There are many questions about which physicians are uncertain. One of them centers on the use of marijuana to treat illnesses. A measure pending in the state Legislature could authorize the use of medical marijuana to relieve symptoms in seriously ill patients. The state would maintain a registry of people with debilitating medical conditions, such as HIV or AIDS, cancer and glaucoma. Photo identification cards would be issued to those on the registry, and they could possess a limited number of marijuana plants and usable marijuana. [continues 333 words]
The movement in the New Jersey Legislature to enact the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act has much to recommend it. It is in fact a sound policy to allow those suffering great physical pain to use marijuana to relieve various symptoms. Nevertheless, creating an exception for the medical use of marijuana under state law does not create an exception under federal law. By using state law to sanction marijuana use in the medical context, New Jersey will be encouraging a violation of federal law. That is a problem that must be resolved before the policy deserves full support. The proposed New Jersey statute is admirable in the care with which it sets forth the medical exception. It cabins the possibility of abuse as well as can be expected. That is to say, it establishes a narrow, meticulously circumscribed exception to the general prohibition on marijuana use. The premises for the exception are found in the legislative findings, which include: [continues 552 words]
According to the writer of the Dec. 20 letter, "Pot bill will let children smoke," we will see children legally smoking pot at malls soon if New Jersey's medical marijuana bill becomes law. Not only that, they could also be able to buy rolling papers and marijuana at the mall. I don't know which is more scary. The thought of masses of kids smoking pot at a mall, or the possibility that some readers of The Press might be gullible enough to believe that such a thing might actually happen. Lost in the mix is any discussion of the sick and dying New Jersey patients whose lives will be improved because of the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. [continues 148 words]
In reference to The Times' editorial "A safe prescription for marijuana use" (Dec. 18), I applaud the six state senators on the Health Committee who voted in favor of the bill to legalize marijuana for medical use in New Jersey. I also applaud The Times' endorsement. My wife and I have been advocates of the bill from its inception in 2004, and we are encouraged that it is gaining some traction. While opponents of the bill continue their tired arguments against medical marijuana, is it a coincidence that none of those vocal critics have medical backgrounds and that some have financial interests in keeping it illegal? It's time to admit that marijuana is a medicine and should be legally available to the seriously ill people who need it. Most state residents, and now most state lawmakers, realize that. DON McGRATH, Robbinsville [end]
Those who favor a sensible and compassionate approach to the use of illegal drugs in New Jersey must continually contend with a tough bunch of hard-liners at the Statehouse. It took more than a decade for them to win approval for a cautious test of programs that give intravenous drug users access to clean needles to slow the spread of HIV/AIDS and other blood-borne diseases. And they've been trying for nearly four years to legalize the medical use of marijuana under tight restrictions for sufferers who could benefit from its use. Once again, they're butting heads with legislative drug warriors for whom any policy other than banning the stuff represents -- like the pool table Professor Hill warned the people of River City about -- "the road to degradation." [continues 542 words]
Drug has been proven effective in treating some medical conditions and should be legal to use for those patients. New Jersey lawmakers took a key step toward allowing those suffering with cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and other conditions to legally use marijuana to relieve their pain. Last week, the state Senate's Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, by a 6-1 vote, approved the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act. Legalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes remains controversial in part because it runs counter to federal drug laws regarding marijuana, and also because there are many people who do not want to see any door opened toward legalizing drugs. [continues 426 words]
New Jersey should become the 14th state to legalize the use of medical marijuana. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, sponsor of the "Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act," noted this week, "Society is able to distinguish between the lawful use of a substance and recreational use or drug abuse." Exactly right. The measure, which passed out of the Senate Health Committee by a 6-1 vote on Monday, is wildly controversial. Opponents argue it endorses drug abuse, will make it easier for marijuana to fall into the wrong hands, and they contend there is a lack of scientific evidence or thorough study on the long-term effects of marijuana usage. Supporters, naturally, see something else: a way for chronically ill patients to relieve their pain when prescription drugs don't do their job or cause debilitating side effects. People with AIDS, multiple sclerosis, cancer and other serious illnesses are all on the list of beneficiaries. [continues 366 words]
