WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A novel New Zealand law that could legalize some designer drugs is being scrutinized with interest by other countries struggling to keep up with the proliferation of "party pills" and similar products. The law, enacted two weeks ago, represents a U-turn from the traditional approach of banning synthetic drugs. Instead, New Zealand will attempt to regulate them, allowing their sale if they go through rigorous safety testing similar to that for pharmaceuticals. Giving users a high wouldn't be a reason to ban them, a government health official said, though they would need to come with warnings, such as not driving while under their influence. [continues 491 words]
Local officials, prompted by a state report last week and a New Jersey Herald three-part series last month, have begun drafting and supporting legislation that puts them on the forefront of the fight against prescription drug and heroin abuse. State Assembly members Alison Littell McHose and Parker Space, as well as state Sen. Steven Oroho, are supporting several pieces of pending legislation that would include improving the state's Prescription Monitoring Program, toughening penalties for burglaries and changing the way certain drugs are measured. [continues 1247 words]
Addicts, former users describe its destructive grip Part One of a six-part series ELKO -- Seated behind a glass pane and wearing a bright orange county-issued jail uniform, James Corgan is trying to remember how old he was when he first tried methamphetamine. He settles on 13. He had been kicked out of Elko Junior High just prior for bringing weed to school, he remembered, and was working with one of his parents' friends. The older teen was driving home after a long day at work, smoking meth from a light bulb as 13-year-old Corgan was holding the steering wheel. [continues 2410 words]
TODAY, June 26, is the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. The day was designated as such by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly through Resolution 42/112 dated December 7, 1987. In declaring such, "(T)he General Assembly recognized that despite continued and increased efforts by the international community, the world drug problem continues to constitute a serious threat to public health, the safety and well-being of humanity, in particular young people, and the national security and sovereignty of States, and that it undermines socio-economic and political stability and sustainable development." [continues 564 words]
ESCANABA - Illegal drug problems are on the rise in the Upper Peninsula due in large part to increased availability of medications, easier ways to make narcotics, and more people being issued medical marijuana cards. That was the message from Ron Koski, team leader of the U.P. Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET), who addressed a group of community leaders at a monthly governmental meeting in Escanaba this week. The UPSET narcotics team is made up of state, county and city police from Delta, Marquette and Menominee counties. Federal agents also represent the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. [continues 671 words]
Not long ago, if someone had told you that selected American states were going to legalize the enjoyment of marijuana, you would have wondered what they had been smoking. It's all going to pot. Suddenly the language is changing to reflect this new reality. Words that used to mean one thing, now mean something very different. Take potash for example, would you have thought it was a flaky substance a cannabis lover brushes from his coat? The innocent potato has become today's widely accepted joystick and good old poteen is more potent than ever before. [continues 494 words]
3 CHEERS FOR 'BATH SALTS' LAW Legal high? Try yoga. Go for a hike. But don't try to buy synthetic drugs that mimic the effects of illegal drugs such as marijuana or methamphetamine. It's dangerous. Besides, it just got harder. Gov. Jan Brewer's signature on a bill sponsored by Rep. Eddie Farnsworth is the latest effort to give law enforcement the tools necessary to keep designer drugs off the store shelves. These "legal" highs are psychoactive drugs that produce unpredictable reactions. Emergency-room doctors say they don't always know how to treat the bizarre symptoms. Using this stuff can cause permanent psychological and physical damage. Not to mention death. [continues 123 words]
The military has lent its weight to the community effort to battle the use of synthetic drugs commonly known as "spice." Fort Lee officials last month declared two local business off limits to military personnel because the establishments sell synthetic drugs. The two businesses that are off limits to the military are the Cigarette City at 333 Cavalier Square in Hopewell and the Shell Gas Station at 3320 Boulevard in Colonial Heights. "It's a serious issue because much of the revenue generated by local establishments comes from those who live and work on Fort Lee," said Maj. David Martin, provost marshal. "The potential economic impact on a business that does not play by the rules is significant." [continues 183 words]
Showing how far-reaching the damaging effects of synthetic marijuana use are, a Texas woman is applauding the efforts of Wood Buffalo's Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit for their recent seizure of the drug from a Fort McMurray retailer. Ruth Rivas lives in El Paso, and attributes the use of synthetic marijuana to the death of her 28-year-old son nearly a year ago. Now she visits schools, churches, youth groups and more, educating people about synthetic marijuana; from how it's created, to how it can kill you. [continues 572 words]
