On Dec. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court gave judges some discretion in sentencing for crack cocaine offenses. One day later, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, intending to narrow the stark disparity between sentences for crack versus powder cocaine, revised sentencing guidelines to make them retroactive. Why should anyone care about a bunch of drug users -- crack users at that -- who might receive two years off their sentences? It matters because of the racial inequities in our system. Crack cocaine can be sold in small and rather cheap quantities and therefore is preferred by the lower-income, usually minority, population. [continues 308 words]
(Re: Dec. 21 guest column, "Drug prohibition: What cop learned from years on front line," by Howard J. Wooldridge.) I, too, work have worked in law enforcement for 32 years and am still "in the trenches." Woolridge says we should repeal current drug policies and laws, creating a world where the state regulates the sale of all drugs and narcotics. Surely Wooldridge, while he was in law enforcement, has worked cases where low-lifes commit crimes in order to feed their habit. [continues 158 words]
Killings of Mexican Entertainers Loudly Echo the Narco-Violence Throughout the Country. This year should have been a peak for Mexican singer Sergio Gomez. His band K-Paz (pronounced cah-paz) de la Sierra released a monster hit; this December they were nominated for a Grammy. But Gomez never savored his triumph - he was found after a recent concert murdered in classic narco-trafficker style, bound, burned, bludgeoned and strangled. The killing, like those of a dozen other musicians since June 2006, broadcasts more loudly than ever the impunity of Mexico's drug cartels and the price all Mexicans pay for it. [continues 650 words]
(Re: Dec. 20 letter, "Users don't go to prison for their habit alone," by Bobby J. Rogers.) Rogers surely must realize that the "dope heads," as he called them, aren't all in prison because they "committed a crime to support their habit." Many are in jail only for possession of drugs. Rogers doesn't seem to understand that drug addiction affects people who could be the guy next door, or people who work for a living. Drug addiction is not a respecter of persons. It destroys lives from the common thief to the downtown businessman. Prison doesn't solve anything for the average drug-user. There needs to be more programs available for those who truly need and want help. Lisa Kimbrell Amarillo [end]
FORT WORTH -- Nine people are gathered in front of Associate Judge Ellen Smith's bench to discuss the future of a family. A Tarrant County prosecutor is there, along with a Child Protective Services social worker and attorneys for the father, mother and children. In the middle stands a fidgeting 28-year-old woman from Arlington hoping to get her children back. Smith is told that the mother is trying to clean up her act: She attends counseling sessions, works the midnight shift as a waitress and sees her kids every weekend. But recently the mother stumbled: She tested positive for cocaine. [continues 1268 words]
The Bush administration's decision to conduct a review of security, governance and economic development in Afghanistan reflects an overdue recognition that, six years after the overthrow of the Taliban, the country remains dangerously unstable. With Taliban attacks on the rise and the opium poppy crop increasing, Afghanistan is on the way to becoming a failed state, a narco-state or both. The easy part of the policy review should be identifying past mistakes. An obvious error was the light military footprint that former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wanted to maintain after the Taliban were chased into Pakistan. The ratio of peacekeeping forces to population in Afghanistan is a tiny fraction of what it was in Bosnia or Kosovo. [continues 305 words]
PALESTINE - Have you ever seen that Above The Influence commercial where a young Hispanic girl is talking on the phone to her friend? Basically, she comes out of her house and says the following: "Hey girl, que pasa? Last night was crazy, from what I can remember. Hold on, slow down chica. A picture of me? You have to send it to me right now." At this point she takes the phone away from her ear and looks at what we're supposed to assume is a revealing or embarrassing picture of her. She puts the phone back up to her ear and says, "This must be from Saturday night. I was so high." Kids gathered around her look at their cell phones and at the girl, while a presumably cool dude in a white tank top stares at her like he's disappointed. [continues 773 words]
The Popular Drug's Prices Have Changed Little in 25 Years A car, a home, a gallon of milk -- most everything costs more now than a generation ago. Except a baggie of Mexican marijuana. Give or take a few dollars, authorities say, pot grown in Mexico and sold in Houston and other Texas cities still goes for about the same price as 25 years ago: $60 to $80 for an ounce. In economic terms, marijuana is far cheaper since the decade when a three-bedroom home in upscale West University cost $150,000, a new ride was less than $6,000 and first lady Nancy Reagan urged kids to "Just Say No." [continues 1002 words]
What Cop Learned From Years on Front Line (Re: Dec. 12 guest column, "Prison not part of solution to drug, alcohol addiction," by Hal Don House. Dec. 16 rebuttal, "Arguments against jailing drug users have become totally wasted," by James A. Farren.) As a retired police officer and detective who worked in the trenches of the drug war for 18 years, I heartily agree with House's remarks. I know my profession has failed to make a difference in drug price, purity and availability. Indeed, these crucial factors are worse than they were 36 years and a trillion U.S. tax dollars ago. Illegal drugs are more plentiful, cheaper, stronger and easier for our kids to buy. [continues 322 words]
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling giving federal judges more discretion to give lesser sentences in crack cocaine cases was an overdue adjustment. Although sentencing disparities for powdered cocaine and crack evolved from an understandable concern about the crack epidemic of the 1980s, the difference became an inequitable punishment for African American defendants. By no stretch of the imagination does the ruling signal intent to go easy in crack cases; it merely equalizes justice. The district judge in the case heard by the high court handed down a 15-year sentence instead of the recommended minimum of 19 years. [continues 144 words]
