State Rep. Kelly Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, introduced a bill this week that would significantly increase the amount of marijuana a person could have in his or her possession for personal use before being charged with a misdemeanor or felony.

Under Alexander's bill, a person would not be charged with a misdemeanor unless he or she had more than 4 ounces of marijuana. Under current law, possession of more than a half-ounce is a misdemeanor. A person would have to have more than 16 ounces -- more than 10 times the current limit -- to be charged with a felony.

[continues 221 words]

Her son was supposed to die 13 years ago. She'll never stop fighting for him.

Doctors predicted Jackson Helms would die by the time he was 6.

Now 19, Jackson has lived longer than expected and gained relief from his severe epilepsy because of cannabidiol, or CBD, says his mom Kelly Helms.

CBD has essentially no THC, which is the psychoactive element in marijuana that causes a high.

The full legalization of medical marijuana could help Jackson, his mom says. Medical experts in North Carolina support more research on medical marijuana.

[continues 999 words]

President Barack Obama on Thursday commuted the 20-year prison sentenced imposed on Richard Ruiz Montes, convicted in 2008 for his role in the Modesto's pot-dealing California Healthcare Collective.

In one of his final presidential acts, Obama used his executive authority to cut Montes' sentence by more than half. Now held at a federal facility in Atwater, according to the Bureau of Prisons' inmate locator, the 36-year-old Montes will be released May 19.

He is identified as Richard by the White House and Bureau of Prisons, but has also been known as Ricardo. The White House listed his hometown as Escalon.

[continues 184 words]

A Pew Research Center survey of nearly 8,000 police officers finds that more than two-thirds of them say that marijuana use should be legal for either personal or medical use.

The nationally representative survey of law enforcement, one of the largest of its kind, found that 32 percent of police officers said marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use, while 37 percent said it should be legal for medical use only. Another 30 percent said that marijuana should not be legal at all.

[continues 424 words]

Tillis says he may not return if bills like sentencing changes aren't passed Senate

WASHINGTON - Sen. Thom Tillis said Wednesday that he may not seek re-election in 2020 unless a sweeping overhaul of the nation's prison sentencing system is passed.

Tillis, R-N.C., has sought to make revamping the nation's criminal justice system one of his signature issues since arriving in Washington in 2015, leaning on his experience in pushing through North Carolina's Justice Reinvestment Act when he was state House speaker in 2011.

[continues 697 words]

I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of the child killed in the recent senseless car crash. I can'€™t imagine your grief.

Here'€™s a summary of facts the StarNews reported about the driver charged in this incident:

2010 Convicted on impaired driving charge

2012 Convicted on Level 2 (severe) DWI charge. Released from prison in less than 6 months, probation revoked.

Currently faces charges for 10/15/2016 attempted breaking and entering, for a prior drug possession and for two prior counts of driving with revoked license.

[continues 102 words]

All the nationwide rhetoric over lamentable black-on-black killings and lives matter doesn't ever seem to highlight the obvious reality that most of the shootings are drug-turf related. Every gang protects its square blocks and guns down intruders, unfortunately putting innocent people in the crossfire no matter where. If the Russians or Mexicans carved out turf and gunfire erupted, the conversation would revolve around white on brown killings, for instance.

Decades ago I read about a supposedly true event in a New York county where Latinos and whites had installed themselves in a poor town where virtually all industries had closed. The underfunded city and county police couldn't cope with them.

[continues 94 words]

Those who argue against the mass legalization of marijuana say it's dangerous and can lead to more addictive drugs. But that hasn't been the experience of all who casually smoked pot in their younger years and then let it go. And, some in the medical field believe marijuana can relieve side effects of chemotherapy, ease the pressure associated with glaucoma and help with minor maladies.

Thus, the Drug Enforcement Administration's decision to stay with a 46-year-old law categorizing marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug, a serious drug with no medical value, seems unreasonable. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence from people who have used it for medical reasons, and even as a "recreational" drug, is pot really more harmful than alcohol? That's a difficult argument to make.

[continues 116 words]

Are you tired of hearing about the "opioid epidemic" ? Me too!

As long as we have a "war on drugs" and draconian drug laws, we will continue to have drug epidemics. The answer is as simple as it is shocking to most people...legalize all drugs for all adults.

Anyone who commits any crime while under the influence of any drug (including alcohol) would get doubled penalties. People might not realize all drugs were legal in America for 137 years until the nefarious and evil Harrison Narcotics Act.

[continues 128 words]

As our country mourns the deaths of eight police officers and a series of African-Americans killed during encounters with police, the question we all ask is, how can we stem this horror? One way would be to end the war against nonviolent drug users.

More than 1.2 million Americans are arrested every year for simply possessing an illicit substance. It is widely recognized that the war disproportionately punishes African-Americans and is responsible for millions of confrontational interactions between law enforcement and blacks. Many of these anger-producing and potentially violent contacts would not take place without the drug war.

[continues 653 words]

They studied the state's mental illness and drug abuse problems for 10 months and came up with 32 pages of recommendations.

The important part can be summed up in four words: more treatment, less jail.

What the 24 members of the Governor's Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Abuse found is the wisdom they could have gleaned - and probably did - from any jailer: At least 80 percent of the people behind bars got there through some combination of substance abuse and mental illness. Early intervention and treatment could halt a lot of criminal careers.

[continues 326 words]

Nashville - North Carolina's Nashville, 45 miles east of Raleigh - has a police chief who is changing the way law enforcement deals with drug addicts, who might ordinarily be arrested and put away.

Chief Thomas Bashore has seen the consequences of drug abuse, and he's come to see that conventional law enforcement solutions, meaning arrest and imprisonment, don't seem to come to a constructive end. Addicts go in for a while, come out, get reacquainted with drugs, go back in.

[continues 288 words]

It's reported our teachers are underpaid and other state employees are having issues with pay and health insurance.

Of course, Raleigh is bemoaning a lack of funds.

Let's see... we all want better paying jobs, better health care, better education - hey, I've got an idea; maybe it's time for N.C. to end the prohibition on cannabis.

While legalization may produce some challenges in the future, the problems with keeping pot illegal - the racial disparities in pot-related arrests and the black market that funds criminal groups around the world for instance are far, far worse.

[continues 121 words]

Donnie Harrison may figure that, having been sheriff of Wake County since 2002, the Wake Board of Commissioners ought to respect his opinion and follow his recommendations without much question. To some degree, Harrison is right. But it would have been good if the sheriff, seeking more money to expand his drugs and vice unit, had offered up a few more specifics on arrests and seizures and had produced a report on drug busts and Mexican drug cartels he cited in justifying his request for funding.

[continues 204 words]

Contrast what has happened since 1964 with tobacco, on the one hand, and marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other banned substances, on the other

We can compare the effects of choosing a public-health paradigm or a criminalization paradigm for dealing with addictive substances

The progress against smoking has been steady and impressive, but ita??s an altogether different tale with banned substances

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. In January 1964, the Beatles first broke onto the Billboard chart with a??I Wantto Hold Your Hand.a?? By June, Ringo Starr had collapsed from tonsillitis and pharyngitis. In January, the surgeon general announced that scientists had found conclusive evidence linking smoking to cancer and launched our highly successful 50-year public-health fight against tobacco. In August, the North Vietnamese fired on a U.S. naval ship in the Gulf of Tonkin, which led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution and the public phase of the Vietnam War. Alongside an accelerating deployment of conventional troops would come their widespread use of marijuana and heroin. By 1971, cigarette ads had been banned from radio and television, the surgeon general had called for regulation of tobacco, and cigarette smoking had begun its long decline. The impact of drug use among troops and returning veterans provoked President Richard M. Nixon to declare a war on drugs.

[continues 757 words]

DURHAM - Officials with a statewide non-profit dedicated to reducing drug overdose deaths say a law passed by the General Assembly in 2013 has resulted in hundreds of lives saved from drug overdoses.

The N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition, a non-profit dedicated to reducing drug overdose deaths, says that since Aug. 1, 2013, naloxone has saved the lives of more than 1,500 people who were overdosing on heroin or other opioid drugs. The agency has partnered with about 40 police departments across the state to train officers and provide the agencies with drug overdose prevention kits.

[continues 598 words]

I agree with Jorge Castaneda's Nov. 12 column "Mexico's marijuana legalization could ease drug war." It is time to legalize marijuana and end the war on drugs not only in Mexico but here in the United States. This terrible war has caused thousands to be killed in Mexico, and Mexican society has been ripped apart.

I have visited both Mexico and Colombia as a Witness for Peace. The war on drugs has caused extreme pain and suffering in Colombia as well as in Mexico. Now over five million Colombians have been displaced by the U.S. funded "war on drugs."

[continues 91 words]

Legalization Bill Will Become Law Unless Mccrory Vetoes

Spring Hope Has One of the Only Hemp Processing Plants in the Country

Supporters Battle Stigma: 'We're For Rope, Not Dope'

Farmers in North Carolina are likely to wake up Saturday morning with a new option for growing crops: Industrial hemp production is expected to become legal at the stroke of midnight.

Lawmakers passed the legalization legislation in September, in the final days of the session. The proposal hadn't previously been made public, and some conservative groups worry that questions about the plant's connections to its cousin, marijuana, didn't get answered.

[continues 1072 words]

It costs approximately $80 a day to house a person in a North Carolina prison. With over 37,000 people serving time in our state, officials have understandably prioritized reducing prison populations with considerable gusto over the past decade. While many of those efforts have been successful, the effect of one particular change has yet to be seen - that of the U.S. Sentencing Commission's unanimous decision to reduce the sentencing guidelines for most federal drug trafficking charges beginning Sunday.

[continues 307 words]

An Examination of Traffic Stops and Arrests in Greensboro, N.C., Uncovered Wide Racial Differences in Measure After Measure of Police Conduct.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Rufus Scales, 26 and black, was driving his younger brother Devin to his hair-cutting class in this genteel, leafy city when they heard the siren's whoop and saw the blue light in the rearview mirror of their black pickup. Two police officers pulled them over for minor infractions that included expired plates and failing to hang a flag from a load of scrap metal in the pickup's bed. But what happened next was nothing like a routine traffic stop.

[continues 5063 words]

The op/ed on mass incarceration (StarNews, Aug. 8) points out the fact that the United States jails people at a much higher rate than even China or Russia. It states that this is due to the war on drugs and "tough-on-crime" policies, and that black males are imprisoned at more than six times the rate of white males. All true, but what it fails to add is that mass incarceration has created a new class of millions of "untouchables" (prisoners and those who have served their time), who are denied basic rights and who can be legally discriminated against. Once you enter the system, you become part of a permanent underclass -- poor, powerless and mostly black and brown.

[continues 109 words]

UNICORPORATED JACKSON COUNTRY, N.C - The chemist who unwittingly helped spawn the District's synthetic drug epidemic is a hard man to find. His phone numbers are listed under his wife's name. Strangers who call his laboratories at Clemson University are told he doesn't return messages.

To find him, you must travel deep into the Smoky Mountains and take a road that winds into the clouds. There, atop a mountain, you will discover a stooped, elderly man padding about a house cloaked in mist.

[continues 1902 words]

The marijuana plant possesses an extensive history of human use dating back thousands of years, thus providing society with ample empirical evidence as to its relative safety and efficacy ("Our View: Medical marijuana should be allowed in North Carolina," June 1). Moreover, cannabis and its compounds are among some of the most well-studied biologically active substances of modern times. A search on PubMed, the repository for all peer-reviewed scientific papers, using the term "marijuana," yields more than 20,000 scientific papers referencing the plant and/or its constituents, nearly half of which have been published just within the past decade.

[continues 169 words]

I understand The N&O's desire to present all sides of an issue, but sometimes science and facts override "fairness." The June 9 letter "No medicinal purpose" regarding medical marijuana was so full of misinformation and factually incorrect statements that it bears a response.

The reason medical marijuana is listed in the Controlled Substances Act as Schedule I has nothing to do with any actual inherent dangers, but everything to do with politics and dates back to the 1930s and then "drug czar" Harry Anslinger.

[continues 85 words]

Regarding the June 2 editorial "Yes to medical marijuana" reprinted from the Fayetteville Observer: How disappointing that you would publish, without comment, a guest editorial extolling the medical benefits of marijuana.

Marijuana is listed in the Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I, which means a drug "with no currently accepted medical use." Marinol is a synthetic version of THC, which was approved by the FDA in 1985 and supported by the National Cancer Institute.

