Fewer victims arriving at detox now Pictou County is coming to terms with bath salts. The drug addiction that hit this pocket of northern Nova Scotia like wildfire this spring has been wrangled down to a smouldering burn. In April, area emergency rooms were seeing four to five cases of strung-out bath salts users a week. "A lot of folks were using them non-stop for a week or two at a time," said Greg Purvis, director of addictions services for the Pictou and Cumberland health authorities. [continues 621 words]
Like many in our community, we at the Kings County Advertiser have watched with growing alarm as there have been more and more arrests for drug possession and trafficking in our community. The recent methamphetamine bust is yet another terrifying example of how rural Nova Scotia isn't as safe as we might like to believe. The meth bust involved alleged criminal activities throughout many communities in the Valley. The investigation involved numerous local agencies, as well as the federal RCMP drug enforcement unit. Police were able to recover about 10,000 meth pills, 10 pounds of marijuana, $22,000 in cash, 12 cartons of illegal cigarettes and an ounce of cocaine throughout their investigation, but it boggles the mind to think of how many drugs the alleged members of this ring may have been able to traffic over the course of the five-month investigation and beyond. [continues 378 words]
A correctional officer has been charged with trying to smuggle drugs into the Dartmouth jail on Thursday. Malcolm Stephen Beaton, 49, of Bedford was arrested Thursday night as part of an ongoing drug investigation. He faces charges of breach of trust and possession of hydromorphone and marijuana for the purpose of trafficking. Beaton works as a correctional officer at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility. "Investigators in the HRP/RCMP integrated guns & gangs unit and the combined forces intelligence unit arrested a corrections officer at 6:35 p.m. as he was about to enter the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Burnside," Halifax Regional Police said in a news release Friday. [continues 823 words]
A mobile methadone clinic has made it to Halifax and is expected to be ready to roll into Fairview and other communities where it is needed by mid-November. "It needs some TLC," said Cindy MacIsaac, program director of Direction 180, as she showed the inside of the giant mobile clinic, which was parked Monday near Direction 180 on Gottingen Street. MacIsaac and Diane Bailey, program director of Mainline Needle Exchange, picked up the vehicle in Baltimore, Md., last week and drove it back to Halifax, arriving late Saturday. [continues 496 words]
Nooks, Crannies Prime for Smuggling Drugs Nova Scotia's vast coastline and relatively small population provide daunting obstacles for those policing drug and human smuggling. Drug seizures in this province make up only a small fraction of the number of busts across Canada. There were just 34 drug busts in Nova Scotia in 2011, out of 10,307 nationally. But while they might be fewer in number, drug busts on Nova Scotia's coastline can be massive in size. Seizures on land might involve whatever drugs can be hidden in the back of a vehicle, but busts along the coast can easily net millions of dollars worth of drugs, police say. [continues 499 words]
Members at a Loss to Find Replacement A heart attack and other health issues forced the founder of the Halifax Cannabis Buyers' Club to shut down the operation this spring. Harrietsfield's John Cook, 47, couldn't continue operations this year and officially closed the club in May, forcing its 150 members to find another source for medical marijuana. "He saved my life," one of those club members, Halifax's Bobbylee Dillman, said of Cook in a recent interview. "I was at the point of suicide because of all the pharmaceuticals the doctors were pushing down my throat." [continues 462 words]
A Cumberland County libertarian who supports the use of marijuana to fight cancer has lost his bid to have weapons charges against him stayed. Daren Wayne McCormick adheres to the Phoenix Tears and the Freeman-on-the-Land movements. A jury found McCormick guilty of threatening to kill police officers on March 31, 2011, and of weapons offences after an Amherst search the next day. He was arrested in town with a loaded revolver in a holster on his hip, hidden under his long coat. [continues 527 words]
IT'S BEEN YEARS since anyone has passed a joint my way. However, just this past Canada Day, as I wandered down to the Dartmouth Commons to attend the annual Cannabis Day picnic, I found myself declining one offer of a rather soggy and puffed-down-to-the-clip doobie. It was a nostalgic moment, to be sure, not to mention an unexpected one. When I made plans to attend the Cannabis Day picnic, you see, I did so without knowing that the event has, over the years, become the unofficially official one day of the year that interested people in the community can go out - a blind eye, it seems, is turned - to smoke marijuana freely in a designated public place. [continues 552 words]
