Many people are making light of the Michael Phelps situation. With the price of marijuana these days, how could any pothead in his right mind let a guy with the lung capacity of an Olympic swimmer take a hit on his bong? Also, why doesn't some fast-food chain make an endorsement deal with Phelps? "When I have a craving for something to eat at midnight -- and I have those cravings! -- I know where to go." But when you put the jokes aside, Phelps is a national security issue. [continues 855 words]
Regarding Matt McSpadden's thoughtful Dec. 31 op-ed: The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. Marijuana prohibition has done little other than burden millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records. 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. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. [continues 149 words]
Will Missouri teachers have to abruptly step from the lectern in the middle of a discussion of the Emancipation Proclamation to head to the washroom to give a sample? A Missouri lawmaker has sponsored a bill that would require school districts to randomly test teachers and other employees for illegal drug use and then, upon a positive test, immediately fire them. The proposed legislation is unconstitutional, conflicts with the state's teacher-tenure law and has no precedent in the nation, says an attorney for the Missouri National Education Association, the nation's largest professional organization for teachers. [continues 972 words]
I am happy to see that our state legislature has introduced a medical marijuana bill -- HB 277. The American College of Physicians, American Nurses Association and many others support protecting medical marijuana patients from arrest. The popularity of medical marijuana laws is overwhelming. In fact, all 83 counties in Michigan recently voted in favor of a medical marijuana initiative, giving it a higher percentage win than the president-elect (medical marijuana received 63 percent of the vote; the president-elect 55 percent). The fact is, the public supports it, doctors support it, nurses support it, even religious leaders support it -- seems to me that the only reason left for legislators to not support this bill is because they simply don't want to. Kelly Maddy Joplin [end]
I disagree with the Jan. 19, 2009 article on marijuana as the root to many problems. In response to Donna Manning about marijuana, she is not seeing the truth. As a recovering addict myself, my experience is not through someone else's eyes; I lived it. She is ignorant to the fact that marijuana is not a gateway drug, the gateway is alcohol. Perfectly legal alcohol. Every drug I ever tried and was eventually addicted to started with drinking. I was drunk the first time I smoked crack. Drunk the first time I did meth, and yes, I was drunk the first time I smoked marijuana. The only thing marijuana had led to was the refrigerator. [continues 92 words]
My husband joined the Las Vegas Police Department in 1957 when the height of the narcotics trade was marijuana and heroin. Vegas was entering its first large growing boom, which meant an ever-growing police department. The close proximity to California meant the Vegas P.D. and the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (BNE) often worked the same narcotics distributors. As a relatively young patrolman, Ron was one selected to attend the Federal Narcotics School. Ron then worked closely with the BNE. He continued to work narcotics prior to being transferred to homicide. [continues 125 words]
Just before Veterans Day last year, a local veteran who was wounded in Iraq was given a home. A national charitable organization, called Homes For Our Troops, was going to build a house for Scott West, of Branson. This week, the organization rescinded that offer after West pleaded guilty to drug charges. West was arrested Oct. 1, 2007, after officers discovered more than two pounds of marijuana in West's car during a routine traffic stop. Officials said drug paraphernalia, including pipes and a digital scale, were in his car and at his home. [continues 277 words]
As a Colorado Christian who voted for Amendment 20 allowing people to use cannabis (marijuana) medicinally in my state, I agree with Cottleville Mayor Don Yarber ("Mayor makes medical marijuana his mission," Jan. 9 Journal) to make a law that protects sick citizens from state and federal government attacks. Government wants citizens to think cannabis is a chemical weapon of mass destruction; in reality, Coloradoans use the plant cannabis medicinally while following state law, and it works: cannabis use has not increased, and the sky hasn't fallen. [continues 74 words]
As a Colorado Christian who voted for Amendment 20 allowing people to use cannabis (marijuana) medicinally in my state, I agree with Cottleville Mayor Don Yarber ("Mayor makes medical marijuana his mission," Jan. 9 Journal) to make a law that protects sick citizens from state and federal government attacks. Government wants citizens to think cannabis is a chemical weapon of mass destruction; in reality, Coloradoans use the plant cannabis medicinally while following state law, and it works: cannabis use has not increased, and the sky hasn't fallen. [continues 79 words]
