Sound the alarm!

Man the battlements! Another threat to Utah's guarded way of life looms large on the horizon.

Colorado, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Oregon now allow use of marijuana as medicine.

That the West is going to pot is a troubling development for those Utahns already feeling besieged by socialists, Mexicans, homosexuals and garden-variety nutcakes.

I worry about the prevalence of a siege mentality; I don't worry at all about sick people using pot to ease pain or nausea. Anyone having firsthand experience with medicinal marijuana would hold similar views. When a friend was dying of cancer last year, my wife brought pot from Northern California. It was easy to come by. It is so commonplace there that radio stations advertise supplies for the "indoor gardeners" whose cannabis crop is a mainstay of the California economy.

[continues 820 words]

Legal and Undetected

Smoking marijuana may not destroy your life like a heroin addiction or damage your body like cocaine.

It does, however, destroy trust and damage relationships; no parent wants to be lied to, to lay awake at night wondering what's going on with their children or to explain to a 5-year-old girl why her brother isn't around much anymore and doesn't seem to like his family very much.

Now, a new substance that mimics the effects of marijuana is sold legally as an incense. It could be causing the same worries - except most parents have no idea that the marijuana substitute even exists. They don't know what signs to watch for. They don't recognize the smell. It's sold by legitimate businesses and does not show up in drug tests.

[continues 5976 words]

BRIGHAM CITY -- After a controversial start, the Box Elder School District drug policy was deemed a success and will be used again in the upcoming school year.

Bear River High School Vice Principal Chad Kirby told the school board he did not believe there needed to be any amendments to the policy.

"It is working with what we are currently doing," Kirby said, adding that in this school year the resource officer will give the anti-drug information to all students rather than just the students who sign up for sports.

[continues 271 words]

SALT LAKE CITY -- A new state council that originated from a Clinton lawmaker's legislation will consider cracking down on the use of two unregulated herbs circulating as recreational drugs.

The Controlled Substances Advisory Committee met for the first time on Wednesday to consider suggesting state regulations on three items: the herb Salvia divinorum, the herb called Spice and the prescription drug Tramadol.

Earlier this year, the Weber School District banned Spice and Hill Air Force Base banned Salvia divinorum from use at their locations and were among the first entities in the state to take action on the herbal items. The products are legal and do not show up on drug tests, but both produce hallucinogenic or marijuana-like effects in some people when smoked.

[continues 366 words]

I'm writing about: "12,000 marijuana plants removed in hills above Centerville" (6-27-10).

I'm sure that many marijuana growers and sellers are thankful to the Davis Metro Narcotics Strike Force, the David County Sheriff's Office, the Centerville Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration for this latest marijuana eradication effort and others like it.

Without operations like this, marijuana would be worth what other easy-to-grow weeds are worth--very little.

Thanks to the Drug Enforcement Administration and other so-called "drug warriors," the easy-to-grow weed is worth almost as much as pure gold--and completely tax free.

Any marijuana growers, sellers or traffickers arrested will soon be replaced. They always are.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

[end]

CENTERVILLE -- Police removed more than 12,000 marijuana plants on a rugged hillside above here on Forest Service Land on Sunday morning. The operation took several hours.

Centerville resident Troy Carlson, who lives about a mile below where the plants were removed on the 100 block of 700 East, said he was surprised to hear helicopters about 9:30 a.m. and then to find out that police had found the drugs growing there.

"We just watched all day," he said. "Of course, we are concerned about it. It's about a mile from our fence line. It's not a long ways."

[continues 326 words]

"You have to face the fact that the whole problem is really the blacks. The key is to devise a system that recognizes this all while not appearing to." -- Richard Nixon as quoted by H.R. Haldeman, supporting a get-tough-on drugs strategy.

"They give black people time like it's lunch down there. You go down there looking for justice, that's what you find: just us." -- Richard Pryor.

Michelle Alexander was an ACLU attorney in Oakland, preparing a racial profiling lawsuit against the California Highway Patrol. The ACLU had put out a request for anyone who had been profiled to get in touch. One day, in walked this black man.

[continues 565 words]

California is on the verge of legalizing marijuana for general use - within certain age limits, of course. Debate on the subject is now raging, but the measure will be on the November ballot in the Golden State. Fourteen states, including California, already permit the use of cannabis for medical purposes, mainly pain control.

