Parents' dreams for their children often include, among other things, a good education, good friends, a good job and all the things they didn't have and more. Among the things they don't want for their children is a drug addiction. But for a number of teenagers who've been raised in suburban middle and upper-middle class households, the possibility of becoming addicted to drugs is a reality, and the gateway to that addiction may be sitting in your medicine cabinet. [continues 3245 words]
Pennsylvania has not yet legalized medical marijuana use. At long last, policy makers in Washington have begun to draw a line between illicit drug use and the legitimate use of drugs as medicine. In March, Eric Holder, President Obama's attorney general announced that the federal government will no longer prosecute medical marijuana clinics that operate in compliance with state laws. This means lawmakers in Harrisburg are now free to decide -- without interference from Washington -- if marijuana will fill a medical niche in Pennsylvania. [continues 569 words]
In response to Mike Seate's column "Jailing peaceful druggies big waste" (April 21 and TribLIVE.com): 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 United States than in 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 140 words]
A few Pennsylvania legislators are signing on to an important medical advance: legalizing medicinal marijuana. State Rep. Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia, has only six co-sponsors so far for his bill. But at least he is recognizing marijuana's palliative possibilities and pointing out that Pennsylvanians in pain should not have to leave the state for treatment -- or buy the drug from criminals. Cohen's H.B. 1393 would allow the use of medical marijuana under certain restrictions. The bill proposes dispensing it from "compassion centers" run by a non-profit organization or, possibly, by a state agency. Already 13 states have legalized medical marijuana; bills are also under consideration New York, New Hampshire, Michigan and Illinois. Related Stories [continues 340 words]
State Rep. Mark Cohen identified the principal obstacle to passage of his bill to legalize medical marijuana, when he announced the effort last week. The problem is broad public identification of the drug with its illegal use rather than with its potential as a legitimate therapeutic drug for people suffering from several types of cancer, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma. If marijuana wasn't called marijuana, but was introduced anew as an inexpensive pain reliever or appetite stimulant that is effective under medical supervision and less addictive than many other prescription drugs, it easily would be included among the roster of regularly prescribed drugs. [continues 136 words]
THE JOCULAR reference in the May 1 Clout column to the medical marijuana bill that I've introduced did not include any of the reasons why I believe this is a necessary and vital step. Many people, especially as they age, suffer from serious diseases for which existing prescription treatments are inadequate. Marijuana can slow the progression of glaucoma and make other dreadfully painful diseases, like cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis or Crohn's disease, more bearable. There is a vast illegal trade in marijuana. Marijuana can be a gateway drug to deadly drugs because it is part of the same criminal distribution system. Allowing legal distribution in limited medical circumstances takes some of its users out of the criminal system. [continues 198 words]
Bill Waschko reached to the shelf of vintage medicine bottles at his family's century-old drug store in Hazleton and pulled down one labeled "Cannabis." The powdered extract of marijuana was bottled by Eli Lilly and Co., but although the bottle is empty and the label has no date, marijuana was a legal drug around the country until 1937. A bill in the state House of Representatives would make marijuana legal again for medical uses, emulating action already taken in 13 states and also proposed in New York and New Jersey. [continues 462 words]
State Rep. Mark Cohen identified the principle obstacle to passage of his bill to legalize medical marijuana, when he announced the effort last week. The problem is broad public identification of the drug with its illegal use rather than with its potential as a legitimate therapeutic drug for people suffering from several types of cancer, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma. If marijuana wasn't called marijuana, but was introduced anew as an inexpensive pain reliever or appetite stimulant that is effective under medical supervision and less addictive than many other prescription drugs, it easily would be included among the roster of regularly prescribed drugs. [continues 136 words]
HAZLETON, Pennsylvania - Bill Waschko reached to the shelf of vintage medicine bottles at his family's century-old drug store in Hazleton and pulled down one labeled "Cannabis." The powdered extract of marijuana was bottled by Eli Lilly and Co., although the bottle is empty and the label has no date, marijuana was a legal drug around the country until 1937. A bill in the state House of Representatives would make marijuana legal again for medical uses, emulating action already taken in 13 states and also proposed in New York and New Jersey. [continues 463 words]
The Philadelphia Police Department is heavily dependent upon informants to build cases against drug dealers, a reliance whose risks are painfully apparent as a probe expands into the conduct of its undercover narcotics unit. Officer Jeffrey Cujdik, whose soured relationship with a confidential informant triggered a federal-local investigation into the Narcotics Field Unit, employed informants to justify 95 percent of his drug searches in the last three years, records show. An Inquirer analysis of 186 search warrants that Cujdik was granted since 2006 shows that the officer cited confidential informants in nearly all his cases. None listed an undercover drug buy that he personally made, and only one listed a buy by another officer. [continues 497 words]