Marijuana use on company time fell in Hawaii last year, but it is still the drug that turns up most often in workplace drug testing. A new statistical analysis by Diagnostic Laboratory Services Inc. found that marijuana use was down to 2.8 percent for all of 2012, from 3.1 percent in 2011. However, marijuana use inched upward on a quarterly basis, rising to 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter from 2.5 percent in the third quarter. Use of crystal methamphetamine was flat at 0.7 percent in each of the past two years, said Carl Linden, scientific director of toxicology at DLS. [continues 751 words]
In Yavapai County, smart law enforcement won a significant victory against an insidious foe, but the Legislature needs to give communities across the state better tools to combat synthetic psychoactive drugs. Sold openly as "spice" or "bath salts," these substances are designed to mimic marijuana or methamphetamine highs. Users, who may be reassured by the fact the poisons are sold legally, have suffered serious mental and physical harm, including death. State law bans the sale of specific formulas of these poisons, but the chemists who design them need only make a few tweaks to get around that. Lawmakers resisted a more comprehensive ban that would have allowed law enforcement to act quickly against new formulations. The stuff remains widely available in stores and on the Internet. [continues 392 words]
GAY men are using the drug ice to spice up their sex lives, according to a DVD produced by Peninsula Health. Break the Ice tells six personal stories, interwoven with expert commentary, and is designed to help people who use drugs recreationally, and their family and friends, to recognise the signs of problematic drug use. Kurt, one of the interviewees in the film, explains that the attraction to methamphetamine is the sex. "The high's incredible and you go all night," he said. [continues 335 words]
Views Conflict on Whether Looser Laws Would Cause Rise, Fall Detroit - Teen consumption of marijuana appears to have leveled off, but advocates for and against legalization disagree on whether looser drug laws could reverse that trend. A survey released this month by the University of Michigan showed reported marijuana use dropped or stayed flat in 2012 among eighth-, 10th- and 12thgraders, after rising the previous three years. The Monitoring the Future Survey pegged the percentage of students who used marijuana within the past year at 11.4 percent for eighth-graders, 28 percent for 10th-graders and 36.4 percent for 12th-graders. [continues 600 words]
As states increasingly adopt laws allowing medical marijuana, fewer teens see occasional marijuana use as harmful, the largest national survey of youth drug use has found. Nearly 80% of high school seniors don't consider occasional marijuana use harmful -- the highest rate since 1983 -- and one in 15 smoke nearly every day, according to the annual survey of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders made public Wednesday. More than one in five high school seniors said they smoked marijuana in the month before the survey, and 36% did during the previous year, according to Monitoring the Future's survey of 45,449 students from 395 public and private schools. [continues 449 words]
SOUTHINGTON -- Police have proposed adding synthetic marijuana to a list of products that can't be sold or possessed under local ordinance. An updated list of "objectionable products" was presented to the Town Council Monday night by Town Attorney Mark Sciota, who focused on synthetic marijuana. The product is often sold in convenience stores and gas stations. The list is compiled and overseen by the police department, but the council receives reports when the new version is compiled. "The biggest change you will see has popped up in the last year," Sciota said. "(Synthetic marijuana) is becoming a dangerous thing in Southington and throughout the state." [continues 382 words]
To the editor: In January of this year, I quit smoking marijuana and became a regular spice user. I did this so I could pass urinalysis to gain meaningful employment. I also did this because marijuana is illegal, and I wanted to be a better example for my kids. I'm now in treatment at the Ralph Perdue center. Spice is a shredded plant substance that is smoked. That is where the similarities to marijuana stop. The high from spice is not the same as marijuana. Spice is 66-800 times stronger than marijuana, depending on the brand, and the high is much shorter in duration. Side effects include blurred vision, cardiac arrest, deadly swelling of the brain, deterioration of motor skills, elevated blood pressure and heart rate, heart palpitations, increased agitation, pale skin, paranoia, respiratory infection, seizures and vomiting. [continues 223 words]
Bossier City resident Missy Matthews is keeping a close eye on the Arkansas medical marijuana ballot initiative. Arkansans will decide Nov. 6 whether patients with a limited number of chronic conditions can use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. The proposal applies only to Arkansas residents. Arkansas is the first state in the South to vote on the issue. Matthews is a member of Moms for Marijuana, a national organization that promotes education, discussion and research about marijuana's benefits. She chats online with other members who use marijuana in foods like cannabutter to help treat bipolar disorder, ADD and other mental health issues in their children. [continues 1003 words]
