Re: the Dec. 25 article "Tucson man gets 25 years on drug-trafficking charges." It looks like the taxpayers of Arizona are going to be paying for the room and board and education on how to become a "real" criminal for Mark Anthony Simmons. This will cost the taxpayers of Arizona at least $500,000 (at $20,000 per year for 25 years). Simmons provided a desired product to willing buyers. He harmed nobody. Marijuana is a natural herb that has never been documented to kill anybody in the 5,000-year history of its use. It seems to me that our jail and prison space should be reserved for those who harm others against their will, not marijuana entrepreneurs. Kirk Muse, Mesa [end]
Says Founders Lack A 'Sincere' Religious Belief A federal judge has ruled against the founders of a Southeastern Arizona church that deifies marijuana and uses it as a sacrament, saying they don't have a "sincere" religious belief. In her refusal to dismiss charges against Dan and Mary Quaintance, U.S. District Judge Judith C. Herrera in Albuquerque wrote that evidence indicates the pair "adopted their 'religious' belief in cannabis as a sacrament and deity in order to justify their lifestyle choice to use marijuana." [continues 647 words]
TUCSON, Ariz. - A dozen Army and Marine recruiters who visited high schools were among those caught in a major FBI cocaine investigation, and some were allowed to keep working while under suspicion, a newspaper reported Sunday. None of the recruiters was accused of providing drugs to students. The recruiters worked in the Tucson area. They were targets of a federal sting called Operation Lively Green, which ran from 2001 to 2004 and was revealed last year. So far, 69 members of the military, prison guards, law enforcement employees and other public employees have been convicted of accepting bribes to help smuggle cocaine. [continues 148 words]
In a small-scale preliminary study, a UA psychiatrist has found that psilocybin, the active agent in psychedelic mushrooms, is effective in relieving the symptoms of people who suffer from severe obsessive compulsive disorder. Dr. Francisco A. Moreno and his colleagues conducted the first FDA-approved clinical study of psilocybin since it was outlawed in 1970. The results are published in the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Moreno cautions that the study was simply to test the safety of administering psilocybin to OCD patients. The effectiveness of the drug is still in question until a larger controlled study can be conducted. [continues 957 words]
Some Kept Visiting Schools for 3 Years After FBI Caught Them on Tape A Midtown strip mall that should have housed the best of the best served as Corruption Central in Tucson. Two military recruiting stations sit side-by-side there, one run by the Army, the other by the Marines. Between them, a total of seven recruiters were on the take, secretly accepting bribes to transport cocaine, even as most spent their days visiting local high schools. They had help from several more recruiters at an Army National Guard office, where one recruiter was said to be selling cocaine from the trunk of his recruiting vehicle. [continues 3652 words]
A state prison guard who says she was ordered to move a petty drug dealer into the same cell with a convicted killer -- a move that cost the drug dealer his life -- says the killing and the way she was treated afterward by supervisors so unnerved her that she quit a short time later. The guard, Jonna Lyn Zeger of Mesa, called the Tribune to tell her story after the paper reported last week on the death of inmate William Harris. Harris was beaten, choked and stabbed to death with a 9-inch prison shank, according to a Maricopa County Medical Examiner's report that ruled the death a homicide. Since the Sept. 7 killing, Arizona Department of Correction officials have kept quiet about the case, releasing few details. The department recently turned over findings of its criminal investigation to the Pinal County Attorney's Offi ce to determine if any charges should be fi led. [continues 751 words]
The County Attorney's Office has dropped drug charges against a former Tucson police officer after he agreed to give up his state peace officer's certification and undergo 10 hours of counseling. Estevan A. Marquez, 38, was arrested by fellow officers Oct. 17 after two urine tests showed cocaine in his system, Lt. Vicki Reza said at the time. She said Marquez, a TPD officer for 11 years, was given required drug tests after colliding with another patrol car earlier that day. [continues 220 words]
