As a Colorado resident, I strongly disagree with the opinion that the "Dangers of legalizing marijuana" (editorial, Oct. 23) are good a reason to continue caging sick citizens who use the relatively safe, God-given plant cannabis (marijuana). Most all the "dangers" are a consequence of prohibition, not the plant itself. One important reason to re-legalize the plant cannabis for sick citizens that doesn't get mentioned is because it is 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). [continues 95 words]
WASHINGTON -- In 2000, Hollywood released a critically acclaimed and (I thought) important movie, "Traffic," about the futility of the so-called war on drugs. I was naive enough to believe it would spark a national conversation about the stupidity of our generations-long policy of drug prohibition. It didn't. We continued as we had since the 1960s: locking up drug offenders, spending countless billions on police and prisons, and abetting the devastating violence that attends the market in illegal narcotics. The United States, with about 5 percent of the world's population, accounts for nearly 25 percent of its prisoners -- many of them drug offenders. [continues 573 words]
In Aiding Sick, We Should Consider All Resources. There's an old public service announcement that features a father and his son sitting at the breakfast table, eating and not saying a word. "Another missed opportunity to talk to your child about marijuana," the screen reads. Today, it's time to have a talk with Tennesseans about marijuana, albeit within a much more serious context. Thousands of Tennesseans suffering from cancer, HIV/AIDS, neurological diseases and degenerative muscle disorders are faced every day with a choice: [continues 539 words]
Humboldt High School has begun random drug testing of student athletes and plans to expand the program to students in other extracurricular activities. It is an unfortunate decision that sends the wrong message to students that only those who participate in popular extracurricular activities are required to stay drug free. We have long supported random drug testing of students. But such a program should apply to all students, not a select few. Testing only student athletes or participants in extracurricular activities sends the message that students will be punished for using drugs by being kicked out of the extracurricular activity. We find it hard to justify only holding a few select students accountable. [continues 277 words]
Humboldt High School began a random drug-testing program Thursday for students involved in athletic activities. Student athletes and parents were required to sign letters authorizing drug testing in order to participate in athletic programs, such as cheerleading and football. Ten students were randomly selected for the first round of testing through a numbering process, Principal Arthur Moss said. Drug testing will occur every other month, with the next round beginning in November, he said. School officials plan to expand the program to include all students involved in extracurricular activities once an organizational structure is in place to randomly test a larger group of students. [continues 452 words]
Shelby County Schools could begin random drug testing as early as this school year. Supt. John Aitken and board members were still hammering out the details of the newly proposed policy at a Thursday board meeting. If approved in October, random drug testing would touch nearly 30 percent of the district's 47,000 students, which take part in extracurricular activities. Aitken wants to make sure jocks won't be singled out. "I don't think we need to narrow it down to sports," he said. [continues 357 words]
The superintendent of Shelby County Schools plans to propose a measure that would allow schools to perform random drug tests. On the agenda for Thursday's school board work session, the new policy would allow schools to test students involved in sports and other extracurricular activities for drugs and alcohol, regardless of whether there is a reasonable suspicion. Supt. John Aitken would not discuss the agenda item. "He doesn't have anything to say until he has the opportunity to present it to the board," said county schools spokesman Mike Tebbe. [continues 126 words]
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, was presented to SGA by the local chapter's founders and it became official an official student organization on April 13th of this year. Chris Cahill, a senior from Memphis, Tenn., and president of the UTC chapter of NORML, said he felt inspired to start a local chapter of the national organization after writing a paper about NORML for an intro to non-profits class at UTC. "Membership is open to all UTC students with a 2.0 GPA for $15, and you get a T-shirt," Cahill said. "You can find us on Facebook at UT Chattanooga NORML." [continues 345 words]
