A family drug court judge was in jail after he was sentenced to two days behind bars for drunken driving. Washoe County District Judge Charles McGee also was ordered to pay nearly $700 in fines, attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings five times a week, submit to daily Breathalyzer tests for six months and attend a DUI victim impact panel. McGee, a district judge since 1984 and founder of the county's family drug court, was arrested Dec. 9 after being stopped for failure to maintain a lane. A test showed he had a blood alcohol level of .18 percent, more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent. [end]
I'm writing about your cover story, "Tweaker Town" (Dec. 4). During the 1960s I worked for the federal government and several of my co-workers used amphetamines, known as "mini-bennies" or "whites." When these products were taken off the legitimate market and made illegal, the meth of today was reborn. Today's meth labs are very similar to the illegal distilleries of the era known as the "Noble Experiment." During our alcohol prohibition era, thousands died and thousands went blind or were crippled for life from what was then known as "bathtub gin." [continues 119 words]
Even though Nevada voters handed them a decisive defeat last year, the drug legalizers are at it again. Masquerading as "Nevadans for Responsible Law Enforcement," the potheads lost big-time in November 2002, when Nevadans voted against Question 9 - a marijuana legalization measure - by a 61 to 39 percent margin. But now, they're back again with a costly television spot advocating drug legalization in our state. The ad is sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project, which spent $2 million on Question 9 last year. Using a split screen, the ubiquitous new spot shows a group of sad-looking Nevada teenagers on one side wearing T-shirts reading 67 percent (the percentage who have allegedly tried marijuana) and a group of smiling Dutch teenagers on the other wearing 28 percent T-shirts. [continues 804 words]
Re "Smokin' airwaves" [RN&R, News, Nov. 20]: If Nevada State Medical Association Director Lawrence Matheis really doesn't think that Nevada has a bigger use of marijuana by teenagers than Holland, he needs to spend more time studying the literature. The figures quoted in our commercial come from the most recent U.S. government figures and national Dutch surveys, and they are consistent with previous research findings. Readers should note that on the Web site, www.stopteenuse.com, the Marijuana Policy Project has done something that opponents of reform like Richard Gammick or White House Drug Czar's John Walters have never done: We not only list the source of our statistics, we've posted the full studies on the site--every word, every statistic, every footnote--for anyone who wants to draw their own conclusions. [continues 99 words]
Marijuana Decriminalization Advocates Stoke Up A TV Ad Campaign In Nevada Marijuana reformers are not finished with Nevada yet. The Marijuana Policy Project, the group that contributed funding to Nevadans promoting the initiative petition campaign that placed marijuana legalization on Nevada's 2002 ballot, is now running television commercials in Nevada comparing high teen marijuana use here with lower teen use in the Netherlands. The commercials use a split screen showing Nevada teens on the right side of the screen wearing shirts reading "67%" and Dutch teens on the left in shirts reading "28%." [continues 1177 words]
CARSON CITY -- The organization that tried unsuccessfully to change the law last year to allow adults to smoke marijuana is back in Nevada testing a new strategy. Advertisements have been appearing on television stations in Reno sponsored by the Marijuana Policy Project Foundation suggesting that more than 67 percent of teens in Nevada try marijuana before graduating from high school. The advertisements say that compares with 28 percent of the teens in the Netherlands, where marijuana use is allowed under some conditions. [continues 592 words]
What is the world coming to? During the past few months two of America's leading spokesmen for conservative beliefs have admitted they were addicts. First there was Bill Bennett, the man who has spent the past 20 years or so castigating those who have succumbed to various addictions, saying they merely made a choice and therefore must be punished. Bill finally came clean and admitted he was addicted to gambling. By the way, Bill, how's your cigarette addiction coming along? [continues 953 words]
Pierre Werner knows marijuana. He knows how to grow it, clone it, smoke it, vaporize it and provide it to marijuana patients. Werner, who is bipolar, is a registered patient in the Department of Agriculture's medical marijuana program. The Las Vegan has medically used cannabis for 10 years, three of which were legal. Ever since voters approved medical marijuana use in 2000, Werner has sought to follow the lead of California's cannabis (or compassion) clubs. He started Primary Caregivers and Consultants in 2001, as a way for Nevada patients to safely access a legal medicine that the state recognizes yet doesn't provide. [continues 862 words]
