I've heard every reason in the book to legalize the use of marijuana: "After all it's legal in parts of Europe." "Hell I could just go to California and get it, what's the big deal?" "It helps me mellow out, what does it matter if I take a few hits?" "Xanax is worse if you ask me." "If doctors prescribe it, what can be so bad about getting high on a little weed?" And therein lies the rub. What really is the big deal? [continues 506 words]
If at first you don't succeed, it's not always wise to try, try again. James H. Day should have thought of that last year when he tried, for a second time, to thwart a court-ordered drug test by bringing a bag full of someone else's urine to McHenry County's probation department. For a second time, Day's plot failed, this time when the bag sprung a leak as he stood in a county office June 19 waiting to be tested, sending his friend's urine spilling down his leg as a probation officer looked on. [continues 290 words]
The fire hoses had been rolled up. The 11-year-old burn victim had been taken to the hospital. And Jefferson County's Sgt. Gary Higginbotham was left shaking his head as he surveyed the scene of the methamphetamine lab explosion. He knew that, in other states, authorities could have quickly caught the Festus homeowners' illegal purchases of a key ingredient to make meth. But not here - not in the heart of America's fight against meth labs. Missouri has long led the nation in meth lab busts. Illinois hasn't been far behind. Yet neither state has adopted stricter laws for obtaining meth's key ingredient, pseudoephedrine. The laws are credited with helping Oklahoma and Oregon see the biggest declines of meth labs of any states. [continues 1685 words]
Dear Editor: I'm responding the the outstanding letter from Jerry Pritikin: "Pot Peeve" (4-2-08). I'd like to add that one of the medications prescribed by my personal physician, for my arthritis pain and inflammation, has the rare potential side effect of death. In other words, if I take this medication as prescribed, I can die as a result. On the other hand, marijuana has never been documented to kill a single person in the 5,000 year history of its use. [continues 51 words]
Whenever Tinley Park fifth-grader Danelle Paulsen spots a police car, she checks to see if officer Bob Shervino is inside. The Tinley Park DARE officer has become Paulsen's newest friend. When she found out at school recently that the drug-awareness program could be no more, she was bummed, her father said. "To have it canceled is just a shame," said Ed Paulsen, whose daughter attends Keller Elementary School. Paulsen was among several parents who rallied Tuesday at a village board meeting to try to spare the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program from the chopping block. The DARE program uses two full-time officers and another working half time to regularly visit Tinley Park grade schools throughout the school year. [continues 325 words]
While there have been studies showing that marijuana can shrink cancerous tumors, medical marijuana is essentially a palliative drug. If a doctor recommends marijuana to a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy and it helps the patient feel better, then it's working. In the end, medical marijuana is a quality-of-life issue, best left to patients and their doctors. Federal bureaucrats waging war on noncorporate drugs contend that organic marijuana is not an effective health intervention. The federal government's prescribed intervention for medical marijuana patients is handcuffs, jail cells and criminal records. [continues 100 words]
Without a doubt, medical marijuana should be made available to people with most fatal illnesses. When it comes to legalizing recreational marijuana, it's not controversy--it's hypocrisy! The power of the tobacco and alcohol business lobbies has kept marijuana from becoming legal. Like sex, what consenting adults do in the privacy of their home or on private property should not be regulated by local or federal laws. If the same laws would apply to pot as alcoholic beverages, there be a lot fewer alcoholics and a lot more healthier people. It would still be unlawful to drive under the influence, or made available to minors. I never heard of anyone overdosing on weed! [continues 68 words]
To the Editor: Ottawa citizens should keep a tight leash on any SWAT team activity (Police Creating Swat Team, March. 25) and must control out-of-control no-knock SWAT raids. Nationally, SWAT has a history, using Gestapo tactics and entering private homes to conduct drug war warrants, including too many raids at wrong addresses, with too many innocent citizens, including children, killed in as little as 11 seconds. Police are to serve and protect; SWAT is primed to kill. Truthfully, Stan White, Dillon, Colorado [end]
Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner will join several area state legislators Monday to unveil two pieces of legislation to create stricter penalties for those convicted of crystal meth-related crimes. The proposals, drafted by Democratic state Sen. Linda Chapa LaVia of Aurora, will call for stiffer custody rights penalties for parents charged with making, selling or using the drug. The second proposal calls for stiffer punishments related to fires caused by the process of making the deadly drug cocktail. "Meth use and the process of making it used to be a rural phenomenon and is now moving into the cities," Weisner said Friday. "We haven't experienced a big problem out here, but we don't want to either, so we're trying to be proactive." [continues 104 words]