Salpointe Catholic High School is set to become the first school in Pima County to require the entire student body undergo drug testing. The program will start in the fall, said Mike Urbanski, head of student services at Salpointe, 1545 E. Copper Street. Urbanski said the program will be modeled after the one used at St. Patrick High School in Chicago, where hair samples have been used to test for drugs since 2004. The test uses a strand of hair from each student, which is a more reliable test for longtime drug use than the more common urinalysis, according to the Web site for Psychemedics, the company that will run Salpointe's tests. [continues 166 words]
A prisoner with no record of violence was beaten and stabbed to death in September after Arizona Department of Corrections officials placed him in a cell with a killer serving a life sentence. William Harris, 45, who was serving 3 1/2 years at the state prison in Florence, was stabbed three times, hit repeatedly on the head and choked, according to a Maricopa County Medical Examiner's report obtained by the Tribune. The weapon, known as a shank, was 9 inches long and still sticking out of Harris' lower chest when his body arrived at the medical examiner's office, according to the document. [continues 885 words]
It has become a familiar scene on the evening news across the country: Neighbors watch in stunned silence as police raid the house next door and the nice couple who for the most part kept to themselves are hauled away for running a methamphetamine lab in their basement. Compared to marijuana, heroin or cocaine, methamphetamine, or meth as it is commonly known, is relatively new in the headlines. But this drug has had a tremendous and terrible impact in a short time. Once thought to be a problem affecting primarily America's rural communities, no community, no matter how large or how small, is safe from the allure and the destruction caused by methamphetamine. [continues 724 words]
Washington Isn't Focused on the Real Threat of Cartels Joining Forces The people elected the Democrats to fix what was broken in Washington. The fact that new Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi even considered assigning Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is frightening. Hastings is the impeached federal judge who was taking payoffs from drug dealers at a time when the Colombians controlled Florida's drug trade. It took Pelosi almost a month to distance herself from Hastings. Pelosi's support of Rep. John Murtha for house majority leader is also telling. During the ABSCAM congressional corruption investigation, Murtha failed to make an affirmative rejection to a bribe by undercover FBI agents posing as Middle Eastern thugs. [continues 665 words]
I'm writing about: "Drug deal in Mesa ends in gunfire" (Nov 1). No doubt the police will file this case as a "drug-related crime." Actually it's a drug prohibition caused crime. When is the last time you had a story about a liquor dealer shooting his liquor distributor? Probably about 1933, the year they ended the disaster known as Alcohol Prohibition. Our counterproductive drug prohibition polices give marijuana users, sellers and distributors no legal recourse to settle their disputes with each other--so they resort to violence, just like alcohol users, sellers and distributors did when alcohol was illegal. Kirk Muse Mesa [end]
A U.S. judge is scheduled to decide if Dan and Mary Quaintance are drug dealers or church leaders with a national following. They claim the marijuana they get from Mexico is part of their religion. However, the U.S. government argues their church is a cover for a criminal enterprise. Religious freedom is a core belief in the United States, and the Quaintances, founders of the Church of Cognizance, say they're defending the right to practice their faith. "In our church, we believe the cannabis plant is the teacher," Dan Quaintance said. [continues 390 words]
Today are the midterm elections, when Congress and other elected officials around the country are judged based on their past performance, at best, and their campaign strategies, at worst. It's democracy, though, and it works. Or so one would hope. But what our democracy misses, at times, is academics. And it appears now that our politicians are ignoring serious academic studies at the cost of millions of dollars, the destruction of our environment and the health and welfare of Americans. [continues 687 words]
KINGMAN - The Mohave County Board of Supervisors will meet Monday to once again discuss the potential county funding of the fight against the methamphetamines epidemic. The Board of Supervisors first discussed the funding for both the Arizona Meth Project and the MethSmart program at their Oct. 2 meeting. The Arizona Meth Project, being spearheaded by Maricopa County, and the MethSmart program, being proposed by the Arizona Alliance of Boys and Girls Clubs, are both asking the county for assistance in funding to make the programs a reality. [continues 610 words]
