Editor, I applaud the Provincial Government for the announcement of a youth treatment facility here on P.E.I., but how is it going to be structured for recovering for addicts? Is it going to be staffed with a phycologics, counccelors, addictions specialist and all the people than can tell the addict what wrong with them or are they going to get addicts that are clean, getting on with their life to show them that there is light at the end of that awful tunnel of addiction. [continues 430 words]
Are pot dealers more compassionate than the federal government? Judge for yourself. According to recent media reports Ottawa is charging people approved for medical marijuana 15 times more than what it pays its own supplier, a company that grows the crop at the bottom of an abandoned Flin Flon, Man., underground mine. Guess who is getting the shaft? You have to wonder how your average neighbourhood dealer, facing much thinner margins, can still earn enough from bulk sales to stay on good terms with the local Mercedes or BMW dealership. [continues 312 words]
Funding Also Going To Methadone Treatment, RCMP Street-Level Crime Unit The province is putting almost $1.4 million into getting illegal drugs off the streets and helping those battling drug addictions. In his budget Tuesday, Provincial Treasurer Mitch Murphy allocated $1 million to establish a youth addiction treatment facility and develop a youth addictions strategy. An additional $150,000 is going to the methadone maintenance treatment program and $212,000 to aid the RCMP's street-level crime unit. "It is a total program," said Health Minister Chester Gillan of the concerted effort by his and the Attorney General's departments to address addictions from the ground up. [continues 315 words]
Addiction Treatment Facility, Beefed-Up Policing And Methadone Program CHARLOTTETOWN - The Province is pumping almost $1.4 million to get illegal drugs off the streets and help those battling drug addictions. In the budget Tuesday, Provincial Treasurer Mitch Murphy allocated $1 million to establish a youth addiction treatment facility and develop a youth addictions strategy. An additional $150,000 is going to the methadone maintenance treatment program and $212,000 will aid the RCMP's street-level crime unit. "It is a total program," said Health Minister Chester Gillan of the concerted effort by his and the Attorney General's department to address addictions from the ground up. [continues 320 words]
Three years ago the P.E.I. liquor commission initiated funding for a new initiative that targeted the date rape drug. The Posters and Coasters campaign was the result of many prominent local organizations collaborating to create a new and informative campaign that directly targeted young people. The operation's primary goal was to raise awareness about date rape drugs, as well as to promote responsible drinking habits. Wendy Adams, a police officer at UPEI, has been involved with the project since its conception. "We are pleased to be part of it here at UPEI. Anytime that our department has the opportunity to go out and speak we always promote this campaign." [continues 519 words]
Editor, The huge number of break-and-enters in and around Summerside, and everywhere else on P.E.I., is, I am assuming, largely drug inspired. Children (most of those apprehended are minors) usually don't break into homes and businesses in the early hours of the morning without a drug-fueled urgency. My guess is that they've been deliberately addicted to drugs and debased into desperate little criminals, who nightly prowl the streets for whatever they can steal in the service of their pimps. Is there a crime darker than that? [continues 187 words]
Editor: As an educator at Colonel Gray high school, I feel compelled to respond to Mr. Martin Ronald Arsenault's letter, 'Bad language isn't the only problem' (The Guardian, March 3, 2007). To begin with, we here at Colonel Gray are making every effort to curb profanity with our newly implemented profanity policy; however, a certain burden of responsibility for proper conduct and manners also lies within our students' homes. I fail to see the connection between the recently released movie, The Departed, and the increase in profanity among our youth. Many movies contain profanity, but that does not mean our youth go out and mimic the behaviour. [continues 186 words]
Editor: Regarding your Feb. 13 editorial (Being aware of the illegal drug problem), cracking down on illegal drugs is easier said than done. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. The good news is that Canada has already adopted many of the common sense harm reduction interventions first pioneered in Europe. The bad news is that Canada's southern neighbour continues to use its superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe. [continues 117 words]
More resources and a long-term treatment facility on the Island to deal with addicted youth are what's needed. That's the word from participants at a consultation meeting held to discuss youth addiction strategy. The meeting, held last week at Westisle High School, was the last in a series of meetings organized by the department of health across the province. The meeting asked the question: "If youth addictions services in the province were to be improved and/or expanded, what would you recommend?" [continues 462 words]
More than 40 people turned out at a public consultation held in Summerside on P.E.I.'s addiction services for youth. Here are some of their comments. Bill Campbell, counsellor, said the P.E.I. system simply isn't working: "I've had calls from as far away as Alberta on a Prince Edward Island youth. And the father going to go out there and wondering what he could do because his son's going to die. I said, 'Find something in Alberta. If you're interested in his life, don't take him to Prince Edward Island.'" [continues 396 words]
