A wide array of pundits has been referring to the recent election as "historic" because, for the first time, an African-American was elected president. But for Jeff Morris, a sophomore at Suffolk University in Boston, the election was historic for a different reason. Morris, who started a chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws at Suffolk this semester, is celebrating the passage of Massachusetts Ballot Question 2, which decriminalizes the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana, making it a civil offense instead of a criminal one. [continues 939 words]
Libertarian Favors Legalization After growing up with "Just Say No" with television commercials imploring them to be "Above the Influence," today's college students have spent their youths grounded in America's so-called "war on drugs." But on Tuesday night, students filled List Auditorium to hear one man's take on exactly why the whole campaign makes no sense. Jeffrey Miron, Harvard economics professor, outspoken libertarian and staunch advocate of drug legalization, told his audience that since his positions tend to be unpopular, he gets a "weird feeling" when an audience agrees with him. [continues 559 words]
CRANSTON, R.I. -- Classic American diners are dinosaurs these days. Many of them, anyway. Take Sherwood's Diner, once so popular in Worcester, Mass., that patrons who were firefighters rigged a fire bell to ring inside the diner. Or Hickey's Diner, hooked to a 1954 Chevy truck on the town green in Taunton, Mass. Or the gigantic Louis' Diner in Concord, N.H., with stained-glass windows, basket-weave tile, and a colorful history, including having an owner who was convicted of rum-running during Prohibition. [continues 1140 words]
It was one of the good things in a bad year. It was a serious attempt to put some fairness and common sense into a system sadly lacking in either. It was an attempt to keep people who shouldn't be in prison out of prison. It was hopeful. And it was shot down by Governor Carcieri, who apparently wants to keep the ACI running at full capacity and then some. So on Wednesday, people gathered across from the ACI in Cranston to point out how really shortsighted the governor has been. [continues 536 words]
PROVIDENCE -- The General Assembly's rush to adjournment took a pause, as legislators in both the Senate and House of Representatives called it a night on Friday and took the unusual step of reconvening on Saturday morning to wrap-up the legislative session. Here are some of the highlights of the end-of-session lawmaking blitz: Efforts to establish "compassion centers" where registered medical marijuana users could obtain the drug without dealing on the sometimes dangerous black market failed, but a joint House and Senate resolution was passed to create a study commission that will spend the legislative off-season evaluating the idea. [continues 276 words]
ONCE AGAIN the cancer diagnosis of a well-known national figure -- in this case Sen. Ted Kennedy -- has sparked a flurry of interest in efforts to treat and cure this frustrating, complex and deadly illness. One of the most promising areas of research involves a group of chemicals whose origins may seem shocking. The chemicals, called cannabinoids, are the active components in marijuana. Yes, marijuana, the very same drug that seems to generate endless controversy here and abroad, and that our government still claims causes cancer -- a claim that appears to stand reality on its head. [continues 551 words]
The Senate recently voted 29-6 to pass legislation allowing the establishment of marijuana dispensaries in order to provide a safe venue for patients prescribed medical marijuana to obtain the drug. Sponsored by Senator Rhoda Perry (D-Dist. 3), the bill would fill a hole in current law whereby patients prescribed medical marijuana are unable to safely obtain it. Perry sponsored the bill that created Rhode Island's medical marijuana program two years ago along with House sponsor Rep. Thomas C. Slater (D-Dist. 10). He is also sponsoring the dispensary legislation this year in the House version of the bill, H-7888. The House Health, Education and Welfare Committee held that bill for further study in early April. [continues 399 words]
PROVIDENCE -- For the second year in a row, state lawmakers have approved a bill to wipe out the state's mandatory minimum sentences for serious drug crimes, such as the sale of heroin, cocaine or significant amounts of marijuana. And for the second year in a row, Republican Governor Carcieri is likely to veto it. Since this "is essentially the same bill that went to the governor last year, and he vetoed it, it is reasonable to believe it will receive the same treatment this year," said Carcieri spokeswoman Barbara Trainor in response to inquiries after the measure cleared its final legislative hurdle yesterday. [continues 615 words]
