Calling it an "epidemic" in the area, Prosecutor Todd Meyer is calling on county commissioners to ban a drug called spice in Boone County.

Spice, an herb laced with a compound said to be 10 times more powerful than marijuana, is legally sold as incense under brand names such as K2, Pep and Kind, but many teens and young adults are smoking it like pot.

A bill outlawing spice will likely be introduced in Indiana next year, but Meyer said the county can't wait for the state to take action.

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Derek McQueen pulled down the collar of his T-shirt, exposing two ugly scars on his neck.

Those, the 21-year-old Greenfield man said, are the souvenirs of the one terrible night when he stabbed himself in a paranoid delusion sparked when he smoked "spice" -- the herb laced with synthetic chemicals that make it more powerful than marijuana.

Spice is legal in Indiana, but McQueen joined a state representative Wednesday to argue that it's time for the state to join at least eight others in outlawing it.

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'Synthetic marijuana' results in ER visits as calls to ban it grow

ANDERSON, Ind. - Spice, an herbal mixture laced with chemicals and marketed as a synthetic marijuana, remains legal even as authorities and medical professionals worry about an increasing number of illnesses and possible deaths linked to the compounds.

Sold as incense in smoke shops, convenience stores and online under names such as spice, K2, fake weed and genie, the product has drawn increasing scrutiny after the death of Lilly L. Helsley, 28, of Middletown. Helsley died on July 30, and family and friends said it was after she smoked Spice.

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FORT WAYNE - Residents will have their chance next week to offer input and opinions on whether a marijuana substitute should be banned in Fort Wayne.

The City Council will conduct an informal public hearing Tuesday regarding its proposed ban of substances sold as incense under such brand names as K2 and Pep. The products are being smoked as a marijuana substitute.

Councilman Mitch Harper, R-4th, said he will present a short history of the substance and its nature, as well as efforts to legislate it in other communities.

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Greenfield police say state Board of Accounts, FBI will help with obstruction-of-justice probe

A search warrant was served Friday at the office of Hancock County Sheriff Calvin K. "Bud" Gray as a probe into alleged financial irregularities within the department continues to widen.

Greenfield Police Chief John Jester, whose agency conducted the search, said the warrant was served about 3 p.m., but he wouldn't specify what investigators were looking for.

"There was evidence collected," Jester said. He added that the state Board of Accounts will conduct an audit and that the FBI will be assisting Greenfield investigators.

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The state hopes to cut down on methamphetamine production by lauching a new website that tracks frequent purchasers of products with pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth.

The Indiana State Police recently launched the Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation System.

Pharmacies can use the online database (http://www.in.gov/ meth or http://meth.in.gov) by attending a training session.

The website has general information about meth and the ability for the public to submit tip information about suspected meth activity.

This system was provided to Indiana by the Tennessee Meth Task Force. Since Tennessee began using the system in 2004, more than 500,000 purchases have been identified by documented methamphetamine offenders or by individuals who exceeded the legal purchase amount of pseudoephedrine.

[end]

Indiana State Police will announce the launch of a methamphetamine resource website at 11 a.m. Friday in Bristol, Ind. The Indiana Methamphetamine Investigative System (IMIS) will keep track of retailers who sell common household products, such as pseudoephedrine, that can regularly be used in the production of meth. That information will be analyzed by law enforcement officials to determine if the practices are consistent with meth production.

State police said in a release that the web-driven system would use together public and private partnerships to combat the production and use of meth.

[end]

If health outcomes, instead of cultural norms, determined drug laws, 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 health interventions and ineffective 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.

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HAUBSTADT - Police officers asked the owner of local convenience store to discontinue sales of K-2, reported Lloyd Jones, town marshal.

Jones reported to town council members on Monday night that the owner of the Sunrise Mini-Mart listened to concerns about K-2 and made the decision to comply with the request.

Jones said that although police had only been aware of the product for a few weeks, they believe it poses a possible danger as well as other unknown health risks.

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The hard-luck city of Oakland, Calif., an aging port and factory town, has decided to reinvent itself as an agricultural center.

The City Council voted 5-2 this week to license four large facilities where marijuana could be grown and processed. The hope is that the grass factories will create hundreds of jobs, pay millions of dollars in taxes and give Oakland a jump on rival cities if Californians vote this fall to legalize recreational marijuana.

The measure attracted heated opposition, but not from the people you might think, those who believe that approval of the cultivation and sale of marijuana would lead to rampant drug use.

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The only difficult thing about responding to John Elliott and Grant Monahan's statements in the July 3 edition of the Tribune-Star is deciding where to begin. None of the assertions are accurate, and none of the claims are based upon the realities we're facing here in Vigo County. The logical thing to do is to refute this misinformation in the same order it appeared in reporter Lisa Trigg's news article.

