One local woman is working to get an involuntary drug rehabilitation law passed in Alabama. The law, which JoAnn Hendrix is calling Jamie's Law, would provide a means for families to petition the court to order their loved one with a drug problem to be placed in an involuntary drug rehabilitation treatment program. In a paper outlining the objective of Jamie's Law that Hendrix sent to the Governor's office, she describes it as a law that would provide a means of intervening with someone who is unable to recognize their need for treatment due to substance-abuse impairment of their mind. This would be similar to Casey's Law, also known as the Matthew Casey Wethington Act for Substance Abuse Intervention, in Kentucky. [continues 410 words]
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Ryan never imagined he would one day be a snitch. The soft-spoken University of Alabama student was watching a movie with a couple of friends at his off-campus house in Tuscaloosa one evening in late 2012 when a team of plainclothes West Alabama Narcotics Task Force officers knocked on his door. They were there to serve a warrant to search his home, as he had been outed as a drug dealer by a friend and fellow UA student the task force had "turned" and used as a confidential informant. Little did Ryan know, he would soon be turning on his own friends at the university. [continues 1517 words]
Police and prosecutors constantly urge legislatures to give them more power to fight crime. That power comes in the form of laws that are overly broad and unnecessarily punitive. Alabama's chemical endangerment statute is a perfect example. The statute allows police to arrest you and prosecutors to charge you with a felony if your child comes into contact with "drug paraphernalia." So, what exactly constitutes "drug paraphernalia?" Alabama defines "drug paraphernalia" in the broadest way possible as "all equipment, products, and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed for use, in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance in violation of the controlled substances laws of this state." [continues 576 words]
Many pieces of legislation may be touted as life-saving, but probably few have greater direct life-saving potential than a law passed in the last session that increases access to a medication that can reverse the deadly effects of a drug overdose. Drug overdoses have increased dramatically in Etowah County in recent years. A great many of the overdose deaths recorded come from the use of heroin or opiate-related drugs such as pain medications. "We're seeing two or three a week," Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin said. [continues 600 words]
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A young Huntsville man suffering from a debilitating disease has had surgery to relieve the condition, but still laments that a potential treatment was denied under Alabama law. For Vanderbilt graduate Itamar Shapira his Dec. 19 surgery has not lessened his frustration that CBD oil, a derivative of the marijuana plant, was not available to him. CBD oil, Cannabidiol, is derived from another variety of cannabis plant, which is used for making hemp. A person cannot get high from CBD oil because it has no psychoactive properties. Hemp plants are high in CBD and very low in THC, the substance that makes a marijuana smoker high. Traditional marijuana plants are high in THC, low in CBD. [continues 374 words]
BESSEMER - An autopsy has found that an 18-year-old Brighton woman died in the Bessemer City Jail after a drug overdose. Sheneque Proctor was found dead Nov. 2, less than 24 hours after being arrested on disorderly conduct and other charges after a disturbance at a Bessemer motel. Authorities have said that Proctor struggled with police during the arrest, and that officers used pepper spray on her. Al.com reports that the Jefferson County Coroner's Office found that the cause of her death was complications of overdosing on a combination of drugs. The autopsy states that tests found cocaine, methadone and alprazolam in her system. Alprazolam is used to treat anxiety disorders, panic disorders, and anxiety caused by depression. The coroner's report lists the manner of death as accidental. [end]
Students Who Drive to School, Participate in Activities Affected Starting this school year, students in the Tuscaloosa City School System who drive to school or participate in school-based extracurricular activities such as sports or chess club will be subject to random drug and alcohol tests. The system's new drug and alcohol screening policy was approved by the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education Tuesday. The purpose of the preventative policy is to help create and maintain a drug-free environment as well as act as a deterrent to students who may be considering drug or alcohol use. [continues 498 words]
