Regarding your Nov. 5 editorial, Infrared Scans: The U.S. has been using infrared scans to detect marijuana grow-ops for decades. Despite the high-tech war on drugs, marijuana remains America's No. 1 cash crop. Simply put, the drug war distorts market forces such that an easily grown weed is literally worth its weight in gold. The experience of the former land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated suggests that eliminating civil liberties has little, if any, impact on rates of use. [continues 97 words]
Searches Supported By Educators, Draw Fire From Civil Libertarians Principal John Byrne wanted the students at St. Anne high school to know he was serious about cracking down on drugs. So he chose a tactic that combined shock and paws. Last month, unsuspecting students were instructed to remain in their classrooms while Ontario Provincial Police officers conducted a canine sweep of the Tecumseh school. Four narcotics trained dogs sniffed through the hallways and selected classrooms in the hunt for drugs either on the students themselves or in their lockers. [continues 607 words]
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) is among a growing number of organizations supporting the decriminalization of pot. It notes that about 400,000 Canadians use cannabis for medical reasons. The CMA calls the health effects of moderate use "minimal" and estimates that 1.5 million Canadians smoke marijuana for recreational purposes. The real harm is the legal and social fallout, it says. "About half of all drug arrests in Canada are for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana: about 31,299 convictions in 1995 alone. [continues 153 words]
Proposed federal legislative reforms aimed at cracking down on drug-impaired drivers by allowing police to demand bodily fluid samples is "junk science," says a Saskatoon lawyer. "To have the ability to demand bodily substances, be it saliva, urine or blood, for purposes other than alcohol testing, is giving a false sense there is some mathematical basis to determine what's a safe level when the scientific community hasn't come up with what are safe and unsafe levels of all the many drugs that may be in various body substances," said lawyer Mark Brayford. [continues 597 words]
NEW YORK - A pill that helps you lose weight and quit smoking? That was amazing enough to capture headlines last week. But scientists say the experimental drug might be even more versatile, providing a new tool to help people stop abusing drugs and alcohol, too. It's called rimonabant, or Acomplia, and last week researchers reported it could help people not only lose weight but keep it off for two years. That burnished the drug's reputation after two studies in March, which suggested it could fight both obesity and smoking, two of humanity's biggest killers. [continues 128 words]
Under the federal government's bill to decriminalize marijuana, possession of more than 15 grams and up to and including 30 grams of pot could net: $300 fine for adults and $200 for youths when prosecuted by a ticket; or six months imprisonment and/or fine of up to $1,000 if prosecuted by way of a summary conviction. The legislation has received support from the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police, which argues that prosecuting people for small amounts ties up scarce resources. However, it has drawn fire from such groups as the Canadian Police Association and other critics worried that decriminalization would also lead to increased use of hard drugs. [continues 70 words]
DELTA - Missed payments on his motorcycle led to Calvin Meier's arrest in connection with a so-called dial-a-dope scheme South Delta, the 21-year-old says in a letter of apology to family, friends and the community published in today's Delta Optimist. The BCIT graduate and motorcycle mechanic, who was released after five days in custody, says he was laid off from his job, had missed some payments on his motorcycle and succumbed to the thought of making as much money in one week as a drug courier than in a month at a legitimate job . [continues 90 words]
Methamphetamine Crackdown A Priority For Likely Candidate Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, the likely GOP nominee for governor next year, unveiled the first of his election-year legislative priorities by offering bills to crack down on the manufacture and use of methamphetamines. At a midday news conference, Kilgore called for a package of bills during the General Assembly session that begins in January. The bills would double prison terms for making methamphetamine, make it a crime to produce the drug in the presence of a child and create a multi-agency "strike force" to clean up areas where the substance is made. [continues 439 words]
Gov't Wants To Know How Suspected Drug Dealers Got Personal Information EDMONTON - The province will investigate how suspected drug dealers got civil servants' personal identification and credit histories. Police found credit check forms of 43 top public servants Tuesday during a search on a fraud warrant in a hotel room rented by suspected drug dealers. Charges are expected. The forms were from checks done on 464 people at the direction of the personnel administration office, which is the human resources arm for the civil service. TransUnion, a multinational company that specializes in checking personal financial records, handled the work on contract. [continues 648 words]
Porta-Potty Overturned, Late Husband's Cremated Remains Dumped A single mother is outraged that police pointed guns at her son and dumped some of her late husband's cremated remains on the floor during a raid on her home. "My son was hysterical. He was bawling," said Tracy Schaldemose, 36, as she surveyed the wreckage of the family's duplex after the raid this week. The raid, conducted by an estimated 10 Winnipeg police officers, who told Schaldemose's son they were looking for marijuana, is being investigated by the province's Law Enforcement Review Agency. [continues 795 words]
Dear Editor, Regarding Dr. Dave Hepburn's Oct 20 op-ed, crystal meth is the latest dangerous drug to be making headlines, but it won't be the last until policy makers acknowledge the drug war's inherent failure. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. [continues 189 words]
