Their hearts were in the right place when three Shelby County high school principals tried to continue random drug testing of students engaged in extracurricular activities this week. "To heck with what the attorney general's office says," however, might not be the right lesson for young people to take from their high school experience going forward. Shelby County Schools officials were correct to halt the testing at Germantown, Houston and Millington High Schools, pending a review of an opinion authored by deputy Atty. Gen. Kate Eyler. [continues 314 words]
Justice was served when Stewarts Creek teacher Jay Gill was fined and ordered to undergo two months of drug screening after being caught with marijuana last spring. Unfortunately, Rutherford County Schools let it drop as if nothing happened. Not so much as a word officially emanated from Rutherford County Schools toward the teacher, no letter of reprimand, no suspension, and certainly no firing. That's a shame because County Schools Director Harry Gill Jr. could have used the incident to send a strong message about drugs and alcohol. [continues 381 words]
SUB: Drug Tests For Gill; Shelton Can't Own Gun Two Smyrna teachers arrested in the spring for separate off-campus incidents are back in the classroom, their court cases behind them and back pay restored to one. But Stewarts Creek Middle School technology teacher Adlai "Jay" Gill will be required to take court-ordered drug screens for the next two months. And Julie A. Shelton, a science teacher at Smyrna High, can't own a gun for a while or speak to her neighbor. [continues 458 words]
Since Crackdown Here, 80 Percent Of American Users' Supply Comes From South, DEA Says CHATTANOOGA, TENN. -- Thanks to tougher U.S. laws, fewer people are cooking up batches of meth in dangerous homemade labs, but that doesn't mean the supply has dried up. Eighty percent or more of America's methamphetamine habit now comes from Mexico, law enforcement officials say. That means U.S. drug agents are changing how they fight this particular drug war -- looking to stop Mexican traffickers on interstate highways instead of raiding small-time meth labs in kitchens and backyard sheds. [continues 577 words]
SEVIERVILLE - Call off the drug testing and all those hastily scheduled meetings. In response to a July 2 opinion by the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, the Sevier County Board of Education has decided to hold off on its new drug-testing policy for athletes that went into effect just the day before. Sevier County high school athletic directors had scheduled a number of meetings this week to inform athletes about the new policy and distribute parental consent forms. The actual drug testing was slated to start July 31. [continues 318 words]
Plans by the Bradley County school system to initiate a random drug-testing program for the 2007-2008 school year may be put on hold after an opinion last week by the state attorney general. Although such testing has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Tennessee attorney general says students cannot be randomly tested unless a principal has a good reason to suspect a student is using drugs. "In light of this ruling, I'm going to wait for an additional assessment from our attorneys," said Bradley County Director of Schools Bob Taylor today. [continues 345 words]
Opinion May Affect Midstate Schools A new state attorney general's opinion could jeopardize random drug-testing programs at several Midstate high schools, including those in Wilson County. The opinion, issued this week, states that Tennessee school districts cannot randomly test students for drugs just because they participate in extracurricular activities. Despite two decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court that random drug testing does not violate a student's rights, state law provides more protection than the U.S. Constitution against search and seizure. [continues 215 words]
On Monday, June 25, the Supreme Court ruled against Joseph Frederick in his freedom of speech case that has been active for five years. Frederick posted a banner in 2002 that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a school-sponsored event. He refused to take it down when asked and the principal of the school suspended him for 10 days. Frederick sued and the case landed in the Supreme Courts lap. Frederick sputtered and raged about how his rights were infringed for posting a harmless banner that was meant as a joke. He later even admitted that he did it to purposefully provoke his principal. Frederick was completely aware of the Zero Tolerance policy his school enforced regarding drug paraphernalia, which included his banner promoting bong hits. Yet, he thought his rights were stolen from him. [continues 481 words]
When it comes to drug trends, synthetic or man-made drugs are hot while methamphetamine is not. Director Tommy Farmer of the Tennessee Methamphetamine Drug Task Force said the meth epidemic showed a dramatic decrease in manufacturing labs since the state made it tougher last year to buy Ephedrine, the key component of the illegal drug. More than 1,565 labs were seized in the peak year of 2005 while only 210 labs were confiscated this year. Tennessee is still fourth in the nation for confiscation of illegal meth labs. [continues 942 words]
With revenue from the seizure of drug-related property on the decline, Hawkins County Sheriff Roger Christian said Monday he may have to chop the department's marijuana eradication helicopter from the 2007-08 fiscal year budget to avoid ending up in the red. Between insurance, storage and maintenance, the helicopter costs the Hawkins County Sheriff's Office about $20,000 annually simply to possess before it even gets off the ground. Insurance is $9,300 per year alone. During the current fiscal year, the sheriff's department was anticipating $75,000 in revenue from drug fines, court costs and seizures based on previous years. But instead that figure will come in at barely over $41,000 this year. [continues 492 words]
