Never in the history of this nation has any policy been as detrimental to our professed love of liberty and our democratic process as the War On (some) Drugs. From corruption of our nation's community police agencies to the death of innocents (not just from gang-warfare crossfire, but in wrong-address drug raids), the cost of continued prohibition will prove fatal to our freedoms and the Constitution protecting them. When the U.S. has gone from a global champion of freedom to the most imprisoned nation on Earth, it is heartening to see law-enforcement officials joining the voices of opposition to the drug war. Hopefully, our newspapers will soon join the clamor against a policy that has become, truthfully and sadly, the front line of creeping fascism in the former land of the free. Allan Erickson, Drug Policy Forum of Oregon, Eugene, Ore. [end]
Like so many people with liberal persuasions, Norm Stamper refuses to recognize that it is the drugs that are the problem, not the drug laws or prison overcrowding, civil rights, social injustices, police misconduct, ad nauseam. I would recommend Stamper spend some time reading "What's best for Baby M?" [special report, page one, Dec. 4]. This well-prepared, five-page article details the travails of Seattle residents Liz Campo and Mike Testa, who lost their home, jobs and their "Baby M" to Washington Child Protective Services due primarily to drug use, particularly methamphetamine. [continues 166 words]
Complacency Is So Rampant, You Can't Just Say Go Editor, The Times: After having lived across the street from a drug house for 15 years and having worked as an RN in both a detox center and a psychiatric unit, I find former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper's drug theories dangerous and deplorable ["Legalize drugs -- all of them," Times guest commentary, Dec. 4]. If drug users would be responsible in any way for the problems they cause, to themselves and to anyone unlucky enough to be part of their lives, Stamper's theory might make some sense. Their drug use does not have a positive effect on anyone. I don't remember taking the history of a single drug user that didn't indicate it all started with marijuana use. [continues 162 words]
The case of the missing pot arrests has led to a spat between City Attorney Tom Carr and activists who claim Carr is using his office to play down the benefits of voter-approved Initiative 75. "He has made generalized statements that do not correlate to the data at hand," said Dominic Holden, a leader of the 2003 ballot measure that made small marijuana arrests the lowest priority for Seattle police. "It undercuts the focus of voters in a democracy." Carr defended himself, saying he made a mistake last month when citing arrest statistics but that the error doesn't change his belief that the initiative has had only a nominal effect -- if any. [continues 333 words]
I'm writing about David S. Danback's Nov. 24 letter, "Why allow tobacco sales?" The simple answer is because prohibition doesn't work. It never has and never will except to provide for the full employment of those doing the prohibiting. We don't have tobacco-related crime of any major significance. This would soon change if we removed tobacco from the legitimate market and criminalized it. If tobacco were criminalized, it would be unregulated, untaxed and controlled by criminal gangs just like recreational drugs are today. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
Seattle's Move to De-Prioritize Marijuana Arrests Is Working What kind of drug experts are awake at 8:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning? Normally, one would expect to see only the most ragged tweakers on Capitol Hill up at such an hour. But in Seattle last week a bunch of middle-class professionals--drug experts all--were gathered bright and early in a dim conference room at the downtown Red Lion. They wore business attire and academic eyewear, carried laptops and lattes, and shared one common goal: to dismantle the war on drugs. [continues 2335 words]
Sometimes people in law enforcement will hear it whispered that I'm a former cop who favors decriminalization of marijuana laws, and they'll approach me the way they might a traitor or snitch. So let me set the record straight. Yes, I was a cop for 34 years, the last six of which I spent as chief of Seattle's police department. But no, I don't favor decriminalization. I favor legalization, and not just of pot but of all drugs, including heroin, cocaine, meth, psychotropics, mushrooms and LSD. [continues 1125 words]
A group of local attorneys is criss-crossing the nation with an urgent message: The war on drugs has failed, and it's time to find an exit strategy. Led by Kirkland attorney Roger Goodman, the King County Bar Association's Drug Policy Program has, for the past five years, been front and center in the growing debate over the drug war. "The government must assert regulation and control over the drugs themselves ... to undercut the illicit market," Goodman said Thursday. "That means drug by drug we must determine what regulatory measures should be taken." [continues 765 words]
SEATTLE -- Two criminal defense lawyers - one who served as a city judge, the other a prominent member of his church - were sentenced to prison time Friday for accepting drug money. The sentencing judge said he was deeply troubled by their conduct. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez ordered James L. White, 49, a practicing lawyer and judge in Edmonds, to serve a year and a half in prison. White pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering, and admitted accepting $250,000 in tainted money from a drug trafficker he represented. [continues 621 words]
