Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - February 10, 2014, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 DISCOUNT DAYS! DAYS ! 1. Choose a Meal* . Breakfast . Nip . Dinner . Winni Dog . Sandwich * Excludes the Breakfast Special 2. Choose a Beverage for only 99 � EACH . Bottomless Coffee . Tea . Bottomless Soft Drinks 3. Complete Your Meal for Only 99 � Each . Cup of Soup . Chili Meat Sauce . Slice of Wafer Pie . Triangular Piece of Red Velvet Cake . Two Scoops of Ice Cream with Chocolate Sauce 6 AM - 10 PM AT SALS FAMILY RESTAURANTS AND SALS XPRESS RESTAURANTS, EXCLUDING HOLIDAYS. DINE- IN ONLY. RESTAURANT HOURS VARY BY LOCATON. salisburyhouse. ca . Sausage Egg Nip . Back Bacon Egg Nip . Cheese Egg Nip . Veggie Nip . Regular OR Cheese Nip . Winni Dog . French Fries . Side of Coleslaw . Grilled Cheese Sandwich . Cup of Soup . Slice of Pie . Giant Cinnamon Bun Your house, your food, your way! CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: SHANE MINKIN 204- 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2014 B 1 W HO says it's too cold to play outside? This weekend, Winnipeggers were diving, climbing, watching films outdoors and racing around in snow despite temperatures that hit a skin- stinging - 40 with the wind chill. On Sunday, hundreds of people put some fun into their winter weekend with Snow Trek, the fifth annual Winter in Motion event outside the Living Prairie Museum on Ness Avenue. There were snow games and free use of snowshoes and skis, with free instruction for newbies whose sense of adventure was greater than their experience. On Saturday, 130 people stripped down to swimsuits and all kinds of costumes for an icy plunge into a frigid water tank outside the Indian and Metis Friendship Centre. " I feel good," said Steven Dreger, spokesman for Special Olympics Manitoba's Polar Plunge who experienced it first- hand. At the time, it felt like - 24 with the wind chill. " It's actually a big adrenaline rush," he said after the event organized by the Law Enforcement Torch Run. And it's a big fundraiser for Special Olympics Manitoba sport programs. The annual event, nicknamed this year Freezin' for a Reason, raised $ 37,000, Dreger said. More than 40 volunteers with the Law Enforcement Torch Run and Special Olympics put on the event in the North End. While they plunged into icy water, across town in St. Boniface, members of the Alpine Club of Canada were climbing up ice. The club held an ice- climbing demonstration Saturday to celebrate their sport being a demonstration event at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi. Next weekend, the volunteer- run club is hosting three days of iceclimbing activities with Festiglace de Saint- Boniface. The event starts Saturday with ice- climbing competitions and runs to Monday, Louis Riel Day, with ice- climbing workshops. Over on the south side of Winnipeg, close to 500 competitors took part in the Ice Donkey Winter Adventure on Saturday. Participants navigated the frosty, five- kilometre obstacle course at the University of Manitoba's snowy Southwood Lands. And on Saturday night at The Forks, courageous moviegoers bundled up to watch films projected onto a snow screen, part of the sixth annual Canadian Sport Film Festival. The festival aims to bring unique films from around the world that tell compelling stories of sport, physical activity, dance and play. Next weekend's weather is expected to warm up to nearly normal temperatures just in time for Festival du Voyageur. It begins Friday, when the daytime high is expected to reach - 16 C. The forecast for Saturday calls for a high of - 11 C, close to the normal high for Winnipeg at this time of year of - 9 C. carol. sanders@ freepress. mb. ca JUST CHILLING Deep- freeze fails to stop hardy Winnipeggers from enjoying the great outdoors I N every city, town and rural area in Manitoba this morning, many of your fellow citizens are self- administering a mind- altering substance - and authorities aren't doing a thing about it. Inside the privacy of their homes, on their way to work and even in public places, hundreds of thousands of Manitobans are consuming a xanthine alkaloid that stimulates the central nervous system. This white, crystalline substance increases pressure on the eyes, raises anxiety levels and interferes with a key brain chemical known as adenosine. In severe cases, it can even cause heart palpitations and cardiac arrest. The drug in question is the most widely used psychoactive substance known to humankind. It is, of course, caffeine, which is entirely