Supporters say police raids on medical marijuana shops stink I don't usually spend my afternoons in marijuana dispensaries but after a recent police raid I went to the Saskatchewan Compassion Club to find out why Kevlar-vested officers stormed through their doors. During the federal election the Liberal Party promised to revisit Canada's marijuana laws and now with a majority government it seems all but inevitable. But that didn't stop around 10 police officers from crashing into the downtown Saskatoon Compassion Club on Oct. 29, leading owner Mark Hauk out in handcuffs. [continues 1070 words]
Drinking a coffee in the Starbucks on College Drive you would not peg Sabra LeTourneau as a user of a deadly and toxic drug. Wearing glasses, a hat and a pair of burgundy pants, the Saskatoon woman has been struggling with addiction for roughly 10 years and for the last five she's been dealing with an addiction to opiates. Her drug of choice: fentanyl. "If you're seeking to just numb-out and put your problems off for another day - yeah, this was my drug of choice," she said. "This was the drug that took me down the furthest, the hardest and the quickest." [continues 718 words]
The head of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club says the shutting down of his operation has driven sick people to look for marijuana wherever they can find it. "People who have never gone to the streets to buy cannabis before are doing that," Mark Hauk said Saturday at a rally in front of Saskatoon Police Service headquarters in support of the club. "I've had some unbelievable conversations where people have asked me what streets they should drive around." The club, which sold cannabis and marijuana derivatives to people with medical marijuana prescriptions, was raided by police on Oct. 29. Officers seized all the club's products and arrested Hauk and three of his employees. All four are facing charges related to drug trafficking. [continues 266 words]
The before and after pictures in your article Champ charged in pot raid (SP, Nov. 3) tell the story, at least for people with eyes to see. Given conventional medicine's treatment of his Crohn's disease, Lane Britnell was clearly in trouble. After he discovered marijuana as a medicine, however, he was visibly much better - and no longer needing at least some of his approved and certified doctor prescribed medications. Can you imagine how wonderful he must feel? How could he do otherwise than to tell others about his experience? How could he do other than work in a compassion club, helping others like him? [continues 147 words]
SASKATOON - Users of fentanyl and other powerful opiates in Saskatoon will soon have access to anti-overdose kits that could prevent fatal overdoses. Naloxone is a so-called "anti-overdose" drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose from drugs like morphine, fentanyl, heroin or methadone. Marie Agioritis's son Kelly died of a fentanyl overdose in January. While there are no guarantees, she says the kits could have prevented some of the overdose tragedies this city has seen in recent years. [continues 367 words]
Protesters upset over last week's raid of the Saskatchewan Compassion Club have set their sights on Saskatoon's mayor. The group gathered outside city hall Wednesday, many of them holding signs that read "Don Atchison makes me sick." "It's discrimination in every sense of the word," said Kelly Anderson, a compassion club member who is legally prescribed marijuana. Anderson and others say Saskatoon's mayor is out of touch with the rest of the country. Cities in B.C., for example, have issued business licences to marijuana dispensaries that, like the Saskatchewan Compassion Club, operate outside the medical marijuana regulations set up by Health Canada. [continues 268 words]
It was the first time in his life Brad Christianson truly feared going to jail. He was 23 years old on the cold January morning when he walked into court, knowing his fate was sealed. By that time in his young life, Christianson was no stranger to incarceration. He was first locked up when he was 12, after pulling a pocket knife on an older kid. This time around, he was truly frightened. This time, he wouldn't have the protection of his gang to see him through the hard days ahead. [continues 945 words]
The explanation by Saskatoon police of why they had no choice but to raid the Compassion Club is detailed to the point of overstatement and even speculation about imaginary crimes other people might commit. So it's odd they left out one thing: why they never warned or spoke with the accused despite numerous requests to talk. Sure there is the law and there was a written warning from Health Canada that police seem to want to hide behind, but the claim that they have no discretion or responsibility in this case is nonsense. [continues 165 words]
Naloxone Can Reverse Drug Effects Users of fentanyl and other powerful opiates in Saskatoon will soon have access to anti-overdose kits that could prevent fatal overdoses. Naloxone is a so-called "anti-overdose" drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose from drugs like morphine, fentanyl, heroin or methadone. Marie Agioritis's son Kelly died of a fentanyl overdose in January. While there are no guarantees, she says the kits could have prevented some of the overdose tragedies this city has seen in recent years. [continues 368 words]
Need Licence to Sell Pot, Police Stress Side-effects from Saskatoon's Compassion Club drug bust and arrests may include paranoia for Regina medical marijuana users. The non-profit Saskatoon-based dispensary was not licensed by Health Canada, which led to the arrest of its owners, seizure of their stock, and charges of possession and trafficking. "Face it, you're putting people's health at risk here (who) really depend on this cannabis as a medicine. This whole thing's gone way beyond just smoking weed," said Darin Wheatley. [continues 446 words]
