More Than 300 Pot Plants Taken in Bust GARDEN PENINSULA - The Michigan State Police Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team (UPSET) eradicated nearly 380 pot plants from a plot Friday, after an outdoor marijuana growing operation was discovered in the Garden area. Police will continue their investigations. They are not releasing information on any suspects at this time. UPSET Unit Commander and Michigan State Police Lt. Jeff Racine estimated the street value of the marijuana to be around $380,000. "The state goes by $1,000 per plant, but this (marijuana) could be sold for up to $3,000 (per plant) or more," he said. [continues 373 words]
To the editor: My son wrote the following letter in the hopes of having it published in The Allegan County News so people could read it and take his advice. Cheryl Caswell Otsego Dear readers: My name is Rob Caswell Jr. I am currently serving my second prison sentence due to my meth addiction. I want to take this time to apologize to my family, friends and loved ones--especially to my son, Gage Caswell. I love you, son. I have been struggling with this addiction for about 11 years, minus the 40 months I served in prison the first time. [continues 393 words]
Regarding Robert Downes' Aug. 4 column "An End to Reefer Madness," 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. Like any drug, 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. [continues 85 words]
Recently, while driving through Saginaw, I happened to tune into a radio program featuring an interview with Saginaw County Sheriff Charles Brown, who was railing against the dangers of marijuana. Speaking as a former federal law enforcement officer, I would like to respond. We can argue from now until doomsday whether marijuana is a deadly gateway drug, a simple plant neither inherently good nor evil or a great boon to mankind given by a loving creator. And we can continue to completely miss the point. [continues 445 words]
D.A.R.E. Program Funding Remains In Port Huron Budget Despite fears that Port Huron's schools would go without a Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, the city is paying for someone to oversee it through at least the next school year. Mayor Brian Moeller said the City Council did not cut any of the personnel positions from the police department for the current fiscal year. "The D.A.R.E. officer will be there for at least another year," Moeller said. [continues 297 words]
1) Name two state proposals that received approval to appear on the November ballot after they got enough signatures from voters. Advertisement A. The Nugent Amendment to repeal the ban on dove hunting. B. The measure to lift restrictions on embryonic stem cell research. C. A plan to allow the use of medical marijuana for patients with certain debilitating illnesses. D. The proposal to allow drinking at age 18. 2) What has Ford Motor Co. been allowing employees to do in order to reenergize their confidence in the company? [continues 170 words]
LANSING -- Michigan voters will decide whether to loosen the state's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and allow medical use of marijuana during November's election. A state election panel gave final approval to the proposals Thursday, clearing their path to appear on the ballot. Supporters of both measures collected more than enough valid voter signatures to qualify. But obeying a Michigan Court of Appeals order, the Board of State Canvassers did not act on a third proposal that would cut the pay of elected officials, throw judges off the bench and downsize the state Legislature. [continues 51 words]
Voters to Decide on Letting People Donate Embryos Michigan voters will decide whether to loosen the state's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research and allow medical use of marijuana during November's election. A state election panel gave final approval to the proposals Thursday, clearing their path to appear on the ballot. Supporters of both measures collected more than enough valid voter signatures to qualify. But obeying a Michigan Court of Appeals order, the Board of State Canvassers did not act on a third proposal that would cut the pay of elected officials, throw judges off the bench and downsize the state Legislature. [continues 242 words]
Backers of State Reform Effort Promise to Appeal LANSING -- The field of statewide ballot proposals for 2008 appears to be set at two -- medical marijuana and embryonic stem cell research -- following approval of ballot wording by a state elections panel Thursday. Advertisement The proposal to permit the cultivation, possession and use of marijuana by patients with certain debilitating illnesses, such as muscular dystrophy or HIV-AIDS, was designated as Proposal 1 by the Board of State Canvassers. A constitutional amendment to lift restrictions on research using human embryos, aimed at seeking treatments and cures for chronic illness and injury, was designated Proposal 2. [continues 169 words]
Speaking as a former federal law enforcement officer, a retired elementary school counselor, a taxpayer and most importantly, a parent, I would like to respond to a recent Express article, "The end of reefer madness?" We can argue from now until Doomsday whether marijuana is a deadly gateway drug; a simple plant like any other, neither inherently good or evil; or a great boon to mankind given to us a loving creator. The true debate needs to be, is prohibition the best way to deal with the dangers, real or imagined, of marijuana? [continues 347 words]
End reefer madness Thank you for your "voice of common sense" in your Random Thoughts article titled, "The end of reefer madness?" While I may not agree with your statement about potent strains causing psychotic reactions (this study was disproved), I do agree with everything else that you wrote. You nailed it with your very first sentence! My body belongs to me! No one has a right to tell me what I can put into my body as long as I am hurting no one by doing it! The sooner that those who are supposed to represent us, and those that are supposed to 'protect and serve' us get this, then maybe we can move on to more important things. It might interest you to know that U.S. companies bought 92% of last year's Canadian hemp crop. That could have been money in our farmers' pockets, and yet, they all seem to be drunk on corn ethanol as the answer to our gas problems. What a shame, but then, it is hard to undo 71 years of reefer madness that seems to be alive and well yet today. I hope and pray that before I leave this earth, we will finally "get it!" Until then, I will keep fighting, I will keep using cannabis, and I will continue to refuse to be treated like a criminal! Change is a comin'! Rev. Steven B. Thompson, executive director Michigan NORML [end]
