PORTER Two LaPorte County woman face drug charges after police said they found hypodermic needles and a container of "clean" urine in their car.

A Chesterton police officer running drug interdiction about 6 p.m. on Interstate 94 stopped a car without a lit license plate just east of the U.S. 20 exit.

The officer said the driver, Krystel Catlin, 27, of LaPorte, was acting nervously and trembling as she said she and two passengers were on their way to visit relatives at a Portage Township residence.

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THERE is good news and bad news that can be pulled from a recent survey of sixth-to 12th-grade students in Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. schools about the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The good is that the use of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana among these young people has decreased from what was reported in the 1990s.

The bad is that binge drinking along with the use of prescription drugs and steroids in that age category has increased.

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Subtle reminders of the vast extent of the illegal drug problem are around us, yet we too often overlook them.

Drug-related crimes, including thefts from homes and vehicles, are filling our jails and driving up the cost of the criminal justice system.

But for many, the signs are more obvious. They see the effects of addiction on the faces of loved ones and are anguished by the difficulty in helping those friends and family members escape the grip of drug abuse. Many families, rich and poor alike, are facing this same struggle.

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Re: Your Aug 1. editorial, "Change the law when the people are ready for it."

The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 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. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use.

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Issue Might Prove Excellent Starting Point in Consideration Of Criminal Code Overhaul

In the years that this newspaper has known and endorsed Tom Knollman in his role as a Republican...- 11:08 pm

To the contrary, this Union County farmer, while struggling with his speech and movement as a consequence of battling multiple sclerosis, is soft-spoken, thoughtful and deliberate in his positions and subsequent votes in the General Assembly.

His conservative, law-and-order credentials are above reproach.

So when Knollman testified in favor of keeping marijuana available for people like himself, suffering lifetime disorders, his remarks deserve an audience.

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The General Assembly's attempt at comprehensive sentencing reform crashed and burned in the last session. So prospects for any effort to reduce criminal penalties look like a long shot. But a targeted attempt at addressing marijuana laws could fare better, provided the bill receives a good public discussion before the full legislature considers it.

Financially, Indiana needs marijuana sentencing reform. The legislature's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee heard last week that reducing or eliminating penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana could save up to $200 million a year in law enforcement and corrections costs.

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In the Meantime, Though, Always Enforce the Laws We Have.

Most of the people who appeared before Indiana's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee last week spoke in favor of legalizing marijuana in the state, or at least greatly reducing the criminal penalties on the possession of small amounts. In support of that position, they said many things that are undoubtedly true, including:

- -Marijuana prohibition in the United States has failed.

- -Indiana's too-draconian laws governing possession have probably done more harm than good. Lives have been ruined over something that is safer than drinking.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Lawmakers didn't say whether they will proceed with legislation to legalize marijuana after advocates for such law dominated a four-hour Statehouse hearing last week.

Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Portage, who proposed a study of the issue this year, told the Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Committee that she had no agenda other than to "start talking about this."

She said the idea for the study came from her "experience sitting in court as an attorney" and "looking at young kids pleading to minor possession charges."

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Indiana, though thoroughly conservative, might see changes in its marijuana policy if Thursday's presentation on decriminalizing and legalizing medical marijuana had any effect on legislatures.

On Thursday, the legislature's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study committee heard numerous testimonies from policy and medical experts as to the benefits of marijuana and the negatives of complete prohibition. The hearing was streamed live on the Indiana government website for public viewing and The Exponent watched.

Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, prompted the committee hearing, and began with a short presentation on her concerns with Indiana's "draconian" marijuana laws. Her concerns ranged from the industrial use of hemp to the legalization of medicinal marijuana. She questioned the impact of legal repercussions that come with prohibiting marijuana.

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When a first-time offender is caught in West Lafayette with a small amount of marijuana, he is given a citation and a court date. Though technically arrested, rarely is the person booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail, police Chief Jason Dombkowski said.

Last year, in Tippecanoe County courts, marijuana accounted for only 4 percent of higher-felony drug cases -- 8 out of 156, Prosecutor Pat Harrington noted.

"There's this urban street myth that people in the Department of Correction, the only thing they've done is smoked a joint," Harrington said. "It's more fiction than reality.

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Business leaders asking government to stop interfering in their work is a common occurrence at the Statehouse, and the Republican-controlled General Assembly usually is eager to remove obstacles impeding entrepreneurship.

But when that business is marijuana, the lawmakers who normally would do just about anything to help -- and claim credit for new jobs and tax revenue -- disappear.