We realize it's too much to ask for a debate about the benefits of medical marijuana to focus solely on health issues and not turn into a social morality play. That's what happens when the subject is an illegal drug often used for recreational purposes that generates heated passions on both sides of the legalization discussion. But when it comes to limited legalization for medicinal reasons, critics simply don't have a viable case against it. On Monday, the state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approved a bill that would provide chronically ill patients with access to marijuana. The patients would have to petition the Department of Health and Senior Services for permission, with certification from a physician. [continues 231 words]
Instead of milk and cookies, Trenton wants our children to light up a joint. The New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, approved by the state Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee on Dec. 15, is so loosely written that children will be permitted to smoke dope at the malls provided a parent agrees and a doctor prescribes it. Indeed, our malls may even house an approved "alternate treatment center" dispensing rolling paper and ganja to our kids. All our children need to smoke the weed is a doctor's prescription based on a diagnosis of chronic pain as simple as depression, migraines, arthritis, back pain or fibromyalgia. Heck, anyone can fake depression or headaches. Parents may even seek out such a diagnosis for Johnny, as sort of a "get out of jail free" card for their party animal children. [continues 66 words]
Marijuana in the medicine cabinet? That could become a legal reality in New Jersey, where a Senate panel this week voted 6-1 in support of the Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, which now moves to the full Senate for consideration. If the bill should become law, New Jersey would join 13 other states that allow the medical use of marijuana to ease the pain and symptoms associated with such debilitat ing illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer, AIDS and glaucoma. Unfortunately, the stereotypical image of a pothead has obscured the proven medical benefits of marijuana. A 1999 study by the Institute of Medicine found that "nausea, appe tite loss, pain and anxiety ... all can be mitigated by marijuana." [continues 317 words]
TRENTON - Gov. Jon S. Corzine said Tuesday that he supports and would sign a bill allowing medicinal marijuana use, but added that economic issues are his top priority. "I don't think that we ought to be having fights on issues that don't go to the heart of the needs of a broad majority of folks," Corzine told reporters Tuesday afternoon. "I think that this is one that if it can be moved expeditiously because there's a consensus, I think that's great. I have studied the issue and I think that if properly structured, it's an initiative that's sensible." [continues 129 words]
Moved by pleas from chronically ill patients, a state Senate commit tee approved legislation yesterday that would regulate the sale and use of medical marijuana for people who can show they need the drug to ease their suffering. Over the objections of family rights groups and attorneys who warned the bill sends a conflicting message to youth about illegal drug use, the majority of members from the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee said they felt compelled to approve the bill. [continues 559 words]
N.J. Senate Measure Would Allow Chronically Ill to Own Six Plants, 1 Ounce TRENTON - New Jersey took a major step toward becoming the latest state to allow certain patients to use marijuana Monday, when the Senate's Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee approved the Compassionate Use Medicinal Marijuana Act by a vote of 6-1. Elise Segal, who testified in support of the legislation, said the committee's vote "really brings me to tears, not just for me as a someone suffering from multiple sclerosis, but as a registered nurse and for all the people that I've treated." [continues 605 words]
A state Senate committee will discuss legislation today that would make New Jersey the 14th state to legalize marijuana for medical purposes. If Senate Bill 119 eventually is signed into law, patients with debilitating illnesses, including cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis, would have access to marijuana to relieve their pain if prescribed by a doctor. The bill is sponsored by state Sens. Nicholas P. Scutari, D-Union, Somerset, Middlesex, and Jim Whelan, D-Atlantic. The legalization of marijuana - considered the single most abused illicit drug in the United States by the National Institute on Drug Abuse - for medicinal purposes already has happened in 13 other states, most recently Michigan. [continues 352 words]
Men Spared Prison; Long Valley Roommate Was Growing Marijuana Two former Long Valley residents who were charged in February, along with a third roommate, with running a marijuana harvesting operation in their attic were spared prison sentences Friday by a judge who gave them probation, community service and ordered them to write essays. Superior Court Judge Thomas V. Manahan ordered John Coates III of Great Meadows and John A. O'Connell of Succasunna, both 24, to read "Judgment at Nuremberg," a 1957 play by Abby Mann that was adapted into the Academy Award-winning 1961 film about Nazi war criminals brought to justice for their crimes against humanity. [continues 470 words]
