Police Aim To Shut Down Ontario Shop Ontario - Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee said Tuesday he hopes to force what he asserts to be a downtown drug paraphernalia shop, Old School, to operate within the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) by filing a civil complaint in Malheur County Circuit Court. "Where we would like to get is to a point where what she's doing is authorized by the law" he said. "It's all I can do." The owner of Old School and the defendant in the complaint, Victoria Miller, said she has always operated within the law. And, she said, she thinks of her business as a tobacco accessory and art shop, not one that sells drug paraphernalia. [continues 941 words]
Methamphetamine is no longer flowing out of a meth lab located in a home next door or a building down the street. Instead, it is streaming across the U.S.-Mexican border and into the Portland metropolitan area in seemingly greater quantities than before. One possible response to this trend might be for citizens to throw up their hands and say that all of Oregon's efforts to control methamphetamine have been for naught - that it is futile to try to stamp out this scourge. [continues 319 words]
Methamphetamine, a most addictive and destructive substance, is no longer flowing out of a meth lab located in a home next door, or from a motel room or building down the street. Instead, it is streaming across the U.S.-Mexican border and into the Portland region in seemingly greater quantities than before. One possible response to this trend might be for citizens to throw up their hands and say that all of Oregon's efforts to control methamphetamine have been for naught - that it is futile to try to stamp out this scourge. [continues 500 words]
As State Labs Begin To Disappear, Mexican Drug Cartels Gladly Fill The Void It somehow seems wrong to hear police officers say these things. "There's a lot more meth than there ever was before," said sheriff's deputy Tim Wonacott of Multnomah County's Special Investigations Unit. "In the last year and a half we've seized more meth than we ever have," said Sgt. Ned Walls, who works with Wonacott on the Multnomah drug team. "The quantity of (meth) has gone up significantly." [continues 1876 words]
Methamphetamine Awareness Day Will Be Held For The Second Straight Year Friday Methamphetamine, a most addictive and destructive substance, is no longer flowing out of a meth lab located in a home next door or a building down the street. Instead, it is streaming across the U.S.-Mexican border and into the Portland area in seemingly greater quantities than before. One possible response to this trend might be for citizens to throw up their hands and say that all of Oregon's efforts to control methamphetamine have been for naught - that it is futile to try to stamp out this scourge. [continues 472 words]
Equal justice under the law still remains elusive for 20,000 people serving federal sentences for crack cocaine, despite the U.S. Sentencing Commission's long-awaited reform of federal sentencing guidelines for crack, effective Nov 1. These prisoners are currently serving sentences so harsh that they will no longer be imposed on future defendants, but they are ineligible for relief because the new guideline is not yet retroactive. People serving mandatory minimum sentences for crack cocaine under the very laws that created the 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine are also not affected by the new guideline. Only Congress can change mandatory minimum laws. [continues 82 words]
Here at the University, we take the concept of higher education very seriously. We are a first-tier research institute, noted for our exceptional athletics, journalism school, creative writing program and, thanks to High Times, our stoner culture. The University was placed fourth on the top 10 cannabis colleges of America in 2005. Surprised? Don't be. It's not sage you're smelling as you bike from campus to home. Compared with alcohol, marijuana is the second-most abused drug on college campuses nationwide. Now, I'm not complaining - I'm much more comfortable walking into a house to see people surrounding a bong than an eight ball, but the why does the fact that it is not so taboo compared to harder drugs somehow make it an acceptable complement to any daily activity? [continues 588 words]
Last year, Douglas County sheriff's deputies were called to Mercy Medical Center after a 10-month-old child was treated after ingesting methamphetamine. The child's mother, who also had two other young children at home, told officers she and her boyfriend had consumed meth earlier that morning. However, authorities were unable to determine how the baby got the illegal drug into its system. All three children were taken into protective custody. Three months later, the mother was re-arrested, again on meth charges, Janet Judd, executive director of the Douglas County Methamphetamine Task Force, told members of the Governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse at a meeting Tuesday in Roseburg. [continues 618 words]
Panel Needs A Sense Of Urgency In Seeking Solutions Oregon could save considerable money and grief by reducing the number of released inmates who commit new crimes and return to prison. For the past decade, that figure has held steady at about 30 percent. The state has put up with that unacceptable rate for too long. Last week, a panel appointed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski met for the first time. Law enforcement officials, attorneys and directors of various agencies will spend the next year seeking solutions. [continues 296 words]
Dr. Patrick J. Bergin was a little bit drunk. It had been a long day, with beers before noon at the tailgater he hosted outside Autzen Stadium, more after the game, then some martinis at Adam's Place that night. Now the Eugene cardiologist was driving home and, though he didn't know it, his life was about to go sideways. A police officer was about to pull him over and cite him for drunken driving. And his partners at Oregon Cardiology were plotting to confront him in less than 48 hours about his hard-partying ways, including rumors of cocaine use. [continues 2710 words]