Do you believe in having the freedom to do as you choose with your own body? Or should government make those decisions for you? That's the fundamental question in many great controversies of our time regarding smoking, prostitution, abortion, stem cell research, marijuana, wearing a motorcycle helmet, the right to die with dignity, the use of steroids, and drug use to name a few. At least half the time, we (ie. society) decide to limit ourselves. If you want to make money by inviting strangers to enjoy your body, too bad -- it's against the law. If you want to hit the ball farther than anyone else on the team by taking steroids, tough luck -- it's illegal. [continues 633 words]
Portage Residents Respond After Heroin Overdose Death PORTAGE -- How can Portage residents keep their children from using drugs? Parents could conduct random drug and alcohol tests on their teens, some said during a two-hour forum Monday. Schools could sponsor talks by young, recovered addicts, others said. The community should provide healthy outlets for bored adolescents, a teenager urged. About 60 people gathered at Portage City Hall for the brainstorming session, motivated by the June death of an 18-year-old Portage woman from a heroin overdose. It was the city's fifth heroin death of a young person in the past few years, according to Portage police officials. [continues 407 words]
Paroled after Michigan legislators, in 1998 and 2003, enacted sweeping reforms reducing lengthy mandatory minimum drug sentences, Angelita Able walked out prison last year and did what she had not done in a decade: She made dinner for her daughters. "The first time they laid eyes on me, we cried together," says Able, now 33, looking at daughters Re-Nae, 15, and Roshinique, 12. "We were a family unit and that was torn apart." Wearing shy smiles, the girls sit across the table from their mom in her sparsely furnished first-floor townhouse on West 7 Mile Road. [continues 440 words]
During World War II, hemp was planted in Michigan for use in making rope. Remnants of those plantings still grow in the state's fertile soil, but it's the cultivated plants that state police are asking outdoor enthusiasts to watch out for. Those cultivated varieties of marijuana are specially selected for their high amounts of the hallucinogenic drug THC, said Michigan State Police Detective First Lt. Dave Peltomaa, who works with the Michigan Domestic Cannabis Eradication and Suppression Program, formerly known as Operation HEMP. The targets range from people who grow just a couple of plants in their backyards for personal use to organized drug rings that grow hundreds or even thousands of plants, often on land owned by others so they can avoid forfeiture. [continues 829 words]
Joseph Hepp's May 28 article on ideas to reduce the use of illegal drugs is certainly commendable but the measures he outlined will do little to abate the problem. Drug use is with us as alcohol use is. When alcohol was prohibited in the 1920s crime and corruption did, indeed, result. Now it is available legally and the gangsterism that was rampant during its prohibition no longer exists. Illegal drugs, particularly cocaine and heroin, can and should be made available to those who must have them at little or no cost at centers scattered throughout well-planned districts. That will immediately make the illegal drug trade totally unprofitable and will largely dry up drug production, especially in Colombia, Bolivia and Afghanistan. [continues 203 words]
Susan LeFevre was an escaped prisoner for more than 32 years, but she was never really free -- not even to work on the cause that she now plans to take up. On the outside, LeFevre, 53, had a California dream life: a loving husband, three great children, and a suburban San Diego home worth maybe $1 million; she had a housekeeper. As a teenager in Michigan, LeFevre smoked pot almost daily and occasionally used heroin. As a mom, she talked to her children about the dangers of drug abuse. [continues 1027 words]
U.S. taxpayers spend at least $60 billion a year on a growing body of state and federal prisons, county jails and local lockups. With jail and prison populations that have increased nearly eightfold over the past 35 years, the United States has become the world's leading jailer. More than one in every 100 U.S. adults is locked up -- and 5 million more are on probation or parole. At any given time, one in 32 adults is under the supervision of the criminal justice system. [continues 1702 words]
Jackson public schools officials are looking into testing students for drugs. Discussions are just beginning and no decisions have been made, officials said. However, members of a school-board subcommittee have discussed a plan where students, with parental consent, would voluntarily sign up for random testing, said school board Trustee Michael Brown, who led the committee. ``Our goal would be certainly preventative. It would not be to play the role of law enforcement,'' district spokeswoman A'Lynne Robinson said. ``It would simply be to make sure our students are healthy and they're functioning at their top possible position.'' [continues 442 words]
Medical Marijuana Use, Government Reform, Stem Cells May Mobilize Voters. Michigan voters will likely decide a red-hot trio of ballot questions in November: a massive overhaul of state government, a plan to ease restrictions on stem cell research, and another that would allow seriously ill people to legally smoke marijuana. In a normal year, the marijuana proposal would trigger the most controversy, experts say. But the other two ballot propositions are laced with such high emotion that the pot proposal may turn out to be the tamest of all. [continues 1339 words]
Inside Michigan