DeSoto supervisors plan to review ordinance to cover rest of county The DeSoto County Board of Supervisors has set a public hearing on Monday at 10:30 a.m. during its regular meeting in Hernando to review adopting an ordinance banning sales of synthetic drugs. "It's consistent with what the municipalities have been doing," County Administrator Michael Garriga said Friday. "The ordinance would affect merchants in the unincorporated areas of the county," and close any gap, he said. Southaven, Hernando, Horn Lake and Olive Branch already have passed ordinances outlawing possession and sale of synthetic marijuana and cocaine that are popular with teenagers and college students. The products have been deemed hazardous after reports surfaced of people getting sick after smoking the herbs. [continues 284 words]
He Pleads Not Guilty in Mississippi Case Former Davidson County and state Medical Examiner Bruce Levy was indicted Tuesday on charges of possessing more than 30 grams of marijuana in Mississippi. Levy had been arrested in March after authorities say a drug dog sniffed marijuana in a package bound for his Ridgeland, Miss., hotel. State narcotics agents searched the hotel room and found even more marijuana, authorities have said. In all, police estimate they found more than 40 grams of drugs. [continues 188 words]
Regarding your July 18 article on drug testing in public schools ("Study: Testing reduces drug use / Districts can decide to screen students"): This is a violation of our constitutional right to privacy in our persons, papers and possessions. It also violates the probable cause clause and search warrant issuance in most law codes. A person is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and here they are presupposing guilt prior to the testing. Charles Gillihan Bartlett [end]
Districts Can Decide To Screen Students Students who are subject to drug testing while participating in extracurricular activities use drugs less than those who aren't tested, according to a study by the Institute of Education Sciences. According to the study released last week by IES, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, 16 percent of students subject to drug testing reported using banned substances in the past 30 days, compared with 22 percent of students who aren't tested at school. [continues 440 words]
The story about the havoc wrought by Craig Petties (June 27 and July 4 special report, "Blood trade") was tragic, but it could have been avoided. Violence is the predictable and tragic consequence of drug prohibition. People continue to demand drugs in large quantities, drug suppliers have to resort to violence to settle disputes because they are barred from formal legal channels, and the conditions created by prohibition itself make it more profitable to be a criminal. The same factors that produced the horrors of alcohol prohibition have also produced the horrors of drug prohibition. Blood and violence are the price we pay for prohibition. It's a price that's far too high. Art Carden Memphis [end]
Feds Describe Disciplined Business Run By Cell Phone Memphis Commercial Appeal Posted July 4, 2010 at 12:01 a.m. QUERETARO, Mexico -- When the little girl saw the children move into the house nearby, she was excited. "My daughter said, 'Oh, Mommy, I'm going to have neighbors to play with!'" her mother recalled. But they never saw the children come out again. The mother had seen the man of the house just once, as he moved in. She noticed he was black, a rarity in this part of Mexico. And she saw that men were constantly moving in and out of the house and the windows were always closed. [continues 2460 words]
Memphis Commercial Appeal Posted July 4, 2010 at 12:01 a.m. Craig Petties' January 2008 arrest in central Mexico was one of a series of setbacks for the Beltran Leyva cartel, the Mexican criminal organization he's accused of working with. Later that month, the Mexican military arrested Alfredo Beltran Leyva, one of the brothers in the group's leadership. The remaining Beltran Leyva brothers believed that the Sinaloa Cartel, a group they had been associated with, had betrayed Alfredo, according to a report by George W. Grayson, a professor at the College of William & Mary who has studied drug violence. [continues 355 words]
A Violent Venture Hits Home Blood Trade ? Memphis and the Mexican drug war: A violent venture hits home They found Marcus Turner in a ditch in Olive Branch, naked and shot to death. It was the end of a young man's life and a grim reminder of a larger truth: The Mexican drug war isn't as far away as you might think. The order that led to Turner's death was phoned in from Mexico, prosecutors say. They say the man on the other end of the line was Craig Petties, alleged to be one of the most powerful and violent drug entrepreneurs the area has ever seen. [continues 822 words]
How the drug business works and Memphis' role as a major player When the officers came to the house, they noticed a distinct smell. "I smoked a little marijuana to help ease my mind from the fact of my girlfriend cheating on me," Craig Petties said, according to an arrest report. But this was more than one man dulling his sorrows with weed. In a bedroom closet of the home in southwest Memphis, officers found three duffel bags stuffed with marijuana. Six hundred pounds in all. [continues 2249 words]
Once again the evil devil marijuana raises its wicked head to destroy the lives of misguided souls. Consider these facts concerning the evil weed: Marijuana is not the "entry drug" that leads our youth down the road to destruction. Liquor and cigarettes head this category. Both legal and taxed by the state and federal governments. Marijuana sales in the U.S. are a multi-billion dollar per year industry, which is tax free and thus a means to increase state tax revenues. [continues 118 words]
