Justice System Examined in Oklahoma's Top-Rank for Female Incarcerations Editor's Note-Oklahoma Watch is an independent investigative and in-depth reporting team that partners with news organizations and higher education to produce impact journalism in the public interest. This is the first installment in a series of stories in which Oklahoma Watch, the Tulsa World and The Oklahoman are examining the issue of Oklahoma's female incarceration rate. For more, visit tulsaworld.com/okwatch. In 1908, Kate Barnard, Oklahoma's feisty first commissioner of charities and corrections, traveled to Kansas to investigate the alleged torture and mistreatment of Oklahoma prisoners. Oklahoma federal prisoners - and Oklahoma Territory's felons before them - were incarcerated in the state penitentiary in Lansing, Kan., because the new state had no prison. Barnard, elected to her state post before women had the right to vote, had been instrumental in lobbying the first Legislature to adopt prison laws that were then among the most progressive in the nation. "In Oklahoma," she had said, "we would do differently." [continues 1663 words]
Dear Editor of the Daily O'Collegian, Calvin Warner got an arrow-splitting bull's eye (Legalized pot could reduce deficit, Nov. 9, 2010) exposing cannabis (marijuana) prohibition and extermination as more harmful than the plant itself. Another reason to legalize cannabis that doesn't get mentioned is because it is Biblically correct because God, The Ecologician, indicates He created all the seed bearing plants saying they are all good on literally the very first page (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only Biblical restriction placed on cannabis is to accept it with thankfulness (1 Timothy 4:1-5). What kind of government cages responsible humans for using what God says is good? Truthfully, Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
Since 1937, marijuana has been an illegal substance in the United States. In recent years, there has been some resurgence of dissenters to this law, but even today they are generally cast aside as "potheads" or as immoral and radical. Yet, after examining the facts, I realized that I too found myself an advocate of legalizing marijuana. In fact, I began to think that, in a time of recession and deficit like the present, perhaps we can't afford not to. [continues 475 words]
One veteran law enforcement agent believes drug education is something that should be a regular part of the curriculum in schools and not just done during special times like Red Ribbon Week. That was one the points made this week by Dub Turner, who brought a very serious drug prevention message to Pauls Valley's junior high students. Local schools brought in different speakers and offered a variety of activities as part of this week's Red Ribbon campaign, which is the oldest and largest drug prevention campaign in the country. [continues 297 words]
Re-legalizing cannabis (marijuana) alone will lower incarceration rates. Ending cannabis prohibition will also reduce hard drug addiction rates, which in turn lowers crime rates. Responsible adults who use the relatively safe, God-given plant cannabis often purchase it from people who also sell hard drugs, which increases the likelihood of hard drug addiction. RE-legalizing cannabis will eliminate that gateway effect. Another reason cannabis prohibition increases hard drug addiction rates is due to DARE telling lies, half-truths and propaganda regarding the plant. How many people heard DARE say cannabis was very bad and then realize it's not nearly as bad as claimed and think other substances must not be so bad either only to become addicted to honest hard drugs? Further, ending the sequel to prohibition will save wasted valuable limited law enforcement resources, read taxes. It may also decrease alcoholism and contempt for laws and government. Legalizing cannabis is one of the most important issues of our time. Truthfully, Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, in 2008 over 7.3 million people were on probation, in jail or prison or on parole at the year's end. That means that right now, at any given time, about 3.2 percent of all U.S. adults are under correctional supervision. Out of that 7.3 million, about 2.5 million are prisoners. The U.S. has 2.5 million people locked away at this moment. In fact, when you look at comparisons to other developed countries, you notice that it's a lot of people, not only by the number of prisoners, but also by proportion of the population. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rates in the world. [continues 539 words]
Law officers have seized marijuana plants by the hundreds in recent weeks, from sophisticated indoor growing operations to massive outdoor farms tended by growers who work for Mexican cartels. In west Tulsa County, deputies even found it growing in trees. It's the time of year that pot busts abound, the harvest season for outdoor growing, said Mark Woodward, spokesman for the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control. "This is the time of year that the plants are so large they are easier to see from the air," Woodward said, referring to the bureau's efforts to spot pot patches from planes. [continues 606 words]
Following the recent indictment of several Tulsa police officers, the district attorney's office has widened its review of drug cases to include cases that involve eight officers whose names have surfaced in a grand jury investigation. District Attorney Tim Harris' office told the Tulsa World that the number of cases under review has grown exponentially since the indictment of five police officers and the naming of two additional officers cooperating with U.S. Attorney Jane W. Duke of the Eastern District of Arkansas. An eighth officer has pleaded guilty. [continues 1049 words]
As digital drugs or i-dosing appears in Oklahoma, experts warn that it's not the sounds themselves that should worry parents. The websites where the tones are sold entice young people down a slippery slope, they say. Schools and drug experts are warning parents to beware of "digital drugs" that Mustang High School students blamed for their apparent intoxication. Three students were sent to the principal's office when they appeared to be high on drugs or alcohol in March, said Mustang School District Superintendent Bonnie Lightfoot. She said the kids explained that they had tried something called "i-dosers." [continues 672 words]
