OPINION
6 The Mission Record Friday, February 14, 2014
Published & printed by Black Press Ltd. at 33047 First Avenue, Mission V2V 1G2
Spell of the Olympic Games
As the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia heads into its second week, the narrative is sounding awfully familiar. Remember all those horror stories about costs run amok, facilities unfinished or not up to snuff, unseasonably mild weather, displaced and displeased citizens, stray dogs being dispatched? Hmmm, rewind the clock four years, and we might be talking about Vancouver. Minus the stray dogs part. Or eight years ago in Turin, Italy. Winter or Summer, the script for every Olympic Games seems to be coming from the same writer. It’s already being composed for Rio de Janeiro in 2016, where slums have been razed to make way for sporting facilities and workers have died building those venues. But the crazy thing about the Olympics, and the trump card the International Olympic Committee carries in its back pocket, nuzzled up against the vast wealth it amasses
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
by governing the Olympic movement, is as soon as the spotlights illuminate the ever-kitchy opening ceremonies, and the first competitors enter the starting gates, all the collateral drama is forgotten. When it comes to the Olympics, we just can’t help ourselves falling in love all over again. Especially when the memories of being a host city are still so fresh. Maybe it’s the sheer volume of Olympic hype and coverage that overwhelms us every couple of years. Maybe we’re just suckers for the human interest stories and athletic dramas that are played out on the ski slopes, ice rinks and running tracks. Maybe we’re just looking for the chance to show our patriotism without feeling self-conscious. Whatever fuels your Olympic spirit, enjoy the ride. The cynics will be back next time round. - Black Press
Question of the week: Do you talk and text on your cell phone while driving? To answer, go to the Home page of our website: www.missioncityrecord.com
LAST WEEK WE ASKED: Last week we asked? Would you like to see a Halq’emeylem course offered at more schools in Mission? Here’s how you responded:
Yes 56% No 44%
Prescription pot pretense ending Tom Fletcher
B.C. Views VICTORIA – On April 1, medical marijuana growing licences expire across the country, and only licensed commercial growers will be able to legally fill a prescription for pot. Ottawa is moving to clean up the mess it created by issuing medical licences all over the country. Since then, municipalities have complained that small-scale medical licences have been greatly exceeded, with many used as fronts for a criminal drug trade that has made B.C. infamous around the world. How big is the problem? There are about 38,000 Canadians licensed to carry marijuana for medical purposes, and half of them live in B.C. Their permission to grow their own or buy it from designated small-scale growers is withdrawn in a couple of months. Here’s a look at the community level. Police in the Fraser Valley suburb of Maple Ridge estimate that it alone has 500 properties
licensed to grow pot. No, Maple Ridge is not a world hotspot for glaucoma or arthritis. It is historically known for its secluded properties and as a base for B.C.’s prison system and the province’s Hells Angels. Police have only an estimate because Ottawa’s bungled medical pot scheme conceals the location of licensed growers from provincial and local governments. RCMP Insp. Dave Fleugel told Maple Ridge council last week that his detachment will first target medical growers they know are linked to organized crime. But it’s difficult to determine which are legal and which are not. “This has the potential to cripple the courts,” Fleugel said. “Something is going to have to take a back seat if we are going to go after all of them.” The police and fire department have proposed an amnesty or grace period, allowing people to disclose their location and have it properly dismantled without penalty, to help deal with the volume. This mess was created by Ottawa in response to a court ruling that forced them to make medical pot available. The Harper government remains trapped in a failed war-on-drugs mentality that prevents any
innovation or even common sense. Then there is the circus in Vancouver, where self-styled princes of pot exploit the confusion of the medical marijuana law to
There are about 38,000 Canadians licensed to carry marijuana for medical purposes ... run an Amsterdam-style retail trade. Cannabis Culture, the pot and propaganda empire built by Marc Emery before he was jailed in the U.S., rants about the government’s “war on patients,” amid garish ads for “pot by post” and exotic weed varieties. “By Health Canada’s own estimate, the cost will increase from $5 per gram to $8.80 per gram – going up by nearly 400 per cent,” its website warns. Apparently smoking lots of weed really is bad for your math skills. Dana Larsen, who spearheaded the ill-con-
ceived and failed decriminalization petition last year, heads up the serious-looking “Medical Cannabis Dispensary.” It has done so well at its location in the drug bazaar of East Hastings Street that it’s got a branch office on Vancouver’s west side. Its official-looking forms have a long list of conditions where only a confirmation of diagnosis is required. In addition to genuine conditions such as side effects of chemotherapy, it includes anxiety, psoriasis, spinal cord injury and even “substance addictions/ withdrawal.” And did you know you can get a vet’s note to buy medical pot for your pet? Larsen has boasted about the exotic offerings of his stores, including “watermelon hash oil” at $150 for 2.5 grams. Wow man, that’s like 400 million per cent higher! Fittingly, this farce goes back underground on April Fool’s Day. Medical users can only order shipments from an approved commercial producer. Tom Fletcher is legislative reporter and columnist for Black Press and BCLocalnews.com tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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