Fake Weed' Poses New Challenges for Law Enforcement With its widespread availability, marijuana is among the first drugs teenagers encounter, and more youngsters are lighting up these days than in years past. It's a trend that concerns experts and counselors who say teens grossly underestimate the risks of a psychoactive drug more potent than your father's marijuana. "Marijuana is back," said Sgt. Donald M. Bush, who coordinates the Columbus Police Department's Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. "You may have an older person say, 'When I was young, I smoked marijuana and it didn't do anything to me.' But now you've got a much higher percentage of THC, and it's a whole different game." [continues 742 words]
With the approaching Presidential election in two weeks, I decided to devote this issue to the Presidential candidates and their assorted approaches on drug policy. After three debates between President Obama and Mitt Romney (in addition to three devastating debate drinking games), we've seen heated discourse on nearly every political subject but drug control policy. Also, for those who don't know that there are more than two choices for President, I included Gary Johnson and Jill Stein in today's drug discussion. To save you, my precious reader, time and effort I will now sarcastically outline each of the candidate's positions on drug use, control and spending: [continues 683 words]
The Ministry of Interior has recommended prohibiting the smuggling, possessing and trafficking of 'Spice Drugs' at the 26th Arab Convention of Heads of Anti Narcotics Authorities held in Tunisia on October 3 and 4. In a paper presented to showcase the experience of the UAE on Spice drugs, it was stated that the UAE has become the first Arab country to illegalise such drugs. Synthetic cannabis, locally known as spice, affects the mind like hashish does. A panel commissioned with studying Spice recommended to criminalise and prohibit it, including smuggling, possessing, using and trafficking. Possessing Spice has now become a punishable offense by the UAE law. The UAE delegation was led by Colonel Saeed Abdullah Al Suwaidi, Director General of the Federal Anti Narcotics Department of the Ministry of Interior. During the conference, the country's delegation passed a full report showing the local and international efforts exerted by the UAE to tackle narcotics. [end]
The synthetic drug known as "spice" and "potpourri" is sending teenagers to the hospital with kidney failure, sparking a health alert in Oregon and southwest Washington. Five young men in Oregon and one in southwest Washington have been sickened with kidney failure since May because of what's known as synthetic marijuana, a plant material sprayed with chemicals. Oregon health officials say. Of the six, five were ages 15 to 18. All were hospitalized, and one was admitted to intensive care to undergo emergency dialysis when his kidneys shut down. The most recent case occurred last week. [continues 232 words]
It was news Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson was not expecting. One year earlier, in September, 2012, he had supported a resolution at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention in Victoria calling on the federal government to study the decriminalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. He did not expect it to go anywhere. He had, in the past, also supported resolutions calling on the federal government to provide financing for transit and social housing, and to reverse its decision on the Kitsilano Coast Guard station. All of those had met with stony silence. He had learned not to hold his breath. [continues 721 words]
Drug Free Collier Thank goodness for the Drug Free Collier organization. The team of law-enforcement, counseling and education officials monitor substance abuse trends in the community and take action. That includes advising the public on what may be going on under the radar and sponsoring events such as Operation Medicine Cabinet to get old, excess prescription drugs out of reach. The organization's latest alert deals with synthetic drugs, such as bath salts and fake marijuana. Their chemical makeup is not illegal, yet people who buy them at convenience stores seeking a cheap high can hurt themselves. [continues 168 words]
Regarding "`Bath salts' battle" ( Thursday): One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. In 1914, Congress made heroin and cocaine illegal. That law didn't stop the use of heroin or cocaine, and any teenager can show you where to buy heroin or coke at the local high school. In 1920, Congress made liquor illegal. That law didn't stop the use of liquor. Anybody in town could show you where the local speakeasy was if you wanted to buy a shot of booze. [continues 145 words]
Mother of Naked Lynx Lake Jeep Thief Testifies CAMP VERDE - Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk is taking a unique - and unprecedented - angle in the fight to stop the synthetic drugs known as bath salts and spice: She wants stores that sell them declared a public nuisance. The move is necessary because, as the Arizona Legislature makes the synthetic drugs illegal, the drug manufacturers simply change one compound in their product, which creates what's known as an "analog." Analogs have the same effects as the originals and are legal, because they are not the same chemical prohibited by state law. [continues 780 words]