In November, the police chief in the Mexican border city of Tijuana canceled a concert by a famous group of musicians after they released a song that suggested they had real-life links to the drug traffickers they'd been singing about for years. Since then, the band has gone elsewhere. On Friday night, a burst of prerecorded gunfire echoed through a Memphis nightclub as the red-suited members of Los Tucanes de Tijuana launched their signature song, "El Papa de los Pollitos." (CAUTION: This link leads to a music video that contains some elements of violence and nudity.) [continues 927 words]
According to "Crime in America: FBI Uniform Crime Reports 2008" (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, 2008), there were a total of 14,005,615 arrests that year. Of those arrests, 847,863 were for marijuana (6.05 percent) and 754,224 were for simple possession of marijuana (5.39 percent). However, there were only 594,911 arrests for violent crimes (4.25 percent). We arrested more people for simple possession of marijuana than we did for violent crimes! [continues 147 words]
As of this writing, 14 states have established compassionate use laws. Of those 14, California is an extreme; focusing on its current fiscal issues and perhaps finding an out to those problems by legalizing cannabis in November this year. Tennessee is not California and its constituents should not believe that the passage of compassionate use laws would cause our state to resemble California by any stretch of the imagination. The healing properties of the Cannabis Sativa plant have been recorded for centuries. In the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I used cannabis to alleviate her menstrual cramps. Today, approved usage varies from state to state. In California ,people with mild depression can get a doctor's recommendation. In New Jersey, patients must have a debilitating medical condition or have a terminal illness in order to receive a recommendation. The states also differ in that Californians can grow their own whereas New Jersey patients must receive their medicine from state government-authorized treatment centers. There will always be abusers of any substance, but with the right plan we can help provide patients with the medicine they desperately need and deserve. Chris Smith Cleveland, Tenn. [end]
While the medical benefits of marijuana are debatable, it is probably not reasonable to deny someone who is chronically ill its pleasures. However, public safety has to trump individual rights. As such, any "medical marijuana" statutes must have certain provisions to avoid its abuse. These must include at least the following: 1) The state must operate the program, with distribution coming only through that program. 2) Anyone admitted to such a program must be considered unfit for employment and unfit to operate a motor vehicle. As such, anyone in this program must surrender his/her driver's license. [continues 110 words]
An April 23 letter writer asserts that police should be locking up murderers and other "real" criminals instead of harassing pot smokers at the park. The writer seems to believe that although there exists the law of the land, his disagreement makes its compliance optional. Perhaps he is right in that it should be legal (that is another debate). He is, however, wrong in thinking that it is legal. We all want peace and for violence to stop, but have these people that support a criminal activity paused to consider the mayhem that transpires in someone else's backyard? [continues 123 words]
In response to the April 23 reader who questioned why the educated citizens of our city who choose to smoke marijuana should be punished, I'll give you the only reason you need: Smoking marijuana is illegal. Having worked in the alcohol and drug prevention arena for over 20 years, and as an international speaker for youth, I have the opportunity to work with teenagers from many cultures, backgrounds and beliefs. It's always interesting to work with students whose parents arbitrarily pick what laws their family will follow. Those students don't understand the boundaries of laws, because they are taught that if they can present a rationale that gives the right not to follow a law, then they don't have to. [continues 192 words]
The FBI is investigating the fatal shooting of a North Memphis man by a Bartlett police officer, Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin told the City Council on Tuesday. "I want you to know MPD has received notification that the FBI has launched an investigation," Godwin said with no further comment. Bartlett Police Chief Gary Rikard said his department was notified Tuesday that the FBI was investigating the shooting. Rikard declined any further comment other than to say his department would cooperate fully with the investigation. [continues 240 words]
