To the editor: Sunday's column by Brian Howey about our marijuana laws did not pose the important question: When is this insanity going to end? It's obvious the so-called "War on Drugs" is not winnable. Estimates are that the U.S. is spending almost $14 billion per year on enforcing marijuana laws. When are the politicians going to start collecting taxes on the billions in lost revenue and stop putting people in jail for something that can be grown anywhere? Robert L. Smith Boonville, Ind. [end]
Eighth-graders in Marion County and throughout the state are more likely to smoke, drink and use marijuana than their counterparts in the rest of the nation, a new study finds. Drug-prevention experts here know the problem exists. But they don't know why. The high rate of use may stem from scant dollars for prevention, more accessible drugs and the lack of a community network to address teen drug use, they say. "I wish we had a better handle on some of the specific reasons," said Randy Miller, executive director of Drug Free Marion County. "It would make it easier for us to address and reduce it. That's part of the struggle." [continues 971 words]
Once again, the Delaware County Coordinating Council to Prevent Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse is sponsoring Red Ribbon Week locally in conjunction with the national drug awareness observance held each October. Red Ribbon Week originated in 1985 as a result of the death of a Drug Enforcement Agent and is dedicated to all of those who have been wrongfully killed due to drugs and violence. This year's Red Ribbon celebration activities will be this week. In the next few days, all children attending public school in Delaware County will be sent home information regarding this year's activities and discounts, along with a red silicon bracelet imprinted with the Red Ribbon Week Theme. This year's theme is "My Life, My Future, Drug Free." Many of the schools will be participating by doing different activities in the classroom. I would also like to challenge parents to take this opportunity to talk to your child about the importance of being drug, alcohol and tobacco free. [continues 412 words]
After The Pseudoephedrine Law Knocked The Drug Down, It Returned With A Vengeance. GASTON -- On a Thursday afternoon in September, police converged on an older house near downtown Gaston with whitewashed clapboard siding. Across the street, Kaylie Starrett watched from her own home, confused by all the commotion. In the 18 months or so that Starrett had lived in the neighborhood, everyone across the street seemed friendly. It wasn't until later that she learned from friends that police suspected her neighbors were manufacturing methamphetamine. [continues 1257 words]
Warsaw Community High School has had a drug testing policy for at least 11 years, Dave Anson, WCHS assistant principal, said. "Any student that is in an athletic program, any student that applies for a parking tag and any student in a vocational program" is in the testing pool, Anson said. "In all, we get about half of the students in the testing pools. No kid is in the pool more than once," said Anson. If a student is an athlete, has a parking tag and is in a vocational program, that student's name still only appears in the pool once. Some students may never end up tested during their high school career, while another may end up selected several times in a year. [continues 1113 words]
In the 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded schools' power to randomly drug test students in all extracurricular activities. "We find that testing students who participate in extracurricular activities is a reasonably effective means of addressing the school district's legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and detecting drug use," Justice Clarence Thomas, U.S. Supreme Court, said in the 5-4 decision for the case of Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls. [continues 719 words]
How bad the drug problem is at local schools might depend on who you ask. Four randomly selected students at Warsaw Community High School were interviewed Sept. 16 about their thoughts on drug use and testing. "I'm from Wisconsin, a worse town than this. Compared to that, there's not really a problem," said senior Jack Donohue, 18. WCHS's random drug testing program includes students who drive to school, are in a vocational program or are athletes. Donohue drives to school, so his name could be pulled for drug testing, but it hasn't as of Sept. 16. [continues 1939 words]
SONOMA, Calif. -- There is one thing, and perhaps one thing only, that the two candidates for governor of California agree on: Ballot Proposition 19, The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is a bad idea. In 1996, California voters approved medical marijuana, which has -- with some exceptions -- enjoyed widespread acceptance. Under current law, there are roughly 500,000 patients at hundreds of dispensaries. Cannabis, with estimated annual sales of $14 billion, has become the state's largest cash crop. [continues 313 words]
With the Supreme Court's blessing, schools are allowed to randomly test students for drugs. Not every school corporation in Kosciusko County does it exactly the same, but they all do it for the same reason - to give students another reason to just say "no." "We do (drug testing) very minimally at the present time," said Dr. Tom Edington, Wawasee School Corp. "The only time we do it is if we know there's a situation involving a student, or a few students, involving drugs, and if they agree to be tested randomly for drugs." [continues 668 words]
"It's heartbreaking day in and day out. The heartbreak is every day," said a member of the Kosciusko County Drug Task Force. Wednesday at the "Meth 2010: Killing a Community" workshop, a panel of local professionals spoke about the impact of methamphetamine on Kosciusko County and Indiana. Each person on the panel said there is one thing that will curb meth production significantly in the county: If pseudoephedrine is made a scheduled drug, which means it is available only by prescription, the number of individual meth labs will be reduced significantly. [continues 770 words]