THC in marijuana indisputably damages cognition, especially among teenagers, and results in auto and industrial accidents and decreased mental acuity and academic achievement. Different from alcohol, a legal drug, THC is not water soluble like alcohol, and trace amounts remain in the brain for extended periods, with potential brain damage.

Marijuana is not bad because it is illegal; marijuana is illegal because it has no medical value. Check with the scientists and the doctors. It is said that "emotion is the enemy of analysis."

Jack Lawn

Chapel Hill

[end]

Thirteen current and former law enforcement officers from Eastern North Carolina were arrested Thursday as part of an undercover drug-trafficking sting that started with a tip to the Halifax County Sheriff's Office almost two years ago.

The sting led to drug conspiracy and weapon charges against seven current or former Northampton County deputies, three state corrections officers, a Northampton County emergency dispatcher, a Windsor police officer, a former Weldon police officer, a Raleigh resident and a Virginia corrections officer.

[continues 522 words]

WILMINGTON - An object about the size of a AA battery glinted in the dirt. Susan Stroup turned it over with her tongs, revealing milliliter markings along the side.

She picked up the broken syringe just a few feet from a jungle gym at the edge of Robert Strange Park.

"Yep, that's exactly what that is," said Stroup, an N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition volunteer, as she dropped the syringe into a biohazard container.

On Saturday, the coalition hosted an event to collect needles discarded by injection drug users around Wilmington. Volunteers searched areas including Greenfield Lake Park, parts of Orange and Ann Streets, and the railroad tracks near 17th Street and Oleander Drive, finding eight syringes, one crack cocaine pipe and other drug paraphernalia.

[continues 315 words]

A state House committee unanimously rejected a proposal to legalize medical marijuana after an emotional hourlong hearing that ended with a legislator saying he was assaulted by a marijuana advocate.

House Bill 78 marks the most progress any marijuana proposal has had in the N.C. General Assembly. Two years ago, a similar bill was directed to the House Rules Committee, where Republican leaders allowed four people to speak before cutting off discussion and killing the bill.

Wednesday's hearing took place in the more prominent House Judiciary I Committee, and more than a dozen people spoke about the proposal in a packed meeting room. "For those in the room speaking today, this is huge - - that you're even here allowed to speak before the Judiciary I Committee," said Rep. Becky Carney, a Charlotte Democrat who co-sponsored the bill. "That's a big step. It's not a defeat."

[continues 361 words]

In a notable instance of bipartisanship, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) co-sponsored a bill last session seeking to address concerns about the harmful effects of mandatory minimum sentencing. If it had passed, the Justice Safety Valve Act would have allowed judges to deviate from mandatory minimums in instances where they deemed a lesser sentence to be warranted. Mandatory minimums imposed by legislatures prescribe specific sentences for certain offenses, particularly those involving drugs. This policy was intended to alleviate reasonable concerns that the discretion afforded to judges resulted in varied sentences for defendants who had committed similar crimes. Although uniformity in punishment and equal treatment under law ought to be objectives of a functioning legal system, mandatory minimums routinely result in unnecessarily lengthy prison sentences while also failing to deter crime.

[continues 551 words]

Poor, miserable, depressed people take drugs. That's the way it always has been and that's the way it always will be. It's a fact of modern life. Our solution to this situation is a "war on drugs." The reality is that it's not a war on drugs, it's a war against people. There is no doubt that the government has the right and obligation to regulate the sales of addictive, destructive and deadly substances. However, it should not come as a surprise that people will possess these substances regardless of sales regulations. It should not be a crime. By eliminating "possession" laws, the biggest point of contention between citizens and the police would be effectively removed. It really is nobody's business what "substance" an otherwise law-abiding citizen may have in their possession, even to the police. The police should really have no business searching people's bodies and effects for these substances. It's ludicrous, it's ridiculous, and it is certainly unfair to the downtrodden in our society. ... Give the police a break. Let's stop tasking them with enforcing ridiculous laws and fighting our drug war. It's not fair to them or to the people.

Paul Denny, Leland

[end]

Buoyed by dozens of supporters on Monday - so many that they didn't all fit in the courtroom - former New Hanover County Sheriff's Office lieutenant Joseph Antoine LeBlanc was sentenced to more than four years in prison for crimes he committed to feed his pain pill addiction while he was second in command of the vice unit.

After being fired in June 2013, being indicted on 128 counts related to the stealing of drug evidence and the forging of a judge's signature to procure more pain pills, and the dismissal of at least nine drug cases, LeBlanc could have received 285 years in prison for the charges to which he pleaded Monday, said Superior Court Judge W. Douglas Parsons.

[continues 670 words]

Want better funding for education, healthcare, better help for the mentally ill and homeless? Stop the longest war the U.S. has ever fought. Getting out of Afghanistan would be great, but=C2=85I'm not referring to Afghanistan.

I'm referring to the never-ending "War on drugs''. There are more drugs available now than 40 years ago when the war began. What we have managed to do is raise the price for users and the profits for the traffickers.

[continues 137 words]

Pro-pot forces dominated a town hall discussion on marijuana laws hosted by two television stations Thursday at the WNC Ag Center.

By a show of hands, most of the roughly 100 people attending the televised forum favored legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational uses. But at least two panelists urged caution before North Carolina goes the way of Colorado and Washington in legalizing adult use of pot.

The "Your Voice, Your Future" town hall was sponsored by WLOS News 13 and WMYA and moderated by Mark Hyman, host of Sinclair Broadcast Group's opinion segment, "Behind the Headlines." News 13 streamed the program live on its website and WMYA will broadcast it Saturday at noon.

[continues 578 words]

Several Durham police officers lied about non-existent 911 calls to try to convince residents to allow them to search their homes, a tactic several lawyers say is illegal. The officers targeted residences where individuals with outstanding warrants were thought to be living, and told them that dispatch had received a 911 call from that address, when no such call had been made.

However, Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez says the 911 tactic was never a part of official policy. Last month, the department officially banned the practice, according to a memo from Lopez.

[continues 489 words]

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a law Thursday allowing limited use of medical marijuana to treat seizures. North Carolina joins states that include Alabama, Mississippi and Florida in allowing the controlled use of a cannabis extract, cannabidiol.

[end]

RALEIGH (AP) - Gov. Pat McCrory says a new law he signed allowing some physicians to treat epilepsy in North Carolina using an extract from a marijuana plant could also lead to the discovery of other therapies.

McCrory signed the hemp oil bill Thursday during an Executive Mansion ceremony. The legislature sent him the bill supported by family members whose children aren't responding to conventional drug treatments.

The law allows neurologists to participate in clinical trials with the oil, which is taken orally. Lawmakers say the oil doesn't produce a high.

Patients and physicians would register in a state database. Possession of the oil wouldn't be illegal in these cases. Universities would be encouraged to conduct hemp extract research.

The law was named for 5-year-old Haley Ward, who attended the ceremony.

[end]

Several local parents are celebrating the move by the state House and Senate to approve oil that is derived from marijuana plants that has shown some early success in other states treating children with severe seizure disorders. "I was really surprised that it all happened so quickly," said Wilmington school teacher Annetta Saggese. "Not only could it be so incredible for our kids, but it's also refreshing to see that it was bipartisan, that our representatives listened and took the time and cared." Annetta and her husband Matt are the parents of 4-year-old Netta, who began having seizures at about 6 weeks old, severely stunting her development. The StarNews featured the Saggeses and other North Carolina families in an article in September, during which time parents were gearing up for a fight to push legislation legalizing what's known as CBD oil during the short session. Parents largely connected through a Facebook page lobbied their legislators hard, and their educational efforts paid off. The bill passed with very little opposition, and Gov. Pat McCrory said last week that he intended to sign it into law.

[continues 450 words]

Police are supposed to serve and protect, but increasingly special police units are being used to attack with military-style raids to serve search warrants or look for drugs. Sometimes these pumped-up Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) operations target the wrong house or injure children living with a suspect.

Last month in Georgia, for instance, a SWAT team looking for drugs battered down the door of a home in the middle of the night and tossed in a stun grenade that landed in a playpen where a 19-month-old boy was sleeping. The toddler, whose family was visiting the home, suffered serious injury and was put in a medically-induced coma. No drugs were found.

[continues 476 words]

While medical marijuana activists march along U.S. 70 ramping up awareness of House Bill 1161 -- the North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act -- it could, perhaps, be all for not.

At least that's the opinion of N.C. House Rep. Hugh Blackwell (R-86).

While he has not viewed the bill, Blackwell said he doesn't think it will make it out of its assigned committee.

Once bills are introduced in the General Assembly, they are reviewed by judiciary committees before they are brought before the voting body of government.

[continues 457 words]

With 2014 being an election year for the North Carolina General Assembly many issues will be debated and decide races.

As the public becomes more aware of House Bill 1161 -- otherwise known as the North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act -- it will perhaps become one of the most debated topics during the election season.

The North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act, co-sponsored by Rep. Kelly Alexander (D-107), Carla Cunningham (D-106), Susi Hamilton (D-18), Pricey Harrison (D-57) and Annie Mobley (D-5), seeks to legalize the use of marijuana to for medicinal purposes for patients with debilitating medical conditions.

[continues 548 words]

A civil case filed by Ronda Mayor Victor Varela and his wife, Teri against Ronda Commissioner Kevin Reece and former commissioner Manuel Wood began in Wilkes Superior Court on Tuesday morning.

The suit charges Reece and Wood with invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy. It revolves around a video taken secretly in the Varelas' home in the fall of 2012 showing Teri Varela smoking pot.

Presiding over the case is Superior Court Judge Todd Burke. Before the jury trial began, Burke asked both parties about the possibility of mediation. Both lawyers indicated mediation had not been successful.

[continues 811 words]

HICKORY -- Todd Stimson's potted marijuana plant is a plastic replica. But that didn't stop the afternoon U.S. 70 traffic from honking and yelling at the trio of men.

Hickory was another city they had to pass on their walk from Asheville to Raleigh. The march on the state's capital is in support of House Bill 1161 -- the controversial bill to legalize cannabis for medical use -- Stimson said.

As Stimson explained the group's purpose, a white SUV pulled into a parking lot, horn blaring. Girls jumped out of the car, expressed their support and snapped a couple photos before driving away. A few minutes later, another car pulled in. A woman hopped out to take a few pictures.

[continues 168 words]

MORGANTON, N.C. -- With the hot sun beaming on his back and sweat gathering on his forehead, Jason Humes marched along Fleming Drive carrying a skateboard in one hand and a sign in the other.

Humes walked through the heat Tuesday, not for himself, but for others to have a choice - the option to legalize the medicinal use of marijuana in North Carolina.

Humes and five other members of the March Against Fear 2014 group are walking from Asheville to Raleigh along U.S. 70 to raise awareness for House Bill 1161 - a bill that has been referred to as the North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act.

[continues 543 words]

If North Carolina and American citizens honestly want to "address the root problems contributing to prescription drug abuse" and hard drug addiction rates in the future (Editorial: Pitt fights overdose deaths, May 5, 2014) end cannabis (marijuana) prohibition. An important reason to end cannabis prohibition that doesn't get mentioned is because it increases hard-drug addiction rates. It puts citizens who choose to use the relatively safe plant into contact with people who often also sell hard drugs.

Further, government claims heroin is no worse than cannabis and methamphetamine and cocaine is less harmful by insisting cannabis is a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances.

[continues 51 words]

Regarding your May 5 editorial commending the Pitt County Sheriff'=C2=80=C2 =99s Office for being the first law enforcement agency in North Carolina to equip its officers with the overdose prevention drug Narcan: Nasal administration of the Narcan reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.

This harm-reduction approach to a growing prescription drug abuse problem will save lives.

The drug war is part of the problem. Illegal drug users are reluctant to seek medical attention in the event of an overdose for fear of being charged with a crime. Attempting to save the life of a friend could result in a murder charge. Overzealous drug war enforcement results in easily preventable deaths.

[continues 125 words]

The Pitt County Sheriff's Office is to be commended for leading North Carolina law enforcement agencies in becoming the first to equip its officers with a drug that can save the life of someone overdosing on opioids.

Sheriff Neil Elks announced last week that his deputies will begin carrying Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of an overdose of several opioid painkillers. Greenville Police Chief Hassan Aden said his department will soon begin carrying the drug as well.

The number of deaths from overdoses in the United States involving prescription opioids more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2010, according to an April 23 article in the New England Journal of Medicine.

