Vancouver police are recommending 11 criminal charges be laid against five people in connection with Sunday's bust of an open-air marijuana market in Vancouver's Robson Square. VPD Deputy Chief Howard Chow says four people were arrested - and another is pending - after police descended on Robson in the block between Hornby and Howe late Sunday evening. But just hours after the police released details of the bust Tuesday, pot was once again being sold on the block. Robert Moore, president of World Cannabis, an anti-prohibition advocacy group, was at the "cannabis farmer's market" Tuesday afternoon but not selling cannabis. [continues 688 words]
Two vices are poised to potentially descend on Delta in the coming months, but it's curious that the reception they're getting from city leaders is markedly different. The federal government is expected to legalize marijuana sometime later this year, which has prompted those over at city hall to compile a laundry list of concerns. Delta doesn't want to see pot grown on local farmland due to its impact on food security and public safety, worried that large-scale pot farms could be a draw for organized crime. The city is also raising questions over public consumption, where marijuana will be sold, how tax revenues will be split and more. [continues 285 words]
Punitive approach behind OD crisis, Susan Boyd says. Canada has been inching toward legal regulation of cannabis for many years. But the fears that paralyzed our country for more than a century are still very much in evidence, despite decades of proof that none of the punitive policies we cling to help reduce drug-related harm. Increasingly, drug prohibition is understood as an issue of social justice and human rights by those who have fought for a better way. The history of Canadian drug prohibition is marked by many pivotal moments and challenges to the status quo, brought forward with passion and insight by community activists, people who use drugs, organizations, constitutional lawyers, researchers, and health and service providers. [continues 633 words]
Vancouver VCH will offer many services in one location Tuesday, January 23, 2018 Vancouver Coastal Health has built a new supervised injection site. But until Health Canada approves the health authority's application, it will sit empty. The new room, built especially to offer injection-drug users a supervised place to shoot up, is part of the new Heatley Community Health Centre. It's designed to offer what its creators call "wrap-around" health care to patients from the Downtown Eastside. And its completion comes in the middle of the worst overdose crisis in B.C.'s history that saw over 1,200 British Columbians die from illicit drug overdoses in 2017. [continues 166 words]
Food cart vendors raised concerns about site An open-air weed market operating in downtown Vancouver's Robson Square has been shut down by police. Complaints were filed in recent weeks with the Vancouver police over vendors who had set up tents and carts in the pedestrian-only area, selling cannabis and related products. Nearby food cart vendors voiced concerns about marijuana booths selling to minors, and there were questions about whether they had business licences such as what is required of the food cart vendors. [continues 262 words]
Dear editor: When is enough enough? Twelve years ago my wife and I decided that we wanted to move to the Okanagan. After a lot of thought and visits, we chose Penticton. What an absolutely wonderful place: sunshine, beaches, festivals, sports and if you stayed all winter very bearable But what has been happening is more break-ins, both on the personal level as well as businesses, thefts are a regular occurrence (the police know who most of these criminals are, it's mostly drug related) resulting in more and more fear amongst good honest citizens. [continues 340 words]
Food vendors had filed complaints about cannabis sales near art gallery An open-air weed market operating in downtown Vancouver's Robson Square has been shut down by police. Complaints were filed in recent weeks with the Vancouver police over vendors who had set up tents and carts in the pedestrian-only area, selling cannabis and related products. Nearby food cart vendors voiced concerns about marijuana booths selling to minors, and there were questions about whether they had business licences, such as what is required of the food cart vendors. [continues 262 words]
Vancouver is one of 16 locations where clinicians hope to use the drug to transform trauma treatment Ed Thompson remembers the helplessness he felt each of the thousands of times his twin daughters would turn blue and go lifeless in his arms. The young girls suffered from acute breath-holding spells, an involuntary condition that causes children to pass out, in their case up to 40 times a day. "Having your kids die in your arms 7,500 times kind of sucks," he said. [continues 833 words]
LSD, MARIJUANA HITS CITY IN 1966 City, police freak out over 'berserk' man On Jan. 17, 1966, The Vancouver Sun published a small story with an alarming headline, Man Goes Berserk While Using Drug. LSD had hit the city. "Police said they found the man, clad only in his pants, running around the 1600-block Yew shortly after 3 a.m., screaming that he was God," said the story. "The man, aged 36, was frothing at the mouth, had a wild-eyed appearance and was completely devoid of reason, police said. [continues 644 words]
A few days before Christmas my son and I were in the site office with a friend of ours solving the problems of the world as we sometimes do. The topic of government taxation came up and how every aspect of life is taxed. As the conversation continued, our friend Mike expressed a point of view we had never considered so I asked and received his permission to use it here, with some background and explanation. When I was a teenager I worked part-time at my dad's General Motors dealership and every now and then this old fellow walked through the shop saying hello to all the mechanics and would wind up going out the back door where he would just stand around. Over the next few minutes the mechanics would lay down their tools one at a time and go out to talk to him, as well as the car salesmen and fellows from the parts department. After a few minutes of this, the old fellow left just the same way he came in, which was all a mystery to a teenager in the early 1960s. [continues 402 words]
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. [continues 139 words]
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. [continues 293 words]
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. [continues 345 words]
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. [continues 347 words]
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. [continues 245 words]
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. [continues 311 words]
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. [continues 298 words]
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. [continues 313 words]
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. [continues 678 words]
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. [continues 431 words]
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." [continues 428 words]
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. [continues 227 words]
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. [continues 225 words]