When friends from her Sunday School class knocked on the door of her Vestavia Hills home in the middle of the day last spring, Beverly Mims said she knew something was wrong. "I had felt uneasy that morning, like something was off. My heart skipped a beat when I heard them at the door," Mims said. "They had my husband, Ronnie on the phone and told me he needed to talk to me. But I never dreamed that what he would say was that our son was dead." [continues 1678 words]
I think I have figured out something. Let's combine Josh Moon et al., including Big Brother, and we have a solution for Alabama and America. Legalize pot in America, and Congress will make some important decisions about immigration, the IRS and phony scandals, and even future phony scandals. It might require food because pot makes you hungry, I hear, so the cost of groceries might go up exponentially. Reduce the speed limit to 25 on the Interstate and in Montgomery, because pot makes you sluggish when trying to decide what those yellow things are that hang from poles and wires and have green, yellow and red colors. To a pot user, 25 is like flying an F-22 Raptor with four tires on the Interstate. [continues 127 words]
Gov. Robert Bentley Needs A Plan. He hasn't come right out and said so, but looking at the facts, it's rather obvious. Alabama is the only state in the country to see its unemployment rate climb in the last year. There's a prison overcrowding problem. There's a general fund budget that's likely to result in more state workers being laid off. The state is already short on state troopers and other workers who inspect our food and make sure our waterways are safe. And our courts are backlogged to the point of near shutdown. [continues 775 words]
In the late 1980s, during the age of "Just Say No," Alabama lawmakers passed a bill placing a tax on illegal drugs such as marijuana - complete with a little green stamp to show the tax had been paid. Charles Crumbley, director of the Investigations Division at the State Department of Revenue, said the stamps have never been popular. "We didn't sell a lot because drug dealers really don't want to do that," he said. What they did allow the state to do, however, was add tax penalties onto the list of charges brought against drug dealers. But court rulings took even that ability away from state tax officials. [continues 417 words]
The Vestavia Hills school system will begin a new voluntary drug-testing program for the 2014-2015 school year. The program will include students in the seventh through 12th grades who volunteer to participate. Students and their parents must sign release forms to participate in the program, city and school officials said. The program will cost $40 a year. Vestavia Hills conducts random drug testing for students involved in sports and extracurricular activities. This pilot program takes the current testing approach a step further, officials said. [continues 388 words]
Micheal Hudson, a multi-media specialist for the city of Riviera Beach, Fla., was ordered by Human Resources Director Doretha Perry to take a reasonable suspicion drug test. When Hudson later revoked the city's access to the results of his hair sample drug test, he was fired for refusal to take the test. Hudson then filed a lawsuit in Federal Court alleging that Perry violated his rights under the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by ordering him to submit to the drug tests or risk termination because of alleged bad blood between Hudson and Perry's son, Troy, who also worked for the city. Hudson's direct supervisor and his supervisor did not request that Hudson be tested or suspect Hudson of drug use. [continues 566 words]
A total of 36 1/2 pounds of meth and more than $130,000 was seized in a criminal investigation that ended in six arrests Thursday after an early morning drug raid on two Alabama prisons. The arrests included two inmates and a corrections officer charged with being part of one of the most substantial meth trafficking rings in the state. The investigation, beginning in Feb. 2012 involved the joint efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Alabama Department of Corrections along with the Middle and North District U.S. Attorney Offices. [continues 484 words]
MONTGOMERY - The Alabama Senate voted 34- 0 Tuesday in favor of a medical study that would allow some people with epilepsy to have access to a cannabis-derived medicine. Despite the unanimous vote, the Legislature doesn't appear likely to approve the use of other forms of medical marijuana any time soon. "The regular kind, with the THC, I am not in support of," said Sen. Paul Sanford, R- Huntsville. Sanford is the sponsor of a bill called "Carly's Law" which would set up a five-year study, through the University of Alabama at Birmingham, in which the university would treat some patients who have severe epileptic seizures with cannabidiol, an oil derived from marijuana plants. The oil doesn't have the psychoactive effects people associate with marijuana, Sanford said. [continues 569 words]
