A recent court decision in California highlights the ongoing dilemma faced by medical users of marijuana. Former Air Force mechanic Gary Ross sued after the telecommunications company he was working for fired him over use of the drug, even though he possessed a doctor's recommendation. Mr. Ross had been using marijuana under the state's 12-year-old Compassionate Use Act to ease chronic pain from a back injury. He did not seek to use the drug on the job but rather on his own time. [continues 379 words]
When do the police have a right to look between your buttocks to see if there are drugs hidden there? A federal appeals court addressed that question this week in overturning a ruling that said a Woonsocket police officer lacked the reasonable suspicion required to check for drugs between Kenny Barnes' buttocks. Barnes, 28, of Woonsocket, is charged with possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute. Barnes was strip searched after his arrest, and when the police told him he had to undergo a visual cavity search, he "reached behind his back and removed a bag containing cocaine base from between his buttocks," according to the decision. (Crack cocaine is a form of cocaine base.) [continues 817 words]
PROVIDENCE -- Civil-rights leaders and politicians made a last ditch effort yesterday to get the General Assembly to override Governor Carcieri's veto and abolish the state's minimum mandatory drug sentencing laws. The big question remains: Will the issue be presented for an override at Tuesday's special session of the General Assembly? House Finance Committee Chairman Steven M. Costantino, D-Providence, said yesterday that the leadership had not committed to an agenda for the special session. Translation: It's anyone's guess whether the issue of minimum mandatory drug sentencing will be heard next week. [continues 286 words]
PROVIDENCE, R.I.-When 17-year-old Dennys George was arrested this summer, allegedly for carrying 10 grams of crack cocaine, he was taken handcuffed and shackled to the state prison's high-security wing-not a juvenile facility. George said he was strip-searched and spent the night in a cell with another teen. Though he didn't have contact with older inmates, he wouldn't shower because he was afraid of being near them. "They told me, 'You're going to spend some time with the big boys,'" George said, recounting a talk with police. "I was so stressed, I didn't even know what was going to happen to me." [continues 746 words]
On Monday, Sept. 24, members from a diverse group of local organizations, including RIC students and alumni, gathered in front of the State House to speak out against Governor Donald L. Carcieri's recent vetoes on several bills; encouraging the legislature to set a date for a special override session. Those present included members from the ACLU, Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE), Marriage Equality RI, Ocean State Action, SEIU Local 1199 and United Nurses & Allied Professionals as well as members from the Rhode Island College and Brown chapters of Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). [continues 351 words]
My name is no longer Mommy or simple Kel. My name is Kelly who suffers from fibromyalga, Multiple Sclerosis and pain from hell. It is hard to wake up and put a smile on my face. When at times my world is a very dark place. My husband and children can light up my life.... I do my best I can to be a wonderful mother and loving wife. My illnesses are known as the beast within... However smoking marijuana helps me fight the battle to win. [continues 320 words]
The old life of Kelly Powers began to slip away two years ago. Her husband had bought her a new motorcycle for her 31st birthday, but during the vision test for her license, Powers realized something was wrong. She'd been getting chronic headaches and was clumsy at times. She had trouble holding a bottle for her infant daughter. Then her hands couldn't seem to hold her baby. It was multiple sclerosis. Within a year, the disease was claiming enough of her body that she had to give up her daycare business and retreat to her bed. [continues 3392 words]
Michael D. Cutler's Aug. 6 column, "An opportunity for Edwards to lead," is a well thought-out article. However, I believe a politician's position on the drug war is a leading indicator of his character, or lack thereof. This would be a good shot for John Edwards to at least talk about the war over here vs. the war over there. Well, this will not happen because we have a panel of cowards on the Democratic as well as the Republican side. [continues 53 words]
The original Prohibition - of alcoholic beverages - was an abysmal failure, and the sequel is worse. America is hungry for honest politicians ("An opportunity for Edwards to lead," by Michael D. Cutler, Commentary, Aug. 6) to oppose the so-called war on drugs. Other political leaders who fit the description are Ohio's Dennis Kucinich and Texas's Ron Paul. At the very minimum America must re-legalize cannabis and regulate it like alcohol. Murder rates decreased for 10 years after the repeal of the original Prohibition and there's reason to believe ending the sequel will have similar effects. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