The Freehold Regional High School District Board of Education was presented with the district's violence and vandalism report for the 2007-08 school year at its Nov. 17 meeting held at Freehold High School, Freehold Borough. State law requires each school board in New Jersey to hold an annual public hearing in order to discuss the information contained in the violence and vandalism report. While the number of vandalism incidents decreased from 47 incidents in 2006-07 to 36 in 2007-08, reports of violence and substance abuse rose. There were 96 reported incidents of violence in 2007-08, up from 85 incidents in 2006- 07. [continues 1072 words]
Regarding Stephen Wallace's Your Turn column "Marijuana decriminalization poses a clear & present danger," illegal drugs are not uniformly more dangerous than legal drugs. One example is that "model airplane glue" is available at several stores at a price so low no one sells it on the street. But if it were driven underground, like marijuana, its price would rise to enable the violence and corruption that attends any lucrative, illegal market. No drug is without risk. Rather than debate the merits of each substance, we should debate whether prohibition causes more societal damage than it prevents. John Chase Palm Harbor, Fla. [end]
BASKING RIDGE, N.J. - "I don't want it misunderstood," said Lynn Evelyn, 52, the mother of three teenage girls. "I'm not in favor of kids using drugs or alcohol. "My approach is to tell them: 'I don't want you to do it. I think it's absolutely the wrong kind of behavior for adolescents to engage in. But if you do choose at some point to experiment' - and my girls are all social - I talk about how, in our own family, there's a history of alcohol dependency. They know my older brother died of drug addiction." [continues 1152 words]
TRENTON -- Liberal New Jersey lawmakers are pushing for quick approval of same-sex marriage and medical marijuana so Gov. Jon Corzine can sign them into law before he leaves office on Jan. 19. Less than three weeks into 2010, New Jersey will have a new governor, Republican Chris Christie, who has promised to veto same-sex marriage and rejects the rest of the liberal agenda being promoted by lawmakers like Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) and ex-con advocate Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), the Assembly majority leader. [continues 502 words]
I have picketed political offices for 14 years to advocate medical marijuana, and all officials have honored the fact the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects my right to do so. That streak ended Election Day at the Ocean County Republican headquarters on Route 37 in Toms River. I had gone to the office Nov. 2 with my late wife's "memorial wheelchair" to express my disappointment in 3rd District congressional candidate Chris Myers. At a debate days earlier, Myers was asked whether he would support legalizing medical marijuana if he was elected. His brief reply, "Ah, no," was insulting to the sick and dying residents he would have represented. He responded as if he didn't even know why he was against this. [continues 228 words]
Part of the solution to America's economic crisis can be found in any basic history textbook. Seventy-five years ago this December, our nation's leaders were sensible enough to realize that we could no longer afford to enforce the ineffective prohibition of alcohol during the Great Depression and that we should instead bolster our economy with tax revenue from legal liquor and beer sales. Today, we could similarly fill in a big part of the hole in our economy if we stopped spending so much money locking people up and instead moved drugs out of the criminal black market and into a system of legalized and taxed regulation. [continues 147 words]
BERNARDS --The Board of Education remains undecided about whether a random drug-testing program is the right way to tackle the problem of high school students using alcohol and drugs. The board is scheduled to hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. tomorrow Nov. 10 to hear public comments and receive further information about a proposal that could begin in the 2009-10 school year. The program, to randomly test Ridge High School students who have applied for a parking permit or who sign up for extra-curricular activities, would be similar to existing programs in other Central Jersey high schools. [continues 681 words]
Minutes into a class on teenage substance abuse, a Saddle Brook police officer handed mother Maria Link a bottle of red wine and asked her to drink. She obliged, finishing the bottle in about 30 minutes. The alcohol created a brief mood of general hilarity, with jokes about slurred speech and the apple martinis one couple had shared the week before. But soon the lesson became quite clear. Link, who had volunteered for the experiment, blew a few deep breaths into a Breathalyzer. [continues 449 words]
