In April, community activists and other volunteers established a "safe injection site" in Vancouver, British Columbia, so that addicts can bring their heroin, crystal meth or cocaine, and prepare and inject it with clean equipment and in an environment free of hassling by police, who have been reluctant to close the site down. Often, there is a volunteer registered nurse on duty to provide advice on injection technique. [Vancouver Sun, 7-7-03]

Marion, Ohio, inmate Willie Chapman got permission to delay his scheduled parole by one day until Aug. 12 so he could attend a prison meeting of the religious/personal-responsibility organization Promise Keepers. Chapman'* inspirational decision made the newspapers, inadvertently alerting his manslaughter victim'* family, who complained to the Ohio Parole Board that Chapman should not be free at all. Consequently, the board reconsidered Chapman'* parole and delayed it 991 days, until May 1, 2006. [WBNS-TV (Columbus, Ohio), 9-10-03]

In August, the city of Edmonton, Alberta, ordered the owners of Keep It Simple, a nonalcoholic "bar" catering to recovering alcoholics by creating the ambience of a tavern without the temptations, to enforce the city'* no-smoking law for businesses. However, smoking is a popular crutch for recovering alcoholics, and the owners sought an exemption from the law in order to retain their customers, but the city said the only legal exemption on the books is for establishments that serve alcoholic beverages. (In September, Keep It Simple applied for a liquor license but said it would still not serve alcohol.) [Edmonton Journal, 8-15-03; Edmonton Sun, 9-18-03]

That is just stupid!! If you don't drink, ya can't smoke...