[continues 231 words]

DURHAM -- Long before the overdose death of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman thrust heroin back into the headlines this winter, the return of the potent narcotic was already known to police and public health officials in North Carolina. Heroin, which emerged in popular culture in the 1940s as an exotic product associated with jazz musicians and later became known as the dead-end drug of junkies in movies and songs, had never gone away. A few dozen people died of heroin overdoses in North Carolina each year since 2000, according to the state Department of Health and Human Services.

[continues 1371 words]

DURHAM - Heroin may be a new drug for some who are switching from prescription painkillers. It is not new to April Elizabeth.

Elizabeth, 32, is a heroin addict. She grew up in East Durham in a family ravaged by drugs a father she described as a raging alcoholic, a mother hooked on prescription pills and an older brother whose addiction to crack keeps him in and out of prison. At her request, The News & Observer agreed not to use her full name.

[continues 495 words]

One "workable solution" to help lower heroin addiction rates that wasn't mentioned in the March 18 editorial "As long as demand is strong, heroin will continue to plague region" is to end cannabis (marijuana) prohibition. Cannabis prohibition ... puts citizens who choose to use the relatively safe plant into contact with people who often also sell hard drugs.

Further, government claims heroin is no worse than cannabis, and that methamphetamine and cocaine are less harmful by classifying cannabis as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances.

[continues 53 words]

The reality of the number of people tied to heroin trafficking - and, more generally, the drug trade - led the criminal justice system to shift its emphasis away from users.

"We're not fighting a war on drugs. That was lost years ago," said Ben David, New Hanover County's district attorney. "We're fighting a war against drug dealers."

As part of that effort, the district attorney's offices in Brunswick and New Hanover counties are willing to try cases in federal court, where there are stiff penalties and no probation, and to try dealers for trafficking, which, depending on the amount of drugs seized, carries minimum sentences of from five years and 10 months to 23 years and six months on a state level. Often, prosecutors see an overlap between gang activity and the heroin trade. "It's a bad guy drug, and it is something that a lot of the rich kids crave," David said. "It's that rare intersection of high demand with a ready supply. ... It's mixing people with money with people who are desperately poor, and that often leads to other crimes of violence like armed robberies, home invasions and sometimes murder."

[continues 809 words]

Heroin has made a comeback, and it is destroying lives in the Cape Fear region. It's cheap, plentiful, addictive - and deadly. What is most discouraging is that the experts admit demand for the opiate will ensure a steady supply, even as police take down major dealers and traffickers. Arresting key players disrupts the market for a while, but soon other suppliers will take their place.

StarNews reporters Mike Voorheis and Adam Wagner dug beneath the surface for a grim look into Wilmington's heroin problem and the people who can't function without it. It was a stark look at just how easy it is to get heroin, and how tough it is to kick the habit.

[continues 462 words]

Regarding Ned Barnett's March 9 column "When might N.C. go to pot?": The sooner the better.

Separating the hard and soft drug markets is critical. As long as criminals control marijuana distribution, consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like cocaine and heroin.

Marijuana prohibition is a gateway drug policy. Marijuana is less harmful than legal alcohol. The plant has never been shown to cause an overdose death. It makes no sense to waste tax dollars on failed marijuana policies that finance violent drug cartels and facilitate the use of hard drugs.

Marijuana may be relatively harmless, but marijuana prohibition is deadly.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

[end]

The Durham boom has been something to behold, from the American Tobacco Campus to the ever-expanding reputation of Duke University in the City of Medicine to the Durham Performing Arts Center, drawing big shows and big performers and big audiences from all over. So why can't a city with so much going for it get the police department right?

Here we go again. Now a coalition examining drug law enforcement and punishment has offered documents it says support its contention that there is racial profiling in the Durham Police Department's drug enforcement unit. In the cases examined by the coalition, called Foster Alternative Drug Enforcement or FADE, all suspects were black or Hispanic.

[continues 401 words]

In September 2012, the then-captain of the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office's Vice and Narcotics Unit predicted that efforts to curb prescription drug use could be a "double-edged sword" causing users to seek out heroin instead.

Now, 18 months later, that prognosis looks spot-on as the streets of Wilmington and highways of Brunswick County are awash with heroin, a drug Ben and Jon David, the district attorneys for New Hanover and Brunswick counties, respectively, both call "suicide on the installment plan."

[continues 2327 words]

DURHAM -- A coalition presented evidence Wednesday that it says shows Durham police paid informants extra money for convictions in criminal cases without telling defense attorneys or the district attorney's office. The FADE (Fostering Alternative Drug Enforcement) coalition says the documents support its claims of racial profiling by the Durham Police Department's drug enforcement officers; all the suspects in the cases were black or Hispanic.

Ian Mance, an attorney for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, said the documents indicating $300 paid to informants as a "bonus" for convictions and/or testimony show the department participated in unconstitutional conduct.

[continues 526 words]

Polarization and gridlock create the impression of a nation stuck, but beneath the frozen political machinery cultural and demographic currents are shifting dramatically. The most obvious is the speed with which the nation is changing its mind about same-sex marriage. The next big sea change may be in attitudes about legalizing marijuana. Opposition to easing laws on marijuana has gone up in smoke in Colorado and Washington state. Last week, the Washington, D.C. city council voted to decriminalize small quantities of pot, joining 17 states. Since California voters approved the medical use of marijuana in 1996, 19 more states have followed. More than a dozen states are weighing doing the same this year.

[continues 680 words]

The death of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman from an apparent heroin overdose is but a high-profile example of what plays out every day in Main Street America. The main difference is that most of those victims remain virtually anonymous, statistical casualties in a futile war on drugs.

Hoffman died Sunday in a New York, but our corner of North Carolina is not immune to the addiction that drives the illegal drug trade. Commenting on the latest crime report, Wilmington Police Chief Ralph Evangelous blamed heroin as a factor in the recent increase in violent crimes. It's cheaper than ever, and more potent. Also more deadly.

[continues 470 words]

Kathleen Parker ("Weed should be a choice," Jan. 20) scored lots of points, supporting the legalization of cannabis (marijuana). Another reason to re-legalize cannabis that doesn't get mentioned is because it is biblically correct, since God created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they're all good, on literally the very first page of the Bible. A sane or moral argument to continue punishing and caging humans for using cannabis simply doesn't exist. Stan White Dillon, Colo.

[end]

Everybody's doing it - confessing their youthful, pot-smoking ways - so here goes.

I don't remember.

Kidding, kidding. Anyone over 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the '60s, you weren't there. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

It is true that marijuana smoking tends to affect one's short-term memory, but the good news is that, while stoned, one does relatively little worth remembering. At least that's my own recollection.

So, yes, I toked, too. This doesn't mean anyone else should, and I haven't in decades, but our debate might have more value if more of us were forthcoming.

[continues 566 words]

Everybody's doing it - confessing their youthful, pot-smoking ways - so here goes.

I don't remember.

Kidding, kidding. Anyone over 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the '60s, you weren't there. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk.

It is true that marijuana smoking tends to affect one's short-term memory, but the good news is that, while stoned, one does relatively little worth remembering. At least that's my own recollection.

So, yes, I toked, too. This doesn't mean anyone else should, and I haven't in decades, but our debate might have more value if more of us were forthcoming.

[continues 561 words]

The other day I read George Will's "Sledgehammer Justice." I always thought he was a conservative, but after reading this piece, he has me confused (which, I admit, is not hard to do.) Is he a real conservative, or is he just another bleeding-heart liberal?

The subject he wrote about was prison sentences dealt to drug pushers. I could be wrong, but it seemed to me he thought life in prison -- or even 10-20 years -- in prison for pushing illegal drugs was too harsh. Hmmm.

[continues 119 words]

Since Jan. 1, it has been legal to buy and sell marijuana in Colorado and Washington states. News reports predict that this is the first step toward nationwide acceptance of this drug as a legal product on par with alcohol. If our country's experience with lotteries and gambling is any precedent, those reports are likely correct.

How can that be? Federal law provides for up to one year in jail for a first conviction for possession of any amount of marijuana. The answer is "prosecutorial discretion." In much the same way the federal government allows certain illegal aliens to continue to live openly in our country, a memorandum from the Department of Justice directs U.S. Attorneys to defer to the states (with some exceptions) in enforcing laws pertaining to marijuana.

[continues 476 words]

After weighing the pros and cons, the good citizens of Colorado voted to allow the sale and use of pot.

What are the cons? It is a means of impairing drivers. It is potentially addictive. It will be even easier for teens to obtain it. It will be bootlegged and marketed outside the state. It will probably lead to at least one federal case to set a precedent. It is purported to cause learning impairment in teens. It is one more thing that young people see us accept as normal behavior.

[continues 144 words]

Regarding George Will's recent column "Blunt force justice for drug offenses" regarding federal "draconian sentences": I applaud publicity of the problem but remain frustrated that the media fail to see the elephant in the room. That elephant is: Why do (sometimes innocent) defendants bend to the federal prosecutors' pressure to plead guilty in the face of Section 851 notice of enhancements or mandatory minimum sentences or threat of superseding indictments elevating risk of increased prison exposure? The answer: Because of a prosecutorial conviction tactic neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers have any incentive to reveal.

[continues 388 words]

Rep. Walter B. Jones Jr. has long marched to the beat of his own drum, politically speaking. A Republican who once led the effort insisting that the House cafeteria bill its crispy potato sticks as "Freedom Fries" to spite the French, he broke ranks with his party on the war in Iraq and has

So it is not surprising that Jones, who represents North Carolina's 3rd Congressional District, which includes a chunk of the Cape Fear region, has stepped forward on behalf of parents seeking to allow their children who suffer from life-threatening conditions legal access to an oral form of medical marijuana. These parents say they and their family doctors have tried every available treatment. Some of the most vocal advocates have been parents whose children who suffer uncontrollable epileptic seizures that have not responded to other medications.

[continues 404 words]

CHAPEL HILL - A top Orange County probation officer has been charged with operating a marijuana-growing operation in her Efland home.

Carlisha Lakwan Davis, 38, of 3306 Loganberry Court, Efland, was charged Dec. 9 with felony maintaining a dwelling for the sale, manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance, felony marijuana manufacturing and misdemeanor possession of marijuana, according to court records.

The charges stem from a June break-in, Orange County sheriff's investigator Randy Hawkins said. Davis' arrest was delayed because investigators "were making sure we had what we needed" to file the charges, he said.

[continues 408 words]

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones has taken up the case of a number of desperate North Carolina parents who are hoping state lawmakers will legalize medicinal marijuana for children with uncontrollable seizures.

In a statement, Jones said that several North Carolina parents of children with life-threatening illnesses have come to him with a "compelling argument that political leaders in North Carolina should consult with medical professionals to determine the efficacy of the use of medical marijuana in certain instances."

The Republican congressman, whose 3rd District covers parts of Pender and New Hanover counties, said these parents have "exhausted all other available options to provide relief for their kids."

[continues 596 words]

It seems to be simply a matter of time before the United States federal government legalizes marijuana for medicinal purposes. Whether it's 10 years or 50 years, it almost seems inevitable.

And even if the feds don't act, states are taking the proverbial bull by the horns and enacting legislation that is intended to help make the acquisition of medicinal cannabis easier. Since 1998, 20 states and Washington D.C. have taken steps to legalize medical marijuana.

Even more states, such as Maryland, have enacted laws that allow defendants in a court of law to claim medical necessity as a mitigating circumstance on charges of marijuana possession. And in North Carolina, the N.C. Medical Cannabis Act got past only the first reading before dying in committee in February. You can bet, however, that's not the last time such a bill is introduced.

[continues 211 words]

Five years ago, I answered a call familiar to pastors and others of faith; the call to a ministry.

Mine was received with great anxiety because it involved admitting to unlawful acts; the use of cannabis (a.k.a. marijuana) for medicinal purposes. After much prayer, and a couple of miracles, I accepted this calling and chose to write a column for The Richmond County Daily Journal to explain my calling and to ask for understanding and forgiveness for anyone offended by my choice.

[continues 412 words]

As a rule, the public holds law enforcement officers in high regard. Most live up to that standard. But when a cop sullies the uniform by breaking laws he was sworn to uphold, he betrays the people who put their trust in him.

The case of former New Hanover County vice and narcotics Lt. Joey LeBlanc is a reminder that police are human and subject to the same demons that tempt the rest of us. He faces 122 charges involving drugs, embezzlement, obtaining property by false pretenses, and altering or destroying evidence.

