OK, I get it.

This is about creating a safe school environment and protecting students from the scourge of drug dependency.

It's about zero tolerance, or something close to it, for peddling even small quantities of drugs on or near a school campus. It's about keeping kids from making a stupid mistake that they will regret, and perhaps pay for, the rest of their lives.

And it's about closing a door that could lead to more serious, even violent criminal activity down the road.

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America ended Prohibition 75 years ago this past week. The ban on the sale of alcohol unleashed a crime wave, as gangsters fought over the illicit booze trade. It sure didn't stop drinking. People turned to speakeasies and bathtub gin for their daily cocktail.

Prohibition -- and the violence, corruption and health hazards that followed -- lives on in its modern version, the so-called War on Drugs. Former law-enforcement officers gathered in Washington to draw the parallels. Their group, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), has called for nothing less than the legalization of drugs.

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In the memphisflyer.com article "Marijuana Talk at Rhodes" (November 6th), it seems to me that the speaker asked the wrong question. The question should be: Should marijuana remain completely untaxed, unregulated, and controlled by criminals?

Because marijuana is illegal, it is sold only by criminals. And they often offer free samples of more dangerous drugs to their marijuana customers, thus creating the so-called gateway effect.

In a regulated market, this would not happen. Do Flyer readers know of anyone who has been offered a free bottle of whiskey, rum, or vodka when legally buying beer or wine? I don't either.

If we regulate, control, and tax the sale and production of marijuana, we close the gateway to hard drugs.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Arizona

[end]

Terry Nelson worked in law enforcement for more than 30 years, serving in the U.S. Border Patrol, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Department of Homeland Security. During his career, he participated in the seizure of more than 230,000 pounds of cocaine. Nelson retired from law enforcement in 2005 and soon after joined Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) because he believes the ongoing "War on Drugs" simply isn't working. Nelson will give a presentation tonight at 8 p.m. in the Orgill Room of Clough Hall at Rhodes College.

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Just for the record, there is no scientific evidence that using marijuana impairs the ability to learn. Many straight-A students later admit to using marijuana without any reduction in their scholarship. The records of thousands of highly successful people, including presidents, who used marijuana puts the lie to "Reefer Madness" notions that marijuana injures the brain. The real danger is teaching students that lies can justify a brain-dead policy.

Redford Givens

California

[end]

It's no secret that drugs and alcohol are used and abused on college campuses across the U.S. UTM is no exception.

So what kinds of drug and alcohol problems are going on right in front of our faces? There is no way to keep a record of drug users or to calculate the amount of alcohol that is consumed on the campus over a designated period of time, but Capt. Ray Coleman of UTM's Department of Public Safety said it is still possible to draw some conclusions.

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Students Try To Decide Whether Drugs And Alcohol Are Worth The Consequence

In my senior year of high school, my English teacher, out of curiosity, asked our class of 30 students how many of us were planning to experiment with drugs and alcohol in college. All but one student's hand went up.

With the freedom that awaits students at college, some come to school with the inclination and intention to experiment with mind-altering substances. With a few exceptions, this inclination fits naturally into many students' days. The question of if they are going to get drunk or high at some point is like asking if they are going to get dressed that day.

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Group: Screening Student Athletes Against State Law

The American Civil Liberties Union told the Roane County school system Wednesday that it may face a lawsuit if it doesn't end its policy of conducting random drug tests of student athletes.

The ACLU sent a letter today to the school system claiming the policy is in violation of state law and that random drug testing "is proven to be ineffective in deterring drug use," a press release from the organization said.

The ACLU is giving the school system 30 days to abandon the random tests before taking legal action.

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Drugs may not be the root of all evil, but they're the root cause of most crime in Northeast Tennessee, according to local law enforcement.

It's a conclusion that was reached by those in attendance at a closed meeting held Tuesday at the Millennium Centre in Johnson City, according to Sullivan County District Attorney Greeley Wells.

The meeting, sponsored by the United States Attorney's Office, was an opportunity for local law enforcement to share public safety concerns amongst each other and with state and federal investigative agencies, Wells said Wednesday.

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Isn't it strange that with all the talk over bio-fuels and ethanol, the word hemp never seems to be mentioned? Here is a plant with thousands of years history that produces over 25,000 different products, including bio-fuel and ethanol. It is also good for the soil. It has very deep roots that would regenerate the topsoil. In New Guinea, topsoil is by the foot while here it is in inches. To precious to be lost. Hemp has a miniscule amount of THC, which is in marijuana.

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While On Drug Task Force, Shults Became Addict, Stole Money

SEVIERVILLE - A former 4th Judicial District Drug Task Force agent who became addicted to drugs may soon end up in prison for stealing money from suspects and his agency, authorities say.

Mark Victor Shults, 35, has pleaded guilty to three counts of theft over $1,000 - a felony - and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 5 by Sevier County Circuit Court Judge Richard Vance.