I'm writing about Bruce Mirken's outstanding letter, "Another Front in the Failing Drug War" (9-25-03). Methamphetamine use and production are at epidemic levels throughout the United States. If our drug war cheerleaders like Drug Czar John P. Walters want to know why, tell them to look in a mirror. Illegal drug use is up throughout the nation and the highest increase in among 11- to 13-year-olds. If Drug Czar John Walters wants to know why, tell him to look in a mirror. [continues 132 words]
Columnist Randall G. Shelden rhetorically asks why the drug war continues unabated in its present form. The answer is that far too often the mainstream media continue to allow only unelected bureaucrats like Drug Czar John Walters to define the issue. In Walters' fantasy world, there is literally no acceptable and responsible way that currently illicit drugs--including marijuana--can be used responsibly. Any and all use defined as AB-use. Therefore all suggestions of legalizing marijuana for responsible adult use are then immediately redefined as "legalizing drug abuse." Sadly, Walters' moral jihad fails to extend to the two most dangerous, addictive and commonly abused drugs--alcohol and tobacco. [continues 230 words]
Randall G. Shelden's excellent column, "A Losing Battle" (Sept. 18) actually omitted the most dramatic new evidence of the failure of present "Drug War" policies--the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. The national PRIDE Survey, released Sept. 3, is one of two surveys of teen drug use established by Congress as measures of ONDCP's success. The latest results--covering the period during which ONDCP carpet-bombed the airwaves with hysterical anti-marijuana ads--are shocking: [continues 160 words]
Officers took their places hidden in shrubs, behind trees and in unmarked cars surrounding the dark home. Within a few minutes, officers broke down the door and had three suspects suspected of drug trafficking in custody. One officer was shot and a suspect may have been killed. But if the raiders were going to make a mistake, Thursday was the day to do it. "Something always goes wrong, but let it go wrong here," said Paul Pabon, academy commander of the training division at the Nevada Department of Public Safety. [continues 326 words]
Startling stats continue to make the case against war on drugs Those who have read my columns in this and other local papers know that I often speak out against the "war on drugs." I am constantly reviewing documents in order to keep up to date with the various aspects of this "war," often by consulting several websites (such as www.drugsense.org). I will summarize some of the most recent literature on drug use, drug abuse and the impact the drug war is having. [continues 781 words]
A hush fell over the audience of about 40 social workers, child-advocate volunteers and foster parents on Tuesday as they watched a film of a newborn struggling with the consequences of her mother's drug addiction. The baby shook, emitting a shrill, tight cry as she clawed at her face. She held her body stiff. All are common symptoms of the syndrome caused by her mother's abuse of methamphetamines and other drugs. "These kids are punished their entire lives for what was done to them," said Dr. Lynn Kinman. [continues 381 words]
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - After facing defeat earlier this year, Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani is leading a new drive to raise thresholds in the state's drug impairment law. At issue is a state law making it illegal for drivers to have certain levels of prohibited substances such as marijuana and cocaine in their systems. Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, contends the law is unfair because it does not require proof that the driver was actually impaired by drugs. Allowable levels of drugs listed in the statute were arbitrarily set by the 1999 Legislature and are so low that impairment would be unlikely in many cases, she added. [continues 347 words]
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- After facing defeat earlier this year, Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani is leading a new drive to raise thresholds in the state's drug impairment law. At issue is a state law making it illegal for drivers to have certain levels of prohibited substances such as marijuana and cocaine in their systems. Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, contends the law is unfair because it does not require proof that the driver was actually impaired by drugs. Allowable levels of drugs listed in the statute were arbitrarily set by the 1999 Legislature and are so low that impairment would be unlikely in many cases, she added. [continues 342 words]
Too many drivers high on drugs are causing fatal crashes while avoiding prosecution, say federal officials who are calling for new laws nationwide that would send a driver to prison without proving drugs caused the accident. The new legislation, to be modeled after statutes recently passed in Nevada and eight other states, would make it illegal for drivers to have drugs, including marijuana, in their systems. Under these laws, prosecutors don't have to prove that the drugs impacted the driver's ability to stay on the road. They simply must show the drugs were in the driver's body. [continues 145 words]
