CORNER BROOK Two Quebec men who had successfully argued their Charter rights had been violated during a traffic stop were acquitted of the drug charges against them in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador in Corner Brook Monday. Sylvain Charbonneau, 59, and Jean Dessailliers, 44, had each been charged with four offences, namely two counts apiece of trafficking in marijuana and cannabis resin and two counts of possessing of illegal drugs for the purposes of trafficking. They were charged following an RCMP traffic stop west of Corner Brook in the fall of 2011. A subsequent search of the car they were in led to the seizure of 26 kilograms of marijuana and a kilogram of hashish. [continues 130 words]
Harper's Approach To Crime Is Tough On Human Lives Despite falling crime rates across the country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been pushing a "tough on crime" agenda since the last election. This was most poignantly emphasized in his government's omnibus crime bill, the Safe Streets and Communities Act. This sweet-sounding bill packed a lot of punches: minimum and extended sentences for drug convictions, the potential to charge youth with adult sentences, a shift toward prison sentences over house arrest, and the denial of work visas to people considered vulnerable to crime. [continues 535 words]
A Supreme Court justice has thrown out evidence from a traffic stop in the case against two Quebec men charged with drug offences in the fall of 2011. Justice Laura Mennie granted the application to exclude evidence from the Oct. 24, 2011 traffic stop that led to the charges of two counts each of trafficking in marijuana and cannabis resin and two counts each of possession of illegal drugs for the purposes of trafficking against Sylvain Charbonneau, 59, and Jean Dessailliers, 44. [continues 537 words]
Canadian Safety Council raising awareness of the dangers of driving while impaired by drugs The Canadian Safety Council is concerned that not enough people are aware of the serious consequences of driving while impaired by drugs. The organization said in a news release that the focus, traditionally, has been on alcohol-impaired crashes, while fatalities linked to the use of drugs tend to fly under the radar. A report from the safety council says statistics show that testing done on drivers who died in crashes found 33 per cent showed signs of drug impairment. [continues 83 words]
Derek Montague could have ruined himself. In the three months he's been waiting for gambling addiction treatment, he could have dug a financial hole of which there'd be no way out. "In that span of time, I've done more damage to myself," he admits. "I've gambled during that period of time." Full disclosure: Derek works with TC Media and reports indirectly to me. He's a fine journalist with The Labradorian newspaper in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. [continues 420 words]
Colorado has done it, so why can't we? Why can't we take one foreign state's measures and enact them federally in Canada. After all, marijuana legalisation in Colorado doesn't seem to have created any great waves. I'm sure when the prohibition on alcohol ended, we didn't have a rash of drunk drivers and alcoholics either. It takes time for the effects of measures like this to be seen. Yes, there are some immediate effects - such as an increase in tax revenues. But when it comes to other effects, studies are split. Some say Colorado teens are less likely now than before legalisation to be smoking marijuana. But other studies show that not only are they more likely to partake, they are also less likely to consider marijuana a harmful drug. [continues 687 words]
But Federal Law Hinders Boy's Access To The Extract He Needs To Control Seizures Mandy McKnight secretly cries, often while driving alone. The car, she suggests, gives her an opportunity to reflect, to imagine a life where her six-year-old boy didn't have prolonged seizures, to wonder what the future will bring for a child at constant risk of injury, to wonder if this continuing state of emergency will last forever. "You're always anxious. You're always waiting, You never relax," says Mandy, who is from Torbay, but lives in Ottawa. "You're always anticipating a seizure, no matter what. ... You're constantly on edge." [continues 954 words]
It was a night Vera Rice would rather forget. The cancer survivor, now in her 60s, was pulled over by police heading home to Seal Cove from treatment at the hospital in Baie Verte and brought to the RCMP detachment in Deer Lake for drug testing. Rice is now cancer-free. But the weak bones and treatment from years gone by have also left her with infections. A few years ago she underwent treatment for a serious infection that had gotten into her bones, and in recent weeks, the same type of infection has returned. [continues 871 words]
Peter MacKay would have Canadians believe that the job of keeping drugs out of the hands of children is best left to drug cartels. Right now kids have no trouble accessing illegal marijuana. It's easier for kids to buy pot than beer. That's because illegal drug dealers don't ID for age. Taxing and regulating marijuana will restrict youth access to drugs. More important, legalization will close the "gateway" to hard drugs by taking marijuana distribution out of the hands of criminals that sell meth and heroin. [continues 86 words]
Peter MacKay is the luckiest man in the world. He is the undisputed poster boy for lying, deceitful politicians, but never seems to pay a price for it. One can only assume he earned this immunity with his first big lie, his promise to fellow Progressive Conservative leadership candidate David Orchard in 2003 not to negotiate a merger with Stephen Harper's Canadian Alliance Party. Ever since, he has sailed through a steady stream of prevarications and mistruths without earning even a timid rap on the knuckles. [continues 436 words]
