The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and meth. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, DC [end]
The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls marijuana distribution, consumers will continue to come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and meth. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Bremerton [end]
The column by Michael Fitzgerald on a legal marijuana dispensary or drug cartels (Dec. 20) raised important issues. The importance of Stockton having a legal medical marijuana dispensary and having proper control over it. Most people have known someone with terminal cancer, or a similar illness. Even with powerful prescription drugs, such as morphine, to help control the discomfort of the illness they can bring with them negative side effects. Medical marijuana is another valuable tool that physicians need to have available to prescribe to patients with special circumstances. [continues 132 words]
Besides the obvious financial benefit to the city of Stockton, Pathways Health Co-Op is providing the citizens a valuable and necessary service. Articles in The Record explained that this business (Medical Marijuana Dispensary) is ran as professional as can be. This place is no different from a local pharmacy. I have visited twice since they opened, and each time it was a very pleasant experience. I no longer have to travel two-plus hours to obtain my medicine. A big thumbs up to the local staff and elected officials at City Hall for finally allowing this service to its citizens. Bobby Cannon Modesto [end]
A judge who wanted a gun-toting youth to clean up his act was acting within his power by forbidding him to use the medical marijuana he took for migraine headaches as part of a probation sentence that kept him out of prison, a state appeals court in San Francisco has ruled. More Bay Area News The First District Court of Appeal said the Solano County judge reasonably decided that becoming drug-free would help the youth turn his life around. But a dissenting justice said the 2-1 ruling undermines the medical marijuana law that California voters approved in 1996. [continues 495 words]
Regarding the Dec. 27 front-page article "Mexico questions its drug strategy": The United States has survived the violence of its war on drugs, but Mexico might not. This sad situation illustrates something that nearly everyone except the folks in the U.S. government has known since Prohibition turned our streets into battlegrounds: The second-order effects of criminalizing drugs cause more harm than the drugs themselves. Gene Fellner, Derwood [end]
Dear Editor: As one of the physicians who is writing medical marijuana recommendations on the Western Slope, I wanted to present the other side of the article in The Aspen Times last week titled "Pot docs worrying Colorado health officials." In fact, the medical marijuana evaluation presents an incredible opportunity for both the patient and the doctor to exchange vitally important medical information. I have developed what I believe to be an ethical, compassionate and informative evaluation. When a patient comes to me, he fills out an intake form that includes past medical and surgical history, why he feels medical marijuana might be helpful to him, if he has medicated with marijuana in the past, if he has used narcotics for his condition, other meds he is using, as well as his tobacco and alcohol history. [continues 530 words]
As the director and chief executive officer of Compassionate Cannabis Information Center, I feel compelled to address my community about this business. It is my sincere wish that the Visalia community and residents throughout the Valley could see that medical marijuana use is not a black and white issue, but a gray one. This issue has been hotly debated, even among our law enforcement, and the law still exists in a gray area, and most certainly will be in front of several judges across the state. [continues 709 words]
Reforming Florida's Violent Incarceration Mentality Like other law enforcement officials in the state, Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson is sowing undue fear and misinformation about legislative proposals that would reform the state's overly harsh and unsustainably costly prison system. Johnson is following the lead of Brevard County Sheriff Jack Parker, who claims -- wrongly -- that "Florida is funding prisons less and less" while preparing to release offenders early. Since 2001, when it was at $1.62 billion, the Department of Corrections' budget has increased by 50 percent. [continues 631 words]
Reading through the 1,100-word GBI investigative case file regarding the shooting death of the Rev. Jonathan Ayers in Toccoa by an undercover drug agent on Sept. 1, there is a common thread on many of the witness statements. Ayers, who died in or following surgery at Stephens County Hospital that night, apparently thought he was being robbed and otherwise didn't know why agent Billy Shane Harrison fired two shots at him. At least that's what is indicated by witness interviews. [continues 472 words]
Some policies of the U.S. government over the past couple decades bring the book "Idiocracy" to mind. To find out why, read Sunday's Washington Post and you will learn that Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, across the river from El Paso, is so dangerous that many of its business and political leaders get tucked into bed every night in El Paso. That's right, the community's elite are scared to stay in their hometown -- and, sadly, that makes sense. There is a war ongoing in Juarez over control of illegal narcotics. The president of Mexico is so alarmed over the death rate in this war that he sent 10,000 army troops into Juarez and the police force was overhauled too in an effort to regain control but all reports seem too conclude the drug merchants are winning. In the past six months 2,500 people have been murdered in Juarez over the right to control the sale of illegal drugs to the world's largest market for drugs -- the USA. Juarez is only one port of entry; there are many others. [continues 409 words]
