In the 14 years since the Crime Stoppers program was introduced to Prince Edward Island there has been one overriding goal - to make homes and communities across the province safe places to live. All indications are that it's working. Rona Brown, president of P.E.I. Crime Stoppers, says the program has achieved some positive results. "Crime Stoppers has become a useful weapon in the battle against crime," Brown said. "Since the program was launched here in 1989, tips have been responsible for solving numerous crimes against persons, crimes against property and crimes involving the cultivation, importation and sale of illegal drugs." [continues 562 words]
There are 500 addicted Islanders whose health is at risk because of a lack of needle exchange and methadone treatment programs in the province, a recent study says. But the province's health minister says it will be at least next year before government begins to look at programs targeting intravenous drug users. On Friday, AIDS P.E.I. released the results of a study into the problem of Islanders using needles to shoot up cocaine, opiates and other drugs. The group estimates 500 people in the province regularly use needles to take drugs and said the evidence is they are placing themselves and others at risk of contracting AIDS or hepatitis C. [continues 483 words]
It Is Dishonest To Stigmatise Footballers Who Take Recreational Substances That Do Not Enhance Performance Few observers of football doubt the prevalence of drugs in the game. Not the performance-enhancing ones, but the ones some players take for fun. Cocaine in the nightclub after a game, marijuana at someone's house after the club, maybe some speed as a pick-me-up after the marijuana. A survey of 700 players conducted by the BBC earlier in the year found that 46% of them were aware of colleagues using recreational drugs. Such abuse must be "eradicated", said Gordon Taylor, the leader of the players' union, at the time. [continues 788 words]
Crown attorneys will still pursue marijuana possession cases, despite recent legal decisions, a senior member of the federal prosecution service said Tuesday. Paula Taylor, the Halifax-based supervisor of legal agents for the Department of Justice, works with the private-sector lawyers who prosecute federal cases such as those involving the Controlled Drug and Substances Act. Marijuana is a banned substance under the act but the legal waters around the drug have become murky. The federal government has been talking for months about the possibility of decriminalizing possession of small amounts of cannabis and of allowing consumption of marijuana for medical reasons. [continues 448 words]
Playing with pot can still put Islanders in a predicament with the police, according to a news release issued by the Charlottetown Police Department Thursday. The cops were responding to a pro-pot protest in front of the city's police department Wednesday. Marc Emery, a Vancouver resident on a cross-country tour to protest Canada's pot laws, smoked marijuana in front of the police station. Similar actions in Moncton, Winnipeg and Regina got Emery arrested, however Charlottetown police ignored the smoke up. [continues 475 words]
A man hailed as the prince of pot taunted Charlottetown city police Wednesday by smoking marijuana in front of their police headquarters. The police ignored Marc Emery, a Vancouver resident on a cross-country tour to protest Canada's pot laws. Emery plans to smoke pot on the front steps of police stations across the country. He's already been arrested in Moncton, Winnipeg and Regina. However, police officers in P.E.I.'s capital city seemed unwilling to get in the middle of Emery's fight. [continues 593 words]
Joint Operation Between RCMP And Other Forces Leads To The Arrests Of 24 Suspects From P.E.I., N.S. And Ontario More than three years of police work by the RCMP and other law enforcement agencies paid off Tuesday as police swooped down on residences in P.E.I., Nova Scotia and Ontario, arresting 24 suspects in a major drug operation. Cpl. Ken Murray, a spokesman for the RCMP'S drug awareness section in Charlottetown, said those arrested were part of a high-profile drug ring that has been moving drugs into P.E.I. from Ontario and Nova Scotia for some time. [continues 511 words]
Editor: Borden-Carleton Police Chief Jamie Fox misunderstands the most recent court decision to concur that our laws prohibiting the possession of 30 grams or less of cannabis are invalid. (Police chief urges appeal of marijuana case decision', March 18, 2003). Remarked Fox, "This matter is no different than the provincial government making allowances for some people who have a medical condition under the Highway Traffic Act regarding the wearing of seat-belts." Fox's analogy would be correct if it remained illegal to obtain a car that allowed people to drive without a seat-belt and if those who sought seat-belt exemptions had to find a general practitioner and two specialists willing to state that the benefits of driving without a seat-belt exceed the risks, despite warnings from their insurers and the Canadian Medical Association that making such statements would expose them to legal liability. [continues 76 words]
Borden-Carleton's Jamie Fox Says Provincial Court Decision To Stay Marijuana Possession Charge Laid Against 19-Year-Old Is Wrong SUMMERSIDE - Borden-Carleton Police Chief Jamie Fox is urging the Crown to appeal Friday's decision in provincial court here to stay a charge of possession against a 19-year-old. In an 11-page decision, Judge Ralph C. Thompson stayed the charge against the teenager who had been arrested for possessing 30 grams or less of marijuana last fall. [continues 685 words]
Editor: Referring to 'Binns urges feds to move with caution on pot laws' (The Guardian, Dec. 13, 2002). One has to wonder what the outcome may be if the laws about using marijuana are even somewhat relaxed in P.E.I. and/or in Canada. The U.S. has been quick to jump on the recommendation already. When one considers the many problems that the health department and government officials have faced, and are still facing, about cigarette smoking over past years, one has to wonder what new problems may be faced if pot is allowed to be used more freely as a result of current laws being relaxed. L.C. MacNeill, Charlottetown [end]
