Perhaps there wouldn't be so much fussing between the city and county over jail fees if the jail wasn't stuffed to over-capacity with non-violent drug offenders.

The Rand Corp. did a study 14 years ago, which revealed drug treatment is a much more cost effective way to deal with drug users than imprisonment. But, we are so hard-headed and lacking in compassion that we still go the law-and-order route, costing us millions of dollars more each year.

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Where is Frieda Hale of Tulsa getting her information, from High Times? ("A better way," Dec. 14.) She needs to educate herself on drugs before she writes in.

Most crimes are committed while the perpetrates are high on drugs or alcohol. Almost all kids start with marijuana. Legalize it? I sure wouldn't want my mother or kids driving around with people high on pot. I have seen the reflexes pot-smokers have when they are high.

I speak from experience. I am a product of the '60s, and I smoked pot, even inhaled. I remember being in my 20s and smoking pot with friends and getting in the car to drive. I was on Harvard Avenue in the middle lane and stopped the car right there because I couldn't drive it. I guess some would say that was some good stuff. I am lucky my girlfriend could pull the car over for me.

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TULSA -- A defense attorney who supports decriminalizing drug use is challenging a former police officer in the race for a Tulsa area House of Representatives seat.

Jay K. Ramey, R-Tulsa, is the first candidate to challenge Democratic incumbent Lucky Lamons since he was elected in 2002 to the House District 66 seat.

The district boundary includes parts of downtown, midtown and west Tulsa and Sand Springs. The election is Nov. 4.

Lawyer Supports Drug Courts

Ramey said Oklahoma could halve the budget for the Corrections Department by making all marijuana offenses misdemeanors and reducing sentences for other drug use.

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A Tulsa teacher who was charged over the summer with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia after being stopped by airport security workers is back on the job at Lewis and Clark Middle School.

James Royce Queen, 54, is a reading teacher who has worked for Tulsa Public Schools for 24 years. He was charged July 1 in Tulsa County District Court with unlawful possession of a controlled drug and drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors.

Queen has plead not guilty. A jury trial in his case has been set for Oct. 10.

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Youth Learn Skills Needed to Avoid Drugs, Gangs and Violence

Purcell, Ok -- Youth attending Purcell Schools will be seeing a new face this year when it comes to DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).

Purcell Police Officer Scott Stephens will be the new part-time DARE instructor. He comes into the job after longtime DARE instructor Phil Hightower retired in the spring.

DARE is an opportunity to give youth the skills needed to avoid involvement in drugs, gangs and violence.

A police officer or deputy sheriff leads the series of classroom lessons that teach children and youth from kindergarten through 12th grade. These lessons teach how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug- and violence-free lives.

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A Sallisaw man who served several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan has seen how war can ravage the soldiers fighting for their country, not only while they are on the frontlines, but also when they return home.

John Bennett, who spent 15 years as an active duty U.S. Marine and is currently in the reserves, is now trying to help soldiers who find themselves in trouble with the law once they return home. He said once some soldiers return home they have trouble adjusting to life outside of war.

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I'm writing about J. D. Lape's Aug. 17 thoughtful letter: "Let's take the profits out of dealing drugs."

Imagine if we had no "drug-related crime." Imagine if our overall crime rate was a small fraction of our current crime rate. We once had such a situation here in the United States.

Prior to the passage of the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914, the term "drug-related crime" didn't exist. And drug lords, drug cartels or even drug dealers as we know them today didn't exist either.

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The People Speak

On your article on states' rights and cannabis (marijuana was a made-up name to frighten people in the 1930s), why is there even a question?

If anyone thinks that by outlawing any substances, we will make them go away, let's look at some facts.

Tricky Dick started this failed policy over 35 years ago. Is it working?

We have spent untold billions of dollars for interdiction, court costs, incarceration, felony records for non-violent offenders (they'll never get decent jobs again), and last but not least, street-dealers will never check your kids ID before selling whatever they have the cash to buy.

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U.S. Sen. Barney Frank introduced a bill last week to end the federal prosecution of marijuana possession in states where it is legal.

This is not only a good idea, it's a moral one.

Several states in the U.S. have medical marijuana laws that make it legal for patients with prescriptions to partake.

Those patients following their doctors' orders have sometimes found themselves on the wrong end of federal prosecution, even though they're obeying both their state laws and their doctors' orders.

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Burbank Academy will be an alternative school for students with substance abuse problems.

Tulsa Public Schools is preparing to open a new alternative school for students with substance abuse problems.

Burbank Academy is to be housed in the Bell Annex facility behind Bell Elementary School, 6304 E. Admiral Blvd., and will accommodate up to 60 students beginning in August.

