I'm writing about Beau Elliot's thoughtful column, "Wicked Wacky" (July 3). Obviously, the so-called conservative Supreme Court justices felt high-school students should not have freedom of speech when they talk or write about our sacred war on drugs. "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" brings into question one of America's most sacred institutions: our war on drugs. Without our sacred war on drugs, America would not be the most incarcerated nation is the history of human civilization. Then we would need far fewer law-enforcement personnel, far fewer prison and jail guards, and no prison or jail builders. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
In this wonderfully wacky corner of the universe called America, the hits just keep on coming, don't they. No wonder (there's that word again) we're so black-and-blue. Take the Supreme Court. The good justices (five of them, anyway - the usual suspects) recently decided that the Constitution's freedom of speech does not cover a high-school student unfurling a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" (on a public sidewalk, not on school grounds). On the other hand, the same five usual-suspect justices ruled that the campaign-finance law attempting to regulate corporate and labor-union campaign donations (among others) infringes on their freedom of speech. [continues 673 words]
Court Extends Government Control Of Expression In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court famously declared that students do not "shed their constitutional right to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." Maybe they don't shed them completely, but the Supreme Court has in subsequent rulings made it clear that the memorable quote from Tinker vs. Des Moines means less than it was thought to mean at the time. It means even less following Monday's ruling in an Alaska student-speech case. [continues 473 words]
FOREST CITY - As the picture of a pitted, shriveled brain flashed onto the screen, Delbert Sankey looked out at the Forest City High School freshman and asked them to look at the photo. He paused for a moment, letting the photo sink into the students' minds. "My brain looks worse than that," Sankey said. "A mashed-up mush brain." Sankey is a recovering drug addict. In and out of state prisons for 18 years, he has been clean for two years, is going to college, writing a book and talking to young people about the horrors of drug use every chance he can get. [continues 1012 words]
Encouraging Statistics Belie Region's Struggles Against Addictive, Ruinous Meth LAURENS, Iowa -- Methamphetamine has claimed every tooth in Dennis Patten's head, which is why his face is caving into his jaw and why just about everything south of his neck is falling apart. The squat Patten is a 28-year veteran of Iowa's drug wars, 25 of them spent as an addict, and the last three as an uncertain just-say-no convert torn by gnawing cravings for the drugs that have crippled him. [continues 1286 words]
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who introduced the Methamphetamine Abuse Treatment and Prevention Act in the U.S. Senate this week, spoke with law enforcement and drug treatment professionals in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines Saturday about his ideas for tackling methamphetamine abuse. The idea behind Harkin's bill is that every dollar spent on treatment and prevention of meth abuse will ultimately lead to a $7 savings. His goal is to increase family and jail-based treatment and break down barriers to getting people help. [continues 78 words]
In Iowa City, marijuana reigns supreme. An analysis by The Daily Iowan shows that approximately 60 percent of all drug arrests in Iowa City in the past five years were for possession of marijuana. But the marijuana-related arrests have led to a host of other problems, and the effects of the high rates are evident throughout Iowa City, officials said. "[Sixty percent] does not sound high to me; I would not have been surprised if you had told me it had been a little higher," Iowa City police Sgt. Troy Kelsay said, adding it's easy to recognize and cite people for possessing the drug. "The classic Cheech and Chong: They roll down the window and a cloud of smoke comes out. It doesn't take long to recognize the smell of burnt marijuana." [continues 838 words]
Treating abusers costs half as much as sending them to prison, but federal funding for such programs ends soon. Iowa could become a leader in the nation in treating methamphetamine addiction if the government invests more money in programs and research here, treatment advocates told Sen. Tom Harkin in Des Moines on Saturday. Meth addiction is still a problem here, with about 6,000 Iowans entering treatment programs each year, state health officials said. Although new laws have limited access to cold medication and anhydrous ammonia used in meth manufacturing, a new and stronger version of meth called "ice" is being imported into Iowa. [continues 497 words]
Carl, I read the article in Cityview [We the People, "Still burning," April 19]. Looks great! We're still living in the days of Prohibition. It's funny that alcohol is legal. They can dish it out, but they sure can't take it. Iowa won't let me get a license or register my vehicles because of child support debts. (My daughter requires expensive operations at $5,000 a pop). It's hard to keep up. Texas garnishes my wages automatically no matter where I live. Iowa chooses not to work with me and acts like a hysterical child. [continues 56 words]
Sean J. Miller's article in Cityview raises an interesting question [We the People, "Still burning," April 19]. Why is Carl Olsen of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church forbidden by law in the United States of America to use sacramental marijuana in his religious practices? Shiva is the Lord of Marijuana for many practitioners of the Hindu religion. Rastafarians consider Cannabis Sativa, the Tree of Life... the sacred plant that has manifested as the holiest of holy signs marking the end of tribulations and the beginning of the City of God here on earth. [continues 134 words]
