Keoka Washington, 25, said she started smoking weed at 11 a.m. Saturday to "get a head start" on celebrating the counterculture holiday 4/20. She and nine of her closest friends revel in the holiday that marijuana users refer to as "smokeout day" by firing up a blunt and eating.

"You can bite and smoke at the same time," Washington said. "We pass it. We're a group. Sharing is caring."

April 20 is the day that smoking weed was made popular by rock band Grateful Dead, but the origins of the phrase have been disputed. Smokers gathered at Overton Park discreetly mixed into a crowd of others who barbecued, walked their pets and enjoyed the sunny weather on blankets.

[continues 411 words]

Home drug screening kits will be given away on Saturday to Memphis area parents who want to test their kids for illegal drug use.

The Rural/Metro Corp. in cooperation with notMYkid.org chose 4/20 as the distribution date for the test because it's know as National Get High Day among marijuana users, according to a company statement.

About 200 kits will be available at the Baker Community Center at 7942 Church Street in Millington from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

[end]

I had the pleasure of reading the anti-marijuana letter "Pitfalls of marijuana." The writer's points are well-taken. Now I would like to offer some hard facts about the consequences of smoking just plain old tobacco. These facts deserve knowing since they represent enormous amounts of our health care dollars. In fact, these consequences account for the single largest outlay of money for health care. Most of this information is readily accessible from the highly respected CDC. Are you ready for the 800-pound gorilla in the room?

[continues 204 words]

In response to the April 13 letter "Pitfalls of marijuana," I hope the writer is also in favor of banning alcohol, caffeine, sugar, tobacco, cough medicine and any prescription anxiety or depression medicine if he is against any drug that "creates a sensation, an illusion that is momentary." Also, I am confused as to what he means by no redeeming qualities. It has been proven marijuana has medical benefits. Just because it has bad side effects does not mean no benefits. It's a question if the benefits outweigh the negatives.

[continues 124 words]

The president's position on pot continues to be dangerously vague and confusing."

As the nation's capital prepares to open its first legal medicinal marijuana dispensary and Sen. Rand Paul's call for legalization basks in bipartisan praise, it's time for President Barack Obama to clear the air around his own passive-aggressive position on pot.

Until now, the president has been remarkably adept at taking positions that seemed to be ahead of their time - and getting ahead of them.

[continues 642 words]

I recently read that a pot dealer in Trenton, Tenn., was given 30 years in the penitentiary for distributing a couple thousand pounds of marijuana. This is an extremely foolish carbon-copy repeat of the religiously spawned federal Prohibition of beer and other alcoholic products nearly a century ago.

The only drugs I do are aspirin, Finasteride and a few other benign medications my VA doctors prescribe; however, I have known hundreds of good, solid citizens who do smoke pot in their leisure time, and who do function as honest, upstanding members of the business world.

[continues 146 words]

Cites Respect for Changes on Possession

WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen has asked the Justice Department to respect Colorado and Washington state referendums making marijuana possession legal, saying it would be "a mistake for the federal government to focus enforcement action on individuals whose actions are in compliance with state law."

Voters in Colorado and Washington passed laws Nov. 6 that make possession of less than an ounce of marijuana legal for individuals 21 years old or older, going beyond laws in other states where cannabis is legal for medical purposes. Colorado also permits cultivation of up to six plants and calls for an excise tax for marijuana sales with revenue devoted to school construction.

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Colorado and Washington will be on a Rocky Mountain high as recreational use of pot became legal in the two western states, but the possibility of the first southern state passing medical marijuana legislation went up in smoke for Arkansas.

Medicinal marijuana was almost a drive across the Memphis-Arkansas Memorial Bridge away, but Arkansas failed to pass the act with 51 percent against it and 49 percent in favor.

The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act would have allowed doctors to certify patients with "qualifying medical condition[s]" to grow, possess and use marijuana for medicinal purposes.

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PUTNAM COUNTY -- Drug and alcohol prevention isn't just the responsibility of adults.

Just ask Maggie Amoss.

The 15-year-old Cookeville High School sophomore has done her share of rallying for the cause, having been involved in any way she could through the years to get the word out.

"I've always been interested in the anti-drug and alcohol effort from when I started in the DARE program (when I lived) in Murfreesboro," she said. "From that time, I've wanted to help make my community a better place."

[continues 679 words]

I'm writing about a thoughtful letter, "Pot prohibition more harmful than use."

Is there any legitimate reason that a natural herb that has never killed anybody should be classified the same as heroin? I think not.

I know from personal experience that marijuana is a substitute for potentially deadly painkillers like Vicodin and is also a substitute for alcohol.

The pharmaceutical industry knows this and so does the alcohol industry. And this is probably why marijuana remains a criminalized substance.

Kirk Muse,

Mesa, Ariz.

[end]

October 4, 2012 at 6:46 p.m.

Tom Armstrong, Maryville

A recent Gallup poll shows record support for marijuana legalization, at 50 percent. Perhaps the U.S. is ready for legalization, and three states - Washington, Oregon and Colorado - are going to vote on it this November.

