A Fort Collins couple cited an illegal search and their medical marijuana registration as reasons a judge should dismiss charges against them for marijuana cultivation. Nicole and Alexander Baatsen said Larimer County Sheriff's Office investigators illegally searched their south Fort Collins home in 2007 when they ignored Nicole Baatsen's comments denying them access to the home. Sheriff's investigators searched the home Sept. 21 after surveying the home several times, sheriff's investigator Josh Sheldon said in court Wednesday. [continues 206 words]
Government officials from Washington, D.C., gathered for a press conference last week in a small, crowded classroom at the ACE Community Challenge Charter School in Denver. In front of a carefully coordinated backdrop of books and computers, they announced that Denver School District 1 would be the first in Colorado to institute a random student drug-testing program. Television news cameras rolled as deputy drug czarina Bertha Madras of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Deborah Price, assistant deputy secretary of the Department of Education, issued a $150,000 federal grant to the charter school's principal in the form of an oversized cardboard check. [continues 609 words]
David Harsanyi's May 13 column "The government's sorta-kinda-maybe logic" really nailed it. He clearly laid out all of the important issues regarding drug prohibition: the costly, self-perpetuating bureaucracy that feeds on the war on drugs (and people), the massive incarceration of non-violent drug offenders, paramilitary operations in the name of public safety, holes the size of Colorado in the governments new "report" and the relationship of that report to Walters' recent tour of the country trying to scare school systems into drug testing their students. [continues 652 words]
There are some things higher than the laws. -- Clarence Darrow, 1920 The number of Americans arrested for marijuana-related offenses is inching toward 20 million. The first such arrestee, it turns out, was an unemployed overall-clad Colorado farmhand who sold two marijuana cigarettes to an undercover federal agent in a Denver hotel in October 1937. Sentenced to four years in prison, Samuel Caldwell died of stomach cancer in Leavenworth prison before he could complete the term -- also making him, some believe, the first unofficial medical marijuana patient. [continues 844 words]
Adults cited for possessing less than an ounce of marijuana in Denver will no longer have to appear in court under a rule adopted by the city attorney. Now citations may be paid through the mail, Denver Assistant City Attorney Vincent DiCroce announced during the Denver Marijuana Policy Review Panel meeting Wednesday. Also, the panel voted 5-4 to recommend in its first report to the City Council that the city attorney stop prosecuting the simple adult marijuana-possession cases altogether. [continues 105 words]
Panel Right to Vote for Fewer Prosecutions The vote this week by Denver's Marijuana Policy Review Panel urging the city to stop convicting adults for simple marijuana possession reinforces the message voters have twice sent to local officials. It's a message law enforcement should heed. The panel voted 5-4 to ask the City Council to recommend an end to prosecution of simple possession cases for adults "absent compelling reasons articulated . . . in open court." The resolution echoes ballot questions passed in 2005 and 2007 that first legalized - although only in city statute books - adult possession of less than 1 ounce of pot and then instructed the city to make prosecuting simple possession the "lowest priority" for law enforcement. Voters backed both measures - by 53 percent and 57 percent, respectively. [continues 513 words]
Only lightly noted on this side of the border, our neighbor Mexico is engulfed in bloody, violent combat with and between death-dealing drug cartels. In a stunning reversal for President Felipe Calderon's crusade to subdue the drug trade and its perpetrators, Edgar Gomez, the national police chief and lead anti-cartel crusader, was assassinated this month outside his Mexico City home. "This could have a snowball effect, even leading to the risk of ungovernability," Mexico City sociologist Luis Astorga told The Washington Post. [continues 755 words]
Re: "Schools say yes to drug testing," May 18 news story. Some schools have started the random drug testing of extra-curricular students, and other schools are considering following suit. They have the well-being of their athletes in mind, and concerned parents believe that such testing will take the burden off their shoulders. However, they base their eagerness on hunches, anecdotes, "gut feelings," and perhaps just a sense that "something must be done" to reduce recreational drug use. While random testing feels good - that something is being done - nothing is being done. Once you get away from hunches and anecdotes and look at the straightforward facts, random drug testing makes no difference. And if it makes no difference, it makes no sense. That the federal government supports such nonsense is reason number (supply your own figure) not to trust their pronouncements about what to do about the "War On Drugs." Bertram Rothschild Aurora [end]