The arguments for the general use of pot are simple: It would make the state money, and it would save the state money. Legalizing marijuana, supporters claim, would fatten the state's coffers by applying a sales tax on the product when it is sold.

[continues 562 words]

Richard Bracken has brought forth a very controversial topic.

He has brought forth his ideas formally, but his argument is fairly weak. The author states that "marijuana being more harmful than alcohol or cigarettes have no basis in fact." This is a double-edged sword because he is making an appeal to the masses by saying that everyone knows that alcohol or cigarettes are worse than marijuana, when it actually depends upon the person on whether or not it is more deadly.

[continues 160 words]

I'm writing about Richard Bracken's thoughtful column: "Legalizing Marijuana Just Makes Sense."

I'd like to add that it makes no sense, economic or moral, to jail marijuana users or sellers. Our jails and prisons should be reserved for those who harm others against their will. 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. We don't have tobacco producers or sellers attempting to settle their disputes with each other with gun battles in the streets. If we were to criminalize tobacco, the situation would change.

We learned our lesson about criminalizing alcohol in only 13 years. Why can't we learn the same lesson about marijuana?

Kirk Muse, Mesa, Ariz., resident

[end]

Another reason to stop caging responsible adults who use marijuana that doesn't get mentioned is because it's biblically correct. God indicates he created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page (Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only biblical restriction placed on marijuana is it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5).

The list of reasons to end marijuana prohibition, persecution and extermination is growing faster than the plant itself.

Stan White, Dillon, Colo., resident

[end]

A petition in California has placed a measure in support of the legalization of marijuana on the ballot for November, and the success of this measure will demonstrate the resolve of the American people not to be ignored by their government.

The federal government has exhausted all avenues through which to block the legalization of marijuana. They have inflated the budgets of law enforcement and bloated our prisons; they have refused the acknowledgment of well-known and well-regarded medicinal benefits, and they have demonized a harmless plant and the proponents of its use. They have done so consciously and maliciously, and the public has lost patience.

[continues 820 words]

Ceremony - Fifth-Graders Have Mayor, Police Chief Onboard.

Murray - If high school graduation is the seminal moment of teenagers' lives, then D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) graduation just might be the equivalent for fifth-graders.

On Dec. 17, students at Longview Elementary had their D.A.R.E. graduation, each receiving certificates and new crisp, white D.A.R.E. T-shirts. The ceremony was attended by Murray City Mayor Daniel Snarr, Police Chief Peter Fondaco, D.A.R.E. officer Keith Huber and assistant superintendent Steven Hirasse.

[continues 539 words]

Right now, everyone is wondering how we will pay for health care reform. No one wants to be taxed more. No one wants money to be taken from other programs. No one wants to be left uninsured. I have a solution: Legalize, tax and regulate marijuana like we do alcohol. State and federal governments spend an estimated $44 billion a year on the war on drugs, and by legalizing cannabis, a significant part of that amount would be saved. Additionally, the tax revenue from legalization would net around $12 billion. This money could go toward health care reform, eliminating the need for tax increases or money being taken from our schools or other programs.

Adrienne Murphy

Salt Lake City

[end]

"The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!

Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason...

But I think that the most likely reason of all

May have been that his heart was two sizes too small."

When I first read that one of our state lawmakers is thinking the poor should be drug tested if they receive "welfare," the story of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" came to mind; but not even Dr. Seuss could imagine that. Yet, it's a dilemma policymakers face.

[continues 588 words]

Their Cases Dismissed, Officers Say Working Around Drug Labs Sickened Them.

Utah County sheriff's Lt. Dennis Harris may be the best example of the divide between science, the law and police who say methamphetamine sickened them.

Harris spent the past month undergoing a treatment purporting to alleviate symptoms of meth exposure. In the midst of Harris' 30-day effort to sweat out poisons, an administrative judge dismissed his worker compensation claim for lack of evidence.

"Physically I feel a lot better," said Harris, 54, whose treatment ended Nov. 19. "Mentally, I feel fantastic."

[continues 447 words]

PLEASANT VIEW -- High schools in Weber School District are giving kids an excuse to say no to drugs and alcohol.

In order to participate in such extracurricular activities as sports, student government, cheerleading, drama, debate, the band or choir this year, students must submit to random drug testing.

"This is a way to say, 'I am on the team and can't do this if I want to stay on the squad,' " said Weber High School Principal Steve Elsnab.