The Province's Chief Medical Officer Is Among Those Advocating A Needle Exchange Program For P.E.I. To Stop The Spread Of Diseases Recovering drug addict Daniel Nowogorski says the number - and diversity - of IV users in the province should serve as a sharp stab in the gut to the many Islanders oblivious to the alarming problem. "See, a lot of people have to understand that it's not just a typical picture of a junkie," he said. "It's not this homeless guy standing on a street corner or shooting it in alleyways. It's professionals, it's mothers, it's fathers, it's brothers, it's sisters - and people we talk to every day of the week." [continues 1488 words]
The Province's Chief Medical Officer Is Among Those Advocating A Needle Exchange Program For P.E.I. To Stop The Spread Of Diseases Recovering drug addict Daniel Nowogorski says the number - and diversity - of IV users in the province should serve as a sharp stab in the gut to the many Islanders oblivious to the alarming problem. "See, a lot of people have to understand that it's not just a typical picture of a junkie," he said. "It's not this homeless guy standing on a street corner or shooting it in alleyways. It's professionals, it's mothers, it's fathers, it's brothers, it's sisters - and people we talk to every day of the week." [continues 1484 words]
Alcohol remains by far the most widely used drug by students with cannabis now second The number of tobacco smokers in P.E.I. schools is going down while those using cannabis is climbing, making pot the number two drug after alcohol, according to a recent survey released on Tuesday. Epidemiologist Dr. Linda Van Til unveiled results of a study led by Dalhousie University that looked at drug use among students in P.E.I., New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. What she found is that the years of anti-tobacco campaigns and smoking restrictions seem to be paying off in terms of non-smoking youth. [continues 738 words]
The senators who have favoured more relaxed marijuana laws may have blown their chances of arguing for them Lead Editorial charlottetown Canada's senators have certainly pushed the debate about marijuana laws into the spotlight. The question is whether their call for outright legalization pushes the issue so far that more modest progress on drug laws will be impossible. This week a committee chaired by Senator Pierre Claude Nolin brought in a 600-page report that compared marijuana use to alcohol consumption and proposed that marijuana be treated like alcohol ? as a controlled but legal substance. [continues 315 words]
Editor: I am writing to express my support for the Senate's recommendation to legalize the use and possession of marijuana. For far too long, thousands of good and otherwise law-abiding citizens have been persecuted (and prosecuted) for their use of a substance no more harmful than tobacco or alcohol. It is ridiculous, given the scientific evidence that supports a rethinking of our attitudes towards pot, that someone can still be sent to jail and saddled with a permanent criminal record for recreational cannabis use. [continues 233 words]
Editor: Re: Mark Murphy's letter of May 27, which said that to bring drug use under control, the answer is to empower police to: search any vehicle, person, place or thing (residence) likely to control drugs; wiretaps and technical surveillance, "automatic" investigations of new suspects, and mandatory 20-year sentences for traffickers and 'conspirators'. Whew. If such actions are taken, we'll have to quadruple the number of prisons in Canada, at least, throw out the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and taxes would rise through the roof, at $60,000 a year per inmate. [continues 165 words]
The Sherwood elementary school students spilling into the Charlottetown Police Department are excited about their behind-locked-doors tour of this city facility, to say the least. "Good morning! What day is it?" asks their tour guide, Const. Gary Clow, who is community policing co-ordinator for the city. "It's D.A.R.E. day!" the Grade 6 class heartily announces before they get started on their second-last session of the 17-week D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, which Clow has instructed. [continues 760 words]
Editor: As Canadian troops fight terrorism in Afghanistan, we should declare a second war but within our own borders, on drugs. After a three-year study, the solicitor general announced that drugs and alcohol contribute to crime in this country. Was that a surprise to anyone? As a former police officer, it's fair to say we knew that 35 years ago. The question that begs to be answered is what is the solicitor general and Parliament willing to do about it? [continues 287 words]
Editor: Re: 'Ottawa gets data to tackle addiction issue' (The Guardian, May 6, 2002). Lord save us from the relentless ignorance of the press. The editorial states "Given the latest federal government information confirming the link between addiction and crime, it's obvious where Ottawa should be putting more resources - into stronger efforts at combatting drug and alcohol dependency." Well no. We should legalize drugs. Nearly all the harm done to users and non-users alike by illegal drugs is because the drugs are prohibited. Thousands were poisoned by adulterated booze during Prohibition. Thousands more are dying today because of adulterated drugs, an aspect of government policy my wife became well acquainted with when our 19-year-old son, Peter, died shortly after ingesting some street heroin in 1993. [continues 175 words]
Editor: I hope Canadian taxpayers didn't spend too much on the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse study mentioned in your May 1st article. That alcohol is the drug most often associated with violent behaviour is well established. The United States tried prohibiting alcohol once, with disastrous results. Organized crime flourished and kids had easier access to alcohol than ever once mobsters took over the distribution. The lessons learned and their relevance to the drug war are unfortunately lost on today's policymakers. Forcibly limiting the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increases the profitability of drug trafficking. In terms of 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. [continues 137 words]