legal in Canada. It's also mostly harmless and generally unregulated. The way we treat caffeine is highly instructive, especially considering how we treat other psychoactive substances. THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana, is also mostly harmless, an overwhelming body of medical and social science has found. Yet marijuana is illegal and only regulated in its medicinal form, consumed primarily by chronic pain sufferers and cancer patients. Given that marijuana is illegal, it stands to reason authorities continue to arrest and prosecute anyone involved in its production and distribution. What doesn't make sense is a crackdown on the retailers of marijuana- smoking paraphernalia. The primary reason marijuana producers and distributors are prosecuted is not to prevent the substance from ending up in the hands of consumers, who represent a broad spectrum of otherwise law- abiding society. After all, roughly one in two Canadians has tried smoking weed, at some point. Rather, marijuana is seized to deprive organized crime of a revenue stream, one that can be used to finance far more noxious and destructive illegal activities. This is the primary harm caused to society by marijuana production and distribution. Secondary harms include the loss of tax revenue to the state and the expense of devoting precious police resources to marijuana- related investigations. No politician can credibly argue marijuana consumption itself is a serious public health or safety issue. Yet the City of Winnipeg is taking action against retailers who sell the physical means of consuming marijuana - pipes, bongs and other instruments used to smoke pot. This is absurd. Logically, it's akin to engaging in a crackdown on the retailers of coffee cups or teapots in a society that decided to render caffeine illegal. Over the past couple of months, Winnipeg police have raided four Winnipeg head shops. In a carefully worded statement issued last week, the police denied engaging in a crackdown. Rather, they maintain they're responding to complaints about these shops, which some citizens consider a blight upon their neighbourhoods. There are many legal businesses some Winnipeggers will not appreciate, let alone tolerate near their homes or schools. Undesirable businesses include porn retailers, pawn shops and non- therapeutic body- rub establishments. Body- rub parlours are of particular relevance, as what happens within their walls is tantamount to a legalized sex trade. Yet these places are permitted to operate under the principle of harm reduction: Women who provide sexual services in a regulated environment are afforded better protection than most street prostitutes could ever expect. The City of Winnipeg uses zoning regulations to determine where porn, pawn and body- rub shops go. It is well within the city's power to also determine where head shops can operate. Citizens who don't like retailers of marijuana paraphernalia are justified in complaining to city hall and clamouring for better regulation of where these stores may and may not operate. But a sudden upswing in police enforcement, especially during a municipal election year, appears arbitrary and heavy- handed. Police will never be able to quash the consumption of marijuana simply by closing head shops. If deprived of their bongs, pipes and other ( often silly- looking) devices, marijuana smokers will simply resort to buying rolling papers from convenience stores, where potato chips and taquitos serve as additional attractants. Many police officers, of course, actually support the decriminalization or even legalization of marijuana, a move that would free up law enforcement resources, deprive organized crime of revenue and potentially create a new source of government tax revenue. But that's another issue. If the primary harm posed by head shops is entirely esthetic, then the proper arena for dealing with these retailers is not a courtroom, but a zoning hearing at city hall. bartley. kives@ freepress. mb. ca BARTLEY KIVES SCAN FOR MORE PHOTOS By Carol Sanders JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Hardy moviegoers catch a flick on the snow screen at The Forks. JOHN WOODS / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS New skiers at the fifth annual Snow Trek at the Living Prairie Museum. RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS City police officer Cam Baldwin braces himself for the icy water during the Polar Plunge Saturday. It's high time to end crackdown on head shops B_ 01_ Feb- 10- 14_ FP_ 01. indd B1 2/ 9/ 14 9: 52: 01 PM ;