A funeral home in Aldergrove decided they needed to do something after seeing so many heartbroken families lose loved ones to a drug overdose. The funeral directors have put together an awareness and prevention campaign that does aim to shock people about how deadly drugs are. In an unusual move, the BC Coroner's Office has come out against Alternative Funeral and Cremation Service's awareness campaign, saying scare tactics don't work, they only further stigmatize drug users. While it's true the D.A.R.E. program and Just Say No hasn't been successful in deterring youth from trying hard drugs, it likely did impact a few kids here and there. And at this point in this fentanyl epidemic - reaching anyone is better than doing nothing. It isn't costing taxpayers anything. [continues 180 words]
Langley vet says she treats at least one dog a month that ingests pot In the last couple years, veterinarians have seen an increase in the number of dogs that have ingested harmful drugs, mainly marijuana. "We have seen a notable increase in the last few years of dogs coming to the hospital having ingested pot. We get at least one per month," said Langley veterinarian, Dr. Renee Ferguson of Mountainview Veterinary Hospital. "Unfortunately, it is becoming common that dogs eat pot or drugs while out on a walk or at a park," she said. [continues 409 words]
With the release of a 106-page federal task force report, the possibility of legalizing marijuana inches closer to reality Legalizing marijuana in Canada - once passed off as a pipe dream - appears to be gaining traction. And in the wake of a 106-page report drafted by a federal task force on legalized recreational marijuana, advocates aren't just blowing smoke. The study containing more than 80 recommendations gives shape to a Liberal promise to the legalize recreational pot consumption and sales, with safeguards in place to restrict youth access and choke off the illicit market that fuels criminal enterprises. [continues 1135 words]
Editor: Conservative MP Mark Warawa illustrates problems with cannabis (marijuana) prohibition - Are Langley And Canada Going To Pot? (the Times, Jan. 20) - and their failed logic. While responsible adults may purchase a truckload of whiskey, they're concerned with approximately one ounce of plant material that hasn't killed anyone in over 5,000 years of documented use. As expected, 30 grams of cannabis may be worth $300 or more on the black market while it is illegal, however, Colorado has proven the price of re-legalized and regulated cannabis may be reduced by 50 per cent. Why would anyone want to force the black market to regulate (always available) cannabis rather than force government to do its job? Stan White, Dillon, Colorado [end]
Editor: In 2016, British Columbians faced the public health emergency that is the overdose crisis. As of Nov. 30, 755 people in our province had died last year due to an overdose - 259 of those deaths occurring in the Fraser Health region. That's 259 sons, daughters, partners and friends who have lost their lives to an issue that has impacted our society at all levels. In our region of 1.8 million people, the overdose crisis has touched all of our communities. [continues 440 words]
Dr. Ingrid Tyler, the lead medical health officer at Fraser Health dealing with harm reduction and the fentanyl crisis, says the best way to save the life of a person who has overdosed on the deadly drug is to give them breaths, through mouth-to-mouth CPR. A fentanyl overdose causes the victim to stop breathing, so providing air is essential to saving lives, said Tyler. However, giving CPR to someone who is overdosing comes with its own serious set of risks to the person administrating the life-saving technique, she warned. [continues 560 words]
Alex Wilkinson and Preston Pearce both had infectious smiles, lots of friends and family who deeply loved them. As well, they both graduated from Walnut Grove Secondary. What the two also had in common, tragically, is that they both died at 19 from a drug overdose. Family and friends of the two WGSS alumni have made a powerful video that can be seen on Youtube (WGSS Drug Awareness Video - We Are a Community). In the video, Alex's younger sister, Grace, speaks about her brother, saying he was always looking after her, was goofy and "the best big brother." [continues 372 words]
By the end of October, more than 620 people in B.C. had died from drug overdoses in 2016. That's up markedly from the 397 deaths in the same 10 months of 2015. Of those who died this year, 332 (roughly 60 per cent) fatalities came as a result of the additive fentanyl. Those are the most recent numbers available to us and they have no doubt climbed even higher during the past six weeks. For today's four-story series Dying to get high, reporter Monique Tamminga spoke with some of the the people who are dealing with the fallout of illegal drug use and overdose deaths in Langley. [continues 222 words]
