If you sell iodine, rock salt, aluminum foil, coffee filters, starter fluid, lithium batteries or drain cleaner, you could be providing someone with the ingredients to make a meth lab. It's a harsh reality in the world we live in today, and now the Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Langley Merchants Association, in partnership with RCMP, have created the Meth Watch Program that will deliver posters, brochures and 'shelf talkers,' advising employees and customers about what to look out for and how to curb the bulk sale of these items. [continues 403 words]
How many people you know have used marijuana in the past year? Would you consider them criminals? The number is probably a lot higher than you think. Some five million Canadians smoked marijuana in 2004, according to a United Nations report on drug use around the world. That's about one in six people. With B.C. being known for its particular fondness for cannabis, the ratio is probably higher here. Perhaps much higher. So, perhaps one in five of the people you know between the ages of 15 and retirement has used marijuana in the past year. [continues 166 words]
Editor: Re: "40 grow-ops pinpointed" (The Times, July 11). In this article, reporter Natasha Jones refers to an operation that was carried out by the Township's Public Safety Inspection Team, which is comprised of firefighters, bylaw enforcement officers, municipal staff, RCMP and BC Hydro. According to provincial legislation, they can enter premises without a search warrant. This makes me wonder who is next on the list to join the team -- the postman? What is our mayor and council trying to do, create a police state within a democracy? Or does this just provide ammunition for snitches, who reside in all local neighbourhoods? Or is it a way to justify expanding their powers? [continues 180 words]
Editor: Please consider publishing the following letter in response to Tom Fletcher's column (The Times, July 4). For non-violent offenders with chronic substance abuse problems, community courts are a cost-effective alternative to incarceration. I just hope Canada's community courts aren't misused for political purposes the way they are here in the United States. Record numbers of U.S. citizens arrested for marijuana possession have been forced into treatment by the criminal justice system. The resulting distortion of treatment statistics is used by U.S. Drug Czar John Walters to make the claim that marijuana is "addictive." [continues 122 words]
B.C.'S Cities No Closer To Solving Social Problems The "honour system" has finally been abandoned on the Greater Vancouver buses. The establishment of "fare paid zones" beyond the driver's seat and at least the theoretical appearance of someone to check tickets is an effort to stem the problem of people refusing to pay and assaulting drivers who remind them the ride isn't quite free. It seems that once a city reaches a certain size, it doesn't have enough honour left for honour systems. Surveys indicated that Ottawa doesn't yet have bus anarchy, but Toronto does. [continues 836 words]
Grow-ops may not be candidates for membership in the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce but those indoor marijuana farms, located in homes all over the region, could qualify as the one of the city's largest industries. Until now. A $1.3 million co-operative project between the city, BC Hydro and Coquitlam RCMP seems to be nipping these illegal businesses in the bud. Since the Public Safety Inspection Program began a month ago, 23 properties have been inspected for excessive power use and 21 homeowners were fined $5,000 for a follow-up inspection. [continues 206 words]
Drug dealing, intoxicated violent fights, prostitution, open domestic abuse, loud late-night parties, littered drug and sex paraphernalia, overflowing garbage and intimidation from tenants will all be a thing of the past this summer for neighbours of the Tourist Inn on 200 Street. To the sounds of cheers and applause from residents and business owners who live and work near the Tourist Inn, Langley City council unanimously revoked the motel's business licence on Monday night. Residents of Glenwood Manor packed into the City Hall chambers well past midnight to hear the outcome of the lengthy hearing into whether Tourist Inn would be shut down by the City. [continues 1114 words]
Editor: I would like to clarify a few points concerning A. Brown's "Wake Up Call" to the parents of Langley teens (The Times, June 20). I will work through the letter chronologically for the sake of logic, something I believe was sorely missing from the letter. One of the most commonly used arguments for marijuana prohibition is that marijuana use causes paranoid behaviour. The remedy offered is that parents drive by to stalk their children. For the record, it is prohibition that causes paranoia, not THC (the active ingredient in marijuana). As for the generic, unspecific claim of laced marijuana, I would like to put this issue to rest once and for all. There is nothing to gain for dealers lacing their pot with other more expensive, rarer substances. Again, logic can go a long way. [continues 236 words]
Marijuana growing operators will have to worry about more than police starting this month. The Public Safety Inspection Team are ready to set out, going to homes that have been shown to consume an unusually large amount of electricity. The team will be made up of Township electrical safety inspectors, a bylaw officer and RCMP members who will post notices on the doors of homes that B.C.Hydro has shown to consume abnormal levels of electricity. The home owner then has 48 hours to allow an inspection. If the owner refuses, the power to the home will be shut off, said police spokesperson Cpl. Diane Blain. [continues 228 words]
Editor: I got a kick out of the letter by Travis Erbacher (The Times, April 20). In my view, our society has been quite tolerant of those who choose to smoke pot. I agree adults should be able to enjoy this "escape" in the comfort of their homes, but I ask that you keep it away from youngsters until they are old enough to make their own decisions. Persecution? I don't think so. Cloverdale [end]
