Trisha Maki discovered Growing Home after seeking treatment for her meth addiction. The group provided her with $200 to put down on a two-bedroom apartment in Denver and has followed up to try to keep her on the right path. Maki, 36, said she's barely scraping by with a hotel job but has been clean for more than a year. She has her three kids back and now is training to become a drug and alcohol counselor. Her remarks have been edited for space and clarity. [continues 515 words]
Garrett Wiggins to Succeed Dusty Schulze Officers from the Greater Routt and Moffat Narcotic Enforcement Team agree -- fighting the area's methamphetamine problem can be a thankless job. With four officers on staff and new drug dealers popping up to replace arrested ones throughout the Yampa Valley, the task is daunting, the hours long and the recognition limited. That hasn't dissuaded Garrett Wiggins, though. Wiggins, a law enforcement veteran, has been earmarked to lead GRAMNET, the task force announced Monday. He replaces current task force commander Dusty Schulze, who has been promoted to sergeant of the Craig Police Department, on Jan. 1. [continues 359 words]
Re: "No doubt about losing drug war," Dec. 10 Neal Peirce column. I appreciated Neal Peirce's column. As a former drug user myself, I can tell you that never, ever do the words "We shouldn't do this because it's illegal" get uttered in those circles. If criminalization has any affect, it is to push otherwise decent, law-abiding young people into the dens of real criminals. For the entire length of my "druggie" years, I worked full-time and contributed to society. I eventually simply got tired of the lifestyle, and my drug use fizzled away. [continues 123 words]
Fellow Evangelicals Seek to Help the Rev. Ted Haggard Address the Behaviors That Snared Him in a Scandal. COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- The Rev. Ted Haggard this week formally begins his long journey toward recovery from a drugs-and-gay-sex scandal that forced him to step down as one of the most influential evangelical leaders in the nation. Haggard, 50, has turned himself over to a team of counselors who are "assessing his spiritual, emotional and mental condition," said the Rev. H.B. London, who is helping to guide Haggard through the process. London and two other pastors will then set out a rigorous "restoration plan" requiring Haggard to spend hours each week in counseling, Bible study, prayer and soul-baring talks -- by phone or in person -- with his mentors. [continues 949 words]
This week, our government will decide whether or not they want to poison foreign countries. Congressman Mark Souder, R-Ind., Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., are proposing a bill to the House and Senate that, if passed, will revive research on a fungi called mycoherbicides, which would be used to kill illicit drug crops in other countries. Mycoherbicides have been studied exhaustively over the past 30 years and research has shown that they are not a viable option for controlling opium, coca or other drug plants in countries like Columbia and Afghanistan. The fungi do kill drug plants, but they also wipe out tomato plants and bean plants and strawberry plants and pretty much anything else that has leaves and stems. Furthermore, after these little bastards get entrenched, they contaminate the soil and leave the ground barren for years. Some governments are even storing up mycoherbicides as a chemical weapon. [continues 145 words]
Exactly one year ago, gun-wielding police teams stormed two popular Aspen eateries and rounded up a list of suspected drug dealers and illegal immigrants. The raids polarized the community. Some believed they were overzealous and potentially dangerous. Others praised the raids as long overdue and necessary to ensure the safety of schools and neighborhoods. A year has passed, but aftershocks from the raids have continued to hang around this so-called party town like high PM-10 levels above Aspen's streets. [continues 1345 words]
Editor: Concerning "End the war on drugs" (Aspen Daily News, Nov. 25), retired Denver police officer Tony Ryan is to be commended for raising awareness of the drug war's collateral damage. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. [continues 141 words]
As a retired lieutenant with 36 years of service in the Denver Police Department, I applaud the TRIDENT members in their recent arrests of drug dealers in the Lazy F Trailer Park. However, this most recent two-month investigation follows numerous other similar investigations. On Sept. 29, the Aspen Daily News reported multiple arrests after a 10-month investigation. There's more of the same throughout the past several years; you'd imagine that the population of drug dealers would be dried up by now. [continues 643 words]