Drug interventionist Andy Bhatti, a former heroin user himself, said addicts need more access to immediate treatment and to methadone if lives are going to be saved. "There is a two-to three-month wait for a publicly-funded treatment beds and private treatment can cost up to $7,500 a month," said Bhatti. He's sending some of his clients to Thailand to a high-end treatment centre that costs less than half that amount. He claims there is a full-time psychologist there as well as other therapies. [continues 763 words]
As a funeral director in Aldergrove, John Romeyn organizes three to four funerals a month for families who have lost a loved one to fentanyl. "A father I sat with a while ago, between sobs of grief, said to me, 'I promised to take my daughter shopping for an outfit to wear for her graduation. . . . now I have to decide what she will wear in her casket.' "I sit across the table from these families and they are heartbroken, they have lost everything. I made a promise that I have to do something," he said. [continues 835 words]
Unlimited distribution, but no pick-up As part of its harm reduction strategy, Fraser Health offers an unlimited supply of needles to intravenous drug users. But the local health authority does not recover those needles once they've been used - - a fact which has become more evident in Langley parks, streets, at the doorways of businesses and on trails and even school grounds throughout the Township and City. A sharps disposal box and its spilled contents was found near the Cascades Casino parkade recently, and a needle stabbed into the grass at Douglas Park was pictured from August on the Langley City Crime Watch Facebook page. [continues 467 words]
Editor: Regarding "A Taste of his own medicine" (the Times, Aug 5) front page article regarding Randy Caine. Please do not glorify this disease. It is no surprise that a long time marijuana smoker is diagnosed with lung cancer. Smoking anything long-term causes lung cancer, and the prognosis is never good. Randy Caine regained the use of his left hand because of conventional treatment, ie: radiation and chemotherapy. The return of his sense of taste and the regrowth of his hair, happens to everyone, not just cannabis users. This man ingested a toxic drug for years and he is paying the price. Your story made it sound like marijuana is a wonder drug. It is not. L. Dick, Langley [end]
Medical marijuana advocate battles cancer with cannabis At first, he thought it was a shoulder injury. When the pain in his left shoulder started, Randy Caine thought his days working in construction had caught up with him. "I thought I had a rotator cuff injury." Then, in June of last year, Caine noticed a lump on his neck It was lung cancer, what is known as a Pancoast tumor, a slow-moving growth that had spread into nearby muscles and bone. [continues 640 words]
Under current rules, firefighters have to wait for a doctor's permission to administer naloxone Langley City firefighters won't carry the anti-overdose drug naloxone, even though the department is seeing an increase in related medical calls. City Fire Chief Rory Thompson told the April 4 meeting of City council that if the current numbers hold, Langley Fire Rescue will have handled 240 to 260 overdose cases this year, compared to 80 last year. Much of that, Chief Thompson said, is because of fentanyl, an extremely powerful synthetic painkiller that is up to 100 times more potent than morphine. [continues 273 words]
While "medical marijuana dispensaries" are as ubiquitous as coffee shops in downtown Vancouver, municipal governments in the Fraser Valley are nipping these operations in the bud. Dave Smith and four other directors of the Motacan Compassion Society opened their doors on 271 Street in downtown Aldergrove on February 1 and within days received a letter from Bull & Hauser, the solicitors for the Township of Langley, demanding that they cease operations by Feb. 29. Smith says Motacan's directors "are trying to follow the regulations and rules" and have tried to talk to the Township staff and council about how they could meet those requirements, but "no one will talk to us, they all refer us to the lawyers (Bull & Hauser)." [continues 391 words]
Legal Battle Over Health Canada Licences Makes It Impossible to Relocate The owner of a medicinal marijuana grow-op in a Walnut Grove residential neighbourhood is following all applicable safety and ventilation regulations, said Township manager of bylaw enforcement Bill Storie. That was the outcome of an inspection ordered after people living next to the house where the grow-op is located complained to the Township in August. Storie told The Times that the owner of the facility is unable to move to another location because Health Canada has stopped issuing new medicinal marijuana growing licences. [continues 355 words]