MONTGOMERY (AP) - Legislation to require drug testing for some welfare applicants stalled in the Alabama Senate on Tuesday but will be back up for debate on Wednesday. Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh of Anniston got the Senate to adjourn Tuesday afternoon after some Democrats began fighting a Republican backed bill affecting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Trip Pittman of Daphne, would require drug testing of any welfare applicant with a drug conviction in the past five years. It would have cut off benefits after three failed tests. Pittman acknowledges that he tried marijuana as a young man. He said his bill "is an attempt to get people to get off drugs" and to show taxpayers that the state government is being responsible with public assistance. [end]
Speaker Mike Hubbard Does Not Expect House Version To Go Far In the wake of President Barack Obama's statement that marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol, the Alabama State Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill Wednesday that would give justifiable defense for the use of a marijuana- derivative for medicinal purposes Wednesday, according to the Associated Press. Senate Bill 174, named Carly's Law after an Inverness girl diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, would provide a defense for the use of cannabidiol (CBD) oil to provide relief for debilitating medical conditions, like violent seizures and severe nausea. The bill stipulates the CBD user must be diagnosed by a physician, and that the drug must be likely to provide therapeutic or palliative relief. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Madison. [continues 462 words]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Dustin Chandler said his 2-year-old daughter Carly has three to five seizures each day from a severe neurological condition she has battled since infancy. Prescribed medications have done nothing to help, he said. Her best treatment, he believes, could be a marijuana plant extract called cannabidiol, also known as CBD oil, and there is anecdotal evidence that suggests the oil is effective in treating seizure disorders. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted 8-3 to approve a bill aimed at allowing people to possess the oil if they have certain medical conditions. Parents of children with seizure disorders have pressed to make the oil available. Supporting lawmakers said they are hoping to get the bill approved this session but that their biggest hurdle could be political fear about approving anything marijuana-related in an election year. "We've been battling the stigma from the M-word," Chandler said. [end]
MONTGOMERY (AP) - Dustin Chandler said his 2- year-old daughter Carly has three to five seizures each day from a severe neurological condition she has battled since infancy. Prescribed medications have done nothing to help, he said. Her best treatment, he believes, could be a marijuana plant extract called cannabidiol, also known as CBD oil, and there is anecdotal evidence that suggests the oil is effective in treating seizure disorders. The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday voted 8- 3 to approve a bill aimed at allowing people to possess the oil if they have certain medical conditions. [continues 66 words]
Medical Necessity Could Be Used As Defense By Those Facing Prosecution An Alabama Senate committee approved a bill Wednesday that its sponsor said would allow Alabamians to take part in clinical trials of a marijuana extract that may have medicinal properties. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, would allow those facing prosecution for possession of the substance, known as cannabidiol, to use medical necessity as a defense. Acceptable uses of cannabidiol would include treatment for pain, seizures and "any other condition that is severe and resistant to conventional medicine." [continues 268 words]
MONTGOMERY, Alabama - With a first name like "Trip," an Alabama senator was bound to prompt jokes by pushing a bill mandating drug testing for legislators. But Sen. Trip Pittman says he's serious. "It's a fairness issue," the Republican from Daphne said. Pittman said he proposed legislative drug testing after some lawmakers criticized a bill he introduced to require welfare applicants with a misdemeanor or felony drug conviction in the last five years to take a drug test. Anyone who failed three times would be denied benefits, but their children could receive them. [continues 447 words]
