Thanks to Bill McClellan for his Feb. 25 column, "Frank talk about drugs could do us all some good." With the cost of the ongoing war on drugs still increasing and the end nowhere in sight, regulation is a much more feasible approach to the drug problem than criminalization. Today's gangs and drug lords thrive on the black market for illegal drugs, much the same as gangsters of the Prohibition era. Prisons are overcrowded with minor drug offenders and junkies who need treatment, not jail time. Regulations on the sale of drugs, much like that of alcohol, would take a large burden off the government and the taxpayers by helping to stop prison crowding and stop the government's money trap that is the "war on drugs." Alex Streiff, Wildwood [end]
I couldn't agree more with Bill McClellan's column regarding drugs, and I'm a medical professional. The decision to change our national policy should be made in response to our present system's failure to control drugs. These systems fail and always have. Legal versus illegal drugs are defined by "moral" and political rationale versus scientific reasons. Legalize most drugs, and spend our resources on prevention, treatment and research. Once again, common sense could prevail if ever allowed to. Don Ickler, St. Peters [end]
Thirty years ago, I lived in a small apartment near a dry riverbed about two blocks from Mill Avenue in Tempe, Ariz. The big literary event of each month was the arrival in a local head shop - Mill was lined with them - of the latest edition of the comic book, The Furry Freak Brothers. The brothers' motto was this: Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope. To be entirely honest about it, I had much more experience with the no-money part. [continues 673 words]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A Florida man on Thursday sat before an Illinois legislative committee and displayed a tin of prescription marijuana cigarettes, telling lawmakers that medicinal use of the drug shouldn't be viewed as a crime. After his testimony, Capitol police detained him while they called federal officials - a sobering example, proponents say, of why drug laws should be adjusted to medical necessity. The drama ended about 30 minutes later, after police confirmed the man had a legal right to the marijuana under a small federal medical program. [continues 444 words]
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A state legislator wants to require all Illinois high school students to take drug tests before they could get their drivers permits, a move he believes could keep teens off methamphetamine by threatening what's most dear to them. It's part of a growing list of bills in Springfield this year that would tighten restrictions on young drivers, who are responsible for a disproportionate number of the nation's highway accidents. Other pending bills in Illinois would add new restrictions and requirements on young drivers in terms of drivers' education fees, seat belts, cell phones and even car purchases. [continues 719 words]
NO MATTER HOW MUCH Congress may want to mete out severe, mandatory sentences in criminal cases, it can't circumvent the institution that protects the individual from the state in criminal cases: the jury. That is the heart of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Congress' system of mandatory federal sentencing guidelines violates the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of trial by jury. The 5-4 decision this week converts mandatory guidelines into advisory ones, expanding the discretion of judges and promoting fairer sentences. [continues 338 words]
Plagued by debt and evidence that its top executive used agency money to pay off thousands of dollars in personal bills, one of this area's oldest and best-known drug programs will cease operations today. Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation and Treatment, better known as DART, will stop methadone treatment to about 250 Missouri clients at the close of business this afternoon, agency officials said this week. But, they said, the treatment program will continue uninterrupted Monday under a newly formed nonprofit group consisting largely of DART employees. [continues 770 words]
A cramped office in Union is the unlikely nerve center of a 12-state lobbying effort that next year will square off against one of the most powerful forces in American politics - the pharmaceutical industry. There, in a tiny nook of the Franklin County Sheriff's Department, Detective Jason "Jake" Grellner is leading a campaign to cut off the supply of over-the-counter cold pills that have fueled the explosion of methamphetamine production across the nation's heartland. "To say that we're excited is an understatement ... 2005 is going to be our year," said Grellner, who has spent much of the last few weeks working with legislators and policymakers from across the Midwest. Their goal: to severely restrict sales of pseudoephedrine, the active chemical in scores of decongestants and the backbone of the $3 billion U.S. market for over-the-counter cold remedies. [continues 1481 words]
A Wood River man who authorities said tried to use another person's urine for a drug test was charged Tuesday under a new law aimed at preventing drug-testing fraud. Christopher L. Mains, 21, of the 900 block of Acton Avenue, was charged by the Madison County state's attorney's office with defrauding a drug and alcohol screening test, a felony. It was the first time the state's attorney's office applied the new law. Authorities said Mains tried to pass off another person's urine as his own when he reported to his Madison County probation officer on Dec. 8. [continues 147 words]
