Iowa pharmacy regulators expressed skepticism Monday about the need to follow other states in legalizing the medical use of marijuana. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy, under orders from a judge, took up the issue but quickly dismissed it. Board member DeeAnn Wedemeyer Oleson said evidence presented earlier by pro-marijuana activists was "woefully inadequate." Advocates have contended that the board must allow medical uses of marijuana because 13 other states allow it. Wedemeyer Oleson, a Guthrie Center pharmacist, said the activists' reasoning reminded her of an argument she made to her father when she was a teen-ager. She said she insisted that he let her stay out until 1 a.m. because her friends' parents allowed them to do so. "He said, 'If your friends jumped off a bridge, does that mean you should jump off a bridge?' " [continues 225 words]
Regarding editorial writer Andie Dominick's May 8 essay on medical marijuana: Not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Dealers of illegal drugs don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of trafficking. For addictive drugs, such as 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 73 words]
George McMahon is afflicted with Nail Patella Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes abnormalities of joints, kidneys and bones. It is sometimes detected when someone's kneecaps don't develop or fingernails are missing. Many with the syndrome are also afflicted with glaucoma. McMahon has small kneecaps and no thumbnails and suffers from severe pain, muscle spasms and nausea. In his 59 years, he's been hospitalized repeatedly, undergone nearly 20 major surgeries and has had five "near death" experiences. [continues 723 words]
I am taking it upon myself to address the Register on behalf of all parents of child-rearing age. Your April 26 Metro front-page article describing the drug salvia divinorum not only told of the tantalizing effects and reasonable cost ($9), but also explained just how to use the drug and where to obtain it. If that weren't enough to raise the ire of your readers, you announced in the headline that its use is "completely legal in Iowa." Was all that information really necessary? Stu Bassman, Clive [end]
Several years ago, a friend of mine who was diagnosed with terminal cancer told of the incredible amount of pain he was suffering. With plenty of guilt, he admitted he was smoking marijuana to alleviate the pain and anxiety that accompanied it. With pot, he could still live life with some dignity rather than tied to a medical bed. Like most of us, he was a Joe six-pack drinker who viewed illegal drugs with fear and disdain. When it came to viewing life's end, he wanted a dignified death. Marijuana gave him that sense of still living, whereas the morphine put him in a comatose state. [continues 93 words]
Concerning an April 25 article in the Register about a judge ruling that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy must examine whether marijuana has an accepted medical use: I would think there have been many studies done already that could be used to come to an unbiased decision. Past studies must have positive results for the side of legalizing marijuana because you never hear the results. I don't understand how pharmacists could not help but be biased. The pharmaceutical industry can see the writing on the wall: Pot relieved my nausea (no more antacids); I don't feel stressed (no more Valium); and it lowered blood pressure (throw out some more pills). [continues 79 words]
A Polk County judge has ruled that the Iowa Board of Pharmacy must examine whether marijuana has an accepted medical use - a decision some said could thaw the debate on its use for medical purposes in Iowa. The ruling Thursday by District Judge Joel Novak does not legalize medical marijuana in Iowa. Instead, it requires the pharmacy board to consider whether marijuana is properly classified as a Schedule I controlled substance under state law. "What this does is it forces the board to address medical marijuana," said Randall Wilson, the attorney who handled the case for the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. [continues 351 words]
F.M. residents file complaint about IDOT stop. FORT MADISON -- Carl and Jane Schneider thought their trip home to Fort Madison from a two-week vacation would be pleasant. Then they would relax in their living room and talk about the fun time they had driving in their recreational vehicle and look at pictures they took. They were wrong. Carl, 66, who operated Blue Grass Dairy for many years and whose family has lived for four generations in town, and Jane, 59, said instead they had to deal with an afterthought of being treated like criminals during what they described as an unnecessary and "scary" traffic stop. [continues 999 words]
