North Dakota's Oil Rush Brings Cash and Promise to Reservation, Along With Drug-Fueled Crime ON THE FORT BERTHOLD INDIAN RESERVATION - Tribal police Sgt. Dawn White is racing down a dusty two-lane road - siren blaring, police radio crackling - as she attempts to get to the latest 911 call on a reservation that is a blur of oil rigs and bright-orange gas flares. "Move! C'mon, get out of the fricking way!" White yells as she hits 102 mph and weaves in and out of a line of slow-moving tractor-trailers that stretches for miles. [continues 2856 words]
A bill to legalize the sale and use of marijuana for "medical purposes" recently passed in my home state of Minnesota. Similar initiatives are under way in several other states, although passage is not likely for all. But together with a similar law in California and recent legalization in Colorado following partial legalization or "decriminalization" in Washington and Oregon, there certainly seems to be a national tide to make cannabis use legal. Social aspects of "mood-altering substances" are complex, to say the least. But what about economic ones? These certainly exist. Some libertarian economists, most notably Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, advocated legalization of marijuana use decades ago. So it is a legitimate topic for economic analysis. [continues 964 words]
WILLISTON, N.D. - The blood-drenched man had survived a brutal attack: Beaten with brass knuckles, shocked with a stun gun, slashed with a razor blade, then dumped 40 miles away in Montana, he staggered to a farmhouse for help. His path eventually led authorities back to a quiet backyard in this oil boom town. What they uncovered was a large-scale methamphetamine ring. The members of this violent gang were all relative newcomers to Williston. They called themselves "The Family," the feds said, and were holed up in a few campers tucked behind a white-frame house. They had plenty of firepower, too: One of the men had 22 weapons. [continues 2499 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. - Once thought by North Dakotans to be only a big city drug, heroin sales and use are increasing in the state, authorities say. U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon called the spike in heroin use in North Dakota "new and disturbing." He said it's the result of the abuse of prescription painkillers, a growing population and drug trafficking operations that are primarily targeting the state's rich oil patch region. "When you have an increased population with a lot of money, it's a more desirable market for drug dealers to move into," Purdon said. "They follow the money." [continues 234 words]
Thanks for publishing Stan White's thoughtful letter: "A more rational view of a God-given plant" (March 15). Some say that cannabis is no more dangerous than alcohol. I submit that cannabis is not even remotely as dangerous as alcohol. If we consume a 1.75-liter bottle of either whiskey, rum or vodka within an hour, we will almost certainly die as a result. On the other hand, if we consume the world's most potent cannabis, the worst result would be a severe case of the munchies. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
Some doctors conveniently claim (Minnesota doctors' views on medical marijuana differ, Mar. 10, Forum) they "don't know the true risks," regarding cannabis (marijuana), however, there is a number of irrefutable facts to lead a rational person to accept the medical use of the God-given plant. In more than 5,000 years of documented use, cannabis has not killed one single person, and it's safer than every pharmaceutical drug that it replaces. Cannabis is labeled a Schedule I substance alongside heroin for purely political, not scientific reasons. Sick citizens should avoid doctors who accept the discredited political scandal regarding the plant and disregard the scientific knowledge, which is available. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
LANCASTER, Pa. - Regarding Ronald Fraser's column, the days when politicians can get away with confusing the drug war's tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant are coming to an end ("With time, America's perception of pot changes," Page A4, Jan. 13). If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a grand success. The drug war distorts supply and demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. But if the goal is to deter use, marijuana prohibition is a catastrophic failure. The United States has almost double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legal. [continues 78 words]
Inside North Dakota