Californians Could Vote To Legalize Its Use Marijuana legalization will be on California's ballot this November. The state is faced with a $20 billion deficit. Advocates for legalization in California expect that legalizing, regulating and taxing marijuana will raise $1.4 billion for the state. If the law passes, it will be legal for those at least 21 years old to possess or use marijuana. It would only be legal to possess up to an ounce. Driving while under the influence, usage in front of minors and drug possession on school grounds would be prohibited. [continues 504 words]
In a recurring dream, John Donovan can run without pain. He races down a football field as he did in middle school and glides down a flight of stairs with ease. But in reality, the 25-year-old Red Bank resident wakes up to a relentless aching in his joints, mainly his hips, knees and ankles. Just a few months after the onset of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, when he was 16, Mr. Donovan struggled to run or even walk quickly, he recalled. He now walks with a heavy limp and spends some days in bed, trying to move as little as possible. [continues 1579 words]
Politicians still speak of winning the war on drugs, but that war is over. And guess what? We lost. Despite all government efforts to the contrary, our borders are becoming ever more porous to hard drugs. American entrepreneurial genius has made marijuana a major cash crop in many states, and meth labs are popping faster than we can close them. Isn't it high time we rethought our drug policies? As with alcohol, prostitution and gambling, control funded through taxation makes more sense than attempted eradication, an admirable but futile undertaking. Legalization with control not only removes the allure of drug profits but impacts the companion crimes of prostitution, theft and police corruption. It will also relieve a criminal justice system overwhelmed with simple marijuana possession cases. [continues 86 words]
At least it's a graceful way out for advocates of legalizing medical marijuana in Tennessee. In years past, lawmakers have snorted and chuckled, maybe made a joke or two about stoners, then killed the medical marijuana bill almost as fast as a committee chairman can bang his gavel. Next week, it looks like this year's version could go to the state Board of Pharmacy for a year of study. In Tennessee, that's progress. "We're moving the ball forward," says Rep. Jeanne Richardson, D-Memphis. [continues 125 words]
A common argument in favor of legalizing marijuana is that legalization would reduce the big profits available from illegal sales of pot and therefore reduce drug-related crime. That claim appears to be on shaky ground in numerous states: * Armed men recently broke into a Colorado site where "medical" marijuana was being grown legally. They bound the people inside, rifled through their belongings and made off with marijuana and guns. * Three days later, five people invaded the home of a legal marijuana grower near Seattle and tried to rob him of his supply. The owner and a suspect were wounded in a shoot-out. But police say the victim, whose operation has been targeted for theft eight times, had nearly 400 marijuana plants -- far more than the 15 he is permitted under Washington's "medical" marijuana law. Ironically, four of the suspects are believed to have been smoking pot when they hatched the robbery plan. [continues 155 words]
Tennessee agents are investigating whether the state's suspended medical examiner stole drugs from bodies. The probe comes after Dr. Bruce Levy's Mississippi arrest on felony marijuana charges. Davidson County will review upcoming criminal cases in which Levy performed autopsies, looking for discrepancies. It's unclear how many he's handled recently, Davidson County District Attorney Torry Johnson said Thursday, because Levy's employees frequently did the hands-on work while their boss handled administration. Johnson said the way marijuana found in Levy's Ridgeland, Miss., hotel room was packaged made investigators suspect it came from one of Levy's cases. [continues 475 words]
Levy Faces Marijuana Charges in Mississippi The Tennessee state medical examiner's career is in jeopardy and some of his biggest cases under scrutiny after Mississippi investigators uncovered a package of marijuana addressed to him and more of the drug in his hotel room. Mississippi, Tennessee and Metro Nashville suspended contracts for forensic work done by Bruce Levy's two companies after his Tuesday arrest in Ridgeland, Miss., on felony marijuana possession charges. Levy, 49, was due to collect $3.8 million this year from Metro alone through Forensic Medical Management Services. [continues 603 words]
Testing students for drug use is tricky business, so while some local school systems recently have adopted policies, others have experimented and stopped testing altogether. In December, Bradley County Schools began using a new policy that allows officials to test students if there is reasonable cause -- the student smells of alcohol or marijuana or if officials find evidence or hear reports of drug or alcohol use by teachers or other students. "(Drug testing) is common, but it's certainly not something that every school system does," said Chris McCarty, the attorney for Bradley County Schools who helped draft the system's new policy. "It is a difficult area of the law, because you're going to run into Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure issues." [continues 375 words]
