This post to the Richmond News Facebook received a large number of "likes." Re: "This bud's for you?" Feature, Oct. 20. This honestly makes me laugh. We're OK with corruption, illegal money laundering, buildings built without proper zoning, misuse of our ALR, shootings of gang members, birthing "hotels" in residential and agricultural lands, passport babies, etc. Yet, some are overly concerned about the legalization of marijuana? Council should be protecting our citizens from the illegal things going on in Richmond, and prepare properly for the eventuality of the legalization of pot because it will no longer be the 'underground' activity it has been for decades. Debra 'Dee' Wells [end]
Dear Editor, Re: "This bud's for you?" Feature, Oct. 20. I'm surprised Coun. Chak Au is so worried about marijuana legislation, when the proposed legislation is designed to regulate marijuana, not encourage its use. Right now, marijuana is an unregulated seven billion dollar industry, much of it in the hands of criminals, and the government is right to seek to regulate and control the sale of it. Washington State has not seen a dramatic increase of use in marijuana amongst youth since legalization, nor has crime increased, which seems to be the main fear for Chak Au and his "concerned" group. [continues 60 words]
Marijuana will cause problems: Mayor Brodie Richmond city council voted unanimously to oppose marijuana legalization and send a letter to the provincial and federal governments expressing its concerns and requesting "proper" regulations. In the letter, the city will ask for the right to regulate cannabis at the municipal level, should it become legalized. This would enable the city to impose stricter rules and regulate it through land-use bylaws. "If you legalize it, then it's really like saying it doesn't cause problems when it really does," Mayor Malcolm Brodie told the Richmond News. [continues 445 words]
Mayor asserts city has numerous supporters as it looks to ban the sale of cannabis once provincial legislation is set next spring At least one Vancouver suburb wants to explore outlawing retail sales of cannabis within its city limits, even after the drug is legalized next year. Richmond city council's opposition to recreational cannabis underscores the balance British Columbia is trying to achieve with its coming rules as it assures communities there will not be a provincewide, one-size-fits-all approach to legal sales of the substance. The NDP government has established a 19-member committee of municipal politicians and bureaucrats to discuss a host of controversial issues surrounding legalization with the province, but Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said on Tuesday his community is opposed to the sale and use of recreational cannabis. Richmond will await the new provincial rules - expected next spring - before exploring its options, he said. [continues 874 words]
Many Canadians can hardly wait for the day that the recreational use of marijuana becomes legal. As a doctor, I'm far less enthusiastic. I worry about two things: the experimental nature of marijuana in medical practice, and the public health consequences of legalized marijuana. Before you write me off as overly prudish or an anti-marijuana conservative, let me say that I'm not opposed to legalized marijuana in principle. I'm just paying attention to the evidence, or rather, the lack of it. My concern is that as marijuana becomes more easily available, Canadians may become more inclined to self-medicate with this drug. [continues 632 words]
Staff report to be considered today by Kelowna city council recommends marijuana be sold at private, public stores subject to municipal zoning Marijuana should be sold at privately owned pot shops as well as government-controlled stores, Kelowna officials say. But municipalities should be able to control the number of pot shops, as well as set regulations covering their size and location, says a report going to city council today. City officials also suggest an unspecified minimum distance be set between liquor stores and pot shops. [continues 357 words]
The question is not when our government will decriminalize personal possession and provide a safe, clean drug source, as we do for alcohol and soon for marijuana, but how many more families will be devastated with the loss of a loved one before a government is brave enough to value lives over votes. By decriminalizing personal possession, we could start to get rid the stigma that is associated with addiction. People are being poisoned and dying due to a clean source not being available. [continues 169 words]
Province receiving input on legalized marijuana rules Police departments and local governments are asking British Columbia for a cut of marijuana revenue as the province crafts regulations for legalized pot. The provincial government asked for public input last month as it develops new rules. Submissions are posted online and will be accepted until Wednesday. Feedback so far includes recommendations from Port Coquitlam and View Royal, on Vancouver Island, for pot profits to be directed to municipalities to address costs associated with enforcement. [continues 514 words]
Abbotsford police issue warning after three men, two women die from overdoses in 10-hour period on Friday Five people died within 10 hours from suspected drug overdoses in Abbotsford Friday. The victims were between the ages of 40 and 67, and most were found inside their Abbotsford homes. Between 10:15 a.m. and 7:20 p.m., first-responders attended dozens of calls about residents overdosing on drugs. Five of those were fatal. Const. Ian MacDonald says while overdoses have become normal in the city, it is shocking to see so many die in a day. He said the high amount of fentanyl and carfentanil in street drugs is horrifying. [continues 289 words]
Ontario's proposed liquor-style monopoly would keep black market, cost taxpayers We need a made-in-B.C. solution to cannabis legalization that pays attention to public health and safety, but also considers economic development in B.C.'s mature cannabis industry. Speaking to the recent meeting of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said it was "important to get it [cannabis legalization] right." "We are unique in B.C.," the minister said, adding that we have a "long, established history." [continues 714 words]