Roughly 10 percent of America is now "countercultural," that strange euphemism for the hippie culture which started in the mid-'60s. That is, we now have a people culturally distinct in all the ways that ethnic groups are distinct. If some of these people aren't comfortable calling themselves "hippie," it's because they've been told hippies died with the '60s; therefore, they often don't quite know how to express their cultural identity, referring to themselves as "kind of an ex-hippie" or something. Also, for the last 40 years, young people have been joining this counterculture, and hippie parents usually produce hippie kids-ever seen tie-dyed baby clothes? Look around you at those who are overtly hippie; you'll soon realize most hadn't been born when the '60s ended. Further, journalists now report vast areas of America are heavily hippie-Vermont and parts of California and Colorado, among many others. [continues 256 words]
"Parents Pivotal In Keeping Teens Away From Drugs Reveals New Data." No, this is not a headline from the fake newspaper The Onion, but from a February press release from the geniuses at the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). And while it might seem that the federal drug war bureaucracy has suddenly discovered that parents matter, the reality is that over-reaching federal drug policy is also a proxy war against parental rights and responsibilities. In 2005, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., introduced the "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act of 2005." This draconian bill -- which was ultimately killed in committee -- would have created a two-year mandatory sentence for anyone simply failing, within 24 hours, to notify police of drug activity, including illegal drug use, and provide full assistance investigating, apprehending and prosecuting the offender "in or near the presence" of anyone 18 or younger; in other words, anywhere within a home where teenagers live. [continues 326 words]
CANON CITY - When Robin Basham was in fifth grade, her parents were getting a divorce and she needed someone to lean on. The person she felt most comfortable talking to was her teenage role model whom she had gotten to know through Drug Abuse Resistance Education classes at school. "I tended to cling to her. It was so cool to have someone to talk to when I was lost and confused and I could ask her, ‘Did I do this right?' " Basham, now 14, recalls. [continues 516 words]
Contraband-sniffing Canine Sweeps School The first-ever canine search for narcotics at Telluride Middle/High School takes place this afternoon. On Friday, Nov. 10, school officials called the Telluride Marshal's Office to report that a substance appearing to be cocaine had been found in a boys' bathroom. "The one good part of this whole story," said Telluride Schools Superintendent Mary Rubadeau, "is that a student did alert us" to the presence of what was determined by officers conducting a field test to be cocaine. [continues 520 words]
EAGLE COUNTY -- If the rest of Colorado voted like Eagle County, marijuana would be legal. If the rest of the state voted like Eagle County, an amendment to define "marriage" as only between one man and one woman would have failed, and another ballot issue to create "domestic partnerships" between same-sex couples would have passed. If the rest of the state voted like Eagle County did, Democrats would be waiting to take the oath of office for two elected jobs won by Republicans. [continues 390 words]
Editor: The recent request for additional funding for personnel by the Sheriff's Department to fight meth in Mesa County is placing the cart before the horse. The funding should be placed in intervention and treatment. How long can we turn a blind eye on the underlying mental-health issues associated with drug abuse and addiction? There would be far fewer victims of meth-related crime if there were a well-funded, community-backed program working toward recovery before law enforcement must step in. I would propose that a pro-active stand is far better than apprehension and incarceration in our already-overcrowded criminal justice system. Rebecca Foster Grand Junction [end]
Editor: How should Mesa County respond to the growing use of methamphetamine? During the crack epidemic of the '80s, New York City chose the zero tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many offenders as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack and America's capital had the highest per capita murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously. Simply put, the younger generation saw first-hand what crack was doing to their older brothers and sisters and decided for themselves that crack was bad news. [continues 85 words]
New Program Stresses How Few Students Actually Use Remember those old T-shirts from Drug Abuse Resistance Education? "DARE to keep kids off drugs." That program is slowly being dropped by many school districts, and the T-shirts became a joke among twentysomethings who took DARE classes and ended up smoking pot anyway. T-shirt knock-offs appeared like "DARE to keep kids off television" and "DARE to keep kids off hype." The T-shirt about hype is a joke, but it's not all that far from what many educators are, in fact, beginning to try to do. [continues 828 words]