Imagine if the house next door to you was growing mushrooms or potatoes or some other kind of agricultural crop in the basement. Imagine that there were times when you could smell the odor of fertilizer wafting over the fence. If you lived in a residential neighbourhood, you might be unhappy about that. You might complain that a house should not be used as a commercial greenhouse. And if you were told the person has a legal right to do what they were doing, you might get upset, just as some people in a Langley neighbourhood became indignant when they found out a house on their street is running a legal grow-op, and that very little can be done about it. [continues 323 words]
Walnut Grove House With a Legal Marijuana Grow-Op Frustrates Neighbours Frustrated residents of a Walnut Grove neighbourhood say they would have been better off with an illegal grow-op instead of the licensed medicinal marijuana growing operation that operates out of a house on their street. Because the owner of the house has a Health Canada licence to grow the marijuana, neither the Langley RCMP or the Township of Langley bylaw enforcement office can close it down. It has been a maddening experience for Margaret and her husband Paul, who live on one side of the grow-op, while Chris and Elizabeth live on the other (For safety reasons, The Times is not using their last names nor divulging their addresses). [continues 608 words]
Two-thirds of British Columbians surveyed endorse marijuana legalization B.C. has a strong appetite for marijuana reform with more than 70 per cent of respondents to a new poll urging either legalization or decriminalization. The Insights West survey found 67 per cent said they support outright legalization, 28 per cent opposed it and five per cent were undecided. Support was slightly stronger among women, the under-35 age group and Vancouver Island residents, but at least 65 per cent back legalization in every region and within each age group. [continues 419 words]
The debate in Langley City over the number of pharmacies which have set up shop is actually part of a larger debate involving the use of drugs in society - legal, illegal, tested, patented and perhaps somewhere in between. In Vancouver, council has approved legalizing medicinal marijuana dispensaries. These have popped up in that city on many corners, and because they exist in a gray zone, with medicinal marijuana legal, but only available from federally-approved sellers, the business is flourishing. In Langley City, council has been unable to limit the number of pharmacies setting up shop. They operate legal businesses, and because many of them dispense methadone, which is a legal drug, some people think there is a link to criminal activity. That has yet to be proven. [continues 175 words]
Township concerned about "sudden surge" As far as anyone can tell, Langley Township hasn't experienced a sudden growth in businesses dispensing medicinal marijuana and methadone. Councillor Charlie Fox would like to keep it that way. Fox raised the issue at the Monday afternoon meeting of Township council, referring to the "sudden surge" of marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver and an increase in the number of pharmacies dispensing methadone "next door," an apparent reference to Langley City. Ten of the 12 pharmacies in the City currently dispense methadone, more than triple the number a year ago. [continues 323 words]
Editor: I too share the outrage of Health Minister Rona Ambrose concerning the Supreme Court allowing marijuana derivatives to be used for medical purposes. This decision was made to accommodate children being prescribed medical marijuana. In my way of thinking, if these prepubescent potheads can't spark up a doobie like the rest of the potheads, they have no right to be using it in the first place. And everyone seems to be ignoring a glaring side effect of this marijuana use by these children. I don't know which U.S. president funded it, but a scientific paper that was released in the late 1960s outlined a serious consequence of marijuana use. This report was tabled by Prof. Billy Bob Rheddneckt, a teachers assistant/hall monitor at Montford Technical School in Oglethorpe, Georgia, which stated unequivocally that marijuana is a gateway drug and that there is a 100 per cent chance or better that children dabbling with marijuana will become heroin addicts. [continues 186 words]
On Saturday evening, the latest Surrey shooting took place - and it wasn't too far from Langley. Shots were fired from one or more vehicles in the 18600 block of Highway 10 on Saturday evening, at about 10 p.m. Two men were likely injured - they later appeared at a hospital. The shots also damaged at least two nearby homes. Highway 10 was closed for several hours to allow police to investigate. Unfortunately, when shooting and gangland warfare breaks out in Surrey, it often has a spillover effect in Langley. [continues 436 words]
Langley man sent back home from Mexico A Langley man says he was refused admission to Mexico for being a drug trafficker, despite winning an absolute discharge on that precise allegation in court. Randy Caine and his wife Maureen were met by Mexican police when they flew to the resort town of Puerto Vallarta in March, planning to stay at the time share they own in a nearby town. It wasn't exactly a vacation. Maureen Caine's mother had just died and the couple wanted some quiet time away from home. [continues 482 words]
