent rash of drug-related gang violence in this city is frightening. So too is the apparent inability of the police and the courts to stop the killings. But you can't wish the problem away. [continues 634 words]
Treating Drug Use Like a Parking Offence Sends a Disturbing Message The U.S. Office of Drug Control Policy could use a little lesson in reverse psychology. The news that Canada is considering decriminalization of simple possession of marijuana has sent the folks there into a tizzy. "It's not my job to judge Canadian policy," John Walters, the U.S. drug czar, said this week. "But it is my job to protect Americans from dangerous threats, and right now Canada is a dangerous staging area for some of the most potent and dangerous marijuana at a time when marijuana is the single biggest source of dependency production in the United States." [continues 690 words]
EDMONTON - For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. A few weeks ago, the news was full of stories about the success of Afghanistan's Taliban government in eradicating that country's huge opium crop. Afghani poppy growers had been supplying three-quarters of the world's supply of opium and its byproduct, heroin. But last year, the Taliban declared the growing of opium to be contrary to Islam, and banned the practice with its typical righteous ferocity. The Taliban's brutal methods didn't thrill civil libertarians, but in wiping out the poppy crop, Afghanistan's leaders did win the grudging praise of both the United Nations and the United States. But the market abhors a vacuum. According to a recent report in the Far Eastern Economic Review, another rogue nation, Burma, is proving more than happy to step into the heroin market void created by the Taliban crackdown. The magazine reports that Burma's heroin producers will more than double this year - with the full connivance of the Burmese authorities. [continues 581 words]