We have the right as adults to control our own bodies, insofar as we don't violate the rights of others. And yet there was the governor, Great Nanny Bill Owens, standing on the steps of the State Nursery on Oct. 27, arguing that possession of a certain plant by adults should be against the law. For the "crime" of possessing that plant, armed government agents can, depending on the particulars, harass and intimidate you, steal your money, kidnap you, and/or lock you in a steel cage. Owens said, "Earlier this year we passed the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, because we recognize that cigarette smoke was having a negative impact on the health of our citizens. That one step forward would be undone by the two steps back with the passage of Amendment 44. Marijuana smoke is every bit as cancer-causing as is cigarette smoke, and legalizing the drug would encourage more people to inhale these toxic fumes." [continues 718 words]
Colorado voters have pitched Amendment 44 aside like an assortment of stems and seeds found at the bottom of an empty bag of weed. Tuesday's election results showed that the amendment failed by a wide margin statewide. Across Colorado 688,987 or 60.7 percent voted against the amendment, compared to 445,280 votes or 39.3 percent, in favor. In Mesa County, voters turned the amendment down by an even greater margin. Results were 31,637 votes or 68.2 percent against Amendment 44 and 14,240 or 30.7 percent in favor. [continues 608 words]
Overwhelmingly, Voters Just Saying No to Legalization By about a 2-1 ratio, voters snuffed out a measure that would have allowed adults 21 and over to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. With 701 precincts reporting, it appeared to be doomed to defeat, especially since it was barely getting a split vote in traditionally liberal Boulder County. That was the news Robert McGuire, spokesman for the Colorado Chapter of Save Our Society from Drugs, had been waiting to hear. [continues 624 words]
Most Colorado voters just said "no" Tuesday to legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational use. Under Amendment 44, adults ages 21 and older would have been allowed to possess and use up to an ounce of marijuana without facing a $100 fine. Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, or SAFER, launched the statewide campaign to legalize pot after a successful initiative in Denver last year. Although the Denver measure made pot technically legal in the city, Denver police are using state law to continue to fine people $100 who are caught with marijuana. [continues 255 words]
At His Church, Determination to Go Forward After Scandal COLORADO SPRINGS -- The former president of the National Association of Evangelicals confessed that he is "guilty of sexual immorality" in an apology letter read Sunday to tearful worshipers at his New Life Church. "I am a deceiver and a liar. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all of my adult life," wrote Ted Haggard, 50, who was fired Saturday as head of the 14,000-member church. [continues 602 words]
At any time, day or night, there may be five to seven Mesa County Sheriff's Department deputies patrolling 3,346 square miles of the county. And that's it. Sheriff Stan Hilkey, who is also the fire marshal for the county, oversees the county jail, is in charge of search and rescue, serves civil papers and performs a slew of other duties, is aware of the numbers. In his $20.5 million budget proposal for 2007, which he will present to the Mesa County Board of Commissioners Nov. 13, he is asking for 16 additional full-time employees - nine patrol deputies, two deputies for added court security and five administrative personnel. [continues 709 words]
MONTROSE -- Area law enforcement agencies have banded together to oppose Amendment 44. In an open letter, representatives from 16 agencies in the 7th Judicial District urged a no vote on the ballot measure, which would legalize adult possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana. The officials contend the amendment is poorly drafted because it does not specify that adults 21 and older cannot legally pass the drug to minors. And, they dispute proponents' arguments that marijuana is safer than alcohol, a legal drug. [continues 722 words]
Battle Over Amendment 44 Heats Up As Voting Deadline Approaches One side claims to be "troubled" by the idea of the legalization of marijuana, while a member of the other side calls the current laws "Draconian at best." Either way, voters casting ballots on Amendment 44, which would legalize small amounts of marijuana, Tuesday will be deciding on a heated issue that burst into flames recently when Gov. Bill Owens and supporters faced off at a Denver rally. The amendment represents the only statutory change to Colorado law on this year's ballot, so it's the only proposed amendment that will not affect the Colorado State Constitution. This fact does not detract from the passion exhibited by members representing both sides of the issue. [continues 676 words]
Slang Misuse, Failure to Check Assertions Hurts Its Coverage David Montero of the Rocky Mountain News has been stuffing his coverage of Amendment 44 (relegalizing marijuana) with attempts to use drug slang. Sometimes Montero uses slang to promote negative stereotypes, such as "the wording of the ballot measure is so simple, even the most ardent stoner could understand it." Other times, Montero's articles sound like Jerry Falwell trying to talk jive. Last Saturday, Montero wrote: "Pot smokers will tell you the most intense part of the joint is right at the end - the roach clip, in drug parlance. The news conference was getting to the roach clip." [continues 757 words]