[continues 453 words]

During a 20-day period in December 2012, the then-second-in-command of the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office vice and narcotics unit forged court orders to acquire prescription pain medication from a College Road pharmacy 10 times, court documents released Tuesday allege.

Indictments handed up by a New Hanover County grand jury Monday indicate former lieutenant Joey LeBlanc's alleged criminal activity, all of which involved pain medication such as oxycodone or OxyContin, became increasingly common in December 2012 and January 2013. The final activity he was indicted on occurred May 7.

[continues 969 words]

That danged dog had better not drool on my Nabs.

Even as I stood on the side of Interstate 85 in Spartanburg, S.C., on Thursday night, surrounded by three cops and a dog, that was my first thought. I had been pulled over nabbed, so to speak - while driving through the Palmetto State on my way to Atlanta in a rental car.

I knew I wasn't speeding, so I wondered what creative reason the cop - - oops, make that cops; two more drove up before he reached me - would give for stopping me.

[continues 782 words]

North Carolina parents of children who suffer severe seizures are lining up for access to and pushing for legalization of medical marijuana where it's not already allowed.

They want people to know they're not radicals. And they're not going rogue. They are searching for options.

They freely admit they are desperate parents staring down nightmares with their children, having watched them develop early skills only to lose them at the hands of numerous seizures, only to have tried cocktails of medications with debilitating side effects and watch them not work.

[continues 1930 words]

It didn't get a lot of attention, ended abruptly and took a back seat to the likes of tax reform and the budget, but the issue of medical marijuana legalization in North Carolina did get a hearing this year in the Republican-controlled legislature.

Rep. Kelly Alexander Jr., D-Mecklenburg, sponsored a bill he said would have "permitted dispensaries to be created in North Carolina, and would have permitted it (medical marijuana) to be taxed and appropriately regulated."

His efforts were quickly shut down - but not before a brief hearing.

[continues 1058 words]

Any unexpected death is a devastating blow, but losing a loved one to an accidental drug overdose carries a unique burden - stigma, whispers, shame and the loss of support from friends and neighbors. I lost my son Michael to a drug overdose in 2012. Michael was a vibrant, well educated, working professional. He was in recovery from substance abuse and proud of where he was in his life, but as with most people who struggle with drug addiction, he relapsed. My life has never been the same since.

[continues 226 words]

North Carolina has always had a split attitude toward recreational drug use: Tobacco is OK, alcohol not so much. Now more attention is being focused on a third widely used drug - marijuana.

It is now legal to buy marijuana in Colorado and Washington. The venerable New York Times recently called for its national legalization.

Even the sharply conservative North Carolina legislature recently took a modest, noncontroversial step by allowing patients with persistent seizures to be treated with cannabidiol extracted from hemp, as long as they qualify for pilot studies. The law allows selected universities in the state to grow cannabis for study.

[continues 459 words]

The Sun Journal recently published an opinion entitled, "Tobacco, pot are on different paths". The opinion piece stated how acceptance of tobacco use is in a decline as compared to marijuana. Coastal Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention (CCSAP) is concerned with the social acceptance marijuana is gaining. States legalizing marijuana can show us what might happen if North Carolinians began seeing marijuana as an acceptable drug.

The most common reason given to support less restricted marijuana use is "for medical purposes." The Colorado Department of Health and Human Services has published several studies on who is using marijuana for medical purposes in their state. They found that, "the average 'medical' marijuana user is a 32-year old white male with a history of alcohol, cocaine, and meth use, but NO history of a life threatening illness." Furthermore, only 3 percent reported using marijuana for cancer or HIV/AIDS. "The vast majority (94 percent) reported 'severe pain.'"

[continues 475 words]

The North Carolina House of Representatives Rules Committee buried a bill to legalize prescription marijuana because committee members heard from so many pro-marijuana constituents, the representatives were feeling "harassed."

[end]

Only hard-core drug addicts overdose, right?

Actually, this statement may be one of the most dangerous misconceptions driving the overdose epidemic in our country. In the United States, accidental overdose, which includes alcohol, illegal drugs and prescription drugs, has now overtaken motor vehicle crashes as the No. 1 cause of injury death (i.e., non-disease-related death, like falling or homicide).

Opioid pain relievers, like Oxycodone and Hydrocodone, currently account for more overdose deaths than cocaine and heroin combined. Prescribed for acute or chronic pain, these drugs provide relief for thousands of people. But, as with any drug, they carry the potential for abuse and overdose. In order to fight this growing epidemic, we must challenge misconceptions about overdose victims.

[continues 562 words]

The war on drugs is costing us more than we're getting back. On average, it costs $30,000 a year to incarcerate an inmate. However, the nation spends an average of $11,665 per public school student. Is incarceration an appropriate punishment for all drug offenses?

Over 50 percent of people in jail were put there for drug law violation, most of which are for possession (85 percent to 90 percent).The war on drugs is often compared with Prohibition, and it's easy to see why. Prohibition brought an increase in consumption of hard liquor and saw more organized crime taking over legal production and distribution. Banning alcohol didn't stop people from drinking; it just stopped people from obeying the law.

[continues 72 words]

Regarding Froma Harrop's Jan. 2 column "Time to end the marijuana farce": Marijuana should be legalized for medical reasons, as in some cases the substance aids in relieving pain in the terminally ill.

It should also be legalized for everyone over the age of 21, the same as for alcohol. Most people can get access to it if they want, whether it's marijuana or alcohol.

It seems the justice system really has no positive influence on repeat marijuana users through court costs, jail time or community service. If marijuana were legalized, the government could tax it and use the money to assist in substance-abuse education purposes.

Kelly Hill

Cary

[end]

About one-fourth of the estimated cost of the new Davidson County Sheriff's Office project will be funded through confiscated drug money.

Davidson County Sheriff David Grice budgeted about $1,050,000 in forfeiture funds to acquire the site of the proposed office and pay for site preparation and construction.

While the Davidson County Board of Commissioners has yet to approve any building, Grice said he thinks the forfeiture funds have helped the project progress so far.

"It's expedited the situation because it is one-quarter of the theoretical cost of the project," Grice said.

[continues 601 words]

Seven years ago, Durham resident Chad Sanders lost his sister, Shelly, to drug overdose. Shelly had been using drugs with a friend in her dorm room when she became unresponsive. Her friend, recently released from jail on parole, did not call 911 for fear that he could be arrested for drug possession.

Shelly didn't make it through the night.

Unfortunately, Shelly's story is far too common. Drug overdose deaths have surpassed automobile deaths as the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. In North Carolina, antiquated laws and practices lead to over 1,000 preventable overdose deaths each year. It's time we do something about it.

[continues 632 words]

Colorado passed Amendment 64 Tuesday night, becoming the first state in the nation to legalize the recreational use of marijuana for adults. The measure, which will allow adults 21 or older to use marijuana without a medical prescription, will also make it possible for the state to tax and regulate the drug and its distribution. The legal red tape remains complicated, however, as there is still a federal ban on marijuana. Washington state passed a similar measure Tuesday, allowing for small sales of marijuana, while Oregon residents rejected an amendment on the issue. The Chronicle spoke to Duke students from Colorado about their reaction to the news.

[continues 283 words]

People have been using marijuana as a natural medicine for years. In 2010, an ABC News poll showed that 81 percent of Americans believed that medical cannabis should be legal in the United States.

Seventeen states have already legalized the use of medicinal marijuana and seven more states are now pending legislation.

THC, the principle psychoactive drug found in marijuana, can also be found in the form of a prescription drug called Marinol. Oncologists recommend it to patients who are going through chemotherapy to help combat the painful side effects that accompany it, such as nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite.

[continues 598 words]

Amber Spivey tilts her head back and swigs the vial of methadone. "Oh," she moans, shaking her knees back and forth like engine pistons. Her face contorts in disgust. She chases the Kool-Aid-colored liquid with water. The taste, she says, is like a thousand pills dissolving on your tongue.

Methadone is helping Spivey, a 28-year-old freckled mother of three, reclaim her life after years of heroin addiction. She is among dozens who line up each morning at the New Hanover Metro Treatment Center, a white space of offices hidden off a highway heading downtown. Some wait inside to take their daily dose. Other patients pick up their "take-home" doses for the next days, weeks or month, a privilege earned by attending counseling and passing random drug tests.

[continues 2078 words]

Libertarian vice-presidential candidate Jim Gray called the country's anti-drug policies a disaster on a trip to Salem College today.

Gray, a retired superior court judge from California, said the country's drug enforcement laws and efforts only put big profits into the pockets of major drug dealers without putting a real dent into the supply of drugs or their effects on society and the people who use them.

"We couldn't do it worse if we tried," Gray said. "Drug prohibition is the biggest failed policy in America."

[continues 135 words]

ROCK HILL Rubell Alexander has lived in Carnegie Estates -- a middle class Rock Hill subdivision just off Saluda Road -- "ever since there's been a Carnegie Estates."

Along with manicured lawns and teens playing basketball, she has witnessed several cycles of crime trickle into the neighborhood -- from rampant break-ins to the "hoodlums" she said once brought their conflicts into the area.

But none of that rattled her like finding out that two convicted drug dealers spent six months in a two-story, four-bedroom home around the corner from her house -- growing indoors what officials say was a "high-grade" type of marijuana.

[continues 1699 words]

Mary Jane. Weed. Pot. Reefer. All are nicknames for marijuana.

Some people are against the drug's use, yet 17 states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Other states have decriminalized marijuana by allowing people to have small amounts on their private property, according to the Associated Press.

Some say marijuana is harmless. Others say it's not a drug because it's natural. So how do kids see it?

Stephen Pasierb, president of the Partnership at Drugfree.org, said marijuana's legalization and medical use has "created a perception among kids that this is no big deal."

[continues 736 words]

Technological advancements have given today's teenagers access to a lot of things their parents could hardly envision at that age: The Internet. iPads. And marijuana many times more powerful than what people smoked in the 1970s.

The rise in marijuana use among teens, as documented by recent national surveys, comes as particularly alarming to health advocates because marijuana is more potent than ever before, experts say. That means the pot youth are smoking today carries a greater risk of harm than what their parents might have experienced a generation ago.

[continues 778 words]

So the push is on again to legalize marijuana, with both a front-page article ("Bill to legalize marijuana gets local boost," Marblehead Reporter, March 15-21) and an editorial ("Messages and marijuana," Reporter, March 15-21) claiming that marijuana smoke has medical benefits. But these benefits are easily available without having people blow the smoke in my face. Unfortunately, the harm to me from having the smoke blown in my face is real.

If there are chemicals in marijuana smoke that have a medical benefit, these chemicals are either distilled from the leaves by the heat or formed during the combustion process. In either case, the chemicals can be isolated in a factory or a laboratory and administered to those who need it with subjecting the whole world to whatever side effects there may be (not the least of which is the hideous and penetrating odor).

We don't spread penicillin in an aerosol over the whole community just because a few people have strep infections.

Edward Friedman, Lehman Road

[end]

In response to Tamara Dietrich's column, "Pat Robertson, a hero to hippies," this is the first thing he has said in many years that makes sense: Legalize pot, marijuana, whatever name you put to cannabis.

Robertson said, "I think it's just shocking how many of these young people wind up in prison and they get turned into hard-core criminals because they had possession of a very small amount of controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy."

Let's look at the numbers. According to this column, 2.5 million are incarcerated for "soft" nonviolent drug offenses. This costs billions of dollars: $41.3 billion a year on enforcement, $25.7 billion to state and local governments. Legalizing pot alone would save $9 billion. Then, if these drugs are taxed at rates comparable to alcohol and tobacco, it would yield $46.7 billion a year, $8.7 billion from pot.

[continues 119 words]

From the outside, the one-story brick house seemed like any other in this tranquil Ogden neighborhood screened front porch, navy blue shutters, chain-link fence around the backyard.

But when local authorities raided the home last August, what they found inside was anything but ordinary: row upon row of pot plants under an elaborate display of lamps and ballasts, a ventilation system designed to shield the tell-tale aroma from neighbors and wiring harnesses replete with outlets and timers. The indoor garden was hidden in the garage, steps from the tire swing hanging in the neighbor's front yard.

[continues 1114 words]

Methamphetamine busts reached a record high last year in the state because of new methods of cooking the drug and more organized efforts to access it, according to N.C.Attorney General Roy Cooper and county sheriffs.

Meth lab busts totaled 344 in 2011 - a 57 percent increase from 2006, when new state laws restricted the purchase of pseudoephedrine, meth's key ingredient.

