I recently read an interesting article in USA Today entitled "Denver Weighs Proposal to Ease Marijuana Laws." I personally hope the proposal passes. However, the article ended by the opponents of the proposal saying, " ... all that money (used to buy medical marijuana) goes to organized crime." That just ain't so. Having a legal prescription for medical marijuana from a licensed, practicing doctor in my home state for many years, I can say without hesitation that the little money I spend for it doesn't go to organized crime. It goes to a 61-year-old, 100-percent disabled Vietnam veteran who lives on a little 40-acre farm in Arkansas, and whose only other income is from a veterans' (VA) disability pension. This individual is a church-going, God-fearing gentleman whom I have known for years. He uses the money I spend to feed his family, buy medicine and gas. It is spent locally in his community; it doesn't go to some terrorist or drug lord. [continues 113 words]
A candidate for public office recently observed that the most serious problem facing Asheville is the problem of "hard drugs" and the attendant problems of child abuse, domestic violence, crime, etc. One is not sure what is meant by the term "hard drugs," but usually it is meant to refer to illegal drugs like cocaine (especially crack cocaine) and heroin. Excluded are generally legal drugs like alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, and the illegal drug marijuana. There are at least two problems with this way of framing "the problem." One is that all the problems cited in relation to the use of hard drugs occur in much greater frequency in any community as a result of alcohol use. The other is that the core problem is seen as residing in the drugs themselves and in their use and distribution. In reality, these drugs are primarily consumed in communities other than where their effects are most often observed. [continues 432 words]
This spring, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy unleashed a new round of anti-marijuana newspaper ads aimed at parents. One of the most egregiously deceptive ads was headlined "Introducing a Really High-Tar Cigarette," and claimed, "Quite a few people think that smoking pot is less likely to cause cancer than a regular cigarette. You may even have heard some parents say they'd rather their kids smoked a little pot than get hooked on cigarettes. Wrong, and wrong again ... one joint can deliver four times as much cancer-causing tar as one cigarette" [emphasis added]. [continues 152 words]
The next time "devil's weed" (i.e. marijuana) buzzes your brain, please reserve a moment to imagine the disapproving scowl of Elizabeth Dole, our dis-compassionate, will-never-support-medical-marijuana senator. Two seconds later, having ditched her churlish image from your mind's sated eye, realize with glowing self-appreciation that getting high is a civic duty, an act of civil disobedience; stated properly: Civil Disobedience. Marijuana is not just for the sick -- it is for all of us who choose it. Marijuana may be momentarily illegal in Raleigh and Pack Square, but it is certainly ... available in our living rooms where, as you know, only the best people congregate. Our living rooms act as oases in a desert packed with upper-middle-class, white elites who would rather die than accept any change not squeezed from their little minds. Elites who carry the burden of believing they are your Mommy and Daddy out to protect you from yourself: June and Ward Cleaver, maniacally plotting to keep their Beaver safe from the likes of Eddie Haskell and company. [Meanwhile the] foolish antics of bureaucratic knobs comprise a government that befits deleted scenes from a Laurel-and-Hardy movie. [continues 150 words]
I've just read Bob Niewoehner's letter ["Could the Senator Be Misinformed?", July 6 ], and I take issue with (Ms. Dole's?) claim that "government study after study shows all the bad things that will happen to us should we ever be exposed to marijuana." Politicians have been making that claim since before the release of "Reefer Madness," but the truth is that "study after study" has proven no such thing. If pressed for details on any of the government or medical studies that have been run on marijuana (including the most recent one on the "newer, more potent strains"), politicians will say the results are "inconclusive." Apparently, "inconclusive" is political-speak for: "We didn't get the results we were hoping for." But, then again, skilled politicians have never been known to let the facts stand in the way of their policy decisions. - - Steven Olson Asheville [end]
