LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) - Marijuana isn't the kind of thing one expects to be asked about on a trip to a county administrative building. But folks outside an Arapahoe County building on a recent afternoon were surprisingly receptive to two men gathering signatures to petition a pot question onto ballots next year.

The petition, circulating for months, asks whether Colorado should be the first state to legalize marijuana for recreational use. Activists backing the measure say they've far cleared the 86,000 signature threshold to make ballots, and could have petitions to state officials for approval by the end of the year.

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Re: "Use vs. abuse" by Jeff McAbee, opinion, Dec. 9

Summit County is a great place, I am proud to be a Summit High School alum as well as a Summit County native. Unfortunately, being proud of my hometown doesn't mean everything is perfect. Mr. McAbee was absolutely right in talking about the drug and alcohol abuse taking place at the high school, and the importance of doing something.

Shame on those of you who are upset with him. He was very clear in stating abuse is not happening with every student. He also made it very clear that there is a difference between abuse and use, and students need to know the difference.

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BOULDER - A marijuana activist with a knack for controversy was convicted Thursday in a case stemming from a dust-up with supporters of a marijuana-legalization initiative.

A six-person jury convicted the activist, Corey Donahue, of trespassing and using fighting words after an all-day trial in Boulder Municipal Court.

The case began last summer, when Donahue refused to leave a meeting at the Boulder Public Library that was held by a campaign working to put a measure for limited marijuana legalization on the 2012 ballot.

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A Denver police property bureau sergeant who mistakenly destroyed four kilograms of cocaine before a case could go to trial pointed the finger at a deputy chief who he testified told him he could destroy evidence if he had not heard back from the detective in charge of the case.

Sgt. John Zak has testified most of the day in U.S. District Court in Denver about the missteps that led to the drugs being destroyed before the trafficking case against notorious gang leader Brian Hicks could go to trial.

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We're glad to see the state's health department probing medical marijuana referrals to see whether they are on the up and up.

Ensuring Colorado has a clean system will help ward off federal enforcement action that has been so controversial.

And despite what those who favor broader legalization of marijuana might think, a closely regulated system probably would help their cause with voters who are on the fence about making pot legal.

Last week, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued a statement saying the department would be taking a closer look at medical marijuana registry applications from certain physicians.

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In last Friday's Daily, regular columnist Jeff McAbee hit a few nerves when he took up the touchy topic of high school drug and alcohol use. Jeff, who also happens to be a campus supervisor at Summit High, remarked on his experience of finding a couple of empty beer cans in the boys' restroom, as well as the fact that a former student was recently arrested after allegedly selling pot in the high school. In what I thought was a well-written and thoughtful essay on use and abuse, Jeff made a point to note that not all SHS students are up to no good, and remarked on some of the hypocrisy that accompanies our messages as parents to our children.

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Local License Process Fee Will Cost $3,000; All Marijuana Business Required to Have It

With a unanimous vote Tuesday, La Plata County commissioners created a new set of licensing regulations and fees for the county's flourishing medical marijuana industry.

"In a matter of months, we pulled together a whole new structure," said Interim County Manager Joanne Spina as she applauded staff members for their work on the project.

Medical marijuana businesses are required under local land-use rules and state laws to have a local license. The fee to go through the process will be $3,000, commissioners decided.

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DENVER - Federal authorities are considering a statewide crackdown on medical marijuana businesses in Colorado in the first sign that a coordinated offensive against the industry is expanding from California.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Wednesday that such an enforcement action is under consideration for Colorado early next year, despite state laws that regulate and tax the industry. The official spoke on condition of anonymity and did not provide details because the matter is under review.

KCNC-TV reported Tuesday (http://cbsloc.al/tQ3DBq ) that the crackdown would target dispensaries and cultivations located near schools, with those businesses receiving letters to end operations within 45 days or face prosecution.

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For our kids, it's a critical distinction to learn

Two red, white and blue beer cans sat empty at the bottom of a boy's bathroom trash can at the high school on Tuesday. Someone had a couple of PBRs for lunch.

Monday afternoon at 5 o'clock a former student long since departed from the halls of Summit High strolled into the school. At 5:10 p.m., sheriff's deputies escorted the young man out the front door in handcuffs. He admitted that he sold marijuana to some students.

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Re. "Use vs. abuse" by Jeff McAbee, opinion, Dec. 9

I am a student at Summit High School. Recently I read the column by my campus supervisor, Jeff McAbee, about the substance abuse that many kids in the school are facing. I found it to be quite true, but then on Monday I heard kids complaining that Mr. McAbee was completely wrong. They interpreted his letter as being harmful to the school's publicity and they are being ignorant about the usage of substances. As a student, I see and hear pretty much everything that is the hype at SHS. A couple weeks ago some kids got suspended for bringing alcohol into class, and others were caught smoking pot outside. Everywhere I look I can usually see a student or two who has recently been abusing substances, and that fact scares me. Also, as I leave the school at the end of the day, I look over at the Stage stop, and I see kids just standing there smoking. Smoking in front of the school! In the past couple of years I have seen many friends of mine start to smoke and drink. Personally, this scares me. I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if the school had taken more preventive causes. Why don't we have a drug dog come in during the school day? Why don't we require kids to take drug tests to be on school teams? Why should one high kid be allowed to mess up learning time we all need? Why?

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Re. "Use vs. abuse" by Jeff McAbee, opinion, Dec. 9

As a Summit High School alum, reading Jeff McAbee's column on drugs and alcohol at Summit was far from surprising. I think, especially for the kids attending Summit High, alcohol/drugs being done amongst students is no secret. As an insider, I can understand the appalled reaction of finding PBR cans in the trash, but accusing students of using crystal meth?