Re "'Reefer Madness,' revisited" (Phillip Tutor column, Jan. 2): Star commentary editor Phillip Tutor is correct pointing out that "tobacco isn't marijuana. Marijuana isn't meth. Alcohol (a drug, by my definition) isn't cocaine." In fact, cannabis is safer than all those substances, although the government labels cannabis as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances. Cigarettes kill more than 1,000 Americans daily. In more than 5,000 years of documented use, the God-given plant (see the first page of the Bible) cannabis hasn't killed one person. That's safety on a biblical scale. A sane reason to continue cannabis prohibition doesn't exist. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Legal Marijuana Isn't 'Public Enemy Number One,' But It Is Complicated A premise: Never in American history has the hypocrisy of the nation's stance on substances that affect our behavior been so apparent as it was Wednesday morning. Two days ago, untold numbers awoke with the mother of all hangovers, expected but unwelcomed remnants of their alcohol-fueled New Year's Eve revelry. It had the news value of another sunrise. That same morning, people in Colorado lined up, in the cold and snow, to be the first to legally buy marijuana for recreational use in this country. Unlike our Jan. 1 hangover epidemic, the pot sales drew national media attention. Which example bothers you more? Alcohol affects people - their bodies, their moods, their behaviors, their lives. It creates "mean" drunks and "sloppy" drunks. It's embedded in criminal statistics. When overused, it destroys families and marriages and, at its worst, it kills. But it is legal and socially acceptable in most circles. [continues 617 words]
MONTGOMERY - At some point during last spring's legislative session, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama conducted a survey of physicians on their attitudes toward medical marijuana, apparently at the request of the House Health Committee That much is agreed on between MASA and medical marijuana advocates. They differ on what that survey showed. Over the last week, medical marijuana advocates have been carpet-bombing officials with MASA and the state with form emails urging the release of the survey, which to date has not been publicly released. [continues 502 words]
Federal Judge John Gleeson of the Eastern District of New York says documents called "statements of reasons" are an optional way for a judge to express "views that might be of interest." The one he issued two months ago is still reverberating. It expresses his dismay that although his vocation is the administration of justice, his function frequently is the infliction of injustice. The policy of mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses has empowered the government to effectively nullify the constitutional right to a trial. As Lulzim Kupa learned. [continues 680 words]
MONTGOMERY (AP) - At some point during last spring's legislative session, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama conducted a survey of physicians on their attitudes toward medical marijuana, apparently at the request of the House Health Committee That much is agreed on between MASA and medical marijuana advocates. They differ on what that survey showed. Over the past week, medical marijuana advocates have been carpet-bombing officials with MASA and the state with form emails urging the release of the survey, which to date has not been publicly released. [continues 621 words]
Advocates Say Survey Shows Doctor Support At some point during last spring's legislative session, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama conducted a survey of physicians on their attitudes toward medical marijuana, apparently at the request of the House Health Committee That much is agreed on between MASA and medical marijuana advocates. They differ on what that survey showed. Over the past week, medical marijuana advocates have been carpet-bombing officials with MASA and the state with form emails urging the release of the survey, which to date has not been publicly released. [continues 642 words]
At last, we can celebrate a couple of breakthroughs in the quest for equal justice in America. When Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Aug. 12 that he was instructing federal prosecutors to no longer seek mandatory minimum sentences in some nonviolent drug offense cases, it marked a huge step forward. "Too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason," Holder told the American Bar Association in San Francisco. Holder's announcement is really about the failure of the so-called War on Drugs. Since the 1970s, it has needlessly destroyed many lives and ravished whole communities. The federal prison population alone has expanded by 500 percent, according to the Sentencing Project. The overall prison population now exceeds 1.5 million. [continues 146 words]