After four days of case review and deliberation, the Stephens County Grand Jury on Friday morning returned a presentment concerning the officer-involved shooting death of Jonathan Ayers. The grand jury found that the use of lethal force in the shooting of Ayers by an undercover officer of the Narcotics Criminial Investigation and Suppression (NCIS) team was justified. "On Dec. 15, the Grand Jury convened in special session to review the matter of the officer involved shooting death of Jonathan Ayers which occurred in Toccoa, Stephens County, Georgia on September 1, 2009," states the presentment. [continues 962 words]
Medical Marijuana May Have a Host of Advantages Over Other Treatments for Traumatized Vets, but the VA Won't Even Study Its Efficacy. "There's a lot of things I'm passionate about, but getting a prescription for my marijuana from the VA is probably at the top of my list. I'd be like a kid waiting up for Santa if I thought he might be bringing me one of those. Haha!" On top of a 100 percent disability rating with PTSD, "Charlie" -- who asked that his real name not be used -- came home from Afghanistan with a traumatic brain injury, a back injury and gastrointestinal problems. The VA pulled every magic trick out of its bag to treat him. But nothing worked. [continues 2386 words]
The rampant problem of prescription drug abuse is showing no signs of slowing down in the region. According to the "2009 Monitoring the Future" survey recently released by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan, the problem is now being further agitated by a growing number of youth who may be experimenting with prescription narcotics. The study found slight decreases were reported in the use of cocaine and methamphetamine use among youth -- which is a certainly a positive. However, the report also found that marijuana use among adolescents increased gradually over the past two years after years of declining use; and past year rates of Vicodin and OxyContin abuse increased during the last five years among 10th graders and remained unchanged among 8th and 12th graders. [continues 401 words]
(This is a letter from Gwinnett County DA Daniel J. Porter to Mountain Judicial DA Brian Rickman.) At your request, I have reviewed the GBI investigation of the shooting incident which occurred on Sept. 1, 2009. In that incident, Jonathan Ayers was fatally shot by a member of the Mountain Judicial NCIS team during the course of a drug investigation. This letter contains my analysis of the evidence presented to me. I was provided with a complete copy of the GBI investigative file including, but not limited to, the narrative of Special Agent Megan Miller, witness statements, scientific reports, the autopsy report, medical records, photographs and surveillance videos. [continues 1645 words]
How bad can it get in Mexico? Let's hope this is finally bottom. Just hours after the memorial service of a national hero, drug-cartel assassins gunned down his mother, brother, a sister and an aunt. Another sister was in serious condition. It was obvious payback for the government having killed Mexican drug-cartel leader Arturo Beltran Leyva. He was called a "boss of bosses." And it came with a clear message from drug lords: Intimidate those in the armed forces so they fear not only for their own lives, but for the lives of their families. [continues 255 words]
Most teenagers these days think smoking cigarettes is very dangerous. Yet most adolescents also do not consider frequent binge drinking or occasional marijuana smoking to be anywhere near as risky. These findings are drawn from the responses of 44,979 people ages 12 to 17 who took part in national drug use surveys conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2007 and 2008. While nearly 70 percent of youths perceived "great risk" from smoking a pack or two of cigarettes a day, only 40 percent thought having five or more alcoholic drinks once or twice a week was very risky, and only 34 percent perceived great risk from smoking marijuana once a month. About half thought using cocaine or LSD once or twice a month was very risky. [continues 95 words]
Kelly is right again. Legalizing marijuana will take the crime out of it. Prohibition has never prohibited anything. He was also right when he said "bomb them with tractors." Instead, we bombed them with bombs and got 4,000 dead Americans in return. William Robards Kailua-Kona [end]
Prosecutors, Police Work Closely to Seize Assets, Get Evidence For the better part of two years, prosecutor Richard Wintory devoted 98 percent of his time to helping law-enforcement officers destroy two of the most prolific and dangerous drug-trafficking organizations they had ever seen in Tucson. They were successful, said Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall. Maria Isabel Dominguez, Donna Greenwell and Timothy Owens are currently serving lengthy prison sentences, along with dozens of their underlings. Still, LaWall and her law enforcement counterparts weren't satisfied. They realized that targeting one or two drug organizations every couple of years would do little to stem the 700,000 or more kilograms of drugs traveling through Pima County every year or the violence that is associated with the drug trade. [continues 497 words]
Most cocaine coming into the United States has been diluted with a veterinary drug that is used to deworm horses and other animals but can cause severe illness and death in humans, public health experts say. So far, eight cases of illness caused by the drug levamisole have been identified in San Francisco, one of a handful of cities in the country where pockets of sickness caused by the drug have been found. All of the cases in San Francisco involved women who used either crack or powder cocaine. At San Francisco General Hospital, where the first cases of the illness were diagnosed, 90 percent of 200 patients who recently tested positive for cocaine also tested positive for levamisole. Most of them did not become ill. [continues 750 words]
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