A book launch at Galiano Island's South Hall next weekend puts the focus on a topic that's often in the news, dissected by three people who have seen it on the ground. A Thousand Dreams, Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and the Fight for its Future, is a mix of history, journalism, political analysis and first-person accounts. Written by former chief coroner and Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell, renowned criminologist Neil Boyd and investigative journalist Lori Culbert, it offers a portrait of one of North America's poorest, most drug-challenged neighbourhoods. [continues 242 words]
The 19-year-old man who collapsed at a rave and died in hospital after allegedly taking ecstasy over the weekend has been identified as Zachary Lamb of Okotoks. The teen was partying at the Frost 2009 rave at the Edmonton Event Centre in West Edmonton Mall when he collapsed before 4 a.m. Sunday and was rushed to hospital. He died about two hours later. An autopsy was conducted yesterday, but toxicology tests are pending to confirm the exact cause of death. [continues 169 words]
Another life is lost to drug prohibition. How many people have to die before we all realize that leaving the production and sale of these drugs to criminals creates opportunity for the generally unsafe atmosphere of interacting with drug dealers? I know I'm going to take heat for this from misinformed conservative idiots, but if we legalize, regulate, and educate, then these deaths will stop happening. Jeremy Kunz (Not all, most. And lots of conservatives know it's rational.) [end]
As a former law enforcement officer, I wholeheartedly support ballot issue 2F, the proposal to establish a sensible marijuana policy in the Town of Breckenridge. In May of 1964, I pinned a badge on my shirt in the City of New York. Six years later I became one of the first Lakewood Police Agents and served for three years. I later went to Jefferson County Schools and in 1974 moved to the mountains where I became the Summit County Undersheriff and the very first director of public safety. All told, I have more than 31 years active duty as a police officer and have held a commission for over 44 years. [continues 309 words]
Calgary Teen Was Spending Weekend With Girlfriend, Pals Zachary Lamb tried the drug ecstasy for the first time at a West Edmonton Mall rave hours before his death, his best friend said Wednesday. The 19-year-old Calgarian drove to Edmonton for Thanksgiving weekend with his girlfriend and a couple of friends, including his best friend Danny Yanko, to attend the all-night Frost dance party at the Edmonton Event Centre on Oct. 11. "This was his first time going to an event like this, an all-night one," said Yanko, who goes to similar shows regularly. [continues 437 words]
TERRACE CITY council will ask for more police patrols in a residential area one resident says is busy with criminal activity. Jennifer Lewis told councillors last night that a day program running out of the All Nations Centre on the corner of Sparks and Davis is attracting people who take part in drug activity and in disorderly conduct. The day program is run by the Terrace and District Community Services Society which rents out the centre during the weekdays. It started last December as a place for street people to get shelter from the cold, and has quickly become a meeting place or community centre for anyone wishing to stop in. Coffee and homemade soup is offered, and social service groups have found it a useful place where clients will speak with them freely. [continues 385 words]
It's at the tail end of a recession that its human impact is most acutely felt -- jobs are scarce, emergency savings and credit dry up, charities are stretched to the limit and hardship grips many Canadians. This reminds us that recessions are not just about gross domestic product and stock prices -- they are about human beings, many of whom are in dire straits. Generally, we don't want to see the holes in the safety net because this would mean that we would have to give up something to mend them. [continues 393 words]
Four luxury vehicles seized from suspected drug traffickers are being auctioned off by the province under B.C.'s civil forfeiture law. The 2005 H2 Hummer, a 2003 Mercedes Benz ML500, a 2004 Acura RSX and a 1995 Toyoto 4Runner worth a combined $65,000 are being stored at the province's Asset Investment Recovery Warehouse in Surrey. "These vehicles were all used as tools for criminal activity," said Solicitor General Kash Heed. "Seizing these high-end toys sends a strong message to those who enjoy them as fruits of unlawful activity." [continues 146 words]
Dear Editor: The war on certain drugs was never meant to be won, it was meant to be continuous. The war was designed to subsidize organized crime, reduce the civil rights and liberties of the general population, accustom them to an ongoing and ever-growing police and military presence in their daily lives, drain taxpayers' dollars, and to keep lawyers rich, cops busy, and jails full. In that regard, it has been a huge success. Police don't want this outrageously counterproductive war to ever end, because it gives them all the leverage they need to harass the young, the poor, people of color, and people with non-regulation hairstyles. [continues 54 words]
OF ALL the noteworthy reasons offered for putting an end to the "War on Drugs", the one that surely gets the least play is this: people like their drugs and don't appreciate the Government telling them they can't have them. Only a tiny fraction of drug-policy reformers trot that one out at conferences or in opinion pieces. Even some doctrinaire libertarians choke on the sentiment. We have to draw the line somewhere, they say. What message does adult drug use send our youth? [continues 487 words]
Traveling Laboratory Analyzes THC Content Marijuana has been at the bottom of the scientific research list for just about as long as it has been illegal. When something is deemed unsuitable for human consumption or is found to have no medicinal value, why test any further? Society puts its trust in government regulatory agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Drug Enforcement Agency, which have ignored the medicinal value of cannabis, branding it as a gateway drug. [continues 521 words]
Obtaining a medical marijuana card nowadays is as easy as making a doctor's appointment. Dispensaries and doctor's offices are popping up all over Southern California to help those in need. Just like anything else, there is a method to the madness of receiving a medical marijuana card and where to buy your weed, said Joffran Gonzales, a volunteer in a collective in the Los Angeles area. "A collective is a group of people, including the patients, where everything is donated. There are no transactions. The money is donated from the patients, and the marijuana is grown by the volunteers within the collective, unlike a dispensary," Gonzales said. [continues 497 words]
