Current Affairs (2007) -
Chronological (432 items)
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| Mar 15, 2007 |
Holy Smoke Owners Enter Plea Holy Smoke Culture Shop co-owners Paul De Felice and Alan Middlemiss as well as associates Kelsey Stratas and Akka Annis entered not-guilty pleas in Nelson court last week and are now waiting for a trial date to be set. |
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| Mar 15, 2007 |
Alberta Grow-Ops Growing In Size "The number of grow-ops we're busting in rural areas is way down, but the size of each bust is way up,"... Gillan said the surge finds police busting fewer and fewer grow-ops with less than 100 plants. Most seizures these days net about 50 kg of marijuana, harvested from as many as 5,000 plants. [More proof that home cannabis gardeners are being squeezed out by criminals thanks to "get tough" government policies... and the public goes along with discarding common sense to support US global drug policy] |
| Mar 16, 2007 |
Sensible Drug Policy Conference McGill's Harm Reduction Centre will host the first annual meeting of Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy ( CSSDP ) this weekend. Speakers and student activists from across Canada and the U.S. will discuss domestic and international drug policies, harm reduction and policy reform initiatives, as well as setting up other CSSDP chapters across Canada. Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an international grassroots organization founded in 2003, is presently forming Canadian chapters in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. |
| Mar 17, 2007 |
No Business Like Marijuana BRITISH Columbia is fast becoming the only province in Canada in which the biggest industry is illegal. In 2005, forestry ( $10 million ) was B.C.'s top economic driver, and construction ( $7.9 billion ) ranked second. But what was this, coming up fast on the inside to move into third place? The marijuana industry. Puff, puff. With annual sales of $7.5 billion, it was worth more than the combined total of hotels and restaurants ( $3.8 billion ) and mining, oil and gas ( $3.5 billion ). Construction now booms as never before in B.C., but that won't stop the pot trade from steaming into second spot. After that, forestry industry, watch your behind. "The amount of marijuana produced each year in British Columbia," said a 2005 study by the University College of Fraser Valley, "is estimated to have increased from 19,729 kilos in 1997 to 79,817 in 2003." Is this a growth industry, or what? |
| Mar 17, 2007 |
Number Of Criminal Groups Growing The number of organized crime groups in B.C. grew for the third year in a row in 2006 -- to 124, up from 108 identified the previous year, says a 2006 RCMP report obtained by The Vancouver Sun....The graph in the report looks alarming, starting in 2003 with just 52 groups and rising in each of the last three years. But the report also says better record-keeping and analysis of crime groups accounts for some of the increase... [Duh... when the government abdicates responsibility to regulate and tax this plant like everything else from liquor to pet food, or allow individuals to grow it like tomatoes and petunias, then the only group left to grow and distribute it is the criminals, so why is this news not surprising or unpredictable? Until citizens demand the government create an alternative to the current system by using the existing wine, tobacco or liquor model or creating a new model, things will get MUCH worse before they get better.] |
| Mar 19, 2007 |
RCMP Entrapped Accused, Visiting Judge Concludes Crown prosecutors have dropped drug charges against 15 people who were arrested following a two-month undercover RCMP investigation throughout the territory last fall. Crown prosecutor Ludovic Gouallier said this morning visiting Justice Rene Foisy of Alberta sided with the entrapment argument presented in a Faro resident's case in February. [Hooray] |
| Mar 23, 2007 |
Bylaw Leaves Homeowner In The Cold An Abbotsford homeowner says a city bylaw meant to weed out indoor marijuana gardens has put him out on the street and is forcing him to prove his innocence. |
| Mar 23, 2007 |
OPP Cop Here Faces Trafficking Charges An 18-month probe into the drug and contraband cigarette trade in this community has led to several charges against a Grenville County OPP officer. Maurice Morrissette, 37, a resident of Kemptville, was arrested Thursday on charges of trafficking in an illegal substance, possession of an illegal substance and obstructing justice. |
| Mar 24, 2007 |
Dude, Where's My War? Canadian Adam Mann sees himself as an envoy for peace in the Middle East. But that may simply be a pipe dream. The 22-year-old University of Calgary political science student has recently been recruited by one of Israel's most unusual political parties to help gather Canadian support and know-how. This includes lobbying expertise in the last word in calming an unstable region -- pot. |
| Mar 24, 2007 |
The BC Border Guard Who Partied With Hells Angels Investigation Concludes Her Conduct Creates An 'Untenable Security Risk' For The Canadian Border Services A female B.C. border guard who partied with Hells Angels and went to one of their clubhouses may still be working in border services, The Vancouver Sun has learned. The Canadian Border Services Agency concluded that the guard's conduct created "an untenable security risk for the agency" but refuses to disclose whether she is still on the payroll. |
