In November, six boys from Peterborough Collegiate Vocational School were suspended for being involved with marijuana. After obtaining confessions through isolated, threatening and misguided interrogations, five were expelled. One of these boys I've know since he was a year-and-a-half old. He is a close friend of my son, and this was his first school "offence." I've met all the boys involved, all friends of my son. They are good kids, struggling through their teenage years just as we all did. Now none of them can finish Grade 12 at the high school that they chose because the school administration doesn't want them around and has decided they are bad people - not worth more effort. [continues 480 words]
The Paul Band First Nation assembled a crisis unit this morning to help local students cope after three teenagers became seriously ill after reportedly taking an unknown drug Sunday. The team went out to schools in the community about 80 km west of Edmonton to debrief students and provide counselling, said band spokesman Dennis Paul. "The community is in crisis, and the community is obviously upset," he said. "But the community is also in support of the families. And we are trying to address this sensitive matter as professionally, as quickly, and as culturally appropriate as possible." [continues 153 words]
Girls Were Trying Ecstasy For First Time, Cousin Says Two teenage girls remain on life support after taking a drug they thought was ecstasy before a weekend community party on the Paul Band First Nation. Nine teenaged girls took the drug together on Saturday. Several hours later, three of them fell gravely ill and were rushed to an Edmonton hospital. Two girls, aged 14 and 15, were still on life support Monday evening at the Stollery Children's Hospital. A third girl had reportedly recovered. [continues 411 words]
RE: Mandy Yaceyko's letter about smoking. It should be noted that, unlike tobacco, marijuana has never killed anyone, ever, and that it has dozens of medical applications. Why Yaceyko would be so keen to hand gangsters yet another commodity (tobacco) to control and profit from is still a mystery. Russell Barth (Any retort, Mandy?) [end]
IS IT TIME -- yet -- to tax marijuana? California dodged a budget bullet, and now Massachusetts, New York and other states are under the same gun. As governors and state legislatures scrape for new sources of revenue, has the time come to talk seriously -- really seriously, without winks, puns and smirks -- about regulating and taxing marijuana? It's hard to avoid the brutal truths, and even harder to admit them. The marijuana market is immense, barely restrained by prohibition laws, while the harm it causes society is minuscule compared with alcohol and tobacco. [continues 573 words]
The Harper government has introduced legislation that, if passed, will impose mandatory minimum prison sentences for serious drug crimes committed in west central Alberta and everywhere else in Canada. By putting more drug offenders in jail and keeping them there longer, the government hopes to make communities safer while deterring young people from getting involved with illegal drugs in the first place. "These measures are a proportionate and measured response designed to disrupt criminal enterprise; drug producers and dealers who threaten the safety of our communities must face tougher penalties," said federal justice minister Rob Nicholson. [continues 343 words]
Ohio's county prosecutors are recommending major changes to state drug laws, including the elimination of mandatory prison sentences for trafficking and possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs, except in the most serious cases. The prosecutors also want to reduce several other non-drug crimes to misdemeanors from felonies, including assaulting a school teacher, administrator or school bus operator without physical harm; injuring a police dog or horse; illegal use of food stamps; and unauthorized use of a cable television or telecommunication device. [continues 527 words]
A federal judge in Los Angeles wants more information on the new U.S. attorney general's comment that there are no plans to prosecute dispensary owners operating within their state's laws. A federal judge in Los Angeles on Monday postponed the sentencing of man who emerged as a key figure in the national debate over medical marijuana, saying he wanted additional information about a reported change in the Justice Department's policy regarding such prosecutions. U.S. District Judge George H. Wu asked prosecutors for a written response from the Justice Department about its position on medical marijuana prosecutions in light of recent comments from Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. [continues 357 words]
To The Editor, Re: RCMP 'Green Team' cracks down on grow ops, March 19. Every time the police tear out one grow op, they make the 90-95 per cent of grows they don't catch all that much more valuable. In this way, every grow bust is actually a gangster subsidy. Police know that. They also get to mislead the media and the public into thinking the busts are helping things, when, in actual fact, their actions are wildly counterproductive. [continues 79 words]