Win and end the war on drugs! Make drug usage a public health issue. Legalize pot, decriminalize the rest. Quit putting people in prison and by legalizing pot and decriminalizing other drugs you put the drug cartels out of business or they become legit and pay taxes, a large portion of which would go to treatment for drug and alcohol abusers. The tax revenue from users and producers would be a huge boon for the U.S. economy and we might get out of this financial crisis. This would drastically cut the prison population. Out-of-work guards, etc. could be retrained and work in the drug abuse field. One of the biggest obstacles to this approach would be the beer and liquor companies who do not want to compete with pot that we could grow in our backyards. Drug war won and recession solved! Mark Dickey Lake Ozark [end]
In the case against the Smith family, the police raided the home to find the four pounds of marijuana which they knew was in the house. They burst in, using flash bang grenades to disorient and confuse the people in the house, and hoped to safely remove the marijuana without anyone getting hurt. However, they were prepared to fight for the "pot" and do whatever was necessary to get it. No one got hurt, a miracle considering that shots were fired. [continues 487 words]
Jakob, 36, will be sentenced this Friday morning in U.S. District Court on multiple felony counts including wire and mail fraud and lying to federal officers. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. in Judge Rodney W. Sippel's court. In September Jakob entered guilty pleas under a settlement in which he is expected to serve between 60 and 72 months in federal prison. His attorney told The Missourian at that time that his client would get a five-year term under the plea bargain. [continues 180 words]
WASHINGTON - America ended Prohibition 75 years ago this week. The ban on the sale of alcohol unleashed a crime wave, as gangsters fought over the illicit booze trade. It sure didn't stop drinking. People turned to speakeasies and bathtub gin for their daily cocktail. Prohibition - and the violence, corruption and health hazards that followed - lives on in its modern version, the so-called War on Drugs. Former law enforcement officers gathered in Washington to draw the parallels. Their group, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, has called for nothing less than the legalization of drugs. [continues 536 words]
Despite shameful scare tactics and outright lies by opponents, Massachusetts and Michigan voters sent a signal to the new administration on Tuesday that it's time for this country to take a hard look at our current marijuana policies. Massachusetts voters approved a marijuana decriminalization initiative by a 65 percent to 35 percent margin, Michigan voters enacted the nation's 13th medical marijuana law by a 63 percent to 37 percent margin, and at least nine local reform measures were approved by voters in communities across the county, including Hawaii and Arkansas . [continues 120 words]
Rolla, Mo. - Red Ribbon Week, a national observance held in schools throughout the country, found its way to Phelps County. Newburg Mayor Andrew Mattison signed a drug-free proclamation on Monday after an assembly that kicked off the week at Newburg Schools. "Red Ribbon Week is a week of activities promoting drug-free lives for our students," noted teacher Christy Campbell, a Red Ribbon Week organizer at Newburg School. The assembly for the middle schoolers, which include grades five through eight, began Monday morning with an introduction by Principal Ron Reagan. [continues 290 words]
Joplin voters won't get a chance to vote on a proposal to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana. A group of volunteers known as Sensible Joplin organized a petition drive that fell short of its goal. The group was pushing its Sensible Sentencing Initiative, which called for reducing sentences associated with possessing smaller amounts of the illegal drug. Our editorial board had yet to make a decision on whether to support the initiative. Initial presentations looked interesting, but the board wanted to see ballot language before rendering a decision. [continues 190 words]
Some Area Middle School Students Will Face A New Test This Year: Random Drug Testing. At its regular board meeting Thursday night, the Willard Board of Education received an update on a program that is beginning this year. Most parents are signing the form that allows their child to be part of the testing pool, said drug-testing coordinator Dennis Twitchel. Twitchel, a former assistant principal at the middle school, said the district wanted to take the testing program to middle school after implementing the program successfully last year at the high school. [continues 305 words]
"Missourian connected war on drugs to war on terror" (Aug. 17) stated that there is a $322 billion drug trade in the world and that it is linked directly to the spread of terrorism. The reason is the money, not the drugs. The fact that the drugs are illegal raises the prices astronomically, which makes them attractive to the terrorist organizations as an easy way to support themselves. Prohibition of alcohol in the United States created gangs and warfare for the same reasons. The police and army in Mexico are about to be overrun by drug cartels, and it is seeping into the United States at an alarming rate. [continues 130 words]
Jefferson County residents can check to see if there have been meth labs in their neighborhoods, thanks to a new Web site provided by the sheriff's office. The Jefferson County Municipal Enforcement Group has provided a link on the sheriff's main site, www.jcsd.org , that will show addresses where deputies have found chemicals or other items that indicated the presence of a clandestine drug laboratory, glassware seizure or dump site, said Lt. Scott Poe of the Jefferson County Drug Enforcement Unit. [continues 175 words]
