Pot and meth are on the minds of the law enforcement agencies tasked with fighting illegal drugs. Chris Endress, director of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Enforcement Group, returned Friday from a week-long conference in Washington, D.C., where various agencies discussed drug-related issues facing law enforcement. Top on the list was medical marijuana, Mr. Endress said. High-quality cannabis now legal in some states is making its way into states where it is illegal, including Illinois. "We've seized hundreds of pounds of medical marijuana that's coming from California," Mr. Endress said. In 2009, about half of the Quad-Cities MEG busts were marijuana, and much of that was high-grade medicinal cannabis, he said. [continues 504 words]
The Los Angeles City Council's vote last week to shut hundreds of so-called medical marijuana dispensaries was a welcome move, but the larger battle over pot has just begun. Across the country, lawmakers and residents of cash-strapped states are edging ever closer to legalizing -- and taxing -- marijuana. In California, the first state in the nation to pass a medical marijuana law, backers of an initiative to legalize the drug expect to gather enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. And a Field Poll last year showed more than half of California voters would support such a move. [continues 783 words]
The boyish young man in the khaki slacks and brown sweater looks Warren County Attorney Bryan Tingle straight in the eyes and declares that his constitutional rights are being squashed. He tells Tingle from his seat in the courtroom that Iowa's legal system is treading on his freedom of religion, and on the freedom of science and medicine to explore treatment alternatives for the chronically and mentally ill. With eyes gazing intently through his curly black hair, he tells Tingle that he's not afraid of going to prison. And there's a distinct possibility that, within a few weeks, he could land himself there for five years. [continues 3518 words]
MASON CITY - People connected with the Community Drug Court in Mason City say the state is being penny-wise and pound foolish in cutting the program in light of the state's economic problems. "What's frustrating is that I understand that sometimes across-the-board cuts just have to be done," said Judge James Drew. "There is no other way to do something quickly. "But I don't think there is any question that drug court was saving the state of Iowa money, and more importantly it was literally saving lives," Drew said. [continues 599 words]
Lynn Erickson is horribly misinformed about medical marijuana. Erickson claims the medical marijuana debate is a ruse to end the prohibition on marijuana. It is not. Marijuana has a 5,000-year recorded history as an effective medicine. Research has shown that marijuana can relieve such debilitating symptoms as nausea, appetite loss, muscle spasms and certain types of pain. This evidence has been acknowledged by the American College of Physicians, American Nurses Association and many other health organizations. Even the American Medical Association recently urged the federal government to reconsider the classification that currently bars medical use. [continues 105 words]
State regulators have delayed a recommendation on allowing medical-marijuana use because Iowans have swamped them with opinions on the controversial issue. The Iowa Board of Pharmacy planned to vote this month on whether to recommend that the Legislature legalize marijuana use for medical problems. But the board announced Monday that it wouldn't make the decision until Feb. 17, when it will hold a special meeting in Des Moines. Executive Director Lloyd Jessen said board members must read through 12,000 pages of written comments. [continues 377 words]
Virtually Anyone Can Score Some at These 'Medical' Marijuana Dispensaries. DENVER -- Inside the green neon sign, which is shaped like a marijuana leaf, is a red cross. The cross serves the fiction that most transactions in the store -- which is what it really is -- involve medicine. The U.S. Justice Department recently announced that federal laws against marijuana would not be enforced for possession of marijuana that conforms to states' laws. In 2000, Colorado legalized medical marijuana. Since Justice's decision, the average age of the 400 persons per day seeking "prescriptions" at Colorado's multiplying medical marijuana dispensaries has fallen precipitously. Many new customers are college students. [continues 544 words]
Marni Steadham of University of Iowa Students for Sensible Drug Policy is to be commended for her eloquent challenge to Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley (Nov. 14 Iowa View). Unless Grassley likes wasting tax dollars on failed government programs, he would be wise to heed her advice. The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. [continues 112 words]
Our criminal justice system is in dire need of reform. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population, but houses 25 percent of the world's prisoners. With drug offenders accounting for half of federal prisoners and 21 percent of state prisoners, drug incarceration is a major cause of the burgeoning U.S. criminal justice system. Many of those serving time are low-level offenders with no history of violence. In a 2008 Zogby poll, three out of four Americans said the war on drugs is failing. This clear indictment of U.S. drug policy falls directly into the lap of Congress. As a whole, Congress has been hesitant to address the shortcomings of U.S. drug policy because of the perception that it is a controversial and politically damaging issue. [continues 505 words]
COUNCIL BLUFFS -- Jacqueline Patterson took a deep breath and stared straight out at the crowd. With stops, starts and pauses, she struggled to free the sounds that were hindered by a lifelong stutter. "I have been on many prescription medications," said Patterson, a 31-year-old from California. "Those did not assist me in controlling my stutter nearly as effectively as cannabis." The former Iowa resident has used marijuana off and on since she was 14 to treat her stutter and cerebral palsy symptoms. [continues 585 words]
