Online survey results to be discussed at Kelowna forum An Okanagan drug treatment agency is heading up a conversation about drug abuse among Central Okanagan youth. The Bridge Youth &Family Services in Kelowna, with support from the children and youth mental health and substance use local action team, want to initiate a dialogue about how to best serve young people who're experimenting with or are addicted to drugs. Jamie McGregor, program coordinator for youth detox and adult supported recovery, said problematic substance abuse has been an ongoing concern in the Central Okanagan now for decades, noting that last year 319 people under the age of 29 died of an opioid overdose in B.C. [continues 322 words]
Justin Pearson had to knock down some walls in his efforts to study the medicinal properties of marijuana at UBCO is putting it lightly. But the 22-year-old Lake Country resident wasn't going to take no for an answer. Not when his research was directly related to the treatment of his mother's cancer with cannabis oil and not when she had seen miraculous results from using the oil, derived from medicinal marijuana. "It wasn't easy," admitted Pearson this week as he awaited final test results of his research project, aimed at identifying the medicinal properties in different strains of marijuana and different times of growth. [continues 862 words]
If you receive medicinal marijuana through a licensed producer in Canada, the product will have been tested for its chemical make-up and to identify the compounds that are present in the product. But if you are purchasing product through a compassion club or a dispensary, the chemical make-up of the marijuana could be untested for quality. According to Keystone Laboratories in Edmonton, it's this testing that is crucial for the use of medicinal marijuana as a way for people to know what's in the medicine they are taking and to ensure they are taking high quality medicine each and every time they use it. [continues 293 words]
Cheryl Pearson has never smoked pot. Given just months to live after finally receiving a diagnosis of stage 4 ovarian cancer, the Lake Country resident was at first against the use of medicinal marijuana as part of her treatment. But after a tumultuous ride through Canada's medical system, which for nearly four years had misdiagnosed the reasons behind the rapid decline in her health, the impairment of her motor skills and the loss of use of her bodily functions, Pearson is now a believer in the controversial treatment. [continues 1027 words]
My recent columns on B.C.'s struggle with the growing westward migration of transients have produced responses that fall mainly into two groups. The largest is people relieved that somebody is questioning the urban media narrative. That's the one where drifters, drug addicts, welfare shoppers and thieves are the victims and working people, whose hard-earned communities are being degraded, are the problem because of their selfish, uncaring attitudes. Then there are readers so marinated in our nanny-state education, media and political system they object to anything other than a big-government response. They tend to ask, what's your solution, Tom? [continues 511 words]
One of the enduring legacies of Pierre Trudeau's time as prime minister is the legal supremacy of the individual, as articulated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are seeing this played out with greater force than ever today, by an activist high court that swatted aside Stephen Harper's attempts to restrain it, and now orders a meek, politically correct Justin Trudeau government to do its bidding. The Federal Court decreed last week that people have the right to grow their own "medical" marijuana. This ruling is unlikely to be appealed, given that Trudeau the Younger is committed to legalizing marijuana for everyone. [continues 500 words]
With unlicensed marijuana dispensaries popping up in urban areas and thousands of unregulated medical licences for home growing still in legal limbo, the Trudeau government is starting work on its promise to legalize recreational use. Marijuana was a media darling in the recent election, but meeting in Vancouver with provincial ministers last week, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott found herself preoccupied with issues deemed more urgent. These include shifting our post-war acute hospital model to community primary care, tackling aboriginal health care needs, pooling pharmaceutical purchases to slow rising costs, and meeting an urgent Supreme Court of Canada directive to legalize assisted dying. [continues 517 words]
To the editor: As a local organizer for Sensible BC and constituent of West Kelowna, I recently contacted the office of my MLA - Premier Christy Clark-regarding the election of the federal Liberals and the anticipated change to Canada's marijuana laws. As in my past correspondence with her office, I offered her the opportunity to discuss the issue with some of our own experts in the field. These include Ph.D. researchers, medical personnel, growers, patients and medical dispensary representatives. [continues 157 words]
On April 1, medical marijuana growing licences expire across the country, and only licensed commercial growers will be able to legally fill a prescription for pot. Ottawa is moving to clean up the mess it created by issuing medical licences all over the country. Since then, municipalities have complained that small-scale medical licences have been greatly exceeded, with many used as fronts for a criminal drug trade that has made B.C. infamous around the world. How big is the problem? There are about 38,000 Canadians licensed to carry marijuana for medical purposes, and half of them live in B.C. Their permission to grow their own or buy it from designated small-scale growers is withdrawn in a couple of months. [continues 496 words]
I won't be signing the "Sensible B.C." petition to demand a provincewide referendum on marijuana enforcement. You shouldn't either, and here are a few reasons why. Let me start by saying I've been calling for legalization and regulation of pot for 20 years, to conserve police resources and reduce violent crime. Our war on drugs is a failure even for heroin and cocaine, and marijuana is obviously much easier to produce. But the current effort led by Dana Larsen, B.C.'s clown prince of pot, is not only misguided, it's dangerous. [continues 516 words]