Clallam County Superior Court has been increasingly busy over the past decade, and 2005 is already the busiest year ever. The year still has almost a month to go, but it has seen more criminal cases coursing through the court system than in 2004, or any year before it. In 2004, prosecutors opened 564 separate criminal cases, according to data from the Clallam County Superior Court Administrator's Office. As of Thursday, 587 people have had charges brought against them, according to numbers from the Superior Court Clerk's Office. [continues 201 words]
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A unanimous state Supreme Court, buttressing the state's strict limits on warrantless searches, said Thursday that a roommate or houseguest can give only limited permission for a search. The court threw out a methamphetamine possession conviction of an Everett man, Robert John Morse. The opinion put police on notice that they must be careful in obtaining permission to do searches when they don't have a warrant. Both federal and state constitutions generally view warrantless searches as unreasonable and allow only narrow exceptions. [continues 381 words]
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A unanimous state Supreme Court, buttressing the state's strict limits on warrantless searches, said Thursday that a roommate or houseguest can give only limited permission for a search. The court threw out a methamphetamine possession conviction of an Everett man, Robert John Morse. The opinion put police on notice that they must be careful in obtaining permission to do searches when they don't have a warrant. Both federal and state constitutions generally view warrantless searches as unreasonable and allow only narrow exceptions. [continues 393 words]
I'm writing about: "Former police chief advocates legal drugs" (11-22-05). I'd like to add that many judges and prison wardens have said that 70 to 80 percent of all property crime and violent crime is "drug-related." Actually almost 100 percent of all so-called "drug-related crime" is caused by drug prohibition policies - not drugs. When Coca-Cola contained cocaine instead of caffeine and sold for 5 cents a bottle, the term "drug-related crime" didn't exist. Neither did drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we know them today. [continues 111 words]
Washington's hazardous methamphetamine labs are reminiscent of the deadly exploding liquor stills that sprang up throughout the nation during alcohol prohibition. Drug policies modeled after prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit supply while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like meth, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. [continues 153 words]
Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske fired a patrol officer and disciplined two sergeants Wednesday in a long-running misconduct investigation, according to department sources familiar with the inquiry. But one of the sergeants said Kerlikowske did not uphold the most serious misconduct finding against him, a last-minute move that caught the head of the department's internal investigation unit by surprise. The sergeant, James Arata, was found to have jokingly referred to a subordinate as a "rat" because that officer had cooperated with FBI investigators looking into the department. But Kerlikowske did not uphold a finding that concluded Arata twice had interfered with investigators and had failed to properly supervise the officer who was fired. [continues 1442 words]
Since Seattle voters famously made the Emerald City a bit greener by mandating that cops mellow out when it comes to marijuana possession busts, a funny thing has happened. Nothing. Nada. Nil. No crazy hopheads running amok with "reefer madness." No groundswell of support to legalize the drug (at least no more than usual), and no discernible protest by law enforcement that a pro-drug message effectively has been sent -- or received. "I'd say it's had little to no effect," said City Attorney Tom Carr, an outspoken opponent of Initiative 75, the 2003 ballot measure that directed Seattle police to make low-level pot busts their lowest priority. "And that's good. It hasn't been a problem. You can tell by the numbers." [continues 905 words]
Stamper Said Legalization Cuts Money for Organized Crime Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper advocated the decriminalization of drugs in a speech before a packed audience Wednesday in Arntzen Hall 4. Western sociology professor Ron Helms, who said he organized the event to expose the community to a controversial viewpoint, introduced Stamper to the audience. "When I see opportunities to bring people in who can offer insight and thereby stimulate public discourse on policy, I jump in," Helms said. The reasoning for decriminalizing drugs, Stamper said, comes from the largely ineffective war on drugs the Nixon administration started in 1971. [continues 542 words]