But it's an uphill battle, with anti-marijuana advocates championing the status quo of criminalization. Those opposed to legalization regularly associate the drug with a loss of personal responsibility and America's counterculture. The objection to marijuana legalization is therefore usually more moral than practical or economic. But what's moral about criminalization?

[continues 276 words]

Heroin has become the deadly crest of a wave of addictive drug use in communities around the country.

With addicts desperate for a cheaper high than prescription drugs or seeking a more powerful fix, experts are seeing heroin addiction treatment admissions, overdoses and fatalities rising in nearly every region, including areas where the drug has seldom been seen before.

In Ohio, state officials say drug overdoses from heroin increased 25 percent between 2008 and 2009, and are continuing to rise.

In Cowlitz County, Wash., an unusually pure shipment of heroin killed seven people in just five days during April.

[continues 1178 words]

GREENEVILLE - Since the state of Tennessee passed legislation banning synthetic drugs, Kingsport, Bristol and Sullivan County say a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the local bans has become moot.

Which is why the three governments are seeking once again to have the federal case dismissed.

Earlier this year, Ultimate Smoke of Kingsport, Cloud 9 Emporium of Bristol, and White Cloud Emporium and Hard Packs - both in Sullivan County - filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Greeneville challenging local bans of synthetic drugs by the three governments.

[continues 288 words]

The state affiliate of NORML, the organization that seeks to legalize marijuana, is making a more aggressive push in Tennessee with the unveiling of a billboard near the Capitol.

The billboard makes the case for medical use. It will be unveiled at 11 a.m. Saturday at the corner of Third Avenue North and Gay Street.

"It is time for Tennessee to seriously consider the facts about medical marijuana," said Doak Patton, president of Tennessee NORML. "It's time to end the war on medical cannabis that's targeting sick and elderly Americans."

[continues 94 words]

Memphis drug-ring accomplice testifies of violence that drove him to flee with his family

A former member of Craig Petties' drug organization told jurors Tuesday about a series of ghoulish events that drove him from Memphis and ultimately into the federal witness protection program.

Dana Bradley, testifying in the federal trial of two alleged hit men, said the disturbing errands he was asked to carry out on behalf of the drug ring included digging a grave, carting around a heavily armed death squad from Mexico and burning up a murder victim's car.

[continues 647 words]

Admitted drug trafficker Curtis Keller walked into Criminal Court for sentencing Tuesday, shielding himself from cameras with a sheet of paper on which he had printed: "Massive Corruption Within the Courts."

Things went downhill from there.

Keller, in bright red jail garb and escorted by two jail officers, was convicted last fall of directing a 2010 home invasion in Collierville, a scheme he acknowledged planning in an effort to get his marijuana back.

Kicking in a door in the middle of the night, threatening a woman and children with guns and pistol-whipping the man at the house, however, was the crowning achievement in a lifetime of crime, the judge said.

[continues 490 words]

Sitting in the driver's seat of his Chevy Cavalier, Chris Burns gripped a 20-ounce soda bottle and waited for his "shake and bake" methamphetamine to cook.

Then came the explosion and fire.

Burns and passenger Bobby Joe Joyner fled as blazing chemicals scorched their skin.

When police caught up with the pair, they admitted to cooking meth and causing the explosion while sitting at a stop sign on a rural Fayette County road. But it was months before either faced criminal charges.

[continues 1051 words]

Trial offers view of Memphis' drug lords Case of 2 cousins -- accused of being hit men in Petties' violent gang -- to resume Monday

Killers callously hunting down their Memphis targets. A Mexico death squad armed with assault rifles and silencers hidden in Cordova. A 6-year-old boy caught up in a shootout over a multi-million-dollar drug heist.

This portrait of Memphis' secret seedy side is continuing to take shape each day in the ongoing federal trial of two alleged hit men from the city's most notorious drug organization.

[continues 871 words]

It didn't surprise former U.S. Customs investigator Jamie Haase that a drug trafficker testified in federal court about cocaine sent from Mexico into the U.S. via FedEx.

Haase said the FedEx Express world hub in Memphis, which handles about 1.5 million packages on a typical night, just doesn't have enough people, drug dogs and detection gear to catch everything.

"The sheer volume of packages that goes through there makes it a win-win for drug traffickers," said Haase, who works in loss prevention in Greenville, S.C., and advocates for a group that favors liberalization of drug laws.

[continues 951 words]

KINGSPORT - Police Chief Gale Osborne said on Tuesday the "wheels of justice" are moving toward addressing the synthetic drug situation in the Model City, noting that the department has been in contact with the city of Knoxville, which shut down four "head shops" last week.

In response to the growing number of people using synthetic drugs, such as synthetic marijuana and so-called bath salts, Kingsport approved a citywide ban on the products Dec. 6 with the penalty for the sale and possession of such products being a $50 civil penalty.

[continues 282 words]