'We have heard that dealers are lacing marijuana with this drug' TRURO - A new street drug, known to be in use in areas of northern Nova Scotia, has health and law enforcement groups concerned about its harmful and psychotic effects. Perhaps even more concerning is the fact that people may be using the drug without even being aware. The synthetic drug, commonly referred to as 'bath salts,' comes in powder form and has effects similar to amphetamines. However, the frequency of negative effects experienced with 'bath salts' is alarming, including paranoia, violent behaviour, hallucination, dangerously increased heart rate and high blood pressure. The drug may be mixed with other drugs such as marijuana. [continues 315 words]
NEW GLASGOW - A new street drug is causing concern among the local police and health authorities. Health authorities in northern Nova Scotia are warning people that a new synthetic drug, commonly known as "bath salts," is causing harmful and psychotic effects to people using it. The drug comes in powder form and has effects similar to amphetamines, the authority said. However, the frequency of negative effects experienced with "bath salts" is alarming, including paranoia, violent behaviour, hallucinations, dangerously increased heart rate and high blood pressure. The drug may be mixed with other drugs such as marijuana. Despite the name, this product is not the type of salts used in bathing (Epsom salts). [continues 295 words]
Cannabis Crusader Has Been in Europe Since 2009 AMHERST - A series of drug charges against an Athol man who says he's exiled in Europe have been withdrawn. Rickey Logan Simpson, 62, was charged with the production of cannabis marijuana, possession of cannabis marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and possession of cannabis marijuana and possession of cannabis resin following a raid of his Athol Road home in November 2009. Simpson was in Amsterdam, Holland accepting the Freedom Fighter of the Year Award at the annual Cannabis Cup when the raid occurred and it's believe he has been in Europe since then. [continues 291 words]
Having just returned from Colombia - once known as the cocaine capital of the world - it's not hard to see why impoverished Colombians turn to the cultivation and production of coca leaf, cocaine and opium poppies. The climate is receptive, money is scarce, and there are few substitutes for such a lucrative crop. The so-called "balloon effect" also makes any crackdown on production ineffective, since crop cultivation, drug laboratories, and transportation routes squeezed in one area will inevitably pop up elsewhere. [continues 701 words]
SYDNEY - A drug trial set to begin next month went up in smoke Monday after a provincial court judge ruled that the 12 kilograms of marijuana seized would not be admitted into evidence. North Sydney Judge Jean Whalen ruled that RCMP officers exceeded their authority in making the seizure in July near the Marine Atlantic terminal in North Sydney. As a result, special federal prosecutor David Iannetti told the court that without the marijuana, the Crown would be dropping the charge against 32-year-old Tammy Frances Earle of Corner Brook, N.L., who was charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking. [continues 349 words]
With Health Canada rolling out more restrictive rules and Stephen Harper fighting pro-weed legal judgements, local MMJ users fear the system is going up in smoke. In an early-'90s Civic we drive eastward, away from the Halifax-Dartmouth sprawl, toward the tiny hamlets and villages that tuck themselves into the myriad bays and coves of the eastern shore. In the car the conversation flits quickly from topic to topic, like some conspiratorially minded hummingbird, and runs the gamut of water-cooler fringe-news talk. A speech on the dangers of fluoride in the water leads to a dissertation on chem trails, which effortlessly flows into an account of the real story behind 9/11. The only way through it is to allow each topic to run its course, and then gently, calmly, try to ease the derailed interview back onto track. I want to know about cannabis: medical-grade, Health Canada-approved marijuana, to be precise. Jes James, co-founder of The Halifax Compassionate Club, with whom I am now delivering an indeterminate quantity of medical marijuana to as many patients as we can schedule in the day, is my tour guide. [continues 3154 words]
A tentative proposal by the federal Liberals to legalize marijuana raises both interest and eyebrows. But would they ever go ahead with such measures if elected, or is it just a way of distancing themselves from the stodgy Conservatives and appearing edgy? At their convention last weekend, a proposal from the party's youth wing was to legalize pot, control sales, as with booze and tobacco, and enjoy the tax revenue. It's been noted that the substance has been illegal for so long, and a subject of such hysteria, that a majority of Canadians would have trouble getting used to the idea of lifting laws. [continues 234 words]
Court Told Bone Cancer Victim, Charged With Possession After Police Found 108 Grams, Now Has Licence to Use Drug to Relieve the Pain of Her Disease YARMOUTH - A woman who drinks marijuana-laced tea to fight severe cancer pain was granted an absolute discharge Tuesday by a judge after cops raided her Yarmouth home last year, looking for dope. "I'm terribly pleased," said Heather Lent as she left Yarmouth provincial court, walking with a cane and taking short, measured steps. "I had my anxieties along the way." [continues 476 words]