Drug Testing To Continue At T.C. Roberson High T.C. Roberson High School plans to continue its drug-testing program for a second year. So far, however, no other Buncombe County school is following suit. Roberson implemented a pilot program last year that randomly tested students involved in extracurricular activities. Constitutional issues prohibit mandatory testing of the entire student body, because they are required by law to be there. But a 2002 Supreme Court decision upheld testing students who choose to take part in school sports or other after-school activities. [continues 970 words]
I'm writing about Bob Neiwoehner's thoughtful letter: "Could the Senator Be Misinformed?" [July 6]. Perhaps Neiwoehner should have asked Sen. Dole whether she thinks all users of recreational drugs should be punished. And what about those who "push" recreational drugs on TV? Viagra, Levitra and Cialis are all recreational drugs. All are designed for the sole purpose of giving or enhancing pleasure. So why are some recreational drugs given approval by our governmental agencies, and not others? It's not safety, because in the few short years that Viagra has been available, it has caused more deaths than marijuana, which has been used for over 5,000 years with no documented deaths. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that politicians receive millions from the pharmaceutical industry and nothing from the marijuana industry. (See the Web site www.saynotodrugs.org.) Perhaps? Perhaps "perhaps" is the wrong word. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
AIDS/meth Link Obscures Importance Of Protected Sex Despite the recent prominence of local methamphetamine labs in the news -- and a nationally reported link between meth use and increased risk of AIDS -- the number of new AIDS cases reported in Buncombe County has held steady, and unprotected sex remains the primary risk factor for area residents. Dr. Douglas Richman of the Center for AIDS Research at the University of California, San Diego, recently told the Los Angeles Times: "Rapid progression [from HIV infection to full-blown AIDS] occurs in a subset of people. ... Rates of promiscuity among men who have sex with men, especially those who abuse methamphetamines, [are] frighteningly high." [continues 756 words]
Recently, I received a letter from Sen. Elizabeth Dole in reply to an e-mail I had sent asking her to support the medical marijuana issue that was before the Supreme Court. I was not only surprised but somewhat educated when I read her reply. She obviously equates medical marijuana to "Reefer Madness" -- which is great, I suppose, except that it leads me to believe that our Honorable Mrs. Dole has no faith in, trust of, or respect for our doctors here in the great state of North Carolina (or anywhere, I suppose). [continues 261 words]
All the social ills cited by Mr. Harrison [Letters, "Symbols Won't Defeat Drugs; Try Courage," June 15] are the result of the prohibition of illegal drugs - not the drugs. If drugs were regulated and taxed, and those who [need treatment] were treated, these social ills would be greatly reduced. When was the last time alcohol caused the cited problems? I think you will find that it was when alcohol prohibition was the law of the land. Robert Gregg Marshville [end]
I find it interesting how many folks from out of town write to the Mountain Xpress about the need to legalize drugs in Asheville/Buncombe. The letter from Florida was one of the most recent ["Move Drug Laws into 21st Century," May 18]. I realize that Law Enforcement Against Prohibition has an organized national effort to write letters to editors. However, I believe the political process is skewed when organized groups from across the country get a loud voice in local politics. [continues 298 words]
Letter writer Minter is right on target ["Current drug policies fail society," April 27]. Her views are echoed by a growing group of judges and police who believe the best way to deal with risky drugs is to legalize them and eliminate the criminal dealers. With hundreds of years of combined experience on the front lines of the 35-plus-year drug war, the members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) have learned that millions of valuable police man-hours are wasted in a futile attempt to "control" criminal dealers and illegal-drug flow. The only way to control in-demand drugs is to have them in a regulated market. This is how we sensibly deal with the risky and most commonly abused drug in America -- alcohol. [continues 119 words]
I was disturbed by the last two ad hominim attacks Bud Howell launched against Vice Mayor Mumpower's refusal to be complacent about the local, open-air, hard-drug market. And, contrary to the claims of your out-of-state readers, there's more to drug culture than feeling good. While recreational users who can still hold down jobs and read newspapers haven't crossed that line, we mustn't forget the less fortunate among us who have or could. Insatiable demons torment the addictive mind. Basic skills of coping, planning and working toward goals are never learned, as the seductive option of escape is always beckoning. Hours pile up into years of lost opportunities. When it's feeding time for the inner demons, we'd sell anything to put the fire out. We pull our families, friends and neighbors down as we lie, cheat and steal to support our habits. Exhausting all support systems, many of us will turn to the streets, selling our souls for a life of crime. [continues 112 words]