Please consider this just one dad's opinion on random drug testing at Vernon High School. Having put four children through the Vernon school system since 1979, I have nothing but the utmost respect and faith in the administration and staff. However, under the current laws, they can only do so much to circumvent potential problems with drug use by the students. During his freshman year, my son's suspected use was brought to my attention by the school. At that time I took him for drug testing and counseling. Unfortunately, he was aware that he was going to be tested and the test was negative. Eventually, we discovered that he was using drugs. In and out of rehab since 2000, he suffered through the effects and demons that his drug use caused. Unfortunately, his family suffered along with him. His use of marijuana, crack, cocaine and finally heroin finally came to end in May of this year. On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, I received a call that my son had been found dead as the result of a drug overdose. He was laid to rest at the tender age of 26. [continues 211 words]
Though the phrase has become cliche, it is no less true that "with great power comes great responsibility." Though the Vernon Township Board of Education indeed has the power to impose random drug testing upon the general population of students, passage of such imposition is an abuse of this power. Public education is one of the true miracles of our democracy. Within this 13-year crucible our children are taught the rules that will guide their lives and set the course for our nation's future. It is our responsibility as adults to provide models of citizenship and moral reasoning to our children that they may grow to perpetuate and continue to perfect our society. [continues 443 words]
After having read the feature (front page) article in the Vernon Advertiser-News of Thursday, Oct. 16, 2008, I felt a response was in order. Since the inception of Vernon High School some 30+ years ago, school boards of the past and evidently of the present, have failed to recognize and admit to the pervasive drug problem that exists today in the younger population of our culture and particularly in our high school student population including Vernon Twp. High School. In spite of their "head-in-the-sand" mentality, illegal drugs are bought and sold daily in our schools. [continues 469 words]
I write regarding George Amick's column "A move toward rational drug laws" (Oct. 6). Mandatory minimum prison sentences have done little other than turn the alleged land of the free into the world's biggest jailer. If harsh penalties deterred drug use, the goal of a "drug-free" America would have been achieved decades ago. Instead of adding to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world, we should be funding drug treatment. The drug war is a cure worse than the disease. Drug prohibition finances organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug-war spending. It's time to end this madness and instead treat all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is. [continues 71 words]
The Vernon school board is considering randomly drug testing students at the township's high school next fall. The program would be similar to ones implemented in recent years at about 26 school districts in the state, school officials said Tuesday night to a crowd of parents, faculty members and students at a public forum. The students who would be subject to random testing include those who participate in athletics, clubs or activities. Students who drive to school could also be tested. [continues 88 words]
New Jersey has a stupid and cruel drug law that has racially discriminatory side effects. A bill that would moderate its provisions is pending in the state Senate and appears to have a good chance of passage this fall. If that happens, it will be a good thing. With some effective leadership in the Senate and from Gov. Jon Corzine, it will happen. The law is the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act, which sets mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. Since it took effect in 1986, even more severe mandatory penalties have been enacted. The result has been a high toll in wasted dollars and ruined lives. [continues 838 words]
An Aug. 26 letter to the editor, "Don't give up on drug war," urging the continuance of the current "war on drugs" illustrates the lack of common sense many people have on this issue. This insane war is the greatest threat to civil liberties that we face. The police can't wait to look into or sniff your car whenever you are stopped for a minor traffic infraction. I always feel sorry for the poor sap I see stopped on the side of the road going through that wringer. Their lives can be ruined. [continues 257 words]
Some people don't seem to understand why crime is associated with the drug war. (Don't give up on drug war," Aug. 26.) It's no different than the U.S. experience with Prohibition. Before Prohibition, there were people with drinking problems. After Prohibition, there still were people with drinking problems, but we added organized crime such as Al Capone, the Purple Gang and Murder Inc. Law enforcement can't enforce all laws all the time. Ask any of the illegal immigrants in this country who have been caught with fake IDs. [continues 140 words]
An Aug. 16 letter advocated that the "War on drugs should be abandoned." The reasoning used to justify this stance was that "the government shouldn't be in the business of changing behavior," that trying to enforce our laws is a waste of money and that government ought to "either legalize drug use or stop enforcement of unenforceable drug laws." What rubbish! Illegal behavior, be it drug law violations, theft, rape or murder, have been part of daily life as long as history has been recorded. No illegal activity ever has been entirely eradicated, and all laws are technically "unenforceable" as long as there are those willing to risk penalties to break these laws. [continues 94 words]