Break and enters are nothing new. Most break-ins are into sheds, barns, other outbuildings, and cottages. Items taken are usually tools, ATVs, and small gas-powered machines. Less common are residential break and enters, usually committed when homes are vacant. Break and enters into occupied homes are not that common, so the recent experience of Albert and Bonnie Johnson in Middleton might be considered an exception. A very scary exception. Publication of a story in The Spectator last week concerning the break-in at the Johnson home created immediate community concern -- partly because the Johnsons are a well-known and respected couple who work tirelessly to help others. Partly because anyone reading the story could picture it happening to them -- at home late at night with thieves downstairs. Albert admitted that he sensed something was wrong. What if, alerted by the constantly running furnace, he had come downstairs while the intruders were still there? The story might have had a very different ending. [continues 435 words]
A group that promotes medical marijuana rights says the federal government's omnibus crime bill would make criminals out of people with legitimate health conditions. Representatives for Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana Society say the bill will impose mandatory prison sentences of at least six months for anyone convicted of growing as few as six cannabis plants. "Countless patients are either oblivious to Health Canada's medical marijuana program or are struggling to gain access to it due to physician reticence," Debbie Stultz-Giffin, the group's chairwoman, said in a news release. "This means that many sick people who rely on cannabis to alleviate health considerations, who are otherwise law-abiding citizens, will be thrown under the bus with this legislation. [continues 128 words]
N.S. Policy May Harm Those With Chronic Illnesses A move by Nova Scotia's Community Services Department to streamline delivery of some social assistance benefits may have increased pain and suffering for some recipients with chronic illness, one researcher suggests. Under employment support and income assistance regulations, a government case worker may have allowed a person on social assistance to receive a special drug or therapy not usually covered if it was needed to alleviate pain and suffering. That section was repealed last month, said Barbara Blouin, who wrote reports in the 1980s about single mothers and the poor on social assistance. [continues 355 words]
Shelburne police recently located a marihuana grow operation that was booby-trapped with spikes mounted on wooden platforms and are warning the public to be cautious. The RCMP Shelburne County Street Crime Enforcement Unit and members of the Shelburne and Barrington RCMP detachments recently located a grow operation that contained 15 marihuana plants within a wooded area in western Shelburne County. "Booby traps are not uncommon in outdoor marihuana grow operations," said Cpl. Nancy Mason. " They pose a serious hazard not only to the police but to the public who may be spending recreational time in the wooded residential areas." The street crime unit is continuing their efforts to locate and eradicate outdoor marihuana grow operations throughout Shelburne County and is seeking assistance from the public. Anyone with information can contact their nearest RCMP detachment or Crime Stoppers at 1-800222-8477 [end]
Police in Annapolis County seized hundreds of marijuana plants over the weekend in an aerial blitz that covered one end of the county to the other. The Annapolis County Street Crime Enforcement Unit and Annapolis RCMP Detachment, under coordination of the RCMP Marijuana Grow Op Enforcement Team, conducted an aerial marijuana eradication operation with good results according to Cpl. Laurie Smith. "It was very successful, resulting in 739 marijuana plants being seized," Smith said. Smith said that as in past years, the RCMP continues to encourage the public to contact their local RCMP detachment or police force if they have information about a marijuana grow operation. [continues 331 words]
Fans of the classic Nova Scotia television show "Trailer Park Boys" likely remember the episode in which "the boys" hijacked Rita MacNeil's tour bus and forced MacNeil and her entourage into helping them harvest an outdoor marijuana grow-operation as they broke out in a spontaneous rendition of "Working Man." Well, it's coming on harvest time again for an agricultural commodity that's definitely not promoted by the provincial agricultural department's "Select Nova Scotia" campaign. And that means police in Nova Scotia will be again using a helicopter to scour the province's forests and fields in search of the one-to two-metre tall deep-green plants with the distinctive leaves composed of seven jagged fingers. [continues 372 words]
SYDNEY -- It's harvest time in the Maritimes for some crops and the RCMP are hoping a certain cash crop goes up in smoke. RCMP and municipal police agencies across the province are teaming up to nab marijuana growers and have already begun spotting some grow-ops by employing air surveillance. "Nova Scotia's landscape varies tremendously making it impossible to cover every piece of land," said Sgt. Keith MacKinnon, of the RCMP drugs and organized crime awareness service. As a result, MacKinnon said police are also depending on public assistance to pinpoint grow-ops. [continues 356 words]