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. [continues 780 words]
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. [continues 197 words]
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. [continues 418 words]
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. [continues 782 words]
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." [continues 821 words]
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. [continues 362 words]
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. [continues 178 words]
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. [continues 694 words]
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. [continues 336 words]
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. [continues 533 words]
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." [continues 475 words]
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. [continues 689 words]
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. [continues 86 words]
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." [continues 1752 words]
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. [continues 178 words]
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. [continues 310 words]
Abbotsford-Mission was declared the "murder capital of Canada" for its homicide rates in 2008 and 2009 - at the height of a drug war between the Red Scorpions and UN gangs. Now a different gang conflict is putting the area back in the running for the title. The Abbotsford-Mission census metropolitan (CMA) area tallied 10 murders in 2017, one in Mission and nine in Abbotsford. The local CMA is one of 33 included in Statistics Canada homicide rates formally released every July for the previous year. [continues 739 words]
Dear editor: This is a response to Gord Marshall's wherein he states "Pot smokers will hurt the water system" (Daily Courier, Jan. 9). Mr. Marshall, your statement may or may not be true. From what I have seen, pot smokers generally keep their roaches, as they are called (not butts), because pot is expensive and the old roach material can be used later in another joint or pipe. There is very little waste. Also, people don't hang out on the corner drinking beer because there are bars to go to, where you can relax and have a drink. Very civilized. Looks like pot smokers will have no such luxury. [continues 76 words]
Marijuana, cannabis, pot, whatever you want to call it, it will become legal in Canada sometime this year following the U.S. where pot is legal in several states. I do not smoke pot or anything else. Two glasses of wine and I am asleep. I do get high though watching the Patriots and the Red Sox win. I am also asthmatic and any kind of smoke bothers me. There is a lot of kerfuffle going on and this is my take on this hot topic. [continues 554 words]
The Kettlewell family has been in the business of selling alcohol for decades. These days, the family owns 11 liquor stores in British Columbia. Business has been good, as the Kettlewells have doubled the number of their Jak's Beer Wine Spirits stores in the past five years. But what most intrigues the Kettlewells these days is a new product: cannabis. The emerging rules around the legalization of cannabis vary by province. In general, governments will be heavily involved - and the sale of cannabis will be kept apart from alcohol, following Ottawa's recommendation. In B.C., however, a unique landscape is being considered, one in which government-owned liquor stores, as well as private liquor stores, sell cannabis. Alongside these stores, currently illegal cannabis dispensaries might also be allowed to operate in the legal market. [continues 786 words]
Jennifer Montgomery, 31, was charged with a number of drug offences after Mounties obtained a search warrant for her home Police had every right to use text messages found on a woman's phone to launch a subsequent drug investigation inside the home she had just left, a judge ruled Wednesday in Penticton. The validity of that tactic was challenged in a voir dire at the outset of the B.C. Supreme Court trial for Jennifer Montgomery, 31, who is charged with possession of methamphetamine for the purpose of trafficking, plus simple possession of heroin and methamphetamine. [continues 357 words]
Will the selling of marijuana in liquor stores result in poor health outcomes, higher health costs and more impaired driving? The answer, according to two credible and well-respected medical professionals, is a resounding "yes," and it's an answer they are trying to get the NDP government to sit up and take notice of. Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s long-serving chief provincial health officer, and Dr. Marcus Lem, the chairman of the Health Officers Council of B.C., are leading the charge against what is a widespread assumption that liquor stores will indeed be the primary outlet for the sales of cannabis once it becomes legal on July 1st. [continues 623 words]
Adverse childhood experiences linked to drug abuse, says TrinaLarsen Soles. The opioid epidemic is the biggest public health crisis to hit B.C. in decades. Upwards of four people a day are dying of overdoses, usually due to fentanyl poisoning of the street drug supply. To date the B.C. government has committed $322 million to address the crisis, including opening more supervised consumption sites, providing naloxone kits, urging people not to use alone, and trying to stop tainted drugs from coming into B.C. [continues 668 words]
The B.C. government will soon be weeding through resumes as the province looks to hire the right people to run its marijuana-sales business. The province will be the sole wholesale distributor of recreational pot through the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch when cannabis becomes legal across Canada, which is expected to happen this summer. The B.C. Public Service Agency is advertising two jobs - executive director and director of merchandising - for the liquor branch's cannabis operations. Qualifications for the executive director job, which pays between $126,000 and $140,000 a year, include having a post-secondary degree in a related field and "several years of progressive senior leadership experience" in leading a wholesale and retail division. [continues 116 words]
They climb high buildings, bend steel and do dangerous jobs with little room for error, but while sounding a bit like superheroes, many fly under the radar as they struggle with mental health and addiction problems. A construction industry program that offers additional services and mental health treatment has seen demand more than double in the past year, driven by the fentanyl epidemic and the organization's efforts to reach more workers. "It is frightening what is happening in our industry. One of the reasons we are seeing so many people coming in is because they are scared," Vicky Waldron, executive director of the Construction Industry Rehabilitation Plan, told Postmedia News. [continues 994 words]
One can only hope that people around the world are enlightened enough not to follow Canada's commitment to making its citizens brainless for good all for the sake of a vibrant marijuana industry making big money. The euphoria marijuana creates is short, while the miserable life it sometimes produces for its worshippers is a struggle and not the kind of life worth living. Bozenna Siedlecka, Port Moody [end]
Inside British Columbia
