the NB Post: April 2010

4/27/10

A long observations of pot smokers

A letter in 24Hrs newspaper, 4/26/10:
I used to work at a drug and alcohol transitional house and we could always tell the people who had smoked pot from ones that used other drugs. Residents on the other drugs were fine after they withdrew . The pot smokers were not. They were disconnected, not coherent and would take about a year for the brains to think normally again. -- B. Hodgson

4/14/10

B.C. urged to adopt Surrey's successful anti-pot ways

More than 1,100 grow-ops shut down since 2005 by fire department checking on safety of wiring.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts wants to take the city's grow-op-busting program provincewide -- and support for the move is growing.

Welcome to Vancouver's "Slow Suicide Injection Site" -- free needles, no intervention

("Insite" is a Court-legalized/imposed site where drug addicts can go to shoot up drugs, free from interventions and laws--under the excuse of "health control". But, isn't suicide--even slow version--supposed to be illegal, and anyone has a right and duty to stop it? Isn't this just a modern version of the "Chinese opium dens" of the 19th century? "Insite" sites absolve pressure on governments to build treatment centers for addicts. The following is a column by Margaret Wente -- nbpost)...

A walk on the drug side
Insite's operations have been filmed many times, but never by a hidden camera
Margaret Wente, Published Mar. 15, 2010, Globe and Mail
Vancouver's notorious Downtown Eastside is perhaps the most drug-ridden neighbourhood in North America. Misha Kleider is a young Vancouverite with curiosity. He decided to spend a month on the streets and make a film about it.

The result is a compelling documentary called Streets of Plenty, now available in seven parts on YouTube. The scenes of addled, self-destructive addicts are depressingly familiar. The scenes of social agencies eager to supply a homeless person's every need suggest that more social workers are not the answer to Vancouver's homeless problem. The most fascinating scene unfolds at Insite, the controversial supervised-injection facility that has become a flashpoint in the ideological drug wars. Read full column at website or click below...

Misc. News

Drugged-out parrots go cold turkey - 1/22/11 - VICTORIA — Polly want crack? Or maybe marijuana, a beer or a cloud of cigarette smoke blown in the beak?
All are familiar scenarios to Wendy Huntbatch, president of the World Parrot Refuge in the small Vancouver Island community of Coombs where, among 800 rescued birds, are parrots withdrawing from drugs, recovering from exposure to smoke or healing after mistreatment by drug users and dealers. Read More
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US couple jailed after video shows toddler smoking marijuana pipe - 01/18/11--HESPERIA, Calif. - A Southern California couple has been arrested for allegedly having their toddler smoke a marijuana pipe. Read More
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Longer-lasting options to treat drug addiction - 10/18/10--WASHINGTON - New treatments for addiction to heroin or narcotic painkillers promise longer-lasting relief that may remove some day-to-day uncertainty of care: A once-a-month shot is now approved and a six-month implant is in the final testing phase. Read More
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Addicts helped by implanted devices: study - WASHINGTON - Persons addicted to heroin or prescription pain killers can get help kicking their habit by using an implanted device under the skin that delivers small doses of a medication, researchers reported Tuesday. Read More
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Abbotsford man suffers major burns in drug-related butane explosion - By Rafe Arnott, for The Times , 10/4/10
A 19-year-old Abbotsford man is in hospital suffering severe burns to his upper torso after a drug-related butane explosion blew out windows and destroyed his first-floor apartment in the 1900 block of Salton Road early Monday morning. Read More
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Mental problems twice as likely for cannabis users: report - 10/4/10 (AFP)-THE HAGUE - Cannabis users suffer mental health problems twice as often as non-users, a study published Monday by Statistics Netherlands said.

"The percentage of people with a less good mental health is two times higher among cannabis users than non-users," CBS said in a statement. Read More
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Drug cocktail causes fridge explosion
Sep 11/10 -Vancouver (CBC) - Emergency crews were called to an apartment building in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside after a tenant's refrigerator exploded Friday night.