Editor: The marijuana industry brings in around $7 billion a year. That money goes to criminals and drug dealers. Meanwhile, the B.C. government is $63 billion in debt. Ending cannabis prohibition would save a lot in the courts and on law enforcement, and restore the civil liberties that have been lost in the drug war. Regulated sales would earn tax revenue, and transparency would ensure that there is public safety. In reality, tobacco and alcohol are proven to cause more bodily harm than marijuana, yet it is the illegal substance. [continues 120 words]
The attitude towards marijuana in this province is in sharp contrast with the approach in other parts of Canada. Proof of that comes in details from a court document, filed as part of an application to seize a property near the Aldergrove border crossing which was the subject of a massive search last week. Although the large property just drew public attention last week, the documents suggest it has been used for marijuana production since 1993. That's a 22-year period. [continues 249 words]
Township Hopes to Use Anti-Regulation to Control Legal Marijuana Growing The Township of Langley is taking another stab at restricting legal marijuana grow operations within municipal boundaries, this time going after growers over the smell from their operations. The new rules won preliminary approval Monday. They would allow the Township and the RCMP to fine smelly grow-ops $500 a day for the nuisance. A staff report says the Township has a legal opinion that going after growers over odours "is unlikely to raise a constitutional challenge" because it doesn't order growers to quit, but only insists that they install filters. [continues 205 words]
Editor: When will B.C. wake up and smell the roses? Almost daily I see news reports on American TV talking about the legal sales of marijuana in Colorado and Washington state, and the increase in tourism in those states. Lately the talk has been about the hundreds of millions in tax revenue from the tax on sales of marijuana. This revenue is just a small percentage of the real revenue that is being raised. Tourism is booming in both of those states. Over the past seven years, B.C. tourism has shown steady decline, largely due to excessive hotel room taxation, while Washington state is booming. Tourists of all demographics are pouring in to Washington and Colorado. [continues 80 words]
Editor: Regarding Tom Fletcher's Feb. 13 column in The Times, not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated too. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. [continues 100 words]
Marijuana growing in residential neighbourhoods will no longer be allowed, under new Langley Township regulations given preliminary approval by council on Monday, Feb. 3. The changes to the property safety bylaw would impose a fine of up to $10,000 a day on anyone who currently has a medical marijuana production licence if they continue cultivating pot plants after March 31, when all of the small-scale growing licences issued by the federal government are set to expire. Under new medicinal marijuana regulations that take effect April 1, growing will switch from the current system of small operations with one or two clients to larger commercial-style bulk growing. [continues 230 words]
VICTORIA - On April 1, medical marijuana growing licences expire across the country, and only licensed commercial growers will be able to legally fill a prescription for pot. Ottawa is moving to clean up the mess it created by issuing medical licences all over the country. Since then, municipalities have complained that small-scale medical licences have been greatly exceeded, with many used as fronts for a criminal drug trade that has made B.C. infamous around the world. How big is the problem? There are about 38,000 Canadians licensed to carry marijuana for medical purposes, and half of them live in B.C. Their permission to grow their own or buy it from designated small-scale growers is withdrawn in a couple of months. [continues 496 words]
At least eight businesses want to grow medicinal marijuana in Langley Township. Mayor Jack Froese made the disclosure during debate on a proposed bylaw that would ban commercial marijuana production from the Agricultural Land Reserve that makes up 75 per cent of the Township. The bylaw would restrict growing to industrial areas. Froese said seven of the eight known proposed commercial grow ops would be located in the ALR, a fact that lends some urgency to the proposed ban. "Time is of the essence," Froese said. [continues 330 words]