Things started going badly in MerriLynn Leslie's life when she was still in the womb, sharing heroin with her mother. Back in 1967, when MerriLynn was born at a Burien hospital, neither the medical staff nor her adoptive parents knew anything about drug-affected infants. No one understood that she was born predisposed to alcohol and drug addiction, that her hyperactivity and inability to sleep through the night might be the result of prenatal exposure to drugs. Two years ago, MerriLynn, now 38, gave birth to a son at Swedish Medical Center. The staff was familiar with the needs of newborn drug addicts. Unlike his mother, Sam's symptoms were obvious. He trembled and cried, his wails filling the corridors. [continues 1329 words]
Sheriff Says Forest Service Should Pay More Toward Costs Of Shutting Down Operations On Federal Land The number of marijuana fields found in Chelan and Okanogan counties this year exceeds that found in the rest of the national forests in Washington and Oregon combined. WENATCHEE - Chelan County sheriff's officials want more money from the U.S. Forest Service to pay for increasing marijuana busts that deputies have investigated on national forest lands. Sheriff Mike Harum said he asked the Forest Service for $48,000 in overtime and other costs incurred by his office after eight pot fields were found on forest lands this year. [continues 315 words]
Offenders Get Treatment Instead Of Jail When defendants show up even when they don't have to, you know you're in a different kind of courtroom. "James? Why are you here?" asks Judge Tari Eitzen, who presides over Spokane County's drug court. "I missed you," the young man calls out from his seat in the courtroom, provoking laughs from others in attendance. "I was hoping to talk to you when you're done." James hints things aren't going so well, but Eitzen stays positive, congratulating him and leading a round of applause at news he's approaching nine months of sobriety. [continues 390 words]
Some say that you cannot legislate morals. Acknowledged, if people want to misbehave, they can always find a way. But every law involves morals. It is either moral (lawful) to lie, cheat, steal and kill, or it isn't. Every society chooses its values. A common argument for legalization of vices like gambling and recreational drug use is that people are going to do them anyway, why not legalize them to be monitored and taxed? The same argument could be made for under-age smoking and drinking, or even bullying. Since we know bullying happens, perhaps we could sell licenses for it on certain days. We could have a class of "deserving" victims, or we could let the bullies take care of school discipline. The commonality of a behavior is not a measure of whether it is right or wrong. [continues 64 words]
Horror of Drug Epidemic Spawned New Solutions You wouldn't know by looking, but this is a city with a crystal meth problem. The Spokane River flows through the middle of this city, surrounded on both sides by leafy parks. Two university campuses sit near the city's core, and students tap away on laptops or chat with friends in nearby pubs and coffee shops. Even as dusk approaches, female joggers run solo through secluded stretches of Spokane's picturesque riverside pathways. [continues 2490 words]
Climbing Club Helps Members Find Confidence For Frank Williams, getting high is something he now measures in feet - -- not ounces. Williams, 54, is sober after 35 years of abusing alcohol, meth, heroin and cocaine, thanks in part to a program at Spokane's Union Gospel Mission that teaches recovering addicts mountain climbing as a way of healing their bodies and spirits. "It's really helped me turn my life around," says Williams, wiping tears from his eyes. Drug treatment is in high demand as Spokane and other communities in the U.S. northwest grapple with growing methamphetamine use. [continues 316 words]
No one can argue against the need for the state's fight, led by Attorney General Rob McKenna, against methamphetamine. However, some suggestions to further the fight, offered by McKenna's task force "Operation: Allied Against Meth," are troubling. The most problematic portion of the report is the call to allow law enforcement greater use of wiretaps, bugs and secretly taped conversations. The practice is known as "one-party consent," wherein investigators can listen with wiretaps or tape conversations without the targeted person knowing. [continues 320 words]
When Rep. Brian Baird first went to Congress and started pushing for money and programs to fight methamphetamine addiction, his legislative colleagues looked at him askance and asked, "What's meth?" Today, as a leader of Congress' 100-member meth caucus, when the Olympia congressman approaches his colleagues for help sponsoring an amendment, they say, "If it's meth, I'm on it." The turnaround, unfortunately, signals the spread of meth addiction across the country and the mounting effort to curb the spread of meth addiction. [continues 556 words]
Some Smaller Stores Will Stop Selling Cold Medications Rather Than Keep Track Of The Sales OLYMPIA - Cold and allergy sufferers may have trouble finding the medicine they seek at the corner market next year. Starting Jan. 1, some owners of minimarkets in the state are expected to stop selling popular medications such as Sudafed, Actifed and Claritin because a new state law requires them to log each sale and obtain the signature of every buyer. "When you have a cold or an allergy attack, don't turn to your convenience store for any relief. The Legislature has put an end to that," said T.K. Bentler, executive director of the Washington Association of Neighborhood Stores. [continues 565 words]