| Mar 28, 2007 |
A Fine Can Be Fine For The Crime On Jan. 19, the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned a sentence imposed in a marijuana grow-op case. A provincial court judge had found that a $20,000 fine would best address the root of the offence: the prospect of huge profits in a black market. The Court of Appeal thought differently and sentenced the accused to a year in jail. |
| Mar 29, 2007 |
The Numerology Of A Stoner The sub-culture of the pothead has always had a special language when trying to endear themselves to society in general. The first term I learned in my youth was "Mary Jane" when referring to marijuana. Nowadays that seems pretty "square-man" But the language developed in the sub-culture has not really changed all that much. Lingo or codes are used that many folks just don't get, and parents tend to lay a blind eye towards. Sure, if you look in little Johnny's bedroom and see a Canadian Flag with a three-pointed leaf in the middle, chances are he may be more familiar with the illegal substance than you wish. |
| Mar 30, 2007 |
Marijuana Advocate Pleads Guilty to Pot Possession Driving a car plastered with marijuana leaf logos and stickers is bound to catch the eye of police -- particularly if you're on the way to the annual Hempfest celebration. That's what happened to a Montreal man nearly seven years ago, a Sault Ste. Marie judge heard Thursday. Marc Boris St-Maurice was leader of the Marijuana Party at the time of the July 21, 2000 stop. Since then he has joined the Liberal Party and plans to seek the nomination in a Montreal riding, he says. |
| Mar 31, 2007 |
Pot Crusader Upset At Crown There was no joy for medicinal marijuana activist Grant Krieger on Friday when the Crown stayed a trafficking charge dating back to 1999, for which the Supreme Court had granted Krieger a new trial. "That's disappointing," Krieger said when advised the stay was officially entered by Court of Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice Neil Wittmann at the behest of the federal Crown. "But that's the way the system works. . . . The only way I can get it fixed is in front of a jury, so the jury can nullify this nonsense. "They ( the Crown ) know that's what I want to do. They don't want the laws changed." |
| Mar 31, 2007 |
Police Endangered Kids, Man Says A Hamilton man charged in a drug raid says police broke down his door and shot his pit bull while two children were only several feet away. Carlsin Cromwell, 26, said he will file a formal complaint with Hamilton police today claiming members of their elite drugs and vice unit endangered his children's lives. Cromwell said police fired up to seven times at Zeus, his 12-year-old pit bull. |
| Apr 2, 2007 |
Cops Target Pot-Smoking Teens In Jackson Park Undercover Windsor police officers involved in a special operation busted a group of teens for smoking marijuana around Jackson Park. In a news release, Staff Sgt. Stephen Bodri said young officers in plain clothes have been working on the problem of high school students using drugs in Jackson Park during their school breaks. They busted the teens Thursday. [There must be a lack of serious crime in the area] |
| Apr 4, 2007 |
Saving Us From Ourselves A British study released last Friday about the dangers to human health of tobacco and alcohol and illegal drugs like marijuana and ecstasy raises some interesting questions on how legislators make decisions about substances we can legally obtain and those we can't. |
| Apr 5, 2007 |
Most Teenagers Don't Use Pot In health class every year we learn about drugs and their effects on the human body. We learn the drug groups and some of the effects. What we don't learn is what this does to the brain and the rest of our body. The thing that scares me about health class is that nobody listens and I know that over half my class is going to try drugs before they turn eighteen. I hope that this article will give them enough information to not try drugs. |
| Apr 5, 2007 |
Thinking Outside The Hot Box Given the inconsistencies in Canada's drug laws, it's difficult to discern when and where we should take an active stance for or against illegal drug use. Existing laws cloud our perceptions of drugs and how some may be different from others. Ritalin and alcohol, while legal, have potentially deadly side-effects on the heart and liver, respectively. On the other hand, marijuana has fewer detrimental effects, especially if it isn't smoked. The seemingly baseless standards on which these laws are created complicate the ethics of punishment. While some cases are clear-cut -- certainly those supplying cocaine should be policed -- others aren't so easy. |
| Apr 5, 2007 |
Crime Stoppers Needs Funding Or It's Finished Cornwall Ont - If the city police can't find close to $12,000 a year for Crime Stoppers, the local agency may be forced to fold.... Johann said the group has relied heavily upon the sale of pull-tab tickets, commonly known as Nevadas, to fund their operations. [A program that relys on gambling revenue to reward snitches - what a stupid society we live in] |