Objections to random student drug testing go far beyond privacy concerns. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Education Association oppose student drug testing because the programs are potentially counterproductive. Random testing can erode relationships of trust between students and adults at school, damaging an essential component of a safe and rewarding learning environment. Researchers from Oregon Health and Science University found attitudinal changes among students in schools with drug testing programs that indicate new risk factors for future substance use. [continues 92 words]
Whether your son plays on his high school's football or chess teams, or your daughter is the school's premier debater or basketball star, they could be required to submit to a random drug test if they want to participate. The kid who just shows up for class every day, though, will never have to worry about being singled out, maybe even if there's reason to suspect he or she is using drugs. That's the bottom line of a movement that is gaining acceptance and being adopted in an increasing number of school districts in many states. In Colorado, random drug testing for students participating in extracurricular activities is policy in three districts and under serious consideration in at least a dozen more. [continues 283 words]
Parents Want The Random Checks, But Opponents Say The Practice Is Useless. PAGOSA SPRINGS -- Dillon Sandoval would welcome an easy out -- a solid reason to say no to the dope-smoking among students in his high school. "If a kid has an excuse not to do it, people will stop asking him. Then they'd maybe even stop using," said Sandoval, a 16-year-old sophomore at Pagosa Springs High. The reason to just say no is coming. At least three districts in Colorado conduct random drug tests on students in extracurricular activities. Holyoke plans to begin testing next year. And representatives from schools in several other places -- Weld County, Durango, Archuleta County, Colorado Springs, Dolores and Towaoc -- were all in Pagosa Springs recently to hear federal drug warriors pitch the program. [continues 1247 words]
It could be argued that the most useless job in Washington, D.C., is held by John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He's otherwise known as the country's Drug Czar. And when you consider the spectacular number of useless jobs in Washington, that's quite an accomplishment. No one is saying, of course, that it's easy being a figurehead of a cost-inefficient organization charged with implementing the biggest domestic policy disaster since Prohibition. After all, it means advocating that thousands of non-violent offenders be sent to prison - -- quite often after paramilitary raids have reeled them in. [continues 502 words]
New Police Dog Bobby Joins A Growing K9 Unit That Is Invaluable To The Success Of The Department SUMMIT COUNTY - In the early hours of the morning on April 19, deputies from the Summit County Sheriff's Office responded to reports that a man had broken into another man's house and stabbed him with a knife at Farmer's Korner. As the suspect fled the scene on foot he dropped the knife, and quickly ran away from the critical piece of evidence linking him to the crime. That's when they called Tommy in. [continues 723 words]
Supporters of legalizing marijuana gathered in Civic Center Park behind the Larimer County Justice Center on Saturday. The event in Fort Collins was part of the Global Marijuana March; 239 cities across the globe also held events. Supporters also set up shop in Boulder, Denver and Colorado Springs. "We believe it's time to stop the prohibition on marijuana," said Gregory Stinson, president of Front Range Norml, a group that advocates the legalization of marijuana. "It's senseless and needless." Marijuana is a safer alternative to many prescription medicines and alcohol, he said. [continues 239 words]
Craig - Tim Martin, a 24-year-old Craig man, said he has battled a "well-documented" history of severe pain caused by migraine headaches and stomach ailments for almost 10 years. Medical marijuana, which seven months ago he cultivated in his Craig apartment for himself and others, helps alleviate that pain. "That is the only reason I use marijuana - for pain," he said. "This medical marijuana is a right for me. It's something that treats my illness, and it helps." [continues 702 words]
After She Lost Custody Because of Meth Abuse, Her Daughter Died in the Care of a Foster Mother. PUEBLO - Ashley Lindenberger watches helplessly as her 2-year-old daughter screams from across the street. "Mommy, Mommy, help me!" Alize cries, but her mother can't move. It's one of many nightmares that wake Lindenberger in the night. But when she opens her eyes, the nightmare doesn't end: She knows she can never help Alize. Her daughter is dead because of a chain of bad choices that began with her own. [continues 1996 words]