Republican Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa has indicated that he opposes President Obama's recent changes to how the federal Drug Enforcement Agency approaches medical marijuana. Grassley's tired, predictable response demonstrates the extent to which he is out of touch on this issue. During the course of the grueling 2008 election cycle, Obama promised to end federal raids against medical marijuana dispensaries operating in states that legally allow them. Though this pledged policy change didn't occur immediately after the president's inauguration, administration officials have now made it clear that Obama intends to keep his word. [continues 608 words]
A bipartisan group of Minnesota lawmakers is putting forth legislation to legalize the growth of cannabis, or hemp. The Industrial Hemp Development Act (HF 608) would provide licenses to qualified farmers for the cultivation of hemp, after passing background checks, of course. Iowa lawmakers must pay close attention to the progress of Minnesota's hemp act; its success or failure may signal how a similar act would fair here. Regardless of the reaction of our neighbors to the north, hemp production will dramatically change the face of agriculture in America, and Iowans need to be out ahead of this increasingly popular trend. [continues 589 words]
Iowa Will Not Be Joining 13 Other States That Allow Using Marijuana For Medical Purposes. A bill that dealt with that was taken off the table Tuesday. Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, who filed Senate File 293 last week, pulled the bill during a subcommittee meeting, the first step any bill must pass through. "He realized there were some flaws to it and he wanted to relook at it," said Sen. Randy Feenstra. "He may come back with it next year." [continues 698 words]
Jeff Elton can't control his stomach. The 55-year old Des Moines resident has a nasty medical condition - gastroparesis, or stomach paralysis - that precludes the normal digestion of food. The only thing that helps his chronic nausea and vomiting? Marijuana: the safest and most effective anti-nausea drug available, he said. I was astounded by the fact that it delivered immediate relief from chronic nausea, with the only side effect being euphoria," said Elton, who has been prescribed a variety of anti-nausea drugs that he said have ultimately amplified his nausea. [continues 533 words]
In 1988, then-Sen. Joe Biden led the effort to create a "czar" to oversee and coordinate the U.S. "drug war." Compromises during the drafting of the original law, and action and inaction by congresses and administrations since, have left the drug czar little more than a toothless bureaucratic tiger. If reducing the carnage caused by the use of drugs and the battles to decrease their use is the goal, the office of the drug czar should either be scrapped or its mandate rewritten to give it actual responsibility. [continues 587 words]
With Iowa's state government facing a budget shortfall of approximately $600 million and an increasing number of people looking for work, there is an exceedingly practical strategy for economic recovery that very few people are discussing: the legalization, regulation, and taxation of marijuana. Most politicians have now become accustomed to advocating for the development of green jobs, but almost none of them have yet been willing to consider how a radical change in national and state drug policy could help create some of the greenest jobs imaginable by facilitating the creation of a new marijuana industry. While it is true that such a major change in government policy toward marijuana cultivation, distribution, and consumption would be (extremely) politically difficult to accomplish, it is time for serious people to start considering how to best go about advocating for just such a radical shift. [continues 547 words]
Marijuana, meth and pills. Whether they're being smoked, snorted or injected, these drugs are abused regularly in Creston. Creston Police Chief Paul Ver Meer said the drug problem in Creston is being combated with "aggressive patrol" by his officers. This includes the use of informants and enforcement of laws on the books, added Ver Meer. "We have zero tolerance for any controlled substance abuse," said Ver Meer plainly. "If we find somebody with drugs, they're going to be arrested." [continues 523 words]
Iowa's battle to shut down methamphetamine labs has led to a 24 percent overall drop in drug offenders sent to prison compared with four years ago, a new state report shows. The decline is among several key factors behind a revised forecast projecting significantly less growth for Iowa's prison population over the next decade, according to the Iowa Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning. Iowa's prisons now hold about 8,700 inmates. The number is predicted to increase to 8,900 inmates by mid-year 2018, up 2.2 percent. As recently as 2002, Iowa's prisons had been on a pace to exceed 12,000 inmates by 2012. [continues 825 words]
Regarding the Register's thoughtful Jan. 4 editorial, "Rethink Long, Mandatory Drug Sentences": When it comes to drugs, mandatory minimum prison sentences have done little other than give the land of the free the highest incarceration rate in the world. The deterrent value of zero tolerance is grossly overrated. During the crack epidemic of the 1980s, 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. [continues 113 words]