BROOKLINE -- SEN. JOHN EDWARDS'S chances of passing Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination seem slim and none at the moment. Edwards must get a more compelling plan to lift America and demonstrate leadership, or his campaign is doomed. Clinton and Obama will not be out-spent, out-organized or out-messaged, unless Edwards seizes voter interest on an issue with the impact of the Iraq War. Re-declaring war on poverty will not pass his competitors, and declaring peace in Iraq is not a distinction. [continues 571 words]
It is apparent Gov. Donald Carcieri still believes the federal government's lies regarding cannabis. Here in Oregon there are over 2,500 doctors who have written recommendations for patients to use cannabis as medicine. In saying he does not support the bill because it "violates federal law and ignores the drug-approval process as established by the Food and Drug Administration," your governor ignores the needs of citizens living with a health-care system that is failing millions. Described in 1988 by a Drug Enforcement Administration administrative-law judge, Francis Young, as "one of the safest therapeutic substances known to man," cannabis has been demonized for over seven decades. Its prohibition was founded with no scientific basis and relied on the bigoted fantasies of a career prohibition bureaucrat named Harry Anslinger. [continues 81 words]
PROVIDENCE - Standing firm on his veto threat despite an almost certain override in both chambers of the General Assembly, Gov. Donald Carcieri Monday rejected legislation to make Rhode Island's medical marijuana law permanent. In identical veto messages to House Speaker William Murphy and Senate President Joseph Montalbano, Carcieri said: "If enacted, this legislation will enable qualified persons to acquire, possess, cultivate, manufacture, use, deliver, transfer or transport marijuana or paraphernalia relating to the consumption of marijuana" for problems ranging from cancer to unspecified pain. [continues 538 words]
PROVIDENCE - As expected, Governor Carcieri yesterday vetoed medical marijuana legislation. And Democratic House leader Gordon Fox said he believes state lawmakers will override that veto. "I support efforts to provide effective pain management to persons suffering from debilitating conditions, but not in a way that violates federal law and ignores the drug approval process as established by the Food and Drug Administration," Carcieri, a Republican, said in his veto message. He said the legislation "could potentially subject Rhode Islanders to federal prosecution, while significantly complicating the responsibilities of state and local law enforcement officials." [continues 185 words]
PROVIDENCE -- Pamela Bailey sat quietly on the wooden bench inside State House Room 212 as the politicians approved the bill named for her son. She would say later that she was grateful, but that she didn't need a state law to remember her firstborn. "We didn't have to have it in the limelight. He'll always be with me," she said of Edward O. Hawkins, whose name will forever appear on the title of the state's medical marijuana law. It was Bailey's sister, Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, D-Providence, who suggested the name. [continues 366 words]
PROVIDENCE -- The Senate voted yesterday to reappoint Patricia Martinez to head the state Department of Children, Youth and Families, an agency facing millions in projected cuts next year as Governor Carcieri tries to rein in social spending. The chamber unanimously endorsed Martinez as the $127,501-a-year director of the agency with 789 authorized employees and a $293-million budget this year. She has held the director's position since her appointment in 2005. The DCYF is facing substantial cuts in the coming year. Facing hundreds of millions in projected deficits, the governor has proposed reducing the department's budget by 26 percent, to $215 million. [continues 655 words]
PROVIDENCE - Following in the footsteps of Wednesday's House vote, the Senate approved legislation Thursday to make the state's medical marijuana law permanent. The vote was 28-5, far exceeding the three-fifths vote required to survive the veto Gov. Donald Carcieri says is likely to come. The law that protects from arrest or prosecution patients who suffer from a debilitating medical condition as certified by a physician and one or two "caregivers" who help them procure, grow or use the drug, was passed over the governor's veto in January, 2006, it is set to expire on June 30 unless a so-called "sunset clause" is eliminated. The now-identical measures that passed the House and Senate this week do just that. Under General Assembly procedure, the House bill will now go to the Senate for passage and the Senate bill will go to the House. [continues 765 words]
PROVIDENCE - Following the lead of the House of Representatives, the Senate overwhelmingly approved legislation Thursday that would make permanent the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. The Senate vote was 28-5, a plurality that easily surpassed the 60 percent threshold needed to overturn an expected veto by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri. All four Newport County senators voted for the bill. In 2005, the General Assembly passed legislation legalizing the doctor-prescribed use of marijuana for patients with debilitating diseases such as cancer, multiple sclerosis or AIDS. The patient could possess up to 5 ounces of useable marijuana or grow up to 12 marijuana plants. The patient also could have up to two qualified "caregivers" who could help the patient buy marijuana. [continues 386 words]
