Municipal Officials Are Worried That Legal Marijuana Grow Operations Are a Magnet for Illegal Activities, Writes Kelly Sinoski The wind was howling one morning in late November when police were called to a shooting at a rural acreage in Mission, B.C. Inside the gates was a 31-year-old man with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds; the victim of a home invasion aimed at stealing the medicinal marijuana crop he'd come to tend. Neighbours weren't overly surprised; not long ago another man was shot just down the road, said Cathy Erickson, who has lived on the street for 23 years. And a house on the corner was condemned after it was found housing a grow-op. [continues 1269 words]
It allegedly began with a gang rivalry on the streets of Toronto's notorious Jane-Finch neighbourhood, and culminated in the early hours of Tuesday morning with a massive, cross-country police raid that netted at least 60 arrests. More than 900 officers between Ottawa and Surrey, B.C., helped to execute search warrants simultaneously at 67 locations with alleged connections to organized crime. Police expected to lay about 300 charges, ranging from gun and drug trafficking to prostitution, robbery and attempted murder. [continues 530 words]
Gregory Schellenberg had already been approved to grow medicinal marijuana when police raided his Winnipeg home. Unfortunately for Schellenberg, he didn't have a licence to show police, as it was lost in the mail, a casualty of last summer's postal strike. Schellenberg pleaded guilty to one count of production of marijuana Tuesday and was fined $1,500. "He had a licence," said defence lawyer Greg Brodsky. "What he didn't anticipate was that it wouldn't come because of a postal strike." [continues 185 words]
Ruby is a bundle of energy and bounds through the visiting room at Collins Bay Institution. Always sniffing, she pulls at her leash, leading her handler around the room. When Ruby finds what she is looking for, she is trained to sit and await her chew toy reward. "They want their reward. Any dog wants their reward," said correctional service officer and dog handler Sean Hearon. "It's fun for the dogs." What is fun for the dog is also part of an expanded federal government anti-drug prison detector dog program. [continues 577 words]
Obviously Nanaimo-Alberni MP James Lunney, doesn't get it (The News, Dec. 6). Large scale grow-ops in residential areas is a product of cannabis (marijuana) prohibition, not the God-given plant (see the first page of the Bible) itself. Further, contrary to Lunney, the majority of British Columbia citizens favor legalizing and regulating the plant. Cannabis prohibition has run its course. It's over. All that's left is the formalities whether or not prohibitionist want to accept it. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
VANCOUVER - The wind was howling one morning in late November when police were called to a shooting at a rural acreage in Mission, B.C. Inside the gates was a 31-year-old man with non-life threatening gunshot wounds; the victim of a home invasion aimed at stealing the medicinal marijuana crop he'd come to tend. Neighbours weren't overly surprised; not long ago another man was shot just down the road, said Cathy Erickson, who has lived on the street for 23 years. And a house on the corner was condemned after it was found housing a grow-op. [continues 1334 words]
Dear Editor, Two recent events highlight the morally bankrupt character of Stephen Harper and his Conservative government. On Monday, Dec. 5, Bill C-10, which brings in mandatory minimum sentences for small-scale drug crimes, including for as little as a few pot plants, passed the house and was sent to the Senate. The second event was the Graham James molestation case. Once the omnibus crime bill passes the senate, the penalty for growing six marijuana plants will be longer than the penalty for molesting a child. [continues 178 words]
Region Has One of Canada's Heaviest Concentrations Of Medical-Marijuana Licences Sechelt's 420 Hemp Shop is nestled in the heart of the Sunshine Coast, an area that has been the vanguard for medical marijuana cultivation. "I've handed out hundreds of applications [for medical marijuana-growing licences] to people myself," said store owner Danny Ownsett. "Local doctors send their patients to me." The area - which includes the Sunshine Coast, the southern Gulf Islands, Sea to Sky Country and north Vancouver Island - had the highest concentration of medical-marijuana-growing licences in Canada in 2007. [continues 650 words]
Pain Relief May Be Just the Beginning of the Potential Contained In Medical Marijuana, Reports Sharon Kirkey, Postmedia News After all the usual and proper medical approaches did nothing for her pain, Cheryl Campbell, a nurse and mother, says she finally built up the courage to ask her doctor, "How do you feel about prescribing me marijuana?" The 30-year-old Ottawa woman suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Her pain is body-wide - a constant, sometimes stabbing ache in her back, hips, knees, shoulders and virtually every joint. Doctors once put her on morphine. It cut the pain, but she couldn't function. She says her mind felt so heavy with fog she couldn't carry on a conversation. [continues 1552 words]
Despite Doctors' Misgivings, Medical Marijuana Users Say the Drug Dulls Their Pain, Boosts Their Appetites and Curtails Their Nausea.; and As Jodie Sinnema Writes, They're Not Happy About the Trouble They Had Finding a Doctor to Prescribe It for Them, and the Quality Of Health Canada's Offerings Margaret Marceniuk inhales her medical marijuana through a pharmaceutical puffer and a headshop pipe. Tamara Cartwright vaporizes her pot with a machine called a Volcano, then inhales three to four bags of the vapour while locked away in her bedroom, away from her toddler. [continues 2526 words]