Why do U.S. citizens tolerate the cost and ineffectiveness of the war on drugs? America has spent billions of dollars combating drug movement into the country and has legislated mandatory sentencing laws that require the continual construction of jails to house the guilty. Law enforcement and social services spend an inordinate amount of time on drug cases. U.S. drug policy has helped create well-organized and armed drug cartels and warlords that illegally produce, process, distribute and penetrate U.S. borders. At the same time, drug use by Americans (the highest per capita in the world) continually increases drug demand, which thwarts all the efforts to control supply. [continues 95 words]
To those who know Reed Prior, he seemed the last person who would be sentenced to life in federal prison. To those who know George W. Bush's reputation, he seemed the last president who would set Prior free in an act of mercy. Yet, both happened, and the irony reveals injustice not just in one case but in criminal sentencing in general. Prior, 59, was granted a rare commutation by President Bush two days before Christmas, which means Prior will soon leave a federal prison in Greenville, Ill., a free man. Without that presidential act, Prior would have spent the remainder of his life in prison. Many people - including a who's who list in Iowa business and political circles - urged the president to act. They were moved not only by Prior's otherwise exemplary life but also by what seemed to them an unjustly excessive penalty for the crime of selling illegal drugs. [continues 361 words]
Accountability. That's what got him where he is today. Matt Heath graduated from Plymouth County's Drug Court Dec. 10 as one of the first from the program that celebrated it's one year anniversary in October. "This is the best I've felt since I was 14 or 15," the 34-year-old said. "Drugs do bad things to your life." Heath entered drug court in February, a decision he didn't really want to make because of the commitment and changes he new were ahead. [continues 550 words]
HAMPTON -- Eighteen months after their son, Bob, died from an overdose of illegal drugs, Philip and Pauline Strand believe his death could have been prevented by Grinnell police. The Strands say their son would be alive today if police in Grinnell, a city of about 9,200 in central Iowa's Poweshiek County, had removed items from a vehicle they had impounded -- including a drug-laced water bottle. The Strands claim the water bottle was left in the vehicle by two people involved in a Grinnell drug arrest. [continues 765 words]
Regarding your thoughtful Nov. 14 editorial, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican immigration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. [continues 119 words]
The decisions made this past week to lessen the penalties surrounding one certain leafy green plant has left many proponents of medical and recreational marijuana (not horticulturists) swooning. In Massachusetts, voters elected to decriminalize up to an ounce of the substance. Similarly, voters in Michigan voted in favor of Proposal 1, which will now allow the prescription of medical marijuana in the state. This decision will positively affect both states, and other states should follow their lead. Fourteen states across the nation allow the use of medical marijuana, and 12 states have decriminalized it. Even though many opponents of marijuana believe that allowing medical use of the substance will only contribute to the deterioration of society, transforming children into drug-obsessed heathens and generating marijuana dispensaries as plentiful as gas stations on every street corner, there are many benefits that will surface with these new decisions. [continues 368 words]
The last week in October marks a national tradition of Red Ribbon Week. The red ribbon symbolizes a need for action, enforcement and compassion with issues of alcohol, tobacco and other illegal drugs. Action can be done by taking a stand against drugs and alcohol. Talk with kids about making health choices; they need to hear it from several different sources: the school, their parents and community members. Enforcement of the law not only happens through the police, but happens with the help of all individuals. If you know of someone who is struggling with addictions to drugs or alcohol, get them assistance to receive the help they need. Some addicts have said they wouldn't have gotten help themselves, but they were glad to receive treatment after they were turned in. [continues 71 words]
LeClaire, Iowa - Elizabeth Ann Wehrman, 56, of LeClaire, Iowa, died October 14, 2008, at her home as a result of pancreatic cancer. A visitation will be held 4-8 p.m. Friday, October 17, at Weerts Funeral Home, Kimberly at Jersey Ridge, Davenport. Celebration of Life services will be 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Private interment will be in Glendale Cemetery, LeClaire. A memorial fund will be established in Beth's honor. Beth believed life was best spent in a pair of blue jeans, so please join the family in honoring her wish by wearing them to all services. [continues 335 words]