This certainly is a blue state. Only somewhere so liberal - or progressive, whichever one prefers - as Rhode Island could a legislature buck the political wisdom that traditionally says being soft on drugs is bad in every scenario. There's something very bold about a General Assembly that would put aside decades of scare-mongering propaganda and acknowledge marijuana - - long demonized as a scourge of the youth and unmotivated - might actually have legitimate and supportable uses. So we'll pass along our kudos to the General Assembly for making permanent its legalization of medical marijuana for certain patients suffering pain that can't truly be mitigated in any other way. That the common recreational use of the drug has attached to it such a pervasive stigma as to make even doctors reluctant to acknowledge its medical benefits is simply sad; that legislators could look past the stigma is wholeheartedly encouraging. [continues 313 words]
PROVIDENCE -- With two months to spare, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted yesterday to make permanent a law that legalizes marijuana for medicinal purposes. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill today -- and is expected to approve it easily. Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize medical marijuana last year; since then New Mexico has passed similar legislation. However, Rhode Island's pioneering move had an expiration date. The law has a built-in sunset clause for June 30, unless legislators make it permanent. [continues 602 words]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --State senators voted Thursday to make permanent a program allowing the chronically ill and their caregivers to possess and use marijuana for pain relief. The bill passed 28-5, a margin wide enough to sustain a possible veto from Republican Gov. Don Carcieri, who vetoed the original bill in 2005. House lawmakers passed an identical measure on Wednesday by a similarly large margin. Rhode Island became the eleventh state in the nation last year to begin a medical marijuana program. It expires on June 30 unless lawmakers renew it. [continues 308 words]
Rhode Island's medical marijuana laws lets suffering people use pot (with a doctor's permission) to relieve their pain, a humane idea in the Ocean State's great tradition of respecting personal freedom. Before the law expires in June, the General Assembly should make it permanent -- and do it in time to override Governor Carcieri's promised veto. As critics point out, there are plenty of problems with the law. Most center around the fact that buying and possessing marijuana, in most cases, remains illegal. [continues 304 words]
To the editor: I am 32-year-old mother of two and currently a patient in Rhode Island's medical marijuana program. My life was normal and happy until a couple of years ago. Since then I have be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, fibromyagia, and anxiety disorders. As a result, chronic intramuscular pain, weakness, pins and needles, neuropathy pain, cognitive difficulties, tremors and painful spasms have become a daily struggle for me -- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. To be so young, managing a household, raising my children, and having to fight these illness every day is just so incredibly hard. Prescription drugs left me unable to be a productive mother and homemaker. These powerful drugs were turning me into a person I did not like. I did not even feel human. [continues 169 words]
PROVIDENCE - By a vote of 49-12, more than enough to override an expected veto, the House of Representatives Wednesday approved making Rhode Island's medical marijuana law permanent, with a few minor amendments. The Senate is scheduled to take up an identical bill today and leaders say it is expected to pass easily in that chamber as well. At a Statehouse news conference Wednesday, Gov. Donald Carcieri, who vetoed the original legislation two years ago, repeated his opposition and suggested another veto is likely. "It's illegal," Carcieri said in response to a question, "the Supreme Court has ruled it is illegal. [continues 442 words]
PROVIDENCE - Leaders of both the House and Senate say bills to extend the life of Rhode Island's medical marijuana law will likely pass this week, probably with enough votes to withstand a veto by Gov. Donald Carcieri. It could come to that, as the Carcieri administration has signaled it would veto the measure if it passes in its current form. Rhode Island became the 11th state to permit the possession of small amounts of marijuana for medical purposes by people with debilitating, chronic medical conditions such as cancer, AIDS and multiple sclerosis that have been certified by a physician when the House passed a bill over the governor's veto in the first days of 2006. The Senate had voted to override the veto several months earlier. [continues 782 words]