Bonneville High School implemented drug testing during 2008-09, and things went so smoothly, the program was expanded to other high schools in the district.

[continues 556 words]

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Gary Sterner ticked off the ailments he attributes to methamphetamine exposure.

Headaches, joint pain, esophageal problems.

"Let's see. What else," Sterner said.

"Memory loss," replied his lawyer, Susan Black Dunn.

"Oh, yeah."

But science has not yet supported the claims made by police officers like Sterner. Neither has Utah law.

The Utah Labor Commission this year has dismissed 19 cases filed by the so-called "Meth Cops" or their survivors seeking workers compensation benefits. Many of the cases, which were first filed four years ago, were dismissed at the requests of the officers, who wanted more time to find evidence that busting meth labs contributed to their ailments before they refile their claims.

[continues 654 words]

This year marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's start of the war on drugs, and it now appears that drugs have won.

"We've spent a trillion dollars prosecuting the war on drugs," Norm Stamper, a former police chief of Seattle, told me. "What do we have to show for it? Drugs are more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency. It's a dismal failure."

For that reason, he favors legalization of drugs, perhaps by the equivalent of state liquor stores or registered pharmacists. Other experts favor keeping drug production and sales illegal but decriminalizing possession, as some foreign countries have done.

[continues 697 words]

Purity Problems ; Might Lead To More Crime, Addict Says.

Methamphetamine in Utah just isn't like the old days.

The quality of the drug has declined and the price has increased, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents in the state. In some cases, the drug is so poor, agents have a hard time making a criminal case against the seller.

"It's more difficult to find methamphetamine in Utah right now than it's ever been," said Frank Smith, the assistant special agent in charge of the DEA in Salt Lake City.

[continues 387 words]

I am encouraged to hear serious legal talk about the legalization of marijuana. For too long we have adhered to the archaic rhetoric originally propagated by Harry Anslinger, who made Americans believe that smoking pot and shooting heroin was the same thing.

If marijuana were discovered today, and didn't carry the bad political baggage, it would be called a godsend. It has proven medical benefits, it doesn't lead to social deviancy and it's far better for you than cigarettes.

[continues 75 words]

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court is about to get involved in one of the most difficult of American subjects -- middle schools and the care of their inmates who as they emerge half baked from babyhood more resemble zoo animals.

Any parent can tell you it is this in-between age that's the most difficult for them and their charges, a sort of purgatory where the occupants without constant vigilance can go from promise to long-term disaster in a split second. It is a land of temptation and experimentation that taxes to the limit the oversight capabilities of educators and leads them often into dangerous uncharted waters where the rights of young people can be sucked into a vortex by overzealousness.

[continues 615 words]

Hempfest, an event held in the Union on Thursday, helped to educate students about the benefits of industrial hemp and the societal costs of America's often misinformed war on drugs.

The fear and untruthful arguments that have been used to keep hemp illegal have propagated the myth that hemp and marijuana are one and the same.

While hemp and marijuana are from the same genus Cannabis, hemp is extremely low-less than 1 percent-in the marijuana-high producing psychoactive cannabinoid delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and high in the antipsychoactive cannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD). Marijuana is the exact opposite, with a high level of THC and a low level of CBD. CBD actually blocks the marijuana high, and hemp's high percentage of CBD makes it not only an impossible means to a drug fix, it essentially makes hemp the "antimarijuana," according to a study by David West for the North American Industrial Hemp Council.

[continues 546 words]

Maybe we should legalize drugs.

I come neither eagerly nor easily to that maybe. Rather, I come by way of spiraling drug violence in Mexico that recently forced Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to acknowledge the role America's insatiable appetite for narcotics plays in the carnage. I come by way of watching Olympian Michael Phelps do the usual public relations song and dance after being outed smoking weed, and knowing the whole thing was a ritualized farce. Most of all, I come by way of personal antipathy: I have never used illegal drugs.

[continues 576 words]

The greatest nightmare of the drug lords is the legalization of drugs in the United States. Every night, they pray that we will continue our stupid policies. That said, I want it noted that I do not smoke, drink, or use drugs. I'm a health nut, and I believe that all drugs are harmful.

But the stupid war on drugs is putting every American at risk! Ninety percent of all burglaries are for the purpose of getting money for drugs. Most shootings and murders are also tied to drugs. By making them illegal, we keep the price high and force people to steal to supply their addiction.