That's why state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, is eager for Thursday's meeting of the legislature's Criminal Law and Sentencing Policy Study Committee because the state's marijuana laws finally will get a thorough review.

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INDIANAPOLIS - When State Sen. Karen Tallian first floated the idea of introducing a bill to look at legalizing marijuana, her Statehouse colleagues warned the Portage Democrat that it could kill her chances for re-election.

But the 60-year-old mother of three thought there might be some public support for taking the crime out of pot, so she sent out an informal survey, via email, to constituents in her Northwest Indiana district.

Within 72 hours of sending the email, she got back more than 2,000 responses. Almost all of them were supportive, and most of the supportive ones said the state should treat marijuana like alcohol: Control its sale and tax it as a revenue-enhancer.

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Summer study committees of the Indiana General Assembly are tackling two important issues. They're even related, so perhaps suggestions will be merged later on and discussed by one group. The issues:

♦Prison sentencing reform. A bill calling for major reforms that would save millions and reduce prison crowding by making greater use of alternative sentencing was drafted based on some think-tank recommendations. The proposal crashed and burned last term, though, over objections by county prosecutors that it was soft on crime.

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After gaining support from Gov. Mitch Daniels in December, 2010, an important sentencing reform effort was derailed in March when Indiana's county prosecutors accused supporters of being soft on crime.

SB 561, which passed the senate 46-3 but died in a house committee, would have sought to fix an Indiana sentencing and corrections system that has spiraled out of control.

The push for reform came after a report commissioned last year by the Pew Center on the States and the Council of State Governments Justice Center found Indiana's prison population increased by 47 percent between 2000 and 2010, and its spending increased by 37 percent from $495 million to $679 million.

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INDIANAPOLIS -- When state Sen. Karen Tallian first floated the idea of introducing a bill to look at legalizing marijuana, her Statehouse colleagues warned the Portage Democrat that it could kill her chances for re-election.

But the 60-year-old mother of three thought there might be some public support for taking the crime out of pot, so she sent out an informal survey, via email, to constituents in her northwest Indiana district. Within 72 hours of sending the email, she received more than 2,000 responses. Almost all of them were supportive, and most of the supportive ones said the state should treat marijuana like alcohol: Control its sale and tax it as a revenue enhancer.

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DOWAGIAC - Dowagiac officials are one step closer to amending the zoning ordinance to regulate the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

During a Dowagiac City Council meeting Monday night, Mayor Don Lyons recognized the controversy surrounding the issue.

"I cannot remember an issue that we've had as much debate as this one," he said.

The City Council approved the first readings of the proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance. Dowagiac City Manager Kevin Anderson said he expects passage at the next City Council meeting on July 25.

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Years of trying to add Porter County to the Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area finally succeeded in getting federal approval for the newly expanded effort.

The federal government on Monday included Porter County among eight areas around the nation added to the HIDTA program. That allows federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in both counties to work together to fight drug trafficking and its consequences.

It's a logical move.

The same attributes that make Northwest Indiana a great place for the transportation, distribution and logistics industry make it an important part of the illegal drug trade between Mexico and the Chicago area as well as Detroit and beyond.

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Gatewood Galbraith is once again running for governor -- and he's quit smoking marijuana to prove he's serious.

"I gave up smoking pot about two months ago after 40 years," he said Monday during an interview with The Gleaner. "I want people to trust that I'm going to be as clearheaded as I can possibly be."

This is the fifth time the Lexington defense attorney has run for governor; the first time he made headlines with his outspoken advocacy for legalizing marijuana. He's not pushing that issue as hard as he once did, but it's still in his platform.

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Once again, we have been duped by the dealers -- the dealers of drugs, that is.

And of course in their wake will follow all the special interests, including the users who wish no interference in their quest to do whatever drugs they desire without the law breathing down their necks.

There are the thinkers, who have never experienced personally the impact that drugs have on our young, yet try to make the status of drug usage of an intellectual exercise much in the same manner in which they debate the existence of God.

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But Effect on Cases Is Still Unknown

Questions about the validity of some drug and alcohol test results by the Indiana State Department of Toxicology have yet to affect Southwestern Indiana overtly.

An audit of the lab's results from 2007 through 2009 has turned up problems with at least 200 of the marijuana test results in that time period, said Larry McIntyre, a spokesman for the department.

The errors deal with issues such as handling of samples, lab processes and, in some cases, interpretation. He said the potential seriousness of the situation is not yet known.

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