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --House lawmakers voted 49-12 on Wednesday to permanently extend a program permitting the chronically ill to possess and use marijuana for pain relief in Rhode Island. Rhode Island became the eleventh state in the country last year to decriminalize marijuana for medical purposes. The program will end on June 30 unless lawmakers pass bills making it permanent. The state Senate is planning to vote on a similar bill on Thursday. To become law, one of the bills must be adopted by both chambers. [continues 152 words]
Who's afraid of medical marijuana? Opponents' fears go unrealized with the implementation of Rhode Island's law Two hits of marijuana in the morning, and two in the evening before he goes to sleep. That's what it takes to get Bobby Ebert through the day. But Ebert's not a junkie or a college student looking for a quick high. He has AIDS -- and is one of more than 240 patients in Rhode Island whose use of marijuana is protected under state law. [continues 2840 words]
In the year since the medical marijuana program began, about 250 patients have participated. I don't presume to speak for all, but for myself, the results have been nothing short of astonishing. I suffer from a variety of conditions that cause chronic, severe pain. After some seven years of treatment, my body simply can't tolerate the doses of pain medication necessary to have an effect, making it impossible to function at any acceptable level. This program has helped restore my functionality, ending a long-term addiction to prescription painkillers, and has allowed me to participate in life after far too long a hiatus. [continues 123 words]
To the Cigar, Did you know that students with drug convictions - including possession of small amounts of marijuana - are automatically stripped of their financial aid while murderers and rapists are perfectly eligible to get government loans and grants? If you're as outraged as I am over this harmful and unfair penalty that has already affected 200,000 students, you'll be glad to learn that Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) is currently in a key position to do something about it. [continues 161 words]
Thank you for your article on the latest hearing on making the medical marijuana law permanent ("Lawmakers here impassioned plea to extend medical marijuana bill," April 3). As your article mentioned, I was one of the many patients who spoke in favor of the bill. I am deeply disturbed by the state police's claim that their opposition to the bill is somehow based on concern for patients. I was assaulted once while obtaining my medicine on the criminal market. Let there be no mistake: This law dramatically decreases the chance that patients will have to get our medicine from drug dealers. [continues 138 words]
As a forensics expert, Mahmoud ElSohly is mistaken on some key points ("Forensics expert explains marijuana testing myths, April 10, 2007"). The assertion that "Marijuana cigarettes are twice as carcinogenic as a regular cigarette," is false since there are no dead bodies to show for it, while cigarettes kill more than 1,000 Americans daily. One reason adult humans should not be caged or fined for using the God-given plant cannabis (kaneh bosm / marijuana) 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 (see 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). The "excuse" doesn't stop the government, but lately it has become clear what kind of government we have. Stan White Dillon, Colorado [end]
The war on drugs must be re-evaluated "methodically and clinically," from a global perspective, former Republican Sen. Lincoln Chafee '75 told a MacMillan 117 audience Friday. The speech kicked off the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Northeast Regional Conference, hosted at Brown this weekend. "We need to ask ourselves, is this working?" Chafee, a visiting fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies, said of current drug policies. "We have to be honest with ourselves in looking at this worldwide problem." [continues 781 words]
PROVIDENCE -- The war on drugs should be reassessed and a global drug policy established, former U.S. Sen. Lincoln D. Chafee told attendees of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Northeast Regional Conference, which kicked off yesterday evening at Brown University. "We're at the point now where we really need to assess whether or not it's working," Chafee told the crowd of about 120. "There are a lot of people who will tell you it's not working. We should be open and honest with ourselves and what are our options." [continues 604 words]
PROVIDENCE - It might be time for America, and perhaps the rest of the world, to assess its drug laws to see if they are working, former Sen. Lincoln Chafee told a regional drug policy conference at Brown University Friday. With elected leaders of some South American nations talking about legitimizing the sale of their countries' coca crops and the cultivation of opium-producing poppies "exploding" in places like Afghanistan, generating money that is funneled to terrorism and prompting poppy growers to assemble their own private militias, Chafee said at the end of his presentation it may be time for a United Nations summit on the issue. [continues 590 words]
