Drug Seizures and Arrests Hit Highest Levels in 2013; Spike in the Use of Ice

The imminent execution in Indonesia of two Australians caught there for trafficking drugs comes as Australia faces its own worsening narcotics problem. PHOTO: REUTERS Mr Suhandro Putro, representative of The Javanese Christian Church funeral home, says they usually receive orders for caskets when executions are carried out on Nusakambangan, an island off Java.

The extent of the problem can be seen from the Australian Crime Commission's most recent report on illegal drugs, released last April.

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Jakarta (AFP) - An Indonesian funeral home has reportedly prepared at least 10 caskets for police ahead of the planned execution of death-row convicts, including two Australian drug smugglers whose sentences have strained the country's relations with Canberra.

The report came as Indonesia announced yesterday that it had on Friday night deported Ms Candace Sutton, a reporter for Australia's Daily Mail, as she had interviewed without a proper visa a relative of one of the Australian convicts in the coastal town of Cilacap.

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IF SOUTH Africans are not asking President Jacob Zuma to resign, they are calling for dagga to be legalised.

These requests made up the majority of the recommendations made to Zuma on social networking sites following an invitation by the Presidency for people to send suggestions for the president's State of the Nation Address.

A thread of people on Twitter repeated: "@PresidencyZA: Why not legalise cannabis to increase revenue & save tax rands by freeing up crowded prisons & courts? #DaggaDebate #SONA2015."

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We have heard a great outcry for the legalization of marijuana in the past few years. Even so-called experts such as our party leaders and doctors are getting on the bandwagon.

Dr. Jurgen Rehm, director at the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health states, "Canada's current system of cannabis control is failing to prevent or reduce the harms associated with cannabis use."

Consider this logic: he admits it harms people's mental health and yet he would like to make it more accessible.

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In the past year, to my great satisfaction, the NJ family court has taken a beating in both the federal and state appeals courts.

In Malhan vs Malhan, five parents filed a class action lawsuit in federal court alleging that the NJ family court system fails to provide adequate "due process" rights to parents in child custody proceedings. Surender Malhan, the father, lost his custody rights on a mere two hours' notice based on a bogus accusation from the mother without him having an opportunity to refute his estranged wife's allegations.

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Forecasts of Big Tax Windfall, Dire Social Consequences Don't Prove Entirely True

DENVER - Before Colorado became the first state to allow marijuana for recreational purposes, supporters boasted that legalization would generate a sizable tax windfall, while opponents warned it could have serious social consequences.

Just over a year into the state's experiment with sanctioning pot sales to adults 21 and over, neither prediction is proving entirely true. Marijuana so far hasn't been the boon or bane that many expected, offering potential lessons to other states considering legalization.

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Some Oklahoma Legislators Are Against the AG's Decision to Join a Lawsuit Against Colorado.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Some Oklahoma lawmakers disagree with Attorney General Scott Pruitt's decision to file suit over Colorado's legalization of marijuana.

Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, said the lawsuit filed last month by Pruitt and Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning undermines states' rights.

In their lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, Pruitt and Bruning are asking that the Colorado law be deemed unconstitutional and tossed out, and they are asking the nation's highest court to force the federal government to enforce federal law prohibiting the sale of marijuana. They also seek to recover their legal costs for filing the suit.

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Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, a vocal proponent of states' rights, drew criticism Monday from fellow Republicans who oppose his attempt to have the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Colorado's marijuana legalization law.

State Rep. Mike Ritze, R-Broken Arrow, and six other GOP lawmakers sent a letter to Pruitt criticizing his decision to join Nebraska in asking the high court to invalidate Colorado voters' 2012 determination to legalize marijuana for recreational use.

They want him to remove Oklahoma from that legal fight, saying he should not meddle in the affairs of another state.

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Does Amendment 64 immunize individuals who make marijuana hash oil in their home from prosecution, as a defendant in Mesa County claims in a criminal case there?

Surely not. As Attorney General John Suthers says in a brief filed in that case, "the defendant agrees that his actions resulted in an explosion, injuries, damage, and 'potentially put others in danger.' He nevertheless insists that the voters created a constitutional right protecting butane-fueled explosions in kitchens and garages throughout the state. However, this court should reject the defendant's interpretation because the voters would not have understood the amendment to authorize such irresponsible and dangerous use."

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By virtue of a single comma, the Colorado attorney general's office says making marijuana hash oil at home is still illegal under state law, despite other laws legalizing marijuana use, cultivation and possession.

The opinion of the state's top lawyer comes in a brief filed in a criminal case against a Mesa County man. The man, Eugene Christensen, is charged with arson, reckless endangerment and manufacture of marijuana concentrate. The last charge is a Class 3 drug felony, punishable by two to four years in prison.

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Tom Rael's first epiphany came two years ago when he looked up from his drink and caught his reflection in the bar mirror.

His eyes were red and dull because he was perpetually stoned, toking every hour or so to maintain a constant high. His face was slack and prematurely lined. He looked too old for someone barely 30.

"What have you become?" he asked himself.