Foes Hoping to Repeal L.A.'S Prohibition Are Gathering Signatures to Put a Referendum on the March Ballot. Outside a Trader Joe's in Silver Lake, a man in sunglasses and flip-flops called out questions to bag-toting shoppers. "Do you support medical marijuana?" he asked. "Well did you hear what City Hall just did?" An army of signature gatherers has hit Los Angeles streets in recent weeks in a drive to repeal a recent ban on marijuana dispensaries. If activists can collect the roughly 27,400 names required within the next three weeks, a referendum to overturn the ban would go before voters in March. [continues 639 words]
Drugs With Growing Notoriety Are Right Here in Chico In May, a naked Florida man, Rudy Eugene, was found eating a homeless man's face along a public roadway. Police ordered him to stop, but shot him to death when the crazed attacker only growled and continued to cannibalize his living victim, even after being shot once. That horrific story of the "Miami zombie" is what brought the street drug known as "bath salts" into the popular consciousness. Subsequent tests showed only marijuana in the victim's system. However, some in the medical community do believe bath salts were the cause, noting that some types of synthetic drugs are undetectable. In any case, the initial suggestion of bath salts established the drug's reputation as causing extreme violence. [continues 672 words]
The words "synthetic drugs" are relatively new to a lot of people, but those words figure to linger and mutate in our culture for a long time to come. You've probably heard a lot about this topic in the last several months, as more states and more law enforcement agencies work to combat the proliferation of these various substances. Since the problem was first detected in the U.S. in 2008, it has exploded across the national landscape like a plague. [continues 495 words]
"We're effective when communities are involved. It's stronger when communities are involved. We need each other." Guernsey County Sheriff Mike McCauley spoke those words to Cambridge Kiwanians Tuesday. He paid the club a visit to update members on several aspects of his job. Among them: Bath salts. "That drug has hit us with full vengeance," he said. Bearing brand names such as K2 and Spice, the salts are cheap and easily accessible hallucinogens that are available at more than one location in Cambridge. [continues 253 words]
LIHU'E - Leaders from the community gathered Thursday for the purpose of revising the county's five-year master drug plan during the 2012 Drug Summit at the Kaua'i Marriott Resort and Beach Club. "We have about 150 people here, including teams from the Department of Education, community organizations, the County of Kaua'i and the Judiciary to work on the plan," said Bridget Arume of the Department of Education. Gary Heu, representing Mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr., who was out of town, said the theme of E Ho'omau ka 'Ike, or "Continue the Awareness, Learning, Vision," was most appropriate since the start of the program in 2003. [continues 597 words]
Circuit Judge Marcus Gordon criticized the Department of Corrections as "more than any other agency detrimental to circuit courts" during his speech Wednesday at The Neshoba County Fair. He lamented the Legislature had given the department "unbridled authority" over inmates. Gordon said that while he and Circuit Judge Vernon Cotten have over the past decade sentenced drug and burglary offenders to 587 years in prison, only 180 years of those sentences have been served. He said Corrections claims judges cannot revoke probation for the commission of another crime and sentencing rules apply to judges, but Corrections can release prisoners as it determines best. [continues 202 words]
Paso sheriff's candidates Fortney, Nocco and Radford discuss ways to fight drugs in county Pasco County sheriff's candidate Roger Fortney's solution to fighting drug crime is simple: Keep close tabs on offenders. Really close. "I believe if we worked closer with parole and probation we could convince them to stop committing the crimes or to move out of the county," said Fortney, 59, who worked in road patrol for 23 years at the Pasco County Sheriff's Office before retiring as a corporal in 2009. He is one of three candidates -- along with Maurice Radford, 50, a former major with the Sheriff's Office and current Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco, 36 -- vying for the top spot in the Republican primary Aug. 14. The winner will square off against Democrat Kim Bogart in November. [continues 1296 words]
ALTON - A business built from the heart of its owner can help uncover whether someone is using synthetic marijuana, also known at K-2 or Spice, which is undetectable in most drug screens. Drug Screening 24-7, located in the Riverbender.com Community Center building in Downtown Alton, formed about two months ago; it's one of a handful of drug screenings in the United States that can detect K-2, said its educational director, DeAnna Swain, of Holiday Shores. The two telltale ingredients that the company's dip-stick test identifies are pentanoic acid, or JWH-018, and butanoic acid, or JWH-073. Drug Screening 24-7 tests for nearly every illicit drug, including marijuana, cocaine, opiates, amphetamines and methamphetamines, as well as K-2. [continues 567 words]
