POT DISPENSARY ON 'RADAR SCREEN'

Superintendent Dave Walsh said The Always Growing Green Society
(TAGGS) medicinal marijuana dispensary that opened up in May as well
as issues with legal marijuana grow-ops are still on the police's
"radar screen."

"We're continuing to work with the department of Justice, Health
Canada, our RCMP legal services. It is an issue not just in Maple
Ridge but across the Lower Mainland...and Canada," said Walsh.

Councillor Craig Speirs said the federal government "has got to
examine this in a positive manner as a health issue to get it away
from the criminal element as much as possible given the present climate."

Medicinal marijuana dispensaries aren't legally allowed to distribute
marijuana under Health Canada medicinal marijuana access regulations.
However, the dispensaries have opened up across the country and
medicinal marijuana users say there's a need for them to exist because
not everyone is capable of growing their own marijuana and some users
are unhappy with the quality of marijuana that can be bought through
Health Canada.

Walsh said Ridge Meadows RCMP is trying to get bar owners to
voluntarily participate in a type of Bar Watch program. Walsh said
it's not moving forward as fast as police would like but discussions
are underway. Inspector Derren Lench said there have been three
meetings so far and employees from Haney Hotel and Roosters have
signed up as co-chairs. He said they would be working on creating a
voluntary code of conduct for bars.

Speirs wanted to know if council could require bars to participate in
the program as a condition of their licence.

"I'd like to make it mandatory. I think it's part of being a
responsible merchant in a community," he said.

Brock McDonald, director of business licencing, permits and bylaws,
said he would have to consult the district's lawyer on what could be
required.

Coun. Cheryl Ashlie, who has been pressing for re-establishment of a
Bar Watch program, said she doesn't want to see youth "caught in the
crossfire," beat up in the parking lot or over-served.

During an update on negotiations around a new RCMP contract (the
current one ends in 2012) Coun. Al Hogarth said he'd like to see
improvements in the criminal justice system because he said
municipalities can throw "gobs of money" at policing and have the best
trained and equipped police force in the world but without reform to
the criminal justice system "we're just wasting our money."

"I think it's imperative we have to start making a movement towards
getting the system fixed because I basically think it's broken," said
Hogarth. "I think we've become a bunch of namby pambies in this world
honestly. We give too much to the poor criminal and forget about the
people that have been perpetrated on. We have to give more back to the
people who are hurt by these criminals and let them know that the
system can be fixed and their pain and their suffering whatever it may
be may not be healed but certainly will go a long way to being repaired,"