Re: Big Moment for Marijuana (SDN, Nov. 3) After reading about the family experience of Beverly Kinard, president of the Christian Drug Education Center, I am puzzled. One one hand, she is working hard to advocate for punitive criminal laws again cannabis use. However, according to the article, her own son started using cannabis from age 12 to age 17. If Kinard feels that criminal prohibition laws are the best solution for cannabis use, why didn't she immediately take her son down to the police station to be handcuffed, arrested and jailed? Or is jail just something for other families who use cannabis? Or maybe just non-Christian cannabis users? I'm still trying to figure it out. Scott Mortimer Newburyport, Mass. [end]
In response to the opinion printed by Mr. Cowles of Breckenridge, I must ask everyone to take a moment and think about what kind of country do you want to live in? I understand that marijuana and drugs in general have a negative conotation in the minds of most people, but it seems to me that any effort to legislate morality or what people like to do in the privacy of their own homes is a step towards facism. I can see if someone is smoking pot in front of your kid or in public might be a nuisance, yet their are many things that are a nuisance to me. [continues 185 words]
Beauty Queen Warns of Beastly Impact of Drugs on Youth MERINO - Her carriage - an OH-58 helicopter. Her entourage - the U.S. Army National Guard and the Drug Enforcement Administration. Her audience - pupils at Merino Elementary School. Miss Colorado USA 2007 Keena Bonella on Wednesday proved that not only does she have beauty and brains but also the desire to use her new-found fame in educating young minds. Her mission: The knowledge that right choices can lead to many positive things in life. [continues 698 words]
DENVER - A group that claims marijuana use is safer than drinking ran newspaper ads Saturday mentioning allegations that President Bush once drunkenly challenged his father to fight and Vice President Dick Cheney's accidental shooting of a friend after drinking. SAFER Colorado, which put a measure on the Colorado ballot to legalize possession of marijuana, placed an ad in a newspaper in Greeley, where Bush made an appearance on Saturday. The ad in the Greeley Tribune had a photo of Bush accompanied by text that read: "In 1972, this man tried to fight his dad when he was drunk. Just one more reason to vote 'Yes on 44.'" The ad was referring to published reports that in 1972, a 26-year-old Bush had come home drunk and challenged his father to a fight. The matter was reportedly settled without violence. [continues 251 words]
DENVER - The group that put a measure on the Colorado ballot to legalize marijuana possession ran newspaper ads Saturday claiming President Bush drunkenly challenged his father to fight and Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a hunting companion after drinking. One of the ads was placed in the Greeley Tribune in Greeley, just of north of Denver where Bush made a campaign appearance on Saturday. It had a photo of Bush accompanied by text that read: "In 1972, this man tried to fight his dad when he was drunk. Just one more reason to vote Yes on 44." [continues 296 words]
Even Mason Tvert, the fiery advocate behind the state's pot-legalization measure, buried his head in his hand and cringed at the pro-marijuana rhetoric of Steve Kubby. "They really are crazy," said Kubby, a candidate running for the Libertarian Party's 2008 presidential nomination, about those who still want to keep pot illegal. "There's nothing we can do but hope they die." Some gasped, most giggled, at the fl ailing-arms candidate as he screamed about how messed up - he used a punchier word for "messed" - the country currently is to a crowd of about 30 students and community members in the Clark Building on Thursday night. [continues 577 words]
"Make your election sure." So urged a mass letter I saw recently. It was not a voter-turnout pitch for this campaign. It was the Apostle Peter writing to believers about heaven. The ancients put our instant-gratification culture to shame when it came to foresight. But for a middle view between biblical eternity and the political present, consider the sweep of two centuries. That's how long it has been since the Zebulon Pike expedition, America's first look at the mountains and plains we now call Colorado. And as we conservatives brace for unheavenly results on Tuesday, I believe the longer perspective can offer us encouragement. [continues 572 words]
Haggard Admits Buying Meth, Denies Use, Says Accuser Gave Him Massage An embattled Ted Haggard leaned over from the driver's seat of his pickup truck Friday morning and denied having sex with a male prostitute. But he admitted getting a massage and buying illegal drugs from the man. The brief public comments from one of the nation's foremost evangelists came outside his Colorado Springs home, as his wife sat, visibly uncomfortable, in the passenger seat. Hours before, the Denver male escort who had sent tremors through the conservative Christian establishment by accusing Haggard of paying for sex over a three-year period, failed a polygraph test. [continues 1097 words]
