Re: Nelson City Council proposed moratorium for recreational cannabis sales.

This is the West Kootenays. We have some of the best pot growers and breeders in the world. For Nelson city to limit who can sell pot in Nelson will not stand up in court when recreational weed is legal.

This is Canada, thank goodness and I trust if pot is legal, we should be all able too play ball. Canadians are serious about fair laws concerning the free market or capitalist democracy. Everyone should get to play, not just the chosen few.

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The region served by Interior Health has been "hit hard" by the opioid epidemic, says the agency's medical health officer, but new tactics are being brought to bear in the fight.

"We've come a long way, but unfortunately these deaths continue to occur," Dr. Silvina Mema on Thursday told the board of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.

Fentanyl is the sole reason for the Interior Health region facing the second highest number of overdose deaths in B.C., behind only the Vancouver area, she said. According to the BC Coroner's Service, almost 90 per cent of overdose victims had fentanyl in their system.

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City considers ways to better protect employees and public

Victoria public works officials are examining protocols over the handling of discarded hypodermic needles to better protect employees and the public.

Fraser Work, Victoria director of engineering and public works, said the city is looking at its own protocols in light of reports this month of people encountering or being nicked by discarded needles.

"We take this issue very seriously, on behalf of our workers and the public," said Work.

He attended a meeting on Wednesday with public health officials, police, social service agencies and addict advocates to discuss recent needle incidents.

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After Vancouver, Interior Health has the second highest rate of illicit drug overdose deaths per population.

This alarming statistic was a sobering thought for regional district board members after hearing a presentation by health professionals on Thursday.

Administrator Rae Samson and medical health officer Dr. Silvina Mema said fentanyl is considered the cause or "poison" that is overwhelming the illicit drug supply.

BC Coroners Service data show a steady increase in deaths across the province since 2007. For example, the statistics indicate that Interior Health experienced a rate of five overdoses per 100,000 population in 2007, compared to 33 in 2017.

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Needle prick incidents may be a byproduct of permissive action aimed at saving lives

Anyone who spends a significant amount of time in downtown Victoria is at least somewhat aware of the potential for spent hypodermic needles to be discovered.

That said, finding one in a public or private area is always grim reminder of the reality that people in our midst struggle daily with addiction. And despite the efforts of local groups, those that work with the city's drug-addicted population, to clean up after the relatively small number of addicts who can't or won't dispose of needles safely, there are innocent, unsuspecting people getting pricked.

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The Municipality of North Cowichan is considering prohibiting the retail sale of marijuana within its boundaries.

That means that any application to set up a pot shop in North Cowichan would require a site-specific zoning amendment that would have to come before council to be considered.

In anticipation of the upcoming legalization of pot, expected this summer, North Cowichan's council gave first and second reading at its meeting on Jan. 17 to the zoning bylaw amendment.

This proposed zoning amendment will now proceed to a public hearing, and the time and place of the hearing will be announced.

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Bob Woolsey says laws were not valid at the time of alleged offences

A Mission man lost a court challenge this week to have his marijuana-trafficking charges thrown out.

Bob Woolsey had argued during a hearing that ran from Nov. 20 to 23 and on Dec. 12 in Abbotsford provincial court that he was not operating against the law when he allegedly sold marijuana and other derivative products to undercover police officers in late 2015.

Woolsey was operating a "compassion club" in Deroche at the time. The Crown alleges that he sold the products to the officers, even though they did not produce the proper medical documentation.

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Windows were smashed Wednesday evening and spray paint called the owner a "goof" and a "pedo"

Just a week into its opening in Okanagan Falls, a former Penticton pot shop has been vandalized with spray paint and smashed windows.

Jukka Laurio opened up his Herbal Green Apothecary in Okanagan Falls about a week ago, he said, with the hopes of putting to rest legal action from the City of Penticton over the Penticton location.

Until Wednesday night, he said the community has been fairly welcoming from the get-go.

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Homicide rate rising to levels not seen in years

The Vancouver shooting death of an innocent teenage boy caught in the crossfire of a drug gang shootout has revived fears of gang war in British Columbia's Lower Mainland.

"We are targeting gangs as we speak," said Adam Palmer, chief of the Vancouver Police Department, as he announced the death of two people, including one of the gunmen, in a wild shootout just after 9 p. m. on a busy city street last Saturday.

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Drug users need access to clean drugs: BCCDC head

As Vancouver records its highest ever number of overdose deaths, the head of B.C.'s Centre for Disease Control says he wants to move ahead on a controversial but innovative idea he feels is vital in the fight to save lives.

Dr. Mark Tyndall first proposed a vending machine back in December as a way to distribute prescription opioids to people with serious addictions who haven't responded to other treatments.

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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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