Terrace is booze capital City outspends rest of the northwest on liquor By JEFF NAGEL TERRACE drinkers have guzzled their way to top spot in northwestern B.C, They drank nearly 1,3 million litres of beer, wine, coolers, and hard liquor — $7.8 million worth in all - to become the region’s liquor sales capital in 2002. ' Despite having nearly as many residents, Prince Rupert trailed Terrace with just over $6 million in alcohol sales, Kitimat drinkers rang up $3.3 million, The stats are contained in the B.C. Liquor Distribution Branch’s latest annual report. Beer is the drink of choice in all parts of -the region. It accounts for about 68 per cent of liquor sales in Terrace, although that’s less than the 75 per cent in towns like Hazelton and Stewart. A total of 872,000 litres of beer was sold in Terrace, Wine, which accounts for 11,3 per cent of sales here, and ciders and coolers, at 10.8 per cent, are slightly more popular in Terrace than surrounding locales. Spirits also account for 9,5 per cent. How much does the average Terrace resi- dent of legal drinking age consume? Without factoring out non-drinkers, it works out to a whopping 93 litres of liquor per adult’ per year, or $560 worth, That’s $10.77 spent per week on 1.8 litres of booze. Some revenue-thirsty towns are gearing up to press the province for a new liquor tax that would pump money into focal services to counter the ills of drinking. - The idea has come from Fort St. John, where residents suck back nearly $10 million in booze each year. The city council there proposes an additian- al five per cent liquor tax. It says the money that would be generated - KARI DALE rings up a sale at the Coast Inn of the West liquor store. A proposal to add a new five per cent liquor tax would support treatment programs. JESSIE GIES PHOTO nearly $400,000 a year in Terrace’s case — should go to the municipality to finance home- less shelters and detox centres. Towns and cities across B.C. will vote on whether to push on with the Fort St. John pro- posal when the resolution comes before the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in September. Terrace councillor Marylin Davies said she would back the extra liquor tax idea if the money went to needed local programs. “] don’t see an excess of money for rehab around right now,” she said. “If there’s an op- portunity to raise ‘some money for rehab for people who are in distress because of alcohol, I would definitely be in favour.” Opposed is councillor David Hull. He said the principle, extended to other si- tuations, would lead to “creeping taxation” on a variety of fronts. “It seems a little bit half baked,” Hull said. “I would suspect it’s a nonstarter,” Doctors not eager to supply marijuana The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - A3 News In Brief By SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN LOCAL DOCTORS say they won't be happy if Ottawa forces them to start doling out medical marijuana from their offices. Health minister Anne McLel- lan announced July 9 the govern- ment will start shipping marijuana to doctors who prescribe it, so they can supply it to patients. . . The decision is in response to a court ruling that it’s unconstitu- tional for people who qualify for the federal government's medical Marijuana program to have to buy the drug illegally. No patients here qualify. so far, but Dr. Geoff Appleton says that day may not be far off. “T think at some point in time people are going to come in ask- ing if they can qualify for it,” he said. “I think doctors are going to be really unhappy prescribing it until the legal stuff is sorted out.” Appicton says many doctors feel there needs to be more scien- tific research and testing on the effects of using marijuana as a treatment before prescribing it “It’s not been used as a medi- cation very long, yet all of a sud- .den there it is — we should pre- scribe it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” he said. Most drugs go through.rigorons testing for up to [0 years before they’re approved, he said. Doctors are also concerned about untested effects of marijua- na if used with other medications. Also unclear is how much weed doctors would prescribe, due to varying potencies of differing marijuana strains. “How would I know how many grams per day we should prescribe?” Appleton said. “Here, for the first time, you’ve got‘a government saying, ‘This is a medication you will prescribe.’ And we have nothing to go by.” flr, ALCAN ‘ne erie FOOSE DETREI A WAGGA TPR Dec USI AT Terrace Arena &.. Friday, August 1, 2003 2003 7:00 - 10:00 p.m. RL, 75th Anniversary Homecoming || MEMORY LAN SOCIAL E. . 2003 . Join Us For A Walk Down Memory Lane Photos, Refreshments, Entertainment Hee : | Kinsmen Dance Saturday, Aug. 2nd © Starts at 8:00 p.m. $10.00 per event Tickets for both events are available at City Hall,.Ev’s Mens Wear, Mis Admittance restricted fo age 19 and over River Books Quake shakes northwest AN EARTHQUAKE centred in the ocean off the northwest point of the Queen Charlotte Islands rat- tled homes as far inland as Terrace Saturday. The moderate quake registered a magnitude of 6.1, according to the Geological Survey of Cana- da’s earthquake monitoring centre in Sidney. The tremor hit at 4 p.m, and was felt throughout the Charlottes, Prince Rupert, Terrace and Kitimat. A Terrace woman noticed a sudden shift of the ground and then saw phone cords swaying. The largest quake ever in this region was. magni- tude 8.1 in 1949 also centred on the Charlottes, Vandals strike again A RASH of vandalism in the downtown core conti- nued last week, In the early morning hours of July 8 three panes of a plate glass display window were smashed at Totem Furniture and Appliances on Lakelse Ave. Culprits made off with a 32-inch colour television. The loss was estimated at $1,600. It's one of at least six stores in the downtown area which have had a windows broken in Jess than three weeks, Police collected fingerprints and samples of blood that thieves left behind. Meanwhile, Terrace Crimestoppers is seeking information on another theft at an Evergreen St. home. On Friday, July 4 a resident came home and found an alarm clock missing and a jewellery box had been tampered with. The patio door of the home on the 2300 block of Evergreen St. was left open and the theft happened during daylight hours, police said. Another Skeena claim NEW SKEENA Forest Products is facing another claim in court for unpaid services. Law firm Miller Thomsen has filed a claim for more than $500,000 for legal services and accrued interest. The claim alleges the legal bill was to be paid once New Skeena’s financing was in place or it sold its Smithers sawmill. That sale closed May 30. The Miller Thomson claim comes in addition to negotiator Doug Quinn’s filing for $486,000 for un- paid negotiation services. Auditors in Nass FOREST AUDITORS are in Nisga’a territory this week for their annual check of forest practices by companies operating there. it's the third audit required under the Nisga’a treaty of the 2,000 square kilometres of land now controlled by the Nisga’a Lisims Government. The four-person team is looking at road mainte- nance and deactivitation, timber harvesting, silvi- culture, fire protection and planning. . New Skeena Forest Products and West Fraser. are among the companies subject to the probe. AGH Net Wenttti