to move up and down
Brian Hutchinson: ‘Vansterdam’ can learn from U.S. legalized marijuana experiment
So long, Vansterdam. Thanks to surprising initiatives taken south of the border, this city’s dubious reputation as North America’s marijuana capital is coming to an end. On Tuesday, voters in Colorado and Washington State embraced measures to allow any individual aged 21 and up to possess marijuana, as much as one ounce. That’s quite a lot, really; enough to make about 28 joints.
In B.C., five former attorneys-general have called for marijuana legalization. So have some mayors. But they have also chosen to ignore or downplay potential health risks associated with pot. They haven’t acknowledged every reasonably likely outcome.
But here’s a great opportunity: Our neighbours are about to experience legal, recreational marijuana use. We should watch their bold social experiment unfold, and take lessons from it before doing anything else. (Rick Wilking/Reuters files)
Japan tsunami debris hitting B.C. shores in ecological red flag for West Coast beaches
Japanese lumber and household goods have begun appearing on the British Columbia coast in what many locals think is the vanguard of a wave of debris from last March’s Japanese tsunami that will eventually clog West Coast beaches with cars, boats and even waterlogged houses.
“I found more debris in 10 minutes than I have in four years … and it’s all Japanese in origin,” said Perry Schmunk, Mayor of Tofino, a community of 1,600 on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
“The ocean’s very turbulent, you can’t just predict where something is going to go. It’s like trying to trace cigarette smoke in a room,” said Jody Klymak, an assistant professor of oceanography at the University of Victoria.
Graphic: Another foot washes ashore in B.C.
Another foot has washed ashore in Vancouver, police said Tuesday, marking the eighth foot to be found on the B.C. coast since August 2007. Three more have washed up in nearby Washington.
Vancouver police Const. Jana McGuinness said that a person reported finding “the remains of what appear to be a human foot and leg bones in a running shoe” on Tuesday afternoon.
“There is no indication at this early stage in the investigation how the remains came to be there,” McGuinness said.
Another severed foot found in Pacific Northwest: The RCMP will share information with police in Washington state after a small floating foot was found on the shoreline of the city of Tacoma. The detached right foot — which is the 10th to be found washed ashore in the Pacific Northwest since 2007 — was found on Dec. 5, encased in a boy’s Size 6 hiking boot. (Graphic by Richard Johnson)