The city council should approve an ordinance to ban the sale of the synthetic marijuana drug known as K2, or spice, at tonight's meeting. Under the ordinance, any business that sold spice would be fined $250. The drug was easily available to West Lafayette residents until local police issued a letter to the Citgo gas station at 101 W State St. and Amused at Chauncey Hill officially requesting that they cease and desist the sale of spice. Both businesses complied. [continues 225 words]
At Tuesday night's city council meeting, City Councilor Ann Hunt, D-District 3, blocked a motion for a second vote on the spice ban ordinance, which was necessary to pass the ordinance at the meeting. Hunt said she voted in this manner because she felt public education about the drug was necessary and wanted the council to hold a future public hearing. Purdue students should take advantage of this opportunity and show up for the public hearing at the next city council meeting on Oct. 4. [continues 229 words]
While Tippecanoe County voted to ban the sale of K2, or spice, on Tuesday, West Lafayette City Council failed to follow suit at its Tuesday night meeting. The ordinance on the agenda would have banned the possession and sale of the drug K2 - also known as spice or synthetic marijuana - in West Lafayette stores. It failed by one vote, made by Councilor Ann Hunt, R-District 3, who said she voted against the ordinance because she wanted a public hearing on the matter. [continues 443 words]
If you're unfamiliar with the terms K2, Pep, Kind or spice, ask your son or daughter who's in high school or college. Unfortunately, you could probably ask your elementary student. Chances are they know about it; perhaps they know someone who uses it. Maybe they've got first-hand experience. In a nutshell, spice is an herb mixture marketed as an incense laced with a synthetic chemical that mimics the high produced by smoking marijuana, but it's said to be 10 times more potent. [continues 498 words]
Local law enforcement officials are now using a new Web-based method for tracking the sale of pseudoephedrine and other common items used in the manufacture of methamphetamine. The Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation System works by combining pseudoephedrine purchase records with criminal records to track suspicious purchasing habits and connect frequent purchasers of pseudoephedrine. Indiana State Police Sgt. Niki Crawford spoke at a news conference Thursday at the Indiana State Police post in Evansville about the system and new website. "We're putting a lot of information at the hands of law enforcement," said Crawford, who is also the commander of the Indiana State Police Methamphetamine Suppression Section. [continues 244 words]
A spike in fatal and near-fatal overdoses in Northwest Indiana is prompting suspicion that heroin now in circulation may be Fentanyl-laced, extremely pure, or a combination of both. In a guest commentary published elsewhere in today's edition of the Chesterton Tribune, Rocco Schiralli, president and CEO of Porter-Starke Services, is reporting six deaths in the last eight weeks in Porter County, one in Lake County, and more than 20 near-fatal ODs. "The heroin being used in Northwest Indiana RIGHT NOW is extremely lethal," Schiralli writes. [continues 566 words]
It sounds absurd to make the statement that there is currently some "bad heroin" in our community because we all know that heroin is one of the most addicting and deadliest drugs around. While all drug addiction becomes deadly over a period of time, heroin use increases the probability of death with each use. A heroin dependent state is achieved after only a short period of time. The brief euphoria of heroin use is rapidly replaced with physical suffering and emotional pain. [continues 249 words]
Website Will Track Sales Of Ingredients A new Web-based tool in the fight against methamphetamine will allow retailers to put in data about pseudoephedrine purchases and will give people an opportunity to file anonymous tips about suspected methamphetamine activity in their communities. The tool, which was unveiled Tuesday by the Indiana State Police, is called the Indiana Methamphetamine Investigation System. It will give any state law enforcement agency the ability to assess, process, record and analyze the submitted information to support its investigation and prosecution of methamphetamine offenders throughout the state, police said. [continues 684 words]
FORT WAYNE - The Allen County commissioners could ban the sale of synthetic marijuana this week, but possession of the substance would still be legal in the county. The commissioners on Monday briefly discussed banning the product, commonly sold as incense under names such as K2 or Spice. Authorities say most buyers smoke it to get a marijuana-like high. Commissioner Nelson Peters said a countywide ban would at least be discussed this week and a vote is possible. Fort Wayne and New Haven councils banned sales and possession of the product last week. [continues 236 words]
A Lafayette man convicted of cooking methamphetamine in a north-end garage was sentenced Thursday to 62 years in prison. Jurors found [name1 redacted], 33, guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, a Class A felony, and information of illegal drug lab, a Class C felony, following a two-day trial last month in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1. Judge Randy Williams then found [name1 redacted] guilty of being a habitual offender -- a punishment enhancement that accounted for significant number of years to Thursday's sentence. [continues 166 words]
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. [continues 151 words]
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. [continues 730 words]
'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. [continues 364 words]
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. [continues 268 words]
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. [continues 550 words]
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. [continues 87 words]
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. [continues 339 words]
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. [continues 114 words]
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. [continues 1445 words]