Cooper said the laws are working because the number of large-scale meth operations is down, but busts have risen with the popularity of the simpler and cheaper "one pot," or "shake and bake" method.

[continues 834 words]

WAXHAW, N.C. - The family of a 13-year-old student kicked out of school for handing a friend a bag of oregano is considering a lawsuit if he's not immediately allowed back to school.

At the end of January, the eighth-grader at Cuthbertson Middle School handed a classmate a baggie of oregano and told him it was marijuana.

The school immediately handed down a 10-day suspension. When that suspension ended the school added an additional 45-day suspension to be served at a special alternative school.

[continues 465 words]

CLAYTON -- After a Clayton High School parent took his 16-year-old out of school three weeks ago over concerns about drug use on campus, parents and community members have begun to question the pervasiveness of drug use in Johnston County high schools.

Mark Grady, a local filmmaker, put his son into a private school, claiming the boy had been offered drugs on campus. After that incident, Grady began posting a number of statements on his Facebook page, urging parents to become aware.

[continues 319 words]

Thanks for publishing Richard Page's thoughtful letter, "Legalizing Drugs" (Nov. 16).

I am sure that many will claim that legalizing our now illegal drugs will increase drug usage. I submit that it will not.

Before marijuana was criminalized via the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, the commissioner of narcotics, Harry Anslinger, testified before the U.S. Congress that the United States had a total of 100,000 marijuana users. Now the U.S. government estimates that at least 107 million Americans have used marijuana.

People, especially children, want what they are told they cannot have. The lure of the "forbidden fruit" is very powerful.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

[end]

I believe in the legalization of all drugs that are currently - -illegal, such as marijuana and cocaine and everything else.

Any reasonably intelligent person understands that organized crime has made a world of money off the drug business for many years.

I favor putting illegal drugs under the control of the states, just like alcoholic beverages, and thus making them legal. Such action by the states would do severe and almost instant economic damage to the white collar criminals, some of whom have been lawyers.

This result would please me and other concerned citizens very, very much indeed.

James Richard Page

Aberdeen

[end]

John Huffman, the Organic Chemist WHO Put Together Cannabinoids to Study Brain Receptors, Is Taking Heat As Compounds Find Their Way into Dangerous "Herbal" Concoctions.

John W. Huffman is a bearded, elfin man, a professor of organic chemistry who runs model trains in his basement and tinkers with antique cars. At 79, he walks a bit unsteadily after a couple of nasty falls.

Relaxing on his back porch in the Nantahala National Forest, watching hummingbirds flit across his rose beds, Huffman looks every bit the wise, venerable academic in repose.

[continues 1021 words]

The Star asked our Facebook fans to chime in on the war on drugs. Should marijuana be-come legal?

What do you think? Find 'The Shelby Star' on Facebook, click 'like, and join in on this and other conversations.

If done correctly this could be a brilliant way to help the economy. Crystal Buff

Make it legal and tax the crap out of it! Sharon Ervin Hawkins

It will create a much-needed relief on the courts and prisons. Legalize it already. Regulate it like cigarettes and alcohol. Kimber Lail-Caldwell

[continues 408 words]

I would like to say that I urge everyone to support Bill H577 (Medical Cannabis Act). I support it because I suffer from severe pain 24-7, and I know people who would benefit from it being passed - -- cancer survivors, leukemia patients -- there are all kinds would benefit greatly.

North Carolina is behind the times. Not only do I know people who would benefit greatly from H577, but the revenue it would produce for the state would be tremendous. It would also alleviate the always stressed court and jail systems and would take a lot of work off of the police officers and let them be able to work on the real problems - -- the methamphetamine and crack problems.

[continues 83 words]

Lequian Hudson was a freshman at Dunbar High School when he was slipped his first baggie of marijuana.

In four years, his habit progressed to ecstasy and cocaine. But Hudson, now 18 and a senior, said pride kept him from quitting the drugs he sold and used, which eventually landed him in juvenile jail on weapons and drug possession charges.

"I wanted to show off," Hudson said. "I saw a lot of other people get involved and I wanted to do it too."

[continues 961 words]

One lesson America is reluctant to learn: Wars are easer to declare than to win.

Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya elude the kind of total victory our country achieved in World War II.

And we have other declared wars that command national resources even though finding a strategy for a decisive victory has been elusive.

War on poverty.

War on cancer.

War on crime.

War on terror.

These wars confound us because we can find no way to total victory.

[continues 594 words]

Steve Winthrop says several years ago he was a "doped-up, drooling zombie.

The Wilmington resident was taking large doses of Oxycontin to ease discomfort from a spine injury first caused by a car accident and exacerbated by an injury suffered as a paramedic in New York.

Winthrop said he became addicted to the drugs, but with the help of his girlfriend, got off them.

Now, he said, he uses marijuana to deal with his pain and it has helped him become more active, without the side effects.

[continues 631 words]

The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. With less than 5 percent of the world's population, we have almost a quarter of the world's prisoners.

Experts point to several factors for explanation, but it's clear that a large number of people are imprisoned for drug-related crimes. Officially declared the "War on Drugs" by President Richard Nixon in 1971, this has become the longest and most costly war in American history.

The question has become, how much more can we tolerate? America's drug war has failed to curb demand and I suspect we will never become a drug-free society.

[continues 707 words]

ASHEVILLE - A favorite food of millions may have been the culprit in false drug-test results that led to a California man's jailing on cocaine charges.

The Buncombe County Sheriff's Office said Friday an enzyme present in cheese and possibly some types of dough appeared to have yielded false results that led to cocaine charges against Antonio Hernandez Carranza. Hernandez spent four days in the Buncombe County jail until state lab results showed the substances in the back of his truck were tortilla dough, cheese and other food.

[continues 676 words]

Perry Parks Says His Push for a New Law Is About Helping Ease Pain Of N.C. Veterans.

RALEIGH Perry Parks, a 68-year-old former Vietnam helicopter pilot, is relentless in his campaign to convince the N.C. legislature to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

He doesn't just walk the halls of the legislature, often attired in his old National Guard uniform. To publicize his cause, he agreed to be photographed smoking a bong - a picture seen on national television and in newspapers as far as way as Japan.

[continues 851 words]

RALEIGH -- Perry Parks, a 68-year-old former Vietnam helicopter pilot, is relentless in his campaign to persuade North Carolina's legislature to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.

He doesn't just walk the halls of the legislature, often attired in his old National Guard uniform. To publicize his cause, he agreed to be photographed smoking a bong - a picture seen on national television and in newspapers as far as way as Japan.

"I call it the hit heard around the world," Parks quips. "It's all over the Internet."

[continues 764 words]

There is, tragically, a long line of drugs in the United States, and in North Carolina, in the competition to be the most dangerous. Methamphetamine, called a psychostimulant or "upper" because it can produce a feeling of alertness and even euphoria, is certainly in the running, and not just because of the consequences of addiction but also because of the hazards in the amateur "labs" that produce it.

The compounds used to make meth can, if not cleaned up by professionals in hazmat suits who know what they're doing, result in explosions and fires. Innocent bystanders at meth lab sites have been burned and injured by the dangers the lab operators left behind.

[continues 332 words]

A recent upswing in methamphetamine-lab activity means law-enforcement officers will have to work all the harder to keep up the progress they've made against the drug in recent years. State legislators should help by tightening the law on meth labs.

Rep. Craig Horn, a Republican from Union County, told the Journal this week that a bipartisan group of legislators is working with law enforcement on legislation to battle portable labs, and they hope to soon get it passed.

[continues 198 words]

WASHINGTON -- Even as the numbers of small-time meth labs are increasing across the United States, federal funding to clean up the toxic sites has dwindled to almost nothing, and next year's presidential budget proposal cuts the program entirely.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration notified counties and states Feb. 22 that it could no longer pick up the tab to clean up the dangerous chemicals found in methamphetamine labs.

The loss of federal dollars has law-enforcement agencies in North Carolina and elsewhere nervous as they scramble to make up for the shortfall amid an ongoing problem.

[continues 777 words]

The wheels of justice grind slowly but exceedingly fine. Last week in Asheville, those wheels ground to halt.

We trust justice to be served with all officials of the court and law enforcement doing their jobs, and with no one cutting corners. It's not just the job of the police to catch the bad guys. When prosecutors or defense attorneys can't trust police to protect the evidence that could convict or clear defendants at trial, then our whole system of justice is compromised.

[continues 683 words]

Three Investigated Over Missing Items

ASHEVILLE - The Police Department will use $175,000 in drug seizure money to pay for an audit of its evidence room after guns, drugs and money disappeared, city officials said Wednesday.

Three people are under investigation, and two of them, police employees assigned to the evidence room, have been suspended with pay after nearly 400 oxycodone prescription painkillers were found missing April 1, District Attorney Ron Moore said.

"Anybody who had access to it has to be investigated," he said.

[continues 492 words]

The N.C. House of Representatives will once again take up the issue of medical cannabis in the coming months, with seven representatives signing onto a bill described as "having some merit" by this district's representative.

North Carolina Cannabis Patients' Network President Perry Parks, of Rockingham, lauded the introduction of House Bill 577 last week, and pointed to efforts to make medicinal marijuana available in this state, the home of Fort Bragg and other large scale military installations, is a key effort to help veterans recovering from wounds they received, especially in combat.

[continues 901 words]

RALEIGH -- A local state lawmaker introduced a bill this week that would make it legal to grow and use marijuana for medical purposes.

Rep. Patsy Keever, D-Buncombe, is one of three primary sponsors of the North Carolina Medical Cannabis Act filed on Thursday.

The legislation would allow patients with debilitating medical conditions to use marijuana to alleviate their symptoms. It would set up a system for operating medical cannabis centers and growing marijuana for medical use.

Keever said marijuana has proved to be a good, affordable pain reliever for people who suffer from chronic illnesses or are undergoing cancer treatments. She said the state could also make money from growing it.

[continues 310 words]

Editor: Jackie Heninger is misinformed (letter: "Don't legalize marijuana," Feb. 10). According to science, cannabis (marijuana) does not kill brain cells. The murders at the Mexican/American border are not due to cannabis but rather cannabis prohibition, the same way the original prohibition with alcohol caused high murder rates, which diminished for 10 years after its repeal.

Cannabis does not damage lungs more than cigarettes or cause cancer. In over 5,000 years of documented use, there still is not one single dead body to show cannabis has ever caused cancer while cigarettes kill over 1,000 Americans daily. Cannabis prohibition and extermination is luciferous and based on lies, half-truths and propaganda. Heninger is simply parroting prohibitionist government "Reefer Madness" lies.

And speaking of hell, that may be where people go who support caging responsible humans for using what God says is good on literally the very first page of the Bible.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

Editor: Letter writer Jackie Heninger piously says about marijuana prisoners, "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." However, like all other drug crusaders Ms. Heninger neglects to supply any reasons why marijuana should be illegal in the first place. She provides no justification for the 20-year to life sentences given to marijuana growers and sellers.

Heninger's health accusations are entirely false because marijuana use does not cause brain damage or injure the body in any way. Marijuana does not cause lung cancer because to date the Centers for Disease Control have yet to trace the first case of cancer of any kind to marijuana use. (See: "Large Study Finds No Link between Marijuana and Lung Cancer," www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0002491F-755F-1473-B55F83414B7F0000, and "Study Finds No Cancer-Marijuana Connection," www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/25/AR2006052501729_pf.html

[continues 345 words]

Editor: I had to reply to Marvin Callahan's letter on legalizing marijuana. I will admit I am a straight-laced prude. I don't drink, smoke or do drugs nor have I ever understood some people's need for such things.

North Carolina is not California nor should we strive to be. California is morally corrupt and financially bankrupt. It is on the edge of a cliff and doesn't have the moral backbone to back away. Mexico is a prime example of the true nature of the drug culture and the criminals behind it. Don't you read about the murders and how horrible it is on our border because of these drug lords? Do you really want the state to be a drug pusher?

[continues 393 words]

Editor: My grandson was in the car with someone who had marijuana in his possession. The man admitted to the officers and in court that my grandson had nothing to do with it, but he was charged and convicted anyway, placed on probation and given fines over $3,000. There was no way he could pay, so now he's in jail.

I sat in his probation office, and everyone was there for drug offences. One did 10 years in jail and a lady eight years. The only way they could pay their fines was to sell more drugs or steal. Probationers must pay to see their probation officer and even pay a fee to do community service. If you lose your case, you pay both the court-appointed lawyer's fee and court costs (his court costs alone were over $800). If found not guilty, he owed nothing, so where then is there an incentive for his lawyer to defend him? That lawyer would lose his fee defending him, wouldn't he?