[continues 186 words]

We've come a long way from "I didn't inhale," former President Clinton's rather lame attempt to explain away a marijuana toke. President Obama has been candid about his use of marijuana and cocaine as a young man, when he was grappling with his identity. In his autobiographical Dreams From My Father, he wrote, "I got high (to) push questions of who I was out of my mind."

The revelation barely caused a ripple during the campaign.

Maybe America is maturing on the question of what to do about illicit drug use. When youthful experimentation no longer dooms a career in politics, it means that people have stopped equating former drug use with degeneracy. Most adults in our country have either used a banned drug themselves or know someone who has -- someone perfectly upstanding today. And that will help us move beyond the sensational and destructive "war on drugs" rhetoric to a place where drugs are viewed primarily as a public health problem.

[continues 516 words]

It's discouraging and revealing that Tad Trueblood (Is Mexico really collapsing? from Jan. 29) doesn't ask how today's prohibition is similar to the original prohibition with alcohol, with all its violence, gang activity, deadly bath-tub tainted concoctions, police and political corruption etc.

The original prohibition's biggest achievement was to escalate undesirable consequences with very little good to show and now the sequel is even worse on an international scale. At the very least it's time to re-legalize the relatively safe, socially acceptable, God-given plant cannabis (marijuana), bringing credible drug law reform and putting the gangs out of business, adding stability and utilizing the additional tax money for the good of North America.

Murder rates decreased for 10 years after ending the original prohibition, and there's reason to believe ending the sequel will have the same results.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

If you've read this column for a while, you've recognized there's a contrarian streak in me. That usually shows up in my choice of topics, as I often avoid the "big story" plastered in headlines and on CNN in favor of something not being covered well. When I do address a topic that's reached the mainstream, I look for aspects not being addressed.

The first column I wrote regarding Mexico was almost three years ago, in February 2006. It concerned a confrontation near El Paso pitting Texas state troopers and sheriff's deputies against a group of heavily armed men in military uniforms coming across from Mexico. My thoughts then were, "When a country cannot or will not keep foreign armed forces from crossing into its territory, it may not be a country for much longer."

[continues 403 words]

ST. GEORGE - The one certainty about crime statistics is that they constantly change, sometimes rising, other times falling back. In 2008 St. George Police Department crime statistics showed a little of both.

The statistics are made up of part one and part two crimes. Part one crimes are more violent crimes and most of them are felonies. Part two crimes include charges such as fraud, prostitution, drug abuse violations, vagrancy and more.

Sgt. Scott Lemmon said part two crimes can be prevented by people just being observant. Part one crimes aren't preventable because the person has already made up their mind up to commit the crime.

[continues 507 words]

Car Search) Defendant Says Canine Inadequately Trained To Do His Job

An injury had kept K-9 officer Oso from completing an eight-week narcotics certification course, but his law enforcement partners insist he had the skills to perform his job.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals isn't so sure.

The court has ordered a federal judge in Salt Lake City to review whether Oso was qualified to sniff out evidence on the night he helped find a handgun and drug paraphernalia in a Utah man's car. Police say Oso had 10 weeks of training with his handler, although he hadn't completed certification.

[continues 259 words]

Some recent local news stories are reminders that drug use remains a problem simmering under the placid surface of life in Utah Valley.

* A Provo man was accused of having methamphetamine and marijuana at a day care facility, according to court records. At the Provo home, police found several bags believed to contain meth, a glass pipe used to ingest it and water bongs used to smoke marijuana. The suspect reportedly told officers he had smoked meth in the home when children could have been around.

[continues 472 words]

What's lawful?; Hunches and intuition aren't enough for a once-over.

Sherida Felders admits she was speeding as she traveled on Interstate 15 in November, but says the search by a Utah Highway Patrol officer of her Jeep Commander for drugs was based on racial profiling.

A lawsuit filed by Felders and her two teenage passengers, all blacks, over their alleged 2 1/2-hour roadside detention raises the question of when police can lawfully search a vehicle without a warrant.

[continues 358 words]

There is something about cattle grazing, something mystifying, even edifying. Oblivious to the world, it seems they never look up from their munching and mooing. Can they look up? Usually, their heads are down while they pursue their main reason for being: feasting upon the meal between their two front hooves.

Appetite trumps conversation, which is often reduced to a cow's enigmatic signal to her calf. Who knows what is being discussed, but it is the mothers who moo the most.

