Ground-Breaking Program Seen As State's 'Ray Of Hope'

BOISE - When it comes to the effect of drugs on Idaho communities, Randy Smith realizes the numbers don't tell the whole story.

But the story they do tell is striking - from 1997 to 2004 the number of people sent to prison for drug crimes in Idaho has risen from 861 to 1,474.

That's just the beginning, said Smith, a Sixth District judge in Pocatello.

"About 90 percent of our caseload would evaporate if this problem wasn't here," he said while identifying burglary, bad checks and rape as among the various manifestations of drug abuse.

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SANDPOINT -- Drug agents did not violate a knock-and-announce rule when they raided a Sandpoint windshield repair business that authorities allege was a front for a cocaine-dealing operation, District Judge Steve Verby ruled on Thursday.Verby also found there was sufficient probable cause to justify a search warrant for Craig Alan Bloom's business.

Bloom's defense counsel, Fred Palmer, argues Sundance Drug Task Force agents improperly entered the Glassworks Auto Glass shop in a Michigan Street strip mall on Jan. 7. Palmer also contends the search warrant was faulty because it was based on testimony from an informant who lacks any credibility.

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Last week, two Bonners Ferry Police officers did a great job arresting a suspected methamphetamine dealer.

This suspect is not only allegedly dealing drugs, but also was wanted on a $200,000 warrant from Kootenai County, wanted for obstructing an officer, had multiple driver's licenses from various states, a fake birth certificate, was wanted by law enforcement officers from all over the Northwest, had been on the run and hiding for months and had a wanted poster that stated he was highly dangerous.

Now this guy is out of jail on bail? Who was the judge, what was he thinking and why wasn't this guy turned over to Kootenai County officials?

Delores Gardner

Bonners Ferry

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The U.S. Border Patrol beefed up its numbers in Boundary County and everywhere else to find terrorists. So far, no terrorists have tried to cross the U.S.-Canadian border at Eastport or Porthill, to the knowledge of authorities, but the increased security forces are intercepting something else -- B.C. Bud, a potent form of marijuana grown in British Columbia.Local officials on either side of the border don't have statistics compiled on the seizures. They're hard to come by when some of the suspects are caught on either side of the border - -- and when a smuggling connection isn't immediately clear, however, an August Time Magazine article reports U.S. seizures of B.C. Bud have "doubled and redoubled over the past 2 1/2 years."

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Citing a 10th Circuit Court decision, Chandler v. Arvada in Colorado as precedence, the Liberty Lobby, a Bellevue-based marijuana legalization advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit in 9th Circuit Court in Boise claiming that a Hailey city ordinance governing the initiative process is unconstitutional.

The complaint filed by Liberty Lobby Chairman Ryan Davidson last week contends that the Hailey ordinance violates due process, which protects the public's right to propose new laws. The initiative, planned for the November ballot also in Sun Valley and Ketchum has become part of a 5th District Court lawsuit between the Liberty Lobby and the city of Sun Valley.

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I'm writing about: "Task force nets large pot bust in Malad" (Nov. 17, 2004). I'm sure that many marijuana growers and sellers are thankful to the Bear River Drug Task Force for this recent pot bust 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 or sellers arrested will soon be replaced.

They always are.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

[end]

Canyon County Schools Hope Tulip Bulbs Will Serve Of Reminder Of Red Ribbon Week Goals

CANYON COUNTY -- Area schools are putting a new twist on Red Ribbon Week this year.

In addition to tying red ribbons in honor of the annual anti-drug campaign, Nampa, Caldwell and Vallivue students are planting hundreds of red tulips on campuses this week. The tulip bulbs are symbolic of their commitment to staying drug- and alcohol-free.

Mary Ensley, the Nampa School District's director of student advocacy services, said flower bulbs hold the promise of life when cared for properly.

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A flood of emerging research and an avalanche of anecdotal evidence, and is showing medicinal cannabis' efficacy in the treatment of many diseases and conditions such as "wasting syndrome" secondary to AIDS, and cancer therapy, severe nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, and narcotic pain therapy, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) and other neurological and neuromuscular diseases as well as spinal cord injury, neuropathic and other pain, Crohn's Disease, ulcerative colitis, glaucoma, anorexia and recurrent migraines and menstrual pain. In addition, research reveals that cannabinoids (the active compounds in cannabis) are neuroprotective, slowing the advance of neuromuscular diseases.

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TWIN FALLS -- Citing lack of time to pursue the case, parents of a Twin Falls High School student have dropped their lawsuit against the school district.

Joe and Denise Stanzak filed the suit in connection with the Twin Falls School District's random drug testing policy for students in extracurricular activities, The Times-News recently learned.

The suit was dismissed without prejudice by District Judge John Butler on July 9, according to court documents.

Joe Stanzak said Monday that he does not have the time and energy to pursue the issue further.

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NAMPA -- The tragic death of his son has prompted a nationally known precision aerobatics pilot to dedicate his life's calling to the fight against drugs.

Greg Poe, whose Edge 540 is a familiar sight at air shows locally and across the country, kicked off his new program to reduce teen drug abuse Thursday at the Nampa Airport. Poe performed a private air show for a group of students and then shared his anti-drug presentation.

"When you pair my travel schedule with the aerial acrobatics, you have a natural attention grabber for young people," he said. "I want to use this incredible opportunity to share personal stories -- and hopefully have a meaningful impact on the lives of kids."

