Top Stories (2007) -
(432 items)
(All links open in new tab)
| May 23, 2007 |
ON:
Strip Search Deemed Illegal A woman arrested for drug possession had her drinking and driving charge dismissed in Sarnia court Tuesday because she was the subject of an unlawful police strip search. But she... was fined $600 for possession of cocaine and marijuana that was discovered during her arrest for impaired driving at an April 13, 2006 RIDE check in Sarnia. |
|---|---|
| May 23, 2007 |
Harper To Unveil US-Style 'War On Drugs' OTTAWA - The Harper government's new anti-drug strategy is expected to take a tough approach to illicit drugs: cracking down on grow-ops and pushers, and retreating from "harm reduction" measures such as safe injection sites for addicts. |
| May 22, 2007 |
Random Searches Tested In Court Did Police Breach Student's Rights By Visiting School With Drug Sniffer Dog A case that began when officers showed up at a Sarnia high school with "Chief" the drug-sniffing dog is about to test the limits of police powers in Canada. The Crown appeal, to be heard today by the Supreme Court of Canada, will help determine whether police can use sniffer dogs to conduct random searches of schools and other public places, such as parks, sports stadiums, beaches and malls. At issue is whether an unannounced police visit to St. Patrick's high school in November 2002 amounted to an unreasonable search and seizure under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. |
| May 18, 2007 |
Grow-Ops a Downer for Real Estate Agents Canada's realtors are quietly waging war on former marijuana grow-ops. While there's not much they can do to stop a grow-op from launching, realtors are banding together locally, provincially and nationally to offset the repercussions that can result when a former grow-op is resold to an unsuspecting buyer. "The key part of it is that the house speaks for itself, so that these houses can be assessed - and need to be assessed," says Brian Walker, president of the Ontario Real Estate Association ( OREA ). |
| May 17, 2007 |
Paralympic Skier Suspended For Marijuana Use Edmonton's Kimberly Joines has no intention of staying on the sidelines after she's done serving a nine-month suspension for testing positive for marijuana use. ...Joines had applied to Health Canada to be allowed to use medicinal marijuana, which she says she used as a painkiller because it had fewer negative effects than prescription medications. At the time she applied to Health Canada she was told that the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports would allow the use of medicinal marijuana, not realizing that the IPC Anti-Doping Code, which uses the same list as the World Anti-Doping Agency ( WADA ) -- has no similar exemptio |
| May 16, 2007 |
Hemp, Canola Studied For BC Bioenergy Even before significant increases in temperature, climate change is starting to prompt shifts in B.C. agriculture. Increased interest in carbon-neutral fuel sources has put the focus on ethanol and biodiesel options for farmland. One of the crops that has popped up around B.C. is industrial hemp, a fast-growing plant that produces vegetable oil as well as tough fibre used in rope and textiles. A 110-acre hemp crop was planted in the 100 Mile House area in 2006. The agriculture ministry says smaller hemp plantings have been done in Smithers, West Moberly near Fort St. John and on Vancouver Island. B.C. Agriculture Minister Pat Bell said the 100 Mile House pilot project is being increased to 200 acres this year, to get to a volume where processing facilities could use it to produce fibre and potentially ethanol. B.C. is following the lead of Manitoba, which has 28,000 acres in hemp, and Saskatchewan with 14,000 acres in cultivation. |
| May 14, 2007 |
Possibilities Are Endless For Newest Crop You'll have to excuse Grant Moorcroft if he tells you he's heard every pothead joke around. And with good reason, he is, after all, one of the area's most accomplished growers of a strain of hemp that's all about industrial as opposed to recreational. |
| May 12, 2007 |
Weed Is Universal, So What's The Fuss? We all know that crack is bad news but when it comes to marijuana, the message is less clear. Even though students have had it drilled into their heads to just say no to all drugs, many don't see pot as hazardous. Talk about negative side-effects such as memory loss, depression, increased risk of heart attacks, respiratory illness and schizophrenia and youth either shrug these problems off or attribute them to conservative alarmism. Perhaps our attitude to the drug has become a little too lax. |
| May 12, 2007 |
Eyes In The Sky Spot Pot Satellite Imagery May Uncover Hidden Marijuana Plantations Space will be the final frontier for busting marijuana grow operations in Canada now that police researchers are backing satellite technology that can uncover hidden cannabis plantations. While RCMP weren't hot about the idea a few years ago, a study just completed by the Canadian Police Research Centre shows that police forces would be crazy not to use the technology, if they can afford it. |
| May 11, 2007 |
RCMP Alleges Pot Politician A Reefer Recidivist Police charged Ed deVries in Iqaluit with trafficking in a controlled substance, conspiracy to traffic and breach of undertaking, May 2. He was released from custody and will appear in court July 3. Police seized several pounds of marijuana, said Cpl. Randy Slawson. DeVries, 48, recently served a six-month sentence for trafficking marijuana and laundering the proceeds of crime, after police intercepted a filing cabinet in 2003 full of marijuana sent from Ontario to Iqaluit, addressed to a company owned by deVries. |