Concerned parents join teens at community meeting For the crowd gathered at the Seniors Centre for the Substance Abuse Forum last Thursday night, Chad Walker's story of drug addiction and of his attempts at recovery was at once disturbing and inspiring. The forum, sponsored by the local Rotary Club, was designed to offer concerned residents the chance to educate themselves on the threats posed to the region by crystal meth and a host of other common street drugs. Dean Nicholson of the East Kootenay Addiction Services started things off, outlining the differences between substance use and substance abuse, offering some numbers to give a more precise sense of drug use in the Kootenays But it was 27-year-old Walker who clearly had the greatest impact on those in attendance. [continues 336 words]
The 7-Eleven stores in Washington have decided to stop selling cold and allergy medicines that can be used to make methamphetamine, rather than keep a record of every sale. Robin Pavlish, market manager for 7-Eleven Inc., said the new requirements adopted last week by the state Board of Pharmacy are too much of a burden for the chain's 225 stores in Washington. Beginning Jan. 1, retailers must track sales of Sudafed, Actifed, Drixoral, Claritin-D and other medicines that contain ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine. Those ingredients can be used to make meth, a highly addictive drug that can produce violent behavior in its users and can become toxic over time. [continues 495 words]
OLYMPIA -- A state task force has generated several ideas on how to fight methamphetamine use in the state, including making it a crime to possess large quantities of precursor chemicals used to make the highly addictive drug. The 28-member task force, called "Operation: Allied Against Meth," was appointed in August by state Attorney General Rob McKenna. A preliminary report was released to The Associated Press Monday; a final review and recommendation will be made at a public hearing Wednesday. The task force includes state and local law enforcement officials, prosecutors, business and community representatives, treatment providers and elected officials. [continues 267 words]
For five years, former Police Chief Norm Stamper has stood alone as the man who let the WTO's visit become forever known as "The Battle in Seattle." Stamper is once again a solitary man, this time as an experienced lawman who thinks the world would be a better place if drugs were legal. In an Oct. 16 Los Angeles Times op-ed piece titled, "Let Those Dopers Be," Stamper called for the legalization of "not just pot, but all drugs," including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and LSD. [continues 430 words]
I don't know where Sandra S. Bennett got her figure, that every year we lose 50,000 Americans to illicit drugs, as she stated in her Oct. 12 letter, "Battle illicit drugs." According to http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm there are 17,000 deaths from all illegal drug use combined, direct and indirect. No doubt that 17,000 illegal drug deaths are tragic, but this pales in comparison to the 435,000 deaths from tobacco use or the 365,000 deaths from poor diets or physical inactivity. [continues 80 words]
Herb-friendly stickers will pepper the HUB lawn today during the UW's first-ever Legalize Marijuana Bake Sale. The UW chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) organized the bake sale with the campus Libertarians to show support for marijuana decriminalization, said Leoule Goshu, co-president of the ACLU at the UW. Members of the two organizations will sell brownies (no, not "those" brownies) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. In particular, members of the ACLU at the UW feel the federal government should legalize the use of medical marijuana, which can be used to treat the side effects of illnesses like cancer, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma, according to the National Institutes of Health. Washington and 10 other states have already legalized the use of marijuana with a doctor's prescription. [continues 195 words]
The state's drug abuse prevention leaders are in Yakima this weekend learning new strategies for keeping Washington healthy and drug-free. More than 600 teachers, students, law enforcement officers, clergy and health professionals are at the Yakima Convention Center for the Washington State Prevention Summit, which ends Saturday. In his opening remarks, Mike Lowther, director of state and community assistance at the national Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, called on attendees to work together to lower substance abuse rates. "You can succeed; in fact, you have been succeeding in this state for some time," he said. [continues 237 words]
As college students around the country prepare for this semester's midterms, thousands of their would-be classmates don't have anything to study for because of a federal law that strips financial aid from people with drug convictions. The policy is currently being reconsidered as Congress renews the Higher Education Act (HEA) for the first time in seven years. While the HEA was originally enacted in 1965 to make higher education more accessible and affordable for all Americans, the Drug Provision - added during the 1998 HEA reauthorization - is an unjustifiable roadblock in the path to college. Over the past seven years, more than 175,000 students have lost their financial aid because of the HEA Drug Provision. [continues 662 words]