One reason to re-legalize cannabis (kaneh bosm/marijuana) that doesn't get mentioned [We the People, "Still burning," April 19], is because it would be biblically and spiritually correct since Christ God Our Father (The Ecologician) indicates He created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
A Des Moines Man Is Fighting for the Right to Use Marijuana in Religious Services Carl Olsen is the last member of the Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church. The church, which blends Christianity with ceremonial marijuana smoking, had thousands of members in the '70s and early '80s, Olsen says. "The members would get together [and] smoke marijuana. It causes an intensification of the spirit. It causes a deeper understanding between people, and when you put that into a group setting it's magnified," Olsen says. "Everyone thought we were protected by religious freedom." [continues 630 words]
Sixth-graders at Westridge Elementary School showed they know the damage drugs can cause at a DARE graduation ceremony on Friday. DARE, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, is a national program that teaches students the dangers of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. Friday's ceremony concluded 10 weeks of DARE sessions at Westridge. "This is kind of a final culmination of all their work," said West Des Moines police officer Scott Davis, who met with the kids once a week to teach them about drugs and how to resist taking them. "It teaches the kids a lot about peer pressure and how to identify it," Davis said. [continues 251 words]
Stacked on the table are pages and pages of pharmacy logs that track the purchase of a key ingredient used to make methamphetamine. The stack -- two months worth of pseudoephedrine logs from nearly 20 Scott County pharmacies -- takes Scott County Sheriff's Deputy Rob Jackson four months to enter into a database and cross check. A recent check of the records netted five warrants against people for buying more than the legal limit of 7,500 milligrams of pseudoephedrine in a 30-day period, a serious misdemeanor. [continues 802 words]
Losing family members, friends and opportunities are all reasons for teens not to drink or do drugs, the members of Teens Against Alcohol and Drugs say. In April, they hope to put their message on the air with a 30-second commercial. "We tried to reach everybody," said Jeannea Williams, 17, a City High senior. "Everybody can be affected by drinking and smoking." The group, also known as T.A.A.D., has been working to communicate its anti-drug message since spring 2006. Sponsored by MECCA Services in Iowa City and funded with a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, T.A.A.D. is a community-wide effort to stop teen drug and alcohol use, said Marilyn Wright, MECCA's community relations manager. Currently, the group consists of about 10 students, all from City High. [continues 219 words]
Advocates Joining 12 Other States Permitting Use Of Medical Marijuana There are a number of drug law reform issues in the 2006 Iowa Democratic Party State Platform, particularly regarding marijuana. I don't expect Iowa legislators will be so bold as to support decriminalization of marijuana like Dennis Kucinich (http://www.decriminalizemarijuana.info/), but it is certainly within expectation that Iowa will show the same courage as New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and do something to protect people who use marijuana as medicine. [continues 262 words]
People, Politics, Politicians & Public Issues States' Rights, Preferred Medical Options And A Presidential Bid Converge The New Mexico legislature, in a move that may have surprised Governor Bill Richardson, delivered a bill permitting the use of medical marijuana. Richardson, a spoken advocate at the onset of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, promised to sign the legislation. Two major states which follow Iowa's caucuses, Texas and California (February 5th - 3 weeks following Iowa), already recognized the medical value of marijuana. [continues 407 words]
School Officials React to Supreme Court Case on Student Banner. In an Alaska case that was argued Monday before the Supreme Court, justices probed an issue that could have significant student free speech rights in U.S. schools. At issue is where the line should be between a school's expectations for appropriate speech and the student's right of self expression. Whichever way the court decides, Justice Stephen Breyer said, there will be serious ramifications. On the one hand, Breyer said a ruling that favors the student could mean "we'll suddenly see people testing limits all over the place in the high schools." On the other hand, however, the liberal justice added that a ruling favoring the school could "really limit people's rights on free speech. That's what I'm struggling with." [continues 653 words]
Heroin, already considered dangerous by treatment counselors and police, becomes even more dangerous when it is mixed with other substances. The second substance, often added by drug dealers to boost the amount of the drug available for sale, can range from baby powder to children's Tylenol to rat poison or Fentanyl, a powerful narcotic. At best, the substance used to "cut" the heroin could cause an infection, at worse, death. Davenport police Thursday night responded to three people from Tipton, Iowa, a husband and wife, ages 50 and 49, and their son, 26, found in a drug-induced stupor in the 2300 block of Boies Avenue. Taken to Genesis Medical Systems, West Campus, where they responded to treatment, they admitted to using heroin. [continues 314 words]
I'm writing about Tristan Abott's thoughtful oped: "Humans warring with substances" (2-20-07). Since it is common knowledge that many marijuana users use toilet paper rolls to smoke their evil weed, we must criminalize toilet paper. For our own good and protection, of course. Kirk Muse [end]
Inside Iowa