Editor: As the "Million Marijuana March" on May 5 approaches, so does the greatest injustice thus far in the war on drugs. Marc Emery, Michelle Rainey and Greg Williams (the "B.C. three") are set to face extradition to the United States in hearings beginning on May 28 in the B.C. Supreme Court. They face 10 years to life imprisonment for selling marijuana seeds, should they be extradited. The Canadian government has knowingly taxed these sales for the past decade, while Mr. Emery has used all of his income fighting prohibition. [continues 54 words]
Another dangerous incident involving a fire at a drug production house illustrates the wisdom of Langley Township council's adoption of the Controlled Substance Property Bylaw. On Saturday, Coquitlam firefighters were called to a small fire in the basement of a residence on a quiet residential street. They saw several barrels of chemicals. Police, and a hazardous materials team fully outfitted in protective clothing were required, and the home is suspected of being a lab producing the drug ecstasy. Firefighters and police have a dangerous enough job as it is, without running the risk of encountering toxic and/or flammable or explosive chemicals; illegal electrical bypasses or exposed wiring, in pleasant residential neighbourhood. Neighours, and people like utility workers or inspectors attending to legitimate business, are not exempt, and fire, toxic fumes, or electrocution aren't the only dangers. Grow ops and drug labs are often targeted by other criminals, bringing the potential of violence to the quietest neighbourhood. [continues 154 words]
An amendment to Langley Township's controlled substance property bylaw has been adopted by Township council. The amended bylaw creates a shorter notice period to property owners or occupants of property suspected of housing drug production facilities. Now, with 24 hours notice, Langley fire and bylaw officials, with Langley RCMP assistance, will be authorized to enter into suspected premises, to check for fire and electrical safety violations. Fees to the owner of a home found in violation will be $3,500 at minimum. [continues 264 words]
A $7,500 provincial government grant will assist Langley School District teach Grade 7 students drug awareness. Langley Township Mayor Kurt Alberts on Monday presented the cheque to Leslie Klein, program co-ordinator for the school district's Community Methamphetamine Response Funding Program. The grant will pay in part for the drug and alcohol worker who will teach students about the dangers of methamphetamine. Alberts said the Grade 7s were felt to be the most vulnerable, since they were making the transition from elementary school to high school. [continues 143 words]
Marijuana grow-ops are no joke in the Tri-Cities, where hardly a week goes by without a bust or a raid. And area residents are increasingly at risk of being in the line of fire when criminals try to steal from criminals. Sadder still is the plight of children living in homes that house grow-ops, who must be shunted off to foster care when their parents are charged while their homes, hard-wired to suck up electricity, make for dangerous living conditions for both the inhabitants and their neighbours. [continues 255 words]
Drug production in Langley Township homes and buildings will be targeted by a special team of fire, police and bylaw officers. Fees to the owner of a home found in violation will be $3,500 at minimum. Township Fire Chief Doug Wade says controlled-substance, fire services and electrical safety laws provide ample authority for safety inspections of suspected marijuana grow operations or drug production facilities. Authorities would be able, under an amended controlled-substance property bylaw, to serve 24 hours notice of a safety inspection, to the occupants of a Township premise. [continues 534 words]
Editor: In response to the letters published on Feb. 14 about "legalizing meth," I just have to ask: Have any of the letter writers who think that legalizing meth is necessary ever known someone who has used meth? Do they know how hard it is to watch someone you love being killed by that crap? I have known a few people who were caught up in that world, and the one thing that they had in common was the knowledge that they are killing themselves, and they don't know how to stop. [continues 332 words]
Editor: This is a response to the letters in the Feb. 14 issue of The Times. They call for legalizing meth. Are these letter writers serious? I suppose then, if we are to consider legalizing this destructive drug, we may as well throw in all the other highly addictive, dangerous and deadly drugs as well. Heroin should probably get thrown in there -- so many people use it and are addicted to it now -- let's just make it that much easier for people to get hooked. [continues 280 words]
Marijuana A Strategic Priority For Police This Year Langley RCMP cut the heart out of a large, sophisticated marijuana grow operation on Valentine's day, seizing 3,000 plants and arresting two Langley men. Acting on a tip, drug officers searched an outbuilding in the 3100 block of 216 Street that appeared to have been modified to conceal the operation. The building was equipped with security cameras, an alarm system, and all interior and exterior doors were of reinforced steel and locked with high-security padlocks, said RCMP Cpl. Diane Blain. [continues 242 words]
Editor: In response to your editorial (The Times, Feb. 11), this is an open letter to Solicitor General John Les. Making ingredients illegal won't make crystal meth go away. It will only become more toxic, and lead to more violence. There are good reasons to legalize, then regulate and even tax crystal meth. Foolishly, our present government policy of drug prohibition is injecting price increases and violence into the black market, and then abdicating the right to decide the following: [continues 401 words]