Portugal's success with decriminalization, which makes starkly obvious the abject failure of America's war on drugs, should be a model for U.S. reform. Portugal decriminalized all drugs, even cocaine and heroin, in 2001. Drug trafficking remains a crime but possession and use of small amounts are administrative violations, not crimes, with the emphasis on prevention and treatment. As detailed by Glenn Greenwald in a new Cato Institute (cato.org) white paper, Portugal has remedied societal ills that stem from handling drug users as criminals while avoiding pitfalls predicted by drug-war advocates. [continues 140 words]
Frustrated by the refusal of state legislators to even discuss the issue of medical marijuana with him, Chuck Homan brought his campaign for legalizing pot for medical uses to the steps of the state Capitol Monday. Homan, 58, of Glenville, York County, said he organized the rally after being unable to convince local lawmakers to support laws similar to those passed in a dozen other states that allow the use of medical marijuana. "I contacted my local legislators," Homan said. "They said it was too controversial to deal with. They won't even see me or talk to me." [continues 92 words]
On April 10, two brothers from Moon were charged with smuggling pot. The operation was not run out of dinky dorm rooms, either. U.S. Attorney Rodger Heaton of Illinois charged Noah Landfried, 24, and Ross Landfried, 27, with bringing more than a ton of weed into the United States from Mexico, and selling it. The pot, the feds say, reached the streets via their family home in Moon, where the Landfrieds allegedly broke down their shipments into convenient, one-pound blocks for distribution. [continues 356 words]
Dear Editor, Last week was Earth Week at Drexel, and it was nice to see an initiative for environmental protection that involved individuals rather than government intervention. Drexel Green sponsored many initiatives, including reducing use of bottled water, recycling plastic bags, cleaning up the campus, using electricity wisely and many other topics of interest. Comparing individual contributions to protection of the environment to government intervention makes sense. The government owns about 40 percent of the United States' land mass - - which has been left polluted by the negligent Department of Energy and Defense and the U.S. Military. While not cleaning up its own property, the government continues to spend millions of tax dollars on regulation after regulation against the citizens. [continues 164 words]
Protesters rallying in Harrisburg Monday for the legalization of medicinal marijuana have a great goal in mind, even if their approach is slightly misguided Twelve states have already passed bills legalizing it, and Pennsylvania would be smart to add itself to that list. Marijuana can be an effective substitute for habit-forming painkillers with horrific side effects. As it stands, pharmaceutical companies and the groups that lobby for them have way too much power in this country. While this makes the legalization of marijuana a bit more difficult, it's also more incentive. [continues 265 words]
Long-ago pothead favors repealing the laws, but now regards reefer- toking as not-such-a-good idea. I knew when I saw my father sitting at the kitchen table that I was in trouble. I was a teenager, returning home late from a night out with my friends. I was high. As we did most nights, my friends and I had been smoking pot. It was 1970. Nearly everyone I knew my age smoked pot. [continues 1112 words]
The Issue: There is a move away from attacking the illegal drug supply toward decreasing demand. Our Opinion: Programs to reduce demand or legalize drugs also have serious drawbacks. A sea change in the war on drugs is in the offing, and we're not sure whether that means smoother sailing or rougher waters ahead. The Obama administration's drug czar nominee and others, including Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, have announced a new emphasis on reducing demand, rather than simply attacking the supply of illicit drugs. [continues 482 words]
A couple of years ago, Charles Homan was driving by some apartments that he and his wife owned. He spotted a tenant they were trying to evict walking down the stairs outside. Homan pulled over and started screaming at her. She retreated into the apartment. He stood out on the lawn for a long time, screaming, cursing and waving his arms as his outpouring of anger became ever more hysterical. Then he returned to his home in Manheim Township, where he continued the tantrum in front of his wife. [continues 1105 words]
A couple of years ago, Charles Homan was driving by some apartments that he and his wife owned. He spotted a tenant they were trying to evict walking down the stairs outside. Homan pulled over and started screaming at her. She retreated into the apartment. He stood out on the lawn for a long time, screaming, cursing and waving his arms as his outpouring of anger became ever more hysterical. Then he returned to his home in Manheim Township, where he continued the tantrum in front of his wife. [continues 1119 words]
The war on drugs was lost long ago, but that hasn't stopped us from wasting more than an estimated $1 trillion fighting it, plus incurring millions of casualties in the form of lives ruined unnecessarily. In the process, we have purposely rejected effective weapons against drug use in favor of methods that had been proven unworkable, like massive arrests and harsh sentences for possession. That finally may be changing. Last week, President Obama appointed A. Thomas McLellan, University of Pennsylvania psychiatry professor, as second in command to the nation's drug czar. This will put one of the nation's leading authorities on addiction in charge of drug policy. [continues 419 words]
Inside Pennsylvania