Concerned an ex-girlfriend and others in their circle of friends were descending into drug use, two young men from Clifton took their intervention to unusual heights. First the pair, self-described admirers of the Shinobi ninja warrior culture of feudal Japan, donned masks and black SWAT-type vests early Wednesday. Then they armed themselves with swords, ninja throwing knives, nunchuks and throwing stars. They carried letters that threatened "justified yet merciful force" to those who ignored their warnings and continued to smoke pot or, worse yet, persuaded others to try the drug. [continues 541 words]
In response to the July 28 article "More, cheaper heroin seen in Shore area," the ongoing attempt to stem the flow of drugs is absurd. Unfortunately, people want to use drugs, and billions of tax dollars have been flushed down the toilet trying to stop the illicit drug trade. We should stop the charade and either legalize drug use or stop enforcement of the unenforceable drug laws. The government shouldn't be in the business of changing behavior. If people want to use heroin, or any other drugs for that matter, they should be allowed. It will have no effect on the number of deaths overall. Drug use is the same as drinking or any other vice: A certain number of unfortunate people will overdose and die, others will use drugs and destroy their lives, and the majority of people will try drugs, discontinue using them and live productive lives. [continues 82 words]
Cutbacks Force Police Department To Suspend Drug Education Program Forced to choose between providing the city with police protection and educating kids on how to resist using drugs, Police Chief Robert Kubert said he had to choose to man patrols. The D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program, part of the city-funded Cops in Schools Program, has been eliminated because of lack of funding and loss of staff. The city currently has a hiring freeze, and despite retirements, the Police Department has not hired new officers since 2004, Kubert said. [continues 863 words]
Parents Gripe, But Money And Manpower Is Lacking The popular D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program has been eliminated from the Bayonne school district for the upcoming school year, Bayonne Police Chief Robert Kubert said yesterday. Elimination of the entire Cops in Schools program is a result of budget cuts and a shortage of police manpower, and was made after weeks of meetings between various city officials. "I told everyone from the city that with the current budgetary constraints and the hiring freeze at City Hall, the program was the first nonessential program that had to go," Kubert said. [continues 303 words]
Regarding George Amick's column ("A kinder, smarter drug war," July 28), the drug war is part of the problem. Illegal drug users are often reluctant to seek medical attention in the event of an overdose for fear of being charged with a crime. Attempting to save the life of a friend could result in a murder charge. Overzealous drug war enforcement results in easily preventable deaths. Rehabilitation also is confounded. I think it's safe to say that turnout at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings would be rather low if alcoholism were a crime pursued with a zero-tolerance zeal. Eliminating the penalties associated with illicit drug use would encourage the type of honest discussion necessary to facilitate rehabilitation and save lives. Robert Sharpe Arlington, Va. The writer is a policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy in Washington, D.C. [end]
The state of New Jersey has begun to recognize that drug addiction should be treated primarily as a medical problem, not a crime. Its change in attitude is having some positive effects. Four cities are taking advantage of hard-won permission from the state to try to stem the spread of HIV and other blood-borne diseases by making clean syringes available to drug users. Trenton isn't one of the cities, unfortunately, although it has kept open the option to join them later. [continues 892 words]
HOBOKEN - Police have charged a former Bayonne man with failing to get help for a woman who apparently died of a drug overdose after using heroin and possibly other drugs with him the previous night, officials said yesterday. Newark resident George V. Schultz, 44, who lived on North Street in Bayonne earlier this year, was charged Monday with recklessly endangering an injured victim by failing to get help in a timely manner, tampering with evidence and drug possession, Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said. [continues 173 words]
To the editor: The recent discussion that has been going on in the community regarding the school district's interest in instituting a random drug testing policy raises questions in my mind. The policy appears to be aimed at those students who wish to engage in extracurricular activities. What case can the Board of Education make for random drug testing of students who will be in full view of faculty and staff during those times when the extracurricular activities are occurring? Is there not already disciplinary policy that governs inappropriate behavior while those extracurricular events are in session? [continues 550 words]