The mayor of Lake Country says he's pleased a resolution calling for the legalization of marijuana was adopted at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention last week. James Baker said the resolution was put to a show of hands on the convention floor, then subjected to an electronic vote count. "The vote was passed by a majority on the floor, and ended up with a 67 to 33 per cent vote in support," Baker said. He hopes the vote sends a message that the debate on the legalization of pot, and the whole idea of the so-called war on drugs, is given a review. [continues 221 words]
Local politicians are preparing for their annual convention, to be held Sept. 25 to 28 here in the provincial capital. One of the first orders of business this year will be a vote to raise the dues paid by local governments to the Union of B.C. Municipalities, to cover rising travel costs for staff to serve on provincial committees. The plan is also to change the name to Union of B.C. Local Governments, to reflect the participation of regional districts and aboriginal communities. [continues 530 words]
The call for legalization-or at least decriminalization-of marijuana in B.C. is getting louder. Recently eight B.C. mayors-including James Baker of Lake Country, Robert Sawatzky of Vernon, Chris Pieper of Armstrong, Howie Cyr of Enderby, John Ranns of Metchosin on Vancouver Island, Darrell Mussamotto of the City of North Vancouver, Burnaby's Derek Corrigan and Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson-released a letter they had all signed calling on Victoria to tax and regulate the drug as a way to stop gang violence in this province and help make communities safer. [continues 385 words]
To the editor: I wasn't in the least bit surprised to read that Kelowna's mayor (Walter Gray) chose not to sign a letter in support of decriminalization of marijuana. (See Alistair Waters' column below.) After all, Kelowna is a right-leaning community, and he believes he needs to pander to his base. However, the mayors of towns like Lake Country and Vernon signed the letter, and their inhabitants aren't more liberal in their views than we are. It just appears these mayors are willing to take a progressive position on it. [continues 105 words]
Open letter to Premier Clark, Mr. Dix and Mr. Cummins: Re: Discussion required on marijuana policy. As mayors of B.C. municipalities, we are fully aware of the harms stemming from the province's large illegal marijuana industry. Our communities have been deeply affected by the consequences of marijuana prohibition including large scale grow ops, increased organized crime and ongoing gang violence. Increasing law enforcement costs also significantly impact municipal budgets. We see a seemingly endless stream of anti marijuana law enforcement initiatives in our communities, yet marijuana remains widely and easily available to our youth. Based on the evidence before us, we know that laws that aim to control the marijuana industry are ineffective and, like alcohol prohibition in the U.S. in the 1920s, have led to violent unintended consequences. [continues 573 words]
There was immediate province wide media interest in the April 26 letter signed by Mayor James Baker and the mayors of seven other communities regarding a new approach to the marijuana industry in British Columbia. In a two-page missive, the mayors acknowledge the tremendous harm the marijuana industry has on communities, the immense cost of the continued criminalization and the public health implications of current approaches. The letter supports the Stop the Violence Campaign and calls for the taxation and strict regulation of marijuana. [continues 299 words]
The 2011 fourth quarter crime stats report was presented by Lake Country Detachment RCMP Sgt. Scott Rempel, at the District of Lake Country Council regular meeting. The big news in the report was the spike in grow-op busts in the district while many other indicators were either flat or falling. Crime statistics for 2011 in Lake Country show an increase of 26 per cent over 2010. Grow-op busts increased both in number of seizures and total number of plants. There were 8,491 marijuana plants taken down in 2011 from diverse neighborhoods across the district including Lake Hill Drive, Powley Court, Okanagan Centre Road east, and Bond Road. [continues 194 words]
More than $100 million worth of electricity is stolen from BC Hydro every year, with much of it stolen to power marijuana grow ops. As an honest BC Hydro customer, it makes me more than just a little unhappy to know that people are stealing electricity. It makes me even more unhappy to know that the cost of all that stolen electricity gets added to the hydro bills of honest BC Hydro customers like you and me. That's why I'm glad BC Hydro is finally installing smart meters and putting an end to preventable electricity theft? Smart meters will let BC Hydro zero in on electricity theft quickly and accurately and shut down the perpetrators. The old mechanical meters BC Hydro has relied on since the 1940's and 1950's simply can't do that. All they can do is measure how much electricity has gone through them, and they only get checked manually every couple of months (long after the opportunity to catch electricity thieves has passed). [continues 92 words]
This week in Parliament our government introduced Bill C-10, omnibus crime legislation called the Safe Streets and Communities Act. It incorporates a number of crime and public safety bills that were introduced and debated in previous parliamentary sessions but were not passed before the last election. The main components of the bill are: The Protecting Children from Sexual Predators Act (former Bill C-54) which proposes increased penalties for sexual offences against children as well as creates two new offences aimed at conduct that could facilitate or enable the commission of a sexual offence against a child; [continues 582 words]
Sgt. Rick McIsaac, commanding officer for the Lake Country RCMP, delivered his detachment's 2009 year end report to council last week. Council was particularly concerned over the loss of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E.) in elementary schools and was interested to learn more about what youth guidance initiatives would replace the program. McIsaac reminded council that the detachment would be gaining a twelfth member in April and that beginning in September, that officer would be a full time school liaison officer. The new position will put a full-time police presence in all four of Lake Country's schools with the intention of developing positive relationships between the community's youth and law enforcement. [continues 163 words]