The war on drugs has long been about heavy bombing rather than thoughtful prevention. Jails and prisons fill up due to mandatory sentencing laws. U.S. officials tell poor farmers in other countries that they have to destroy their cash crop because if they don't it will eventually go up the noses of bored Americans. And the national drug appetite continues to grow and continues to demand more and more. I remember once sitting in a college auditorium and listening to the petite Nancy Reagan bringing her "Just Say No" message to students who probably had done more research on the subject than she had. [continues 486 words]
When a student is caught in possession of marijuana, there is little they can use as an excuse to get out of being arrested or slapped with a hefty fine, according to Mahmoud ElSohly, a research professor at the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Mississippi. As part of the Forensic Science Seminar Series, ElSohly made his presentation, "Marijuana in Forensics," to about 60 students and members of the community in Pastore Chemical Laboratory Friday. Referring to his latest research, ElSohly talked about the fact and fiction of marijuana usage and why certain defenses for positive marijuana testing don't hold up in court. [continues 905 words]
Nearly two-dozen people crowded into a small and stuffy hearing room at the Rhode Island State House last Wednesday. Some came in wheelchairs, while others used white canes to guide them. They came to ask lawmakers to make Rhode Island's medical marijuana law permanent. Right now, the law is set to expire on June 30, 2007. On that date, nearly 250 patients licensed by the state health department will lose their legal privilege to use pot to help them manage the pain of serious diseases, including cancer, AIDS, MS and glaucoma. [continues 408 words]
Regarding Dr. Kenneth Mayer's thoughtful March 6 column, "Research proves effectiveness of medical marijuana use:" If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause death by overdose, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. 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 migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. [continues 96 words]
AS RHODE ISLAND debates making its medical marijuana law permanent (it's set to expire in June if not extended by the legislature), recently published research demonstrates marijuana's value for patients with life-threatening illnesses. It is clear -- as shown in a new study from the University of California, published in the prestigious medical journal Neurology -- that marijuana can sometimes provide relief when conventional drugs fail. As an HIV/AIDS physician and researcher, I have seen patients who suffer from a variety of painful and debilitating symptoms. Some are caused by the disease itself, while others may be side effects of the medicines we may need to use to treat viral illnesses such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. [continues 447 words]
Legislators, Students Seek To Make Medical Marijuana Permanent The war is not over for supporters of the Edward O. Hawkins and Thomas C. Slater Medical Marijuana Act in Rhode Island, as legislators and the University of Rhode Island Students for Sensible Drug Policy now call for the bill to remain permanent. In 2006, the Rhode Island General Assembly overrode Gov. Donald Carcieri's veto on the bill, and agreed to implement it on a trial basis. The law protects patients with debilitating medical conditions who opt marijuana as medical treatment. [continues 951 words]
As two bills in support of medical marijuana use approach hearings in the state legislature, sponsors say the current incarnation of the Rhode Island Medical Marijuana Act has garnered greater support than in any previous year. The bill's stated purpose is "to protect patients with debilitating medical conditions, and their physicians and primary caregivers, from arrest and prosecution, criminal and other penalties." Qualifying medical conditions include cancer, multiple sclerosis, AIDS and illnesses that cause severe symptoms alleviated by marijuana use, such as nausea or seizures. Sufferers and their caregivers would be allowed to acquire and cultivate the drug as well as possess relevant paraphernalia. [continues 938 words]
PROVIDENCE -- "The sky has definitely not fallen" as a result of Rhode Island's law permitting the use of medical marijuana by gravely ill patients, said Sen. Rhoda Perry. "It's gone exactly as we expected," she said. "A relatively small number of people, for whom more traditional pain treatment hasn't been effective, have been referred by their physician and have used the program successfully to relieve their pain. It has worked virtually without incident and has proven to be an effective program that doesn't promote abuse. [continues 516 words]
The Founding Fathers must be rolling over in their graves. Under their plan, individuals were to have maximum freedom to make decisions for themselves, and citizens were to retain their power to make most decisions about crime and punishment at the state level. Not so much anymore. A few weeks ago, federal drug agents raided 11 medical-marijuana centers in Los Angeles County. The U.S. attorney's office said they violated federal laws against the cultivation and distribution of marijuana. [continues 325 words]
