Re "Is Obama in control?" (Editorial, Dec. 22): In Ken Burns' outstanding PBS documentary Prohibition, it was revealed that alcohol prohibition corrupted all levels of our government-all the way up to the Warren G. Harding White House. The alcohol cartels had hundreds of politicians on their payroll. Is it unreasonable to suspect that the drug cartels of today are following in the footsteps of the alcohol cartels? It's obvious that medical marijuana dispensaries were making a major dent in the income of the drug cartels. Would a $10 million bribe motivate Obama to change his policy regarding medical marijuana? We will never know. But I certainly suspect so. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
Re "Is Obama in control?" (Editorial, Dec. 22): Obama could be in control of the marijuana problem by upholding the rule of law, the Constitution of the United States. The marijuana laws impinge upon fundamental rights, a justiciable controversy under Article III. Criminalizing marijuana because marijuana has no medicinal use is unreasonable and unnecessary regulations of my fundamental rights to liberty, to property and to privacy. Marijuana and the private use of this property does not threaten the rights of others. Who have presidents been afraid of? National police? [continues 58 words]
Re "Is Obama in control?" (Editorial, Dec. 22): When the last number of presidents have used cannabis (marijuana) recreationally, there should be no question cannabis prohibition should automatically be terminated, especially since roughly 70 percent of Americans support it. Roughly 50 percent of Americans support-and that number is increasing-legalizing and regulating cannabis because it is one of America's worst policy failures in history. Cannabis prohibition is perpetuated exactly because President Obama is in control. If citizens were in control, cannabis prohibition, persecution, discrimination and extermination would end immediately. Ending cannabis prohibition is one of the most important issues of our time. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Federal prosecutors have been conducting a war against California medical marijuana shops, in defiance of President Obama's stated policy. When he was campaigning for the presidency, Obama said, "What I'm not going to be doing is using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue simply because I want folks to be investigating violent crimes and potential terrorism. We've got a lot of things for our law enforcement officers to deal with." After Obama became president, his attorney general quickly reinforced that stance. Eric Holder said this: "For those organizations that are doing so [allowing medical marijuana] sanctioned by state law and do it in a way that is consistent with state law, and given the limited resources that we have, that [prosecuting medical marijuana cases] will not be an emphasis for this administration." [continues 433 words]
Re "Dear President Barack Obama" (Guest Comment, Oct. 13): Kudos to publisher Jeff vonKaenel for his outstanding letter to President Obama. I'd like to share with the readers a short letter I wrote to President Obama: Like millions of other voters, I voted for you in 2008, campaigned for you, and donated to your campaign for two basic reasons: 1. Candidate Obama said that the war on drugs was an utter failure. 2. Candidate Obama said he would not go after medical marijuana users or their caregivers. Obviously, I was duped. As a result I will vote for and campaign for your opponent in 2012. One final question: Why do you want marijuana to remain completely unregulated, untaxed and controlled by criminal gangs? Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
Re "Dear President Barack Obama" (Guest Comment, Oct. 13): Mexican drug cartels are no doubt thrilled with the Obama Administration's crackdown on voter-approved medical marijuana dispensaries. So much for change and 2008 campaign promises to respect states' rights. So much for jobs. The medical marijuana industry is one of the few job creators in the current down economy. If Obama succeeds in destroying the domestic medical marijuana industry, international drug cartels will move in to meet demand and reap the profits. This is basic economics. As long as there is a demand for marijuana, there will be a supply. Replacing domestic growers with organized crime groups that also sell cocaine, meth and heroin is not a good thing. Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. [end]