An American medical-marijuana advocate who says he was arrested at a Canadian hospital while waiting to be admitted for prostate surgery, turned over to U.S. authorities and held for several days without having his catheter removed was released from a Seattle jail to seek medical care Thursday. "The whole time I was in jail, they put a blood-pressure cuff on me. That was all," Steven William Tuck, crying and shaking, said after his release. His lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, and the president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sunil Aggarwal, brought him to Harborview Medical Center, where he was being evaluated in the emergency room Thursday night. [continues 191 words]
SEATTLE - An American medical-marijuana advocate who says he was arrested at a Canadian hospital while waiting to be admitted for prostate surgery, turned over to U.S. authorities and held for several days without having his catheter removed was released from a Seattle jail to seek medical care Thursday. "The whole time I was in jail, they put a blood-pressure cuff on me. That was all," Steven William Tuck, crying and shaking, said after his release. His lawyer, Douglas Hiatt, and the president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Sunil Aggarwal, brought him to Harborview Medical Center, where he was being evaluated in the emergency room Thursday night. [continues 518 words]
Gene Kuechmann recommended in his Sept. 11 letter, "Expose the results of war," that "Every time an American is killed and every time an American is maimed for life in Iraq, it should receive front-page treatment, above the fold." At least these soldiers are giving their lives for an honorable quest and their families and loved ones can take comfort in that memory. On another battlefield, we lose more than 50,000 Americans every year to illicit drugs. And, 16,000 of those are young people, students our children. When are we going to start keeping tally of the loss of those lives on the front page, above the fold? [continues 65 words]
SEATTLE - An Army veteran who fled to Canada to avoid prosecution for growing marijuana to treat his chronic pain was yanked from a hospital by Canadian authorities, driven to the border with a catheter still attached, and turned over to U.S. officials, his lawyer says. He then went five days with no medical treatment and only ibuprofen for the pain, attorney Douglas Hiatt said. Steven W. Tuck, 38, was still fitted with the urinary catheter when he shuffled into federal court for a detention hearing Wednesday, Hiatt said. ``This is totally inhumane. He's been tortured for days for no reason,'' Hiatt said. [continues 406 words]
SEATTLE -- A U.S. Army veteran who fled to Canada to avoid prosecution because he grew marijuana to help control chronic pain was yanked from a hospital by Canadian authorities, driven to the U.S. border with a catheter still attached, and turned over to U.S. officials - who provided him with no medical treatment for five days, his lawyer said. Steven William Tuck, 38, was still fitted with the urinary catheter when he shuffled into U.S. District Court for a detention hearing Wednesday, said his lawyer, Douglas Hiatt. [continues 485 words]
WASHINGTON -- The FBI, famous for its straight-laced crime-fighting image, is considering whether to relax its hiring rules over how often applicants could have used marijuana or other illegal drugs earlier in life. Some senior FBI managers have been deeply frustrated that they could not hire applicants who acknowledged occasional marijuana use in college, but in some cases already perform top-secret work at other government agencies, such as the CIA or State Department. FBI Director Robert Mueller will make the final decision. "We can't say when or if this is going to happen, but we are exploring the possibility," spokesman Stephen Kodak said [continues 862 words]
What sense does it make to abandon the battle against methamphetamine in order to seize thousands of marijuana plants? (Oct. 2 article, "Pot production on the rise.") Let's take a quick inventory of the effects of the two drugs. Meth: anger/ rage attacks, weak bones, loose teeth and addiction that can make even the sanest law abiding citizen turn into a criminal. Now let's take a look at marijuana: strong appetite, the desire to drive slowly, and a mellowing effect. Any layman can see that taking time away from the battle against meth in order to hunt and destroy marijuana is a waste of time. Authorities should learn that the American people are in favor of legalizing marijauna and their ridiculous laws will be laughed at by future generations the way they laugh at prohibition today. Gary Beane Gold Bar [end]
Come on over, we'll get high as a blimp. I have enough dextromethorphan to give all of us out-of-body experiences. I tried to buy a large enough supply of a cold remedy with DXM recently to treat sniffles, but I hit a roadblock at a drugstore. I was stymied at the cash register, while out in the car, my very sick granddaughter had a fever and her Grampie waited for headache relief. Loaded with over-the-counter potential cures, I was caught like a crook. [continues 587 words]