The one-pot recipe for methamphetamine is spreading and the addiction isn't stopping in Oklahoma. Only rumors hint at the origins of a recipe poisoning Oklahomans. Some credit a college chemistry student paid to perfect the process. Others say incarcerated drug cooks created a new method. However it came about, the "one-pot" or "shake and bake" process of cooking methamphetamine is spreading. By May's end, law enforcement officers reported seizing nearly 300 meth labs, putting the state on track to exceed the 743 labs found in 2009, data from the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control shows. [continues 701 words]
In Wednesday the 14th's letters to the editor, a retired detective argued that the government had a duty to protect the people from putting harmful substances into our bodies. He was speaking about smoking marijuana. He then went on to say that if you step outside of cigarettes, alcohol, Prozac, or Valium you will be punished in order to protect you from whatever harmful substance you used, implying that these substances are harmless. I would like to point out that CDC statistics state that alcohol directly cause over 22,000 deaths in the US in 2006, and indirect deaths are estimated at over 100,000. This number has increased every year since. The CDC also estimates that around 443,000 die as a result of exposure to tobacco or tobacco smoke. Not to mention the costly addiction that makes it difficult to stop. Prozac and Valium have the potential to kill upon overdose, and can cause dependence after prolonged use. The current direct death toll from Marijuana is 0. No one has ever died from smoking pot. [continues 115 words]
Regarding marijuana prohibition, the government has an interest, nay a duty, to protect its citizens from harmful subtances they might put in their body. Thus that government imposes punishment for doing so, in the name of protecting the citizen. This is a rational course of action, if that country is run by nanny-state liberals who believe the government is the solution to all problems. Prohibition is a policy whereby the government threatens its citizens with punishment, backed up by the police, prosecutors and prisons, for anyone who steps outside the box of alcohol, tobacco, Prozac and Valium. Yes, in regards to our bodies, they are owned by the Big Brother. Detective/Officer Howard Wooldridge (retired) Drug Policy Specialist, COP [end]
I'm writing about Jess Eddy's thoughtful column: "Marijuana laws oppress us all". Marijuana is the foundation of our so-called war on drugs. Remove marijuana from the equation and the whole drug war will collapse. The so-called war on drugs is a huge industry and huge bureaucracy. Victory in the drug war is not possible, nor is it the goal. Victory in the drug war would mean that the drug war industry and bureaucracy are out of business. [continues 159 words]
Dear Editor, Regarding Jess Eddy's April 9th column, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, 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. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched federal bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda. [continues 135 words]
Dear Editor, Philip Reiser got an arrow splitting bull's-eye (Legalize It, End A War, April 6, 2010) calling for credible drug law reform. Re-legalizing the relatively safe, God-given plant cannabis (marijuana) alone would make a world of difference. It's extremely popular, safer than beer, wine or whiskey, can not ever cause an overdose and accounts to 60% to 70% of cartels business according to government. Cannabis should be regulated and taxed. Another reason to stop caging responsible adults for using cannabis that doesn't get mentioned is because it's Biblically correct since Christ God Our Father, The Ecologician, indicates He created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only Biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness; - -see 1 Timothy 4:1-5 (Apostasy), where it also seems to Biblically predict cannabis prohibition before it occurs and further, specifically identifies the type of people who will be responsible for the plants prohibition. Truthfully, Stan White Dillon, CO [end]
To the Editor of The Collegian: I'm writing about Philip Reiser's thoughtful column: "Legalize it, end a war". The only way to effectively deal with the Mexican drug cartels is to dismantle them same way we dismantled the alcohol cartels in 1933. Of course, many drug war cheerleaders will proclaim that drug use and abuse will skyrocket. In the Netherlands where marijuana has been quasi legal for several decades, the Dutch use marijuana at less than half the rate American's do. And they use heroin at less than a third the rate American's do. [continues 127 words]
More than 847,000 individuals are arrested per year in America due to repressive marijuana laws. It is puzzling to me that it is legal to purchase, distribute and consume alcohol and tobacco, yet marijuana remains a criminal substance. Roughly 50,000 people die from alcohol poisoning and 400,000 due to health complications attributed to tobacco usage every single year. Marijuana has yet to take a single life. According to the medical journal The Lancet, marijuana causes no harm to an individual's health. [continues 433 words]
Considering that I'm a Republican who has never smoked marijuana in my life, and don't ever care to in the future, I'm probably not the most likely candidate for supporting the legalization of marijuana. However, the state of the war on drugs has forced me to conclude that the legalization of marijuana is good foreign policy. According to the BBC, our insatiable desire for drugs has left 18,000 Mexicans dead since 2006, as drug cartels lash out with ever increasing violence. [continues 366 words]
The drug violence in Mexico, which has escalated into a full-fledged war, has caused over 10,000 casualties since January 2007, according to the LA Times. Others estimate the number of dead at up to 18,000. What is even more shocking than the death toll is the brutality and ruthlessness of the drug gang members and their morbid methods. There are many horror stories, such as that of the murder of the police chief of Veracruz who was killed by the cartel known as Los Zetas last year. [continues 492 words]
Tomorrow, the calendar turns to April, which just happens to be the same month for American's most celebrated underground holiday, 4/20. On April 20th, any stoner worth his weight in weed will get high, and those who went before them will fondly recall the days of their stoner glory. The holiday represents a unified act of civil disobedience. But, it doesn't always have to. Our country's attitude toward marijuana would be humorously absurd if it were fictitious. [continues 484 words]
Inside Oklahoma