As a special assistant county attorney, I am all too familiar with the harm caused to our community by illegal drugs. I have seen firsthand the tragic consequences which often occur when judgment is impaired by drug use. Domestic violence and vehicular tragedies are just two of the consequences of drug use that we in law enforcement have experienced. Our youth are especially vulnerable to the dire consequences of illegal drug use. Those who advocate the use of illegal drugs arguing for recreational use open a Pandora's box inevitably filled with tragedy. That's why I was both surprised and concerned when I learned that District 20 state Senate candidate Donna Gratehouse had advocated her support for a "study" which may have as its result a recommendation for legalizing marijuana for "recreational purposes." I would hope that Gratehouse would realize - as do law enforcement professionals, teachers, social workers and crime victims - - that there are great dangers posed by the recreational use of illegal drugs. I suggest that information about the harmful affects of illegal drugs can be found at the Maricopa County Attorney's Web site, http://www.drugfreeaz.com. I recommend that Web site to Gratehouse. Barnett S. Lotstein Special Assistant Maricopa County Attorney Phoenix [end]
If you think you can beat drug and alcohol addiction on your own, it is probably safe to say that you have never reached that crossroad. The same could be said if you believe that jail is the best way to treat an addict. And if you believe that refusing treatment for addicts will make them leave your town, take a look around Payson. There is no detox center and no drug treatment facility, but the number of people struggling with drug and alcohol addiction is on the rise. [continues 467 words]
Voters: Beware of unintended consequences and vote "no" on Proposition 301. If this proposition passes, it would deny hundreds of people the opportunity for drug treatment and would clog our prisons with more non-violent addicts. A study was done recently in Nebraska for the Department of Correctional Services (reported in /The Republic/). It showed that the get-tough meth law that took effect there last year, combined with normal expected growth in the prison population, will require many additional prison beds and will cost millions. [continues 148 words]
Please vote "yes" on Proposition 301, which would tighten probation-eligibility standards for those convicted of certain meth crimes. Currently, meth-users are sentenced to probation and substance-abuse programs but many times do not start or complete the programs. They are scheduled for court dates to explain why, but they do not appear. "Failure to appear" warrants are issued but go unnoticed. Many times the warrants get lost in the system. Just like all the "failures to appear" associated with the meth user, the current system is a failure. It depends on the user making an effort. That's not going to happen. [continues 107 words]
"Double D" knew he had to sober up when he tried to jump in front of a train. And even though he'd realized his drug and alcohol problem was out of control, he couldn't stop -- not until it drove him to pursue his own death. "I lived the better part of my life as an active addict," said Double D, who asked that his real name not be used to protect his identity. He has now been sober for more than two years. "I was not just addicted to meth, but to other substances as well, all of which were just as dangerous in their own way. Each one held a different grip on my life." [continues 1122 words]
Editor: I'm writing about the article, "$52 million of marijuana confiscated this summer," published Oct. 6. I'm sure that many marijuana growers and sellers are thankful to the Gila County Narcotics Task Force for these latest marijuana busts and others like it. Without operations like this, marijuana would be worth what other easy-to-grow weeds are worth -- very little. Thanks to the Drug Enforcement Administration and other so-called "drug warriors," the easy-to-grow weed is worth more than pure gold - -- and completely tax-free. Any marijuana growers, sellers or traffickers arrested will soon be replaced. They always are. Kirk Muse Mesa [end]
In the crowded list of measures on the Nov. 7 ballot, Proposition 301 is barely drawing notice. But it could land those convicted of first-time possession of methamphetamine in jail or prison. Arizona voters in 1996 passed an initiative that made it all but impossible for first- and second-time drug possession defendants to be sentenced to jail, steering them instead to probation and drug treatment. Now, citing the rise of methamphetamine use, backers of Proposition 301 want voters to make an exception among drug defendants. [continues 315 words]