In a Dec. 1 letter, Robert Sharpe, a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy, writes: "Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a cost-effective alternative to a never-ending drug war." Apparently Sharpe and his pro-legalization colleagues never have looked carefully at the nation's flawed alcohol-control policies. If they did, they would find that taxation and regulation are in the grip of those who produce intoxicating beverages. Any Missouri state legislator can tell you what the chances are that the Legislature will vote against anything opposed by Big Beer. Is there any other way to explain why the state excise tax on beer is scarcely a half-penny per can and that the per-gallon rates have not changed since 1971 - when Gov.-elect Matt Blunt was still in diapers - despite evidence that alcohol misuse, abuse and addiction cost the state about $3.7 billion each year? Gerrit L. DenHartog Jefferson City [end]
In response to the Nov. 26 editorial, "High times in Columbia": Not only should medical marijuana be made available to Missouri patients in need, but also adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't require IDs to prove age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs, while demand remains constant, only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime; it fuels crime. [continues 106 words]
MAYBE IT'S A SIGN OF THE TIMES, but it's a surprising sign in a state and county that went red on Nov. 2. Voters in Columbia, Mo., decided on Election Day to decriminalize marijuana, permitting its medicinal use and offering low fines and no jail time for anyone caught with 35 grams or less. In other words, it's cool to have the equivalent of 20 king-sized doobies. In addition, the charges will be dropped for first-time offenders who keep their nose clean. [continues 369 words]
COLUMBIA, Mo. - It ain't Amsterdam, and it's still got nothing on Berkeley. But when voters in Columbia passed two propositions decriminalizing marijuana, they made this mid-Missouri college town about the closest thing the Midwest has to offer. Decriminalization means if you're caught in the city with a small amount of marijuana, "you don't get arrested, you don't go to jail, and you don't get a record," according to Dan Viets, a Columbia defense attorney who helped spearhead the effort to pass the propositions. He's also defended clients against marijuana charges here for 18 years. [continues 969 words]
Police Would Get More Funding, He Says Police narcotics units would get more money and the sale of cold pills would be more tightly regulated under a John Kerry administration, his running mate said Monday while campaigning in Missouri and Iowa. In a conference call with reporters, Sen. John Edwards called methamphetamine "a cancer on rural areas and small towns" and vowed to fully fund several police assistance programs that Edwards claims President George W. Bush is trying to slash. Edwards also said the Democratic ticket would add about $20 million in aid that targets meth "hot spots." [continues 298 words]
I don't mind ignorant columnists, I read them everyday, I don't mind people who haven't read anything on a subject spewing propaganda like good little citizens sending the approved government messages. But when Dan O'Neill tells us we need to get real about what we tolerate, he himself needs to get real with his knowledge. O'Neill's admitted personal experience reflects on him, not on the drugs he used. Potent marijuana has been available since mankind first used it 5,000 years ago, O'Neill just had a bad supplier. Hence his assertion that today's grass is stronger than what he smoked in the '60's is simply wrong. Remember tia-sticks? [continues 307 words]
We live in a remarkably ambiguous world. For instance, there has been no shortage of headlines and news concerning BALCO and performance-enhancing drugs. We are determined to get to the bottom of it, identify the perpetrators, discipline the guilty. As fans, we are resolute in our conviction to protect the integrity of the games. At the same time, Ricky Williams recently announced he was retiring from football. He suggested he failed a drug test to instigate the retirement. In sum, he basically would rather smoke pot and hang out with Lenny Kravitz than make millions playing football. [continues 952 words]
Montel Williams threw his support behind legalizing medical marijuana in New York, saying pot helps him cope with multiple sclerosis. Williams, who was diagnosed with the neurological disease in 1999, said he uses marijuana every night before bed to relieve the pain in his legs and feet. "I'm breaking the law every day, and I will continue to break the law," Williams, host of the syndicated "Montel Williams Show," said Tuesday. Williams recalled during a news conference how prescription painkillers and even morphine failed to control his tremors and spasms. [continues 52 words]
KANSAS CITY, MO. - The debate over Missouri's growing methamphetamine problem took a major turn Wednesday, as police from around the state demanded that some common cold pills used to make the drug be classified as regulated narcotics available only at pharmacies. At issue is a chemical called pseudoephedrine. It's an active ingredient in more than 80 over-the-counter remedies that are sold everywhere from gas stations to grocery stores. But pseudoephedrine also is a key ingredient in most recipes for meth, a powerful stimulant often called ice, crystal or crank. [continues 731 words]
Police and prosecutors in Missouri and Illinois say it's time for tough measures in their fight against the increasing production of the illegal drug methamphetamine. One of their targets is a little pill many people take to relieve the common cold. Across the Midwest, anti-meth crusaders are drawing attention to pseudoephedrine. It's an active ingredient in more than 80 over-the-counter cold remedies and an essential ingredient in most recipes for meth, a powerful stimulant often called ice, crystal or crank. [continues 1208 words]
Official Reviews Area's Approach to Fighting Drugs Drug abuse was being fought two ways at St. Louis City Hall on Thursday. In Mayor Francis Slay's office, President George W. Bush's drug czar reviewed a federal plan to reduce drug use by 25 percent. St. Louis is the 14th of 25 stops by John Walters, director of the National Drug Control Policy office. The city has seen large jumps in cocaine, marijuana and narcotics cases in the last few years. [continues 540 words]