[continues 257 words]

DAVIDSON COUNTY - Under a proposal reviewed by the Davidson County Board of Commissioners this week, approximately 200 of the county's employees could be subject to random drug testing.

Commissioners on Tuesday will consider updates to the county's substance abuse policy. The biggest change is random drug testing for employees who have safety sensitive positions, said Jim Tysinger, the county's human resources director.

Tysinger said the updates to the policy are needed because it was written in 1996. Since that time, the U.S. Department of Transportation has mandated random testing for drivers within the county's transportation department. "We don't have a major problem that we are aware of," Tysinger said. "We haven't did the random testing of safety sensitive positions in the past other than the drivers, but this will enhance our random testing pool by about 200 employees."

[continues 194 words]

THOMASVILLE - Thomasville City Manager Kelly Craver on Friday issued a public apology concerning his recent arrest on drug charges and released the results of a clean drug test.

Paul Mitchell, the city's interim manager and city attorney, released the information following a request by The High Point Enterprise. He said the city received the drug test results and apology from Craver's attorney, Misti Whitman of Thomasville, Friday afternoon.

"First of all, I would like to share my deepest regrets for having cause for this situation," Craver wrote. "Mere words cannot express my remorse in how this has hurt those that I care most about, city staff, City Council and the citizens of Thomasville that I have the honor of serving. I am truly sorry."

[continues 503 words]

I'm writing about Robert Sharpe's thoughtful letter ("Decriminalizing marijuana would save public resources" AC-T, Dec. 26). The war on drugs is just a metaphor. A metaphor that has transformed the United States into the most incarcerated nation in the history of human civilization.

The war on drugs metaphor was created by the Nixon Administration to go after African Americans without appearing to do so, according to the diary of H. R. Haldeman, Nixon's Chief of Staff. Based upon its original goals, the war on drugs has been a tremendous success. Real wars are fought against other nations with armies, navies and air forces. Metaphorical wars cannot be won. Who is going to surrender and sign the peace treaty?

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

[end]

Regarding Carl Mumpower's column "The war on illegal drugs has to be won at home," (AC-T, Dec. 19), the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2009, there were 858,405 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession.

At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use.

[continues 88 words]

Rockingham resident Perry Parks is continuing his mission to make medical marijuana a reality in North Carolina as the president of the state's foremost advocacy group for the issue.

Parks is hoping to use his experience as a decorated Vietnam veteran and retired corporate safety director to further the issue through his service with the North Carolina Cannabis Patents Network, which now boasts more than 1,000 members. He previously served as the organization's veterans outreach coordinator.

He said he is compelled to advocate for medical marijuana by the sheer number of people who have an interest in using it as an alternative to pharmaceutical drugs, which tend to have more dangerous side effects.

[continues 617 words]

America's drug war is an abysmal failure. Like all foreign entanglements, it finds us arrogantly pretending to fix other countries while stumbling to manage our own. Success will not be found in Mexican border towns, Colombian jungles, or Afghan poppy fields. We will win or lose right here at home.

A search for solutions begins with a commitment to liberty versus freedom. Liberty is freedom seasoned with accountability. One does not work without the other - which is precisely why drug legalization fails.

[continues 337 words]

It's God-awesome to read hemp is being used ("Asheville Area Leads Nation In Hempcrete Construction," AC-T, Nov. 29) more in the United States.

Communist Chinese farmers grow hemp, but free American farmers cannot, and that's anti-American. It's time to reintroduce hemp as a component of American agriculture. It's also time for the federal government to stop classifying hemp as a Schedule I substance alongside heroin. That's anti-intelligent.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

For the past while, I've wondered something. With our economy in such poor shape, why have we not legalized and capitalized on the medicinal use of marijuana. It's incredulous to me, because it would help people with debilitating illnesses, and government taxes would help everyone. The medicinal marijuana industry is yet to be tapped, and when it is it will flow and flow. Critics will say smoking marijuana is worse because of the actual smoke inhalation. That is responded with the fact you don't have to smoke marijuana to get the medicinal needs. Easily oils, butters, and edibles can be made. With those butters you can cook with it, thus no smoke. Its estimated that marijuana farmers make upwards of $80,000 annually, where medicinal marijuana is legal. Those jobs could help, they could change lives. When will congress put their pride on hold and allow us as Americans to overcome this economic state?

Bryan Cruse

Leland

[end]

When it comes to hemp building, business is booming.

"Western North Carolina essentially is the capital of hempcrete building in the United States right now," said Gregory Flavall, the co-founder of Hemp Technologies, the Asheville-based company that supplies the hemp-based building material to contractors.

Two hemp-based homes have been completed in Asheville, one in West Asheville and another off Town Mountain Road, and another is going up in Haywood County near Lake Junaluska. Flavall says his company has dozens of projects lined up, both in WNC and throughout the country, including in Texas, Colorado and Hawaii.

[continues 756 words]

For the past while, I've wondered something. With our economy in such poor shape, why have we not legalized and capitalized on the medicinal use of marijuana. It's incredulous to me, because it would help people with debilitating illnesses, and government taxes would help everyone. The medicinal marijuana industry is yet to be tapped, and when it is it will flow and flow. Critics will say smoking marijuana is worse because of the actual smoke inhalation. That is responded with the fact you don't have to smoke marijuana to get the medicinal needs. Easily oils, butters, and edibles can be made. With those butters you can cook with it, thus no smoke. Its estimated that marijuana farmers make upwards of $80,000 annually, where medicinal marijuana is legal. Those jobs could help, they could change lives. When will congress put their pride on hold and allow us as Americans to overcome this economic state?

Bryan Cruse

Leland

[end]

GREENSBORO - Law enforcement and legislators across the country are scrambling to ban a legal, synthetic form of marijuana that is giving youths a new high.

The spice cannaboid, known as K2, is an herb-and-spice mixture that is sprayed with a chemical compound similar to tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the pyschoactive ingredient in marijuana.

People smoke K2, also known by names such as spice and genie, through pipes or rolled in paper. It's sold on the Internet and in gas stations, convenience stores and head shops for prices ranging from $15 to $150 per 3-gram bag.

[continues 675 words]

For many soldiers - and plenty of civilians too - Spice is nice. For military commanders and some concerned legislators, it's anything but. That's why the designer drug that mimics the effect of marijuana has been banned on Fort Bragg and soldiers face random testing for its use.

State Sen. William Purcell, a Laurinburg Democrat and retired pediatrician, says he may introduce legislation next year to ban the product, widely sold as incense in tobacco shops and convenience stores, also under names such as K2, Funky Monkey and Afghan Kush.

[continues 340 words]

Wilmington cocaine bust not relevant, newsworthy The only word I can use to describe the story on Dan Paustian ("UNC student arrested in Wilmington on charges of cocaine, marijuana possession," Nov. 1) is inappropriate. Yes, he is a UNC student and yes, the student body is entitled to know what is going on in the lives of our peers.

But whereas last year's cocaine incident involved multiple UNC students that were arrested in our actual vicinity, this occurrence involved solely one student positioned a good two and half hours away from our campus at the time of his arrest. Is this really worthy of the front page?

[continues 139 words]

Pot, weed, dope, Mary Jane, Cannabis -- marijuana goes by many names. But whatever you want to call it, it is a drug worthy of legalization - -- at least for medicinal purposes.

In the U.S., medical marijuana legalization is done on a state-by-state basis. So far, 14 states have already legalized the use of medical marijuana -- and with good reason.

In California, the big debate is whether or not to legalize marijuana for personal use other than medicinal purposes. But in North Carolina, the bill to legalize it for medicinal purposes has still not passed.

[continues 446 words]

The police operations in high crime areas as stated in the Sept. 2 Daily Reflector is a great effort in trying to reduce crime. However, until there are stricter rules in housing and the mentality of those who prey on others for their drug habits and financial needs have been changed, they will only leave one neighborhood and go to another to destroy.

The majority of the people in those neighborhoods are decent, law-abiding citizens who want safety for their families, but there are always bad seeds who seem to germinate and spread their foul behavior.

[continues 88 words]

MOCKSVILLE - A former deputy for the Davie County Sheriff's Office pleaded guilty to charges that he and a former evidence technician with the sheriff's office conspired to distribute crack cocaine stolen from the sheriff's evidence room.

Bobby Lee Mabe Jr., 38, of Mocksville, pleaded guilty to being an unlawful user of controlled substances while possessing firearms and with maintaining a drug-involved premises.

On May 13, Malinda York, the former evidence technician, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 5 grams or more of crack and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

[continues 233 words]

K2 Is A Legal, Though Possibly Dangerous, Synthetic Cousin To Marijuana.

As college students return to school in Charlotte and the Triangle, some are cracking open lip balm-size jars and plastic bags of a legal herb product that mimics the effects of marijuana.

K2, or "Spice," is a lab-made leafy green drug that looks and smells like oregano, with hints of blueberry, citrus and other flavors. The designer drug is showing up at tobacco and head shops, misleadingly labeled as "incense." The labels also inform buyers that the contents are not fit for human consumption, but behind closed doors the "incense" is being puffed as a legal alternative to marijuana.

[continues 1165 words]

Heroin use is on the rise in Burlington and authorities are concerned about its potential impact on the community.

It's not that the drug is available on every street corner in the city. But it is creeping its way in and investigators in the Burlington Police Department's special operations division say the drug's potency is much higher than it was when it was popular among inner-city junkies injecting it in the 1970s.

The typical user in this area is white, between 20 and 25 years old and from west Burlington, and pain killers that they find in mom and dad's medicine cabinet are often the gateway to their heroin addiction, said a Burlington police undercover drug officer who asked to remain anonymous because of ongoing investigations.

[continues 754 words]

The Democratic Party State Executive Committee passed a resolution supporting the legalization of medical marijuana at its convention Sunday in Fayettevillle.

The vote came after a speech from Richmond County resident and party official Perry Parks, and marks the second time Democratic leaders from the local level have asked their elected representatives to pass a bill legalizing marijuana for medical use.

The vote was nearly unanimous and, according to the party's Eighth District Chair June Mabry, the mood of the room left no doubt what party leaders expect of those they sent to Raleigh.

[continues 619 words]

Ron Allen probably thinks Alice Huffman has been smoking something.

Huffman, president of the California Conference of the NAACP, recently declared support for an initiative that, if passed by voters in November, will decriminalize the use and possession of marijuana. Huffman sees it as a civil rights issue.

In response, Bishop Allen, founder of a religious social activism group called the International Faith-Based Coalition, has come out swinging. "Why would the state NAACP advocate for blacks to stay high?" he demanded last week at a news conference in Sacramento. "It's going to cause crime to go up. There will be more drug babies." Allen wants Huffman to resign.

[continues 537 words]

This week, I helped form a new North Carolina non-profit-- The North Carolina National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NC NORML). Yes, that's right. Weed, dope, pot, ganja, reefer, cannabis. Everyone knows it illegal, but when asked, nobody really knows why. Alcohol, which leads directly to violence and death, is perfectly fine so long as you are of age. Ask any police officer if someone being arrested for marijuana without alcohol has ever resisted, or ask any domestic violence victim if marijuana led to a battering?

[continues 739 words]

ASHEVILLE -- Twenty years from now, Jennifer Foster thinks that the marijuana prohibition will be relegated to the history books.

And if this happens, some of the early steps toward decriminalization in this state can be traced to the North Carolina National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Norml) inaugural meeting Sunday evening at The French Broad Brewing Co.

Norml is a national nonprofit organization supporting the removal of all criminal penalties for the private possession and responsible use of marijuana by adults.

[continues 252 words]

The state Supreme Court has ruled that an expert witnesses' visual identification of prescription drugs was insufficient to prove their substance and should not have been allowed in a New Hanover County man's trial.

But the court's ruling on Thursday was not unanimous, and in a dissenting opinion, Justice Paul Newby writes that the decision changes the law significantly as it pertains to witness testimony.

The opinion, which affirms an appellate court's decision, stems from the case of Jimmy Waylon Ward, who was convicted on Jan. 14, 2008, of drug-related felony offenses, including opium trafficking, after an SBI agent testified that out of hundreds of pills seized from Ward's home and car, only about half of them were actually tested by the crime lab.