I'm writing about Clare Hanrahan's outstanding commentary ["Failed Drug War Won't Protect Our Children," April 6]. I'd like to add that if tough-on-drugs policies worked, the quixotic goal of a drug-free America would have been reached a long time ago. And if tolerant drug policies created more drug use, the Netherlands would have much higher drug-usage rates than the United States. They do not. In fact, the Dutch use marijuana and other recreational drugs at much lower rates than Americans do (see the Web site: www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm). [continues 146 words]
Re: "Failed Drug War Won't Protect Our Children" [Commentary, April 6]. Our drug policies create the black market - which is the threat to society because it creates an atmosphere in which we must be afraid to send our children to a corner store; to ever leave them unsupervised. Katie Collman (Indiana) and Paul Guajardo (Texas) are two children recently murdered. Katie (10) stumbled [upon] a meth lab, and Paul was undercover at 14. It's estimated over 100 million Americans have used some illegal drug. Why not educate our young, treat our addicts, and respect the rights of adults to choose their own recreational or medicinal intoxicant? It would free law enforcement to better protect us from violence and fraud, plus create room in prison for those selling children drugs. [continues 77 words]
I found Carl Mumpower's recent letter ["Myth Versus Meth," (http://www.mountainx.com/opinion/2005/0420letters.php) April 20] - in which he refers to his solicitation of crack cocaine in a residential neighborhood last year as an "urban myth" - to be very interesting. In labeling the incident "untrue," Mumpower obscures ... an event that involved not only his solicitation of illegal drugs, but also the dangerous manipulation of circumstances to a point that could easily have resulted [in] gunfire in a neighborhood where children live. [continues 307 words]
About the tape of George the President, heard talking about His marijuana use [Letters, "Let's Try Jailing Hypocrisy Addicts" (http://www.mountainx.com/opinion/2005/0316letters.php), March 16]: I do not care if President Bush has smoked pot or used cocaine in the past, but I am concerned that he thinks it is OK to cage others for doing the same thing. - - Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
I am writing in response to Clare Hanrahan's nonsensical commentary of April 6 ["Failed Drug War Won't Protect Our Children]. First, the drug war has not failed. The object of the drug war is not to eliminate all illegal drugs and drug use. (However, we would if we could.) I certainly doubt the veracity of the statement of the writer that drug abuse is more prevalent in the condominiums of Asheville than in public housing. Regardless, the parking lots of the condominiums are not "open air" drug markets as they are in public-housing communities, and that endanger the children that use the same area for a playground. Ms. Hanrahan says there is little drug-related crime in public housing. Tell that to the parents of Pisgah View who need to scurry around and get their children inside while about eight gunshots rang out in the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday, April 5. Shots rang out the following morning at 2 a.m. This is crime at its worst. (And it is not unusual.) [continues 209 words]
In a June 23, 2004, news story written by Xpress Reporter Brian Sarzynski, we reported that Council member Mumpower had recounted an incident that occurred as he was driven through an Asheville public housing complex by former City Council member and retired police officer Herb Watts. According to our news story, "Watts rolled down the driver's side window, asked for 'a dime,' and 'the guy dropped a rock in his hand, Herb handed it to me, and Herb then drove off without paying. I was looking over my shoulder waiting for the gunfire.' [continues 96 words]
First, let me thank you for your opinion piece on drugs and children . [Commentary, "Failed Drug War Won't Protect Our Children," (http://www.mountainx.com/opinion/2005/0406hanrahan.php) by Clare Hanrahan, April 6]. Although we share dramatically differing perspectives, I appreciate anyone who attempts to shine some light on our serious drug issues in Asheville. As a point of secondary interest, your assertion that I in any way solicited crack cocaine is untrue and represents a repeat of an urban myth largely perpetuated by my fans at the Mountain Xpress. While we are on that subject of urban myths and drugs, may I share a few more? [continues 543 words]
