Every child should have what is needed for a healthy, happy life, even if that requires changing the laws. That's the case for Mia Wilkinson, an eight-year-old Airdrie girl who has suffered from debilitating seizures her whole life. Left in a wheelchair, unable to speak, drugged with a cocktail of harmful pharmaceuticals that didn't even control her daily seizures, Mia's mom, Sarah, and doctor were at the end of their rope. Instead of giving up, Sarah became a relentless researcher and advocate for her child. [continues 348 words]
Like many eight year olds, Airdrie's Mia Wilkinson likes chocolate, Lady Gaga and the cartoon Phineas and Ferb. But Mia is anything but average. The little girl has never walked, never attended school and just recently started saying "mom." According to her mother, Sarah, Mia had her first seizure when she was just 29 minutes old and was diagnosed with atypical Odahara syndrome. Also known as Early Infantile Epileptic Encephalopathy with Burst-Suppression (EIEE), Odahara is a progressive epileptic encephalopathy seen outwardly with tonic spasms and partial seizures. [continues 557 words]
Record Number of Marijuana Busts Highlight Cops' Year; Alberta Sheriffs Added to Area Highways Full Time Marijuana grow-operations and a rash of thefts plagued Airdrie in 2010, but for local RCMP, the introduction of a new unit and the implementation of additional resources to existing units helped combat the problems. Airdrie RCMP Acting Insp. Damon Poole said the creation of the Crime Reduction Unit (CRU) this summer, along with a seconded front-line constable in the plainclothes General Investigations Section (GIS), helped police gain momentum on the fight against organized crime. [continues 603 words]
What effects are the massive marijuana grow-operations having on the city and its neighbourhoods? Behind the tin-foiled windows and underneath the living room devoid of any furnishings, a dangerous operation is being conducted. It's an operation that often goes undetected by police and it's one that is very lucrative to the organized criminals who run it. But it's also an operation that leaves a lasting impact on the homes the criminals take over and the communities they inhabit. [continues 947 words]
Part of the reason that people write in to point out the failures of the drug war is because the police have had the pulpit on drugs for so long that newspapers print their opinions without question, even when they are in a conflict of interest. Having worked in the media myself, I've seen firsthand the exaggeration and sensationalism of drug cases by well meaning but deluded cops, but I don't think that your newsroom wants to jeopardize their working relationship with the police by actually examining the cold hard facts about the drug trade, since media and law enforcement operate in a tight symbiotic relationship. [continues 62 words]
As a federally licensed medical marijuana user who is also married to one, I consider DARE nothing less than a government-sponsored hate-crime. Sending cops in to teach kids about drugs is like sending in a priest to teach them about sex: "Just don't do it, or you will be in big trouble." "You can't really get to them too young." Imagine if the police came into a school and preached one religion over another? There would be public outrage! But when police go into schools to preach the merits of their abstinence cult, they get government funding! [continues 232 words]
Just as many of you sit down and open this week's edition of the Airdrie Echo, the contents of our publication will already be causing a cyber ripple nationwide. In our news section this week, we have coverage of the major marijuana bust made in our community last week. Police estimate the street value of the weed collected to top the $1 million mark. Countless defenders of the green stuff have words like marijuana and pot built into a Google alert, which sends an e-mail to their inbox when either word is used in the contents of an article. [continues 329 words]
Last week, Airdrie elementary school students graduated from a program meant to provide the life skills necessary to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs and violence. The DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program which has not been implemented in Airdrie in close to two decades, made a successful return through a collaborative initiative from the City of Airdrie and RCMP. The Airdrie Community Resource Unit, which was introduced to Airdrie schools in September of 2009, has been facilitating programs with a focus on building healthy relationships between youth and police by providing early intervention and positive interaction. In that regard, the DARE initiative was a natural fit. [continues 351 words]
An Airdrie inmate is refusing to quit smoking marijuana while serving time in prison. According to a written decision by the National Parole Board, Wade Gunoff, who is serving a three-year sentence for the aggravated assault of 61-year-old Ken Valgardson, was denied early release. Gunoff who has tested positive for drugs five times while incarcerated, said drug use has helped with the coping process of dealing with the people and stresses within the institution and will not be needed once he's released. [continues 174 words]
The war on certain plants is a scam designed to increase police powers and budgets and erode the civil rights and liberties of the common citizens. It is also a message to all citizens: "Obey your government - - no matter how counterproductive, racist, or absurd their laws may be. Failure to do so will result in your ruination." As for marijuana having "confirmed psychological effects and has been proven to be addictive," the actual clinical data says otherwise. The connection between pot and mental illness has been repeatedly shown to be nothing more than a correlation, no cause has been established, and the myth that pot is "addictive" has also been repeatedly and soundly debunked. One need look no farther than the 2002 Senate Committee Report for proof. But don't let "facts" get in the way of a good story. Russell Barth Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis Napean, ON0 [end]