Proposition 301 is not a new approach in dealing with methamphetamine users. In fact, it essentially rolls back the clock to the pre-1996 era when judges could sentence first-time meth offenders to jail or prison. Back then, meth wasn't the huge drug menace that it is today. But it is quickly replacing marijuana as the nation's most-used illegal narcotic, according to U.S. Justice Department data and surveys. And in Arizona, crime statistics provided by the FBI and the state show that meth is linked to three of every four crimes. Moreover, a five-year study by the University of Arizona reveals that hospital admissions related to meth exceed those related to cocaine use. [continues 365 words]
Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on drugs in local schools. Wednesday's story features an upcoming town hall meeting and other ideas and problems that will be discussed. Safford High School kicked off random drug testing for all students participating in extracurricular activities this fall, following a similar move by Thatcher and Pima high schools. There is yet to be an official drug-testing policy across the state, but the Arizona School Boards Association adopted a document on drug testing in 2004 on which local schools are basing their policies. Each school takes a slightly different approach in disciplining offenders. [continues 1403 words]
TUCSON, Ariz. -- A Pima, Ariz., couple has stepped down as leaders of a church that considers marijuana a sacrament and deity. Dan and Mary Quaintance say pending federal charges against them have made it impossible to properly lead the church. In February, the two were arrested in a car that contained 172 pounds of marijuana in the New Mexican town of Lordsburg near the Arizona state line. The Quaintances are facing 40 years in prison if convicted on federal charges of conspiracy and intent to distribute marijuana. Dan Quaintance, 53, said the church is now fractured, explaining that the 45-member congregation that he and his wife founded in 1991 no longer has its spiritual leaders. The Quaintances are scheduled to go on trial October 30 in Las Cruces, N.M., though they hope the case will be dismissed before the end of the month. They're awaiting a decision from U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera on whether she'll dismiss the case on the grounds that religious freedom should allow them to use the illegal drug. [continues 183 words]
KINGMAN - The Mohave County Board of Supervisors is considering funding for two proposed meth education projects, one county-based and one statewide. Chairman Pete Byers said the proposals he has read for both projects have been worthwhile. If they can manage it, he said he would like to try to give funding of some sort to both. One of the proposals is from the Boys and Girls Clubs in Mohave County. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Arizona are proposing a program for meth education that ties into their SMART Moves programs. [continues 732 words]
Two Step Aside, Saying Charges Hinder Duties The founders of an Arizona church that considers marijuana a sacrament and deity have stepped down as leaders, saying pending federal criminal char-ges make it impossible to fulfill their roles. The Church of Cognizance continues to function in Southeastern Arizona with about 45 members, said 54-year-old Dan Quaintance, who along with his wife, Mary, 51, is facing 40 years in prison if convicted on federal charges of conspiracy and intent to distribute more than 100 pounds of marijuana. [continues 771 words]
More than 104,000 pounds of marijuana plants with a street value of $52,307,205 went up in smoke this past summer thanks to the efforts of the Gila County Narcotics Task Force, Department of Public Safety and several other law enforcement agencies. The pot was discovered and destroyed during 21 raids that were conducted around the Rim Country during the past six months. A GCNTF agent, who asked to remain anonymous, said all of the marijuana gardens raided were very similar. [continues 549 words]
Since we can't get the press to pose real questions to this same old pack of professional politicians -- maybe my question for Jim Pederson will accidentally get published in the opinion pages. Billions of dollars are spent on purchasing marijuana. That money enriches the criminal element and hostile foreign powers. Harsh laws and prison walls have done nothing to curb the popularity and demand for this safe and effective medicinal herb. The drug and alcohol companies are making our government look stupid in their war to protect their markets. Professional politicians against the decriminalization of marijuana are either out of touch with society or in the pocket of the drug and alcohol industry. There is little middle ground on this forgotten war. Pederson's position on medical marijuana before this election is important since he is the only one claiming to be independent of these giant corporations. With the billions of dollars and lives being wasted by these laws, he must let his position be known. Alcohol has been filling our emergency rooms for the past 70 years, not marijuana. Honesty on this matter would make Pederson the most unique figure in American politics. Not one politician in this country has shown the courage to represent common sense. I challenge the press and these professional politicians to be honest about marijuana. Arlin Troutt Gold Canyon [end]
