Dangerously discarded needles could be part of plan to discredit injection drug users and public health efforts to help them, says Island Health's chief medical health officer.

Dr. Richard Stanwick told reporters that some people lack sympathy for drug users and oppose measures such as needle exchanges. They might even want to discredit both by leaving syringes outside for the public to find or get jabbed.

"There are still people who see [drug addiction] as a moral failing and bad choice rather than a chronic, relapsing disease of the brain," Stanwick said. "What we are really concerned about is making sure this isn't some sort of effort to discredit efforts around harm reduction."

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The city of Vancouver lost nearly one person a day to an illicit drug overdoses in 2017.

The city says there were an estimated 335 overdose deaths last year, compared with 234 the year before - a 43 per cent jump. Vancouver fire Chief Darrell Reid, who presented the figures to Vancouver city council on Wednesday, said first responders answered 6,234 overdose calls in 2017, compared with 4,709 in 2016.

Toxicology reports on the most recent deaths are not yet complete and final overdose death numbers need to be confirmed by the B.C. Coroners Service.

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The District of Taylor is mulling a complete ban on selling and growing marijuana within its borders ahead of federal legalization of the drug expected this summer.

The district is looking to amend its zoning bylaw and ban the outright sale and cultivation of marijuana, and at the same time repeal its existing rules allowing for its medical production in light and heavy industrial zones.

A public hearing goes Monday, Jan. 22, at 5 p.m. in council chambers.

"If we don't get ahead of this and the province goes ahead and makes it legal to then sell, grow, and cultivate marijuana, potentially we'll have somebody come set up before we get an opportunity to reflect on the legal changes in our bylaws," Mayor Rob Fraser said at a council meeting last month.

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A tincture brought relief to 92-year-old Raymond Hayley, which also made things a little easier for his son and caretaker, William

Before passing away suddenly in September 2016, Doreen Hayley made her son swear not to put his father, Raymond, in a care home.

The "normal bachelor life" William Hayley had been living in Vancouver was about to come to a halt: with his mother gone and his 92-year-old father suffering from Parkinson's disease, he was thrown into the position of caretaker without an instruction manual.

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Re: Pot isn't a gateway, Letters, Jan. 11.

I survived the drug culture beginning in the '60s and '70s and count myself extremely fortunate to have escaped with most of my faculties. And, no, I'm not a recovering addict - anything but. I've also heard all the 'potaganda' puffed out by the pro-pot population for the last 30 years or so.

Let's talk 'gateway' drug for a minute. During the years I indulged, almost everyone I knew who went to pot, so to speak, invariably indulged in other drugs of the day; namely mescaline, LSD, MDA and the like. It all starts with pot. The quest for an ever-better high is irresistible.

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Of course growing tomatoes, cucumbers and the like is a legitimate use of agricultural land. After all, the Agricultural Land Reserve was created to do just that. Right?

Hmm, well kinda. The fact is tomatoes et al tend to be grown in greenhouses and those greenhouses are built by covering acres of prime agricultural land with slabs of concrete, which are then enclosed and outfitted with elaborate lighting, heating and watering systems.

In fact, they're more warehouse than they are farm.

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To help the local youth identify and avoid the decisions that can lead to severe drug addiction, members of the Okanagan Correctional Centre were at Tuc-el-Nuit Elementary School last week to have a frank discussion with the Grade 5, 6 and 7 students.

The conversation was led by assistant deputy warden Keith Pearce and security officer Mitch Fritz, who spoke about their volunteer experiences doing outreach in Vancouver's downtown Eastside. Joining them on their missions are players from the Penticton Vees.

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Police chief vows to do 'whatever it takes' to find justice for bystander

More than 50 Vancouver police officers are hunting for a suspect after a teen bystander died following a gang shootout that also killed one of the shooters.

VPD Chief Adam Palmer said Monday he is heartbroken that a 15-year-old Coquitlam boy was killed after being struck by a bullet while riding in his parents' car.

"Every time criminals decide to exchange gunfire on our streets, they endanger the lives of everybody around them," Palmer said. "The events of Saturday night were reckless, reprehensible and there is no justification for this type of senseless violence in our city."

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Vernon City Hall continues to walk a line of uncertainty over how and where marijuana might be legally purchased in the city.

While Ottawa is on board with legalizing the sale of marijuana, the province is yet to work out the rules for its retail availability.

As a result, all B.C. communities are left in a zoning bylaw quandary on how to proceed.

In response on Monday, council gave first reading to bylaw 5000 amendments limiting the sale of cannabis in Vernon retail outlets to provide some legal clarification until the province mandates how and where marijuana is to be sold.

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The ban on cannabis businesses extends to July and does not include current medical dispensaries

Only two people presented their views at a public hearing held by city hall on Monday to get the public's reaction to a proposed moratorium on recreational cannabis sales. Both presentations took less than one minute.

