Trudeau and the Liberal Party's campaign promise to legalize marijuana might not materialize any time soon, if at all. Internationally, drug policies largely remain regressive and repressive control mechanisms that are apparently hell-bent on further fuelling drug-related violence by empowering criminal cartels. So any attempt to take progressive steps away from the monumental failure known as prohibition will face resistance from the UN over international law. Yet Washington and Colorado - as well as other US states looking at legalization - didn't seem too concerned with what the UN or the international community would say. Neither did Uruguay, Amsterdam or Portugal, where drugs are not technically legal but have been decriminalized for some 15 years. [continues 376 words]
Four years ago Alberta became the first province in Canada to institute legislation allowing police to remove children from homes where drugs were being abused. At the time, the hope was the new law would convince parents and guardians to do the right thing by keeping drug activities well away from children. Under the Drug-Endangered Children Act caseworkers and police can apprehend any young person they deem to be endangered by the drug activities of the child's parent or guardian. [continues 363 words]
Seventeen per cent of Canadians report having used cannabis in the past year, despite it being illegal. Prohibition, it seems, is hardly stopping people from using cannabis. For perspective, cigarettes are available at every corner store and the Canadian Cancer Society reports that tobacco use stands at 18 per cent. When I was in university, one of my favourite people was a Member of Parliament who represented a very conservative riding yet held very liberal views on cannabis law reform. On the one hand, he would maintain that "Your mind is how you experience the world and I can't see why anyone would allow chemicals to dull the one chance they get to experience it." But then he would turn on a dime: "Let's be honest, this government I'm serving can't even keep cannabis out of prisons. Even in a tiny area guarded with guns, barbed wire, and four metre high concrete walls, we can't enforce the drug laws. Who here really thinks we can keep cannabis out of our sparsely populated country while respecting peoples' privacy and freedom of movement?" [continues 591 words]
The provincial government has announced plans to create a witness protection program in Alberta, a move the province says will help bring more criminals to justice while at the same time protecting victims and witnesses. Much like the existing federal witness protection program, the new Alberta Witness Security Act is designed, in part, to entice witnesses to testify in court without fear of retaliation. "There is intimidation, there is that threat that if a person does decide to testify that there could be a consequence and I think that's what we understand to be the case," said Justice Minister Alison Redford. [continues 351 words]
Re: "Drug impaired driving good for no one" A law that allows invasive and inconclusive drug testing for drivers suspected of impairment has no place in a free and open society. We're watching the slow insidious rise of a narco-police state. People are being led by the nose by liars in politics who will sacrifice any civil liberties for their brand of social order. The current puppet government wants to spend $20,000,000,000 on prisons when the overall crime rate has been going down since 1992. [continues 90 words]
A new rule that allows police officers to suspend the licences of suspected drug-impaired drivers for 90 days is a good step in keeping Alberta's roads and streets safe. The Alberta Administrative Licence Suspension program (AALS) already imposes a minimum three-month suspension or disqualification on drivers who are charged with driving with a blood alcohol level greater than 80 mg per cent or refusing to provide either a breath or blood sample. Now the same program has been expanded to apply to motorists suspected of being impaired by drugs. [continues 357 words]
Communication between a parent and child is crucial in educating children and teens about the harms of drug abuse. Unfortunately, many parents struggle to sustain that dialogue. In an effort to build bridges between parents and their children, Janet Cornell, Hugh Sutherland School student councillor, and Didsbury partner Robbin Alexander, are offering a new program to parents dubbed Kids and Drugs. The program is different from many other drug education programs in that parents are not taught the specifics about individual drugs, but rather stresses the importance of keeping an open communication channel between parents and their children. [continues 416 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]
If a new law that allows the province to seize property and cash from gangsters works as it should, it will make Alberta a lot safer for everyone. Justice Minister Alison Redford says the Victims Restitution and Compensation Payment Amendment Act, which has been in effect for the past two months, is already making life more difficult for organized criminals. "I'm confident our new law will have a serious impact on gang activity," said Redford. "This law has real teeth. If you are involved in criminal activity, you need to be aware that we have the power to come and take away your luxury SUV, your home or your bag full of drug money. You will lose that property." [continues 338 words]