It never fails to amaze me how I can talk to kids about drugs and they understand. I talked to a young girl the other day in Las Vegas. I told her I wanted to legalize drugs. She said you can't do that, that kids will get them. I ask if she could get any drug she wanted at her school. She said yes. I ask if she could get alcohol. She said, no, you have to be 21 - and the light bulb came on. [continues 53 words]
KINGMAN - California outlaw motorcycle gangs were the pioneers in bringing methamphetamine into Mohave County. Sheriff Tom Sheahan said outlaw motorcycle gangs in California were the first to import meth into Mohave County and Arizona about 20 years ago. The ingredients to produce meth were easily available leading meth to be the drug of choice throughout the county and the state. The Eastern states in the country are now experiencing what the Western states have experienced 20 years ago, Sheahan said. In 2004, the sheriff's office conducted 554 drug arrests. In 2005, there were 591 drug arrests. About 70 percent of all drug arrests involve methamphetamine. [continues 475 words]
What If a Nation Hit Tenn. Barley Like We Treat Andean Coca? The most enlightening speech at the United Nations this week, I'm sorry to say, was the one by Evo Morales of Bolivia. I don't mean it was a good or even a coherent speech. That would be too much to expect from the world leaders' annual gasathon. The rhetorical bar is extremely low. Morales, like his friend Hugo Chavez, spent much of his time ranting about a new world order based on the economic policies that have worked such wonders in Cuba. [continues 690 words]
KINGMAN - Two Missouri authors and former drug dealers are spreading the word of the horrors of methamphetamine. Steve Box and Bill McLemore were in Kingman last week on a tour visiting 17 jails and prisons - including the Mohave County Jail, the juvenile facility and the newly built state prison off Interstate 40 southwest of Kingman. Box and McLemore, former drug dealers and meth users, spoke with prisoners on the dangers of meth. The authors also spoke to several dozen people, many former drug users, at a rally in Centennial Park in Kingman. [continues 376 words]
A 13-year-old at Goodyear's Eliseo C. Felix Elementary School is suspected of having brought a trace amount of marijuana to school, Goodyear police reported. The amount was so small that officers declined to press charges, said Sgt. Scott Benson, who supervises the Goodyear Police Department's school resource officers. The student brought a substance to school Tuesday morning and was showing other students, Benson said. After school, news spread to some parents through their children. A few parents attended the Avondale Elementary School District's board meeting Tuesday evening, expressing concern that the student was not adequately punished and wondering why police weren't involved. [continues 155 words]
TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION, Ariz. -- The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation to build a double-layered 700-mile-long fence on the Mexican border, a proposal already approved by the House. If the fence is built, however, it could have a long gap -- about 75 miles -- at one of the border's most vulnerable points because of opposition from the Indian tribe here. More illegal immigrants are caught -- and die trying to cross into the United States -- in and around the Tohono O'odham Indian territory, which straddles the Arizona border, than any other spot in the state. [continues 1289 words]
Violent Crime In America Is Up - At An Alarming Rate. At a recent Violent Crime Summit in Washington, D.C., law enforcement executives and mayors from the 50 largest U.S. cities discussed this spike in violent crime. Across the nation, homicides, robberies and aggravated assault (shootings) are up as much as 30 to 60 percent and more over the last year. Some cities say the numbers have reached all-time highs. Most of the increases are attributed to young male offenders. [continues 551 words]
A long time ago, in a place far away, a free-spirited schoolboy tried to exercise his rights of free speech. Informed that he had none, and rudely rebuffed, the impetuous lad grew up to become a newspaperman. Four years ago, in a different place far away, another smart-aleck also stood upon his First Amendment rights. He had better luck, and now he's in the U.S. Supreme Court, ready to defend his glorious victory against a formidable foe. [continues 661 words]