Michael Braun, chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration, stated that "the al-Qaida affiliate that carried out the Madrid train bombing funded the operation almost entirely through the sale of illicit drugs."("Missourian Connected War on Drugs to War on Terror," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 17) There is no denying the fact that legal heroin and cocaine would only cost about as much as aspirin, but -- because they are illegal -- drug dealers net billions of dollars from consumers around the world. [continues 83 words]
WASHINGTON -- If you want to understand the man leading the U.S. fight against the tightening links between narcotics and terror, some clues can be found in Cape Girardeau, St. Louis and Springfield, Ill. Those are the places that forged Missourian Michael Braun, chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration. These days, the DEA's mission isn't just to combat the world's $322 billion drug trade, but also to seek and destroy a new type of hybrid terrorist group/drug cartel that Braun describes as "meaner and uglier than anything law enforcement or the military have ever faced." [continues 769 words]
Organizers said the grass-roots campaign to place a marijuana-decriminalization initiative before Joplin voters is not over, after their first attempt at a petition drive fell about 1,000 signatures short. "It's definitely a workable situation," said Kelly Maddy, president of Sensible Joplin and the Joplin chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. "We still feel really good that we have a fighting chance to get this thing on the ballot." Maddy and a handful of volunteers collected more than 5,600 signatures since September 2007 in an effort to get the decriminalization initiative on the November ballot. The petitions were submitted to City Hall on July 10. The group collected 3,623 signatures from registered Joplin voters, but it still needs an additional 1,033 valid signatures to meet the necessary number to put a proposal before voters. [continues 421 words]
Nine months after resigning as a Cedar County deputy, a Cedar County sheriff candidate has been accused by current sheriff Aaron Spillman of using a secret bank account for 11 years for drug education donations. In a Tuesday, July 1, press release, Spillman said he "developed concerns" regarding how former deputy Dean Leon Dwerlkotte managed Drug Abuse Resistance Education funds from 1996-2007. Spillman later said no charges likely are to be filed. "I was doing this in the way I was told," Dwerlkotte said Wednesday, July 2, after hearing of Spillman's accusations regarding his financial management of the DARE program, funded entirely by donations. [continues 2322 words]
I'm a political junkie. I look forward to election years. From the first day of primary campaigning right down to the last minute of election-night returns, I'm paying attention to the process, to the candidates, to their stands on issues. Given my occupation, I'm naturally interested in the candidates' perspectives on substance-abuse issues, and what I've noticed in successive election cycles is progressively less focus on these topics. Whatever happened to the so-called war on drugs? Have the problems disappeared? Have we just accepted the fact that we are an addicted nation that no longer has the will to confront such issues in meaningful ways? [continues 610 words]
GERALD, Mo. -- Like so many rural communities in the country's middle, this small town had wrestled for years with the woes of methamphetamine. Then, several months ago, a federal agent showed up. Arrests began. Houses were ransacked. People, in handcuffs on their front lawns, named names. To some, like Mayor Otis Schulte, who considers the county around Gerald, population 1,171, "a meth capital of the United States," the drug scourge seemed to be fading at last. Those whose homes were searched, though, grumbled about a peculiar change in what they understood -- mainly from television -- to be the law. [continues 1347 words]
The Logan-Rogersville Board of Education adopted two much-debated policies June 18, during their regular meeting. Random drug testing and new school start times were approved, though not without discussion. "I think we're taking valuable education dollars out of the classroom," said board member Lisa Spragg, following a second reading of the random drug testing policy by Superintendent Allan Markley. The policy, which would allow for random drug and alcohol testing of any student involved in an extra-curricular or co-curricular activity (see box for definitions), or who drives to school. [continues 696 words]
Outside the St. Charles County Sheriff's Department on a hot afternoon, several police officers stood outside their cars, waiting to go inside to take a final exam. They had come from departments across the state - one from as far away as the Walnut Grove Police Department, near Springfield, Mo. - to become certified drug recognition experts, officers trained to recognize the symptoms of drug use. Among them for the first time were a bailiff and a park ranger. During the past seven weeks, the officers had learned how drugs affect the body - how things like a suspect's muscle tone, temperature, speech patterns and even pupils hold clues that help authorities determine what kind of drug the person might be using.It's information that Officer Kevin Blackburn, a school resource officer in Washington, Mo., hopes will help him to identify those students who come to school on drugs, something he said happens more than most people think. [continues 1348 words]