Re "Dear President Barack Obama" (Guest Comment, Oct. 13): I wonder if your publisher, Jeff vonKaenel, who directed his commentary to President Obama last week, has any knowledge of the political tenets of Ron Paul. It's always puzzling to me when someone whom I suppose to be a democrat complains about something like medical marijuana rights being trampled upon, yet neglects to conclude that those who want to do something about this should support Ron Paul's bid for the presidency. Since this issue began, Dr. Ron Paul has always championed the rights of Americans to have the freedom to pursue any medical avenue they desire. In his support of freedom, he has called for the end of the War on Drugs, and for this wasteful, ruinous program to be replaced with drug education and rehabilitation in addition to legalization. I won't use up space listing all the positive benefits of ending the War on Drugs, but I will say that whatever your political persuasion, you should really take a look at Ron Paul's position on these issues. Cynthia Kennedy Virginia City [end]
I've got some bad news for you today, and the situation appears as if it will only get worse. The cartel wars in Mexico continue unabated, and the violence and the gangs themselves are increasingly appearing in American cities, including here in Northern Nevada. The gangs are tied into Mexican cartel drug operations, and they also smuggle illegal immigrants into the U.S., ship other contraband and carry cash for money-laundering. The cartels control large swaths of territory in Mexico and many municipalities. They are waging violent turf battles over control of key smuggling corridors, employing hit men and groups of enforcers. Some of the cartels are using grenade launchers, auto matic weapons, and even ar mored vehicles against outgunned Mexican law enforcement. More worrisome, many have mastered the road side-bomb techniques employed by insurgents in Iraq and Afghan istan, and are using these improvised explosive devices against badly outgunned law enforcement agencies. [continues 575 words]
Re "Has Nevada lost its nerve?" (News, July 14): More than 30 states still have a moral issue with pot, but the time is ripe to harvest some of those pot tourism dollars before they all go to Denver. Reno could use the money right now, cash flow should be king, but do not tell that to a politician hiding behind special interest money, etc. Tax and regulate and watch an economic miracle happen. Denver and Seattle are actually encouraging the emerging pot industry (a billion-dollar-plus business). John Stoker Reno [end]
By the Numbers 2 percent -- Share of the guns from the United States that originated in Nevada. The majority of firearms come from the border states of Texas, California and Arizona. Two years ago, the case of Zorra Penunuri put Las Vegas on the national map in the fight against cross-border contraband. The gun-smuggling kingpin from Southern California had purchased $100,000 worth of rifles and pistols from Las Vegas gun dealers to shuttle to drug cartels in Mexico, where the weapons would be used in the proliferation of an illicit drug industry that reaches into most U.S. cities. [continues 1222 words]
Billionaire financier George Soros and his army of drug legalizers will be back in action in Nevada next year in their continuing campaign to legalize "personal doses" of marijuana. Although we've already defeated them twice on 60-40 votes, they keep trying. Soros and his allies aren't satisfied with the legalization of so-called "medical marijuana" in Nevada and several other states. They want to go much further. So let's take a closer look at the murky world of medical marijuana, where weed is "medicine" and potheads are "patients." [continues 416 words]
CARSON CITY -- A bill that would start a pilot program to allow medical marijuana card-holders to legally purchase the drug is being pushed in the Legislature. Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said the bill "would eliminate the head shops" that are illegally selling marijuana. Those with a valid registry identification card to use marijuana for medical purposes face felony charges when purchasing it on the street, he said. Senate Bill 336 would set up a company or facility to grow, warehouse and distribute marijuana under the direction of the state Board of Pharmacy. [continues 133 words]
Re "Stairway to hell" (Feature story, May 19): Imagine if we could eliminate all of our nation's heroin dealers-Switzerland did. Imagine if we could reduce the number of heroin addicts by 82 percent-Switzerland did. Imagine if we could dramatically reduce our overall crime rate-Switzerland did. Imagine if we could eliminate virtually all deaths from heroin-Switzerland did. How did they do it? In 1994, Switzerland started an experimental program to sell heroin addicts the drug at very low cost, even giving it to the addicts who couldn't afford it. In 2008, 68 percent of the Swiss voted to make the program permanent. Have Swiss heroin-addiction rates skyrocketed? No, they have fallen dramatically. So has their overall crime rate. Will we adopt Switzerland's heroin policy? Probably not. Too many people, industries and institutions have a vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo of drug prohibition. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. -- Below is a question from one of our readers, Bill, for this week's column: I am not a "pot head," but if I have a medical marijuana card, what are the restrictions with driving? If I need to smoke marijuana for pain relief, how do I know when I can legally drive? Marijuana stays in your system for a while, so does this mean I can't drive for the day? What if I there is an emergency and have to get to the hospital or something like that? I am not the only one wondering the same thing. Please help. Thanks. [continues 440 words]