Editor: I have some answers for Kirk Muse's thoughtful question, "Why The Harsh Punishment For Growing Marijuana?" (Aug. 18, 2006). Caging humans for using cannabis (marijuana/kaneh-bosm) is made possible in part because of failed clergy not speaking up and pointing out to Christian followers, society in general and politicians that Christ God Our Father indicated he created all the seed bearing plants saying they are all good on literally the very first page of the Bible (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). [continues 147 words]
I'm writing about Bill Richardson's thoughtful column on Sept 1: "Drug gangs' impact". The only way to effectively deal with the drug cartels is to put them out of business. The only way this can be accomplished is to regulate, control and tax the products that they deal in. And this can only be accomplished with legalization. Only legal products of any kind can be regulated, controlled and taxed by any government. Of course, the drug war cheerleaders will claim that legalizing our now illegal drugs will be giving into the drug dealers and drug lords. [continues 84 words]
Boomers' History Of Abuse Tied To Increase In Overdoses Of Prescription, Illegal Drugs Drugs are killing aging baby boomers in Arizona at unprecedented rates, a trend that experts attribute to increases in both prescription- and illegal-drug use. The problem has been mounting here and nationwide for years but has been largely overlooked by drug-abuse prevention officials, who were not focused on adult-age subgroups. "Drug addiction is so often talked about as a disease of our youth, but for so many people, it catches up with them when they age," said Dr. Marvin Seppala, a national expert on drug abuse and chief medical director at Hazelden, a substance-abuse treatment program in Minnesota. [continues 669 words]
More than 600 Paradise Valley Unified School District students underwent drug tests last school year, according to recent reports. But that number probably will increase as more parents take advantage of the district's 14-year-old random drug-testing program, a school official said. "Overall, the program is going very well," said Jim Lee, the district's director of student services. "From a parent perspective, it might be a way to give a kid a reason to say 'no' and reduce peer pressure, and to increase the lines of communication." [continues 402 words]
As Local Law Enforcement Officials Grandstand, Career Criminals Roam Free Welcome to another chapter in the ongoing soap opera "As The TAG Team Turns," starring Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and this week co-starring Gov. Janet Napolitano. As the TAG Team looks for a way to get their name in the paper and on the six o'clock news as Election Day creeps closer, Thomas announces his outrage at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, hoping to garner some of the free press Arpaio and his hop-a-long political sidekick Napolitano grabbed by announcing they were personally responsible for writing the letter to Washington that led to the transfer of ICE's Arizona boss Roberto Medina, who is a highly respected cop, doesn't kiss political backsides and has been instrumental in attacking Mexican crime cartels. Unfortunately that's not what really happened. The governor's office was notified more than a month ago by Homeland Security officials in Washington that Medina's temporary Arizona assignment would end shortly and his new permanent assignment would be in El Paso, his hometown. Isn't it just like a politician to try and run a working cop who's leading the charge against organized crime out of town? [continues 599 words]
Will other districts soon follow suit? More than 600 Paradise Valley Unified School District students underwent drug tests last school year, according to recent reports. But that number will likely increase as more parents take advantage of the district's 14-year-old random drug-testing program, a school official said. "Overall, the program is going very well," said Jim Lee, the district's director of student services. "From a parent perspective, it might be a way to give a kid a reason to say no and reduce peer pressure, and to increase the lines of communication." [continues 431 words]