[continues 564 words]

A federal judge has rejected an appeal by a Utahn seeking to void a 55-year prison sentence for carrying a gun while selling marijuana.

U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell on Monday ruled the sentence handed down to record producer Weldon Angelos does not violate the separation of powers or his constitutional right to bear arms. Angelos had also argued prosecutors were vindictive in seeking such a harsh penalty for a first-time offender.

Campbell did order a Feb. 11 hearing to take evidence on whether the performance of Angelos' attorney during plea negotiations was deficient.

[continues 188 words]

Campaign Task Force Disbands But Work Continues

Although he was only 4 years old at the time, Taran Kahus remembers Aug. 1, 1999, as the most remarkable day of his life.

"It's the day I got my mom back," said Kahus, who is now 13. "There is hope after meth -- recovery is possible. "

Featured with his mother, Robin Kahus, in an ad spot about methamphetamine use, the St. George teen seems wise beyond his years. As a toddler, Taran Kahus lived with his grandparents while his mother went through several months of treatment in Salt Lake City.

[continues 449 words]

More than 90,000 marijuana plants were seized this year in rural Utah, and police say drug cartels may be planning more pot farms for next summer.

Federal drug enforcers say cartels accustomed to the West Coast appear to have moved some operations to Utah, which has a suitable climate and relative proximity to California and Mexico.

"These are large-scale, narco-traffickers," said Scott Burns, the deputy "drug czar" at the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy. "These are the big guys."

[continues 517 words]

A Utah record producer sentenced to 55 years in prison for carrying a gun while dealing pot on Monday asked for a sentence reduction.

Weldon Angelos argues that the lengthy term violates his Second Amendment right to bear arms.

In a petition filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, attorneys for Angelos also argue that the minimum mandatory sentence is unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

The petition contends that the sentence is excessive in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling concerning gun possession for self-defense and "society's evolving standards that are growing ever more tolerant of the type of marijuana use and sales at the heart of the criminal allegations lodged against Angelos." The filing is the latest challenge in the Angelos case, which ignited a nationwide debate over mandatory minimum sentences.

[continues 454 words]

Utah residents are being asked to watch for a 6-year-old boy police believe was kidnapped from Las Vegas as a result of his grandfather's involvement in the drug trade.

Las Vegas police are now searching for both 6-year-old Cole Puffinburger and his grandfather, 51-year-old Clemens Tinnemeyer, who has been missing since May.

Tinnemeyer reportedly owes tens of millions of dollars to a Mexican drug cartel, Denby said. He allegedly sold cocaine and methamphetamine as he drove around the country and across the border as a tour guide and owner of a motor home sight-seeing tour company.

[continues 329 words]

t's no secret that crime rates have increased over the years in Utah County, and with that in mind, few Happy Valley residents would be surprised to learn that felony prosecutions are on the rise as well. But since the turn of the century, the Utah County Attorney's Office has been busier than most people would probably guess, and the numbers have left a lot of people scratching their heads.

Utah County's population has risen steadily since 2000, and crime rates have risen along with it. But the number of felony cases filed by the county attorney's office has left other statistics in the dust, rising at twice the rate of the county's rapidly growing population. Felonies include serious crimes such as burglary, robbery, murder and rape.

[continues 1038 words]

Last week I provided a basic overview of Mexico's major narco-cartels, i.e the "bad guys." Naturally, the next step is to outline the "good guys" (at least they're supposed to be good), i.e. the law enforcement and military units combating the traffickers.

Well that's no small task. Mexico's highly bureaucratic and secretive government has created a messy alphabet soup of police units and "special" military forces that defies quick explanation.

This is partly due to President Calderon's aggressive approach to countering the cartels and sweeping attempts at reform. Consequently, there are many new organizations involved in the drug wars, making it hard to sort out the organizational chart. Here's a stab, but learn more at www.thiscouldgetinteresting.com.

[continues 400 words]

Cache County School District's student drug testing program just finished its first year, and district and school officials say it's good but not perfect.

The number of students who tested positive for drugs was astoundingly low - so low, in fact, that officials believe some students are cheating the system.

Managing and coordinating drug tests for hundreds of students created a huge increase in work for the schools' athletic directors, with no increased pay.

In coming years, school and district staff hope to iron out some of these problems, with the help of a new $135,000 grant from the federal government for the program.