The Ottawa Police Department is assembling a new Special Weapons and Tactics team. Fresh out of a week-long training course in Iowa, the team of eight officers already has responded to its first incident. "They just got back from class and we had a search warrant that had to be executed; it was a situation for another agency," Ottawa Police Chief Brian Zeilmann told The Times Monday. "(The agency) was conducting an investigation that pointed to a location in Ottawa and there was some indication weapons were present in the home." [continues 432 words]
The Goose Creek School Board needs to educate itself on the downside of student drug testing. Student involvement in after-school activities like sports has been shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they are most likely to get into trouble. Forcing students to undergo degrading urine tests as a prerequisite will only discourage participation in extracurricular programs. Drug testing may also compel marijuana users to switch to harder drugs to avoid testing positive. This is one of the reasons the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes student drug testing. Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only illegal drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent. [continues 124 words]
A Peoria Psychologist Looks At The Effect Of Incarceration On Illinois Families In one short decade, from 1990 to 2000, the number of women sent to Illinois prisons nearly tripled. The number of children who, at some point in their lives, had a mother in prison rose even faster - mainly, according to psychologist Susan George, because of a rapid rise in the number of incarcerated women with three or more children. The states' prison population is leveling off. Though women are less than 15 percent of Illinois' total prison population, they are the fastest-growing segment. George's work documents that women with four or more children are the fastest-growing segment of the fastest-growing segment. [continues 1041 words]
Superintendent: Decision About Conduct, Not 1st Amendment A public attack on the principal of Naperville Central High School has unseated teacher Linda Kane after almost two decades of acting as the student newspaper adviser. Kane made negative comments about Principal Jim Caudill to a local newspaper after Caudill spoke to Kane and the newspaper's student editors about running articles that he said glorified drug use and contained inappropriate language. Kane will continue advising the Central Times newspaper until the end of the school year. She will be allowed to remain at the school as an English teacher next year, although it is unclear whether Caudill will allow her to continue teaching journalism classes, said Alan Leis, superintendent of schools for District 203. Kane earned teaching and journalism degrees. [continues 290 words]
SPRING VALLEY - Hall High School's drug testing policy was approved Wednesday night by the School Board with a vote of 6-0, with one member absent. "The next step now is to educate parents and students in regards to how the policy will be implemented and administered," Superintendent Mike Struna said. "We'll send out a newsletter this spring and meet with parents and students next fall at parent/athlete meetings to accomplish that." During the past four months, Struna has solicited public opinion to draft the drug policy. It's been revised to enforce the same punishment for students who test positive for nicotine and for those found guilty of using illegal drugs. [continues 105 words]
DeKalb County Drug Court gives convicted addicts an opportunity to receive treatment before incarceration. The program, Choosing Life and Ending Abuse Now (CLEAN), was established in October 2006 to give nonviolent substance abuse offenders a drug-free way of life, according the court's Web site. "They have to want to come in," said drug court coordinator Marilyn Stromborg. "They choose us and we choose them." The applicants are selected with tests and screening. After being accepted into the program, they plead their crime to the drug court or are dismissed to jail, Stromborg said. [continues 250 words]
In a decision on March 5, the Senate Public Health Committee voted 6-4 in favor of allowing the medical use of marijuana to become legal for those with debilitating diseases. If the law is passed, those with illnesses such as glaucoma, cancer and AIDS could potentially benefit by relieving some of their symptoms through use of the plant. However, similar legislation was approved by the committee last year and voted down by the Senate in its third reading. "The one [bill] that I am the most confident in passing is Senate Bill 2865, which would allow patients in Illinois with their doctor's recommendation [to] medicate with cannabis," Dan Linn, executive director of the Illinois chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws (NORML), said. [continues 251 words]