During the current session of the Alberta Legislature the provincial government plans to introduce changes to the way legal authorities deal with young people burdened by drug and alcohol addictions. The changes include doubling the amount of time underage persons can be held in confinement while they receive assessment. Under current legislation young people who are abusing drugs or alcohol can be apprehended and taken to a protective safe house for assessment and treatment. Since coming into effect in July 2006, detoxification and assessment services operated under the legislation have been provided to more than 1,500 young people. [continues 341 words]
MLAs have passed new legislation that gives the province more power to seize property used to commit crimes, including drug offences and drunk driving. Under the Victims Restitution and Compensation Payment Act, vehicles, weapons, and other property can be seized and sold, with the proceeds going to victims and to programs that support victims and their families. The move is a good step, not only giving victims the support and compensation they need and deserve, but also perhaps acting as a deterrent to young people who may be considering getting involved in criminal activity. [continues 347 words]
Tough new penalties for impaired driving are welcome news for a public-at-large that has had quite enough of drunks and drugged up drivers turning the province's roadways into death traps. New provisions of the Tackling Violent Crime Act came into effect on July 2, giving police more tools to detect and investigate drug impaired driving. While drug driving is already a criminal offence, police are now able to demand a suspect driver submit to a roadside sobriety test and to give up bodily fluids for testing for drugs. [continues 357 words]
Contrary to popular belief, drug and alcohol abuse by parents and children is not just a big city problem. Carstairs Family and Community Support Services director Robbin Bowman, hopes that a new drug awareness media campaign will help prevent drug use in families. "We recognize that small towns are now being targeted by dealers and we want to spread awareness of this risk." Communities Who Care were recently approved for a $3,000 grant from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission and will use the funding to engage community and address abusive behaviors. [continues 210 words]
Students at the Hugh Sutherland High School were provided with an opportunity last week to view a new MADD Canada multi-media presentation on driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Keeping control was the main of the Mother's Against Drunk Driving presentation Nov. 21 at the Hugh Sutherland School. "If you don't have control of your mind, you don't have control of your car," said the narrator of latest public relations video touring Canadian high schools, Mind Control. [continues 477 words]
Dear Editor: Stephen Harper must have a lot of friends who are drug dealers. He plans to implement mandatory minimum sentences for people who grow marijuana, and he should have no problem getting enough Liberal and Bloc votes to push that policy through. History, science, and common sense show us that this policy would act as no deterrent, drive up the street price, drive up the dealers' profits, and therefore drive up the competition. This will inevitably lead to more gun-violence, more robberies, and more ruined properties. Even putting more police on the streets will have little to no effect, since police can catch barely a fifth of the growers and dealers as it is. [continues 322 words]
Dear Editor: If the Conservatives get even a minority win in this election, I have no doubt that they will completely shut down Health Canada's Medical Marijuana License program. This will leave my wife and I to - once again - get our medicine from "the street". Since the government already has the home addresses of the approximately 1100 license holders, we also expect a visit from the police the day after the license program is shut down, and fully expect to be charged. That is what is happening in the US, and neither of us would survive long in jail. [continues 83 words]
Dear Editor: US officials had Canadian officers arrest internet marijuana seed dealer Marc Emery. It seems clear that the US thinks Emery and his seeds are a much bigger threat to the status quo than, say, Osama Bin Laden. While police in the UK are rounding up Pakistani-born bombing suspects, the US is rounding up Canadian-born marijuana-law-reform activists. When they searched the home and business of Mr. Emery, by the way, they failed to find any weapons of mass destruction, or Osama. [continues 275 words]
A tip from an alert real estate agent has led to what is believed to be Alberta's largest methamphetamine lab being shut down, where over 20 pounds of the toxic substance was seized and taken off the street. Didsbury RCMP was contacted by a Sundre-based realtor, who then conducted an investigation and once they felt they had enough grounds to move in they obtained a search warrant and uncovered the large drug operation. According to Edmonton based RCMP Cst. Al Fraser with the RCMP's media relations department, methamphetamine is considered to be one of the most highly addictive drugs that is out there, as well as probably the most dangerous for one to take into their body. [continues 1376 words]