Children are a primary concern for drug policy partially because drug abuse and addiction peak around age 21. The Times' call for increased judicial discretion is welcome (editorial, "Zone defense," June 20), but there is no data that show varying punishments based on distances from schools has impeded availability. We must address the problem at a more fundamental level. Some 83 percent of drug abuse is due to alcohol -- 69 percent exclusively alcohol and another 14 percent where other drugs have been added. Much of the rest is prescription drug abuse. Policy does not reflect those basic facts. [continues 205 words]
I have a better idea. If drug-free zones really work ("Debate over drug-free zones," June 15), then just make the whole city a drug-free zone and there won't be any drugs in the city anymore. Better yet, make the whole state a drug-free zone and there won't be any drugs in the state. Even better, declare all of North America a drug-free zone and drugs will disappear from the entire continent. The idea that "drug-free zones" will eliminate drugs is absurd, of course -- even if we ignore the obvious hypocrisy of alcohol and tobacco sellers within those zones. What drug-free zones really do is prove beyond question that public officials have never read the most basic research on the subject and really don't have a clue what to do. Clifford A. Schaffer, Agua Dulce, Calif. The writer is director, Schaffer Library of Drug Policy. [end]
A policy that would seem to brook no argument is being re-evaluated of late by lawmakers, school officials and community leaders. The drug-free zones that encircle every school and public building in New Jersey were, of course, established to protect children from being preyed upon by drug dealers. Anyone caught and convicted of selling or possessing a significant quantity of drugs within 1,000 feet of schools or 500 feet of parks, libraries, museums or public housing projects faces a mandatory minimum jail sentence of one to three years and a $15,000 fine. [continues 362 words]
Proposal To Reduce Them To 200 Feet Extending 1,000 feet in each direction, invisible borders around each school in the state help to keep children off limits to drug deals and users. Drug-free zones circle all schools and public buildings in New Jersey, with hefty fines and mandatory incarceration for anyone caught using or selling drugs within the boundaries. But for cities such as Trenton -- relatively small and boasting more than 30 schools -- debate is mounting in Mercer County among lawmakers, educators and community officials on whether the zones should be reduced from 1,000 to 200 feet. [continues 924 words]
As a Colorado Christian, I voted to allow sick citizens to use the relatively safe God-given plant cannabis (kaneh bosm/marijuana) legally and it works (New Jersey Lawmakers Consider a Medical Marijuana Bill, May 29, 2008). How sick citizens acquire cannabis is inconsequential. The important component of legalization is to stop government from caging sick citizens for using a plant that was arguably created by God, the Ecologician to be used for the healing of the nations. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
As a Colorado Christian, I voted to allow sick citizens to use the relatively safe God-given plant cannabis (kaneh bosm/marijuana) legally and it works (New Jersey Lawmakers Consider a Medical Marijuana Bill, May 30, 2008). How sick citizens acquire cannabis is inconsequential. The important component of legalization is to stop government from caging sick citizens for using a plant that was arguably created by God, the Ecologician to be used for the healing of the nations. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
As a senior at Allentown High School, I served as vice president of Life-Savers, a club dedicated to preventing student substance abuse. This year our Board of Education proposed a policy that would require students who wish to participate in extracurricular activities to submit to random urinalysis tests for illicit drug use. While I understand the desire to do more, I believe the policy will do more harm than good. My fellow students and I are organizing against this policy, which is ineffective, discounts student input, invades privacy and erodes trust. [continues 479 words]
If health outcomes instead of cultural norms determined drug laws, marijuana would be legal. ("Time to snuff reefer madness," editorial, June 2.) Unlike alcohol, marijuana never has been shown to cause a fatal overdose, 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. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer-madness propaganda. [continues 57 words]
Kahli Murphy of Parsippany has always been a hard-working man. When he played defensive tackle for the 1996 Dover High School Tigers, the state champion football squad, he was a hard-working player. When he works a job in a restaurant, he tries to be the best employee there. And when he was a junkie, he tried to be the best addict he could be. "My addiction was 'more,'" Murphy said. "That was the underlying malady. Whatever I could get my hands on at the time, I wanted more." [continues 1266 words]
The Press editorial board saw fit to side with the Drug Policy Alliance's support for medical marijuana and penalty reduction for drug users. ("Time to snuff out reefer madness," June 2, and "Let the judges decide," May 31.) If the newspaper had done its homework, it would find these efforts are part of a nationally organized campaign. The Drug Policy Alliance's Web site makes it clear these initiatives are a smoke screen for an agenda to legalize all illegal drugs. These groups have worked to legalize global trade and the use of all illegal drugs for more than 20 years. [continues 191 words]
Inside New Jersey
