Odd Squad Shows The Harsh Reality Of Drug Addiction The documentary footage was shocking: drug addicts shooting up, including a woman so strung out she dug a gaping wound into her arm, thinking there were worms living underneath her skin. The graphic and emotional imagery came courtesy of the Odd Squad - a Vancouver police unit that patrols the city's notorious downtown eastside. Two members of the unit and a former heroin unit came to Yellowknife last week to share their experiences, and talk to police and social agencies here who have their own tales to tell. [continues 446 words]
Prove Him Wrong. If students in local schools aren't using crystal meth, Gord Robson wants School District 42 to prove it. And in the meantime, the Maple Ridge mayor says, stop pointing fingers at one another. Stop getting away from the real issue. "It's disappointing that the subject isn't how many treatment beds we have and what we're going to do about people in need," he told The TIMES on Thursday. Robson was speaking in response to a slew of letters sent to the editor from readers suggesting he had overreacted and was fear mongering. In a previous TIMES story, Robson had implied there were hundreds of local youths being suspended from school each year thanks to meth. [continues 290 words]
The way to a teen's head is through their stomachs, at least the Maple Ridge crystal meth task force hopes so. The group hopes at least 100 kids will show up at the Life or Meth forums, Sept. 30 in Maple Ridge and Oct. 14 in Pitt Meadows. If they do show up to the evening sessions, free pizza, cake and ice cream await, as well as a free T-shirt to the first hundred at each location. "We figure we'll be able to keep them a little longer," said Mary Robson with the task force. [continues 341 words]
The Local Meth Task Force Wants To Educate The District's Students On The Dangers Of The Drug. But so far it's been shut out of local schools. In order to get into the district's schools and have access to the students, members of the task force must first sit down with the school board and explain what they want to do and why. And once that is done, School District 42 chair Cheryl Ashlie says, it's up to the board and the staff to figure out if the goals of the task force are the same as the goals of the school district. [continues 326 words]
Editor: Cheryl Ashlie and the Board of School Trustees demonstrated a refreshing brand of leadership in unveiling a partnership with Ron Lawrance, Alouette Addictions' executive director, to improve learning conditions for students. Instead of going on the traditional war path of words with respect to the size of the crystal meth problem in Maple Ridge, or the typical lack of funding defence, the school district has taken a little bit of a worthwhile risk on behalf of the community in identifying substance use related disciplinary action and supporting young people in taking an important step in realizing how the dangerous experimentation with substance use can lead them into a very devastating life. [continues 133 words]
The Cultural And Historical Context Of Psychoactive Plants It is a commonplace for individuals to think "drug culture" is a concept that was instigated in the more recent part of our civilization's history. However, before the vilification and prohibition of any and all mind-altering drugs, these plants held a profound cultural significance in many different societies. Drugs have a long history of use in many contexts, such as religious ceremonies, divination rituals, spirit journeys and recreation. According to Dr. N. C. Kenkel's Medicinal and Hallucinogenic plants course notes, cocaine, for example, was widely used by the Incas in South America in its naturally occurring plant form. The plant, called the "divine coca," was considered property of the royal family. The traditional use of this plant involves picking about two ounces of the leaves, and chewing on them over the course of a day to produce a mild stimulating effect without the symptoms associated with cocaine abuse. In a traditional context, it was used to overcome hunger and fatigue and reduce altitude sickness. [continues 441 words]
Members of an addiction agency that operates in the city are glad a call has been made to give crystal meth users more help to kick the drug. The Premier's Task Force on Crystal Meth released a report Tuesday asking for provincial funding to create 300 detoxification and treatment beds for users. "It would be an asset to have more services because we do have people asking for it," said Carol Crerar, a spokeswoman for the AADAC Northern Addictions Centre in Grande Prairie. [continues 355 words]
A 13-year-old at Goodyear's Eliseo C. Felix Elementary School is suspected of having brought a trace amount of marijuana to school, Goodyear police reported. The amount was so small that officers declined to press charges, said Sgt. Scott Benson, who supervises the Goodyear Police Department's school resource officers. The student brought a substance to school Tuesday morning and was showing other students, Benson said. After school, news spread to some parents through their children. A few parents attended the Avondale Elementary School District's board meeting Tuesday evening, expressing concern that the student was not adequately punished and wondering why police weren't involved. [continues 155 words]
Mark Townsend Says The Feds' 2007 Extension For Insite Is No Victory. A completed proposal and architectural plans for a second safe-injection site are currently on the back burner, according to a Downtown Eastside housing advocate. Mark Townsend, the executive director of the Portland Hotel SocietyaE"whose staff operate the Insite safe-injection facility in partnership with Vancouver Coastal HealthaE"told the Georgia Straight he can't think about opening a second safe-injection site in the area until the fate of Insite is clearer. [continues 662 words]
Slate Hill -- Minisink Valley High School Principal Jack Latini Liked To Cut Kids Some Slack In The Name Of Fairness. And now it might have got him into trouble with his district. Police sources say that Latini failed to immediately turn in drugs he confiscated from a student, thus violating district policy. The sources said Latini held onto the drug, the substance of which was unknown yesterday, for a short period of time before turning it into the school administration. School policy requires that all confiscated drugs be reported to the district immediately. [continues 377 words]