Nova Scotia cops are starting their annual search for outdoor marijuana grow-ops Thursday. The RCMP and municipal police will use a helicopter, information from the public and other means to look for the bright green plants. This year the police may prosecute growers, unlike other years where the operation was simply a seek-and-destroy mission. "We're looking at potential charges if the evidence is there," said Sgt. Keith MacKinnon of the RCMP. "It depends on the information that comes in." [continues 194 words]
Mounties in Nova Scotia are still scratching their heads over a Yarmouth driver who apparently waited out the line at a roadside stop by lighting up a joint. "I can't get into this guy's mind, but he felt comfortable enough to light a joint within eyesight of the police," RCMP Corporal Andy Hamilton told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. Police had set up a roadside seatbelt blitz last week on Hardscratch Road when they noticed a motorist several cars down the line had started smoking a marijuana cigarette. [continues 107 words]
Man Lit Up a Joint While Waiting to Go Through Traffic Checkpoint YARMOUTH -- At least he was honest. A Yarmouth driver who smoked a joint while an RCMP officer chatted with drivers a few cars ahead of him at a roadside checkpoint last week fessed up when asked if he had smoked any dope recently. Yup, he said. Like, 30 seconds ago. But was the 20-something man's seatbelt securely fastened? Absolutely. Was he co-operative? Yes. And was the odour of that freshly smoked joint still wafting through the air as the cops waved him up? Yeah, but he seemed fine, so after he put his small stash of dope into the outstretched hand of a Mountie, he was on his way. [continues 681 words]
In 2001, Ottawa made a dumb decision to allow qualified patients to smoke medical marijuana. Today, 10,000 Canadians have licences to inhale, and 3,400 of your fellow citizens can grow their own pot legally. Well, some grow it legally. Others use their government licences to traffic in an illegal drug or "controlled substance" - which seems to be a very Canadian sort of paradox. Earlier this month, police in Maple Ridge, B.C., paid a visit to a gent with a licence to grow 220 marijuana plants - and found 1,400 instead. [continues 624 words]
New Civil Forfeiture Law Costs C.B. Drywaller SYDNEY -- A judge ruled Monday that the province can hold a Sydney Mines man's assets under new civil forfeiture legislation, even though he isn't facing any criminal charges. This is the first time the province has applied the new Civil Forfeiture Act in court. It came into effect in April. John Joseph Reynolds, 36, represented himself Monday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Sydney. In February, a police search of Reynolds's home turned up nine grams of marijuana and five grams of hash packaged individually in small plastic baggies. Police also found two digital scales, several hundred empty small baggies, a bag of dextrose, scissors and a spoon with possible cocaine traces, six cellphones with photos of drugs and text messages about buying drugs, and $5,725 in cash. [continues 569 words]
Supreme Court Justice Says Province Can Hold on to Money Seized In Sydney Mines Drug Raid SYDNEY -- A Nova Scotia Supreme Court justice has granted an interim order forfeiting money seized in a Sydney Mines drug raid to the province, in the first use of Nova Scotia's Civil Forfeiture Act. Following a hearing Monday, Justice Cindy Bourgeois ruled that the order requested by the province's manager of civil forfeitures met the tests set out by the act, which came into effect in April. [continues 517 words]
The Nova Scotia government has been ordered to approve funding for a disabled woman's marijuana grow-op. The province's Income Assistance Appeals Board ruled that the Department of Community Services must pay Tanya (identified only by her first name because of privacy concerns), a $2,500 setup fee and an additional $100 every three months instead of paying for her medicinal marijuana. Tanya told CBC News that she and her husband Sam, who is also registered to grow pot for personal use, can only afford to grow six plants, and they sometimes run out. Tanya and Sam's only income is from social assistance. [continues 170 words]
Vigil Held for Man Injured in Explosion Dozens of supporters held a get-well vigil outside a Halifax hospital Saturday for a burn victim critically injured in a recent house fire in metro. They were there to align themselves in spirit with Chris Backer, a Lower Sackville man who was in his basement making hash oil last Saturday when an explosion and fire forced him to flee his home. The 40-year-old has a permit to use medicinal marijuana, which he's said he uses to help manage Crohn's disease, a chronic bowel disorder that has no cure. Oils often amplify the medical benefits of the plant. [continues 435 words]
Ottawa is to blame for an explosion that badly burned a Lower Sackville man Saturday, says the head of Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana. "I firmly believe what happened is the fault of our government," said Debbie Stultz-Giffin of Bridgetown. Chris Backer was in his basement making hash oil when the blast occurred, RCMP have said. The 40-year-old has a permit to use medical marijuana, which he has said he uses to manage his Crohn's disease. But Stultz-Giffin said Backer and many other patients get the most relief from ingesting cannabis in oil form. [continues 212 words]