Random drug testing is so appropriate in some sectors - those directly related to public safety - that it should be a given. But the schoolhouse is not one of those sectors, at least not when it comes to students. The federal government, though, doesn't see it that way. Thursday, its "drug czarina" Bertha Madras, visited Pagosa Springs to discuss the benefits of random student drug testing. The practice is seen as a "powerful public health tool" that deters drug use among students. [continues 367 words]
Testing Will Give Kids a 'Reason' To Say No to Drugs, Resist Peer Pressure, Educators Say EAGLE-VAIL, Colorado -- A random drug testing policy could soon be implemented at Battle Mountain High School that school leaders hope will deter substance abuse and help students battling addiction find counseling and treatment. School leaders say drug and alcohol use is a serious problem at Battle Mountain and has affected their ability to educate students. In the past two years, there have been dozens of students sent to the principal's office and suspended because of drugs and alcohol, and six students have been expelled. [continues 786 words]
I agree with the students of the University of Colorado NORML chapter that there are many effective ways to change the laws regarding marijuana and other drug policies. In support of the educational events on April 20 organized by CU NORML, we here at Students for Sensible Drug Policy would like to suggest one more way students can help to end destructive drug prohibition policies. Right now, Congress is deciding whether or not to repeal a federal drug penalty that revokes college financial aid from students with drug convictions. [continues 92 words]
Boulder Event Draws 10,000 - Some to Party, Some to Be Advocates It was a warmer-than-average, sunny day in Boulder on Sunday. And around 4:20 p.m. on the University of Colorado campus, the sky grew unusually hazy. Cheers erupted along with a heavy cloud of smoke as an estimated 10,000 people - mostly CU students joined by friends from out of town and some local residents - lit up to celebrate at an annual pot-smoking rally. Some said they were there to advocate for the legalization of marijuana. Others - including some who came just to watch - said it was all for fun. [continues 448 words]
Celebrated by many an avid pot smoker on the 20th day in April, yesterday's counterculture holiday "4/20" was a big hit on the CU campus as thousands gathered to the Norlin Library Quadrangle to celebrate. Clear skies prevailed throughout the afternoon as observers of the unofficial holiday began to congregate on the field, some as early as noon. Fashion of the day included a broad array of T-shirts touting pot references -- everything from "Half Baked" to "Rehab is for Quitters" -- and enough people sporting the color green to rival St. Patrick's Day. [continues 533 words]
"Nine, eight, seven ... " A crowd of about 10,000 people collectively began counting down on the University of Colorado's Norlin Quadrangle just before 4:20 p.m. today. Yet the massive puff of pot smoke that hovers over CU's Boulder campus every April 20 - the date of an annual, internationally recognized celebration of marijuana - began rising over the sea of heads earlier than normal this year. "Oh forget it," one student said, aborting the countdown to 4:20 p.m. and lighting his pipe early. He closed his eyes, taking a deep, long drag. [continues 998 words]
Police Abundant at Denver, Boulder Events Celebrating Marijuana. Marijuana smoke floated above the crowds that gathered in Denver and Boulder on Sunday to partake of the weed and protest laws against it. At Civic Center park in Denver police patrolled the edge of a crowd of more than 1,000, many of them passing joints, as hip-hop music blared from a stage. "The biggest concern of the city is just public safety," said Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson. "We are on the perimeter of the park looking out for children and underage activity. . . . The crowd seems to be relatively subdued." [continues 460 words]
The afternoon breeze was snapping, the better to ferry the pungent aroma of a certain recreational herb across the expanse of Denver's Civic Center. It was Sunday in the park with weed, thanks to the annual 420 pro-marijuana rally. Organizers hoped 2,000 people would show up to celebrate pot as medicine, sacrament and just the thing to get one through some of the more interminable Grateful Dead jams. "This is the first 420 rally the city has ever issued a permit for," said Holly G. Conrad, an organizer who uses pot to bring relief from muscular dystrophy. "We're not promoting its use, we just want to educate the public." [continues 449 words]
ADMINISTRATORS FOR the Pueblo City Schools say they face a growing problem of teenage drug and alcohol use, so they are asking for a tough new policy that would include random drug testing and searches. Superintendent John Covington said the proposed drug testing is "not an 'I gotcha kind of thing.' It's to find the students who are using drugs and get them help." Terri Martinez-McGraw, director of student intervention services, told a recent work session of the Board of Education that agencies such as Catholic Charities already have provided free counseling for students with drug, alcohol and mental health problems. She noted that the district's current drug policy is more than a decade old. [continues 51 words]