Re "Drug tests" (Feature story, July 8, 2010): Salvia is pretty crazy. In my time I've experimented with some crazy substances so it wasn't Earth-shattering for me. The first time I took it, I didn't really know what to expect, and it almost felt like I took a circus balloon of nitric oxide. That's the closest experience I could tie to it. I actually am obviously behind on the game because I just heard of Tranquility today and picked up two jars. I don't know if they've changed the recipe since this came out, but I want my money back. Obviously, the amount that worked for he who wrote this article was enough. I used the full 500 mg and don't feel much of anything. Eighty bucks down the drain. I've never used the synthetic pot, but my brother uses it, seeing as how his job drug tests, and he lives in Texas. I, however, live in the Denver metro area, and marijuana's legal medically. For 25 bucks, you can get an eighth of some lower grade crondos. Therefore the prices have dropped a little all around, and I don't really feel like overpaying for the fake thing. The main reason I'm writing is because the Tranquility sucks, and I was wondering if anyone else had a similar experience. I did try E a couple of times when I was younger (before 18, as much of my experimentation was) and much the same I didn't seem to feel what everyone else did, so I never really messed with it at all. Your article was informative. Much appreciated. Devin Sweet Castle Rock, Colo. [end]
An advocate for loosening medical marijuana restrictions in Nevada was arrested Saturday at her southwest valley home with her husband after police say they found a marijuana grow operation in the house where their 13-year-old son also lived. Rhonda Shade and Lowel Shade, both 37, were charged with child endangerment, possession of marijuana with the intent to sell, trafficking in a controlled substance and conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substance Act. Lowel Shade also was charged with possession of a firearm by an ex-felon. Rhonda Shade has denied selling marijuana. [continues 406 words]
Once again Nevada legislators are trying to win the unwinnable war on drugs by putting the burden on ordinary and innocent citizens. This year, Washoe County Sen. Sheila Leslie is sponsoring legislation to change over-the-counter cold medicines into prescription drugs, thus increasing the cost of health care in order to make the ingredients for meth more difficult to obtain. This legislation was not requested by health care professionals, drug counselors or anyone who knows anything about how to combat drug use. Rather, it was requested by the Nevada District Attorneys Association as one more step in a punitive enforcement strategy that has failed for decades, designed by law enforcement officials with little knowledge of this health care issue. [continues 440 words]
A number of community leaders from Lyon County attended a statewide summit on the Impact of Marijuana Use recently to help hone local programs to curb marijuana use. The summit, held in Las Vegas, featured a dynamic group of local and national experts who presented the latest research and data on marijuana and its impact on community, the environment, enforcement of laws regarding marijuana, business and economy, treatment, and legislation. The summit was called to increase general understanding of the drug, and possible outcomes that could arise if the use of the now illegal drug were legalization. [continues 278 words]
Nevada is known for letting just about anything slide, whether it's booze, bets or brothels. But even here there are limits. It has been OK to smoke marijuana to treat illness for 10 years. But don't think about selling it. Lately, federal agents and local police have taken notice, raiding several pot shops in and around Sin City. All of it has pot advocates scratching their heads: How is a state that has long lured visitors with promises of unconstrained debauchery stricter with pot than its more wholesome neighbors of Colorado, Arizona and California? [continues 296 words]