The notion that over-the counter PSE sales are done in the name of "patient care" sounds very nice. Especially when the legitimate consumer has been led to believe that prescription-only sales will force them into a co-pay every single time they need relief from nasal congestion. Nothing could be further from the truth. We have been speaking with several doctors in the Wabash Valley since beginning the push for prescription-only.

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If a neighbor throws his garbage out into his yard and leaves it, it won't be long before your neighborhood will be swarming with flies. The same is true for mosquitoes if the water is allowed to collect in buckets or tires and such.

Having the authorities come out and swat a few flies or mosquitoes won't come close to solving the problem. You have to get rid of the garbage or the water. Nothing else will work.

The point is that drug dealers, like flies and mosquitoes, are drawn into neighborhoods by the garbage that buys what they're selling.

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I'm confused. When I walk around busy midtown Manhattan, I often smell marijuana. Despite the crowds, some people smoke weed in public. Usually the police leave them alone, and yet other times they act like a military force engaged in urban combat. This February, cops stormed a Columbia, Mo., home, killed the family dog and terrorized a 7-year-old boy -- for what? A tiny quantity of marijuana.

Two years ago, in Prince George's County, Md., cops raided Cheye Calvo's home -- all because a box of marijuana was randomly shipped to his wife as part of a smuggling operation. Only later did the police learn that Calvo was innocent -- and the mayor of that town.

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Is the war on drugs a fight against stereotypes?

According to many officials, the stigma of being associated with drugs, for whatever reason, has slowly changed through the years.

"Not only has the stigma changed, so has the mentality of those involved in the drug culture. There used to be shame attached to being arrested for drug use," Clay County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Rob Gambill said. "But today, so many of the people arrested think it's nothing to worry about, almost like it's s right of passage. They think it gives them street credibility and lifts them above their peers."

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While sex was the headlined hypocrisy behind U.S. Rep. Mark Souder's resignation, the pietistic politician's sanctimony didn't stop there.

Most of them wouldn't know Souder from Torquemada, but more than 200,000 Americans have taken a hit to their college educations thanks to his vigilance for virtue.

Souder is the Moses of legislation denying federal financial aid to students convicted of a drug offense. No other crimes. Just drugs. Say your prayers every day, call Mom every night, get busted for pot and that big tuition bill is all on you.

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Dear Editor,

Regarding Sara Conn's Friday column ("What are the pros and cons of Mary Jane being legal in California?"), 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. 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. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda. Marijuana prohibition has failed miserably as a deterrent. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults over 18. Students who want to help end the intergenerational culture war otherwise known as the war on some drugs should contact Students for Sensible Drug Policy at www.SchoolsNotPrisons.com.

Robert Sharpe Common Sense for Drug Policy, policy analyst Washington, D.C.

[end]

California will vote in November on a proposal to tax and regulate marijuana like alcohol or tobacco, but local legislators said any similar initiative in Indiana remains remote.

"The current system is an utter failure," said Aaron Smith, Marijuana Policy Project California policy director. "More teens are smoking marijuana than cigarettes."

If approved by the people, the proposal would allow adults 21 and older to posses up to an ounce of marijuana and for the state, along with counties and cities, to tax marijuana sales.

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California should legalize marijuana.

I can already hear people's fingers typing on keyboards for letters to the editor, but hear me out. I'm not basing my assessment on an obsession for Mary Jane, but from a real belief in the economic power of the reefer.

Last week, California's secretary of state certified a November vote on a ballot measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana. The new campaign for legalization does not focus on altering the social stigma surrounding the drug but highlights its potential cash benefits. It's a bold, intelligent move for those in favor of legalizing marijuana.

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In my work as an emergency physician and as a county coroner, I frequently order tests to determine whether a person has illicit drugs in their blood or urine. While I am not naive enough to think that all people will turn out to be clean and sober, I am amazed at how many people have a positive test for cannabinoids, which are the active ingredients in marijuana (Cannabis sativa).

I recognize that there are some legitimate medical uses for cannabinoids. However, the people with the positive tests are generally not suffering from nausea, vomiting, pain, loss of appetite, asthma, glaucoma, nor spasticity. They have been consuming marijuana for other reasons.

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Every day on the news we hear again that there just isn't enough money for "government" to do its job. There is such a simple solution to the problem, but politicians just don't have the courage to tackle it. Unfortunately, simple idealism stands in the way of that solution.

The current national attitude toward drugs is nothing if not idealistic. It's not effective at all, but it is indeed idealistic. Of course, no one should abuse drugs, but laws against it do not prevent drug abuse. Nearly every schoolchild can tell you drugs are readily available. Oddly enough, for all its idealism, the United States offers the biggest market for illegal drugs in the world.

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