Is there a drug problem in Shelburne County? Cpl Nancy Mason of the Street Crime Enforcement Unit recently spoke at the last Police Advisory Board meeting to address some citizens' concerns that drugs were running rampant in the community. "Are their drugs in Shelburne County," asked Cpl. Mason. "Yes, definitely that is why we have a drug unit." But, she added that the problem might not be as large as what some may think. The majority of drugs seized by the unit at 95 per cent are marijuana. The rest of the drugs seized tend to be crack-cocaine and ecstasy, a synthetic hallucinogen most commonly sold in tablet form. [continues 555 words]
A former sheriff's deputy accused of trying to smuggle drugs into the Dartmouth jail last year was arrested Sunday night for allegedly staying out 20 minutes later than his bail conditions permitted. Tyrone Cornell David, 41, showed up at his residence on St. Margarets Bay Road in Lakeside at about 11:20 p.m., according to Halifax RCMP spokesman Cpl. Scott MacRae. Under the conditions of his October 2009 bail, David is supposed to be in his apartment between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. [continues 319 words]
N.S. Woman: Missed Shipments Left Her Without Pain Relief Playing by the rules has caused Dominika Somerton nothing but pain. The Falmouth, Hants County, woman, who is prescribed medical marijuana for the pain caused by multiple sclerosis, says government red tape has made it impossible to get the drug when she needs it. "I'm tired of it. . . . I may as well be dealing with dealers," said Somerton, who is still waiting for a shipment of medical marijuana she ordered from Health Canada on Sept. 11. [continues 658 words]
'These people are really unsavoury characters,' RCMP officer warns It's not like a Cheech and Chong routine from the 1970s. There's no infamous duo weaving harmlessly through the fields smoking a doobie and cracking dumb jokes. And no one is smiling or waving comically at the police officers as they swoop in to destroy a crop of marijuana. In fact, many of the people growing the marijuana crops police officers have been destroying in this province over the past few weeks don't even smoke the stuff. They use it as a cash crop. [continues 345 words]
SYDNEY - Vehicles, flat-screen televisions, a backhoe, even a washer and dryer. Those items are among the property seized by a joint RCMP and Cape Breton Regional Police investigation that resulted in the laying of the first organized crime charges in Cape Breton history last week. The police agencies provided a photo opportunity of the items for media at the RCMP's Grand Lake Road detachment Tuesday. They also included a barbecue, boats, a Sea-Doo, computers and cash, but Insp. John Ryan, RCMP federal operations support officer, said they aren't able to provide a figure for the value of the property. [continues 320 words]
Why the government wants you to be scared, and how it works It is the traditional duty of the steely Conservative to position him or herself (mostly himself, however, as a simple function of participation numbers) against all things criminal. Criminality is everywhere. First, it must be feared. Then, laws must be passed and police forces further empowered. Finally, prisons must be built. Perhaps in some glorious future those prisons will be private. In the interim, that billions are spent on them will have to suffice. [continues 780 words]
SYDNEY - The first organized crime charges in the history of Cape Breton were laid following Thursday morning raids across the municipality. A Cape Breton Regional Police and RCMP joint force charged 16 people after several searches and arrests as part of a nine-month investigation of a group believed to be trafficking cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana. "Last year this organized crime group was identified as a provincial priority for the Nova Scotia Law Enforcement through our Criminal Intelligence Service Nova Scotia," said Insp. John Ryan, RCMP federal operations support officer. [continues 304 words]
RE: Drug counselling for man who grew pot to deal with pain (The News, July 22). This is sickening and obscene. Forcing a sick person into some Orwellian anti-pot indoctrination program that will likely be filled with lies about how pot causes all manner of health issues is so evil it defies words. You know what? To hell with Nova Scotia. I was thinking of visiting, but after this - yet another story of cultural stupidity and legal madness - I will be telling everyone I know to stay off of that corrupt and uncivilized pit. Russell Barth Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User Drug Reform Analyst and Consultant Educators for Sensible Drug Policy [end]
New Trial Ordered After Police Asked To Do Background Checks On Over 300 Potential Jurors A man convicted of operating a marijuana grow-op in Halifax will get a new trial because the Crown ordered secret background checks on potential jurors. In a ruling thought to be the first of its kind in Canada, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal said the federal Crown exercised an unfair advantage when it asked police to check the criminal backgrounds of more than 300 potential jurors. [continues 616 words]