For all who believe in colorblind justice - and want to see fewer African American and Hispanic men caught up in the system - there are two recent items of good news: a judge's ruling ordering changes in New York's "stop- and-frisk" policy and Attorney General Eric Holder's initiative to keep nonviolent drug offenders out of prison. First, stop- and-frisk. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is having a hissy fit over U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin's finding that the policy amounted to "indirect racial profiling." On his weekly radio show, he wouldn't even say Scheindlin's name, calling her "some woman" who knows "absolutely zero" about policing. In an op-ed for The Post, Bloomberg went so far as to accuse Scheindlin of being "ideologically driven." [continues 644 words]
If U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and members of Alabama's Republican controlled legislature are in agreement on something, it must be a really good idea. That's why we hope the initiatives by both will be successful in taming prison populations in both the federal prison system and in state prisons. According to a report recently released by Bureau of Justice Statistics, both the federal prison system and Alabama state prisons have seen an increase in their number of inmates, bucking the national trend of decline. [continues 526 words]
Lauderdale County schools spent nearly $13,000 last year in student drug testing. It's an expense that's worth the money, officials say. Still, it hits the pocketbook hard, especially when the state doesn't provide any funding for the testing. While school administrators across the state agree that student drug testing is beneficial, it is cost prohibitive for many school districts. Most Shoals area school districts perform random drug tests. It's an expense some school officials say simply isn't optional. [continues 874 words]
A conversation the other day with a human resource director at a well-established local business revealed startling information that should not be ignored. Perhaps we already knew it, but filed the information away under "it does not affect me today so I'm not worried." Well, it's time to worry. This human resource director is the point person for hiring for her company, and she was not in the best of moods on this particular day. She said she interviewed an applicant a day earlier. In her words, he was a perfect fit. He had the skills, a great attitude, appeared to be intelligent and eager to work. [continues 387 words]
Rep. K.L. Brown to Continue Working to Regulate 'Pre-Need' Funeral Packages Every year, Rep. Koven L. Brown, RJacksonville, introduces at least one bill intended to crack down on problems he sees in the funeral industry. It's a topic Brown, the namesake of K. L. Brown Funeral Home in Jacksonville, knows well. But it's not always easy to sell those bills to others in the Legislature. Earlier this month, a House commit tee failed to approve a Brown-sponsored bill that would regulate "pre- need" funeral packages - packages that funeral homes sell to customers years before their death, and sometimes fail to deliver on when the time comes. It was the second year Brown's bill got shot down. [continues 415 words]
Alabama has good reason to consider taxing and regulating marijuana. The days when our federal government can get away with confusing the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are coming to an end. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. [continues 57 words]
Efforts to legalize marijuana have been in overdrive since November, when a majority of residents in Colorado and Washington deemed that the plant's consumption should be legally on par with alcohol. Now, several other states have followed suit in considering similar proposals, and Alabama is among them with House Bill 550. The bill is modeled after Colorado's regulatory model, and its introduction in Montgomery earlier this year signals that genuine debate over marijuana reform has finally arrived in the buckle of the Bible Belt. This is great news for Alabamians, since responsible marijuana policy will bring the state enhanced public safety, an alternative natural medicine and a potential fortune from both industry and tax revenues alike. [continues 485 words]
Two mothers accused of giving birth to babies who tested positive for illegal drugs have been charged with chemical endangerment of a child, an official said. O n Wednesday, Limes tone County Sheriff's investigators arrested Angel Nichole Queen, 32, of 27035 Persimmon Tree Road in Limestone County, records show. When Queen gave birth to her son Jan. 30, both she and her son tested positive for methamphetamine, Limestone County Chief Investigator Stanley McNatt said. While being interviewed by investigators, Queen admitted she had used meth a few times during her pregnancy, McNatt said. The Limestone County Department of Human Resources reported the incident to the Sheriff's Department. [continues 87 words]