Langley mayor Jack Froese, Abbotsford Mayor Bruce Banman, Delta mayor Lois Jackson and Kelowna mayor Walter Gray have sent a joint letter urging provincial agriculture minister Pat Pimm to say if he supports or opposes a ban on medical marijuana production on protected farm land. The four municipalities are required by law to get provincial approval for any regulations that might affect farming within the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) inside their borders. The letter signed by all four mayors says they have a "collective desire to prohibit establishment of medical marijuana operations in agricultural areas" and asks the minister what his intentions are. [continues 103 words]
Editor: As a Canadian citizen, mother, and recovering addict, I am disturbed about the debate of the legalization of marijuana. My concern is if Dana Larsen gets the 400,000 signatures for his Sensible BC Campaign, it's just one step toward the legalization of marijuana. It frightens me to even think that marijuana might be around even more than it already is. It will also be more available to youth, who would be four times more prone to suffer from a psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia. [continues 76 words]
Editor: I need help. I live in Langley City, in a top-floor apartment. My new neighbours are chronic pot smokers. My suite is constantly filled with marijuana smoke. The smoke is so bad I will have to remove my five-year-old daughter from the suite. I called the police and they told me this: They can't do a damn thing if they are doing it in their suite. Yet officials tell tobacco smokers they will be fined if they smoke inside buildings, or near doorways? [continues 63 words]
Randy Caine plans to sue for slander after winning absolute discharge for what he describes as 'quota violation' Now that a drug trafficking charge against him has been dropped, the former operator of a Langley City medical marijuana dispensary is planning to sue the people he says slandered his reputation. "If they think this was funny and I'm going to roll over and ignore it, they're in for a surprise," says Randy Caine, whose Langley Medical Marijuana dispensary closed following a July 2011 raid by RCMP. [continues 743 words]
A new federal law that will ban medicinal marijuana growing in residential neighbourhoods is likely good news for most Langley Township residents, and public safety officials. But there are some troubling unknowns about the impact of the new laws, including the likelihood of a court challenge and concerns the formerly legal residential grow-ops could keep going. That was the view of participants in a Township-sponsored public information session on the planned changes by the federal government, held Wednesday evening (May 15) at the George Preston recreation centre in Brookswood. [continues 418 words]
An RCMP search of a Langley grow-op nearly six years ago has turned into a potentially precedent-setting Supreme Court of Canada case that will decide how much freedom police have to rummage through computers and smart phones. On Wednesday (March 27), the high court was scheduled to hear arguments in the case of Thanh Long Vu, the owner of an 84 Avenue property that was raided by the Langley RCMP drug section on Sept. 6, 2007. Officers investigating an alleged theft of electricity seized a cellphone and two computers, a desktop and a laptop, when they executed a search warrant for what turned out to be a large marijuana growing operation with more than 1,000 plants in the basement. [continues 283 words]
Wife of Imprisoned Activist Marc Emery, Decries Human Cost of War on Drugs The war on drugs has become too expensive, the wife of imprisoned marijuana activist Marc Emery told a Langley meeting on a proposed new law to limit pot possession arrests. Jodie Emery was speaking at a Wednesday, March 20 meeting at the Township municipal hall arranged by Sensible BC, a group that is planning a public referendum on a law that would direct police to ease up in cases of possessing marijuana for personal use. [continues 691 words]
While some people in Langley Township hall may wish it wasn't so, there is an active discussion going on about whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The discussion has moved to another level since November, when Washington state voters decided to legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, and make it available at commercial outlets. The same thing happened in Colorado. This is taking place despite the fact that, at the federal level, marijuana possession remains illegal in the United States. [continues 295 words]
UBCM decision to lobby feds on marijuana decriminalization misguided - Ferguson Township Councillor Steve Ferguson said he is surprised and disappointed that delegates at the Union of B.C. Municipalities passed a motion calling on the federal government to decriminalize marijuana. The vote passed narrowly by a show of hands, and Ferguson said that there may have been a different outcome had electronic voting been used. He and Al Siebring, a councillor from North Cowichan, challenged the method of voting, but were overruled. [continues 251 words]