Once again legislators are attempting to pass a bill in the Senate pertaining to medical use of marijuana. As a former law enforcement officer and two-time cancer survivor, I see no valid reason for this to come to pass. First, there is already a law on the books allowing medical use of marijuana with a prescription. Any physician may issue this for his/her patients. This prevents abuse by not only the patients but by those who would call themselves "caregivers" under the new law. [continues 217 words]
Cicero police commander's drug charges may be dropped Cook County state's attorney's official says it's possible once drug program is completed Charges of misdemeanor marijuana possession against a Cicero police commander could be dropped if he completes the drug-diversion program he entered last month, a spokesman for the Cook County state's attorney's office said Wednesday. Wesley Scott, 47, was stopped Jan. 27 in Chicago for allegedly running a stop sign, and police said they found a burned marijuana cigarette in the car as well as 4.6 grams of the drug on top of the console. [continues 421 words]
"I am not a criminal -- I am sick." Gretchen Steele of Coulterville was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis seven years ago. She is one of thousands of Illinois residents who has been unable to find relief through conventional medications, but whose pain can be relieved by marijuana. Unfortunately, the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is illegal in Illinois, but lawmakers have an opportunity this session to do the right thing for people such as Steele and Lisa Lange Van Camp of Lindenhurst, who suffers from severe osteoarthritis associated with Dercum's disease. [continues 612 words]
Current and former Naperville Central High School newspaper staff members are banding together to support longtime adviser Linda Kane, who has been asked to resign her post with the paper. Administrators are upset over recent articles in the Central Times they say glorified marijuana use and contained unacceptable profanity. It isn't the first time the award-winning student paper has clashed with school officials. But this time Kane, who is set to retire in two years, says administrators told her she must either resign from the newspaper or she will be fired as its adviser. [continues 630 words]
A new poll shows that 65 percent of registered voters in the Rock River Valley support allowing seriously ill people to use and grow marijuana as a way to relieve their pain. The poll, which was released Monday by the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, supports a Chicago Democrat's legislation that aims to legalize marijuana for that purpose. The results from the Rock River Valley are similar to the poll's statewide results. The poll surveyed 400 registered voters in Winnebago, Ogle, DeKalb, Boone and Stephenson counties. For more background on this issue, visit the In Chambers blog. [end]
In the recent Pantagraph story about a medical cannabis bill advancing to the Illinois Senate (March 6, Page A8), Limey Nargelenas of the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police complained about the appearance of patients at the hearing. "I think it's a shame what they're doing here. They're using sick people here to try to legalize marijuana. I think if the Legislature wants to legalize marijuana, let's talk about it, debate it and see if that's what the people want." [continues 199 words]
If you're called for jury duty, let the lawyers and judges know up front that you're not going to send non-violent drug offenders to jail. That provocative piece of advice comes from the creators of my all-time favorite television show, "The Wire," which ended its five-year run on HBO Sunday. "If asked to serve on a jury deliberating a violation of state or federal drug laws, we will vote to acquit, regardless of the evidence presented," the writers of the show declare in a recent Time magazine essay. [continues 709 words]
Law enforcement efforts in Southern Illinois over the last few years have made significant progress in the fight against methamphetamine and other illegal drug use and trafficking. A report released last summer by Southern Illinois University tracked law enforcement efforts against what had been described as a meth epidemic in the region. Here are some of the findings: l The number of meth labs put out of business by law enforcement from 1997 to 2005 increased by 19,000 percent. l Grams of meth seized by police from 1994 to 2003 in Franklin, Jackson, Saline and Williamson counties increased by about 16,690 percent. [continues 295 words]
Poll's Findings Come After Committee OKs Initial Proposal on Drug PEORIA - Sixty-eight percent of registered Illinois voters favor legalizing marijuana for medical use by seriously and terminally ill patients, according to a recent survey funded by a group that promotes the drug's legalization. The survey, conducted last month by Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc. but paid for by the Washington, D.C.,-based Marijuana Police Project, polled 625 registered voters across the state. Findings, however, were released Monday by the advocacy group on the heels of an Illinois Senate committee approving a bill legalizing medical marijuana. [continues 435 words]