[continues 566 words]

In spite of opposition from the Drug Enforcement Administration and other "drug warriors," marijuana can bring relief to a variety of medical conditions, especially migraines and cancer chemo nausea. I had to resort to synthetic THC, but it was not helpful in dealing with my reactions to the chemo I had to take for my brain tumor.

In 1989, the DEA's administrative judge, Francis L. Young, ruled in favor of moving marijuana to Schedule II, where it could be used under a doctor's care. He wrote: "Marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. By any measure of rational analysis marijuana can be safely used within a supervised routine of medical care. . It would be unreasoning, arbitrary and capricious for DEA to continue to stand between those sufferers and the benefit of this substance in light of the evidence on record."

[continues 60 words]

Of all the big-government abuses of Americans' constitutional rights, the war on marijuana perpetrates some of the worst. "Asset forfeitures" such as the Oakview Road resident suffered are, in my opinion, little more than official looting, since they allow police (and informants, who get a percentage) to seize growers' homes and cash prior to a trial, with practically no oversight.

No wonder law enforcement lobbyists oppose every effort in North Carolina to legalize industrial hemp or medical marijuana, despite the abundant evidence of hemp's utility and environmental benefits, marijuana's lifesaving medicinal qualities for many patients, and the millions of dollars that the state would save and collect if either form of cannabis were licensed or taxed.

[continues 100 words]

GREENVILLE - Another plea has been entered in a case involving the embezzlement of drug investigation funds by former members of the Carteret County Sheriff's Office.

Thomas "Mark" Farlow, a former narcotics detective with the sheriff's office, pleaded guilty in federal court this week to count six of the indictment, misprision of a felony, according to Robin Zier, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The offense indicates Farlow knew about the embezzlement activities but did not report it.

[continues 311 words]

Swansboro Police Chief Ed Parrish is concerned about a legal form of synthetic marijuana that has been wrinkling the brows of police departments across the country.

"It's being sold as potpourri," Parrish said of the synthetic marijuana, now available for sale in the community. However, its effects when smoked are similar to the real thing, and it's also priced a lot like the real thing.

"This stuff sells for about $30 an ounce," Parrish said.

The "potpourri" is a blend of various spices and herbs that have been sprayed with a synthetic chemical similar to THC, the psychoactive compound found in marijuana. Though most packages are marked with the disclaimer "not for human consumption," the spice blends are not generally sought for their aromatic appeal.

[continues 629 words]

To the editor: I have the perfect solution to the world's drug problem. It would eradicate the need to incarcerate traffickers, saving tens of thousands of dollars by not having to prosecute them or confine them in prison. It would make possible the return of our military from Colombia and other places. It would cut down on robberies.

It is so easy that I'm surprised no one else has thought about it. All the government has to do is legalize all drugs. Let them have as much as they want. They'll all get too much and be dead in a week. End of users and pushers. If they want to kill themselves - let them. Society is fed up with paying for their foolishness. We all have choices of how we live. If they want it they can get it - all they want. Thanks for reading this letter. I know others won't agree, but it's worth thinking about.

Patricia A. Jones

Jacksonville

[end]

The April 24 article "Pot profession has no room for hippies" gave no details of the multitude of cannabis' medical applications. Duke doctors have told me there is no drug as effective for treating nausea, yet they are legally forbidden even to recommend it to their patients in misery. Harvard researchers found THC to reduce tumor growth in lung cancer by 50 percent. Madrid scientists found chemicals in cannabis to promote death of brain cancer cells.

Studies show its promise to treat breast and colorectal cancer. Who knows what cancer cures would have been discovered years ago had people not been frozen in a 1930s prohibitionist mentality in which cannabis is defined not by its chemical makeup but by the stereotype of people who used it. We all need to ask our representatives to stop needless suffering and open wide the door for research and medical application of cannabis.

Catherine Lyle, Raleigh

[end]

In response to "Decades-long U.S. drug war lags on goals" (May 16 The Big Picture):

The U.S. war on drugs has failed to eliminate the importation and use of recreational drugs, just as Prohibition failed to stop the importation and use of alcohol. It's time for a new strategy.

We legalized alcohol and control its use today, even with the problems still associated with it. Society has learned to accept it and deal with it. Why wouldn't the same strategy work for recreational drugs?

Ronald McCraw

Salisbury

[end]

DA's Office Seeks Funds From Wilmington to Keep Federal Program

A program that law enforcement officials say has targeted the area's worst drug dealers for federal prosecution and helped ease crowding at the New Hanover County jail will end either this year or next, officials said.

At a Wilmington City Council work session on Monday, District Attorney Ben David asked the city for $27,421 to help support the program for one more year. Without the money, the program would end this summer, David said, but even with the 25 percent local match, the upcoming 2010-11 fiscal year would be the last of local funding.

[continues 385 words]

The former sheriff of Carteret County is facing up to five years in prison after pleading guilty this week to misusing drug funds.

Former Sheriff Ralph Thomas, 60, of Beaufort, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit an offense against the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney General's Office.

Former deputy Christopher Cozart, 35, of Morehead City, pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 4, according to the release.

[continues 212 words]

Three members of Willie Nelson's band cited in January for possession of marijuana and moonshine were sentenced Wednesday to a $25 fine.

Thomas Hawkins, Kenneth Koepke and Dudley Prewitt, via their lawyer, Sampson County attorney Doug Parsons, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct in a Duplin County court. In exchange, Onslow County District Attorney Dewey Hudson dismissed the possession of marijuana charges.

In response to concerns about special treatment, Hudson insisted that this case was handled the same as any other would be.

[continues 230 words]

Greenville - The former sheriff of Carteret County admitted Monday in federal court to pocketing thousands of dollars from the sheriff's department over a 10-year period.

Ralph L. Thomas Jr., 60, who served as sheriff for 20 years, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to commit an offense against the United States.

One of his former drug detectives, Chris Cozart, 35, also pleaded guilty Monday to imprision of a felony, as he knew about the illegal activity of his superiors and failed to report it to authorities.

[continues 751 words]

Is the "poor, white man's crack" poised for a comeback?

When a new law took effect in 2006 restricting sales of pseudoephedrine, the common cold medicine used to make methamphetamine, meth lab seizures declined in North Carolina by about 40 percent. Those statistics haven't changed much since.

"We are holding steady at this point," said state Attorney General Roy Cooper, who described the methamphetamine problem as an "epidemic" in early 2004. "Obviously North Carolina continues to grow in population, and any lab is one meth lab too many."

[continues 1394 words]

The drug culture among teens continues to grow and the elixirs of choice are becoming as varied as they are dangerous.

All it takes is a quick glance at local crime stories to see that many teens and young adults find these drugs tempting.

Where there was once marijuana use and the occasional teen experimenting with cocaine or crack, now grows the use - and production - of methamphetamine and a litany of prescription drugs that are as deadly as they are addictive.

[continues 438 words]

Regarding the business end of medical marijuana, North Carolina needs the thousands of jobs passage of HB 1380, the N.C. Medical Marijuana Act, would create. Our state needs the millions of dollars in tax revenue and licensing fees, and the patients and researchers need safe, legal access to medical marijuana. HB 1380 is win/win legislation for everyone. Let's get this bill passed this year.

Jean Marlowe

Mill Spring

The writer is executive director of the North Carolina Cannabis Patients Network.

[end]

MOREHEAD CITY - County hospital officials are taking steps to stem the rising use of narcotics among patients, which ranks highest among counties in this part of the state and double the state rate for youth.

In an effort to address the potential for abuse of narcotics, Carteret General Hospital is changing the chronic pain management protocol in the Emergency Department.

Hospital officials said that because of increased concerns about the abuse of narcotics in the community, the hospital emergency department will discourage the use of narcotics except when absolutely necessary. The hospital is also implementing a review panel to monitor narcotic usage.

[continues 353 words]

I usually write about lighthearted things, but this week I want to address some of what we've been reading about the mess surrounding the Carteret County Sheriff's Department.

I won't comment on the allegations against the individuals who have been indicted or are still under investigation. I know some of them and honestly can't say I saw this coming. I've been out of law enforcement for a long time now and, although I had occasion to deal professionally with that department, it wasn't a frequent interaction.

[continues 404 words]

Last week, Gov. Bev Perdue announced a new research initiative, so we're here to help her. Perdue is faced with the budget from hell, and a prison population that's stretching the state's resources, and, through overcrowding, its sense of human decency.

Perdue's new initiative, shared by the state, the federal Justice Department, the Council of State Governments, and the Pew Center on the States, is supposed to figure out how to cut costs while still keeping the public safe. Specifically, the initiative will study the reasons why many young people wind up in prison and recommend new programs to get at the root causes of crime and repeat offenders.

[continues 1746 words]

Marijuana, Cocaine Use Contrast Dominant Alcohol Culture

Whether it is shotgunned in the Blue Zone before a football game or mixed with soda at a section party, alcohol appears to be a dietary staple for most of the student body.

For some students, however, partying hard entails far more than liquid intoxication. At Duke, illicit drug users constitute an active minority that operates largely unnoticed.

Approximately 68 percent of Duke undergraduates reported drinking in the 30 days before they completed last Spring's National College Health Assessment Survey. Just less than 10 percent said they had used marijuana in that time period.

[continues 1436 words]

Students for Sensible Drug Policy," or SSDP for short, is an organization comprised of student-run chapters at more than 100 colleges and universities around the country. Its goal is to achieve "a just and compassionate society where drug abuse is treated as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue." They work towards this goal by encouraging "young people to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies . . . while fighting back against counterproductive drug war policies." Recently, the outreach director of the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions, Stacia Cosner, contacted me in regard to a column I wrote a few weeks ago about medicinal marijuana. She wanted to know if anyone would be interested in starting an SSDP chapter at N.C. State. I told her that I'm sure there are students here who would be interested and that an SSDP chapter would be beneficial to students at State - I'm hopeful I'll be able to find enough students w! ho agree with me.

[continues 412 words]

The voters of trendsetting California may well decide this November to legalize marijuana - there's a ballot referendum, and 56 percent of Californians are in favor - and no doubt this would be great news for the munchie industry, the bootleggers of Grateful Dead music, and the millions of stoners who have long yearned for an era of reefer gladness.

Seriously, this is a story about how desperate times require desperate measures. Legalization advocates, including many ex-cops and ex-prosecutors, have long contended that it's nuts to keep criminalizing otherwise law-abiding citizens while wasting $8 billion a year in law enforcement costs. That argument has never worked. But the new argument, cleverly synced to the recession mind-set, may well herald a new chapter in the history of pot prohibition.

[continues 842 words]

The creators of the Greenville Million Marijuana March Facebook event, which over 7,000 ECU students and Greenville locals have been invited to, are having troubles getting the permits required for the event.

The Greenville Million Marijuana March is scheduled for Sunday, May 2, from "high noon to 4:20 p.m." at the Mendenhall Brickyard and will have a picnic, T-shirts and variety of live music from alternative rock to experimental death metal to hip-hop. Bands include An Eternity Incognito, Consume the Stars, HNL, Jakeleg, En Serenade and many others.

[continues 682 words]

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - He was happy to see shoppers, the Ciudad Juarez tourist official made it clear, and yet the fact that he had time to sit down for a beer with us in the middle of the day made him morose. It was the week between Christmas and New Year's, and in happier times, his city would have been swarming with tourists from El Paso. These days, the sight of two lone gringos walking across the bridge had brought him scurrying, waving his ID card like a flag of peace.

[continues 697 words]

District Attorney Dewey Hudson reported Friday that the charges against six Willie Nelson band members are still pending and have not been dismissed.

"I have been inundated with letters and people asking me about the situation with Willie Nelson that involved his band, so I have decided to give an update today," Hudson said during a press conference he called Friday at the Duplin County Courthouse. "Our office has received the initial investigative report and we have spoken with people in ALE (Alcohol Law Enforcement) about the charges against the band members."

[continues 787 words]

A virtual reality simulator at Methodist University will soon help authorities learn how to spot a methamphetamine lab. On Tuesday, the university received a $150,000 federal grant to provide training to social workers, teachers, law enforcement and others who could potentially identify a dangerous clandestine lab. Students who strap on gloves and goggles can take a virtual walk through a house where they have to decide whether a pack of Sudafed, for example, is being used to make drugs or treat a cold based on what they see.

[continues 514 words]

A few weeks ago, my fellow columnist Sam Daughtry wrote a piece,"Medical Marijuana: a personal decision," describing some of the issues surrounding medical marijuana use. While it is still illegal under federal law, 14 states have passed legislation legalizing medicinal marijuana, and North Carolina may be set to be the next.