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Alcohol, Tobacco Would Prohibit Scholarships

The Idaho House passed a bill that would offer state scholarships to high schoolers who stayed drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free.

The measure would offer some money for one semester for each year the student tested negative for the substances.

But time is running out on the bill because there's likely just one week left in the session and the Senate Education Committee is still wrangling with sweeping charter school legislation.

The point, the bill's sponsor Sharon Block said, is to have Idaho teenagers saying, "Sorry, I cannot do drugs with you. I cannot do alcohol with you. I cannot smoke with you."

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POCATELLO - Howard Wooldridge rode a brown and white paint horse across the United States in 2003 wearing a T-shirt with a shocking message, given the fact he spent his life working in law enforcement.

Like American Revolution hero Paul Revere, Wooldridge said he delivered an important message to Americans, one that got him on television 14 times and in print 45 times during the trip.

The T-shirt, which he's worn for the past four years, reads, "Cops say legalize pot. Ask me why."

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POCATELLO - Howard Wooldridge, a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, will present "This is Not a War on Drugs - It's a War on People" at 7 p.m. March 9 in the Idaho State University Pond Student Union Building ballroom.

Wooldridge's talk is sponsored by the Associated Students of ISU and is free for ISU students, $3 for ISU faculty and staff and high school students, and $5 for the general public, according to a press release.

Wooldridge will discuss how the U.S. war on drugs has failed to end death, crime and addiction associated with drug use. He and other LEAP members say that drug prohibition has expanded the police force and the prison system and caused more pain, suffering, and death than the drugs themselves.

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Boise writer Everardo Torrez celebrates the publication of his first novel, "Narco," (Arte Publico Press) on Tuesday.

A graduate of the Boise State writing program and a winner of several writing honors, Torrez will discuss his book on campus as part of Latino Heritage Month.

The atmosphere of "Narco," by Torrez's own admission, is "gritty." It's the story of Nando Flores, a smuggler of cargo both animate and inanimate across the Mexican border.

Flores' arrangement to help a woman named Xiomara (pronounced "See-oh-mara") get to the border city of Juarez puts him in the company of sinister characters.

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Man Rides Across Country With Unorthodox Message

TWIN FALLS -- The longest, dustiest, loneliest trail of a cowboy was never as challenging as Howard Wooldridge's road.

With a one-eyed pinto named "Misty" and just 16 pounds of pack, the retired police officer is traveling more than 3,000 miles to send a message to America: The millions of hours spent on drug enforcement reduce public safety.

"There's a massive crime wave because of the U.S. prohibition of drugs," he said.

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Kudos to the Idaho State Journal for publishing the opinions of those who personally are offended by bong shops and their owners. Violet Stephens of Moreno Valley, Calif., complains about her stolen car stereo, implying that it was stolen by users of criminalized marijuana. Is it not true that legal drugs cause exponentially greater damage to society than pot?

Take, for example, her last paragraph, claiming a difference between the right to bear arms to ensure a free society and the right to peddle drug paraphernalia to hold captive a society for monetary gain (or political agenda).

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Raids? Or was it rape? I cannot decide. Of course, I'm talking about the rape (I decided) of our quaint, so-called little "head shops."

I must agree with Mr. Hull when he said, "Long Live Soviet America." Come on: I thought this was the land of the free. I've never read in the Constitution that: We, the people ... will not allow some small business to prosper because they sell (so-called) "drug paraphernalia," but ... we will allow our state to own liquor stores. Which is worse? To allow some incoherent, sometimes violent alcoholic buy alcohol (legally), then drive home (hopefully not killing anyone along the way), to mentally or physically abuse their wife, husband, children, etc.

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In response to the reader whose opinion was published regarding drug paraphernalia and how the police illegally violated the rights of people marketing drug paraphernalia: If you don't like it, why don't you move to southern California, where all head shops are free to proliferate their goods to the locals and the crime rates are through the roof!

Children are left running around in dirty diapers on the streets while Mom entertains a guest with some "herbs" that they share in a hooka purchased from a head shop, that is very obviously not advertising the aromas of sage and thyme, with the money they made selling my stolen car stereo to another dealer who plans to purchase the new purple, three-foot-tall hooka with magic mushrooms painted all over it at the self same "smoke shop!"

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I have read with interest the comments against the way the raid on drug paraphernalia outlets was conducted.

I agree 100 percent. They were carried out wrong.

What should have happened is the owners of the stores should have been taken out on the sidewalks and shot. A lesson to any and all who would, in any way, contribute to the degradation, deterioration of morals in our society.

Glen Hayward, Inkom

[end]

I am writing in response to the recent so-called "drug paraphernalia" raids on the stores in Pocatello, Burley, Twin Falls and Boise. These stores were entered at gun point, managers and owners arrested, computers confiscated and merchandise taken. Thankfully, no shots were fired.

These stores all had proper business licenses and permits, and the merchandise was displayed where everyone could see it. They had been doing business this way for years. The owners of these stores must have felt they were following the rules and not breaking Idaho law. They paid taxes and the government was gladly accepting those funds. If there was an issue, why didn't the Drug Enforcement Agency agents let the store owners know that certain products were illegal when they visited the stores the first time? Most likely the products would have been removed and this would have been a non-issue. The federal government wouldn't have wasted taxpayers' money and created undue hardship for these stores. After all, it is the small businesses that keep people employed and the economy growing, especially during times of economic recession.

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