A California woman who legally smoked marijuana in her home state and then drove across the Nevada state line with an "inactive" marijuana metabolite in her system is still guilty under the state's impaired driving law, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled. Shira Garfinkel was convicted in Incline Justice Court of being over the legal limit of marijuana metabolite, which is the "inactive" substance the body produces to get rid of marijuana's active ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. Her lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Priscilla Nielson appealed, arguing that since the metabolite is an "inactive" substance, it "does not affect the person's ability to drive" and the law is unconstitutional. [continues 514 words]
Re "Bad news" (Letters to the editor, Dec. 9): Switzerland used to have a very serious heroin addiction problem. Now their heroin problem is a small fraction of what it used to be. Did the Swiss government get really tough on drug dealers and addicts? No. In 1994, Switzerland started an experimental program to sell heroin addicts the drug at very low cost, even giving it to the addicts who couldn't afford it. In 2008, 68 percent of the Swiss voted to make the program permanent. Have Swiss heroin-addiction rates skyrocketed? No, they have fallen dramatically. So has their overall crime rate. Will we adopt Switzerland's heroin policy? Probably not. Too many people, industries and institutions have a vested financial interest in maintaining the status quo of drug prohibition. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
Re "Limited discourse" (News, Nov. 24): I was disappointed in Dennis Myers' coverage of the Join Together Northern Nevada press conference called by Mayor Bob Cashell to raise awareness for the growing use of heroin among the youth of our area. It seems Myers did not listen to, or read, what was provided to him. It rather appears that Myers is predisposed to challenge anything JTNN supports. Three years ago, my kids were in college, and I personally came to know six kids who were using heroin. This really scared me. I had absolutely no idea that heroin was in our market and that you could buy it for $10. If I didn't know, then I was sure many other parents didn't either. I wanted to do something, and based on my background, a media campaign made the most sense. I had to figure out how to get this campaign going. [continues 336 words]
Re "State of Denial" (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Nov. 24): "Guidance and clarity" from our legislators? You might as well go sit on Santa's lap and ask for a pony. Joe Sikorski Reno [end]
Re "State of Denial" (Notes from the Neon Babylon, Nov. 24): Thanks to the News & Review for Bruce Van Dyke's column. Yes, medical cannabis is a no-brainer. Anyone who says cannabis isn't medicine is an intellectual troglodyte. But worse than our nation's ignorance on cannabis as medicine is our ignorance of the process behind its prohibition. No science, no facts, truth or even common sense were ever involved in the banning of cannabis. Instead it is a pile of xenophobic, racist newspaper fictions and the manipulations of career prohibition bureaucrat, Harry Anslinger. [continues 87 words]
Re "Limited discourse" (News, Nov. 24): I suffer from a chronic pain disease. The docs have finally settled on methadone to treat my pain. After six-plus years on the same dose, this methadone works about as well as two aspirin. I have tried and now use marijuana to treat my pain, but I am not on the list for medical marijuana. Would you put your name on a list to use a drug still illegal in the United States? A list our police can read? I have to lie to my doctor because he has to give these same police my info if asked. [continues 78 words]
Re "Pot. It does an economy good." (View from the Fray, Nov. 11): The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. [continues 111 words]
It's time for this state to join the 21st century. It's time for the state to stop pretending that it's 1939, the age of Reefer Madness. It's time for this state to pull its big dumb head out of its big dumb ostrich hole and establish a sane, civilized, and eventually lucrative system of dispensaries for medical marijauna. The citizens of Nevada approved the use of medical marijuana many years ago (2000 was the second time the MM initiative was passed, and it did so with 67 percent of the vote). But the legal reality that has evolved in the years after the initiative's passage is a typically murky one: Nevadans with a medical marijuana permit may grow their own pot (7 plants max), but they may not buy it. And no entity is allowed to sell weed to those with permits. [continues 345 words]
A Drug Awareness Event Steered Clear Of Health Care Perspectives It was a familiar scene, a news conference called by a group named Join Together Northern Nevada to raise awareness of the dangers of drug use. This one, in the lobby of Reno City Hall on Nov. 18, dealt with heroin. In May 2007, it was meth and the release of a video, "Crystal Darkness," which had been re-edited to tailor it to Nevada, something that was happening in many states as part of a national campaign. [continues 1153 words]