Marijuana users abound in Boulder. A report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in August 2005 revealed that 10.3 percent of Boulder residents over the age of 12 admitted to using marijuana in the last month. The impending Sunday, April 20 (4/20) celebration of the psychoactive herb, held annually on the CU campus, calls attention to the issues surrounding, as well the opinions regarding, marijuana use. [continues 891 words]
Student smokers, in perhaps the cliched easy-going fashion associated with marijuana, are getting ready for the annual 4/20 celebration on the University of Colorado campus. Official smoke-out T-shirts sold online simply say: "University of Colorado. April 20. Farrand Field." And a group on the networking Web site Facebook is demanding that Slightly Stoopid, an acoustic reggae hip-hop group, come play at CU for Sunday's event -- but it stops short of organizing a concert. "Nobody got in touch with us," said Matt Phillips, public relations coordinator for the group, adding that Slightly Stoopid is interested in coming to Boulder for a fall concert. (The band is playing at Red Rocks on Aug. 15, and signed a contract agreeing not to play in the nearby market for five months prior to the concert). [continues 604 words]
Partying Culture Accepted By Parents And Teens, Police And Educators Say EAGLE COUNTY, Colorado -- Drug and alcohol abuse among teens is a major problem in Eagle County -- a problem that is often ignored and accepted as normal by students and families, community leaders say. A group of experts gathered at Berry Creek Middle School Thursday to talk about the extent of teen drug and alcohol use in Eagle County, and brainstorm solutions to the problem. In a survey of 853 high school students conducted by the Eagle River Youth Coalition, about 47 percent said they had at least one drink of alcohol in the past 30 days, and 31 percent said they had five or more drinks in a row in the past 30 days. [continues 622 words]
Facing a growing problem of teenage drug and alcohol use, Pueblo City Schools administrators want a tough new policy that would include random drug testing and searches. At a work session with the board of education Thursday afternoon, a number of local officials joined in a discussion of the problem as the board gets ready to revise its current rules and procedures. The school district's policy is more than a decade old, explained Terri Martinez-McGraw, director of student intervention services. [continues 521 words]
The city's first medical marijuana "store" plans to open Monday as part of a holistic healing center. James and Pam Fleming of Fort Collins are opening the EnerChi Healing Center, 1502 S. College Ave., above Repeat Boutique. The center will offer healing therapies ranging from kundalini yoga to ayurvedic medicine, hypnosis, nutrition, meditation, acupuncture and organic medical marijuana. Owner James Fleming said being able to provide medical marijuana to people with chronic pain, illness or other conditions is "incredibly important." [continues 456 words]
FORT COLLINS (AP) - A Fort Collins couple is opening a store to sell medical marijuana. Store owners James and Pat Fleming say they plan to serve the needs of people who suffer from chronic pain and other illnesses and that they're "not out to be legal drug dealers." The EnerChi Healing Center store would be the first of its kind in Fort Collins. Other services they will offer include yoga, hypnosis, nutrition and meditation. Fort Collins Police spokeswoman Rita Davis says what the Flemings are doing is legal as long as they are certified to grow marijuana and they sell it to users with a doctor's prescription and a state-issued registration card. Marijuana use for medical purposes became legal in Colorado when voters approved Amendment 20 in 2000. The store opens Monday. [end]
Newly Installed Drug Court Seeks To Aid In Client Recovery Craig -- The principal organizers of the long-awaited and newly installed Moffat County Drug Court agree on what would constitute a success: one client kicking a drug habit and turning around a life once on the brink of a prison sentence. "One person," said Jessie Cramer, a Communities Overcoming Meth Abuse board member and Drug Court committee representative. "That would mean a lot to me, and it would to their family and their children." [continues 1080 words]
BRECKENRIDGE - Don't be surprised if you walk out of the latest Backstage Theatre's production with a bad case of the munchies. "Reefer Madness," which opens tonight in Breckenridge, portrays a 1930s anti-marijuana propaganda film, but its satirical staging sends a different message. "It's over the top ... by the end you still have probably the most pro-marijuana message you could have in an anti-marijuana show," said Dustin Murphy, who plays the all-American boy Jimmy Harper. "There's lots of layers, and little pothead jokes." [continues 404 words]