Jeff made a couple huge accusations in his article that I think were very inappropriate, especially coming from a one-year employee. He started off the article basically saying that a little weed and a little alcohol was typical, and then grouped it with meth, LSD, cocaine - I found that to be wildly offensive, coming from an employee at a school situated in Breckenridge, which two years ago legalized marijuana.

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Re. "Use vs. abuse" by Jeff McAbee, opinion, Dec. 9

The recent column by Jeff McAbee regarding Summit High School's drug use is a disgrace to the whole district and to the student body. I was heartbroken to hear one of our own faculty members bash our students, and in such a blatant fashion. Students are upset about being stereotyped when such problems occur in schools all over the nation. Sure, he sees the bad eggs in our school, but those students are not representative of our entire student population. We are athletes. We are good students. We are proud Summit High School Tigers, and we are ashamed of our campus supervisor. To him, this might be a "playground" for druggies and college students, but to me this is home, and I will not tolerate someone posting smut about it.

Diane Mastin

SHS Tiger Tracks Editor

Silverthorne

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Medical-marijuana case against Aurora doctor dismissed For the second time this year, a judge has tossed out a criminal case against a doctor accused of writing bad medical-marijuana recommendations to undercover police officers.

Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour dismissed the case against Dr. Manuel Aquino-Villaman following a hearing Friday. Samour said Aquino-Villaman's actions were lawful under the Colorado Constitution, according to a court summary of the hearing. He also said the charges should be dropped because officials failed to preserve key evidence. Aquino-Villaman had been charged with felony conspiracy to distribute marijuana, in addition to forgery and attempt to influence a public servant.

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With three reportedly heroin-related deaths in Fort Collins in the past month, many have concluded that intravenous drug use is more prevalent in Fort Collins than previously thought.

But even before those deaths, several Fort Collins local authorities and a community support project have been on a collision course over a plan to set up the city's first legal needle exchange. A coalition spearheaded by the Northern Colorado AIDS Project says the reality of drug use demands the program be implemented for health reasons. Opponents of the plan are concerned the initiative would encourage and facilitate drug use, and tarnish the image of the city.

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Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Pat Sullivan, who was formally charged Friday in a drugs-for-sex case, in 2007 helped an acquaintance land a job at Cherry Creek schools - a young man whose unexplained death earlier this year involved methamphetamine.

Sullivan had a relationship with Sean Moss as far back as mid-2007, when the longtime sheriff was still director of security at Cherry Creek schools.

Earlier this year, Denver police detectives questioned Sullivan after Moss was found dead Jan. 26 in the South Platte River. Moss drowned with both methamphetamine and the club drug GHB in his system, according to an autopsy report made public Friday.

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Eight charged with moving 'highly pure' meth in southwest Colorado The Drug Enforcement Administration has arrested charged eight people on charges of trafficking "highly pure methamphetamine" in southwest Colorado, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver said today.

The two-year investigation netted $25,670 in cash, 6.5 pounds of meth and seven guns, including assault rifles, according to prosecutors.

Those arrested were Hilario Quintero-Rodriguez, 40; Octavio Quezada-Perez, 46; Abel Sanchez-Leon, 37; Flodina Beletso Gallegos, 28; Guadalupe Ruiz-Guardado, 50; Julio Mares-Ruiz, 25; Luis Jorge Martinez-Valdiva, 35; and Robert Mason Byas, 60.

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The passage of state medical-marijuana laws is associated with a subsequent drop in the rate of traffic fatalities, according to a newly released study by two university professors.

The study - by University of Colorado Denver professor Daniel Rees and Montana State University professor D. Mark Anderson - found that the traffic-death rate drops by nearly 9 percent in states after they legalize marijuana for medical use. The researchers arrived at that figure, Rees said, after controlling for other variables such as changes in traffic laws, seat-belt usage and miles driven. The study stops short of saying the medical-marijuana laws cause the drop in traffic deaths.

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Former Arapahoe County Sheriff Patrick Sullivan was arrested today on charges of trying to trade drugs to a man for sex, as investigators monitored the deal.

Drug task force officers were "visually monitoring" the deal when the 68-year-old retired cop delivered meth to an Aurora home and sought sex in return, said current Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson.

"This shows that no one is above the law, particularly a current or a former peace officer," said Robinson.

Robinson said Sullivan had an ongoing relationship with the man and others he had a history of bonding out of jails in the metro region.

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Russell Arnold Jr.'s eyes were bulging, and he was sweating and speaking gibberish.

So his girlfriend, Jayme Hammond, called 911 and told a Jefferson County sheriff's dispatcher she was afraid and also concerned for his safety.

"My boyfriend is high on something," Hammond said. "He is acting crazy."

About 20 minutes after that call for help, Arnold was dead.

Four Jefferson County sheriff's deputies fought with Arnold when they got to his apartment and used a Taser on him, but an autopsy determined Arnold, 34, didn't die from the struggle. He died from complications of methamphetamine toxicity.

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Polls, dispensary bans show Coloradans are split over possibly legalizing marijuana As proponents of a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana near the deadline to turn in signatures, they face a puzzling picture of the electorate.

An independent poll this summer found a slender majority of Coloradans support legalizing cannabis. But whenever marijuana has actually appeared on the ballot in Colorado in recent years - most commonly as measures to ban dispensaries and other marijuana businesses - it has generally fared poorly.

Voters in 33 cities and towns - including three earlier this month - have now decided to ban medical-marijuana businesses in their communities. Voters in nine counties have decided to do the same for unincorporated areas of their counties.

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