The notion of alcohol consumers piously demanding that others stop using pot probably makes you think of the beer-swilling World War II generation berating weed-smoking hippies during the 1960s. Now, thanks to the United Nations, that caricature gets an update -- and the hypocrisy is at once amusing and depressing. You may have read the headline-grabbing news that in advance of its conference on drug policy this week, the U.N. issued a report urging the United States government to block Colorado and Washington state from moving forward with voter-approved laws that allow adult citizens to use marijuana as a less harmful alternative to alcohol. What you may not have heard is that on the very same day the U.N. released that report, U.S. ambassador Joseph Torsella slammed his U.N. colleagues for drinking too much on the job. Apparently, binging at the U.N. is so commonplace and excessive that it is hindering the organization from conducting its most basic work. [continues 473 words]
We recently recognized Red Ribbon Week in Troy. A highlight was the opportunity for the mayor and city council to hear several youngsters from our community share their essay about the harmful effects of alcohol and drug abuse. They explained how substance abuse ravages lives and destroys families. It was very encouraging to hear them share about the things they do, and the activities they pursue, as alternatives to the addiction caused by the use of alcohol and drugs. These kids knew what they were talking about. They realized the wisdom in making the right choices for their lives. We were so proud of them. [continues 288 words]
The world is becoming more and more tolerant towards recreational drug use, and the US is behind the world trend. Pot, for example, is legal in Amsterdam, and drug possession across most of Europe is treated with greater acceptance and softer punishments than in the US. Closer to home, we have examples of how attitudes about drug use are a changin': up in Vancouver, Canada, "heroin shooting galleries" exist to assure safe injections of illicit drugs. And, even in the US, there are pockets of greater tolerance: in the Fall 2012 elections, for example, the states of Colorado and Washington legalized recreational marijuana use. [continues 538 words]
Opp may seem like an unlikely place for a group working to get medical use of marijuana legalized to meet, but that's exactly what happened Sunday. "Why Opp?" "Why not," Christopher Butts, the 42-year-old co-president and board chair of the Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition said. "We had 12 to 14 people come by, and we're talking to a reporter. Nobody knows about us, so we have to go where we can." Like Butts, 44-year-old Ron Crumpton uses marijuana to alleviate chronic pain. He suffers spinal stenosis because of injuries he received while serving in the U.S. Navy. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAIDs) prescribed for his pain caused the perforation of his ulcers, and he subsequently had a portion of his stomach removed. [continues 612 words]
American, Mexican citizens join forces in march across Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge as part of Caravan for Peace As a law enforcement officer, Neill Franklin said he was responsible for locking up a lot of people, many of them for activity related to illegal drugs. But, on Wednesday, Franklin walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and drove into Montgomery with a caravan of people pushing for the United States and Mexico to reconsider their drug policies. Franklin, who advocates legalizing and regulating drugs, said the war on drugs is expensive and is failing. He added that the war has led to the drug cartels murdering 60,000 people in Mexico, is spreading in the United States, and has led to the incarceration of thousands of people for nonviolent crimes. [continues 619 words]
Some Cleburne County parents are calling on their local school board to release a recently hired third-grade teacher who has a misdemeanor drug offense on his record. At a Cleburne County School board meeting Monday, parents told the board that it has a responsibility to select quality employees to teach children and that, in their view, it had recently failed to do so. One month earlier, the board selected Frederick M. Berry, who had pleaded guilty to second-degree possession of marijuana in August 2007, to serve as a third-grade teacher at Cleburne County Elementary School. [continues 963 words]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Players testing positive for marijuana in the mighty Southeastern Conference do not face the one-year suspension that comes from getting busted by the NCAA. In the most successful league of the BCS-era, players routinely get third, fourth and even fifth chances before they're booted from the team; failed drug tests administered by the NCAA result in the automatic suspension. The finding comes from an Associated Press examination of the drug policies at 11 current members of the SEC. Vanderbilt, a private institution, declined to make its rules available. [continues 1303 words]