The use of drug-detecting dogs is absolutely essential. We send our children to school in good faith, fully expecting a safe environment in which they can be educated. Unfortunately, our schools have become a "swap meet" for drug sales and exchanges. The daily battle that parents and school personnel wage against illegal drugs has grown increasingly complicated. The stakes in the war of drugs vs. family are higher now than ever. Our society has gradually been infiltrated by the addition of powerfully addictive and relatively inexpensive substances that have the capacity to completely destroy lives and communities. The profound economic effect on contemporary society is only beginning to be felt. Those individuals who make a living from the tragic addiction of others will stop at nothing to infiltrate our schools and poison our young people. We need every tool at our disposal to halt this disastrous phenomenon. Bring on the dogs. Anne Lawrence, Vancouver [end]
A top federal drug official defended the Bush administration Wednesday against a growing chorus of charges that the White House has failed to respond to the methamphetamine crisis facing communities nationwide. On a visit to Vancouver, John Horton, assistant deputy for state and local affairs for the White House Office of Drug Control Policy, said the administration has made significant progress in eliminating meth "superlabs" on U.S. soil and in reducing meth use among young people age 12 to 18. [continues 679 words]
Drug-sniffing dogs are coming to the Evergreen District's high schools to root out illegal substances in lockers and cars. Here's a cheer for the effort, and here's hoping the dogs don't find a thing. That would make school administrators perfectly happy. The program, which was vetted during months of decision-making and preparation, will be explained to students at each of the district's high schools this week. While the Vancouver Police and Clark County deputies who bring the dogs will be prepared to make arrests, the primary goal is to keep drugs way from schools altogether, more than it is to nab users on school campuses. And that, for the most part, is fine with "clean" students, who should not have to walk into a school restroom and find classmates smoking marijuana, or be witness to drugs changing hands in the parking lot. [continues 300 words]
Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge has disclosed that his office will no longer recommend or support certain alternative drug penalties until the system is fixed. "People get cut loose on the day of sentencing, with the promise they will seek treatment," Hauge said. "But there are no local treatment facilities that provide what they need." Hauge released a detailed, six-page memorandum this week stating his office will no longer recommend the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA) as part of any felony disposition. [continues 345 words]
Border Crackdowns And Increased Enforcement In Other States Make Remote Spots Of Washington Ideal For Growing Marijuana. ENTIAT - Wary eyes search for rattlesnakes in the desert grasses covering the dry hills. The scorched remains of pine trees from an old wildfire loom overhead. Then, hidden beneath a thicket of brush, bright green plants stand out. In terraced dirt, nurtured by an elaborate irrigation system, 465 marijuana plants are tucked away, obscured by the winding branches of vine maple and brush. It's a remote area of north central Washington's Wenatchee National Forest bordering the Entiat Wildlife Refuge to the south and an apple orchard to the east. [continues 358 words]
I'm writing about your thoughtful Sept. 21 editorial titled, "County gave its best efforts with meth tax." Instead of increasing the existing sales taxes, why not tax a product that is now completely untaxed? Why not tax marijuana? Instead of attempting to nullify the immutable law of supply and demand, our government should regulate, control and tax it. We could easily tax marijuana at about 90 percent of its retail price. The vast majority of marijuana's current price is the result of the "prohibition tax" which is now going to organized crime. [continues 106 words]
If little or no progress is made in the next few years in conquering the methamphetamines scourge that is ravaging America, it won't be for lack of trying in the Pacific Northwest. The meth-addiction problem is understood and powerful tactics are emerging on three levels. In Congress, U.S. Rep. Brian Baird, D-Vancouver and co-founder of the House Meth Caucus, helped draft a bill that was introduced last week. The Methamphetamine Epidemic Elimination Act, with 32 co-sponsors, has four provisions that warrant approval. It would limit the amount of pseudoephedrine or ephedrine a person could purchase at one time to 3.6 grams; restrict and monitor importation of other chemicals used to make meth; boost enforcement of environmental laws against meth cooks who pollute the environment by requiring them to pay restitution for cleanup costs; and require importers of meth precursor chemicals to disclose details about the chain of distribution. [continues 169 words]
In the last seven years, more than 8,000 middle school students in Oak Harbor have been subjected to Officer Steve Nordstrand's goofy sense of humor. At the same time, the kids learned how to recognize and resist pressures to use drugs and alcohol. Nordstrand took over as the DARE officer in 1998, teaching the national Drug Abuse Resistance Education to sixth, seventh and eighth graders. Apparently, he's very good at it. He was recently selected as DARE Officer of the Year for the state of Washington and received a solid wood plaque. [continues 241 words]
Inside Washington