Judge Who Founded Program Ends Retirement There is usually little to cheer about in Drug Court. But cheers abounded last week as Drug Court participants welcomed back to the bench the once-retired judge who founded the program more than a decade ago. Before beginning court proceedings on Wednesday, Senior Judge Jack Lehman, 75, settled into his chair and, with a broad smile, re-introduced himself to about 75 participants who packed the crowded courtroom. "I'm back to stay and I will be handling Drug Court forward into the foreseeable future," he said. "I'm happy to be back." [continues 1042 words]
Las Vegas -- Pierre Werner is a capitalist, a felon and a groundbreaker. The 31-year-old sees a market need for medical marijuana here and plans on filling it. "And if I have to sit in jail for six months in order to set a precedent case on compassionate care, I will," says Mr. Werner, who was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to distribute marijuana in New Jersey. Nevada voters in 2000 agreed that medical marijuana should be allowed, although the state legislature, charged with hammering out the details of such a plan, did not implement a method to distribute the herb, which federal officials still consider a crime to grow and sell. [continues 467 words]
Two years have passed since the Legislature directed the University of Nevada Medical School to conduct a study on the effectiveness of medical marijuana, but there hasn't been any progress since the 2001 Legislature. David Lupan, senior associate dean for basic science and research at the medical school, said there's no interest in doing the study by any staff member. In addition, Lupan told the Legislature's Interim Finance Committee on Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health have not agreed to release any money for the clinical research. [continues 172 words]
"Hey, isn't there supposed to be another 'a' up there?" a demonstrator asked another, who was waving a sign at cars on Green Valley Parkway. "Yeah, I guess there is," the protester said, looking at his message containing the misspelled word "marijuna." "They're driving by too fast; they won't see it." A dozen medical marijuana patients rallied outside of Republican Rep. Jon Porter's office June 4 for two hours -- until high noon -- as a demonstration against the sentencing of Ed Rosenthal. [continues 244 words]
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- People going through Nevada's court system would have to pay an extra $7 in fees to help fund the state's specialty courts, under a bill given final legislative approval Wednesday. The increase included in AB29, now headed to the governor for his signature, would help fund specialty drug and mental health courts in urban and rural areas. Washoe County District Judge Peter Breen had told lawmakers previously that the increased funding is essential to maintain evolving court programs. [continues 115 words]
RENO (AP) - The nation's deputy drug czar praised Nevadans' rejection last year of a marijuana initiative, saying she thinks it reflects the country's growing anti-drug sentiment. "Rejection is part of a movement nationwide ... away from allowing drugs to affect our society," Andrea Barthwell said before speaking to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals annual conference in Reno. Barthwell is deputy director of demand reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy. [end]
A Carson City man whose apartment was mistakenly raided by drug agents was awarded $20,000 on Tuesday by the state Board of Examiners. Also awarded damages were a man whose rights were violated by Nevada Division of Investigation officers and a trucker whose trailer was wrecked at an underpass. Secretary of State Dean Heller said the damage claims raise serious concerns whether some agencies know the extent of the legal problems they create for the state. "Some of these raise red flags," he said." All three should have been avoidable." [continues 362 words]
The Marijuana Policy Project has good reason to question drug czar John Walters' use of tax dollars to conduct an illegal campaign against Question 9 ["Quit Blowing Smoke," May 1]. It's no coincidence that the drug czar began his nationwide reefer madness revisited ad campaign just months before a November election that featured numerous marijuana ballot initiatives, the most ambitious being Nevada's Question 9. Among the more dishonest ads were commercials linking the war on terror to the war on drugs. The illicit drug of choice in America is domestically grown marijuana, not Colombian cocaine or Afghan heroin. [continues 111 words]
The number of people in American prisons and jails passed 2 million last year. That figure reflects the results of the "get tough," ultra-conservative crime polices that began in the early 1970s. The effect of these policies is that the crime rate today is about the same as it was in the early '70s. Yet during this same period the incarceration rate has increased by more than 400 percent, while annual expenditures on the criminal justice system went up by 1,500 percent (approaching $200 billion). [continues 890 words]