Re "Pot. It does an economy good." Deidre Pike better get in line; Colorado is going to be the first state to re-legalize cannabis (marijuana) in 2012. The race is on, and if I were a gambling man, I'd bet on Colorado to win by an hour. Really though, good luck, Nevada. California, Washington, Oregon, Massachusetts and some others have indicated interest in attempting to legalize the relatively safe, God-given plant cannabis in 2012. The competitive American nature in us making it a race seems only natural, and it may end cannabis prohibition that much sooner. The race is on; see you at the finish line. Stan WhiteDillon, Colo. [end]
The election was pretty much a disaster. I'm not talking about the donkeys and the elephants (I'm a Green), who are going to gridlock in short order and muck things up. It is, instead, the failure of Proposition 19 in California that is discouraging. I don't care about pot. People have been getting high as long as there have been people and will as long as there are. Instead, sadly, we will not look at industrial hemp for another election cycle. [continues 84 words]
Douglas County School District officials are urging parents to talk to their children about appropriate ways to express themselves at school in the wake of a drug-related incident at Carson Valley Middle School. "One thing parents can do is to have talks with their kids," said Superintendent Lisa Noonan. "They are obviously entitled to their opinions, but they have to express them in appropriate ways, so they don't create a bigger disturbance for the school." On Tuesday, CVMS Principal Robert Been said approximately a dozen freshmen were disciplined, ranging from one-day in-school suspension to five-day out-of-school suspension, for inappropriately expressing opinions on marijuana use. [continues 224 words]
Emerald Triangle, California. That's Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity counties, -where the economy is smokin' hot, thanks to marijuana, the region's top cash crop. It's also an area where Prop 19, a measure to legalize marijuana in the state, failed on Nov. 2. How deliciously twisted is that? News reports suggest entrepreneurs in California's booming weed economy feared both a potential drop in the price of pot and losing their lifestyle to corporate farming ops. Far better, I guess, to operate an illegal 1,000-acre pot farm in a national forest than sell out to Philip Morris. [continues 572 words]
A state senator plans to introduce legislation to allow special pharmacies in Nevada to sell medical marijuana. Sen. Michael Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said he has spent a year working with doctors and talking to state administrators about how to craft the bill that he will bring to the Legislature in 2011. Nevada currently has a 9-year-old law that allows people to possess six marijuana plants that can be cultivated for medical use. Schneider, though, said marijuana is difficult to grow, the current law is not very scientific and it sometimes criminalizes people who seek marijuana for medical use. [continues 746 words]
A judge has an unusual sentence for a 25-year-old Sacramento man who sold marijuana to a police informant in a casino parking lot at Lake Tahoe. District Judge Dave Gamble ordered Matthew Palazzolo to write a report on what the judge called the "nonsensical character" of California's medical marijuana law the Gardnerville Record-Courier reported. Gamble gave Palazzolo 90 days to complete the paper discussing his realization that marijuana led him to use more powerful narcotics. [end]
District Judge Dave Gamble ordered a 25-year-old drug offender to write a report on what the judge called "the nonsensical character" of California's medical marijuana program. On Tuesday, Gamble told Matthew Palazzolo to submit a paper within 90 days to him and to his counselor also discussing the defendant's realization that marijuana was a gateway drug that led to use of more powerful narcotics. Palazzolo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Uniform Controlled Substances Act. He was arrested at a Stateline casino parking lot in February after he sold a quarter-pound of marijuana to an informant for $1,060. [continues 345 words]
The Reed and McQueen football teams again will carry a distinction that makes them different than all others -- they are the only Washoe County football programs to adopt a drug testing program the past two years. And they likely will stand alone again this fall. Fall football practices started across Northern Nevada last week, and they brought with them the issue of drug testing, which was first introduced in 2008 by McQueen after school board trustees approved a testing program. Screening has since expanded to the Reed football and Damonte Ranch softball programs. [continues 716 words]
