Local Del. Glenn Oder (R - Newport News) has sponsored one of 17 bi-partisan bills to outlaw the sale and use of "synthetic marijuana" in the 2011 Virginia General Assembly session. In a year when the entire General Assembly is up for re-election, banning synthetic marijuana is one thing risk-averse legislators can agree on.

Synthetic marijuana is made from chemicals related to mothballs. The effects may be similar, but the chemicals are nothing like marijuana. The synthetics contain carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in amounts large enough to make tobacco look like health food in comparison. The comparative safety of organic marijuana is well established.

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No fewer than 17 bipartisan bills to outlaw the sale and use of "synthetic marijuana" have been filed in the current General Assembly session. In a year when the entire General Assembly is up for re-election, banning synthetic marijuana is one thing risk-averse legislators can agree on.

Synthetic marijuana is made from chemicals related to mothballs. The chemicals are nothing like marijuana, although the effects may be similar. The synthetics contain carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in amounts large enough to make tobacco look like health food in comparison.

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Criminalizing Marijuana (Real or Synthetic) Is a Waste of Law Enforcement Resources

In the state legislature's short sessions -- just 45 days to take care of a year's worth of business -- some good bills meet an untimely death.

One of this year's early casualties was a sensible bill that would have decriminalized marijuana.

Its demise wasn't unexpected. What is unexpected is who was behind it: not a liberal but a Virginia gentleman of the Republican persuasion, Del. Harvey Morgan of Gloucester.

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The new 2009 Fairfax County Youth Survey released in late October revealed a serious increase in teen marijuana use from the baseline low rates reported in the 2005 survey.

Overall "recent-use" (past 30-day) rates for all students rose from 9.2 percent in 2005 to 11.6 percent in 2009, meaning a 26 percent increase. Especially alarming was the rate for boys, which increased 36 percent.

Page 54 of the survey reads, "Usage ... increased from 2005 to 2009, for all grades, genders and race/ethnicities." This increase is consistent with national teen marijuana use trends. Experts say it is mainly attributable to two primary influences: Massive publicity about "medical marijuana" initiatives, which persuade teens that marijuana must be harmless if it's OK for medicine, and the proliferation of high-tech cell phones among students, giving local pushers direct access to students in the market for drugs and alcohol.

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Commentator Robert Sharpe hit the bull's-eye in exposing cannabis (marijuana) prohibition ("Conservative Republican leads effort to decriminalize marijuana," The Daily Progress, Nov. 28). Caging responsible adults for using the extremely popular God-given plant cannabis is just plain wrong on every facet. I'm surprised more Republicans are not fighting for credible drug-law reform, since it coincides with so many conservative values such as freedom, states rights, lower government spending, the free market and honoring the U.S. Constitution, etc.

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Re: "God thinks well of marijuana," Dec. 2 letter:

Letter writer Stan White is correct that the God of the Bible approves marijuana, but there is more to consider.

Punishing people where no injury to another person has been done goes against the law of God commanding that criminal punishment must equal the injury done and no more:

Exodus says, "But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life."

Leviticus says, "fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has disfigured a man, he shall be disfigured."

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Re: "Virginia should legalize pot," Nov. 26 commentary:

Robert Sharpe hit the bull's-eye exposing cannabis (marijuana) prohibition; caging responsible adults for using the God-given plant cannabis is just plain wrong on every facet.

Another reason to pass HB 1443 that he doesn't mention is that legalization is biblically correct, since God, the Ecologician, indicates he created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on the first page of the Bible. The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is to accept it with thankfulness (1 Timothy). What kind of government cages people for using what God says is good?

DILLON, COLO.

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Virginia is one of 18 states where the government operates a monopoly on the distribution and sale of hard liquor. Virginia's Alcohol Beverage Control stores are a holdover from alcohol prohibition. Lasting from 1920 to 1933, alcohol prohibition was repealed when it became clear that prohibition was financing organized crime while failing miserably at preventing alcohol use.

Making the case for ABC privatization, Gov. Bob McDonnell has argued that selling alcohol is not a core government responsibility. Neither is criminalizing people who use marijuana.

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Virginia is one of 18 states where the government operates a monopoly on the distribution and sale of hard liquor. Virginia's Alcohol Beverage Control stores are a holdover from alcohol prohibition. Lasting from 1920 to 1933, alcohol prohibition was repealed when it became clear that prohibition was financing organized crime while failing miserably at preventing alcohol use.

Making the case for ABC privatization, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has argued that selling alcohol is not a core government responsibility. Neither is criminalizing people who use marijuana.

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Virginia is one of 18 states where government operates a monopoly on the distribution and sale of hard liquor. Virginia's Alcohol Beverage Control stores are a holdover from alcohol Prohibition. Lasting from 1920 to 1933, Prohibition was repealed when it became clear that it was financing organized crime while failing miserably at preventing alcohol use. Making the case for ABC privatization, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has argued that selling alcohol is not a core government responsibility.

Neither is criminalizing people who use marijuana.

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Richmond, Va. -- The herbs themselves may seem innocuous, but when laced with a special manmade chemical and smoked, the result can be more potent than marijuana.