And Another Thing... Damn, the Marijuana Policy Project people are on a rampage. Still trying to persuade the Nevada attorney general's office to go after drug czar John Walters for violating state campaign finance laws when he stumped against Question 9 last year, the MPP says it continues to dig up Supreme Court case after Supreme Court case supporting its position that Walters broke the rules. The latest from the library, courtesy of MPP director of government relations Steve Fox: 1920's Johnson vs. State of Maryland, which holds that federal employees--in this case, a Sunday-driving postal worker--aren't completely immune to state laws. Gee, sounds like someone's hitting the books for an upcoming court battle.--AK [end]
RENO, Nev. (AP) - A Superior Court judge sharply criticized the drug war and renewed his call for the decriminalization of marijuana at a pro-marijuana rally Saturday. Judge James Gray of Orange County, Calif., said the drug war has cost billions of dollars and resulted in the United States having the world's highest incarceration rate - with no end in sight to rampant drug abuse. The former federal prosecutor said he has never smoked marijuana, but supports the strictly controlled distribution of pot to adults. [continues 330 words]
State officials say federal official's anti-pot work requires filing of report. Federal "Drug Czar" John P. Walters campaigned against a Nevada ballot proposal to legalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana, but he refuses on constitutional grounds to file a campaign spending report. Nevada officials aren't happy about it. "It is unfortunate that a representative of the federal government substantially intervened in a manner [sic] that was clearly a State of Nevada issue," said a recent legal opinion signed by state Attorney General Brian Sandoval and filed with the Nevada secretary of state's office. [continues 587 words]
Reno (AP) - A Superior Court judge sharply criticized the drug war and renewed his call for the decriminalization of marijuana at a pro-marijuana rally Saturday. Judge James Gray of Orange County, Calif., said the drug war has cost billions of dollars and resulted in the United States having the world's highest incarceration rate -- with no end in sight to rampant drug abuse. The former federal prosecutor said he has never smoked marijuana, but supports the strictly controlled distribution of pot to adults. [continues 199 words]
The state of Nevada will not attempt to prosecute Office of National Drug Control Policy (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov) head John Walters -- the drug czar -- for violating the state's campaign finance reporting requirements, the Secretary of State's office announced on April 23. The ruling came on a complaint filed earlier this year by the Marijuana Policy Project (http://www.mpp.org/WarOnDrugCzar/) after the drug czar made three trips to the state to campaign against an MPP-sponsored initiative that would have legalized the possession of up to three ounces of marijuana for adults. That initiative failed last November, MPP argued, in part because of Walters' efforts. [continues 431 words]
Pot group urges Nevada's attorney general to get some guts Let's get the obligatory pot joke out of the way: The Marijuana Policy Project folks sure aren't being mellow about this one. The Washington-based group, big backers of November's failed Question 9 initiative in Nevada, are still fuming over what they characterize as arrogant state-stomping by federal drug czar John Walters. Earlier this year the group filed a complaint with Secretary of State Dean Heller saying that Walters should have filed three reports listing his contribution and expenditures for the anti-Question 9 campaign. The price for not complying: $5,000 for each failure. [continues 591 words]
I am one of the founders of the Drug Reform Coordination Network, the organization that spawned Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. I also established the DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy, the world's largest online collection of research on drug policy at http://www.druglibrary.org . I cannot comment on any issues with SSDP and its chapters but I have taught more people how to debate this subject than anyone else, so I can comment on Alexander Marriott's arguments. [continues 374 words]
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A UNLV student group is joining a national push for Congress to reconsider a law that denies financial aid to students with drug convictions. "It's a shame that they would take away somebody's whole life, their whole future, just for a minor offense," said Debbie Dedmon, 30, a UNLV public relations student and member of the campus Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter. Most University of Las Vegas, Nevada, applicants who are denied aid put off college until they can qualify, although a campus official said two students in the last two years enrolled anyway without aid. [continues 308 words]
LAS VEGAS - A UNLV student group is joining a national push for Congress to reconsider a law that denies financial aid to students with drug convictions. "It's a shame that they would take away somebody's whole life, their whole future, just for a minor offense," said Debbie Dedmon, 30, a UNLV public relations student and member of the campus Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter. Some give up Most University of Las Vegas, Nevada applicants who are denied aid put off college until they can qualify, although a campus official said two students in the last two years enrolled anyway without aid. [continues 309 words]