Prescription painkillers may be replacing illegal narcotics as drugs of choice, a sheriff's narcotics detective said. And users are going through different means to get their hands on the pills - through prescription forgeries, doctor shopping, drug store robberies, home and auto burglaries and thefts from family medicine cabinets, said Detective Jerremy Weaver. For example, grand jurors indicted six people for prescription fraud last week after Weaver accused them of forging a physician's prescription 57 times to get Percocet, a prescription painkiller. [continues 589 words]
Danger is always lurking: The undercover drug deal that went awry last week depicts the perilous work of a covert cop. A frightening reminder of the dangerous nature of police work, especially for undercover officers, played out on a residential street in Southwest Memphis last Wednesday. An undercover Memphis police officer met a crack dealer for what was supposed to be a routine drug sale. The dealer and a 16-year-old accomplice had other ideas, according to police. They pulled guns, demanded money and discovered the officer's recording device before firing a burst of shots at the officer and his partner. [continues 304 words]
An undercover Memphis police officer met a crack dealer at the trunk of a 2005 Ford for what looked to be a routine drug sale. Nothing that followed was routine. Within seconds, police said, the dealer and a 16-year-old boy pulled guns, demanded money and discovered the officer's recording device before firing a flurry of shots at the officer and his partner. 2009 Crime Series. The officers escaped, one playing dead in a ditch while the other diverted attention from his partner. Neither was injured. [continues 408 words]
The people of Tennessee need to be informed on the medical marijuana bill. Our government is putting normal innocent people in jail and giving normal non-violent citizens a record for no reason. The people of Tennessee need to know about this bill. It's wrong for the public not to know. The laws in place now are to govern us with safety. I feel like I am being harassed instead of protected and, yes, I do live in Chattanooga. DeVAUGHN TYLER [end]
Regarding your Jan. 11 editorial, drugs did not spawn Mexico's organized crime networks. Just like alcohol prohibition gave rise to Al Capone, drug prohibition created the violent drug-trafficking organizations blamed for all the killings in Mexico. With alcohol prohibition repealed in the U.S., liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down in drive-by shootings. It's worth noting that Mexico's upsurge in violence only began after an anti-drug crackdown created a power vacuum among competing cartels. From a political perspective, Mexican President Felipe Calderon stands to benefit from the violence. [continues 119 words]
After reading David Magee's commentary (Jan. 12), I have to say Tennessee is ready for medical marijuana. There is no sensible reason for our state's criminal laws to interfere with patients' and doctors' judgments about the best treatment option for Tennesseans with severe illnesses. Numerous prestigious medical organizations support legal medical marijuana access for the seriously ill, including the American Public Health Association, the American Nurses Association, and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Last year, Rep. Jeanne Richardson and Sen. Beverly Marrero introduced SB 209 and HB 368, legislation that would have legalized medical marijuana in Tennessee. [continues 103 words]
He's got political backbone. That's one thing you can say about U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat from Memphis. He's also wading into complicated territory on the topic of legalized medicinal marijuana. A report this week indicates Rep. Cohen will be a featured speaker on Wednesday at the Marijuana Policy Project's 15th anniversary gala, taking the stage with advocates of legalized cannabis including Cheech and Chong, a comedy duo known for joking about marijuana usage. In a 2007 speech before the U.S. House of Representatives, the lawmaker from Memphis talked about a Maryland man who suffered from pancreatic cancer and found relief by using medical marijuana. [continues 194 words]
Story Revealed of How Meeting Happened WASHINGTON - Every Elvis fan has seen the picture: Elvis in a dark cape and gold necklace, shaking hands with a puffy-eyed Richard Nixon at the White House. It's one of the biggest sellers at The National Archives gift shop - in snow globes, on coffee mugs and postcards. On Wednesday night, two days before Presley's 75th birthday, the full story of how that iconic moment came to be was laid out by two men who were there and helped make it happen. Jerry Schilling, an Elvis friend, and Egil "Bud" Krogh, a Nixon aide, hadn't met since that magical moment in the Oval Office 39 years ago, and they had tales to tell. [continues 522 words]