U.S. Congressman Rick Renzi recently witnessed first-hand the mountain of evidence associated with the war on drugs in rural Arizona. Renzi was in Florence on Monday, Aug. 14, and visited briefly with county officials at the Pinal County Courthouse before heading over to the sheriff's office. There he met with Sheriff Chris Vasquez and received a brief tour, which included demonstrations by the Narcotics Task Force, K-9 Unit and the Pinal County SWAT Team. Renzi, a Republican, and Sheriff Vasquez, a Democrat, see no party affiliation when it comes to the war on methamphetamine and its devastating effect on Arizona's rural communities. Putting party affiliations aside, Sheriff Vasquez and Congressman Renzi, a member of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, have joined forces in the methamphetamine war. [continues 411 words]
Editor: In Max Foster's Aug. 1 article, "Marijuana grower sentenced to 10 years," you and the editorial staff missed several points and issues that should have been discussed. Firstly, Foster quotes a drug force agent that says that marijuana gardens "present a danger to hikers" and cause "tremendous" environmental damage, but never explains what these dangers are or how such damage actually occurs. In addition, Foster, in his August 4. Article, "Marijuana garden kept intact for training," does not ask why law enforcement officers would use the "danger to hikers" and "environmental damage" argument to send a man to prison for ten years, but then keep an even larger garden for its own benefit. Foster quotes DEA Special Agent Tim Landrum as he celebrates that "millions of dirty dollars never made it into the drug trade" but never asks how much money tax payers are forced to spend in order to fund the GCNTF (Gila County Narcotics Task Force), Department of Public Safety, Gila County's Sheriff's Office, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Gila County Attorney's Office, DEA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, all of whom, Foster reports, participate in the marijuana raids, along with a "DPS Ranger helicopter and a SWAT team." [continues 57 words]
How badly do parents want their children to have after-school program opportunities? We should know by year's end. On Wednesday, the Kingman for Kids Task Force met to discuss its next moves in efforts to start after-school programs. The task they face is daunting. They agreed on their first two moves. The first is to contact local school district officials to schedule meetings and find out what commitment they might make for use of school facilities. Secondly, they hope to bring Tom Brown to their next meeting to tell them how to go about putting together a sound program. Brown operated after-school programs in the Flagstaff School District until his retirement this past spring. [continues 566 words]
Editor: I'm writing in response to the article, "Marijuana grower sentenced to 10 years." (Published on Aug. 1). It looks like the citizens of Arizona are going to be paying for the room, board and education on how to become a "real" criminal for Oscar Nunez-Medina, the evil gardener caught growing the evil natural herb: marijuana. However, I'm a little confused. Why is it that we severely punish those who grow the easy-to-grow weed that has never been documented to kill a single person in the 5,000 years history of its use, yet we treat tobacco growers and sellers as upstanding and honorable citizens? Our annual tobacco vs. marijuana kill ratio is about 400,000 to zero in the U.S. and about 4.5 million to zero worldwide. Kirk Muse Mesa [end]
The Pima County Sheriff's Department is taking a new approach to keeping kids out of trouble, and the first step is getting rid of the nationally known DARE program. Getting rid of the decades-old Drug Abuse Resistance Education program does not mean that law enforcement will stop talking to kids about the dangers of drugs, officials said Monday. They will simply take a new approach through the STAR program, or Student Training and Response. [continues 257 words]
One of the men arrested by the Payson-based Gila County Drug Task Force during an August 2005 raid on a marijuana growing operation near Strawberry was sentenced Friday to 120 months in jail. The raid on Calf Pen Canyon was one of seven that drug agents conducted last summer on illegal growing operations in Gila and Coconino counties. "Not only are they growing illegal drugs, they present a danger to hikers and the environmental damage they cause is tremendous," an agent said. "These operations are a definite threat to the public." [continues 381 words]
More than 30,000 marijuana plants cover the slopes of a canyon about 20 miles east of Payson. The crop was growing on what investigators said was a 2-year-old operation hidden beneath a canopy of thorny locust trees. At least four workers nurtured the plants from seedlings to maturity, with some plants growing as tall as 9 feet, authorities said. The workers constructed a sophisticated irrigation system to funnel creek water through half-inch pipes to the garden below, using valves to regulate the flow of water. [continues 577 words]
Inside Arizona