SOMERSWORTH -- As part of a nationwide operation against synthetic designer drugs, federal, state and local officials seized about five million packets of illegal materials marketed as bath salts, spice, incense or plant food last week. More than 90 people were taken into custody and at least $36 million in cash was seized as warrants were executed in 109 communities throughout the country, including at a home in Gilford and stores in Salem and Somersworth. As part of Operation Log Jam -- the first major effort against designer drug retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers -- federal, state and local officials have seized more than 4.8 million packets of synthetic cannabinoids, known as K2 or Spice, and 167,000 packets of bath salts, along with materials to produce more of both drugs, according to a release from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. [continues 484 words]
In the sordid history of illicit drug distribution, the brazen marketing of two classes of synthetic drugs has set a new standard for untruths in advertising. Only criminals with the moral sense of Gila monsters would peddle mind-altering designer drugs as benign legal products. Only customers with no regard for their health would snort, inject, smoke or swallow them. Marketed to young people, "bath salts" and "spice," are widely known to mimic the effects of cocaine and marijuana respectively. Labels saying they're not for human consumption are part of the underworld joke. [continues 139 words]
ST. PAUL - More synthetic drugs will be illegal under a law taking effect Wednesday, and a state agency will be able to act faster to make newly developed versions illegal. Still, as makers of the so-called "designer drugs" continue to change chemical formulas to skirt the law, there will be lags between when a new drug is released and it is declared illegal. State officials and law enforcement officers said Thursday that so much about the drugs known by names such as spice and 2C-E is not known, other than they threaten Minnesota's youth. [continues 414 words]
Community Workshop Provides Information, Advice IONIA COUNTY, Mich. - Ninety percent of all addicted adults began using as teens, a substance abuse expert told an audience of 70 at the Ionia County Intermediate School District building. Parents and professionals from schools, hospitals, law enforcement, courts and treatment facilities across the county and the state attended a workshop on "Emerging Drug Trends in 2012" Monday. The speaker was Scott Kelly, executive director of BASES Teen Center in Charlevoix and a substance abuse counselor for 26 years. The event was hosted by the Ionia County Health Department and the Ionia County Substance Abuse Initiative. [continues 839 words]
ADELANTO - When the mayor of Adelanto first learned about the dangers of synthetic drugs known popularly as "bath salts" and "spice," she knew she had to act quickly to ban the drugs from the city she holds close to her heart. "I just couldn't sit idly by and let the DA or the Sheriff deal with it - not in my city," Mayor Cari Thomas said. "We're not going to be this drug-infested area that people think we are." [continues 605 words]
Every day we hear of atrocities committed in Mexico related to the illegal drug trade. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are locked up behind bars for nothing more than possessing an illegal drug. College students have lost federal aid because they toked on a joint. Substance abusers can't get the help they need to kick their habits because more than a trillion dollars has been spent on prohibition since Pres. Nixon declared the war on drugs. Now add a few more causalities to the list: Those who have been seriously injured or killed by synthetic marijuana, which can cause elevated body temperature and blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, seizures, suicidal ideation, paranoia, hallucinations, psychotic episodes, organ failure and death. [continues 447 words]
Bath salts and synthetic marijuana, two relatively new drugs that are technically legal because manufacturers keep reformulating them, are becoming an increasing concern for law enforcement because of their unpredictable effects. The Georgia Pharmacy Board last month issued an emergency order that temporarily gives all state and local law enforcement officers the authority to seize the two products, even though the new formulations of synthetic marijuana aren't technically illegal and the persons selling them cannot be charged criminally. Within days, several local police departments were taking on the charge. The Cherokee County Multi-Agency Narcotics Squad seized 6,200 packages of synthetic marijuana at locations in Canton, Woodstock, Ball Ground and Holly Springs. [continues 482 words]
I commend the efforts of Macomb County officials, our state legislators, and Gov. Rick Snyder for banning the sale of synthetic drugs such as K2 or spice. The community response to stop the use of these substances and keep our community safe has been outstanding. This ban sends a clear message to youths and young adults that these substances are dangerous and not safe for consumption. CARE of Southeastern Michigan is the access center for substance abuse treatment for Macomb County residents and a leader in providing substance abuse prevention education in the community. [continues 79 words]