This so-called synthetic marijuana, known by such names as Spice and K2, is legal in Virginia. It can be purchased online, in convenience stores and at tobacco shops. But it may not be legal for long.

Some state lawmakers have proposed banning the synthetic-marijuana substances in Virginia, as they have been outlawed in 13 other states. The U.S. military has banned the possession and use of it by service members. The Navy has placed several Hampton Roads businesses off limits to military personnel because they sell these types of substances.

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Austin Raynor ("Up In Smoke," Nov. 9, 2010) got an arrow-splitting bull's eye illustrating the need to end cannabis (marijuana) prohibition and extermination. A sane or moral argument to continue cannabis prohibition does not exist. Not only should states be working to end cannabis prohibition, there should be a race to see which state can do it first.

What kind of government cages humans for using what God says is good?

Stan White

Dillon, Colorado

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Del. Scott Garrett, R-Lynchburg, said Monday he has filed legislation that would prohibit the sale of fake marijuana in Virginia.

Six other legislators, from widely scattered parts of the state, have proposed similar bills this fall. They will be considered in the General Assembly session that begins Jan. 12.

Emergency responders in Lynchburg recently found a young adult who had smoked a synthetic substance intended to produce a high similar to marijuana, Garrett said.

The victim was unresponsive and unable to move his arms or legs, Garrett said, and was taken to a hospital. The victim recovered.

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Despite the Rejection of Proposition 19 in California, the Prohibition of Marijuana Remains an Indefensible Policy

On Tuesday, California voters rejected Proposition 19, which would have legalized the cultivation and possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. The proposition presented a tremendous opportunity to help reverse an expensive and paternalistic policy that has decimated state and federal budgets, spurred the growth of gangs and drug cartels and imprisoned millions of Americans for a harmless recreational activity.

But Proposition 19, despite its defeat at the polls, was not a total failure. Legalization of marijuana has been transformed, in the public's eyes, from a subject of mockery to a legitimate policy possibility. According to a Gallup poll, 46 percent of Americans now favor marijuana legalization, up from 31 percent in 2000.

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To the editor:

(Re: Schools program worthy of praise, Oct. 31)

It is tiresome to see the drug crusaders trying to justify their destructive inquisition with notions of "saving people from themselves." The notion of a drug free America is pure madness and very harmful.

The claim that drug warriors are saving people by throwing them into prison is a huge lie. A lie so big that most people never question it. However, when we examine the results of drug prohibition we quickly learn that the drug crusade has failed on every front. Never since the drug laws went on the books has there been a reduction in drug use. In fact, we have more drug addicts now percentage wise than there were when the drug bans began.

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As a person living in the land of the free and the home of the brave, I wonder why so many people are afraid of legalizing pot. It's not the demon weed that our government told us it was.

It has many uses beyond pleasure. Put American farmers back to work. Put American citizens back to work in Amsterdam-style 'coffee shops.' If we can encourage people to 'drive' downtown to beer and wine festivals, then surely there's room for a natural plant festival. How can a plant be a crime?

Mike Marks

Chesapeake

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Many a life has been brought down or cut short because of drugs, and Suffolk Public Schools are doing what they can to influence students against using illegal substances.

Schools in the system marked "Red Ribbon Week" this week with a variety of lessons and activities designed to encourage kids to be drug-free.

Elementary schools, especially, got into the act, allowing students to dress in a variety of crazy outfits they may not have ordinarily been permitted to wear. For example, students at Creekside wore their shirts backwards to "turn their backs to drugs." At other schools, students arrived in sweats because "being drug-free is no sweat."

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UMW Students Busted In City Drug Sweep

Fourteen current and one former University of Mary Washington students have been charged in an ongoing drug investigation.

Fredericksburg police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe said the arrests range from simple possession of marijuana to distributing such drugs as ecstasy and prescription drugs.

The most-recent five arrests occurred this week in Marshall and Jefferson halls on the UMW campus, Bledsoe said.

The other arrests took place at various off-campus locations.

The cases involving the students began on July 29 while city narcotics officers were investigating a suspected drug dealer who was not associated with the university.

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Richmond, Va. -- As middle and high school students throughout the region return to class this week, police soon will resume their unannounced drug sweeps of public secondary schools to keep the heat on young offenders.

Last school year, police drug dog teams collectively conducted 121 sweeps at 64 area schools, arresting 11 students and finding drugs or alcohol 14 times, according to figures obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The primary goal is to remove drugs from schools and deter students from bringing them on campus, said Richmond police Capt. Michael Shamus. "It's not just to go in there and make an arrest," he said.

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Just as medical marijuana approaches the cusp of general acceptance -- the Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it will permit patients to smoke pot in states that allow it -- a synthetic form of the drug has gained popularity for recreational use, and states are scrambling to outlaw the new drug, variously known as spice, K2, and a few other terms.

Peddled as novelty incense -- wink, wink -- spice consists of an herbal blend treated with synthetic cannabinoids. Poison-control centers have taken hundreds of reports of bad reactions, some of them in Virginia. Two young men in Blacksburg recently were hospitalized for vomiting and rapid heartbeat and (in one case) seizures.

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