Current Affairs (2007) -
Chronological (432 items)
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| Apr 5, 2007 |
Woman Took Pills Before Testifying Melanie Stephen was granted a rare bit of leeway in court Wednesday that allows her to review the transcript of her earlier testimony while still under oath. Ms. Stephen, the estranged wife of Michael Patriquen, founder of the Nova Scotia Marijuana Party, admitted in court that she took sleeping pills before testifying in her money laundering and possessing proceeds of crime trial, which began in February. |
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| Apr 5, 2007 |
Cops Take Kids In Drug Raid A toddler and a newborn were apprehended by police Thursday under new provincial legislation designed to protect children from families involved in the drug trade. The joint EPS/RCMP Green Team took down a marijuana grow operation at 9:15 a.m. in a home near 190 Street and 83 Avenue. Officers seized 210 marijuana plants, worth about $210,000, and arrested three adults. |
| Apr 5, 2007 |
Wait You Mean Weed's Not Legal Yet? t was the subject of international hype a few years ago: the great liberal northern bastion of Canada was planning to decriminalize marijuana, snubbing its nose at its neo-conservative southern neighbour's War on Drugs. But the Liberal government that introduced the proposed decriminalization law let it die, and its Conservative successor has promised not to revive it. |
| Apr 5, 2007 |
This Is Your Vue On Drugs If you notice a bit of a common thread running through this week's edition of Vue, try not to freak out, as it's entirely intentional. You are not high. Well, actually, chances are you might be, which is kind of the point. Based on information both official and anecdotal, it's clear that drugs are, well, everywhere these days. |
| Apr 5, 2007 |
Higher, Faster, Stronger ... And Higher ...Few athletes, officials or spectators would ever argue that competitors trying to gain an edge by using illegal and potentially dangerous steroids or other capability-increasing drugs ought not be exposed and severely punished. But when it comes to substances that do not seem to have any performance enhancing qualities-chiefly marijuana-there is growing debate among anti-doping officials. |
| Apr 5, 2007 |
What Have They Been Smoking At Health Canada? ...Health Canada has stated in court that compassion clubs have historically provided a safe source to those with medical need. But on the licence application there is no option to choose compassion clubs as a supply source. Applicants after a high quality legal product are out of luck. Hoops for those in need, loopholes for those in power. ... |
| Apr 11, 2007 |
Judge Finds 'Flagrant Breaches' Of Men's Rights Crown prosecutors will need time to decide how to proceed after territorial court judge Karen Ruddy ruled there were a number of Charter violations in the arrests and search warrants used in 2005 against eight men over a number of marijuana grow operations around the city. |
| Apr 11, 2007 |
Police Find Marijuana Nursery For Grow-Ops A police search of an underground bunker hidden away on a rural property in the Fraser Canyon revealed a marijuana grow-operation suspected of being a nursery for other growers who buy young plants. RCMP officers from Hope and Agassiz detachments arrested two men and a woman on suspicion of producing and possession for the purpose of trafficking 3,051 marijuana plants. |
| Apr 11, 2007 |
PUB LTE: Scare Tactics Adds Up To Misguided Science Re: Mental illness another reason to ban marijuana, Feedback, the Observer, April 8. Once again Chris Kempling is venturing into unknown waters with his assumptive, and quite frankly ignorant assertion that, "Young people need to realize today's pot can make you crazy -- permanently." Kempling's reference to Britain's The Independent and their groveling apologetics and retractions for once advocating the legalization of cannabis is nothing but another case of misleading, false, and above all else, bad science. |
| Apr 11, 2007 |
Mary Jane Is Not Just Peter Parker's Best Friend I'm not suggesting that everyone become potheads. And let me be clear, I am of the firm belief that if we all took better care of our bodies and minds via good food, exercise and meditation, the need for a supplemental boost on any level would not be as necessary. But I am not going to lie to you. I do enjoy a nice glass of wine or piece of dark chocolate now and then. So who am I to judge? |
| Apr 12, 2007 |
Ten Court Rulings That Cemented Rights And Freedoms A jury of the country's foremost constitutional experts is in -- and its verdict for the most influential Charter ruling of the past 25 years is a 1986 case, Regina v. Oakes, which provided a crucial blueprint for all future Charter interpretation. |
| Apr 12, 2007 |