Editor, Register-Mail: In response to the Feb. 27 letter by Tina Gummerson, I find it troubling that she admits that "chemicals in the cannabis plant CAN and DO have medical value," yet she does not want patients who use this substance to be protected from prosecution. She also does not mention vaporizers or ingesting cannabis, which are other forms of administration that can avoid any fears of smoking cannabis or the dangers of medical cannabis. Plus, she fails to mention that the FDA still classifies cannabis as a schedule 1 drug, meaning that it has no medical benefits and is highly addictive although there has never been one documented case of an overdose death from cannabis. [continues 184 words]
Bridgeway Looks At Strategies To Address Issue Rep. Rich Meyers, R-Macomb, and Bridgeway staff presented local community members with certificates for their involvement in a survey about local alcohol, tobacco and drug use in Warren County. Fifteen officials completed the survey, including Jack Toal of Starting Point; Dave Jodi Scott, Regional Superintendent of Warren, Mercer and Henderson counties; Mike Kirby, Roseville Village Board president; Albert Algren, Warren County state's attorney, Bill Underwood, Warren County coroner; Jan Sprout, director of Jamieson Center; Sheriff Martin Edwards; Dean Condon of Monmouth College; Angie Torrance of EvenStart; and Katie Human of Farmland Foods. [continues 471 words]
MURPHYSBORO - A community effort here that has shown success to win back city neighborhoods from drugs and violence is making a name for itself with some important people. U.S. Attorney Courtney Cox and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Robertson were among the approximate 100 attendees Saturday at the second annual Stamping Out Meth And All Drugs (S.O.M.A.A.D.) youth rally at Murphysboro Middle School. Jackson County Sheriff Bob Burns and Murphysboro Deputy Police Chief Tim Legere attended the rally also along with Mayor Ron Williams. [continues 423 words]
This week, my phone has been ringing off the hook. Mothers, sisters, wives and daughters, voices soft and shaking, ask whether their loved one might be eligible for the new retroactive crack cocaine reduction. When I tell them yes, they cry. Many of those eligible for sentence reductions have no prior criminal history and were convicted of simple possession. Many more were convicted of distributing just a small amount of crack cocaine one time. Nonetheless, U.S. Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey recently told Congress that the early release of these offenders would unleash "violent criminals" onto our streets and pose "significant public safety risks." [continues 705 words]
SPRINGFIELD -- Every year, 20 Illinois drug task force units split about $2.8 million in federal grants to fund their fight against drug dealers and drug manufacturers statewide. In 2006, those federal funds helped the drug enforcement officers patrolling 69 of Illinois' 102 counties reduce the number of labs producing methamphetamine and increase the number of undercover marijuana and cocaine busts. Those initiatives could come to a halt for 12 of those 20 units in the next year if the Bush administration's proposed 2009 budget is approved. [continues 487 words]
As the state creeps nearer and nearer to full-blown financial crisis, tensions run high at the Capitol, power struggles between the Legislature and the governor abound, morale among Republican lawmakers dips to an all-time low, and what do we find Democratic Senate Majority Whip John Cullerton pushing once again? Legalizing marijuana to relieve chronic pain. The controversial measure passed the Senate Public Health Committee on Wednesday and is on its way to a floor vote. Despite a similar measure being defeated last spring, the Chicago senator has returned to promote legalizing marijuana once again, this time with a soothing new title: "Alternative Treatment for Serious Diseases Causing Chronic Pain and Debilitating Conditions Act." [continues 680 words]
Illinois state Sen. John Cullerton is making another run at legislation that would make it easier for the seriously ill to legally use marijuana for medicinal purposes. "This is about the patients. It's not about somebody abusing this law to illegally obtain marijuana," said Cullerton, D-Chicago. A Senate committee on Wednesday approved the measure that would allow people to obtain a state-issued medical marijuana identification card so they could legally possess and use marijuana. Julie Falco, of Chicago, has suffered from debilitating Multiple Sclerosis for more than 20 years. To ease the pain, she eats 1-inch marijuana brownie cubes three times a day. [continues 466 words]
SPRINGFIELD -- The hazy path to legalizing medical marijuana in Illinois cleared a little Wednesday when a committee on public health sent the legislation to the Senate floor on a 6-4 vote. The measure, sponsored by state Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, would allow marijuana card holders to receive prescriptions for medical marijuana and the plant it grows on, thus avoiding any illegal means of obtaining the drug. "Our first obligation should be ensuring that our laws don't prevent suffering patients from obtaining needed medicine -- or make them criminals if they do," Cullerton said. "This is about the patients, it's not about somebody abusing this law to illegally obtain marijuana." [continues 332 words]