(Re: "Marked man," cover story, Feb. 28.) Mark Udall continues to feed the hypocrisy of his life when he jokes about being arrested for marijuana when he was "young and reckless." He was sentenced to one year of probation and says he channeled the "experience" into "something positive" by going on to graduate college and eventually becoming executive director of Colorado Outward Bound, a state representative and now a federal representative. How well would Mark Udall have "overcome" his arrest if he were arrested under today's drug laws? [continues 348 words]
Last week I read a headline that said, "Senate committee approves death penalty for sex assaults on kids." The senate committee said in effect that anyone who sexually assaults a child under the age of 12 should be executed. I think that the committee that passed that bill needs to rethink what they did. I was a police officer for most of the time from 1964 to 1995. I will assure the committee and anyone else that the seriousness of the sentence has little or no impact on whether or not a criminal will commit a crime. They just never think about it. If it were true then there would be very few crimes committed. [continues 635 words]
Drug War Takes Another Turn To The Ridiculous Anyone who has seen the 1936 anti-drug movie "Tell Your Children," more commonly known as "Reefer Madness," knows the ridiculous levels the powers that be will go to in their attempts to keep Americans from using a product that harms no one but themselves. The movie follows the destructive paths of several young people who become "addicted" to marijuana through wild parties thrown by pushers. One scene has a young man, reefer tucked into to corner of his mouth, wildly pounding out jazz tunes. [continues 991 words]
Drug War Promotes Criminal Activity With 2.3 million Americans in prison, we should realize how ridiculous America appears to the rest of the world, as we invade nations to help them create a "better" society ("2.5M jailed in the land of the free," The Gazette, Feb. 29). America has become a police state with a prison system Stalin would have envied. The reason is simple: Drug prohibition is a failed policy which, by way of the law of unintended consequences, promotes and supports a large violent criminal element in our society. [continues 108 words]
But Use By Coloradans Ages 18 To 25 Rose In The Period Ending In 2004-05. The overall rate of illicit drug use by people 12 and older dropped slightly from 2003-04 to 2004-05 in Colorado, although the state was in the top five for illicit drug use, federal statistics show. Small declines in illicit drug use occurred among those ages 12 to 17 and adults 26 and older, according to a report released Wednesday by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. [continues 155 words]
Some students say no, science says yes In the weeks leading to CU's infamous 4/20 events, staff writer Rob Ryan explores the culture behind marijuana use among students. His three-part series begins today and ends with comprehensive coverage on April 20. Pot smoking could be a synonym for Boulder. CU ranks No. 15 on the Princeton Review's list of colleges with the highest use of pot among students. But when asked whether smoking pot is bad for them or not, there appears to be no easy answer. [continues 750 words]
Colorado Spent $599 Million On Corrections In '07 The number of Coloradans in prison has nearly tripled in 15 years, costing the state hundreds of millions of dollars. The prison population stands at 22,424. That number, plus 9,567 parolees and 13,200 people in county jails, represents more than 1 percent of the state's adult population, according to statistics kept by the Colorado Department of Corrections and County Sheriffs of Colorado. The Pew Center on the States last week reported that 2,319,258 Americans were in jail or prison at the start of 2008 - one out of every 99.1 adults. Whether per capita or in raw numbers, it's more than any other nation. [continues 611 words]
Task Force Aims To Intervene Before Meth Use Leads To Crime GLENWOOD SPRINGS - A preliminary study into Garfield County felony drug cases over four years shows that the number of methamphetamine cases has topped the number of cocaine cases -- previously the most prosecuted drug in the county. The ongoing study, conducted by the Western Colorado Methamphetamine Research Center at Mesa State College, has looked at cases from 2003 to 2007 and found that methamphetamine has become the most prosecuted drug in the county. [continues 412 words]
ACET Also Reaching Out To Users Seeking Help Craig -- The All Crimes Enforcement Team, formerly known as GRAMNET, seized more than $250,000 worth of illegal narcotics in 2007, a number more than double the previous year's drug seizures. "Our mission is the same -- to combat every aspect of illegal narcotics," said Garrett Wiggins, ACET task force commander. The year-end seizure numbers were part of information ACET recently released during its annual meeting with financial contributors and assisting agencies. [continues 581 words]
