A store displays two identical TVs: One costs $575, the other is on sale for $533. Which do you choose? I know this is a dumb question. However, this is the precise choice some Arizona residents will face if citizens pass the Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act - the state initiative seeking to decriminalize marijuana for recreational purposes. Proponents arguing that Arizonans should vote for this initiative dangle before voters the prospect that marijuana, once "regulated like alcohol," will bring in massive tax revenues: between $40 million and $113 million, as reported by The Arizona Republic, if the act goes into effect. But these estimates fail to account for the undercutting effect of Arizona's medical-marijuana market on the sale of recreational marijuana. [continues 1150 words]
EDITOR: Regarding Wednesday's bust ("Police raid hits 5 sites," Thursday), it appears as if the feds are using state enforcement officials as a shield for their improper (illegal) activities, and the state cops are using federal law as their shield, which is totally inappropriate under state law. One hundred cops! Imagine if that energy were organized to find missing children? Do people realize that those 100 cops, and the countless other bureaucrats, investigators, judges, prosecutors, jailers and probation officers that have been/will be involved in this, aren't investigating potential terrorists while they do this? [continues 62 words]
Prison should not be regarded as a punishment (Letters, 2 June). It is place of restraint where those who are incorrigibly violent - such as terrorists and incurable psychopaths - must be kept. Punishment is a consequence of this restraint, but it should not be its aim. Punishment can be achieved by much more effective means, eg ill-gotten gains can be sequestered and subsequent earnings mulcted. The aim must be restitution, reform and rehabilitation, not one-size-fits-all punishment. Magistrates, who can only award useless short sentences, should have this power removed completely. Crown court judges should have their sentencing audited, and where it has proved ineffective they should be held to account. If all drugs were legally regulated imprisonment would reduce by about 65%. [continues 87 words]
For months, Illinois' fledgling medical cannabis industry had been limping along - dogged by uncertainties over its future and hurt by disappointingly low numbers of patients whose medical conditions qualified them for state certification cards. But in the last few days, the clouds of gloom have lifted thanks to a compromise bill now awaiting Gov. Bruce Rauner's signature. The measure would extend the state medical cannabis pilot program by 2 1/2 years, to July 1, 2020. It would also expand the list of qualifying conditions, to include post-traumatic stress disorder and terminal illnesses, potentially adding hundreds of thousands of new patients to the state registry. [continues 830 words]
His left hand was pressed firmly into his temple as he leaned in and whispered, "Okay, once I finish this goddamn computer science project I'm going to make some Amsterdam tea." I muffled my naturally thunderous laughter as we we sat in the center of the Engineering Library. A moment of comfortable silence between friends followed, with only keyboard sounds filling the space. I didn't resume studying, for I was distracted by his plans, and it wasn't because of his choice of euphemism. [continues 792 words]
If the federal government is serious about an evidence-based approach to drug policy, it shouldn't stop at cannabis when it comes to regulating drugs that are currently under prohibition, drug policy lawyers say. With the new federal government, "I think the rhetoric seems to be much more positive in terms of treating drugs as a health issue," says Eugene Oscapella, a lawyer and professor of law at the University of Ottawa. "If you're honest about treating drugs as a health issue, then you do not use the criminal justice system primarily [to deal with it]," he says. [continues 802 words]
Death is one of the greatest personifications there is. It visits all of us and gets very personal. Continually we are inundated with statistics of all kinds of deaths. These include the horrors of terrorism, shootings, suicides, abortions, plane crashes and cancer. These stats seem to keep death at a comfortable bay, deluding us into thinking we will never be part of the masses. In fact, at times we reluctantly find ourselves viewing with morbid fascination the demise of others. Somehow we can stay detached because "the visitor" has not yet come to our door. [continues 353 words]
Cannabis Helps with PTSD, and So Can You I'M A BIG SUPPORTER of allowing armed forces veterans access to cannabis-seeing as how I'm a huge wussy who wouldn't have made it through three hours of basic training, much less full-on combat. I have enough trouble fighting off a cold. Recently it seems hell may have frozen over, as the Drug Enforcement Administration has authorized a study to see how the use of smoking cannabis can treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It's the first clinical study on PTSD to use cannabis in its raw, smokeable form. [continues 592 words]
Editor: There are a number of issues surrounding the shootings in Surrey. Firstly, Surrey is one of the biggest areas in North America, so many of us throughout Surrey have no contact or experiences with any of it. Yes, we wonder why none of the Surrey councillors have said anything about it before the mayor finally had something to say (Get out of my city: mayor to shooters, April 8). They are all on the same slate and she is the boss and probably has tight reins on what they may say and when. [continues 167 words]
The Islamic State and its terrorist proxies would suffer if cannabis were decriminalized, Italy's top prosecutor argues. In a recent interview, Franco Roberti also pointed out the links between the extremist group and organized crime in his country. Roberti is Italy's anti-terrorism and anti-mafia chief, a joint portfolio that was created last year. He said decriminalizing marijuana - or even making it legal - would dent the illicit networks that profit from its sale and production. The Islamic State, in particular, gleans money off smuggling routes from parts of Libya into Europe. [continues 355 words]