Regarding Tina Gummerson's letter about medical marijuana. As soon as she mentioned her profession in drug prevention, I knew she would be regurgitating anti-pot propaganda, and she didn't disappoint, because nobody who makes their living off prohibition is going to want the truth to come out. To address her major point: smoking marijuana is bad. Evidently she missed the biggest study ever on pot smoking by UCLA doctor Donald Tashkin who concluded that marijuana smoking doesn't cause lung cancer or emphysema and seems to even prevent cancer. Look it up. Jeff Meyers, Ventura, Calif. [end]
The down side to medical marijuana I work under a state/federal drug prevention grant in Knox and surrounding counties, and I have been deliberating for days on what my response should be to recent pro marijuana letters. I know others will be writing with some other facts so I would like to address the issue of smoked marijuana as a medicine and the propaganda that is being spread throughout our community. Too often trickery is used in this campaign to legalize marijuana for the "sick." I sympathize with the plight of sick people all over the world. I personally helped care for my grandmother who died, at home, of colon cancer. I understand the pain and suffering that goes along with a terminal illness. I also know that there were legal medications that kept her as "comfortable" as any drug could have. I also have access to a few other facts that pro marijuana organizations don't always tell you about. [continues 256 words]
The federal government has handed us an alarming series of disappointments in the past few weeks. Officials have announced cuts in funding for anti-drug task forces, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and job training programs. These funding cuts will directly affect many programs in east central Illinois. - -The East Central Illinois Task Force, which is mainly funded through Department of Justice grants, will get a 67-percent cut in funding. The task force, which covers Coles, Douglas and Moultrie counties, received $107,122 in funding last fiscal year. In the fiscal year beginning in October, it will receive $35,350. [continues 386 words]
Hair-Follicle Test, Not Urine Test, Should Have Been Taken, Town Official Says The long-awaited drug-test results of Cicero police Cmdr. Wesley Scott, cited in Chicago with misdemeanor possession, revealed he passed, but took the wrong test--something town officials can't explain. As a commander, Scott should have taken a hair-follicle test, which registers drugs in the system for 90 to 180 days. Instead, he took a urine test, with less of a shelf life. Under the town's zero-tolerance policy, Scott could have lost his job for testing positive. [continues 393 words]
In her Feb. 8 guest opinion, Judy Guenseth makes the common mistake of assuming that punitive marijuana laws actually deter use. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that use its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to many Americans. In subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors, government is subsidizing organized crime. [continues 93 words]
To claim that there is a "thin line" between therapeutic use and misuse of a drug is misleading ("Dangers, costs of legalizing marijuana too great," Feb. 8). The fact is, there are very clear lines that govern drug use -- they are called controlled substance laws. If a medicine is used according to a qualified physician's recommendation and under her care, then it's therapeutic. If it isn't, then it's misuse. This is exactly what a medical marijuana bill would do for Illinois - -- allow the state to set the rules for and oversee a medical marijuana program. Patients with serious, debilitating conditions would be registered with the state, and possession and plant limits would be clearly defined. I believe this is the definition of "proactive monitoring." [continues 90 words]
Regarding Judy Guenseth's guest column: "Dangers, costs of legalizing marijuana too great" (2-8-08). In any open discussion of this subject, we should review how and why marijuana was first made an illegal substance. In 1937 the then commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger, testified before the U.S. Congress urging the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. Mr. Anslinger testified: "There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the U.S. and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers. Their satanic music, jazz and swing, result from marijuana usage. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers and any others." [continues 79 words]
DEAR ABBY: You were right to tell "Just Saying No" (Jan. 16) that his pot-smoking classmates could be headed for addiction or other problems. I worry that marijuana poses more risks to teens than they - -- or their parents -- recognize. More kids need professional help kicking marijuana than for all other drugs combined. It is not a "harmless" drug. School failure, which you mentioned, could be only the first of many problems daily pot smokers may experience. Researchers have a long way to go in understanding the complexity of brain function, but we know that illicit drug use changes the developing brain. Many young people smoke pot before their brain development is settled, and their chronic use of the drug can affect certain centers in the brain that control emotion and reason. [continues 139 words]
