Monday, May 2. 2016

Today's schedule is A-AG-B-C-D

A Block Criminology 12 - Today we will be in the library working on our second journal / blog entry. I would like you to tell me what you think about crime trends here in Canada / B.C. Specifically, I want you to tell me what you think about drug related crime. Violent and property crime patterns are generally decreasing however the one area that is on the rise is drug possession, trafficking, importing, and exporting (specifically possession of marijuana - up 4% since 2002 - and cocaine - up 19% since 2002 see Stats Can CSI here).

In addition to this Stats Can states, "British Columbia has consistently had a relatively high rate of police-reported drug offences. Regardless of the type of drug or the type of offence, the rates of drug crime in British Columbia have been among the highest in Canada for 30 years. In 2007, the total drug crime rate in this province (654 incidents per 100,000 population) was more than double the rate in Saskatchewan, the next highest province. In accordance with the province as a whole, relatively high rates of drug offences are found in the census metropolitan areas (CMA) of Vancouver, Victoria and Abbotsford. Along with Trois-Rivières and Gatineau, these cities have reported the highest rates in Canada for the past five years. The rates in Vancouver and Victoria have been among the highest in the country since 1991".

A 2014 BC Justice Ministry (Police Services Division) report states "The number of drug offences decreased by 8.7% in 2014, driven primarily by a 13.6% decrease in the number of CDSA offences related to cannabis and a 13.1% decrease in cocaine related offences. Over two-thirds of all drug offences were cannabis related offences"...As an aside, 2008 stats for here in the Comox Valley indicate although we are well below national averages for violent and property crime, the "drug related" crime rate was above the national average (CV = 511 offences per every 100,000 people as opposed to the national average of 305 offences per every 100, 000 people)

So....Today you will need to write your thoughts on the following: Why has British Columbia consistently had high rates of police reported drug offences? Use what you've learned about crime theories and your own thoughts on crime theories to answer why. Once you've done this, then find an article about a recent drug crime here in B.C., make a link to the news article on your blogsite and then write how crime theories explain the crime (Look at this news about a 30 kilogram cocaine bust off Vancouver Island or this news about six people arrested in Saanich for 26 litres of GHB gamma-Hydroxybutyric acid a date-rape drug, 100 grams of crystal meth, four ounces of heroin, 16 grams of marijuana and $20,000 cash). Don't forget excellent crime news websites are the CANOE CNews Crime site...or the Toronto Star Crime site...or  Global News Crime site...or the Huffington Post Canada Crime site...or the Vancouver Sun Crime Blog

B & D Blocks Social Studies 10 - Today we'll shift our focus to our own province, British Columbia, looking first at the Oregon Territory and the boundary dispute that led to the 49th Parallel declared as the international border between Canada and the United States of America (oh poor Point Roberts). Then we'll look at Fort Victoria (1843) as well as the establishment of Vancouver Island as a colony (1849) along with Governors Blanchard and Douglas. I'll have you work on the Douglas Treaties "Get to the Source" activity questions along with question 2 from the bottom of page 212 in the Horizons text.

C Block Law 12 - Today we will begin our look at criminal law defenses focusing on alibi (disputing the Actus Reus) and automatism (disputing the Mens Rea) and I'll give you a few notes on both defenses. We'll review the Kenneth Parks homicidal somnambulism case (sleepwalking murder R. v. Parks, 1992). It is interesting to note that the same defense was attempted in Arizona in 1999....it failed. You can read about the case involving Scott Falater who stabbed his wife 44 times and claimed he was sleepwalking here. After we look at automatism as a defense, we'll also look at legal duty where we'll watch a video about the recreation of the Stanley Milgram experiment. This relates to the Shepardsville, Kentucky McDonald's sexual assault case and legal duty as a criminal law defence.