Drugs

VICTORIA - A painter at a B.C. shipyard was denied government security clearance partly because he is Facebook friends with people linked to outlaw bikers and drug traffickers. (The Province)

This week saw two more mass shootings in the U.S. They seem to have become so commonplace that, though we are horrified at the loss of innocent life, we are to a point inured to the emotional devastation.  (True North)

A sleazy Staten Island doctor admitted to using his practice as a pill mill, where he solicited sexual favors from young patients in exchange for writing opioid prescriptions, federal authorities announced. (New York Post)

Notorious B.C. drug-boat captain John (Philip) Stirling has pleaded guilty in a U.S. courtroom to smuggling methamphetamine on the high seas. (The Province)

Two B.C. men now in prisons in China and Thailand on serious drug charges were allegedly working for an international fugitive wanted in both Canada and the U.S. (The Province)

SAN FRANCISCO - The heroin needles, the pile of excrement between parked cars, the yellow soup oozing out of a large plastic bag by the curb and the stained, faux Persian carpet dumped on the corner. (WRAL)

LOS ANGELES - A California physician who appeared in a reality TV dating show and an alleged female accomplice have been charged with drugging and sexually assaulting two women, and authorities said Tuesday there could be many more victims. (Toronto Sun)

More:

Surgeon who appeared in reality show charged with multiple sex offences

Times have changed in the Yonge St.- Eglinton Ave. area. Throw three massive temporary homeless shelters for the drug addicted into the mix — in the Roehampton Hotel and adjoining buildings on Broadway Ave. — and suddenly it has become a dangerous, syringe-ridden, crime-infested hellhole. (Toronto Sun)

Toronto Police have arrested six people in separate gun and gang investigations — where $3.7 million in drugs, $400,000 in cash and dozens of guns were seized — and all but two of those facing charges have made bail. (Toronto Sun)

VANCOUVER — Every time Melissa Steinhauer sees a police officer, she worries they might start asking questions.In her neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside, drug use is prevalent and so is conflict between users and police. (Toronto Star)