Brenton Raby said he supports the moratorium. He said he hopes the city will change its terminology by replacing the word "marijuana" with the word "cannabis."

Herb Couch said he is pleased that the moratorium does not include medical cannabis.

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As a longtime consumer of pot, I was highly offended by letter-writer Bozenna Siedlecka's theory that life for marijuana users is not "worth living."

You're saying Beatles legend Paul McCartney's life is worthless? How about CNN founder Ted Turner's? The great actor Jack Nicholson? Former U.S. president Barack Obama?

That's naming just a few public figures who have smoked marijuana. Any one of these folks has made a bigger contribution to society, I am sure, than Siedlecka.

Rod Barron, Surrey

[end]

Illegal booths continue to operate in downtown square despite mayor's vow to crack down

After Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said to "stay tuned" to see how the city and police plan to oust illegal pot vendors from the Vancouver Art Gallery square, a handful of vendors were still operating an open drug market there.

Darren Tarry, owner of DZ Buddz, is one of the unlicensed marijuana vendors regularly setting up shop on the south side of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

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When it becomes legal later this year, the City of Armstrong hopes to be ready for the production and selling of marijuana within its boundaries.

The city asked for, and received, direction from staff on the legalization of marijuana in Canada - which is slated to come into law July 1 - and potential municipal regulatory rules.

"We have to realize that come July, there will be changes," said Mayor Chris Pieper. "We have to look forward to handling the direction of our federal government. We haven't been involved in this but it's evolving in front of us everyday.

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Less that six months before the start of the legal marijuana era begins, here's what the B.C. government has decided when it comes to how to handle it:

* The minimum age for consumption and possession will be 19,

* Wholesales distribution will be handled by the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch,

* Retail sales will go through some mix of public and private stores.

There's a bit more to this than just those items.

B.C. and other provinces have also succeeded in budging the federal government off its original offer of a 50-50 sharing of cannabis tax revenues. It's going to be 75 per cent to the provinces, and Ottawa's share is capped at $100 million a year. That suggests that the federal government won't be making much money off this change, not that it expected much, given the new costs to be incurred. Whether the provinces can turn a buck from the new revenue stream remains to be seen, since they'll bear most of the new costs.

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Terry Lake, the former B.C. health minister who oversaw the declaration of a public-health emergency amid the deadly fentanyl crisis, is urging more research on the effects of marijuana on opioid addictions.

Now a vice-president at a medical cannabis company, Lake said there is preliminary evidence that shows marijuana can help people with addictions reduce their use of hard drugs and ease the painful symptoms of withdrawal.

"I'm not saying it's the answer to the opioid crisis. I'm saying it's one of the options we should explore," said Lake, who chose not to run in last spring's provincial election. "It's very promising and deserving of further research and there's no better place to do that than in British Columbia."

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Addiction is a serious issue, but it shouldn't be a criminal one, says Derek Chang.

"I just learned that my cousin overdosed at a friend's party. His friends were afraid of calling 911 and left him alone. He was eventually brought to the hospital but remained in a coma and died the following day."

Biting her lips, my patient told me this painful news in the clinic. I thought I wouldn't be hearing these kinds of tragedies again after the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act came into legislation last year.

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Re: "Needle warning issued after 2 pricks in 2 days," Jan. 11.

I agree that it is distressing when a child or anyone else is pricked by a foreign needle. However, the furor over this and similar incidents overshadows the real problem that we have today with drug and other substance abuse.

Until we address the poverty and homelessness problem that exists today across the country, we will always have addictions. If the basic level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs is not met, people suffer. That suffering hurts, and people find ways to numb the hurt. That way is through substance abuse.

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People in crisis are seen quickly, while access to needed services

When she was mired in a seemingly endless drug addiction, Phyliss Sauve couldn't slog her way through the health care and social services systems that were intended to help her.

It was nearly impossible to make or keep appointments with doctors, drug counsellors and social workers when she had no home, no phone, no car. "You don't see any way out, and I would get frustrated, so I would just keep doing what I was doing."

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Canada will be the greatest tourist destination for drug sales and tourism

Editor,

There is a lot of talk about legalizing the marijuana weed and other psychedelics.

Pay no attention to the narrow-minded, inconsiderate, uneducated opposition aligned with the anti-democratic, misogynist, racist, reactionary old school.

One thing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau knows is drugs, and that's why legalizing marijuana is a high priority for our Liberal Federal Government.

Considerate people like us have an obligation to command progress for social change for the working class.

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The methods Penticton police used to search phones connected to a drug investigation were again called into question on Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court. Jennifer Montgomery, 31, is facing one charge of possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking and two counts of simple possession of heroin and methamphetamine. Her trial began Wednesday.

Montgomery's phone was seized by police after a search warrant was executed June 22, 2016, at her Penticton home, where RCMP Const. Chad Jackson testified drugs and paraphernalia associated with drug dealing were found.

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