An Emery Woman Is the Latest Advocate Attempting to Legalize Medical Marijuana in South Dakota Six-hundred fifty miles. That's the length Melissa Mentele has gone in search of relief. Mentele has lived with chronic pain since a 2012 workplace injury. She was moving a nursing home resident who suddenly resisted, permanently damaging Mentele's arm and shoulder in the process. Three years and a dozen medications later, she's only found one that helps: cannabis lotion. It's a cream derived from the cannabis plant, more commonly known as marijuana, and it's illegal in South Dakota. Mentele drove 650 miles to Boulder, Colo., in October and again in February to get the treatment. [continues 1098 words]
Another reason to allow citizens to use cannabis that doesn't get mentioned (Letter: Pros and cons of alcohol vs. marijuana, March 6), is because it is Biblically correct, since God (the ecologician), created all the seed bearing plants saying they're all good on literally the very first page of the Bible. A sane or moral argument to cage responsible adults who use cannabis doesn't exist. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Marijuana is an illegal substance in U.S., used by college students to get "high." It has become a recent debate over whether it is right to legalize marijuana or to keep it as an illegal substance. There are several articles that say smoking marijuana is healthier for our body compared to drinking alcohol. As an international student, I think that smoking weed is safer than drinking alcohol. My research found that 70 percent of the accidents recorded in the U.S. were because of driving and driving. On the other hand, smoking weed is less dangerous. I found out that from 1999 to 2010, just 12 percent of the accidents recorded in the U.S. were because of driving high. For example: Marijuana and alcohol are used in social activities to have fun. Marijuana and alcohol share some health effects. Both marijuana and alcohol affect the cognitive abilities of the brain during use and affect the brain and motor skills of the user. Marijuana has long-term effects when compared to alcohol. When consumed in a large amount, alcohol will destroy irreplaceable cells in the brain. Also, drinking too much can make the user violent, pass-out and unable to remember what has happened. The next day they will feel sick and will get a headache. Smoking a lot of marijuana will never make someone violent. Marijuana will help you to relieve pain if you have cancer, and the doctors can recommend it to the patient to smoke medical marijuana. It is impossible for you to find a doctor that will recommend alcohol to their patient. [continues 67 words]
Good for the North Dakota House defeating legalizing medicinal use of marijuana (aka 'pot'). The legislator who introduced the bill made the uneducated argument that "this is not a drug issue but a quality of life issue for the people of North Dakota." Oh, really. In a western state where now pot is legally obtainable, my grandson, at age 11, was introduced to pot on his school campus. Last year, at 171/2 years of age, he entered a youth rehabilitation facility for 45 days at the parent's expense. [continues 111 words]
PIERRE, South Dakota - A South Dakota Senate committee is considering a bill that would require state officials to develop testing procedures that would determine whether people applying for welfare programs are using illegal drugs. The bill would require the state Department of Social Services to develop a procedure to screen people for drug use when they apply for financial assistance programs. The department would report the initial results of the testing before next year's legislative session. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee holds a hearing on the measure Wednesday. Similar bills were rejected by lawmakers two years ago. [end]
When asked, "Do you think the use of marijuana should be made legal or not?" a recent Gallup poll found that 58 percent of American adults said yes, compared with 31 percent in 2000 and 12 percent in 1969. Let's consider two ways this huge shift in public opinion might be explained. One contends that misguided and lopsided enforcement of the marijuana prohibition laws is the cause. The other, more fundamental view contends that Americans simply no longer see any reason to continue outlawing this relatively benign substance. [continues 611 words]
in 2009, There Were No Drug Arrests in Jerauld County. a Crackdown Since Then, With the Help of a Drug Dog and Aggressive Law Enforcement, Has Produced 52 Drug-Related Charges Since the Beginning of 2010. WESSINGTON SPRINGS - What seemed like a routine motorist assist call turned into a tense, drug-related situation. Two men from Mitchell had been driving on a rural road in Jerauld County and got lost. Their vehicle got stuck in a snowbank on a dead-end road. Sheriff's Deputy Shane Mentzer responded to the call. [continues 2521 words]
Joe Graves simply doesn't have a clue about marijuana. To the Editor: Joe Graves simply doesn't have a clue about marijuana. He needs to read the following and try again: The short history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm. This is funny and fascinating, and not what you expected. The history of the marijuana gateway myth at: http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/media/schaffer1.htm The idea was fabricated from whole cloth in 1951. Anyone who makes the argument would instantly flunk any class in basic logic. [continues 312 words]
To the Editor: Joe Graves makes the common mistake of assuming that marijuana prohibition actually deters use. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults. Spain legalized personal use cultivation and has lower rates of use than the U.S. Portugal decriminalized all drugs and still has lower rates of use than the U.S. If anything, marijuana prohibition increases use by creating forbidden fruit appeal. Thanks to public health education, legal tobacco use has declined considerably, without any need to criminalize smokers or imprison tobacco farmers. The drop in the use of one of the most addictive drugs available occurred despite widespread tobacco availability. The only winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless politicians who confuse drug prohibition's tremendous collateral damage with a plan to scare up votes. Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy in Washington, D.C. [end]