Getting help for drug addiction is never easy and where teens are involved, families face even more obstacles. A grandson in trouble with the law, struggling with an addiction. A Summerside woman said it took her 10 calls and 15 people to get him help. And she'd been through the system before - since one of her children battled addiction too. "It is certainly an effect that I don't wish on anybody," said the woman, who tried to help her grandson when frustrated parents didn't know where to turn. "It's hell for the person that's using, but it's also hell for the parents who find it very, very, very difficult to find help. What phone number do they call? What office do they call?" [continues 344 words]
Editor, What a pleasure it is to see Canada's drug warriors reduced to throwing hissy fits. Chief Jamie Fox should lighten up (pun entirely intended). Fox should quit acting like a petulant little girl and get to work solving real crimes. He and his cronies have been playing "silly bugger" arresting people for an herb for far too long. It's over. Now get back to work, Fox, on laws that exist and matter. Chuck Beyer Victoria, B.C. [end]
Statistics Show Summerside Has Increase In Break-Ins Summerside and Charlottetown are heading in opposite directions, at least when it comes to frequency of residential break-ins. Summerside police reported 99 residential break-ins in 2006, up from 65 in 2005 and 44 in 2004, while Charlottetown registered 132 break-ins in 2006, down from 145 in 2005, and 167 the previous year. Summerside deputy police chief David Griffin said last year was the "worst ever" in terms of residential break-ins. [continues 399 words]
The news that police recently conducted the fourth crack cocaine bust in a month should be sobering to all Islanders. If there's any doubt that heavy duty drugs have infiltrated P.E.I., this should dispel it. There have been other indications that the illegal drug culture is thriving here. The P.E.I. Pharmacy Board said recently that some cough medicines were put behind the pharmacy counter last April because some consumers were making crystal methamphetamine from the products. [continues 52 words]
SUMMERSIDE - Summerside Police Services will introduce the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program to local grade 5 and 6 classes in Summerside. The program is designed to teach students the facts about tobacco, marijuana and alcohol use with the goal of preventing youth from using these substances. Summerside Police Services Chief Dave Poirier said, "The DARE program is being introduced to students to help them prepare for intermediate and high school. The program will not only educate the students on substance abuse, but will also open the lines of communication between the students and police." [continues 122 words]
This is in response to the editorial 'Appropriate treatment for addicted youth/Government may need a more persuasive case before changing its plans' (The Guardian, Jan. 25, 2007). What's perceived to be a serious problem in our community, as quoted by the editor, is a serious problem in our community. I am a member of the Summerside-area group lobbying the provincial government for the long-term youth addiction treatment program and facility here on P.E.I. We have been working on this issue for the past five years with the help and support of our adviser and mentor Dr. Sheldon R. Cameron. His expertise in the addictions field has helped hundreds of addicts to recover, he has helped hundreds of families with coping skills, and he has saved many, many lives (one of those lives was my son's). He has won many local and national awards over the years for his work in addictions. [continues 801 words]
Government may need a more persuasive case before changing its plans. The growing opposition in Summerside to the provincial government's plan for helping drug-addicted young people has some impressive clout, but it may need to work a little harder to get government on side. A group of Summerside-area parents wants government to create long-term drug care for young people with drug problems. The province is committed to a facility for drug-addicted youth, but the parents say the three-month program being proposed won't be effective. They want to follow the lead of other provinces and bring in a long-term addiction program under legislation that would force youth into treatment. [continues 304 words]
CHARLOTTETOWN - Only weeks on the job, the capital police's new street crime unit has already stopped thousands of dollars in drugs from reaching Island streets. In two busts, the most recent Thursday morning, the unit seized crack cocaine, marijuana, Ecstasy, prescription narcotics and other drugs. Two adult males, two female youth and a male youth were arrested in Thursday's bust and jailed overnight. Each faces charges of possession of drugs for purpose of trafficking and possession of stolen property. [continues 194 words]
SUMMERSIDE - If it takes a community to raise a child, it might also take one to get that child off drugs. Summerside city council took a step forward on that front Monday night. Council agreed to endorse the efforts of a parents' support group, which has been lobbying the Province for a youth addiction facility. The group also wants legislation allowing parents to force their children to get help. Coun. Garth Lyle, who brought the resolution forward, attended one of the group's meetings. He told council the stories he heard would tear your heart out. [continues 142 words]
RCMP Dare program visits schools ELLERSLIE - Thirty Grade 6 students have graduated from the RCMP's DARE Program. DARE is an acronym for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. The 10-session program is designed to equip elementary, intermediate and high school children with knowledge about drug abuse, and to provide them with skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with alcohol, drugs and tobacco. The program introduces children to the DARE decision-making process to define, assess, respond and evaluate. "I enjoyed the activities," graduate Brandon Williams said. [continues 172 words]
Inside Prince Edward Island