If the U.S. Congress was smart, it would jump on legalizing the marijuana plant and start two profitable businesses that could give a boost to our economy instead of a boost to China's and the cartels' economy. One business opportunity could be producing industrial hemp like we used to do. Hemp is a certain strain of the marijuana plant that has a low content of tetrahydrocannabinaol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Hemp is grown for industrial purposes such as making paper, textiles and biodegradable plastics, and it is environmentally friendly, as it requires few pesticides and no herbicides. Hemp can also be used to produce bio-diesel fuel. [continues 133 words]
The Alabama Legislature recently passed a bill banning a wide range of synthetic drugs. If the bill is signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley, as expected, the bill will ban dozens of substances used to make items such as "synthetic marijuana," "spice" and other illicit drugs. Synthetic marijuana has been on the rise in Shelby County, as it has been across the state, and can cause seizures, stomach and kidney issues. However, banning such synthetic drugs has been problematic up until now, because if an ingredient in a synthetic drug was banned, drug suppliers would simply change the ingredient to make the synthetic drug legal again. [continues 172 words]
Re "Be wary of marijuana talk" (Speak Out letter, Feb. 8): I'm writing about the not-so-thoughtful letter from Speak Out writer Judy Lovejoy Elliott. There was no mention in her letter as to why adult citizens should be subject to arrest and jailed for growing or using a natural herb that has never killed a single person in the 5,000-year history of its use. How about no jail time for crimes that should not be crimes? [continues 74 words]
Re "Be wary of marijuana talk" (Speak Out, Feb. 8): That all the seed-bearing plants are good is so clear that there is little room for "interpretation" to "disagree" with it. Speak Out letter writer Judy Lovejoy Elliott's disagreement isn't with me but rather God. That it is told on literally the very first page of the Bible is no accident. Who is twisting words? It seems Elliott is using Scripture to support caging humans for using a God-given plant - a plant that hasn't "kill"(ed) anyone in more than 5,000 documented years of usage. That's safety on a biblical scale. [continues 55 words]
Supporters of a bill to legalize medical marijuana in Alabama are tweaking the legislation to make it more palatable to lawmakers. The changes may not be enough to address local law enforcement concerns, however. Rep. K.L. Brown, R-Jacksonville, filed a bill this legislative session to legalize marijuana for medicinal uses only. The Alabama Medical Marijuana Coalition, which composed the bill, is working on amendments to address concerns from other lawmakers. One amendment would add a 5 percent tax to medical marijuana sales that would be distributed to city and county law enforcement agencies in the state to combat the trafficking and production of illegal drugs. Another would define the relationship between patients and doctors to curb possible abuse of the system. [continues 954 words]
Don't "throw the baby out with the bathwater" in regards to medical marijuana in Alabama. Educated discussions and debates should continue as we move past the need to call it "pot." State Rep. K.L. Brown, R-Jacksonville, sponsors HB66, and Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, sponsors HB25. Each bill allows regulated medicinal marijuana to qualified patients who have a recommendation from a doctor. Republicans and Democrats can work together to pass comprehensive legislation. Medical conditions this pertains to include cancer, HIV/AIDS, cerebral palsy, Parkinson's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder and others. Traditional medicines are not always effective for these conditions; in many cases, not at all. Disabled and terminally ill patients are prone to insufficient treatment and a diminished quality of life. Appropriate marijuana use offers treatment with limited side effects. Marijuana has fewer and less severe side effects than many anti-pain and anti-anxiety medicines. There have been no fatalities directly associated with marijuana, and there are methods of intake other than smoking, including salves and tinctures. The bills specify cultivation and distribution, laboratory testing and monitored services to limit abuse. Jobs would be created. Importantly, there would be legal protections for physicians and patients who choose legitimate means of health and recovery with marijuana. Evan Haarbauer Vestavia Hills [end]
Re "Marijuana and the Bible" (Speak Out, Jan. 30): My husband and I attended a conference Jan. 28 at Rock Springs Congregational Methodist Church in Milner, Ga., where Dr. James Merritt was the guest speaker. He spoke, mostly to church leaders and preachers, on II Timothy 4:1-5, where Paul warns Timothy, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths" (verses 3 and 4, NIV). [continues 214 words]
Inside Alabama