The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of running a marijuana growop, in the first case in Canada to rule on improper jury-vetting by Crown prosecutors. The decision could have broad implications in Ontario, where the province's Court of Appeal has yet to rule in at least a dozen cases in which the police conducted secret background checks of potential jurors on behalf of the Crown. In Nova Scotia, the appeal court yesterday quashed the conviction of Kevin Hobbs because the federal Crown obtained an improper advantage in jury selection. [continues 372 words]
Nova Scotia Has Highest Percentage of Authorized Medical Marijuana Users NOVA SCOTIANS use more medical marijuana per capita than anyone else in the country, the latest Health Canada figures show. About one person for every 1,914 Nova Scotians is authorized by the federal government to use the drug, compared to one for every 8,013 people in Ontario and one for every 4,420 in British Columbia. The ratios are based on Statistics Canada's population number of 940,744 for Nova Scotia, and its figures for Ontario and British Columbia. [continues 694 words]
For the life of me, I can't figure out what the Harper government hopes to achieve with sentencing people who grow a few of their own marijuana plants to jail time. Isn't that making criminals out of ordinary citizens? And yes, ordinary citizens smoke pot. You have got to think that the people growing small amounts are only growing for personal use so they don't have to go to drug dealers. This government doesn't look at any stats or take into account any research. Excuse me, it did fund one research project on the subject. They did research into whether pot triggers psychosis, and found that it did. What they didn't tell you was that it is also triggered by alcohol, stress and a number of other things. [continues 91 words]
It appears that our provincial government is asleep at the wheel when it comes to the tough-on-crime agenda of the federal government. Last week, concerns were being raised about possible extra billions of dollars in costing for longer jail terms proposed by the feds. Much of this would be downloaded to the provinces. In a Herald piece this week, it was said the Tories are re-introducing legislation to impose mandatory six-month jail sentences for people convicted of growing as few as six marijuana plants. [continues 170 words]
All students arrested during a recent drug bust on the grounds of Amherst Regional High School will go through the youth restorative justice system or adult diversion. "It gives them a chance to get their lives back on track," said Staff Sgt. Scott White, during a telephone interview Wednesday. A total of 33 male and female students, ranging from 14 to 19 years of age, were arrested at the school on April 10, or shortly thereafter, following a week-long investigation by officers from the Amherst and Springhill police departments and the RCMP. [continues 194 words]
Police to Use Restorative Justice and Adult Diversion AMHERST - Most, if not all students arrested at Amherst Regional High School following a drug raid earlier this month will escape criminal prosecution. Deputy Chief Ian Naylor of the Amherst Police Department said that while interviews still have to be completed with two of the 30 youth arrested, the 28 young people and all five adults detained qualify for either restorative justice or adult diversion. "Our goal has always been finding a positive outcome and what we've been saying from the beginning is that we would look at all situations to see if they met the criteria for referral to the programs," Naylor said. "We have to be fair and we have to be consistent and that's what we have done." [continues 234 words]
Amherst was thrust into the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons last week when 22 students at ARHS were arrested following a drug raid. In the days that have followed, some have accused police of being heavy handed, though those arrested were allegedly conducting an illegal activity in an education setting. There have been more than a few questions whether Amherst needs this bad publicity when there has been more than enough negative press of late, including a two per cent hike in the HST. [continues 256 words]
Lawyer's right to fair trial violated with late disclosure of new evidence A judge has declared a mistrial in the case of a Halifax lawyer charged with passing drugs to a client at the Dartmouth jail. Anne Calder's right to a fair trial was violated when the Crown disclosed new evidence against her last Friday, Justice Peter Bryson ruled Wednesday in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax. Bryson said the evidence, which is banned from publication, was "highly prejudicial" to Calder and that its late disclosure breached her right to make "full answer and defence" to the charges against her. [continues 433 words]
Defence Not Told; Dismissal Of Charges Over Grow-op Sought The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal is being asked to overturn a marijuana grow-operation conviction because of secret background checks conducted by Halifax police and the RCMP into potential jurors. Kevin Hobbs was convicted by a jury in Halifax on June 1, 2009, just a few days after the National Post first reported on the practice of improper jury vetting by police and provincial Crowns in some jurisdictions in Ontario. [continues 498 words]
Inside Nova Scotia
