Police (406 items)
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| Jun 4, 2008 |
Romancing The Bottle
In some communities, the horrors associated with alcohol extend into every household. These include many Canadian native reserves, where booze has generated nothing short of a liquid holocaust. Even the staggering fatality statistics don't include the legions of victims who never take a sip: children born with fetal alcohol syndrome, abused spouses of alcoholics, the prey of drunk drivers. In Mexico, this week, one of those drunks fell asleep at the wheel and plowed into a group of bike racers -- a horrific scene captured by a local photographer. There but for the grace of God. Oh wait, sorry -- scratch all that. I just read last week's column by Barbara Kay on the subject of marijuana policy, and it turns out I've gotten it precisely wrong. |
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| May 31, 2008 |
Suing Abbotsford Police
A wheelchair-bound man is suing the Abbotsford Police department for an alleged assault and negligent treatment he suffered in police cells after his home was subject to a drug bust in November. [Any facade of being public servants who serve and protect quickly vanishes in instances such as this] |
| May 29, 2008 |
ON:
'I Just Want The Same Access As Tobacco Users'
And now Mr. Barth has become the latest marijuana user to file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission, after being prevented from smoking outside an Ottawa comedy club after a May 7 performance. Absolute Comedy management told the couple that liquor licence rules prevented them from lighting up on the front patio near cigarette smokers. They left "embarrassed and humiliated," according to Mr. Barth's complaint, which claims the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario is violating the provincial Human Rights Code -- specifically, his ability to use marijuana in designated smoking areas. Marijuana helps his appetite, prevents anxiety attacks and allows him to walk without "jangled nerves," Mr. Barth said. Health Canada's Marijuana Medical Access regulations allow for Mr. Barth and his wife to use marijuana. But the provincial Liquor Licence Act prohibits the possession or consumption of controlled substances on an establishment's premises. |
| May 28, 2008 |
BC Bud Can't Boost Economy
Many of these issues may disappear if marijuana is legalized. However, there are better and more sustainable ways to invest in a town's employment ( boosting agriculture and tourism, investing in post-secondary education, encouraging small business, creating options for youth ) than to turn a blind eye to its underground economy. |
| May 27, 2008 |
ON: Church Of The Universe Founder Released Pending Appeal
Church of the Universe founder Michael Baldasaro has been sprung from prison pending an appeal of his pot-trafficking conviction. But the Ontario Court of Appeal forbade the hemp-hatted clergyman from returning to his church's Barton Street East headquarters or communicating with its co-founder Walter Tucker. |
| May 26, 2008 |
Search And Detention At Sea, But Keeping A Balance
When a high-school principal in Sarnia, Ont., turned his school over to the police for a good portion of the day to let a drug-sniffing dog roam, he sent a terrible message to his students about what a democracy should permit the state to do in pursuit of its goals...Drug trafficking is not a trivial crime, but the presence of drugs poses no immediate danger. Guns do. |
| May 25, 2008 |
Weed, Grass, Green, Roach
New Brunswick's licence plate police wouldn't let a woman get a plate spelling her maiden name -- Weed -- because it could be perceived as a reference to Marijuana. |
| May 20, 2008 |
Drugs A Booming BC Business
Marijauna is our number 1 economic contributor, and like all successful businesses, it's growing. It isn't restricted to just one part of the province either. Marijuana is grown all over the place, even in the hinterlands, it's truly a provincial bonanza. MacLeans says it's a $5 billion to $7 billion a year business. The hard drugs bring in billions and we also do well with manufactured drugs such as methamphetamine and ecstasy. A BC Business magazine report ranks the marijuana industry as the province's second largest business, but that's still significant. |
| May 13, 2008 |
AB:
Marijuana Advocates Mount Campaign
Advocates of medicinal and recreational use of marijuana are promoting a Toronto university professor's legal self-defence kit to help people avoid criminal convictions for a law they believe is unconstitutional. |
| May 8, 2008 |
Court Rulings Allow for Protection of Students And Their Charter Rights
A recent Supreme Court of Canada decision concerning police use of trained dogs to ferret out drugs in schools has some school administrators up in arms. But the decision is a reasonable one, as it protects students' constitutional rights while still allowing police searches in certain circumstances. |
| May 7, 2008 |
A Pothead's Pursuit of Justice
Marc Emery is standing behind the counter at his former business, the City Lights bookstore on Richmond Street, talking about his quixotic quest to end society's prohibition on marijuana. [Why is it okay to be derogatory when you are referring to cannabis consumers?] |
| May 6, 2008 |