This year's Spirit of Marycrest award will be presented today to Elizabeth Bemenderfer Wehrman of LeClaire, Iowa. A 1986 graduate of Marycrest College, Wehrman was a registered nurse for 35 years. Her resume includes work as a street nurse for the Partnership with the Chicago Recovery Alliance, Needle Exchange Program. Known as the "Needle Lady of Illinois," Wehrman is estimated to have exchanged more than 11,000 needles to help prevent the spread of HIV. She also was the executive director of the AIDS Project Quad-Cities from 1994-1997 and worked with the John Lewis Coffee Shop Homeless/HIV Street Outreach from 1997-1999. [continues 132 words]
Once again I have no organized topic for this week, so here are a couple of random items that will hopefully pass for some semblance of an article. I am back this semester teaching a criminal justice intro class at Iowa Western Community College. I kind of enjoy doing that, as most of the students are pretty good and I like the interaction with them. This year I am trying something new, I am having the students blog on a site I set up on different topics from each chapter of the textbook. They can write whatever they choose to write, as long as it is respectful and civil. [continues 504 words]
When the Democrats and Republicans crown their parties' nominees at national conventions this week and next, they will also adopt party platforms. The principles outlined in those platforms will explain a lot about why there's so much gridlock in Congress. These people don't agree on much. The differences are perhaps even greater in the parties' state platforms, which address national issues but also include a host of Iowa issues where approaches diverge. Both Iowa party platforms are worth a skim for anyone interested in state policy and politics. Sometimes candidates on the stump can start sounding the same. But the Iowa platforms set forth unequivocally the principles each party stakes out as its own. They also shed light on which ideologies are gaining strength or ebbing within each party, and what issues state legislators are likely to push in the next session. [continues 748 words]
In the Aug. 4 article, "Iowans' Tippling Boosts State Coffers," it was reported that the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division raked in revenue of $87.6 million from the sales of a very dangerous recreational drug that people can die from if they drink too much of it. At the same time, Iowa will arrest responsible adults and take away their driver's licenses - even if the so-called crime had nothing to do with driving - for simply possessing marijuana, a plant that is impossible to fatally overdose on. [continues 52 words]
I'm absolutely horrified to read that we had or have had such evil, insane, idiotic people living in our town preying on our children and adults to destroy their minds for money. First I want to thank the many officers who have been instrumental in having made drug arrests. Lawyers and judges should put the good of people first. Money should never enter into it. These animals gone mad should be punished severely. Bread and water for food, slave labor, put into cages and never let out. In some cases we have just reasons for death. They have no purpose but to destroy lives. Let the children know how they are punished. [continues 61 words]
The number of inmates in Iowa prisons is down, due in part to a drop in the number of prison terms and fewer offenders returning for parole or probation violations, corrections officials said. As of June 31, which marked the end of Iowa's 2008 fiscal year, the state prisons housed 8,740 inmates. That's down 66 inmates from the year before and marks only the third annual decline in 12 years, said Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin. The 1,800 new commitments to Iowa prisons were down 162 placements from the previous year and was the lowest total since fiscal 1997. Baldwin called it a "significant" decline. [continues 652 words]
On Thursday, top U.S. drug interdiction officials said U.S. authorities seized a record 316 metric tons of cocaine last year. In making the announcement, the officials credited Mexico's increasing cooperation with helping force drug traffickers to raise their prices and try new smuggling methods. John Walters, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the record seizures have led to a 21 percent jump in the price of cocaine and a drop in the purity of the drug. The price of methamphetamine has jumped even more, he said, thanks to a crackdown on U.S. labs and Mexican authorities doing more to stop importation of precursor material. [continues 344 words]
Sean Bucci got busted in 2003 for trafficking marijuana. A former high school classmate, a confidential informant working for the federal government, led authorities to Bucci's door. So Bucci decided to get even. He created a Web site called whosarat.com before he went to prison for 12 1/2 years. He featured his "snitch" as "Rat of the Week." The federal court system took notice. His Web site launched a debate about how much access the public should have to plea agreements -- documents that can reveal who is cooperating with the federal government. [continues 1144 words]