[continues 1577 words]

James Thalman raises a number of noteworthy issues related to America's "war on drugs" (May 4). This failed "war" is particularly irrational when applied to marijuana, a substance well documented in the scientific literature to be far less harmful than legal drugs such as tobacco and alcohol.

Rethinking our marijuana laws need not imply approval of the use of marijuana or any other drug. If we treated marijuana under the law the same way we treat alcohol, we more effectively control its distribution, do a better job of curbing misuse and abuse and reduce crime.

Bruce Mirken Director of communications Marijuana Policy Project

Washington, D.C.

[end]

In a word, everybody's crazy about drugs.

Whether by prescription or on the street, whether you like your pill dressed in Pfizer blue or prefer little dull ones stamped with a bat emblem, love them or hate them, we've got a thing for drugs.

Government agencies of every variety want to control or get rid of them altogether, while every little criminal -- from the two-bit grifter on the corner to the really nice doctor eight floors above -- seem to do all they can to keep them coming.

[continues 4447 words]

I'm writing about the column: "It is time for some frank talk about legalizing marijuana."

Suppose another country had almost no drug problem. Suppose that country had less than a small fraction of one percent of our drug arrests. And suppose that country had almost no "drug-related crime," and suppose that their robbery rate was a tiny fraction of our robbery rate.

There is such a country: The Czech Republic. The Czech Republic is the only country in the world where adult citizens can legally use, possess and grow small quantities of marijuana. The Czech overall drug arrest rate is 1 per 100,000 population. The United States' overall drug arrest rate is 585 per 100,000 population. The Czech robbery rate is 2 per 100,000 population. The United States' robbery rate is 160.2 per 100,000 population, according to our FBI.

[continues 74 words]

In a Feb. 29 editorial, The Spectrum's editorial board decried the loss of 70 percent of Utah's federal Edward Byrne Justice Assistance Grant program, a program dedicated to providing funds for drug task forces and criminal justice programs.

The editorial proclaims, "State drug task forces have made 9,714 arrests and have removed 1,100 pounds of cocaine, 519 pounds of methamphetamine and 486 pounds of marijuana from the street." They call this success?

Drugs and drug dealers are still on Utah's streets.

[continues 434 words]

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank is proposing a bill that would remove federal penalties for possession and use of small amounts of marijuana.

Why do we need a federal bill?

Because the rest of the country is far behind Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Oregon in decriminalizing the herb, with Michigan on the verge of approving a similar bill. We need a federal bill because we need to put an end to this fruitless, expensive prohibition once and for all.

[continues 492 words]

Long considered a social scourge, Utah's methamphetamine labs have seemingly disappeared.

The state shuttered 121 labs in 2002, according to statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration. Three years later, that number was down to 50. Then 15.

And then there were none.

The Cache/Rich Drug Task Force hasn't shut down a meth lab in more than two years, Logan Police Det. Rob Italasano said.

But for all the talk of disappearing meth labs, Roland Parent, a substance abuse counselor at the Bear River Health Department, has not noticed the difference.

[continues 805 words]

His Duties Will Take on an International Focus

WASHINGTON -- Cedar City native Scott Burns was officially sworn in as second in command of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on Friday, giving the former Iron County attorney even more responsibility in reducing drug use in America.

Burns, whose official new title is the deputy director of the office, will work closely with the office's director, John Walters, known as the "drug czar," and fill in for Walters as needed.

[continues 314 words]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Former Iron County Attorney Scott M. Burns was officially sworn in as Deputy Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on Friday.

Burns has served at ONDCP as the Deputy Director for State, Local and Tribal Affairs since 2002, where he has served as the principal advisor to White House drug czar John P. Walters, on federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement matters.

He has also served as the United States representative to the World Anti-Doping Agency, an international organization dedicated to reducing and eliminating performance-enhancing substances from sport.

[continues 156 words]

Editor:

Regarding David Servatius' thoughtful column, "Big pharma doesn't want to legalize" (Dec. 5): It's not just the pharmaceutical industry that has a vested interest in making sure marijuana is not legalized. Marijuana consumers consume substantially less alcohol than non-marijuana users. Beer and other alcoholic beverages and marijuana are a substitute for each other. The beer industry knows this. The alcoholic beverage industry knows this. Who is the biggest sponsor on TV of sporting events? The beer industry. So, why are sporting teams and the sports industry so concerned when a player tests positive for marijuana? Follow the money!

Kirk Muse

Mesa, AZ

[end]