Police Insp. Eric Grummisch said a drug cocktail in the fridge caused the explosion at a rooming house in the 100 block of Main Street at about 7:30 p.m. PT.

"A tenant had treated a small amount of marijuana with a solvent and placed it in his refrigerator where it reacted to the light of the refrigerator bulb," he said. Read More
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George Michael gets jail for drug driving
9/14/10 - LONDON - George Michael was sentenced to eight weeks in jail and lost his license for five years Tuesday for driving under the influence of drugs when he crashed his car into a London photo shop.

A British judge told the wayward star his addiction to marijuana put him and the public at risk.

The former Wham! singer pleaded guilty last month to driving under the influence and possession of cannabis following a July 4 collision between his Range Rover and a Snappy Snaps store in north London.

District Judge John Perkins told the singer he had taken a "dangerous and unpredictable mix" of prescription drugs and marijuana.

"It does not appear that you took proper steps to deal with what is clearly an addiction to cannabis," the judge said.
Read More

Letters to various newspapers

(A letter in the Vancouver Sun, 11/22/11):
Calling marijuana a 'healthy sin' is irresponsible
Re: 7 healthy sins, Nov. 12

I was dismayed The Vancouver Sun would publish Randy Shore's article asserting that the use of marijuana is a "healthy sin."

Should a family newspaper advocate the use of an illegal substance linked to lung cancer and mental illness?

I have met many people harmed by marijuana use resulting in psychosis, lack of motivation and short-term memory loss. The social costs of accidents, productivity loss, and crime due to marijuana is huge.
--Deborah Harden, North Vancouver

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(A letter in the National Post, Sept. 13, 2010):
Pot is not a harmless drug
Re: A Notable Defector In The War On Pot, Sept. 10.

When did pot start to become a harmless, benign drug? It's easy to point to individuals campaigning for its legalization and totally forget that in the United States, nearly 70% of family abuse problems are related to illegal drug usage, including pot. And its absurd to compare pot to alcohol, as the latter is usually consumed for the flavour. A more likely health comparison can be made to tobacco but if we look around it's not hard to see that product being phased out.

Most people I know are moving toward a healthy life style. They drink in moderation, don't smoke or gave up the habit. Legalizing dope puts us back to the days when drinking and driving was common, smoking was considered normal and family problems, including family violence, were considered to be private matters only.
--Phil Marentette, Calgary

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(A letter in The Province's ChatBack section, 8/20/10):
More meth labs
When the grow-op burns down next door, takes your house out, what are you going to carp about then? Of course, you'll blame the RCMP(police)!

Yes, legalize the garbage and it will create the same life-threatening problems as booze and smokes. But if you think the grow-ops will go away, what about the supply needed for the U.S.? Do you honestly think all the criminal scums will turn to honest work if it is legalized? No, they will just change what they do. More meth labs. -- name withheld
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(A letter which a pro-drug newspaper refused to print):

Re: 'Decriminalization--beyond the war on drugs' editorial, Aug. 28

We're tired of seeing editorials/columns/letters from pro-drug-legalization individuals and policy groups, repeating the same tired, false claims that drug prohibition and the so-called "war on drugs" don't work.

What they should be admitting is: the total failure of the non-extistent "war on drugs"-- de facto drug legalizations -- in Vancouver (the result is the Downtown Eastside, where NO prohibitions exist and the resulting tragic consequences are plain for all to see).

They deliberately ignore the clear successes of the real "war on drugs" in places like Sweden, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, most Asian countries, and most Muslim countries; NYC, etc. -- reason why they don't have any "Downtown Eastside". Fortunately, they have never copied Vancouver's legalization's failure -- otherwise, hundreds of "Downtown Eastsides" would now be flourishing throughout the world.
-- Dave I., Vancouver

the NB Post