When I was a Michigan police officer, I spent my 12-hour shifts focusing on the drunk and reckless driver because they actually kill people. During my 18 years of service, the use of marijuana generated zero calls for service. Denver police might fear a change based on what Upton Sinclair said long ago: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on him not understanding it." As a realist, I am confident that the use of alcohol will always generate enough trouble, so that no officers will need to lose their paychecks when Colorado allows marijuana to be legal, regulated and taxed. Howard J. Wooldridge Westminster, CO [end]
Remember those Office of National Drug Control Policy commercials a few years ago that equated drug use with aiding terrorists? The rationale behind them was that terrorists often finance their operations with proceeds from sales of illegal drugs, so good Americans shouldn't buy drugs because doing so aids the enemy. It's difficult to argue with that. For many years, rebels in drug-producing areas of the world have used to the illicit drug trade to generate revenue. the U.S. government considers these rebels terrorists. [continues 392 words]
Windsor School District students may not be using drugs and alcohol as often as in the past, according to results from the Healthy Kids Colorado Survey that were being circulated Thursday. The survey, which was given to Windsor students in the 6th, 8th and 10th grades, is used to evaluate general behavioral practices that may help and/or hinder the learning progress. The results of the survey have been shared with administrators and principals. The results will soon be released to the public in newsletters at the high school and middle school, district officials say. [continues 258 words]
Lamar Police Chief Brian Phillips told The Lamar Ledger Monday he intends to move forward with plans to add a canine unit to the force in the near future. Phillips said his own experience as a canine officer in Florida during the 1990s has convinced him the dogs are an invaluable tool in both drug interdiction and search capacities. In a recent press release Phillips commented that currently, when police suspect the presence of drugs, the department's ability to search is limited by the constitutional rights of individuals. On the other hand, if a drug sniffing dog is present and alerts officers to the presence of illegal drugs, probable cause for a further search is established. [continues 404 words]
When Donald Vendel became Boulder's new police chief in 1967, he wrote a column in the Camera titled "Chief's Corner." At the time, illegal drugs had become Boulder's biggest police problem, but the city's residents knew very little about them. In one of Vendel's articles, he invited the locals to bring their own popcorn and to view a free movie at the Boulder Public Library on "the dangerous mind-warping drug LSD." Drug use was rapidly increasing. Before long, Boulder became known as "a home for displaced hippies and a crossroads of the nation's drug traffic," according to a Camera reporter. [continues 432 words]
White House drug czar John Walters recently criticized Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for failing to stop the flow of drugs from his country into the United States and Europe. "Where are the big seizures, where are the big arrests of individuals who are at least logical coordinators? When it's being launched from controlled airports and seaports, where are the arrests of corrupt officials? At some point here, this is tantamount to collusion," Walters said in a story by the Los Angeles Times. [continues 161 words]
Panel May Call for Few Prosecutions The mayor's panel on marijuana policy might consider recommending that the Denver city attorney halt most prosecutions of people who possess less than an ounce of pot. The idea was floated Monday by one of Mayor John Hickenlooper's panelists, attorney Frank Moya. He said the panel would fulfill its job to ensure last year's marijuana ordinance is implemented to the "greatest extent possible" as required by the initiative. More than 57 percent of Denver voters approved Initiative 100, an ordinance making private adult marijuana possession of less than an ounce the city's lowest law enforcement priority. As part of the initiative the mayor was required to appoint an 11-member Marijuana Policy Review Panel, which met for the first time Monday. [continues 187 words]
Real Estate Agents Want To Educate Youth On Drug Use John Giroux feels plenty of passion about methamphetamine. He has one simple goal: make it CLEAR that meth has no business in the Loveland community. CLEAR, the Coalition of Loveland for Education, Awareness and Resources, is the brainchild of Giroux and Scott Eastman, both local real estate agents. The group is only a year and a half old, but on Friday Giroux, along with members of local governments and law enforcement agencies, discussed how CLEAR could help eliminate meth use in Loveland. [continues 398 words]
Inside Colorado
