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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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