He stopped drinking, but he kept smoking. Cannabis was natural, he figured, so it was harmless, right? But two years later, he went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and listened to someone describe a dry drunk, resentful and constantly simmering with anger and frustration. Rael felt a jolt of recognition.

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A year ago, as Colorado cities and towns were preparing for the first recreational marijuana stores to open, most were optimistic they were prepared. Still, many officials held their breath.

Local government leaders from Denver to smaller cities and rural hamlets say the pivotal first-year rollout went smoothly, and in some cases it has proved quite profitable for local coffers.

"To be able to pull that off in that short amount of time, and to one year later have a pretty good understanding of what the rules of the road are, it's a pretty monumental achievement," Kevin Bommer said. As deputy director of the Colorado Municipal League, he has tracked the experiences of cities and towns across the state.

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Uncle Ike's Pot Shop will stay open - for now, at least.

Mount Calvary Christian Center, which is next door to the recreational pot store in the Central District, has sued over the store's location, and asked a judge to close the store until the lawsuit is decided.

King County Superior Court Judge Jean Rietschel on Friday said no.

"An injunction is an extraordinary remedy ... and the burden is on the plaintiff," Rietschel said. "I will not grant it."

Mount Calvary Christian Center is suing Uncle Ike's, the city of Seattle and the state Liquor Control Board, alleging that the store is about 250 feet from a teen center operated by the church.

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What happens when government moves too slowly for its people? In some places, you might get a protest or a riot, or even a ballot initiative.

In San Francisco, you get a box filled with used needles nailed to a tree.

Civic Center is the Beaux Arts meeting place for some of the city's roughly 16,000 intravenous drug users, many who sleep in the nearby Tenderloin and shower in the restrooms at the Main Library.

To better service their needs, an anonymous activist nailed a red plastic box with a biohazard warning sticker on one of the trees outside the Bill Graham Auditorium. It's a drop-box for used hypodermic needles, complete with literature on HIV/AIDS protection.

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50 MILLION REASONS PROHIBITION STAYS

Hunter S. Thompson knew best. To take the nation's temperature, and to find the real center of it all, you have to go to Las Vegas. Earlier this month, American Dream-seekers donned clean jeans and crisp button-downs to decamp to the desert to talk business ideas involving grow lights, smell-proof plastic bags, and other ways to tap the "billions" in market potential right around the corner, thanks to the cannabis plant and the end of cannabis Prohibition.

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Crunching the Numbers in Marijuana's March to Legalization

Let's play a little numbers game today. This is not the kind of numbers they played in an illegal lottery that flourished for decades before states started taking over the gambling business.

Back in the 1940s, my uncle was a numbers runner who walked down alleys collecting nickel and dime bets in an illegal lottery that flourished for decades in poor neighborhoods. He couldn't write down the numbers that people wagered on because that was evidence if the police caught him. He had to memorize each number, who bet it, and the amount wagered. It was a tricky and intricate situation where a good memory came in handy.

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NOW THAT THE voters have spoken, I hope New Mexico small government Republicans rethink their lockstep support for the 80-plus-year failed big government federal prohibition on the cannabis plant.

In 2010, Gov. Susana Martinez campaigned vowing to repeal New Mexico's medical marijuana law, which helps New Mexicans who have chronic conditions, or who might be terminally ill with cancer. After her inauguration, Martinez relented, saying "We have bigger issues that we have to deal with."

In 2014, Martinez claimed that merely reducing marijuana penalties is a "horrible, horrible idea"?

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In the latest taxpayer-funded mailout to all households in his Hastings-Prince Edward riding, our illustrious member of Parliament asks us if we are feeling safer these days. Daryl Kramp wants our feedback, postage-free (read: We are all paying for this with our taxes), sent back to him in Ottawa. Within that same mailout we are told exactly how the Harper Government has made us safer. So, naturally, our answers should be, "Yes. I feel safer. Thank God for Mr. Harper."

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Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Fear the No-Retail Vote Could Kill Their Business.

Owners of medical marijuana dispensaries in Lakewood say the vote to ban retail sales could be the death knell for their businesses.

And some marijuana opponents flush with excitement over the ballot victory say the fight isn't over.

"I was elated, just thrilled," said Dan Cohrs, chief financial officer for Colorado Christian University, one of two groups that opposed retail sales."We had a targeted push, a grassroots campaign focused on educating the public, and to win by a landslide is exhilarating."

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Forget that post-graduation barista job. Given that four U.S. states have legalized marijuana, "budtender" is now one of the hottest retail jobs in America.

The legalization movement, which began when California voters approved medical marijuana in 1996, has long argued that one big reason to legalize marijuana is to stop sending adults to jail for using a drug that basically doesn't have fatal implications, unlike legal ones like alcohol and nicotine.

Yet the experiments in Colorado and Washington state, both of which legalized recreational marijuana in 2012 and where pot is now sold in shops, have begun to highlight an economic side to the issue. Residents in Oregon and Alaska will also soon see the impact of regulated marijuana sales.

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