I am writing to express my support for Mr. Bernie Ellis ("Marijuana Martyr," April 26). I recently read about his situation on your website and felt it necessary to log disgust with the state of Tennessee and those prosecutors who have decided to destroy this man's life. What I want to know is: whom was he harming? He broke the law, fair enough. I'll even grant that when the law is broken it constitutes an ostensible harm to all of us, as the rule of law is at the very root of our American ideology. However, as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King once said, "we have a moral obligation to obey just laws, but we also have a moral obligation to disobey unjust laws" (or something thereabouts). And what law could be more unjust than a law whose execution calls for the destruction of this kindly old man's life? Ellis was doing nothing but minding his own business and trying-in a most Christ-like fashion-to help those in pain. Christiaan Mitchell Blackwell, Okla. [end]
As a Christian, I am uncomfortable with government confronting Bernie Ellis ("Marijuana Martyr," April 26) for cannabis-related issues. The God-given plant cannabis should be re-legalized. One argument that doesn't get mentioned is that it is biblically correct: 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. The only Biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness (Timothy 4:1-5) and, "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (John 3:17). Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
If the phrase "compassionate conservatism" was ever anything more than a cynical campaign slogan, surely the believers in the concept will soon come to the aid of a truly compassionate man: Bernie Ellis ("Marijuana Martyr," April 26). BILL COLE (Nashville) [end]
Bernie Ellis Gave Comfort to the Sick and Dying. For That Crime, the Government Means to Take Everything He's Got. Life came unglued for Bernie Ellis on the day drug agents raided his farm like it was the fortified villa of a South American cocaine kingpin. Ellis was bush-hogging around his berry patches when two helicopters swept low over the treetops. Then, rumbling in on four-wheelers, came 10 officers of the Tennessee Marijuana Eradication Task Force. The war on drugs had arrived, literally, in Ellis' backyard. It was a major operation to strike a righteous blow against the devil weed. [continues 3058 words]
Bernie Ellis is an unrepentant soul. "I remain unashamed of what I was doing," he said on a recent afternoon, the first warm day since dogwood winter settled on the month of April. He sat on a deck at a West Meade home where he has been employed as a landscaper for several months. When lawmen raided his farm in August 2002, this man of medicine -- a professional public health consultant who has worked for anti-substance abuse programs across the country -- told officers he was growing marijuana for medical reasons. He also gave it to friends and acquaintances suffering from AIDS, cancer or chronic diseases. [continues 1412 words]
When fans of the Bonnaroo summer music festival in Tennessee arrive at the gates, they are searched. Anyone caught carrying drugs not only gets a summons to appear in criminal court but also receives an on-the-spot tax assessment. At a nearby booth they are required to pay a tax on the illegal substances, which are then seized. If they don't have enough cash, ATM machines are provided for their convenience. The money collected at Bonnaroo makes up part of the $3.5 million that Tennessee has raised since its Unauthorized Substance Tax was adopted in 2005. Tennessee is the latest of at least 21 states to tax illegal substances to help fight the war on drugs. But opponents of these laws, questioning their constitutionality and the feasibility of enforcing them, hope that a lawsuit pending in Tennessee may lead to an end to these laws nationwide. [continues 947 words]
As a high school student, I often hear some of my peers talk about using drugs or making references to them. I find it very disturbing that students who abuse illegal substances talk about it as if it were acceptable. It troubles me to hear individuals brag about how they got high. It seems that some adults do not realize how serious the drug problem is in our high schools. In smaller, rural schools, some adults tend to think that the students are good kids and that drugs are not an issue for them. [continues 115 words]
Their reasons differ, but some Rutherford County School Board members still don't believe that the school system needs a new policy that would require county school workers to report their arrests to administration officials. The discussion comes after two teachers were arrested by police within a month of each other -- one on marijuana possession charges, the other for allegedly shooting at an Eagleville councilman. "They probably should notify the school," said School Board Chairman Rick Wise. "But to have a policy that requires that, I think you ought to be careful." [continues 776 words]
I am surprised by last week's "Marijuana, Ya' Dig?". First I must comment on the "debate" between Steve Hager and Bob Stutzman. That is not a debate, it is a for-profit road show. Steve Hager is hardly a recognized or representative voice within the drug policy reform movement. Second, your editorial is full of ill-conceived notions. Your editorial says reducing "crime is accomplished when people stop breaking the law, not when people do away with the law." When the law itself is criminal, what then? The prohibition of cannabis is not based, in any sense, on common sense or any real threat. [continues 237 words]
Inside Tennessee
