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]
Inside Tennessee