Top Evangelical Leader Says He Knew Escort But Their Association Was Not Intimate COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- One of the nation's most influential evangelical leaders admitted Friday that he visited a gay prostitute for a massage and bought methamphetamine for his personal use -- though he said he threw the drugs away without using them. The Rev. Ted Haggard denied the allegation that the two men met for sex as often as every month for the past three years. But he did say he went to the man's apartment for a massage and later called him to buy meth. [continues 521 words]
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The Rev. Ted Haggard said Friday that he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a male prostitute. But the influential Christian evangelist insisted he threw the drugs away and never had sex with the man. Haggard, who as president of the National Association of Evangelicals wielded influence on Capitol Hill and condemned both gay marriage and homosexuality, resigned Thursday after a Denver man named Mike Jones claimed he had many drug-fueled trysts with Haggard. Friday, Haggard said he received a massage from Jones after being referred to him by a Denver hotel, and that he bought meth for himself from the man. [continues 278 words]
Pastor Used To Be Briefed Weekly On Bush's Agenda WASHINGTON - As president of the National Association of Evangelicals, the Rev. Ted Haggard has advised the White House on issues ranging from judicial appointments to steel tariffs. But he also sought to widen the agenda of Christian evangelicals into areas the Bush administration - and many of his Christian brethren - would rather avoid. Haggard resigned as president of the association, which says it represents about 30 million evangelical church members, and took a leave as senior pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs amid allegations that he paid a gay former escort for sex and drugs. [continues 614 words]
The "Colorado Springs Gazette" today endorsed Amendment 44, which would legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. "We encourage freedom lovers to vote yes on Amendment 44," the newspaper said on its editorial page. "The long journey toward a more rational and workable national drug control policy begins with a single step." If the amendment passes, Colorado would become the first state to legalize marijuana. Federal law still bars possession of marijuana, and the nation's drug czar came to Colorado to campaign against the amendment. [continues 118 words]
What's with marijuana enthusiasts' blind spot toward free speech? Last Friday, you may recall, a noisy swarm of pro-pot protesters associated with the group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation disrupted speeches by state officials who oppose Amendment 44, which would legalize possession of up to an ounce. For a while their clamor actually drowned out Attorney General John Suthers. The News quickly denounced this assault on freedom in an editorial, pointing out that state officials had a permit for their rally and enjoyed a fundamental right to speak, whatever a mob of self-righteous bullies might have thought. [continues 213 words]
The marijuana proposal has caused a lot of discussion lately, but not enough. I was very surprised when Denver voters voted for it a few years ago. I thought that it go down in flames that time. I read that some voters in Denver felt that if alcohol is legal, then so should pot. I suppose that this was some type of a protest. The problem with that type of thinking is that it is not really thinking at all. Alcohol should be dealt with as a separate issue. I would hope that voters in the present election would spend a little more time pondering the outcome of what a vote for 44 would be. You would be telling your children that this is OK. [continues 310 words]
Battle Over Amendment 44 Heats Up As Voting Deadline Approaches One side claims to be "troubled" by the idea of the legalization of marijuana, while a member of the other side calls the current laws "Draconian at best." Either way, voters revisiting the polls on Tuesday to choose yes or no on Amendment 44 will be deciding on a heated issue that burst into flames recently when Gov. Bill Owens and supporters faced off at a Denver rally. The Amendment represents the only statutory change to Colorado law on this year's ballot, so it's the only proposed amendment that will not affect the Colorado State Constitution. This fact does not detract from the passion exhibited by members representing both sides of the issue. [continues 811 words]
The long journey toward a more rational and workable national drug control policy begins with a single step. That's why we're backing Amendment 44 in next week's election. The text of Amendment 44 is simple. It reads: "Any person under twenty-one years of age who possesses not more than one ounce of marijuana commits a class 2 petty offense and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars." Not very complicated, but this change could make a big difference in how the judicial system deals with drug offenders, as well as send a strong message to Washington that Coloradans are ready for a more realistic and rational national drug policy. [continues 534 words]