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. [continues 330 words]
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. [continues 540 words]
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." [continues 1238 words]
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. [continues 405 words]
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. [continues 333 words]
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. [continues 768 words]
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. [continues 618 words]
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. [continues 283 words]
Fourteen states have legalized marijuana for medical use, and nearly 100 million Americans older than 12 have admitted to smoking it. Weed is more visible and available than ever these days, and thanks to the Internet, advocacy for its legalization has never been so vocal. After the Ogden Memo was issued last year, in which President Barack Obama instructed federal prosecutors to stop pursuing drug cases against medical marijuana patients, many lobbying for marijuana legalization across the country began feeling as though this would be the first administration to address the issue seriously. After all, unlike Bill Clinton, Obama did inhale, and in his own words, has done so "frequently" in the past. Though he insists that a legalization-regulation-taxation trifecta wouldn't help the still struggling economy, he has publicly supported the prescription of pot by physicians to treat certain ailments. [continues 683 words]
To the Editor: Nobody in the history of the world has overdosed from marijuana. Many people in America depend on medical marijuana for their medical conditions and symptoms such as glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, nausea, epilepsy, etc. It's sad how people with chronic pain and deathly illness are deprived of the only medicine that will work for them. Prescription medication can become very addicting, and cause death from building up a tolerance, requiring the patient to use more than prescribed. [continues 211 words]
I'll admit to being one of the multitude of fans who have made shows like "NCIS" and "CSI" such hits. It isn't that I don't recognize how unrealistic they are; no publicly financed lab could afford such cutting-edge equipment even if someone invented it. But I love watching the search for hard evidence, and the characters' willingness to abide by what that evidence shows even when the result is to exonerate some really unattractive suspect. Wouldn't it be nice if those we elect to make policy were similarly devoted to evidence-based decision-making? [continues 419 words]
MADISON, Ind. - The high school girlfriends weren't known as troublemakers. One was a cheerleader, another a soccer player and the third grew up working on her family's farm. But the Madison Consolidated High School seniors found themselves shivering on a winter night three years ago in a deserted church parking lot, surrounded by police, being questioned about drugs - and then strip searched. "We were all so scared," one of them, Kristy Lessley, said in the first interview the women have granted since the incident Jan. 19, 2007. "We just froze." [continues 1189 words]
The criminal justice system in this country is broken. We have a greater percentage, by far, of our population in jail than any of the other western democracies in the world. We sentence more persons to the death penalty than any other western nations. The percentage of adult, black males in our prison system is a national disgrace and a disaster. As I've argued on these pages previously, we need to decriminalize the possession of drugs for personal use and legalize, plus tax, their proper distribution. [continues 244 words]
PLYMOUTH - The message that Plymouth sixth graders learned during the nine-week course of DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) may be the most important lesson of them all. The formal graduation for this year's class was held at Riverside Intermediate Thursday. The program was launched in Plymouth in 1989. Officer Mark Owen has been the DARE instructor over the last several years. During the graduation ceremony, Owen said, "There are more personal family stories now than ever before." Each of the students in the class was asked to write an essay on what they had learned. A panel then chose 12 of the authors to receive special recognition at the ceremony. [continues 333 words]
To the editor: The solution to overcrowding at jails and prisons everywhere is simple: Just decriminalize the possession of substances for personal use. It's far past time we realize the policies we have been pursuing for years have not worked and will never work! It's costing us billions of dollars every year to pursue failed policies. Isn't it time to change? Ray Andersen Newburgh [end]
Overcoming Addiction Has Proven Difficult For Many People Sentenced To Drug Court; Those Who Succeed Praise The Program. MUNCIE -- If the Guinness Book contained a category for most expensive single drug binge, Jeff Branham might very well own the record. By Branham's account, he smoked almost $20,000 worth of crack cocaine in an 11-day period, a bender that left little time for sleep or anything else but getting high. What's worse, he financed the drugs by forging checks from his 83-year-old father's savings account, drawing the attention of authorities who charged him with 66 felony crimes. [continues 970 words]
Law Enforcement Has Fought The Constantly Evolving Threat Of Meth Addiction And Manufacturing Since Its First Appearance In 1988. ELKHART -- Less than a year after a series of significant arrests in 2005, members of Elkhart County's undercover law enforcement unit concluded they had crippled a drug-trafficking organization importing Mexican methamphetamine into the area. But in that eight months, the market for meth had been established. The drug began affecting Elkhart County in a violent new way. Small, volatile and dangerous homemade labs began cranking out meth. [continues 1405 words]
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 a day seeking "prescriptions" at Colorado's multiplying medical marijuana dispensaries has fallen precipitously. Many new customers are college students. [continues 669 words]
Inside Indiana