Veterans Affairs Wisely Relaxes Its Objections to Medical Marijuana Use A growing number of Americans have embraced the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes as a compassionate way to help those who are suffering from AIDS, cancer and other debilitating diseases. There was evidence of that in January when New Jersey became the 14th state to approve the use of medical marijuana, joining a list that includes Nevada. There was even more evidence that month when an ABC News/Washington Post poll was released showing that 81 percent of Americans support marijuana legalization for medicinal purposes, up from 69 percent in 1997. [continues 350 words]
Will Dems' Shift On Medical Marijuana Pave The Way For Legal Pot Dispensaries? For the first time in Nevada history, a major political party has endorsed the creation of a safe, legal medical marijuana industry -- a move that could ease the suffering of thousands of patients and finally legitimize the state's black market network of pot dispensaries. In their official party platform, released just days after their late-June convention, delegates with the Nevada Democratic Party for the first time included clear, powerful language endorsing Nevada's emerging medical marijuana industry "as a contributing part of a compassionate, alternative health care in Nevada." [continues 869 words]
Re "Drug tests" (Feature story, July 8): I'd like to thank you for this article. I feel it is an unbiased explanation on what's happening with these legal drugs, and I'd like to thank you for providing factual information as well as opinion. Good article! Keep up the good work. William Winslow Paris, Tex. [end]
Re "Drug tests" (Feature story, July 8): Well done, sir! I think it's high time that we start engaging our community and society as a whole in conversations like the one you started. While the ultimate backlash for this type of article will likely be ignorance, disgust and disdain for you even writing it, I must make a couple key points beyond the obvious compliments. First of all, this kind of level-headed, rational, anecdotal evidence is exactly what we need to be doing to dispel the "just say no" rhetoric that all drugs are bad. That level of thinking is nonsense and fails to educate our children, but rather scares them into ascribing to ideals that are solely culturally and financially motivated. Your article did an excellent job at attempting to educate as opposed to vilify, and I think only through this kind of education will we gain the kind of understanding necessary to manageably integrate psychoactive drugs and their use into our lives, homes, and communities. This removes the "forbidden fruit" aspects that shroud drugs in general, and if educated, as opposed to challenged, I think a lot fewer of our youth would turn to habit-forming compounds like Oxycodone, Xanax, ecstasy and methamphetamine. [continues 535 words]
Re "Drug tests" (Feature story, July 8): Drugs have been around far longer than governments and will continue to be long beyond them. Some do drugs to escape, party, get laid or have other juicy times. Some do it to push the limits of consciousness or to try to find meaning and art. Some abuse them, and that's bad. I think if you're an adult, you should be able to explore the limits of your own world/mind without hindrance--not because some silly second-hander says, "No, that's scary," or someone else wants to pass a law to "protect" you from yourself. [continues 109 words]
A Nevada ballot initiative petition is now circulating to make marijuana legal and set up a regulatory system akin to tobacco or alcohol. The petition would go first to the 2011 Nevada Legislature, and if the lawmakers fail to act on it, voters in 2012 would decide whether to enact it. There are a number of unknowns surrounding the issue, but a new study may suggest questions that need to be addressed. The Rand Corporation, a leading think tank, has issued a report on the possible results of making marijuana legal in California. The report found: [continues 106 words]
Welcome to this week's Reno News & Review. I'm still getting a hard time over last week's cover story, "Drug tests," in which I sampled some of the legal substances available at local head shops. It's not from the expected sources--you know, I expected my dad to call, "What do you mean you took coke in the early `80s?" or from some distraught parent, "I never heard of this stuff. Why are you doing telling my kids about it?" (And by the way, I'd never heard of some of this stuff, either, but I'm willing to bet any kid who'd be inclined toward experimenting already knew about it.) [continues 238 words]