A national champion pole vaulter and former Huskies star living with Crohn's disease was one of the four people arrested during a raid on Saskatoon's only medical marijuana dispensary. Friends and loved ones say Lane Britnell benefited greatly from his prescribed medical marijuana and that he does not deserve to go to jail. "It's done amazing things for him," said Lauren Taylor, a close friend. Britnell was an elite university athlete, but even as he was winning his second consecutive national gold medal at the Canadian Interuniversity Sport track and field championships in 2012, the autoimmune disorder was beginning to take its toll. [continues 396 words]
My ex-wife recently passed away from liver cancer, and the pain of her final weeks was eased with medical marijuana. Thus I was pleased to read of Justin Trudeau's plan to legalize marijuana use. With the recent police raid on Saskatoon's only medical marijuana store, not so much. The officer whom I saw interviewed on TV with his straight-faced, "They were selling drugs," rationale made me wonder at the police's motivation. Certainly, busting a retail store and arresting the sales staff is far safer than the fictional drug raids we see on TV shows, but is there no real crime in Saskatoon anymore? Are all their speed traps broken? Fred Hill Saskatoon [end]
REGINA - Side-effects from Saskatoon's Compassion Club drug bust and arrests may include paranoia for Regina medical marijuana users. The non-profit Saskatoon-based dispensary was not licensed by Health Canada, which led to the arrest of its owner, seizure of the stock, and charges of possession and trafficking for the owner and staff. "Face it, you're putting people's health at risk here (who) really depend on this cannabis as a medicine. This whole thing's gone way beyond just smoking weed," said Darin Wheatley. [continues 404 words]
Chief Clive Weighill's argument that his police service had no option but to crack down on a storefront medical marijuana dispensary has found a ready audience among Saskatoon's law-and-order advocates, while store owner Mark Hauk's supporters argue that he was filling a huge void left by Canada's inadequate pot law. While both sides in the debate that has divided Saskatoon over last week's police raid on the dispensary after a month-long investigation provide some justifiable arguments, it's difficult not to wish a pox on both houses in the context of pending legislative changes that could render the entire issue irrelevant. [continues 410 words]
The recent police raid on the Saskatchewan Compassion Club set off a war of words between the club's operator and police. The case against the dispensary's owner and the club's employees is still before the courts, but on Tuesday Saskatoon police issued a news release in "an attempt to clarify public statements" made by the medical marijuana dispensary owner. The police maintain that Mark Hauk and three others were dealing drugs when they sold marijuana to patients at the unregulated storefront dispensary. [continues 445 words]
Rob Williams was devastated when he learned Saskatoon police raided the Saskatchewan Compassion Club. Williams suffers constant pain from Crohn's Disease and nerve damage stemming from a broken back. After negative experiences with prescription narcotics, he turned to edible marijuana, which he said is remarkably effective. Now, with the city's lone medical marijuana dispensary having been shut down, Williams faces a difficult decision. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I need to make another doctor's appointment, get my hydromorphone back up and start scratching again," he said. [continues 418 words]
SASKATOON - Police say the people operating Saskatoon's only medical pot dispensary are criminals. "They are drug traffickers," said Saskatoon police Insp. Dave Haye. Police shut down the Saskatoon Compassion Club on Thursday, arresting four people associated with the club. The dispensary had been providing marijuana to people with medical licences since August. Although police maintain the club was acting illegally and selling the drug outside of Health Canada's regulations on medical marijuana, clients who frequented to storefront dispensary were devastated by the news. [continues 606 words]
Four charged with trafficking at store Police say the people operating Saskatoon's only medical pot dispensary are criminals. "They are drug traffickers," said Saskatoon Police Insp. Dave Haye. Police shut down the Saskatoon Compassion Club on Thursday, arresting four people associated with the club. The dispensary had been providing marijuana to people with medical licenses since August. While police maintain the club was acting illegally and selling the drug outside of Health Canada's regulations on medical marijuana, clients who frequented the storefront dispensary were devastated by the news. [continues 599 words]
SASKATOON - With a Liberal government headed to Ottawa, advocates of legalizing marijuana are optimistic it will soon be legal for anyone to fire up a joint in Canada. "I think it really signals a change across Canada," said Ken Sailor, a longtime marijuana advocate in Saskatoon. Justin Trudeau, the country's new Prime Minister-designate, has not yet outlined a specific plan for the legalization of the popular recreational drug, but he ran on a campaign promising to legalize it. The fact that a pledge to legalize weed didn't sink Trudeau's campaign means Canadians are ready for more fair drug laws, Sailor said. [continues 516 words]
Inside Saskatchewan