PROVIDENCE -- The Senate approved legislation yesterday that would create "compassion centers" where chronically ill patients enrolled in the state's medical marijuana program could openly purchase the drug. Despite the 29-to-6 vote, the bill faces opposition in the House of Representatives and is not expected to become law this year. "I would really have to have a sock over my head if I didn't know that," said the bill's sponsor, Sen. Rhoda E. Perry, D-Providence. The legislation is named in part for her nephew, Edward O. Hawkins, who died of complications from AIDS and cancer. [continues 329 words]
PROVIDENCE - A bill to create "compassion centers" to dispense medical marijuana that appeared headed for passage in the Senate was derailed at the last minute by an amendment that would have forbidden smoking the drug in cars or where children are present. When the oral amendment offered by Sen. Leo Blais passed on a vote of 18-16, the sponsor of the original bill, Sen. Rhoda Perry, moved to have the measure sent back to the committee she chairs for a second try at having the bill pass without the amendment. [continues 815 words]
State Allows Drug Use For Suffering Patients A year after making medical marijuana legal for patients to use, Rhode Island lawmakers say it's time to establish a safe and legal means for them to obtain the drug. Right now, qualifying patients may grow marijuana, but they can't legally buy it. As a result, they often resort to buying it on the street. Some legislators and doctors call that scenario an unwanted weak link in an otherwise successful law. They've heard too many stories like that of Buddy Coolen, 29, a medical marijuana user who three months ago was robbed at gunpoint by a drug dealer while trying to buy marijuana to treat his debilitating gastrointestinal condition. [continues 495 words]
I agree with the editorial in favor of changing the federal law in order to protect patients in states that have permitted marijuana for medical use. However, in your article on Feb. 14, titled "Marijuana quandary," you have one important omission in regard to the existence of national legislation. I have in fact introduced that very legislation in every year since 1997. The States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act would give effect to decisions made by the states to prescribe marijuana when, in the physicians' medical judgment, it is an appropriate treatment. This bill would allow states, by their appropriate decision-making processes and without fear of federal interference, to decide if they wish to let physicians practicing medicine in those states add marijuana to the long list of substances they can prescribe when they believe it to be medically indicated. Furthermore, my bill would put a stop to federal raids and criminal penalties on patients who are following state law by eliminating federal penalties related to the medical use of marijuana in states where the activity has been approved by the legislature or the people (through the referendum or initiative process). [continues 189 words]
I'm writing about Bob Kerr's outstanding March 26 column: "Time to legalize marijuana." The headline should have been: "Time to re-legalize marijuana." For most of our nation's history, marijuana was legal. And contrary to the Reefer Madness propaganda and lies that created the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 that criminalized marijuana, we had almost no problems with marijuana or its users. There are two types of people who support the continued criminalization of marijuana: Those with a vested financial interest in the prohibition of marijuana. This includes drug-war cheerleading politicians who are probably on the payroll of the drug cartels; and suckers -- taxpayers who pay to support the world's largest prison system, our unwinnable war on drugs and who have bought into the propaganda and lies of the drug-war bureaucracy and industry. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
PROVIDENCE -- A year after passing permanent medical marijuana legislation, lawmakers say it's time to establish a safe and legal means for patients to obtain the drug. Right now, qualifying patients may grow marijuana, but since the state provides no access to the drug, they often resort to buying it on the street. Legislators and doctors call that scenario an unwanted weak link in an otherwise successful law. They've heard too many stories like that of Warwick's Buddy Coolen, 29, a medical marijuana user who three months ago was robbed at gunpoint by the drug dealer while trying to buy marijuana to treat his debilitating gastrointestinal condition. [continues 747 words]
Marijuana can get silly. Sure, it can do damage when it becomes a constant alternative to reality. But in too many ways it has become a slapstick prop, causing people in uniform to run around and around until they fall down. Or run into each other. And that's without smoking it. The funniest movie about marijuana is Reefer Madness. It features an actor who sucks madly on a joint, then turns into a crazed killer. That image is decades old and comically out of touch. But it is one that some people cling to even today in trying to give marijuana a place in the war on drugs that is totally unjustified. [continues 494 words]
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]
Inside Rhode Island