The term "synthetic pot" is a real aberration of the language. K2 (or spice) has effects that are nothing like marijuana. K2 causes bizarre hallucinations, paranoia, aggressive and irrational behavior, and psychosis. Real marijuana does none of the above; it just allows a person to mellow out and focus on pleasant thoughts. Robert Breckenfeld Brighton [end]
ADRIAN, Mich. - First, let's be perfectly clear: K2, Spice and other synthetic marijuana items often sold at gas stations and convenience stores should not be sold and should not be ingested. As stories in the Telegram show, these chemical substances can cause illness, addiction and, in some cases, death. The word needs to be spread among people of all ages. Residents should thank stores that do not sell these products, and they should use their power as consumers to encourage stores that do sell them to stop immediately. [continues 386 words]
While we compliment officials in Macomb and Oakland counties for moving quickly to curtail the dangerous use of K2, Spice and other so-called synthetic marijuana, we have to ask: why? Why are our youngsters driven to use chemicals known to have dangerous health effects? Why can't our country - as others have done - keep up with outlawing the latest fad drugs, whether manufactured for other uses or purposely intended to sidestep criminal charges? Why are parents - after their children suffer health problems or even death - prone to blaming others rather than facing the fact that it was their child who knowingly used a dangerous drug? [continues 158 words]
GBI Chief Medical Examiner Kris Sperry on Tuesday confirmed that 16-year-old Chase Burnett died after smoking synthetic marijuana -- the first time the drug has been officially linked to a death in Georgia. "He drowned because he was under the influence of one of the synthetic cannabinoids that made him unconscious," Sperry told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There were no other drugs in Burnett's system, the medical examiner said, adding that the Fayette County teen was in otherwise excellent physical condition at the time of his death March 4. [continues 334 words]
Two months after Gov. Nathan Deal signed a law outlawing its sale, distributors peddling synthetic cannabis have found a way around the legislation. Now, the substance typically known by the brand names K-2 and Spice can again be sold legally in Georgia "at least for the next nine months," or until the General Assembly is back in session, said GBI spokesman John Bankhead. Even then, Bankhead conceded, it may be impossible to keep up with the chemists. Nelly Miles, the GBI's chemistry section manager, said, "They changed the molecular structure altogether." The side effects of the new composition can be worse, she said. [continues 414 words]
Livingston County Posecutor, Groups Call for Broader Efforts to Halt Growing Synthetic Marijuana Problem When and if state lawmakers pass legislation creating a "broader, more expansive" ban on synthetic marijuana, local police will be enforcing it at "12:01" on the effective day, according to Livingston County Prosecutor David Morse. Morse said he was angered by the fact that many area retailers continue to sell synthetic marijuana despite knowing how dangerous it is, and he called on the community to "get involved" in the solution to what's becoming an increasingly bigger problem in Livingston County. [continues 1124 words]
Just what parents don't need: another way for their kids to get high, or worse. And getting that buzz, that glow, that trip to an altered state is so easy. There's no need to bother with street dealers or big drug traffickers. No, the stuff that can take youths (or anyone else) into a haze-induced world where anxiety attacks, convulsions, fast heart rates and raised blood pressure lurk can be purchased around the corner. It's available over the counter, perhaps in a store near you. [continues 724 words]
It's time to decriminalize marijuana. Let me be clear: I'm not advocating the use of marijuana, just the decriminalization of it. A rising chorus of voices across the political spectrum is joining a reform movement that has long argued for an economically saner way to deal with personal use of marijuana. After all, what folks do in the privacy of their own homes is rightly not a concern of a smaller, less intrusive government that we all want. Here in Georgia the issue of prison reform screams for attention. As aptly pointed out in this paper recently, over a billion dollars a year of Georgia tax dollars goes into the prison system which in many cases incarcerates nonviolent drug offenders. This is simply not sustainable. [continues 561 words]
Officials, Teens Urge State Legislature to Criminalize K-2, Kush and Similar Products ELIZABETHTOWN - More than 200 people, mostly teenage students, gathered on the lawn in front the Essex County government complex Monday morning to support a ban on synthetic marijuana. The event was organized by the county district attorney's office and Community Resources Department. County lawmakers, community members and students from across the region turned out for the rally, which concluded with a march around Elizabethtown. These students and officials want the state to criminalize the sale and possession of synthetic marijuana, and the state Senate passed legislation on Monday to do just that. The bill now awaits approval in the Assembly. [continues 737 words]