Dear Editor, While local political types gather round, dabbing sweat from each other's brow and bandying about atta-boys for signing the new police contract, now is a good time to start noodling over new initiatives. Perhaps something involving the influx of drug dealers taking over the downtown core - what I like to call "the old town" - and surrounding neighbourhoods is in order. Once upon a time, falling asleep in one of these neighbourhoods meant drifting off to sounds of whistling as the drug trade opened for the evening. [continues 271 words]
The Langley RCMP are working to seize the cars, trucks, cash, and land of criminals To do any job properly, you need the right tools. Even if that job is crime. The Langley RCMP now has an officer dedicated to taking away the tools of criminals, hobbling their ability to continue operating. Const. Mike Schnerch is a 12-year veteran of the RCMP who has spent his entire career at the Langley detachment. After nine years with the Drug Section, he's now been appointed the Offence Related Property Coordinator. [continues 457 words]
Langley Marijuana Dispensary Owner Will Not Reopen Service Pending Trial The owner of the shuttered Medical Marijuana Dispensary in Langley has informed the courts that he will insist on a jury when his drug possession case goes to trial. Randy Caine made the demand during a brief appearance in Surrey Provincial Court on Wednesday (Jan. 11). Caine was charged with one count of possession for the purpose of trafficking after the RCMP raided the Langley City dispensary on July 19. Officers seized more than eight pounds of marijuana and what an RCMP release described as "a large quantity of marijuana products, including cookies and candies" from the dispensary. [continues 148 words]
Nothing To Fear, Insists BC Hydro's Fiona Taylor First of all, the new BC Hydro smart meters can't tell if you are using your power to fry eggs or grow pot, only the total amount of power you consume. Secondly, the wireless antennas the meters use to feed that data back to Hydro generate less radiation than your kitchen microwave. And if you really, really dona't want one, something can probably be worked out, so long as you are prepared to pay extra. [continues 604 words]
Editor: There are a few reasons why the Langley City medical marijuana dispensary is not nessessarily best for our community. It is not a not-for-profit organization. It is a for profit business. There is no board of directors. The profits are all going to one executive director, and not other programs related to health. The dispensing fee doesn't correspond with Health Canada's regulations, and Randy Caine is not a medical user. Wendy Hughes Aldergrove [end]
Founder of Medical Marijuana Dispensary Claims "High Level" Of Community Support Two months after it was closed down by a police raid, the Langley Medical Marijuana Dispensary has reopened in the same location under its original management. Immediately following following the July 19 visit by Langley RCMP officers, dispensary founder Randy Caine said someone else would have to take on the task of distributing medicinal marijuana. But since then, Caine said, there have been encouraging signs of support in the community, enough for him to reopen. [continues 302 words]
Editor: After reading Superintendent Derek Cooke's submission to The Times (Aug. 23), headlined "Many problems with Langley dispensary," I felt compelled to write and dispel some of the misconceptions contained in his letter. When the Langley Medical Marijauna Dispensary (LMMD) opened two years ago, it employed some admittedly questionable operating practices. However in the past year, the dispensary has evolved into a safe and convenient place for patients to receive their dosage. In his letter, Supt. Cooke says "There was no requirement that conventional treatment for the customer's ailment had been tried, or even considered." [continues 329 words]
Editor: I am one of many non-users fed up with the persecution of medical marijuana outlets by police, and the endorsemen of this by local politicians. Clients of medical distribution centres come with a prescription and are referred by a doctor. Therefore, the police are subordinating a legal medical health concern to an arcane statute that continues to rob B.C. coffers of literally billions of dollars in untaxed revenue. The ridiculous, outmoded fear behind it all was recently underscored in an newspaper advertisement titled: "Get Paid to Grow Marijuana." This UBC seminar covers topics such as complying with laws and regulations for distribution for medical use. [continues 150 words]
Editor: I am writing in regards to my husband Ross Hubbs. He is dealing with dementia, and has been for the last 12 years. He is quite aware of where dementia takes a person. I have his general practitioner's and specialist's approval to allow him to use medical marijuana. I would not want to be facing what he faces every day. Would you? I applied on his behalf through the federal government for a license to have a supply. I told them that at that time B.C. Compassion Club in Vancouver would be his supplier. [continues 307 words]