To The Editor: I wish to clarify the motives of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in revoking chapter status from its UNLV chapter, called into question by your April 21 article "Students for Sensible Drug Policy loses funding." The actions taken by SSDP were necessary because the UNLV chapter disregarded the SSDP organizational bylaws and values statement and appears to have engaged in behavior that could have subjected SSDP to criminal and/or civil liability. On March 17, 2002, the SSDP Board of Directors became aware of UNLV SSDP materials including a cartoon titled "How to Roll a Joint," and other images of students smoking marijuana in conjunction with the SSDP logo. At that point in time, SSDP UNLV was told to immediately stop using such images. SSDP's Board of Directors and National Office learned later that the UNLV chapter had entirely disregarded its demands. [continues 351 words]
This organization is really an organization that strives to make drugs legal because of the fact that they think it is "harmless". They keep on spinning the truth, like Sacco's comments about the medical benefits of Marijuana, which we've already voted on, and passed, I think a few years back. This is not about medical or anything, and they know it. The individuals that make-up SSDP want to legally use Marijuana, and that is why they use this "medical" reason, because they want to fool the American people in Nevada, and it did not work last time, and it sure will not work this time. [continues 108 words]
The Attorney General's Office has ruled the White House drug czar is immune to Nevada campaign law reporting requirements. The issue came up because drug czar John Walters campaigned actively against the question on Nevada's 2002 election ballot decriminalizing possession of three ounces or less of marijuana. Nevada law requires every individual and entity which advocates for passage or defeat of a ballot question to submit campaign contribution and expense reports. Walters had his White House lawyer send Secretary of State Dean Heller a letter stating that he is immune from enforcement of Nevada election laws. Walters and his office refused to report what they had spent in advocating against the marijuana question, which was defeated by 60.7 percent of the voters. [continues 146 words]
Crack, cocaine, and speed are all highly addictive drugs that plague the streets and homes of America. According to Narconon, a drug rehabilitation center in California, nearly one out of four Americans between the ages of 26 and 34, has used cocaine once. They also claim that 69 million Americans over the age of 12 have tried marijuana at least once. For those that are truly addicted, there are such things as drug rehab, treatment centers, and intervention crisis options. I think the main question here is if they really work. The Baldwin Research Institute doesn't think so. The New York corporation has been researching and developing programs for alcohol and drug addicts since 1989. They claim that there is not one recovery program out there that has a higher success rate than 30 percent. This is a dismal figure considering how many people in America are alcoholics or addicted to drugs. [continues 268 words]
Assembly Ways and Means members on Wednesday questioned the multitude of anti-drug programs funded by the state. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said there are dozens of programs getting grants from a variety of sources from criminal justice to education to health and human services and that lawmakers don't have any idea how much they overlap, which ones are working and which ones aren't. "We need to pull all drug money into one place and let's see what's working," she told deputy superintendents of education Doug Thunder and Keith Rheault. [continues 276 words]
In light of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter at UNLV having its funding withdrawn, I think it's time to rethink the strategy employed thus far that has led to the break between the national organization and our campus chapter. As far as I can tell, the use of the marijuana plant upon flyers and organization literature, as well as on shirts, etc., angered the national organization to the point where they thought the UNLV chapter was doing more harm than good. They have a point, sensible drug policy includes more drugs than just marijuana, where are the shirts with lines of cocaine and heroin needles? [continues 850 words]
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) received some startling news last week: the national SSDP organization no longer recognizes the group as a legitimate entity and as a consequence, UNLV is pulling funding for the student group. UNLV chapter of SSDP may not receive the $500 seed money it was promised this semester due to national SSDP's decision. According to UNLV SSDP President Jenn Gross, the national organization objected to the pervasiveness of marijuana references in the group's material. [continues 579 words]