Unfortunately, alcohol and drugs are a part of many teenagers lives. They are factors in wrecks that kill and maim teenagers and other drivers, no matter what age the person behind the wheel. Hundreds of Comal County fifth graders are receiving their end-of-semester Drugs and Alcohol Resistance Education completion certificates. Comal County Sheriff's Office sponsors the program in some Comal Independent School District schools. At New Braunfels High School this week, officers presented the stark story of a San Antonio high school valedictorian killed in a New Braunfels wreck in 2003 involving a drunk driver. [continues 140 words]
Anti-marijuana fanatics have many opinions as to why marijuana is and should be illegal. One of which is so commonly used in the South but is hardly, if ever argued against and that is the Christian/Biblical view. Well, I have a theory or my own opinion on marijuana in the Bible. First, keep in mind it was God and not man who put marijuana on this planet in the first place. In Genesis 29-30 it is stated that God has given every green herb and herb bearing seed for the use and benefit of mankind as well as every animal on the Earth. God clearly told Adam to make use of anything he wished in the garden except for that one specific tree. If marijuana was here for the use of Adam before sin then wouldn't the plant be fine if used in moderation similar to the way wine is acceptable in moderation in the Bible? [continues 71 words]
(Re: Dec. 12 guest column, "Prison not part of solution to drug, alcohol addiction," by Hal Don House.) House surely must realize that those "dope heads" are not in prison for being addicted; they are there for committing a crime to support their habit! He failed to mention that in his column. Bobby J. Rogers Amarillo [end]
District Studying Other Ways To Educate Students On Drugs, Alcohol A program that has taught Sulphur Springs students the ills and dangers of abusing drugs and alcohol will end in January, but a different way of educating students about the use of such substances could be on the horizon. DARE, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program that has been co-sponsored by Sulphur Springs Police Department and Sulphur Springs Independent School District for approximately 15 years, will end on Jan. 17. [continues 587 words]
One Person's Viewpoint Last week the most recent drug scandal took everyone's attention away from lead-painted Chinese Christmas toys, and no wonder. Who among us has not walked across a dark parking lot fearing an attack by a spaced-out baseball team leaping out from behind a Yugo? And that scary rustle of leaves outside one's bedroom window in the middle of the night - that's not Grendel; that's a steroid-zombie outfielder hungry for human flesh. [continues 376 words]
Texas is one of many states grappling with overcrowded prisons ("Break the Chain," November 16). Throughout the nation, states facing budget shortfalls are pursuing alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior. Turning drug users into unemployable ex-cons is a senseless waste of tax dollars. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is. Destroying the futures and families of citizens who make unhealthy choices doesn't benefit anyone. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. [end]
Addiction Is An Illness And Cannot Be Treated Successfully By Punishment. The war on drugs has been lost since it began. The people who make the laws are well aware of this, but they can't do anything about it because the people who elect them do not understand this. People start using alcohol or other drugs for a variety of reasons. Some become addicted; some do not. Much of this is determined by genetics. People do not choose to be addicted. They may make bad choices in beginning this process, but once addicted, it is not a choice. This cycle can be broken, but incarceration seldom works. Treatment can work, but people seldom get that option anymore. Texas Gov. Ann Richards understood this process and was building treatment centers all over the state when she lost her re-election bid in 1994. [continues 576 words]
(Re: Dec. 12 guest column, "Prison not part of solution to drug, alcohol addiction," by Hal Don House.) I agree completely! I am a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children who are involved in the court system, usually because of parental drug abuse. Children whose parents abuse alcohol and other drugs are four times more likely to be neglected and three times likelier to be sexually or physically assaulted. When families do not receive proper substance abuse treatment, children are more apt to remain in foster care longer and re-enter once they have returned home. [continues 187 words]
Hal Don House, in his Dec. 12 guest column, "Prison not part of solution to drug, alcohol addiction," asserts that: - - Incarceration is an inappropriate response to drug violations; - - The war on drugs has been lost; - - Drug abusers are forced to violate the law by genetic predisposition; and - - Legislators intentionally enact ineffective drug laws to gain re-election. The positions taken by House are ill-conceived, poorly reasoned and invalid. His first polemic posits that because drug law violators are addicts, prison is an ineffective response, arguing that treatment is the only appropriate solution. [continues 548 words]
The White House and U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse released a good news-bad news report on U.S. youth drug use. The annual report found that the overall use of illicit drugs has gone down. Teen use of drugs, including marijuana, amphetamines, methamphetamine, crystal methamphetamine and Ritalin --prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder -- has gone down. Marijuana is the most used illicit drug by teens. The good news is balanced by finding no decline in the use of cocaine, crack cocaine, LSD, other hallucinogens, heroin and many prescription drugs such as the painkillers OxyContin and Vicodin. Clearly, more needs to be done to guide teens away from illicit drugs. [end]
Inside Texas