| May 11, 2007 |
Court Case Set To Argue Grow-op As A Civil Right Vancouver Island Compassion Society planning constitutional challenge in defence of pot bust To the prosecution, it's a simple case of production for the purposes of trafficking, involving two local men caught red-handed growing a crop of 900 marijuana plants on an acreage in East Sooke. To Vancouver Island Compassion Society founder Philippe Lucas, it's a constitutional challenge of Canada's medical marijuana laws. Lawyers were in court in Victoria this week arguing that the two men arrested in the May, 2004 raid, Mat Beren and Michael Swallow, were operating a marijuana research and cultivation facility on behalf of the society. "We don't deny what we were doing," Lucas said. "Our defence is a constitutional challenge." |
| May 10, 2007 |
Pot Prince Blesses Herbal Affair Thousands upon thousands of tokers are demonstrating the normalization of cannabis at the Saturday, May 5, Global Marijuana March and fest with some hardcore puffing.... But the presence of Prince of Pot Marc Emery, facing extradition for selling pot seeds stateside, as lead parade marshall helps ensure the smokefest's hard edge. Emery's canna-celeb cachet has enthusiasts asking for photos and autographs. Here are 20,000 people proving they aren't criminals but a marijuana marketplace requiring regulation and taxation. Pre-march, vendors in the park get lots of excited attention. |
| May 9, 2007 |
Duo Sentenced In Major Marijuana Grow Operations Two men charged in connection to two of the biggest marijuana outdoor grow operations have been convicted and sentenced... "The mere suggestion of profiling has undermined the important work of OPP officers," said Fantino in the release. "In this case effective communication linked the individuals, their vehicles and their criminal associations to other grow operations in Ontario long before the men were observed by OPP investigators taking their shopping lists into the stores." |
| May 9, 2007 |
High- Powered Tool Against Grow-ops Introduced Langley BC - 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. |
| May 7, 2007 |
Marchers Advocate Legalizing Pot Saskatchewan - The smell of hot dogs and cannabis lingered in the air outside of City Hall on Saturday, as more than 50 marijuana legalization advocates gathered on the building's front lawn to celebrate the Global Marijuana March. The local march began at Vimy Memorial and culminated with a barbecue at City Hall, which was sponsored by the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party. The mood at the late afternoon gathering was mellow, but there was no mistaking the politicized nature of the event. Cannabis flags blew in the breeze and placards read "No U.S. Drug War in Canada" and "Repeal Cannabis Prohibition." Leaders of the Saskatchewan Marijuana Party wanted to spread the message that cannabis prohibition is an issue affecting all Canadians. |
| May 4, 2007 |
Firefighter's Grow-op Charge Goes To Court A Vancouver firefighter charged with running a marijuana grow-op in his North Delta home will appear in Surrey provincial court next month. "If somebody is found guilty there would be meetings between that party, administration and the union to discuss what would be done," Vancouver fire Capt. Rob Jones-Cook said Thursday. "I don't want to get into a 'what if' discussion about this. He's innocent until proven guilty." |
| May 4, 2007 |
Ill Canadians Rally for Improvements to Medical Program Halifax - Halifax March on Saturday One of Hundreds Worldwide Medical marijuana patients and advocates, cannabis consumers and freedom supporters, will rally in the Halifax North Commons from 1 to 4 p.m., May 5, to mark the annual Global Marijuana March as we join over 200 cities worldwide to seek changes to current cannabis laws. Last month Canadians learned about Health Canada gouging critically and chronically ill Canadians a whopping 1,500 per cent markup for medicinal marijuana. Maritimers Unite for Medical Marijuana Society ( MUMM ) is a registered non-profit organization that educates others about the safety of medical marijuana while advocating and lobbying for the rights of consumers, distributors and producers of medical marijuana. |
| May 2, 2007 |
Pot Champ Among UVIC Honourees Over the years, Philippe Lucas has proven himself an effective advocate for reforming Canada's drug laws. It turns out he's also a pretty good student. Lucas was one of three University of Victoria students who received an award for $2,500 last month for "remarkable volunteer contributions to the university and/or Greater Victoria community while maintaining at least a B average." A master's student in the study for policy and practice, Lucas is vice-chair of the City of Victoria's downtown advisory committee, he sits on the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia, and works closely with the Vancouver Island Compassion Society as well as the committee to end homelessness in Victoria. |
| May 2, 2007 |
Courts Thwart Drug Policies Employers' war on drugs is being fought on two fronts -- the workplace and the courtroom. U.S. employers are winning in both. Armed with the freedom to test for drugs, employees can be fired and the courts will not interfere. Canadian employers, meanwhile, have little artillery, as courts continue to strip them of ways to manage drug usage. |
| May 2, 2007 |
The Personal Dope on Medical Marijuana The pot smokers came to a downtown hotel on a recent afternoon to hear the speeches, to meet others and to talk. Who, me? I attended the Cannabis Awareness Forum, not because I am unaware, nor because I inhale, but because I tend to favour legalization. |