Torontians Roll Some Joints In The Name Of Freedom
Organizers were handing out festival maps at Queen's Park yesterday, but the kids ahead of me just laughed them off. "Who the hell needs a map?" chuckled one freedom toker to the other. "Just follow the smell." |
| May 1, 2008 |
Sniffing Out the Larger Implications of the Dog Sniff Cases
Dogs "Search" When they Sniff for Narcotics Most importantly, all nine justices (essentially) agreed that when a police dog trained to sniff out narcotics focuses its olfactory powers on an individual's knapsack or luggage, the target's reasonable privacy expectations are encroached upon. In other words, this constitutes a "search" for s. 8 Charter purposes, a conclusion that triggers the "reasonableness" requirements of the guarantee. |
| May 1, 2008 |
BC:
Two-Year Sentence For Mail-Order Pot Scheme
A Langford man has been sentenced to two years for operating a mail-order marijuana business, part of a vast new criminal enterprise operating in Canada. |
| Apr 30, 2008 |
'There Were Smoky Moments, There Were Non Smoky Moments'
t was a lively day at the Nelson courthouse on Monday as the Holy Smoke Culture Shop was once again in the spotlight. Two owners and two associates have been charged with trafficking and they are using the charges to fight the marijuana laws in Canada. Here is some of the banter inside the court and out from the first day of the trial. The trial is expected to resume on Thursday. |
| Apr 30, 2008 |
BC:
Accused Admit Selling Cannabis
NELSON - The owners of the Holy Smoke Culture Shop have admitted in provincial court to selling organic cannabis from their downtown premises. However, they are putting forward a "defence of necessity," saying they did more good than harm. |
| Apr 29, 2008 |
Teens Have Same Rights
Random searches of high school lockers by police with drug-sniffing dogs have been routine in Canada for a long time. Not any more. Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada clamped a tight leash on the canine cannabis sniffers, ruling that warrantless searches were "unlawful" and a breach of privacy under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. |
| Apr 29, 2008 |
Tiresome Debate
This week's Holy Smoke trial is a waste of time and money, but who is to blame? The Holy Smoke crew are back in the courts this week. They couldn't be happier. They will once again climb up on that pedestal and shout to anyone interested in hearing these two words - legalize it! |
| Apr 28, 2008 |
QU:
McGill Students Arrested on 4/20
Two McGill undergraduate students were arrested on lower campus last Sunday when at least eight Montreal police officers swarmed onto campus to break up a small crowd of marijuana smokers. |
| Apr 28, 2008 |
When Laws Are Held In Contempt, We All Suffer
When pro-marijuana advocates gathered in downtown Vancouver recently to smoke pot in defiance of the law, many puzzled citizens wondered why the police took no action against them. ...As John Winter, president of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce, told The Province editorial board: "In a perfect world, the police would have dealt with them with some severity, but the fact is the police don't have the support of the community." |
| Apr 27, 2008 |
UVic Prof Lectures PM On Tories' Drug Policy
University of Victoria professor Susan Boyd's weekly letters to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on drug research haven't garnered a response from the federal government, but others around the world are reading. ...On Feb. 1, Boyd, along with the Beyond Prohibition Coalition of Vancouver, launched a website at <a href="http://www.educatingharper.com" target="_blank">www.educatingharper.com</a> to inform the prime minister and concerned Canadian citizens about drug policy and harm reduction. |
| Apr 25, 2008 |
Supreme Court Muzzles Sniffer Dogs
The use of drug-sniffing police dogs in the random search of a southwestern Ontario school and a Calgary bus terminal was unconstitutional, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday. In a 6-3 decision, the top court ruled that the actions breached Section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which covers what constitutes reasonable search and seizure. The ruling, which could have an impact on police powers across the country, centred on two cases. |
| Apr 24, 2008 |
Purring At Puff Party
Amazing pot smog hangs hazily in the sunny afternoon during Toronto Hash Mob's second successful smoke-out on Sunday, April 20, better known as 4/20. By 4:20 pm, almost 2,000 stoners fill our makeshift auditorium behind College Park at 420 Yonge. |
| Apr 21, 2008 |
MB:
Thousands Celebrate Love of Earth, Weed
Winnipeg - Security guards and police officers watched on the sidelines as the Manitoba Legislative Building grounds went up in smoke on Sunday. The grass didn't catch fire but thousands of people lit up marijuana joints or fired up their bongs to protest the criminalization of the drug. |
| Apr 21, 2008 |
ON:
Pot Lovers Light Up, Party at Festivities in Victoria
London - Hundreds of doobie devotees celebrated the most important date on the pothead calendar yesterday by getting lit at London's Victoria Park. A cloud of marijuana smoke wafted into the air at about 4:20 p.m., on the 20th day of the fourth month of the year |