Supporters Say Laws Don't Stop Pot Use; Cops Worry About People Driving High EAGLE COUNTY -- Valley law enforcement officials are firmly against a ballot amendment that would legalize small amounts of marijuana. Amendment 44 legalizes possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. Possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is currently a statewide petty offense punishable by a $100 fine. Only in Denver is possession up to an ounce legal because voters there passed Initiative 100 in the last election. [continues 461 words]
As a local criminal defense attorney, small business person, and environmentalists, I have many thoughts on this year's election issues. Vote yes on Amendment 44, the state spends around $85 million per year arresting 13,000 people and incarcerating another few hundred per year on marijuana charges. Our courts are clogged with drug cases while our state is last in the nation in public funding of drug treatment. Stopping this waste of resources on nonviolent people who do no harm to others is a good first step. [continues 155 words]
Never ask your barber if you need a haircut, and don't ask law enforcement about Proposition 44. Only the medical profession is qualified to give facts about the risk versus reward consequences of smoking marijuana. The way I see it: Alcohol kills. Marijuana heals. Stephen L. Evans Steamboat Springs [end]
WASHINGTON -- The Rev. Ted Haggard, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals and one of the nation's most influential Christian leaders, resigned on Thursday, one day after a former male prostitute in Denver said in television and radio interviews that he had had a three-year sexual relationship with Mr. Haggard. Mr. Haggard, who is married and has five children, has denied the accusation, saying in a television interview: "I am steady with my wife. I'm faithful to my wife." [continues 423 words]
One important reason Metro readers should vote yes on Amendment 44 to legalize cannabis for adults doesn't get mentioned. Cannabis is biblically correct because Christ God, Our Father, indicates He created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good on literally the very first page of the Bible (Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it be accepted with thankfulness (1 Timothy 4:1-5). It's time to stop caging humans for using what God says is good. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
There are signs up around the state that read: Make Colorado Safer. Yes on 44. We can't argue about safety, but we're voting no on Amendment 44. The initiative proposes a change to the Colorado statutes that legalizes the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana for adults 21 years old and older. The "safer" on the signs is actually an acronym for the group -- Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation -- that collected signatures to get this proposal in front of voters this month. The supporters of the amendment say that marijuana is a safer alternative to alcohol and those who are old enough should be able to use the drug legally. [continues 164 words]
High-Schoolers Conduct Mock Election "I don't want to vote," said a Durango High School sophomore as her friend pushed her toward the ballot box. "Yes, you do," her friend responded. "Vote for what?" "Pot!" Amendment 44, which would legalize marijuana possession for adults, was among the issues that excited DHS students as they cast ballots in a mock election Wednesday. Students crowded around lunch tables to mark their ballots while their parents prepared to vote in the actual election in six days. [continues 344 words]
One must wonder if the author of "Pot amendment deserves a 'no,' " the News editorial of Oct. 8, has spent any time in a high school recently. If our teenagers are dumb enough to think that an amendment to treat marijuana like alcohol means that there is no downside to its use, then we need to be more worried about education than drug policy. There are certainly social consequences to the use of both drugs, but teenagers can look around and see this for themselves. [continues 119 words]
In the Counterpoint article of Oct. 21 about Amendment 44 ("Marijuana/Relative safety of drug an incorrect and irresponsible argument") I was made to laugh at the fright tactics used by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers. He tries to make a point of an increase of 162 percent in trips to the emergency room from use of marijuana between the 1990s and now. I checked up to find the numbers of people involved, as opposed to the percentage of emergency-room visits. These visits are really people being put into a rehab program, not riding an ambulance to save their lives. Boo! Give law enforcement the time to handle the worst of crime for all citizens - vote yes on Amendment 44. Steve Fuller Wheat Ridge [end]
Inside Colorado