Home-grown methamphetamine labs have all but disappeared from Lane County since the tightening last year of Oregon's laws restricting access to pseudoephedrine, a primary ingredient in meth production found in cold and allergy medications. So far this year, police have uncovered two meth labs within county lines, both believed to be dump sites or remnants of inactive labs. Compared with a high of 84 labs in 1998, it's a dramatic drop that has been reflected statewide. According to Department of Human Services statistics, law enforcement uncovered 587 labs in Oregon in 2001. [continues 1099 words]
I'm writing about: "Bend man attempts armed break-in to collect drug debt" (11-12-07). When was the last time The Bend Weekly had a front page story about someone attempting to break-in a home to collect a liquor debt? Probably about 1933, the year we ended the disaster known as Alcohol Prohibition. Alcohol prohibition was not terminated because it was decided that alcohol was not so bad after all. But rather because of the crime and corruption that its prohibition created. When alcohol prohibition was terminated in 1933, our overall crime rate declined dramatically and our murder rate declined for 10 consecutive years. Have we learned any lessons from this? Not yet. Kirk Muse Mesa, AZ [end]
In 2000, Afghanistan's production of the global opium/heroin supply was 70 percent. In 2005, it was 87 percent; in 2006, 92 percent. This steady increase in annual poppy harvests has occurred despite the country's occupation by U.S. military and coalition forces since 2001. In fact, these harvests can be seen as a direct result of U.S. intelligence agencies overseeing the distribution routes for this very lucrative crop. For examples of complicity, read "Who Benefits from the Afghan Opium Trade?" by Michel Chossudovsky, Gary Webb's book Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion and Deep Cover by Mike Levine. [continues 153 words]
Changes to State Marijuana Law Could Expand Drug Growth, Possession Rights A drafter of Oregon's marijuana law visited Portland State yesterday, advocating law changes, including increased rights to possess the drug as well as its limited legalization, which could be presented to the state legislature this session. Leland Berger, who helped draft the state law for medical marijuana, presented an initiative on behalf of the pro-marijuana group Voter Power that would give legal rights as well as cost reimbursements to patients who privately grow the drug for medical use. The initiative also calls for the creation of a regulated and licensed dispensary system and the legalization of the drug for adults. [continues 434 words]
A Bend man allegedly trying to collect money owed on a drug debt tried to kick in another man's door and pointed a gun at him before being arrested later in the northwest part of the city during a high-risk traffic stop, police reported. Officers found a 9-mm firearm and 10 ounces of marijuana in the suspect's vehicle. Bend Police responded to an address in the [redacted] about 12:45 p.m. to a report of an incident involving a firearm, Sgt. Brian Kindel said. The resident, [redacted], told police a man had just tried to kick in his front door and pointed a firearm at him. [redacted] provided a description of the man and his vehicle. [continues 169 words]
Drug dealers do not have to be aware they are within 1,000 feet of a school to be convicted of a crime, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Six justices upheld a Multnomah County conviction of Carl Cortez Rutley, who argued that prosecutors had to prove under a 1999 law that he knew a delivery of cocaine was occurring within 1,000 feet of a school. The incident occurred in 2001. The Court of Appeals ordered a new trial, but the Supreme Court upheld the conviction. [continues 59 words]
Derived Drug's Place Unclear Under Medical Marijuana Statutes The details concerning a Marion County grand jury's refusal to indict a Keizer man for turning his medical marijuana into hash oil remain secret by law, but the decision has rekindled the debate about interpretations of Oregon's medical marijuana statutes. Advocates of medical marijuana providers said some law enforcement officials still have a hard time accepting legal medicinal users. "It's still difficult for people to get used to the fact that it was once someone they were putting in jail," said Brian Michaels, a Eugene-area lawyer who is a member of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act advisory committee. [continues 356 words]
While a Marion County grand jury opted not to indict a Keizer medical marijuana grower for converting marijuana into hash oil, a district attorney's spokesman warns that the decision does not necessarily mean the process is legal for medical marijuana patients. Marion County Deputy District Attorney Courtland Geyer said it was unlikely that the case would be brought back before the grand jury. The defendant, Anthony W. Beasley, 28, was charged with unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school. [continues 352 words]
Grand Jury Refuses to Indict Keizer User on Charges That He Manufactured Hashish A Marion County grand jury has refused to indict a Keizer medical marijuana user on charges that he manufactured hashish, or hash oil, from his legal crop. The grand jury returned a "not true bill" on a Class A felony charge of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a school against Anthony Wyatt Beasley, 28. The grand jury's action means the case is essentially dead, Marion County Deputy District Attorney Courtland Geyer said. [continues 565 words]
Arnold's Marijuana Fig Leaf When The Associated Press released a story that reported California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said marijuana is "not a drug," press secretary Aaron McLear was quick to announce that Schwarzenegger was joking. During an interview with Piers Morgan, a judge of "America's Got Talent," the governator had said that he had never taken drugs, even though he has admitted to smoking marijuana and the 1977 documentary film, "Pumping Iron," showed him inhaling. So Schwarzenegger quipped, "That is not a drug. It's a leaf. My drug was pumping iron, trust me." [continues 588 words]
Inside Oregon