Mothers Against Drunk Driving CEO Andrew Murie was in the lobby of Confederation Building Tuesday, with a mouth swab that he says can detect up to six different drugs in an impaired driver's system. Murie was in town for meetings, along with representatives from the Newfoundland and Labrador MADD organization, to talk about provincewide 911 and stepping up efforts to catch drunk drivers. "Newfoundland and Labrador has kind of fallen behind," he told reporters. "Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are a lot worse than Newfoundland and Labrador, but these are all preventable deaths and injuries, and there's more that can be done." [continues 331 words]
Weekly Narcotics Anonymous meeting being offered at Burin hospital Stacey Johnson (not her real name) was in her mid-20s when she decided to attend a Narcotics Anonymous meeting for the first time. "I remember exactly what I was wearing, and I remember exactly where I sat, and I was just waiting, trying to find the differences, any reason for me not to feel like I was part of this group," she told The Southern Gazette last week. She stuck around for about two months but said ultimately she "just wasn't sick enough." [continues 801 words]
Grand Falls-Windsor Facility To Take First Patients In June With the new youth treatment centre in Grand Falls-Windsor getting ready to open its doors, Health and Community Services Minister Susan Sullivan was in town Monday to tour the $12.5 million facility and see what it will offer. Divided up into three pods with four bedrooms each, the centre will be able to treat 12 youth at a time. The facility is equipped with several observation and examination rooms as well as bedrooms, kitchen areas, a gymnasium, workout room, art room, and classrooms. [continues 850 words]
Numbers Up More Than 50 Per Cent Demand for the Aids Committee of Newfoundland and Labrador's needle-exchange program has increased considerably in the past two years, says its executive director. "We are looking at a 50-60 per cent increase in two years," Gerard Yetman said. "The program is not feasible as it is right now. "The present program is not meeting the demand." In 2011-12, the program distributed nearly 180,000 clean needles, but numbers have surpassed twice that amount, in part because it's become provincial. [continues 349 words]
While 'Bootlegging' Is Still on the Radar, Illegal Drug Trade Now More of a Problem It's been about a year since a shift in the RCMP at the federal policing level came into effect. Before Apr. 1, 2013, federal units were identified and assigned to specific areas of mandate - customs and excise, drug enforcement or some other specialization. Now, however, serious organized crime, in general, is the target, irrespective of the commodity. For the Burin-based unit, in addition to how the it does business, the shift meant a name change from Customs and Excise to Federal Policing Operations West. [continues 333 words]
Burin Peninsula District RCMP Staff Sergeant Wayne Edgecombe said 'youth involvement in crime' has been added as a divisional priority for the upcoming year. Invited to meet with the Burin Peninsula Joint Town Council Wednesday evening, he acknowledged that doesn't necessarily mean just dealing with youths who have run afoul of the law, but also involves targeting how crime affects young people. He explained in that regard, drugs and youth will be a big part of the annual policing plan. [continues 543 words]
An editorial from the Prince George Citizen, published March 7: It's comical to watch the federal Conservatives trip over themselves when it comes to their stance on marijuana. On Wednesday, Tom (not his real name), a 65-year-old Prince George man who has been growing his own pot for medical purposes for the past three years, said he will follow the law on April 1 if the government goes ahead with its plans to take away his licence. He won't, however, turn to government-approved operators that produce a more expensive and less potent legal medical marijuana, he says. He'll just go to a street supplier to satisfy his needs. [continues 581 words]
A St. John's man suffering from prostate cancer that had metastasized is crediting marijuana oil treatment with putting him on the mend. "It makes me feel 20 years younger, that's what the marijuana oil does," said Paul Morrissey, adding he shovelled snow for three hours during the recent blizzard and blackout with no problems. "There was pretty ferocious wind and snow. I came out of it looking like a walking popsicle. However after all that work and so forth I was in excellent condition. Even without cancer, I wouldn't suspect I'd last that long or do that well." [continues 661 words]
ST. JOHN'S - A St. John's man suffering from prostate cancer that had metastasized is crediting marijuana oil treatment with putting him on the mend. "It makes me feel 20 years younger, that's what the marijuana oil does," said Paul Morrissey, adding he shovelled snow for three hours during the recent blizzard and blackout with no problems. Morrissey's prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood levels have improved dramatically and there has been some regression in his lymph nodes and abdomen, said his family physician, Dr. Randy Hart, who was given permission to speak about his patient's case. Hart can't say if the unorthodox treatment helped. [continues 458 words]
A new draft policy on drug and alcohol abuse for the City of St. John's takes its cue from oil sands companies. Kevin Breen, the city's director of human resources, presented the draft policy to the city's finance and administration standing committee meeting Tuesday afternoon, saying the new policy is the result of requests from managers looking for more guidance on how to handle employees who abuse drugs and alcohol in the workplace. "We do encounter it," said Breen. "But a lot of supervisors are not really confident in knowing what to do in these situations." So this gets into really good detail, and there will be a full training program with this policy as well." [continues 345 words]
Inside Newfoundland