Shults was a Sevier County Sheriff's Department deputy when he was assigned to work for the drug task force, comprising officers from law enforcement agencies in Sevier, Cocke, Jefferson and Grainger counties, according to Assistant District Attorney General Steve Hawkins.

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Two years ago, Leigh Ann Nicholson and Nakita Meeks, both 18, attended the Governor's Tennessee Youth Drug Task Force and watched as former meth users told their stories about the drug destroying their family life.

After hearing the daughter of an ex-methamphetamine user tell about how she was ripped from her home, Nicholson and Meeks decided to reach out to other children in the same situation.

"It really touched me and Nakita to hear her talk about being taken away from her home with nothing and taken away from her mother that long," Nicholson said.

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The director of the Fourth Judicial District's Drug Task Force issued a public apology Friday to a Seymour man who was wrongly accused of a crime, but said the man's attorney caused a delay in dismissing the charges.

Task Force Director Mack Smith's two-and-a-half-page single-spaced statement includes one sentence that offers a direct explanation of how James Russell Kitts came to be misidentified as a drug dealer during an undercover operation.

"The identification of James Kitts as the seller of the purchased drugs was based on information garnered from various sources, including but not limited to, Sevier County 911 records and Tennessee motor vehicle registration records," Smith wrote. His name "was not arbitrarily pulled out of a hat and there was certainly not an intentional plan or design to charge an innocent man with these crimes."

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A simple apology would go a long way to helping matters in wrong-arrest case

For the most part law enforcement officers try to do what's right. Sometimes, though, things go wrong. And when law enforcement makes a mistake, lives are affected. A Seymour man knows just how the wrongly accused feel.

Due to what appears to have been mistaken identity from an incorrect address, James Russell Kitts was charged last month with trafficking in illegal drugs. That followed an indictment from the Sevier County Grand Jury, based on actions by U.S. marshals and local law enforcement. A grand jury can only deal with the information it is given, and in this case the jurors got information that turned out to be very, very wrong.

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District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn pledged Thursday he would look into how a Seymour man wound up wrongly charged with trafficking in drugs.

James Russell Kitts was arrested June 25 after U.S. Marshals and Sevier County deputies served a warrant based on a presentment issued in January.

The information in that presentment - an indictment issued in secret by a Grand Jury that and sealed until the suspect is arrested - came from the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force, according to officials.

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Social Drug Re-Emerging After Lull In Use, Drug Agent Says

After a confidential informant equipped with an electronic hearing device bought several pills of the drug Ecstasy, agents with the Clarksville Police Major Crimes Unit and Tactical Unit executed a search warrant at 111 Azalea Court.

Police found 150 multicolored Ecstasy pills and several pounds of marijuana, according to court documents.

Ben Thomas Dowlen Jr., 31, was arrested in the August 2007 sting and charged with manufacturing, selling or possessing a controlled substance. In June, Dowlen pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 10 years.

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Ecstasy Treatment Requires Getting To Root Of Cause For Use

William Hobbs, drug and alcohol interventionist at Centerstone, specializes in treating meth addicts. But when he treats people who are hooked on Ecstasy, he sees similar reactions.

Hobbs said the common ingredient in Ecstasy is methamphetamine, or meth.

Ecstasy's formal name is methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA. It is an illegal drug that acts as a stimulant and psychedelic, producing an energizing effect.

"Ecstasy is meth with other ingredients and hallucinogens in it," Hobbs said. "Many young people know about the danger of taking meth, but because not much is known about Ecstasy, and it's not known it contains meth, they try it.

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Long-Term Effect Of Use Is Memory Loss

Getting ready for a night on the town, a woman who was 24 years old and a group of her friends decided to try a drug they thought would help them enjoy a club party.

The woman and her friends tried Ecstasy for the first time. It was 2000, and the drug was a hot commodity in California, where they lived.

The woman said the first dose of Ecstasy led her into a yearlong addiction.

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Madison County Sheriff David Woolfork has requested five new officers be hired and assigned to the Metro Narcotics Unit. County commissioners sent the request for review by the county budget committee. Woolfork should get the officers, and the sooner the better.

Commissioner Gary Deaton asked for the budget committee review to make certain the money is there to fund the new officers. It's a sensible request. But we would add that it is up to the budget committee to find the money for this important improvement in public safety and the community's fight against crime.

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I'm writing about your recent online poll question: "Do you think marijuana should be legalized? (4-17-08).

It seems to me that you asked the wrong question. The question should be: Should marijuana remain completely untaxed, unregulated and controlled by criminals?

Because marijuana is now illegal, it is sold only by criminals (criminals who often sell other, much more dangerous drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine), and they often offer free samples of the more dangerous drugs to their marijuana customers. Thus the so-called "gateway effect."

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