Normally, people aren't paid to get high, but University of Iowa scientists are coughing up some coin to stoners willing to help them gain insight into the effects of marijuana. Users won't get enough dough to live on -- maybe a month's rent -- but they'll cash in enough to cure a mean case of the munchies. "The hypothesis is that people that use it at an early age have a greater effect, and the longer a person uses it the greater the effect," said Robert Block, an associate professor in the UI Department of Anesthesia and the lead investigator on the project. [continues 492 words]
The war on drugs is prejudiced against minorities, a group of Drake University students and professors concluded Wednesday. "America's war on drugs has really turned into American's war on nonwhite youth," said Eric Johnson, an education professor at Drake. Johnson, three other Drake professors and a representative of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition formed the panel Wednesday evening on the Drake campus at a discussion hosted by Drake Students for Sensible Drug Policy. The group of about 50 students who attended tried to brainstorm a better drug policy, one that doesn't unfairly affect minorities and college-bound students, they said. [continues 230 words]
Rifles, shotguns, pounds of drugs and loads of cash lined a table in the garage of the University of Iowa Department of Public Safety headquarters Monday morning. However, local police warned Congressman Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, that without federal funding, those dangerous guns and weapons and the people carrying them will remain on the streets. Loebsack hosted a roundtable meeting with members of the Iowa City and Coralville Police, Johnson County Sheriff's Office and the UI Department of Public Safety to discuss how funding cuts to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants could affect them. [continues 416 words]
'We Don't Always Boast,' Says Pd Boss The most common question area law enforcement officials hear from the public about drugs is: Why aren't you doing anything? In a Friday presentation, representatives of the Fort Dodge Police Department, the Webster County Sheriff's Department and the Iowa State Patrol responded. They emphasized what has been a recent push to crack down on drugs - especially methamphetamine. "Law enforcement is taking a big hit on not doing enough on drug enforcement," said acting Fort Dodge Police Chief Doug Utley. [continues 690 words]
When two University of Iowa football players were arrested on drug charges in Iowa City early Saturday morning, one of them was charged with a drug tax stamp violation. It's a law Iowa has had since 1990, requiring a tax on something that's already illegal -- possessing certain amounts of controlled substances. "The whole purpose of the statute was to give police another tool in their arsenal to prosecute drug traffickers," Assistant Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said. Someone caught with enough of the drug but not the stamp to show the tax is paid may be charged with a crime that carries a fine, plus the standard possession of a controlled substance or possession with intent to deliver. [continues 431 words]
Loebsack Wants To Restore Millions Cut From Drug Enforcement Budget OTTUMWA -- When he started making drug arrests 20 years ago, Ottumwa Police Lt. Tom McAndrew said a $300 meth arrest was a big deal. These days, it's hard to get overworked federal prosecutors to take a $25,000 meth bust seriously. But meth dealers are being taken off the streets. Manufacturing labs have been reduced. And imported drugs are being confiscated. Locally that's because of a sufficiently funded drug task force, McAndrew told his congressional representative Saturday. [continues 840 words]
Coralville, Ia. - Iowa is on the verge of a $256 million prison construction boom, and Nicholas Viola is one of the statistics behind the growth trend. Viola, 19, of Des Moines, arrived at the Oakdale state prison here in December after receiving a five-year sentence for second-degree theft. The young man acknowledged he has a methamphetamine problem. "I'm sad, but I've got to do what I've got to do. I had my fair chances," said Viola, whose girlfriend back home is pregnant with his second child. [continues 828 words]
Iowa has a choice: Undertake its biggest prison-building spree in history, or look for alternatives that reduce the need for more prisons. That choice must be made soon. The Legislature is considering a recommendation from Gov. Chet Culver to build a new state penitentiary and a new women's prison at a cost of $200 million. A legislative committee proposed that, plus a $25 million expansion of the prison at Newton. State corrections officials say the Men's Reformatory in Anamosa is next in line for replacement. And, if the steady growth in prison population continues as projected, the state could face building as many as three more prisons in the next decade. [continues 512 words]