When most Americans think of Mexico, if they think of it at all, it is usually related to illegal immigration. That, of course, is an important issue for both nations, but it is not the only subject of importance that affects the relationship between the United States and its neighbor to the South. The continued U.S. appetite for illegal drugs and the powerful drug cartels in Mexico that feed it require attention as well. Ignoring the latter is dangerous to both nations and complicates the effort to promote meaningful immigration reform. [continues 568 words]
Barrel-chested, gregarious and flush with cash, "Jerry Whittier" was 41 years old when he rolled into Gatlinburg in early 1980. Appearing to be a successful entrepreneur, he bought an upscale chalet home for $125,000. He gave generously to local charities. And he planned to buy what was then the Sevier County Airport, recalls retired 4th District Attorney General Al Schmutzer. That deal came apart in 1981, when he was linked to a huge cocaine shipment seized from an airplane there. [continues 1301 words]
Schools Resource Officer (SOR) Joe Duncan has successfully completed the D.A.R.E. training program that was held at Natchez Trace Park at the Pin Oaks Lodge. According to Duncan, the two-week program was one of the most difficult and intense training programs he has ever taken. Although there was no physical training, Duncan states that he had a lot of homework that sometimes kept him up until midnight. He would then have to be back in class the following morning at 8 a.m. [continues 352 words]
Thanks for publishing the recent outstanding letter: "End prohibition of marijuana" (Dec. 2). I'd like to add that it makes no sense, economic or moral, to jail or imprison marijuana users or sellers. Our jails and prisons should be reserved for those who harm others against their will - not marijuana users, sellers or growers. We don't jail or imprison those who produce, sell or use tobacco products, even though tobacco is a highly addictive and very deadly product. We don't have criminals growing tobacco in clandestine locations. [continues 64 words]
Our state tax monies need to be used to prosecute violent crime, not punish medical marijuana users. Over 500 deaths are reported each year from Tylenol overdose, but marijuana has never been listed as the medical cause of an overdose death. Can we not legalize, tax and control medical marijuana production and distribution as a means of taking the violence out of its production and distribution while generating millions in tax revenue for a struggling state? We need to deal with the illegal production, sale and consumption of marijuana as being one of social significance. As a society, we must focus our dwindling police resources on preventing violent crimes instead of clogging the court systems with simple cases of possession of marijuana, which takes valuable officers out of the field and reduces the force desperately needed to prevent more violent crimes. Don McMunn, PLEASANT VIEW 37146 [end]
By the time you read this, Bernie Ellis will be home on the farm he's had for nearly four decades in the Fly community 12 miles south of Leipers Fork. There'll just be less of it. His farm will be 25 acres smaller, but Ellis is willing to live with that-considering the federal government almost took it all, and meant to throw him in prison to boot. Last month, Ellis, a respected public-health epidemiologist with a 35-year career, signed civil asset forfeiture papers handing 25 acres of farmland over to the U.S. government. The agreement ends a nightmare that began seven years ago when he was raided for growing marijuana-a small amount he used only for medicinal purposes, and to ease the suffering of the terminally ill. [continues 1404 words]
Thank you for printing Froma Harrop's Oct. 27 column "America's best idea meets one of the worst." The headline refers to illegal pot plants being found in America's national parks -- plants that should be growing safely in backyards rather than destroying our beautiful national parks. She mentioned several key points such as Mexican drug cartels, increased pot potency, medical marijuana dispensaries, tax revenue, farmers, public favor for legalization, and the political nonsense stopping it from happening. I'm sure she didn't forget to mention all the other related issues to pot prohibition. There are just too many of them. [continues 203 words]
A federal judge in Chattanooga on Wednesday rejected a plea for a lighter sentence from a young man accused of a crack cocaine crime, despite proposed legislation to do away with old sentencing rules that treat crimes involving crack much more harshly than those involving powder cocaine. The sentencing hearing of Amar Walker in U.S. District Court on Wednesday highlighted the current national debate over the legitimacy of a 1980s-era law that sought to stamp out the ravages of crack on predominantly black inner-city neighborhoods. [continues 461 words]
President Barack Obama has previously admitted using illegal drugs such as marijuana and cocaine years ago and has wisely renounced that drug abuse. But his own dangerous use of drugs ought to steer him away from any act that might confer false legitimacy on drug abuse. Unfortunately, it has not. In 2004, campaigning for the Senate, he said, "We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws." During the presidential race in 2008, he offered support for so-called "medical marijuana." [continues 173 words]
Inside Tennessee