Regarding cannabis legalization, columnist Scott Mitchell opined that "there are arguments for both sides," offering as an argument in defence of prohibition, "marijuana does have confirmed psychological effects and has been proven to be addictive." ("Should pot be a police priority?," Sept. 30). Cannabis is less physically addictive than coffee, however, if cannabis were as addictive as tobacco, as criminogenic and disinhibiting as alcohol and as hazardous as hockey, it would make even less sense to abdicate control of this exceptionally dangerous herb to criminals who sell drugs of unknown purity, potency and provenance, on commission, tax free, to anyone of any age, any time, anywhere, no questions asked. [continues 66 words]
How low can prohibitionists stoop? Even the dullest child could figure using Google that Cannabis is Earth's most medicinally active and industrially versatile plant and that the elderly couple busted with a measly 16 plants were growing medicine. Cannabis is by far the best medicine for the elderly. What a despicable lack of respect they've been shown. We are a long way from being a just society when we put the old, the sick or the infirm through such stress. Your story barely scratched the surface of the issue. I encourage both the Echo and readers to challenge official lies and tyranny. Bruce Codere Fox Creek, Alta. [end]
What Kind Of A Joke Is This? How many cops did it take to storm [an elderly couple's] dwelling? Did they bring the helicopter? Those 16 plants are nowhere near worth $24,000. That's $1,500 a plant, which I'm pretty sure was not going to be sold anyway. Considering cannabis has hundreds of proven medical applications, maybe this couple was opting for a naturopathic solution with no side effects for whatever ailed them. This is a gross misuse of police powers and our tax dollars. They should be tackling violent criminals, child abusers, rapists ... but no, that would entail actual work. [continues 52 words]
It was a minor marijuana bust to you and to the police, but it was perhaps somebody's grandparents. I don't mean to make light of an arrest and a police matter, but it again brings to the forefront the issue of marijuana use and grow-ops and whether or not it should be legalized. Before I get started, I'll let you know that I don't have an opinion on marijuana users, marijuana use, nor do I care whether or not it is ever legalized. [continues 466 words]
Over the past month, I have had the privilege of assisting our Government prepare and roll out implementation of a new piece of legislation called the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act, otherwise known as SCAN. SCAN is a program designed to give every Albertan an opportunity to contribute to crime reduction. It empowers all of us to help take back our communities from those who would otherwise pedal drugs, enable prostitution, exploit children, and introduce other criminal activities into our neighborhoods. [continues 503 words]
While a recent seizure of a large amount of heroin at Calgary International Airport may not have a direct impact on Airdrie, the local community does have its drug issues nonetheless. Drug use in Airdrie has not reached epidemic proportions, but it is always an issue that has local police concerned. "I would say cocaine and marijuana are the two main drugs of choice in the Airdrie area," Airdrie RCMP Cpl. Mark Anderson said, adding that he has no reason to believe that heroin is a drug of choice in the community. [continues 332 words]
Airdrie Echo - Americans have seen a substantial rise of Canadian-made meth-laced ecstasy being smuggled in to the United States over the past few years. According to a press release from the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in the United States, nearly 5.5 million doses of this 'extreme ecstasy' were seized in 2006 in the 10 border states, up from just over 568,000 doses seized in 2003. However, Calgary-based RCMP Sgt. Patrick Webb says he is not aware of methamphetamine-laced ecstasy, nor the drugs on their own, being exported from this region. [continues 328 words]
Dear Editor: On Nov. 20, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Rob Nicholson introduced legislative reforms for mandatory jail time for people who commit the serious crimes of producing and selling illegal drugs. The safety of our communities must be protected from illegal drug producers and dealers; those producers and dealers must face tougher penalties. The proposed amendments this government is introducing - resulting in mandatory prison sentences for certain serious drug offences - will go a long way toward protecting the communities we live in. These amendments will make offenders think twice about setting up grow ops and drug labs in our residential areas and, particularly, lessen the exposure of our youth to drugs. The message is clear: if you sell or produce drugs - you'll pay with jail time. This legislative measure is part of the Government of Canada's $63.8 million national anti-drug strategy. This strategy is a collaborative effort involving the Department of Justice, Public Safety Canada and Health Canada. The strategy includes three action plans: preventing illicit drug use; treating those with illicit drug dependencies; and combating the production and distribution of illicit drugs. Myron Thompson, Wild Rose MP [end]
Retired undercover drug unit detective Steve Walton will be in Airdrie this April for a series of street drug awareness" programs. Walton spent a decade of his 25-year career on the undercover drug unit, seeing the ins and outs of the street drug trade. He managed more than 120 undercover drug operations and 780 undercover drug transactions. Walton's goal is to educate parents, teachers and young people on the dangers of street drugs and inform them on what is out there today. [continues 328 words]
I am pleased that my government will soon introduce legislation to tackle drug-impaired driving. The objective of the proposed legislation is to avoid reckless deaths and injuries of innocent people. Therefore, we need to target drug-impaired driving and take any and all actions required to prevent future drug-impaired incidents. The goal of this legislation is to make drug-impaired driving as socially unacceptable as drunk driving has become amongst adults and teens alike. Under the proposed legislation, Canada's new government will: provide police with more tools to detect drug-impaired drivers; increase penalties for drug-impaired driving; strengthen presumptions of breath and blood tests; and promote awareness about drug-impaired driving with partners like MADD. [continues 358 words]
