The Hall County School Board voted Monday to expand random, mandatory drug testing to all permitted student-drivers as well as student-athletes for the 2008-09 school year. Until now, the school system has conducted random tests only on student-athletes. But board members hope the expanded program will further educate students about the dangers and problems of alcohol and drug abuse and give "kids another reason to say no," West Hall Athletic Director Greg Williams has said. And just like student-athletes who test positive for drugs, student drivers who test positive the first time will not be allowed to drive to school for 10 percent of the semester, according to the school system's proposal. [continues 122 words]
I don't know what planet editorial writer Linda Valdez lives on but it can't be this one ("Drug war in Mexico a waste of lives, cash," Viewpoints, Sunday). Legalizing drugs like meth might be a good solution for Mexico, but not for us. Has she ever seen a person try to kick meth? It is not a pretty sight. What we need are recovery homes that the average addict can afford, or a program like they have in California where first-time offenders can get treatment as opposed to jail time. We can't keep our head in the sand much longer. - - Bill Ferguson, Congress [end]
Drug Addicts In Vancouver Can Shoot Up While Being Supervised In North America's Only Facility Legalized To Do That. The In-Site project operates with a special legal exemption. The debate has been fierce on whether such a policy is a good thing or not. My column today is not going to get into the debate per se. I do however want to give you, my constituents, an update on what has occurred this past week. First, a B.C. Court has ruled that drug addicts have a right to a facility like this. This ruling came just before our federal government was to have made a decision as to whether this activity should continue. The Federal Minister of Health announced this week that the government will challenge that ruling. [continues 552 words]
Students from five elementary schools learned of the dangers associated with crystal meth and other drugs during a recent presentation by the OPP. Drug dealers are increasingly lacing marijuana and other drugs with highly addictive methamphetamines in the hope of hooking their customers for life, a student audience heard this week. "The potency is being raised as high as they can get it," OPP Const. Gerry Dwyer told an audience of 450 students hailing from five Orillia-area elementary schools. A recent seizure of the club drug known as ecstasy contained significant quantities of crystal meth, an addictive stimulant that has wrought havoc on communities in western Canada and southern Ontario. [continues 290 words]
Should the injection site for addicts in Vancouver be closed? Proponents argue that one million injections in Vancouver have saved lives and decreased the risk of HIV infection. Others contend injection sites send the wrong message and should be closed. But in this heated debate, why don't both sides and our government attack the root cause of this cancerous problem. First, how sick are these heroin addicts? I've no idea, as I've never treated addicts. But Dr. Theodore Dalrymple, a British prison doctor and psychiatrist, has treated addicts for years. In his book "Romancing Opiates," he writes that heroin is not as highly addictive as is claimed and withdrawal is not medically serious. He contends that a useless medical bureaucracy has been established to deal with addicts. [continues 489 words]
Re: Letter to the Editor by Yolonda White - "Parks not for potheads" I agree totally with everything Ms. White has to say. Unfortunately, the actions of young, ne'er-do-well louts like those she describes are not restricted to Soper Park. My neighbours and I routinely walk in the area of Hespeler Park next to the Hespeler Arena. It is almost on a daily basis that we see inconsiderate clods like these with nothing better to do than get spaced even in broad daylight. [continues 196 words]
Nineteen months after a judge rejected San Diego County's lawsuit against the state of California seeking to overturn medical marijuana laws, government lawyers are returning to court to argue their appeals. In a case being watched closely by counties around the state, oral arguments are scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday in a 4th District Court of Appeal courtroom in downtown San Diego. The panel of judges is not expected to issue an immediate ruling. Instead, a decision likely will be handed down sometime this summer. [continues 558 words]
When the federal government announced it would appeal the B.C. Supreme Court's decision on Vancouver's safe injection site, it chose to dismiss growing scientific evidence of the positive role harm-reduction programs can play in society. It is hardly a surprise, however, that the Conservatives would favour a "law-and-order" approach. They made their position pretty clear when they rejected harm-reduction programs in the new national drug strategy. While the federal government rejects scientific evidence that harm- reduction programs are successful, health-care professionals and public-health experts know they are an important part of the puzzle in addressing illegal drug use. Harm reduction, along with treatment, policing and prevention are cornerstones of a comprehensive, integrated public-health strategy. [continues 528 words]
A Tempe letter writer advises that illicit drugs should be made legal, and hence the "war" on drugs, with all its excesses could be reduced as a result ("Legalization better than war on drugs," Letters, Thursday). The Marin Institute states that alcohol-related health expenditures alone are greater than $22 billion a year. Is the letter writer prepared to spend similar sums of money that will be necessary to treat all the "new" illnesses caused by the new, legal drugs? Does the writer think there will be a savings involved here? I see another profound drain on the font of health-care dollars because of such delusional thinking. - - Dr. Daniel Beck, Prescott [end]
MPP Wants Law To Shut Criminal Dens It's hard to love thy neighbour when you live next door to a crack house. There are no fences high enough to block the noise, garbage and danger of a drug hangout, brothel or gambling den. When a house or apartment becomes a home for criminal activities, it can take months for a team of police officers, city staff and politicians to shut down the enterprise. It can be back in business the next day--in the same location or a block away--and the whole process begins anew. [continues 904 words]
Margaret Wente inadvertently hit the nail on the head (Shooting Up Is A Charter Right? - June 3) when she pointed out that most drinkers, unlike heroin addicts, do not have to steal or sell sex to get their alcohol supplied from gangster cartels. The hypocrisy is, it's the illegality of heroin that causes this. The price of heroin is massively inflated by the black market. Legal heroin would not cost very much; just look at how cheap a tonne of opium goes for in Afghanistan. When alcohol was illegal, the profits also went to gangsters, and the prices went up and the safety and quality went down. The difference between shooting heroin and drinking whisky is the legality and cultural acceptability of the booze. All have risks and cause harm, but at least the legality of alcohol prevents it from providing inflated profits to insurgents to buy guns to kill Canadian soldiers. David Silver, Winnipeg [end]
Margaret Wente did not mention the primary reason why safe-injection sites exist: to prevent blood-borne infections. If infectious diseases were spread by dirty cigarettes, we would've acted long ago. Jeremy Adams, Toronto [end]
In disagreeing with the B.C. Supreme Court judge's decision to protect Vancouver's safe-injection site, Margaret Wente argues that the real solution is to stigmatize the "crack whores" like we do the smokers, for their own good. Isn't the logic a little loose here? Society stigmatizes the act of smoking because it thinks smokers should know better. Society stigmatizes "crack whores" because it thinks they are a pathetic bunch less worthy of kindness and support. How many readers can honestly say they see humanity in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside? [continues 67 words]
