An order by the federal justice department that the alleged B.C. negotiator for a major cross-border drug-trafficking organization surrender himself for extradition has been set aside by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

In a ruling released Wednesday, B.C.'s highest court said the justice minister acted "unreasonably" and in a procedurally "unfair" way in considering the "grave" medical condition of James Gregory Cameron.

In her reasons for judgment, B.C. Court of Appeal Justice Nicole Garson noted that Cameron was given notice on Aug. 23, 2013 that the minister would be relying on United States prison medical guidelines to decide on whether to order him to surrender himself for extradition.

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Vancouver: Pro-Marijuana Liberal Leader, Pro-Pot Activist Discuss Potential Candidate's Political Fortunes

A sunny afternoon in the park almost brought pro-Liberal pot activist Jodie Emery and pro-pot Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau together for the first time - almost.

Trudeau attended the B.C. Day Liberal barbecue in Vancouver's Douglas Park on Monday with B.C. Liberal candidates and supporters, where Emery made an appearance.

She told The Province she was "impressed" by Trudeau's speech to attendees, though she didn't get the chance to meet him.

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Re: "No school? B.C. to pay $40 a day per child," Aug. 1.

The partisan issue of whether to legalize marijuana will solve nothing. Neither will giving parents $40 per day this fall if the strike in public education continues.

We know now that the war on drugs has failed. Since 1990, the price of illicit drugs has actually decreased because of an overabundant supply. The steady demand continues to be fuelled in large part by people trying to temporarily escape unfulfilled lives.

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Dubious distinction or not, future medical marijuana magnates will have to go before council if they want to set up shop.

On Wednesday night, city council blazed through a unanimous vote to move to the public hearing stage a draft zoning bylaw restricting where new federally licensed production facilities can go.

The potential legislation would create a new zoning category - narcotics - in the city's greenbelt, agriculture and forestry and light, general and business industrial zones. Specifically, the zoning would be looked at for properties in the Agricultural Land Reserve larger than 15 hectares and in the BCR, Danson and Boundary Road industrial parks.

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A Port Coquitlam homeowner said he intends to sue the municipality after his appeal of a $12,000 controlled substance property declaration was denied by council on Monday.

Harvey Douglas, who owns a Mary Hill Road home with his two sons, told The Tri-City News on Wednesday that he is being unfairly penalized. He said there is no evidence the home he rented out was used for the production or sale of drugs and that the charge imposed on him should be waived.

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Physicians don't want to prescribe pot; surveys indicate this overwhelmingly. The Canadian Medical Association unequivocally doesn't want them to do it either and for years it has issued policy statements, briefs and resolutions to its members, to the public, to the courts and to government saying so.

The insurer of physicians, the Canadian Medical Protective Association, advises doctors not to prescribe marijuana, citing liability concerns. Last week, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, Dr. Louis Hugo Francescutti, raised alarms when he said that between pot manufacturers lobbying physicians and patients pushing for prescriptions doctors have been put in an untenable position.

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No Charges for Tenant but Big Fine for Landlord

The owners of a Port Coquitlam home have been slapped with a $12,000 fine after receiving a controlled substance property declaration, despite the fact that there was no marijuana grow operation in the rental house.

PoCo council voted against reducing the charge after the Mary Hill Road homeowners appealed the decision, asking that the fee be waived. They stated in a letter to the city that the tenants who were renting the home when it was raided by police last winter were never charged with a criminal offence and there was no evidence of controlled substances being found on the property.

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City council is being asked to take a high-minded approach to allowing future medical marijuana grow operations within city limits.

During Wednesday night's meeting, council will decide whether to move forward on a recommended bylaw limiting newly licensed weed production facilities to parcels of land in the Agricultural Land Reserve and in industrial parks.

Staff have rolled council's directions from a June committee of the whole meeting into a potential policy that would create a new narcotics category for greenbelt, agriculture and forestry zones in the ALR and light, general and business industrial zones - specifically the BCR, Danson and Boundary Road industrial parks.

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Goal is to help parents and teens recognize recruitment techniques and drug operations

B.C. anti-gang police and educators have prepared a booklet to help parents understand how gangs work so they can better protect their children.

Called Understanding Youth and Gangs, the publication explains how teens are most vulnerable to being recruited by gangs when they have a driver's licence and a need for cash.

It says the dial-a-dope delivery system for illicit drugs is usually the point of entry for some youth, who get sucked in by the promise of earning big money.

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Greater Victoria's recreational drug users are in high demand for a new study being undertaken by the Centre for Addictions and Research of B.C.

Ecstasy and MDMA are just some of the party drugs the University of Victoria-based research group wants to examine in the coming months.

Party drug users must be at least 19 years old and have used drugs other than marijuana at least once a month for the past six months.

The identity of all participants will remain confidential and anonymous and participants will receive some financial compensation.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/carbc.uvic or call 250-208-5308.

[end]

Delta's Bid to Prevent Medical Marijuana From Being Grown on Farmland Foiled by Province

Delta's attempt to regulate where medical marijuana is grown has been quashed by the provincial government.

Civic politicians approved legislation in February that would prohibit the production, storage, research or sale of medical marijuana in Delta, although applications would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Delta council has subsequently approved two such applications.

The move was made to steer medical marijuana operations to industrial sites and away from farmland. Delta even joined with three other municipalities - Langley Township, Abbotsford and Kelowna - to seek the province's support in banning medical marijuana operations in agricultural areas.