Sick citizens should have access to cannabis. When I read that Rhonda O'Donnell called the bill "compassionate" ("Medical Marijuana Act up for review," Feb. 6), I was reminded of its Biblical implications. "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17). Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Since the implementation of the Medical Marijuana Act last spring, Rhonda O'Donnell, a 44-year-old former registered nurse with multiple sclerosis, has used marijuana to alleviate her pain without fear of breaking the law. O'Donnell, the first person in Rhode Island to apply for the Medical Marijuana Program, praised the therapeutic effects of marijuana. "It's instantaneous cooling of the burning," she said. "I don't need it that often, but when I do, it works for me." [continues 899 words]
DRUG ABUSE presents such danger to public health and safety that it requires its own war, the War on Drugs. The tangible results of three decades of this war are a quadrupling of nonviolent prisoners, resulting in a steady diversion of state funds from drug treatment and to the prison system. No price is too dear for our health and safety, but health and safety are expensive to maintain. The cost of our current abuse-prevention system, when measured in the lives lost to prison and a chronic lack of treatment available to a growing user population, is painful for its victims and expensive for taxpayers to bear. When the policy stakes and costs are high, leaders demand an accounting, to ensure progress on important policy objectives and to control the costs of a critical program. [continues 599 words]
One year ago, Rhode Island became the 11th state to legalize marijuana for medical use. Since then, more than 350 patients and caregivers have applied to become card carrying medical marijuana users. Will legislators be willing to continue the program? Rhonda O'Donnell smokes pot. No, she doesn't have a bead curtain guarding the entrance to her bedroom and, no, she doesn't sit up late with Bob Marley and the munchies. O'Donnell, 44, has multiple sclerosis. She uses marijuana to control the pain, stiffness and burning in her legs associated with MS. She started smoking pot over the last year, after the Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation legalizing the drug for medicinal purposes. She is one of almost 200 Rhode Islanders who have signed up for the program so far. [continues 971 words]
WEST WARWICK - The group of West Warwick High School students sat around drinking, laughing and talking. The SADD truth is that they were drinking Gatorade, eating cupcakes and enjoying one another's company. The group of about 20 students is trying to get the word out that drugs and alcohol aren't needed for teens to have a good time and they said that is one of many reasons they revived the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) organization. One of the founding members, junior Chelsea Carlson, said the students wanted to revive the group because they needed to get the message out there and they needed someone their fellow students could relate to. [continues 601 words]
PROVIDENCE -- The Rhode Island Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union sued General Treasurer Paul J. Tavares yesterday, challenging new regulations that allow his office to deny or reduce compensation to crime victims who have been convicted of unrelated drunken-driving or drug-dealing offenses. The treasurer administers the state's Crime Victim Compensation Program, which pays claims to crime victims, under certain conditions. Over the past two years, Tavares has adopted regulations that authorize him to deny or reduce compensation if, in the preceding five years, crime victims have been convicted on charges of driving while intoxicated, selling or delivering drugs, or possessing drugs with the intent to sell or deliver them. [continues 876 words]
To the Cigar, A great person and dear friend of many was arrested with many others in a recent drug bust on campus. This person was not a drug dealer. He was not a threat to society. Despite this, he was taken from his room at three o'clock in the morning by the police, who had a warrant for his arrest. In the bust, our friend was taken down and seven other students were arrested for selling drugs to undercover police officers. Although several counts of dealing crack, hallucinogenic mushrooms, ketamine, cocaine and marijuana were among the charges against the students, our friend was accused of "one count of delivering marijuana." [continues 898 words]
To the Cigar, I'm a little confused as to why this whole drug bust is such a huge deal. The police spend so much time and money building up cases against these kids, when liquor stores all across the country sell drugs on a daily basis in broad daylight. This information might be a little startling at first glance but the last time I checked, alcohol and tobacco are drugs. You may now stop your internal dialogue. I'm not sure as to how you can have a "war on drugs" by excluding certain, coincidentally taxed ones. Either you make all drugs illegal or you shut the hell up. [continues 136 words]
Inside Rhode Island