Superintendent Michael Zolkoski is to give a presentation about the program to the Tulsa school board at a special meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

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Investigators are working around the clock in hopes of finding the person or persons who shot and killed two young girls in Weleetka earlier this month.

It's a tragedy and the entire state wants the killer or killers brought to justice soon. The school principal in Weleetka worried aloud that the killer could still be around when students start back to school in August.

Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigators have been searching for a possible witness who was seen in the rural area where the girls were killed. He is described as an American Indian male, about 6 feet tall, with black hair and a pony tail.

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IT'S been a decade since the Tecumseh school board decided to randomly drug test students involved in extracurricular activities. That 1998 decision kicked off a protracted legal battle that ended with a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision in the district's favor.

Until the high court's ruling, schools that required testing did so almost exclusively for athletes. Tecumseh officials surely had no idea their policy decision would end up a matter of national debate. Ten years later, many schools have drug testing programs that go beyond athletes. The U.S. Department of Education even offers grant money to help school districts finance drug testing programs.

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Unknown centuries after someone first decided that lighting up marijuana led to good feelings, the debate continues over the drug and its effects.

Proponents argue it's a natural way to alter the mood and feel better, with few or no side effects.

Opponents, while not proclaiming it the "evil weed" portrayed in the old film "Reefer Madness," cite new scientific evidence that marijuana has longer short- and long-term effects than known years ago.

A new White House report links marijuana use in teens to a dangerous combination that can lead to dependency, mental illness, or thoughts of suicide, according to the Associated Press.

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If the random drug-testing program in Enid is allowed to expire due to lack of funding, it will be one less defensive measure to help keep kids away from drugs and alcohol.

The random drug-testing program was started three years ago with a local grant and has continued through a federal grant. The testing program was controversial at first; however, school officials believe it has met its objectives in providing some students just one more reason to say no to drugs or alcohol.

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To the Editor:

I'm responding to Courtney Bryce's story: "Forum to discuss medical marijuana" (Edmond Sun, 4-18).

I'd like to add that one of the medications prescribed by my personal physician for my arthritis pain and inflammation, has the rare potential side effect of death. In other words, if I take this medication as prescribed, I can die as a result.

On the other hand, marijuana has never been documented to kill a single person in the 5,000 year history of its use.

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Lighthorse Tribal Police Officer To Be Cross-Deputized

ANADARKO, Okla. - The Muscogee (Creek) Nation finalized the deal between its Lighthorse Tribal Police and the Drug Enforcement Administration in which an officer would be cross-deputized as a federal agent beginning April 8. Muscogee Chief A.D. Ellis signed the agreement into law.

A selected Lighthorse Tribal Police officer will undergo federal training to become a DEA agent based out of the Tulsa task force office. The resolution was originally passed in the Muscogee (Creek) Council March 29 and had to wait for Ellis to sign the measure to become law.

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EDMOND -- A few research studies have shown that marijuana can shrink some cancers and prevent some types of Alzheimer's. Despite this, medical marijuana is legal in only 12 states.

The Drug Policy Forum of Oklahoma and the Drug Policy Reform Network of Oklahoma will team up to present "Marijuana is Medicine" from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Edmond Library, 10 S. Boulevard.

The forum will include presentations by a doctor, registered nurse and several Oklahoma residents who would qualify for medical marijuana if it was legal. A question-and-answer session will follow.

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Sometimes, it's amazing what one finds out through asking. And sometimes, not even that.

Because just the other day, on the phone with Butch Peters to see if he had any favorites in the race to fill his old job as Norman High football coach, the 35-year veteran of the classroom and sideline, added a new topic to the discussion, quite clear he was on the record.

"They've talked for two years about drug testing and something needs to be done about that at both high schools," he said. "It needs to be a priority because it's a major, major problem in Norman right now."

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They not only graduated from the School of Hard Knocks, they also graduated from the District 18 Drug Court.

Seven people who were facing years and years in prison because of drug charges successfully completed the 18-24 month program and were graduated Friday.

Their charges were either dismissed or dropped altogether, and now they're out in the world, drug-free and armed with the knowledge of how to stay that way.

Special Judge Bill Layden, who has been overseeing the District 18 Drug Court since it started here, said it was only appropriate that Ryan Barton, who was the first participant, "be the first one out."

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At no point during any of my arrests, do I remember being asked if I was on drugs or if I needed any help. I was in a state of denial, like most drug addicts, so I sure wasn't going to volunteer being a drug addict and being locked up in rehab for six months when I was fixing to be let go.

I was never sent to any drug court or rehab.

While I was on probation, I never showed up to see my probation officer at the time I was supposed to. This should have thrown up a red flag, but I was never drug tested in the three years I was on probation. At one point, my probation officer asked if I could pass a drug test. I told him no, that I had smoked some pot. He told me to clean up and that was that.

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