At the high school I attend, there are many rumors going around concerning random drug testing next year. I think that drug testing is ineffective. Since the expelled student is not in a supervised area, such as school, they are more likely to be on the street having more access to drugs. High school can be one of the most stressful times in a person's life. Between writing papers, taking tests, fitting in, and not to mention the "he said, she said." Many students fall under the pressure of drugs as a way to get away from it all. The problem is if a student does fail a drug test then you are putting them on the street so they can get harder drugs. Most of the high school students experimenting with drugs try marijuana and narcotics, but putting them in a position to try meth, heroine and cocaine is probably not the best idea. The school does not have the authority to crack down on illegal drug use outside of school. Authorities should enforce a rehabilitation program allowing students a structured supervision area, instead of expulsion from a positive environment. Brittani Brannon Greenfield [end]
John P. Walters, director of the federal Office of Drug Control Policy, was in town this week, along with U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey. They came to attend an international conference called the National Methamphetamine Chemicals Initiative. Missouri no doubt was chosen as the gathering place because of its unrivaled leadership in meth lab busts. The state accounted for more than 20 percent of the national total in 2007. Mr. Walters and the attorney general boasted about what they see as progress in beating back the meth menace. They point to national surveys that show meth use by youngsters down 64 percent since 2001, while the number of lab seizures decreased 70 percent from 2004 to 2007. [continues 480 words]
Regarding "Over-the-counter attack on meth" (April 13): Missouri's hazardous methamphetamine labs are reminiscent of the deadly exploding liquor stills that sprang up throughout the nation during alcohol prohibition. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing money at the problem is no solution. Limiting the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant increases the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs such as methamphetamine, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime; it fuels crime. [continues 137 words]
Clarence Page altered a critical part of "The Wire's" article opposing drug prohibition. People who want to nullify drug laws should not "let the lawyers and judges know up front that you're not going to send nonviolent drug offenders to jail." Those who do will be excluded from jury duty and will not be able to "nullify" anything. The creators of "The Wire" never advised anyone to warn the court of their intentions because they know such people will be kicked out of the jury pool. The idea is to get on drug juries and make it impossible to get convictions the same way jurors refused to uphold the Fugitive Slave Act before the War Between The States. The drug war is morally wrong and citizens should do their part in stopping it. Ralph Givens Daly City, Calif. [end]
I was born with cerebral palsy and discovered early on that cannabis mitigated the most painful physical and emotional manifestations of my disorder. I later learned that cannabis can help stutterers speak more clearly and that decades ago, doctors discovered the herb's ability to alleviate muscle spasms, from which I also suffer. A year ago my children and I reluctantly fled our home in Kansas City and headed for the sanctuary of California's Compassionate Use Act. Although 12 states have enacted medical cannabis laws that protect patients against state penalties, patients in the remaining states risk losing their careers, their freedom and even their families because they use a natural, nontoxic medicine to treat illness rather than expensive and addictive pharmaceutical drugs. [continues 86 words]
LAKE OF THE OZARKS - Meth busters are hitting the streets and asking for donations so they'll have another day on the job. Budget cuts have left the Mid-Missouri Multi-Jurisdictional Drug Task Force operating on the bare minimum, Capt. Tony Wheatley said. "We ran over the numbers a hundred times, probably hundreds, cutting everything, and we're still running short," he said. "We don't feel good about going to the public and asking for help, but we don't have any other options." [continues 562 words]
If you're called for jury duty, let the lawyers and judges know up front that you're not going to send nonviolent 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 last Sunday (March 9). "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 declare in a Time magazine essay. [continues 710 words]
Midwest States' Dramatic Gains Against Drug Threatened By Planned Federal Cuts KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A common fear is sweeping through the Midwest's drug-enforcement community: that methamphetamine, the narcotic scourge that has wounded middle America as no drug ever before, is about to surge again because of extreme federal slashes in police funding. In Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Nebraska, the story is the same. Just as statistics show that anti-meth task forces may be beginning to gain an upper hand on those who manufacture, deal and use the highly addictive and destructive drug, the source of the majority of these states' drug-enforcement funding is slated to disappear overnight. [continues 1164 words]