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Nobody Arrested Following Raid; Jim's Weeds Lounge in East Vancouver Is One of 45 Cannabis Dispensaries in Vancouver

Police searched what they called an illegal East Vancouver marijuana shop Thursday afternoon after receiving reports that weed was being purchased at the store and then sold to neighbourhood youth.

There were three staff members and five customers at Jim's Weeds Lounge at 882 East Hastings St. when officers executed their search warrant, but no arrests were made at the time, said Sgt. Randy Fincham, a spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department, in a news release.

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Vancouver street youth face an alarmingly high risk of hepatitis C infection because of a high incidence of injection drug use, according to a new study published in the British Medical Journal.

The B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS tracked youth aged 14 to 26 over the course of six years.

Of 940 people recruited between September 2005 and November 2011, 100 tested positive for the disease at the outset.

Of the people 512 who tested negative at the beginning and showed up for at least one subsequent visit, 56 were positive in follow-up tests - 10.9 per cent. And of those 512 youth, 166 - about 32 per cent - reported prior use of injection drugs.

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THE VANCOUVER POLICE Department has executed a warrant against another medicinal marijuana dispensary.

The raid on Jim's Weed Lounge at 882 East Hastings Street comes less than two months after a similar police action was carried out against a Weeds Glass and Gifts at 2580 Kingsway.

Jim Harrison, a board member of Jim's Weed Lounge, told the Straight that between eight and 12 members of the VPD drug squad showed up around noon today (July 24).

"They said they had a warrant," Harrison recounted in a telephone interview. "They came in here and just took all the money, all the pot-the medicine-and they left."

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Re: Citizens, not police, should decide on pot's de facto legalization, Daphne Bramham column, July 22

Daphne Bramham's call for public consideration of marijuana legalization is welcome, even though many of her statements are uninformed, and even though the linkage to civic elections is merely symbolic. Municipal governments have no authority over marijuana prohibition or legalization.

It is inaccurate to suggest that Vancouver's police are creating policy in their actions surrounding the annual 4- 20 event. Police do enforce laws, but they also have the discretion to choose how to use their limited resources. It appears that the VPD knows well that attempting to enforce marijuana prohibition at 4- 20 would be a preposterous waste of effort. It would breach the peace rather than preserving it, and would take thousands of hours of valuable police time away from more serious problems. Does anyone really want the VPD to jail all the 10,000odd smokers around the art gallery? There are only around 35,000 prison beds in our entire country.

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When Cheech and Chong lit up the movie screens with their marijuana fogged dialogue - "Hey man, how's my driving?" "I think we're parked, man" - they probably never imagined cannabis would become legal. But today more than 20 states have authorized medical marijuana, while Colorado and Washington have legalized it for personal use. So we say it's time to back up (carefully) and take a look at the health risks associated with recreational use (addressing medical use is for another column).

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Re: Marijuana not so medical, Letters, July 2

I totally agree with Rachel Rose and Isabelle Fieschi that we need to send the right message to our kids. Headlines that refer to someone who opens a chain of unregulated marijuana dispensaries as a "crusader" (Pot crusader vows it's business as usual, Vancouver Sun, July 22) would be a good place to start our introspection.

Also, please get the facts straight about Naturopaths. Naturopathic doctors are highly regulated and qualified practitioners whose prescribing rights are strictly controlled and hard won. They have no more conflict of interest than medical doctors or pharmacists.

Andrew Waller North Vancouver

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Re: Easy to get, easy to buy, Special Report, July 19

As a licensed naturopathic doctor focused on primary care and adjunctive cancer therapies, I have noticed a staggering increase in patient queries about the medicinal use of marijuana. We see the same in the media, whether CNN profiling Dr. Gupta, myriad patient testimonials, or the advent of legalization in certain states.

As a doctor I have three concerns which your article gave short shrift to.

First, medical benefit: There are and always will be recreational users, but I have documented patients who have reduced stronger medications, such as morphine, to alleviate pain while at the same time reducing unwanted drug side effects. I have seen terminally ill patients increase their appetite, reduce nausea and stabilize their condition with marijuana. Second, industry standards: For medical marijuana users the important issues are batch variation and a lack of standardization and quality control on the cannabis which is readily available. For medicinal purposes, there needs to be more focus on dosage, methods of administration, and the research being collated in this area.

Finally, your article put great emphasis on ease of access but almost none on why a licensed doctor would wilfully deny care to a patient who would benefit from marijuana - especially patients on patent medicines causing them undue side effects.

Walter Lemmo, N.D. Vancouver

[end]

Even the financial TV news channels are agog at the sight of Colorado's new retail marijuana shops, which opened for business Wednesday.

Note: they are not dispensaries; the state has done away with the medical window dressing so zealously clung to by Health Canada.

More important for B.C., Washington state will soon follow and allow recreational sales. Please note that the economic consequences for B.C. have absolutely nothing to do with anyone's personal consumption, approval or disapproval.

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Election debate: Time is right for discussion on Vancouver's approach

There's a world of difference between what's going on in Denver and Seattle when it comes to the sale of marijuana and what's happening here in Vancouver.

In Colorado and Washington, voters decided that they wanted to legalize its sale. Then, legislators formulated all kinds of regulations and levied hefty taxes on the growers, processors, sellers and buyers.

Here, there's been none of that, and possession, sale and distribution of marijuana are criminal offences in Canada. There's been no vote to change that and, of course, there are no regulations.

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