I rarely use this column to explain my own writing, but I'm feeling a little creeped out by this week's cover story, and I think some of the themes are subtle for newsprint. First, I consider myself a sophisticated member of our society. I had a well misspent youth, and I went down a lot of dark alleys. So my arrogance is, since I've seen it all, I know a lot, and if my friends or my child starts going down a dangerous path, I'd like to think I'd recognize it. This story convinced me that is not true. I didn't even know the words. Salvia? Bath salts? Spice? I could have been sitting with a group of teenagers, and if they were discussing Pep or Genie or Halo or K2, I'd have no idea what they were talking about. I'm not a big "we must save the children by limiting adults' fun" type, but I should at least recognize the words. And so should those other parents who grew up in the '70s and '80s. [continues 189 words]
You Can Take These 'Legal' Intoxicants, but Do You Really Want To? You should have seen the kid's face at the head shop when I told him I wanted to buy some salvia and some mephedrone. His lineless face dropped open, and he nervously stammered. He was plainly conflicted: If he told the old guy who looked about half like a cop how to take the drugs, he could be forfeiting his job and maybe even his boss' business. If he failed to tell the old guy how to take the drugs ... well, maybe there would be one less old guy. [continues 2978 words]
Even though Nevada voters have rejected them twice in recent years by 60-40 margins, the drug legalizers will return to the Silver State in 2012. I hope we send them home for good next time around. The Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) announced last December that it is again seeking signatures for a Nevada ballot measure to legalize the "recreational, non-medicinal use" of marijuana. As most Nevada voters realize, however, that would only be the first step down the slippery slope of drug legalization. The MPP will need to collect more than 100,000 signatures by Nov. 9 in order to put their misguided measure on our 2012 ballot. [continues 342 words]
One of two Honolulu police officers arrested Aug. 15 on suspicion of smoking marijuana in a van at a city park in Las Vegas was granted a second continuance in the case last week and is scheduled to go to trial on the charge Jan. 28. Court officials in Las Vegas said officer Shayne Souza was granted the continuance for further negotiations in the case. Souza had been scheduled to go to trial on the charge Nov. 18, but was granted a continuance until Dec. 16. On that date, a second continuance was granted, this one until Jan. 28. [continues 199 words]
While Nevada and many other states are trying to figure out how to close their massive budget shortfalls, the Dutch in the Netherlands are trying to figure out what to do with their closed prisons. While the Netherlands has a total population of about 16.5 million, it has only about 12,000 prisoners. On the other hand, the United States has more than 2,300,000 total prisoners. If my math is correct, we in the U. S. have 18.2 times the Dutch general population and 191.6 times their prison population. Why the glaring disparity? I suggest it's our drug policies. In the Netherlands, adult citizens can use, buy and possess small amounts of marijuana without criminal sanctions. In the United States, adult citizens are subject to arrest, and jail or prison for buying, selling or possessing various amounts of marijuana. Kirk Muse MESA, ARIZ. [end]
Re "The Pot Issue" (Feature story, Nov. 5): Open letter to the northern Nevada medical community: I am a 50-year-old disabled veteran. Because of injuries I sustained in the United States Army, I suffer from chronic pain. I consume 90 hydrocodone, 180 naproxin/acetaminophen, and approximately 120 aspirin/Tylenol per month. I have grave concerns over the long-lasting effects of this drug use on my body. With the recent dialogue and state legalization of medical marijuana, I thought this might be my answer. I contacted the state agency in charge of this program only to find that they wouldn't recommend a physician or tell me how to find one with some knowledge in this area of treatment. My Veterans Administration doctor is a federal employee and unable to prescribe a medicine that is still federally illegal. After going to the yellow pages and calling numerous physicians, it became apparent that despite its Nevada legality there are no Northern Nevada physicians with the courage to explore this option. [continues 87 words]
Trial for Second HPD Veteran Rescheduled From Wednesday to Dec. 16 One of two Honolulu police officers arrested Aug. 15 for allegedly smoking marijuana in a van at a city park in Las Vegas will be facing a felony charge and could face up to four years in prison, according to Nevada law. Among the charges in a complaint filed this week against officer Kevin Fujioka by the Clark County District Attorney's Office is a felony count titled, "under the influence of a controlled substance." [continues 299 words]
Inside Nevada