Word that thousands of federal inmates nationwide soon may qualify for shorter sentences in their crack cocaine cases came as good news for Lucretia Hill of Kansas City. Hill's 24-year-old son, George Hill, is serving six years and three months at a federal penitentiary in Indiana for distributing crack. Because of a recent change in the federal guidelines under which he was sentenced, George Hill soon could shed up to 15 months from his term. "I've been praying, and God has answered my prayer," Lucretia Hill said. "This is a godsend. It came at the right time." [continues 677 words]
DEAR ABBY: You were right to tell "Just Saying No" 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 136 words]
TANEY COUNTY -- Statistics for the incidence of methamphetamine investigations in Taney County compare favorably to other counties in Southwest Missouri. Statistics for the state are less encouraging, with Missouri leading the nation with 1,285 in clandestine meth lab incidents. Missouri totals remained virtually the same as 2006 (1,284). The first half of 2007 showed a continued downward trend, but the second half of the year showed a rise in seizures. "This trend demonstrates that smurfing (going from pharmacy to pharmacy to purchase pseudoephedrine) is occurring as the methamphetamine cooks become comfortable with the pseudoephedrine law," reads the news release from Capt. Luke Vislay, director of the Division of Drug and Crime Control report. [continues 320 words]
Jackson County is creating a director's job and a new commission to make its COMBAT anti-drug program more effective and organized. The County Legislature approved the changes Monday upon the advice of a special committee that recently studied COMBAT, which is funded from a quarter-cent sales tax that raises $14 million to $18 million annually. Money is used for drug prevention programs and to prosecute, treat and incarcerate drug offenders. Various agencies apply for funding, but the advisory committee found much confusion over who is in charge, because money goes for so many purposes. [continues 163 words]
I have to admit, I admire Kelly Maddy. I admire the grassroots political organizer's commitment to the marijuana decriminalization cause and the work he has done in Joplin in support of the Sensible Sentencing Initiative. The initiative seeks to decriminalize the possession of 35 grams of marijuana and the paraphernalia used to smoke it within the city limits of Joplin. Now, before you flood the Globe's comments section calling me on the carpet for being pro-pothead ... that's not what I mean. I admire Maddy's ability to wade into a crowd of people unfriendly to his cause, explain the petition's aims and, maybe change their minds about his war on the war on drugs. [continues 879 words]
Joplin (AP) -- Activists who want to decriminalize marijuana in Joplin say they have about half the signatures needed to put the measure on the city's November ballot. The Joplin chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws says it expects to collect all the roughly 5,000 signatures it needs. The petition drive started in September. The group says it has collected about 2,700 signatures that still need to be checked against voter lists. If approved by Joplin voters in November, the ballot proposal would make possession of a misdemeanor amount of marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia an administrative offense. [end]
With the first month of an election year coming to a close, one student is focusing on an issue he believes the Joplin public will be ready to vote on in November. Kyle Maddy, freshman public relations major and president of Missouri Southern's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policies (SSDP), said he and other members of SSDP are prepared to see that the Sensible Sentencing Initiative will appear on the ballot in November. The initiative would decriminalize marijuana within the Joplin city limits. To get the initiative on the November ballot Maddy and his brother, Kelly Maddy, president of Sensible Joplin, will need to have the signatures of 5,000 registered Joplin-area voters. [continues 268 words]
JEFFERSON CITY - Sen. Chris Koster, a candidate for attorney general, proposed a bill Thursday to crack down on methamphetamine use and production from several angles. "We need an approach that addresses methamphetamines on a criminal justice front, on the educational front and on the treatment front," Koster said at a press conference Thursday. The bill that was filed Thursday morning would require mandatory substance abuse treatment for anyone convicted of possession of methamphetamines as well as a potential child endangerment charge if a user shares their home with children. [continues 491 words]
It might seem unlikely that an initiative petition aimed at decriminalizing possession of limited amounts of marijuana and the paraphernalia used to smoke it could make it onto the ballot in Joplin -- let alone pass muster with voters. But similar efforts have passed in nearby cities such as Columbia and Eureka Springs, Ark. "We weren't sure what to anticipate," said Columbia police Chief Randy Boehm. The 31-year law-enforcement veteran, who has spent the past eight years heading up Columbia's police force, said he and most of his officers were against the initiative in the beginning and are against it now. But, he said: "We really haven't seen any significant changes in the way we do business since its passage. [continues 414 words]
Inside Missouri