From Capsules to Brownies to Oils and Even Tea, Medical Marijuana Comes in Many Forms for Patients With Low Tolerance For, or Health Concerns About, Smoke Ian Layfield met a man at this year's medical marijuana conference in Toronto who was waving around his federal licence to show people he could legally use 150 grams of pot a day. He seemed quite proud of the fact, Layfield remembered. It seemed obvious the man had many chronic ailments that left him in poor health. [continues 1183 words]
Tammy is still amazed at all the people who arrived at her Edmonton doorstep, trying to sell seaweed, Goji juices or miracle cures after they discovered her son had cancer. "People become very desperate," said Tammy, using a pseudonym to maintain her family's anonymity. "Cancer patients are absolutely helpless. - They are at the mercy of the treatments." Her son was diagnosed in his teens with a rare cancer that first showed itself in aching joints, eventually spreading to his lungs. [continues 326 words]
Can Science Confirm Marijuana's Medical Benefits? After all the usual and proper medical approaches did nothing for her pain, Cheryl Campbell, a nurse and mother, says she finally built up the courage to ask her doctor, "How do you feel about prescribing me marijuana?" The 30-year-old Ottawa woman suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Her pain is body-wide - a constant, sometimes stabbing ache in her back, hips, knees, shoulders and virtually every joint. Doctors once put her on morphine. It cut the pain, but she couldn't function. She says her mind felt so heavy with fog she couldn't carry on a conversation. [continues 1798 words]
War Veteran Dealing With Ptsd With Marijuana Chris Hillier's Life Bottomed Out in a Vancouver Back Alley, a World Away From the War Zone That Broke Him. Homeless, Penniless and Addicted to Crack Cocaine, Hillier Slept Behind a Community Centre, at the Intersection of Hastings and Main, the Epi-Centre of the City's Drug Trade. Three Years Earlier, Hillier Was in the Midst of a Successful Military Career, Serving His Country As an Air Force Firefighter Aboard Hmcs Preserver in the Middle East in the Months After the 9/11 Attacks On the U.S. [continues 639 words]
Ecstasy is widely considered a drug of choice for teenagers, popped at raves or house parties and popular for its relatively low cost and long highs. But recent toxicology figures from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Alberta show that older Albertans are also using the drug, often as part of a cocktail of dangerous narcotics. Between Jan. 1, 2000 and Dec. 1, 2011, the medical examiner's office completed investigations into 50 unintentional overdose deaths in Alberta in which ecstasy or MDMA was directly or indirectly involved. [continues 767 words]
Users Fear New Laws Could Mean the End of Legal Pot Eighteen-year-old Adam Greenblatt was lying in bed one morning when his mother burst into his room and demanded to know if he had any drugs. Greenblatt, who had been busted for possession while smoking up with some friends outside his high school in suburban Toronto, thought his mom was hassling him about pot again. But this time was different. Adam's father wanted to give marijuana a try, his mother said. Get out your dope, she told him. [continues 1292 words]
But Scientists and Doctors Are Divided on the Medicinal Benefits Of Smoking the Drug After all the usual and proper medical approaches did nothing for her pain, Cheryl Campbell, a nurse and mother, says she finally built up the courage to ask her doctor, "How do you feel about prescribing me marijuana?" The 30-year-old Ottawa woman suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Her pain is body-wide - a constant, sometimes stabbing ache in her back, hips, knees, shoulders and virtually every joint. Doctors once put her on morphine. It cut the pain, but she couldn't function. She says her mind felt so heavy with fog she couldn't carry on a conversation. [continues 1053 words]
The violence between two rival Calgary gangs is at a low ebb with many of the main players dead or in prison, but the groups are still conducting their dangerous business. The Herald counted more than a dozen men with known ties to FOB or the FOB Killers (FK) who have been deported, are behind bars awaiting trial or are serving prison sentences, including two recently convicted of first-degree murder for the triple shooting homicide at the Bolsa Restaurant on New Year's Day 2009. [continues 985 words]
There's A Surge in Interest on Marijuana Research With Evidence Emerging of Its Ability to Relieve Pain and Its Apparent Safety After all the usual and proper medical approaches did nothing for her pain, Cheryl Campbell, a nurse and mother, says she finally built up the courage to ask her doctor: "How do you feel about prescribing me marijuana?" The 30-year-old Ottawa woman suffers from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Her pain is bodywide: a constant, sometimes stabbing ache in her back, hips, knees, shoulders and virtually every joint. Doctors once put her on morphine. It cut the pain, but she couldn't function. She says her mind felt so heavy with fog she couldn't carry on a conversation. [continues 1625 words]
For Some, the Conclusion Is Clear: Marijuana Is Bad Medicine. but As Sharon Kirkey Writes, New Evidence Is Emerging About Its Ability To Ease Suffering, and Its Apparent Safety, Too After all the usual and proper medical approaches did nothing for her pain, Cheryl Campbell, a nurse and mother, says she finally built up the courage to ask her doctor, "How do you feel about prescribing me marijuana?" The 30-year-old Ottawa woman suffers from fibro-myalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. Her pain is body wide - a constant, sometimes stabbing ache in her back, hips, knees, shoulders and virtually every joint. Doctors once put her on morphine. It cut the pain, but she couldn't function. She says her mind felt so heavy with fog she couldn't carry on a conversation. [continues 1568 words]
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