When parents find out that their child has a drug problem, one of the first things they ask is, where did you get these drugs? Often the answer is, from a dealer. But sometimes the drugs aren't bought on the street, because they are in the home. Behind the door of the medicine cabinet. And prescription drugs can be every bit as dangerous and deadly as any drug bought on the street. No one knows this more than the family and friends of two young men from Carpentersville who died Sunday from an apparent overdose of the prescription painkiller oxycodone, according to police. [continues 392 words]
Foundations Of Psychedelic Studies Is Not Your Average Class. EPF 420H, an honors course, focuses on the history of psychedelic drugs, and the affect of these drugs on the mind and body. The class tackles misconceptions commonly associated with psychedelic drugs and focuses on all sorts of drugs including ecstasy, LSD, opium, marijuana and heroin, among others. Thomas Roberts, the class instructor, said EPF 420H fulfills a seminar requirement that juniors in the honors program have to take. EPF 420H is the first class of its kind, he said. [continues 266 words]
Under a four-year collective bargaining agreement approved Wednesday, some 120 union employees at the Kane County Sheriff's Department will be required to submit to random drug tests. Drug use among those whose job it is to uphold the law can compromise safety and integrity, said Sheriff Pat Perez, who pledged during his 2006 campaign to institute the policy. He believes random testing will deter drug abuse. "Just the thought of not knowing if your number is going to be called is a deterrent," Perez said. "If they're tempted, they won't make the wrong choice." [continues 234 words]
Judy Guenseth's guest column "Dangers, costs of legalizing marijuana too great" is disappointing and a bit odd, as it seems to undermine its own arguments. Ms. Guenseth properly notes the concerns regarding drug use by young people, something that prohibition has done nothing to stop (in fact, any gains in that area can be more properly attributed to reality based education). So what does she want? To continue putting the decisions regarding drug safety and age of use in the hands of criminals, while feeding enormous black market profits. Legalizing marijuana doesn't mean giving up control -- in fact, it is exactly the opposite. She said, "Our society is right to prohibit the use of cigarettes and alcohol to underage youth." Yes, and we should do the same with marijuana by regulating it. It would also put the drug dealers out of business and away from kids. [continues 80 words]
In the past several decades, drug use in the world has significantly increased. Research has dramatically opened the door for therapeutic answers to cancer, mental illness and chronic illnesses. This has changed the way most people perceive diagnosis and assisted many people to live normal productive lives. Yet, illegal drug use has also increased greatly and caused an untold number of problems. There is a thin line between therapeutic purposes and misuse of a drug, one that our society must monitor proactively. [continues 724 words]
A two-thirds cut in federal funding for a drug enforcement program could wipe out rural task force groups in Danville and Mattoon. In December, Congress approved cuts of 67 percent for a program included under the Omnibus Appropriations Bill for the federal fiscal year beginning in October. The Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant program cut was $350 million or 67 percent nationwide, said Lori Levin, director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority. "This is the backbone of our drug enforcement money," Levin said. "This will clearly (affect) our programs. It's really a threat to law enforcement programs in Illinois." [continues 915 words]
Lately, Barack Obama has been quoting John F. Kennedy: "The world is changing. The old ways will not do." For a few hours the other day, I was starting to think he really meant it. On Thursday, The Washington Times reported that in 2004, as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Obama came out for decriminalizing marijuana use. That usually means eliminating jail sentences and arrest records for anyone caught with a small amount for personal use, treating it more like a traffic offense than a violent crime. But in a show of hands at a debate last fall, he indicated that he opposed the idea. [continues 611 words]
Free people of America, I feel it is time for an appraisal of one of our great nation's most futile endeavors, the failed prohibition of marijuana. Time and again, we've seen prominent and respected members of communities labeled criminals for choosing to disregard archaic legislation and exercise their perceived freedoms in private. Proponents of this prohibition quickly judge and utter "it's illegal," never stopping to ask why or to address the consequences of banning a harmless drug that nearly 10 percent of Americans openly admit to using. [continues 216 words]
Robert Sharpe's argument to drop drug testing sounds like the reasoning that only makes sense inside the D.C. Beltway. While education is the best deterrent to student drug use, how would he propose to measure the success of any program without empirical verification? We would have to rely on self reporting, but one of the problems here is the ability to hide and deny the truth. Users can deny they have a problem as long as they can hide it. [continues 193 words]
Inside Illinois