Thanks for publishing Greg Francisco's outstanding letter "Legalize, Regulate, and Tax." (See River Cities' Reader Issue 667, January 16-22, 2008.) It seems to me that in order to properly evaluate our nation's drug policies, we need to compare and contrast our drug policies with those of another nation with substantially different drug policies. I suggest that we use the Czech Republic for our comparison. In the Czech Republic, citizens can legally use, possess, grow, or purchase small quantities of marijuana. [continues 157 words]
A drug-interdiction program devastated by funding cuts could be saved by a group of U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle who announced plans on Wednesday to tack on money to the federal omnibus spending bill. U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat, along with four other senators, announced plans to replace money cut from the federal Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program as part of an emergency supplemental funding bill. They would return $660 million to the program, which was cut to $170 million in December by the Bush administration. [continues 432 words]
WATERLOO --- Local police say the federal government has continued to shrink funding that's the backbone for drug trafficking battles. Now the president has included even more cuts for the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program in his recent budget, said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa. The Senate approved $660 million for the program but was forced to reduce the funding due to the threat of a presidential veto, Harkin said Friday during a conference in Waterloo with law enforcement representatives. Current proposals place the Byrne program at only $170 million. This means Iowa agencies, which currently get $4.2 million, would only see $1.5 million. [continues 382 words]
Making a dent in meth is the aim of the Southeast Iowa Inter-Agency Drug Task Force. The drug task force has done its job well. The number of meth labs in the area is way down. Because of that, drug task force officers had more time to pursue bigger culprits -- large drug importers, and that led recently to busts that included a $1.3 million forfeiture. It's a double win. The illegal drugs are off the streets, and the task force gets part of the money. [continues 206 words]
DES MOINES (AP) --- Possible cuts in federal funds could hit drug enforcement programs in Iowa. The U.S. Department of Justice funds drug control programs at local law enforcement agencies through the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program. A proposal calls for cutting 70 percent of the $4.22 million that came to Iowa this year. The grants make up a large portion of the Iowa Office of Drug Control Policy's budget, and officials say less money means investigations into narcotic suppliers and dealers would be stalled. [continues 328 words]
Proposed cuts in a key federal drug-enforcement program threaten efforts in Iowa just as the state has shown progress in the fight against methamphetamine, officials say. The U.S. Justice Department, which filters money to local law enforcement through the Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program, could cut 70 percent from the $4.22 million that came to Iowa this year. Iowa politicians say they will fight the cuts, but all sides agree that the proposed cuts reflect a shift in national priorities toward the war on terrorism. [continues 864 words]
Bravo to op-ed author Garry Reed. (See "Do You Speak Thuggery or Freedom?", River Cities' Reader Issue 666, January 9-15, 2008.) Propaganda is propaganda, regardless whether it is used to prop up a totalitarian regime or a totalitarian policy. Call it a "war on drugs." Tell us it's all about the children. Convince us you're really just doing it for our own good - to protect us from ourselves. Dress failure after failure up as unmitigated success. Say whatever you want. The war on drugs is still prohibition. And prohibition still does not work. Legalize, regulate, and tax drugs, so that we can finally control drugs. Greg Francisco Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition Paw Paw, Michigan [end]
DEA Tramples Canada's Sovereignty By Demanding Pot Seller Be Tried In U.S. Attention, concerned citizens of the United States of America: It is now safe to unlock your doors and let your children back out onto the streets to play hopscotch and jump rope. Yes, the long and terrible reign of the Prince of Pot is over. No longer will this menacing merchant of the devil's weed terrorize and addict our innocent youth to his mind-destroying plants. [continues 691 words]
John P. Walters just can't seem to contain himself. Give the career powercrat a job with the imperial appellation of "Drug Czar" and he just instinctively grasps for more. Last summer, for example, the Top Drug Thug made headlines by declaring that simple, nonviolent marijuana gardeners are dangerous terrorists. While you puzzle over that oxymoronic disconnect, consider this further quote from the Redding Record Searchlight: "Marijuana gardens are a terrorist threat to the public's health and safety, as well as to the environment." [continues 587 words]
Inside Iowa
