VANCOUVER -- Vancouver's world-renowned "pot block" was engulfed in smoke yesterday as fire destroyed a significant piece of the city's heritage. The blaze raged through a two-storey building, gutting the Blunt Brothers, a marijuana-oriented cafe that billed itself as "a respectable joint." A landmark vintage clothing store was also destroyed, as was a long-standing left-wing bookstore. The B.C. Marijuana Party headquarters and bookstore are located next door at 307 West Hastings, a building that suffered major smoke and water damage. Other pot-oriented businesses were located on the upper floors of the building. [continues 329 words]
The skirmishes between the Thai government and human-rights organisations are escalating into a full-blown war. This is silly, and too many people are getting hurt. Hina Jilani's job at the UN is to monitor the safety and freedom of people around the world who work on behalf of human rights. She compiles an annual global report about them as well as occasional special reports on individual countries. She came to Thailand for eight days in May 2003, in the aftermath of the first, bloody phase of the government's war on drugs. She has now presented her report. [continues 913 words]
Paris Star -- On April 26, parents and teachers are invited to attend a drug and alcohol awareness session at the Paris public library with guest speaker Curtis Bell. Aside from being a former football player for the Toronto Argonauts, Bell is a dynamic speaker who has toured Canada talking to audiences about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. He has already spoken to children in area schools and now it's the parents' turn. "It's a safety issue," said chairman of the school council Scott Harvey. "It's something a lot of parents are out of touch with." [continues 256 words]
A flourishing home-grown marijuana industry has realtors warning buyers to take care their new purchase hasn't already gone to pot. "The number of houses discovered to have grow operations in them seems to be doubling every year," said Don Dickson, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB). "One of the biggest concerns is the toxic mould associated with them -- no one really knows how sick someone can get from it." It's no secret grow operations are big business in Calgary; it's a low-risk, high-profit venture that's expanding and slowly overwhelming police resources. [continues 273 words]
Red Deer is getting its own 20-bed detox centre so people with addictions won't have to travel to Edmonton or Calgary. Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission on Thursday approved a $750,000 a year proposal from Red Deer's Safe Harbour Society. "This news is beyond good. It's fantastic," said society chair Stacey Carmichael after the funding announcement at the Provincial Building in Red Deer. Currently Safe Harbour sends about one person a week to detox centres in Calgary or Edmonton. [continues 358 words]
Allegations of state sanctioned murder of human rights defenders have prompted Chulalongkorn law professor Vitit Muntarbhorn to call for the establishment of special committees to follow up on a rights report by Hina Jilani, the special representative of UN secretary general Kofi Annan. Jilani's assessment of human rights in Thailand was heavily critical of the government. She suggested human rights violations had occurred during the government's war on drugs and levelled new allegations of unmitigated surveillance and harassment of nongovernmental workers. [continues 342 words]
Growing up, I always thought people who did drugs were losers and deadbeats. It was not until high school that I began to realize drugs are a common element of the party scene and that it isn't just losers and deadbeats who enjoy them. Whenever I saw the bright, intelligent students from my honors classes at school lighting up, I found myself wondering, "What are they thinking?" It was not until a recent interview with one senior, a National Merit semifinalist with a scholarship offer from the University of Tennessee who was expelled in March, that I began to have some insight. At his request, his name was withheld. [continues 672 words]
Police will alert Child, Youth and Family Services to Hawke's Bay properties where children might be smoking "P" or might be exposed to it. Undercover police saw children smoking P at two addresses during the early stages of Operation Pickles, targeting known methamphetamine and cannabis dealers in the wider Hastings area. Detective Sergeant Luke Shadbolt said they also reported children sitting with adults smoking P and cannabis. One child was just two weeks old. Mr Shadbolt said he would be providing 10 addresses to Child, Youth and Family so social workers could check on the welfare of children living there in the future. [continues 190 words]
Nine people were found guilty on Tuesday of involvement in the biggest hashish bust in B.C. history. The nine were captured after mounties stormed a fish boat docked at Fanny Bay with nearly 10 tonnes of hashish aboard, and captured an additional 2.3 tonnes from a ship at sea. Seven men were hauling bags of drugs from the fish boat Ansare II to a waiting truck when police surprised them at 2:10 a.m., Nov. 4, 1998, RCMP Sgt. Duncan Gray said at the time. [continues 374 words]
North Carolina's habitual felon law boosts prison crowding, and seems to risk capricious and uneven measures of justice The idea behind a habitual felon law is that some people never learn. They break the law again and again, are not appreciative of the plea bargains and short sentences they get, and thus must be required to check in to the Gray Bar Motel for an extended stay. That may be a get-tough crowd-pleaser - -- assuming the crowd is full of prosecutors -- but the fact is that in the 2002-2003 fiscal year, 80 percent of the 761 people convicted and sentenced under North Carolina's habitual felon law were non-violent offenders. [continues 449 words]