The Justice Department Restarts Incentives for Asset Forfeiture. THE JUSTICE Department calls it a tool to crack down on terrorists, kleptocrats and fugitives. So why did it result in the seizure of money and other assets from law-abiding people? Welcome to the weird world of civil asset forfeiture, in which the government can take property without charging its owner with a crime. There are some legitimate reasons for the practice, such as cracking down on sophisticated organized-crime rings, that manage to separate criminals from tainted assets. But even after years of criticism and reports of abuse, the federal government still has not reformed its piece of the system enough to keep its application narrow and fair. [continues 374 words]
United States authorities discovered a half-mile tunnel running between California and Tijuana, Mexico. They also seized a significant amount of cocaine and marijuana. For all the talk about a wall between the United States and Mexico, the problem with border security continues to be as much below ground as above. On Wednesday, officials in San Diego announced the discovery of another cross-border tunnel built by drug smugglers - the longest one found yet, at about half a mile. The tunnel had rails, lighting, ventilation and even a large elevator leading to a closet in a modest house in Tijuana, United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy said. On the San Diego side, where the tunnel emerged in an industrial park in the Otay Mesa neighborhood, the authorities arrested and charged six people last week and confiscated more than a ton of cocaine and seven tons of marijuana that they said had been smuggled through the passage - the largest drug seizure associated with a tunnel. [continues 596 words]
NEW YORK - Afghanistan has called for more international support for its efforts in fighting the drug problem as the anti-narcotics war is "beyond the limits of any single government". Slamat Azimi, the minister of counter narcotics of Afghanistan, made the statement at the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the World Drug Problem here. "It is obvious that fighting drugs and narcotics is beyond the limits of any single government; therefore, there is a need for extensive help from the international community. [continues 174 words]
NEW YORK - India has voiced its concern over "the growing nexus of drug trafficking and terrorist networks", saying that "we have to continue and toughen our collective fight against these evils". Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley was addressing the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the World Drug Problem here. "The growing nexus of drug trafficking and terrorist networks endangers peace, security and stability across regions," he said. "We have to continue and toughen our collective fight against these evils." [continues 146 words]
In 1998, a special session of the United Nations General Assembly agreed to set a 10-year deadline to make the world "drug free". After an embarrassing failure to achieve this goal, the deadline was extended a further 10 years, setting the world up for another inevitable failure in 2019. In the years since the use, availability and variety of illicit drugs have escalated exponentially. It is estimated by the UK charity Transform Foundation that 300 million people worldwide used illegal drugs in 2012, contributing to a global market worth $US330 billion a year. [continues 626 words]
World leaders have an opportunity to act on the global drug problem that causes untold human suffering and costs billions a year. The discussions will have an immediate flow-on effect to changes in drug policy being contemplated in Australia and around the world. In 1998, a special session of the United Nations General Assembly agreed to set a 10-year deadline to make the world "drug free". After an embarrassing failure to achieve this goal, the deadline was extended a further 10 years, setting the world up for another inevitable failure in 2019. [continues 781 words]
B.C. plans to crack down on money laundering at casinos. We hope the government's heart is truly in its task, given that total government revenues from commercial gambling in 2013-14 totalled $1.17 billion. The move is long overdue. The government has made it easier for organized crime to use B.C. casinos for money laundering and loansharking since it ditched the gambling-crime investigative task force seven years ago. Finance Minister Mike de Jong said Monday 22 officers with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit will be dedicated to investigating groups that use gaming facilities to legalize proceeds of crime. [continues 520 words]
Kingpin's Plea With U.S. Triggered Years of Bloodshed Reaching All the Way to Southlake Zetas Saw Gulf Cartel Leader As Traitor, Declared a War That Has Killed Thousands of People A plea agreement between a Mexican drug kingpin and the U.S. government helped generate a violent split between two drug cartels that led to the deaths of thousands of people in Mexico and along the Texas border, a Dallas Morning News investigation has found. A masked gunman fired multiple times at Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa with a 9 mm handgun through the passenger window of his Range Rover at Southlake Town Square in May 2013. Three Mexican citizens were arrested more than a year later and charged with stalking, and aiding and abetting in the hit. [continues 4074 words]
Lee Carroll Brooker, a 75-year-old disabled veteran suffering from chronic pain, was arrested in July 2011 for growing three dozen marijuana plants for his own medicinal use behind his son's house in Dothan, Ala., where he lived. For this crime, Mr. Brooker was given a life sentence with no possibility of release. Alabama law mandates that anyone with certain prior felony convictions be sentenced to life without parole for possessing more than 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of marijuana, regardless of intent to sell. Mr. Brooker had been convicted of armed robberies in Florida two decades earlier, for which he served 10 years. The marijuana plants collected at his son's house - including unusable parts like vines and stalks - weighed 2.8 pounds. [continues 468 words]