Reed Prior kneels along the sidewalk with a gallon can, dabs his brush in yellow paint, and slides the bristles over the curb. Customers breeze out of the Des Moines hardware store, past the "Wet Paint" sign and the 59-year-old who was supposed to die in prison. Nearly eight months have passed since Prior rejoined the world, drug-free, and hugged his dying father. Eight months since he began the quiet, sober, 9-to-5 life that eluded him for decades. [continues 2024 words]
Our esteemed Editorial Board -- of which I am a member -- advocated medical marijuana's legalization on Oct. 9. In an interview with Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, he talked with passion about the need to legalize medical marijuana but hesitated to support recreational use. He said Iowa was not ready to legalize recreational marijuana, and the Editorial Board agreed. I agree Iowa should legalize medical marijuana, but only because everyone should be able to use it. That's not to say I believe marijuana has limited medicinal benefits. In fact, I have very personal reasons to advocate medical marijuana use. My mother suffers from glaucoma and has terrible headaches from the pressure. Many times she goes without sleep from the pain and takes large doses of ibuprofen to little avail. She hesitates (rightly so) to take stronger medication because of adverse effects. Marijuana is known to reduce glaucoma pressure and could effectively treat my mother's ailments. [continues 417 words]
Regarding your Oct. 9 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. Marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. Marijuana prohibition has failed miserably as a deterrent. The United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where possession of marijuana is decriminalized. Students who want to help end the inter-generational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com. Robert Sharpe policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
A national drug-prevention group has offered assistance to West Des Moines police and school officials in the wake of suspensions handed out to teenagers who allegedly inhaled compressed gas last week. Alyssa Jones of the Alliance for Consumer Education in Washington, D.C., said the group will provide free inhalant abuse prevention kits for inclusion on the district's twice-yearly drug-education program. Lynn Doescher, whose 14-year-old son, a student at Valley Southwoods freshman school, was among four teens suspended, warned the public about the practice this week. Called "huffing" or "dusting," it delivers a concentration of gas, such as Freon, that replaces oxygen in the lungs. It triggers a brief but intense high that mimics drunkenness. [continues 69 words]
Larry Quigley said he has tried all manner of treatment since suffering a spinal cord injury 28 years ago without success, which has meant a life in a wheelchair. It wasn't until his birthday this past April, however, that he smoked marijuana and first discovered its medicinal effects. While other prescribed drugs had clouded his mind, he said, marijuana quelled the pain and spasms without the side effects. Quigley called on officials from the Iowa Board of Pharmacy to take steps toward the legalization of medical marijuana Wednesday at a public hearing at the University of Iowa's Bowen Science Building. [continues 533 words]
Crawfordsville, Iowa, resident Lisa Jackson had been taking a wide assortment of opiates before she experienced what she called a two-week overdose. Not that she'd noticed it; she was in too much pain. Jackson suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic condition causing extreme body pain and fatigue. The opiates, legally prescribed painkillers, could not ease her pain, she said. Jackson contemplated suicide until she tried marijuana -- which, she said, eased her pain in a way the opiates couldn't. Her testimony is not unique. Many people suffering from chronic conditions -- including several at Wednesday's Iowa Pharmacy Board's medical-marijuana hearing in Iowa City -- have testified about marijuana's benefits. Many studies also affirm their sentiment. [continues 494 words]
A medical marijuana hearing Wednesday in Iowa City provided a platform for those in favor of legalizing the substance for medicinal purposes. The overwhelming majority of testifiers supported the medical-marijuana cause, with few offering any opposing views. Patients with chronic pain, doctors, a former drug prosecutor, and Iowa City residents partially made up the crowd and spoke before the Iowa Board of Pharmacy. The bulk of those who testified noted the medical benefits marijuana would provide to suffering patients and contended it would be a good replacement for powerful prescription narcotics. [continues 417 words]
Iowa's lawmakers must do the compassionate thing and legalize marijuana for medical use. This drug is no cure-all, but there has been enough tested research detailing its benefits to convince us that it has positive health benefits and a legitimate place in a patient's spectrum of care. What ultimately sold us was the testimony of those who spoke Wednesday at the medical marijuana hearing sponsored by the Iowa Pharmacy Board. The folks who stood up weren't looking for a loophole to legitimize their habit. These were multiple sclerosis patients who had found symptom relief and sufferers of chronic nausea who finally had a way to enjoy a meal like other people. These were real people who had found real solutions to health problems which in some cases had dogged them for years. [continues 428 words]
MASON CITY — Robin Mahnesmith said he is not lying — there are medical benefits of marijuana use. Mahnesmith, 48, of Mason City, was one of several Iowans who pleaded their case for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes Wednesday at a public hearing of the Iowa Pharmacy Board in Mason City. I'm not a liar," Mahnesmith told the Pharmacy Board. "It's a fact. My symptoms are so much less and my mind is so much easier (when taking marijuana). I don't just have to sit and think about this rotten disease I have." [continues 573 words]
I'm not sure who I expected to see testify for legalizing medical marijuana at last week's public hearing. But I confess, some Woodstock-type images crossed my mind. You know: Deadheads in tie-dye, mellow and giggly, and looking for munchies. I also expected proponents to use this as the first step toward recreational legalization. But no one was building a general pot-legalization case in Wednesday's testimony before the Iowa Pharmacy Board. People were talking about illness. [continues 525 words]
Inside Iowa