Both ends of the political continuum seem to support throwing in the towel on at least some of the fronts on the war against drugs. Of the various election returns that mystified me from the most recent November plebiscite, the most confounding was the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. It's not that I don't have some libertarian leanings - I do - but the legalization of drugs isn't one of them. To me, a simple historical example, the Opium Wars, settled the issue of decriminalizing drugs for all time given the relatively unchanging disposition of human nature. [continues 1057 words]
Republican In Name Only. R.I.N.O. That is what people on the radical religious right call people, who may well have excellent Republican credentials but don't agree with all of the socially conservative doctrine, begun years ago when political consultants convinced candidate Ronald Reagan to promise the religious right anything just to get them out of their pews and into the voting booth. Today, any Republican who dares to stray from the religious right on any issue is doomed to be hounded by a relative few in the party. [continues 473 words]
The words "synthetic drugs" are relatively new to a lot of people, but those words figure to linger and mutate in our culture for a long time to come. You've probably heard a lot about this topic in the last several months, as more states and more law enforcement agencies work to combat the proliferation of these various substances. Since the problem was first detected in the U.S. in 2008, it has exploded across the national landscape like a plague. [continues 495 words]
The media have no clue how to cover the death of Whitney Houston. That's because she was slowly dying for years and many in the press simply averted their eyes. It was ultra-disturbing that a beautiful woman blessed with an extraordinary singing voice chose a self-destructive path in full view of the world. I mean, here is a person who signed a $100 million recording contract, actually sold 170 million albums and commanded high six figures to deliver a 90-minute concert. Houston was a genuine international star, and yet she often was seen in public disheveled and confused, her substance addiction apparent. The media simply did not know what to say. [continues 344 words]
The media have no bleepin' clue how to cover the death of Whitney Houston. That's because she was slowly dying for years and many in the press simply averted their eyes. It was ultra-disturbing that a beautiful woman blessed with an extraordinary singing voice chose a self-destructive path in full view of the world. I mean, here is a person who signed a $100 million recording contract, actually sold 170 million albums and commanded high six figures to deliver a 90-minute concert. Houston was a genuine international star, and yet she often was seen in public disheveled and confused, her substance addiction apparent. The media simply did not know what to say. [continues 410 words]
YSD Officials Requesting Help From Community Yankton school officials are asking the community for its help in dealing with a problem they are seeing grow exponentially in area schools -- the use of alcohol and illegal drugs by students. In the first four months of the school year, there have been 10 high school students and three middle school students caught under the influence of alcohol or drugs on school property. Its a rate that high school principal Dr. Wayne Kindle says is beyond anything he has seen in his 17 years in the district. [continues 1296 words]
Only a week has passed and already there are rumblings about another vote on medicinal marijuana in 2012. Last week, South Dakotans overwhelmingly voted against legalizing medicinal marijuana, with 63 percent of voters saying they do not want it in our state. This comes after another medicinal marijuana issue was voted down by 53 percent of South Dakota voters in 2006. So after two votes in four years, we'll have to go through this same issue again in 2012? It's frustrating. [continues 178 words]
Freshman Anna Hyronimus, a first-time voter, chose to vote against Measure 13. "Knowing that South Dakota is a conservative state, I realized that there was a very slim chance that the use of medical cannabis would pass," Hyronimus said. In 2006, medical marijuana made its way onto the South Dakota ballot. Though a conservative state, the measure came close as medical marijuana only neglected to pass by a margin of 4 percent. Once again, medical cannabis was on the ballot for legalization. [continues 742 words]
Regarding Thomas Emanuel's Oct. 27 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. 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 126 words]
After reading "PRO: Vote yes, stop reefer madness" by Thomas Emanuel and "CON: Yes Is Not A Stepping Stone" by Frank DePaula (Oct. 26, 2010) it's apparent DePaula doesn't know the truth about the issue. Historically even government studies discredit the "gateway" theory. Insinuating, "Yes will not work because the federal government does not recognize state laws on cannabis (marijuana)," isn't the truth; the laws work properly to protect sick citizens in the 14 states which have legalized the God-given plant. And they're not experiencing "gangs from Mexico." [continues 228 words]
To the Editor: Stop the reefer madness, Mr. Kaemingk, and let people educate themselves with facts instead of uninformed and misguided propaganda. Medical marijuana is not a gateway drug; alcohol is, as it lowers inhibitions to make rational choices. Denny Kaemingk's editorial on Oct. 9 gave absolutely no substantial reasoning as to why sick people with MS, Parkinson's, glaucoma, cancer, fibromyalgia, etc., should not have the right to ease ailments with medical marijuana, which has absolutely no known side effects and is compatible with prescription and non-prescription medicine, again without added side effects. [continues 298 words]
Inside South Dakota