Dealers who hand out drugs laced with fentanyl could face manslaughter charges if their customers die, B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said recently. It's a harsh measure, but nothing else seems to stem the waves of poison that are killing people across the province. When even dead customers are not enough to stop a callous retailer, society must put its collective conscience where the dealer's is absent. Farnworth's suggestion is not new. Other jurisdictions, fed up with the senseless deaths, are coming down hard on those who, in the minister's words, are "dealing death." [continues 510 words]
Dealers who hand out drugs laced with fentanyl could face manslaughter charges if their customers die, B.C. Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said recently. It's a harsh measure, but nothing else seems to stem the waves of poison that are killing people across the province. When even dead customers are not enough to stop a callous retailer, society must put its collective conscience where the dealer's is absent. Farnworth's suggestion is not new. Other jurisdictions, fed up with the senseless deaths, are coming down hard on those who, in the minister's words, are "dealing death." [continues 522 words]
As little as five years ago, we imagine most people would have scoffed at the idea of needing a special group to pick up discarded needles in the community. Though the Comox Valley is not as badly affected as others, which are in the middle of a needle epidemic directly related to the opioid crisis that has killed so many across B.C. in the last several years, it isn't immune, either. The provincial statistics for 2017 to date are horrifying. This province has never faced a drug threat like that of fentanyl. [continues 224 words]
Action needed as legalization looms, Dr. Jessica Ross says. That was definitely vomit, I thought as I stepped in a slippery substance and caught the rail of the stretcher to avoid sliding underneath. That bilious smell doesn't come out of shoes. After ordering an intravenous, a cocktail of anti-emetics and a change of footwear for myself, I run through a mental list. What causes a 14-year-old patient to vomit like this? Appendicitis? Meningitis? Overdose? As an emergency room physician, it's always Big Bad Diagnoses that run through my mind first. [continues 639 words]
New NDP leader supports harm-reduction model The response to Canada's opioid overdose problem should be elevated as a national issue with a significant harm reduction approach, new NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said during his first visit to Vancouver as party head Friday. "Thousands of people are dying in our country as a result of this crisis and it needs to be named a national crisis first," said Singh, speaking after taking a tour of Chinatown. Singh's first official visit to the city after winning the federal NDP leadership Oct. 1 came a day after the City of Vancouver released the latest grim statistics on the overdose crisis - 275 suspected overdose deaths to the end of Oct. 9 - and a week after it was revealed that possible overdose deaths across B.C. surpassed all of 2016 at the end of August with 1,013. [continues 238 words]
Health and legal experts are urging caution about the idea of charging fentanyl dealers with manslaughter, saying such a move would do little to deter sellers and could instead punish those who are already struggling with substance-use disorders. B.C. Solicitor-General Mike Farnworth mentioned the idea to reporters at an unrelated event last week, saying it was raised at a recent meeting of federal and provincial public safety ministers. "We strongly believe that if you're dealing fentanyl, you're dealing death, and you should be facing much more severe penalties such as manslaughter charges," Mr. Farnworth said. [continues 727 words]
Criminal charges have been laid against Silver International Investment, a money-transfer business that RCMP allege was involved in money laundering, had ties to underground banking and used suspected drug cash to fund Chinese VIP gamblers in B.C. casinos. During the RCMP's so-called E-Pirate probe, Mounties allege they uncovered $500 million-plus from a Richmond money-laundering service that they said handled up to $1.5 million a day. "The Public Prosecution Service of Canada can confirm that charges have been laid against Caixuan Qin, Jian Jun Zhu, and Silver International Investments Ltd. in relation to Project E-Pirate," spokeswoman Nathalie Houle said Wednesday in an email. "We have no other information to provide at this time." [continues 685 words]
Thirteen Canadians a day were hospitalized for an opioid overdose in 2014-2015, according to the Canadian Institute of Health Information, and the rate of opioid poisoning hospitalizations has been steadily rising. What began with the over-prescription of opioids such as OxyContin, a painkiller once thought to have a low potential for addiction, led to the diversion of legal drugs to the illegal market, and later to the dramatic expansion of the illegal production of fentanyl. As the horror stories of addiction and death multiply, it is clear that what was once a medical issue is now a population-health crisis. [continues 634 words]
Last week, it was announced that opioid deaths have already exceeded last year's numbers, and the trend continues to point to an increasing use. Yet we open "incite" places to shoot up and open shelters where drug use is rampant. As long as society tolerates and supports this lifestyle, can there really be any other outcome? Burnside Gorge Community Association has said enough, but Victoria city council approved another shelter, ignoring the voters. Drugs will destroy lives and communities unless there is concerted effort to outlaw their use and stop enabling users. Chris Sheldon Victoria [end]
Students to learn to detect overdoses and reverse them using naloxone kits The University of B.C.'s Alma Mater Society is organizing mass training events to teach students to recognize and reverse drug overdoses amid a devastating provincial health emergency that shows no sign of slowing down. Organizers say 120 students are registered for a two-hour training session Thursday in the student union building at UBC's Vancouver campus, where they'll learn the signs of an overdose, how to use a naloxone kit and the role stigma-free language plays in improving the lives of people who use drugs. [continues 547 words]
Inside British Columbia