Review: Why The War On Drugs Isn't Working <a href="http://www.drugwarodyssey.com/home.php" target="_blank">Damage Done: the Drug War Odyssey</a> Times and dates: Victoria: Saturday April 14th,12-4pm at the Roxy Theatre (2657 Quadra Street) Vancouver: Sunday April 15th,12-4pm at the VanCity Theatre (1181 Seymour Street) <hr /> Damage Done Is The Smartest Documentary Yet On A Divisive Subject, With A Clear Message That Change Is Needed In all the documentaries about the stupidities of the war against drugs, the smartest documentary yet may well be Damage Done: The Drug War Odyssey. What sets Damage Done apart is the way it approaches the issue. Connie Littlefield's documentary, for example, doesn't interview the usual suspects. It doesn't include all those you'd expect to be in favour of drugs such as Marc Emery talking about being targeted by the U.S. federal government for selling marijuana seeds through the mail to U.S. customers, members of the B.C. Compassion Club pointing out the medicinal benefits of cannabis, or protesters snubbing authority by smoking up at the annual Smoke-In. |
| Apr 12, 2007 |
How Much Is Too Much? The cost of policing in North Bay is continually rising. We learned recently 13 members of the North Bay Police Service earned more than $100,000 in 2006. A new contract and overtime costs are driving the budget higher and municipal taxpayers are reeling with tax hikes almost triple the rate of inflation. At the same time, the police board tells the public crime is declining in the city. |
| Apr 14, 2007 |
Firefighter Busted For Grow-Op Ironically, the Vancouver fire department assigns two of its fire prevention officers to the Vancouver police department's Grow Busters Team. The fire prevention officers accompany police officers when they are taking down marijuana grow-ops. |
| Apr 14, 2007 |
Canadian, American Cops Say It's Time To End Drug Prohibition, Save Live But some former law enforcement officials in Canada and the United States who have spent years fighting the ongoing war on drugs say it's a losing battle....They include Senator Larry Campbell, a former RCMP drug squad officer and Vancouver mayor who ran on a platform of reducing harm from drug use. ...Const. John Gayder of the Niagara Parks Police in Niagara Falls, Ont., is a founding member of LEAP. He says in the film that he gives drug calls a low priority because arresting such people isn't helping them. ... Jerry Paradis, who retired as a B.C. provincial court judge four years ago, is also a LEAP member and after 35 years on the bench, he echoes Gayder's sentiments . |
| Apr 16, 2007 |
<h3>Health Canada Marks Up Medical Marijuana 1,500%</h3> <h3>[...Records obtained under the Access to Information Act show that Health Canada pays $328.75 for each kilogram of bulk medical marijuana produced by Prairie Plant Systems Inc. The company has a $10.3-million contract with Health Canada, which expires at the end of September, to grow standardized medical marijuana in an abandoned mine shaft in Flin Flon. Health Canada, in turn, sells the marijuana to a small group of authorized users for $150 -- plus GST -- for each 30-gram bag of ground-up flowering tops, with a strength of up to 14 per cent THC, the main active ingredient. That works out to $5,000 for each kilogram, or a markup of more than 1,500 per cent...]</h3> |
| Apr 16, 2007 |
Medicinal Pot Advocate Pleads For Legalization An emotional Pete Young -- one of three people charged after a drug bust at a so-called medicinal marijuana centre in London -- yesterday called for support as he prepares for his court date on Friday. |
| Apr 17, 2007 |
LTE: Pot Busts And Police Propaganda Ladysmith RCMP Cpl. Rob Graves stated the net street value of 60 plants seized in the arrest was approximately $70,000. Such a claim leads me to two obvious conclusions. 1 ) Corporal Graves and his "Green Team" task force from the Nanaimo RCMP have been smoking the proceeds of [drug busts] to derive such a net worth from 60 plants, as they seem to believe one plant has a street value of more than $1,000 dollars. 2 ) The RCMP [intentionally] exaggerate the value of seized marijuana crops by more than 90 per cent when it is seized as undried plants and have been doing so for years. As the article [The Chronicle] published provided a picture, it was handy so the public can see from the wide angle of the lens shot what the police cut and weighed that day to come up with the ludicrous $70,000 value. |
| Apr 19, 2007 |
Pro Pot Activists Bring Cause To Home Of Justice Marijuana activists have one more reason to like Niagara Falls, now that it's the home of Canada's justice minister, says Matt Mernagh, the organizer of Saturday's annual pro-pot protest. Saturday will be the fourth annual protest Niagara Falls has seen where scores of protesters take to the streets, demanding the legalization of marijuana. |
| Apr 20, 2007 |
Cannabis Awareness Forum Treating Yourself and the Toronto Compassion Centre Invite you to the Cannabis Awareness Forum Location: Delta Chelsea Hotel Mountbatten Salon A 33 Gerrard St. West Toronto, Ontario Date: April 20, 2007 Time: 1:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. This is an open invitation to take part in the Cannabis Awareness Forum. Presentations and open-floor discussions will be taking place. [ <a href="http://www.torontocompassioncentre.org/forum.htm" target="_blank">[ Read More ]</a> ] |