The Marijuana Lady is at it again. It wasn't enough for Assemblywoman Chris Giunghigliani to be a prime sponsor of last year's statewide pro marijuana initiative; now she thinks it unfair that one can test positive and possibly get a DUI rap some days after smoking pot because marijuana stays in one's system for a long time. So she wants to change the law. I don't suppose it has occurred to her that if she doesn't smoke the stuff, she has nothing to worry about. It's kinda like sexual abstinence. It works every time it's tried. [continues 714 words]
MESQUITE, Nev. -- A 3-year-old girl was stabbed to death and her half-sister was left paralyzed in an attack police in this desert resort town said was an act of revenge for a methamphetamine deal gone bad. The brother and sister accused in the crime -- Beau Maestas, 19, and Monique Maestas, 16 -- could face the death penalty, and the victims' mother, who was gambling at a casino with her boyfriend when the Maestases allegedly attacked her daughters in their trailer home, could face child endangerment charges. [continues 577 words]
TO THE EDITOR: In response to your article on "club drugs" (March 24), you completely misidentified the contents of Ecstasy or MDMA. It does not contain either Methamphetamine (Speed) or Mescaline, the active compound in Peyote. MDMA is a synthetic stimulant compound that causes a release of the natural brain chemical Seratonin, making the user feel alert, happy, and emotionally open. MDMA has been used clinically in the past, and is currently being studied in the United States for potential use with victims of rape and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It allows the patient to open up and work through their experience in therapy. [continues 185 words]
The Assembly Judiciary Committee was told Monday Nevada's marijuana driving under the influence law will eventually be overturned in court, unless it is changed. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, introduced AB362, saying current law declares anyone with more than 2 nanograms of "marijuana metabolyte" in their system to be under the influence. She said that means someone can be convicted of DUI days, or even weeks, after using marijuana -- long after its intoxicating effects are gone. Deputy Clark County Public Defender Howard Brooks told the committee the existing law doesn't measure intoxication and, therefore, will eventually be overturned by the courts. [continues 343 words]
UNLV took part in sponsoring "Dancing with Darkness," a student town hall meeting held inside the Moyer Student Union ballroom last Monday evening. The meeting's purpose was to educate students concerning the physical and psychological impact of "club drugs." "Club drugs" is a term used for the most pervasive drugs at nightclubs and "raves." The three primary club drugs frequently used in the club scene are known as ecstasy, "special K" slang for Ketamine," and GHB. MDNA, or ecstasy, is in a tablet form, and is often imprinted with designs or commercial logos. It contains 100 milligrams of MDMA: methamphetamine mixed with mescaline. [continues 948 words]
More than 1 million people will be sent to prison this year on drug charges. Sentences in drug cases have accounted for about 40 percent of the increase in the prison population in the past two decades. Despite the fact that there is no difference in the rate of illegal drug use according to race (some recent surveys find whites with higher rates of use than blacks), blacks are 40 percent of those arrested on drug charges, and about 70-80 percent of those sent to prison on such charges. The black incarceration rate is about eight times greater than for whites, mostly because of the drug war. All available evidence points to patent racial bias in our drug laws and their enforcement. All of these points (and many more) help explain why a young black man named Lashawn Banks is at the center of a case to be heard soon by the U.S. Supreme Court. [continues 799 words]
The biggest obstacle to Pierre Werner's vision of a compassionate-use medical marijuana club ["Las Vegan looks to create Nevada's first cannabis club," March 6] is John Ashcroft. By raiding voter-approved medical providers in California, the very same attorney general who claims illicit drug use funds terrorism is forcing sick patients into the hands of street dealers. Apparently, marijuana prohibition is more important than protecting the country from terrorism. Ashcroft's taxpayer-funded marijuana jihad has no basis in science. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. [continues 124 words]
To the Editor: How nice of Secretary of State Colin Powell to warn prospective spring break travelers that American-style zero tolerance awaits them in foreign countries. Students who end up in third world jails have the U.S. State Department to thank for their misfortune. The failed drug war would have ended decades ago if the United States didn't use its superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe. The drug war is in large part a war against 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 U.S. than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. [continues 200 words]
Inside Nevada