There are currently bills in the N.C. House of Representatives, House Bill 1380 and 1383, introduced in the House by Rep. Earl Jones (D-Guilford), which would legalize medicinal use of the herb, license farming of it and tax it as a source of revenue. WRAL reported March 5, that "supporters say legalizing marijuana for health-related reasons would generate more than $60 million in state taxes in the first year alone." The bill passed a vote last year and is now waiting in the Health Committee; state lawmakers could be voting on the bill this spring.

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Some people might have been shocked in September when several UNC students were arrested for selling cocaine. And, if the charges prove true, they probably weren't making the best career choice in the world. I wouldn't be too surprised. After all, illegal drugs are big business. In 2003, the United Nations estimated that the global illegal drug trade was worth nearly $322 billion. Cannabis is America's top cash crop, with a market value greater than corn and wheat combined. In a survey of more than 1,700 UNC students I conducted through Facebook, cannabis use was consistently more common than tobacco use.

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Lenoir's Libertarian city councilman has entered the 25th District's District Attorney's race.

T.J. Rohr, a criminal attorney, is in his second term as a Lenoir city councilman.

He was elected as an unaffiliated candidate in a non-partisan race. He said he's held fast to his Libertarian beliefs as a councilman, consistently refusing to vote for tax increases or spending he considers wasteful.

In November, Rohr will face Democratic challenger Jason Parker and the winner of May's Republican primary between incumbent Jay Gaither and Shawn Clark.

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Stop me if you've read this before: Daily reports of drug arrests published in the Observer. A meth lab discovered off Ramsey Street. Residential break-ins all over, many of them committed by people hooked on drugs who steal for money to get enough dope to get them by, until next time. Gangs powered by guns, crack and cash; innocent bystanders hurt, and not just in beleaguered Bonnie Doone. Meanwhile, look to our borderland with Mexico. Have you read "No Country for Old Men"? You should. It's stark. It's brutal. It's what's happening in parts of our Southwest. Last week our top national security officials met with Mexican leaders to talk about the bloodbath that has claimed nearly 18,000 Mexican lives in violence involving drug cartels. It's because we Americans, in this land of plenty, can't control our appetite for drugs.

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Another reason to stop caging sick humans for using the relatively safe, God-given plant, cannabis (marijuana), that doesn't get mentioned in Tuesday's column, Medical marijuana: a personal decision, is that it is Biblically correct since 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 cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). And "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (see 1 John 3:17).

Jesus Christ risked jail to heal the sick.

Stan White

Dillon, Colorado

[end]

Regarding the March 19 article "Speakers promote cannibis for health":

Another reason to stop caging sick humans for using the relatively safe, God-given plant cannabis that doesn't get mentioned is because it is Biblically correct since Christ God Our Father, The Ecologician, 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 cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). And "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (see 1 John 3:17).

Jesus Christ risked jail to heal the sick.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

Medical Marijuana. You may have heard the term, and many states are amending laws changing the face of what federal administrators deemed an illegal and harmful drug. Some states currently have programs that allow patients with a doctor's order to purchase and use medical marijuana.

The debate continues and may prove to be a leading contributor in how health care reform and public policy is rewritten.

While states allow medical marijuana, its usage, possession and paraphernalia still violate federal law. This battle in states' rights versus federal law creates a new war of federalism with a possible Supreme Court case written all over it. One of the major criticisms of cannabis as medicine is opposition to smoking as a method of consumption. The harm caused by smoking can be minimized or eliminated by the use of a vaporizer.

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Regarding your editorial published on March 11 about marijuana laws, the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers.

In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use.

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On your front page March 16 is your article regarding Amy Frink's convicted rapist, torturer and murderer being considered for the second time in two years for release from prison after just 12 years into his sentence of 30 years. His partner in this horrible crime was released on parole in 2008. Since the second man returned to society he has had no less than 23 infractions, but is still in the midst of our society.

Before this state's "mutual Agreement Parole Program" went into effect, these murderers would have been sentenced to life imprisonment. Further back into the 1950s they might have paid with their own lives. Now they walk free? My barber is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence, first offense, handed down a year ago, in Brunswick County, for possession of prescription drugs with intent to sell.

He had no record. What is wrong with our judicial system?

Lowell J. Carr, Southport

[end]

Since the early 1990s, Jean Marlowe has smoked marijuana. She's been arrested four times and spent time in federal prison. It's something she doesn't mind people knowing.

Marlowe, executive director of the North Carolina Cannabis Patients Network, a licensed nonprofit organization based in Mill Spring, advocates for legislation to allow people to use marijuana for medical purposes. The organization's goal is to educate the public about medical marijuana legislation in North Carolina.

Marlowe spoke about the issue Thursday at a Civitan Club of Salisbury meeting. Along with Marlowe, club members also heard from Perry Parks, the veterans outreach director for the Network.

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BEAUFORT - Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck said strict policies for documenting and tracking drug fund money have been in place since he took on the job nearly four years ago.

"When I first came into office I implemented a policy to track and document every dollar spent in our drug fund," he said.

Buck was elected sheriff in November 2006, moving from deputy to take on the post held for 20 years by former Sheriff Ralph Thomas Jr., who retired. Buck said he can't speak to how drug funds were administered before his administration but said that he saw a lack of documentation that needed to be corrected.

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When a seizure strikes, Joshua Cook typically hits the ground.

His hands clench spastically into fists. His torso contorts. His body shakes uncontrollably for several minutes.

The condition first struck the 25-year-old National Guard veteran while he was serving in Iraq three years ago. After receiving a medical discharge, he was prescribed a slew of drugs that either made him sick, caused headaches or simply didn't prevent his convulsions.

Then he tried a notorious herbal remedy that's more widely known as a recreational escape.

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Law enforcement agencies across Western North Carolina are hauling in loads of drugs this week. Pills, patches and liquid doses are coming in by the thousands.

The difference between this and most large drug operations is this one doesn't involve informants, drawn weapons or jail time. The drug holders are coming willingly.

Officers are sitting behind folding tables at police departments, pharmacies and grocery stores across the state this week collecting old or unneeded prescription and over-the-counter drugs from the community as part of Operation Medicine Drop. Agencies have already raked in tens of thousands of pills. An Asheville man who pleaded guilty Monday to supplying methadone that killed his friend is the latest example of a growing problem with prescription drug abuse that has had a disproportionate impact on the western part of the state.

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RALEIGH -- A former Carteret County sheriff and a former deputy who served under him face federal charges alleging they stole federal funds intended for covert drug investigations.

Ralph Thomas Jr., Christopher Cozart and unnamed co-conspirators are accused of illegally taking more than $5,000 and putting the drug funds to personal use, according to criminal information filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

The alleged thefts occurred on multiple occasions between about 1997 and October 2006 according to the charges. Thomas retired in 2006 after a 20-year career as sheriff.

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Who knew that when North Carolina and Duplin County authorities cited members of country music legend Willie Nelson's band on marijuana and alcohol charges in January that it would turn into an uproar that began in Eastern North Carolina and has swept the state.

Heck, there's even a song about it that's getting some notice in Tennessee.

The matter has divided the rural farming community where Nelson was schedule to play. Some think that agents from the state Division of Alcohol Law Enforcement were just doing their jobs on Jan. 28, when they searched the band's bus outside the Duplin County Events Center in Kenansville, adding that the band members are not above the law.

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Our children are challenged enough to master reading and writing, math and science in the classroom without the added anxiety of drug abuse, guns and weapons, and the threat of violence out in the school hallways and playgrounds.

It's never good news when students carry loaded guns to school or bring in marijuana or physically assault their classmates or even their teachers. The latest report from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction shows that such incidents aren't everyday occurrences at school, with a statewide decrease in such acts from last year, along with a welcome decline in drop-out rates for most school systems.

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To the editor: What's the problem with some of the members of Willie Nelson's band smoking a little marijuana and drinking bootleg whiskey?

The problem is that it's against the law. When somebody gets caught breaking the law, they have to pay the price if they are found guilty. Just suppose that after Willie's show, the bus had been involved in an accident and someone had been injured or killed (your wife, father, child or friend). What would the reaction have been?

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Legislator Says to "Leave the Man Alone"

RALEIGH -- North Carolina's singing senator has recorded a song critical of the marijuana and alcohol charges filed against members of singer-songwriter Willie Nelson's band in January.

"It just looks like a special effort was made to go on that bus and cite them with marijuana," said state Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin. The song, called "Leave the Man Alone," refers to the Jan. 28 citations issued to six members of Nelson's band on either possession of marijuana or possession of non-tax-paid alcohol. The band's bus was outside the Duplin County Events Center in Kenansville.

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RALEIGH -- North Carolina's singing senator has recorded a song critical of the marijuana and alcohol citations filed against members of singer-songwriter Willie Nelson's band in January.

"It just looks like a special effort was made to go on that bus and cite them with marijuana," said state Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin. The song, called "Leave the Man Alone," refers to the Jan. 28 citations issued to six members of Nelson's band on either possession of marijuana or possession of non-tax-paid alcohol. The band's bus was outside the Duplin County Events Center in Kenansville.

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I'm very much in favor of making cannabis legal for medicinal purposes. It's obvious from all the information out today that it's time to do what's honest and right. The great lie has been exposed. I'm a disabled vet; I suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. I support House Bill 1380.

Ralph D. Davis

Rockingham

[end]

As I search through articles on medicinal marijuana through the Star News, it has become abundantly clear that drug possession, and sales are making our headlines more than they should be.

Multiple arrests for cocaine, mushrooms, and marijuana in the past 15 or so days show that this is an issue affecting us all, both in tax dollars, and in misinformation about what really happens in Wilmington. How many of the readers of the StarNews know that there are two methadone clinics here in Wilmington? ...Prescription medication abuse is through the roof. Families torn apart by abuse of opiates such as oxycotin ... It really vexes me that marijuana is classified in the same category as the harmful pharmaceutical substances, and even upsets me more so that it is not legal for medicinal use in North Carolina. From AIDS to pain relief, marijuana has been legalized in 14 other states in our nation. There is a bill (HB 1380) that the General Assembly should be voting on this summer. I am a firm supporter of this bill. I urge citizens to educate themselves on this bill and let (their state representatives) know they support it. The question should no longer be why legalize medicinal marijuana, but why not legalize it?

Franklin Oldham, Wilmington

[end]

Hobbled by a degenerative back disease and arthritis, there were days when Perry Parks was in near constant pain. He tried Vioxx, epidural steroids and other drugs, but he said nothing seemed to work.

Then the Vietnam veteran from Rockingham turned to marijuana. "The results were overwhelming," says Parks, 67. "I now live almost pain free." Tonight Parks will share his story at a town hall meeting at UNC Charlotte hosted by state Rep. Nick Mackey of Mecklenburg County. "The evidence that it benefits patients is pretty much unrefuted," Mackey said Wednesday.

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There have always been conflicts between the rights of schools and students' First Amendment rights.

Beginning with the court case Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court decided that students don't lose their First Amendment rights simply by walking through their schoolhouse doors.

Since that decision in 1969 though, many other court cases have occurred that seek to limit students' freedoms. New Jersey v. T.L.O set the precedent that students have less privacy in schools. The Board of Education of Independent School District No. 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls set the precedent that random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities does not violate the Fourth Amendment.

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It's impossible to live in peace while we're under the influence of drug prohibition. There's too much money in the illegal sales, and too many organizations ready to use it to finance violent activities.

We need to legalize cocaine, heroin, marijuana and meth in order to reclaim big chunks of the black market.

Then we can ease prison overcrowding by releasing drug prohibition offenders, and redirect drug-war spending into rehab, recovery and reintegration programs.

Chapel Hil

[end]

The sentencing this week of a former Roseboro doctor for his role in selling prescribed drugs to patients who, medically speaking, didn't need them is disturbing on many levels.

The most obvious, of course, is the fact that Perry Reese, a once licensed physician, used his profession as a backdrop for the sale of the prescription drugs Oxycontin and Percocet. He was little more than a street dealer plying his trade in an office that was little more than a haven for the illegal activity he was conducting.

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Overall, the crime rate is falling, but North Carolina will need 8,500 more prison beds by the end of the decade, and the cost will be around $200 million. Per year. And that's for a prison that would be operating at capacity from day one.

What does this tell us?

It tells us, for one thing, that structured sentencing has succeeded - if you define "success" as sending more people to prison for longer terms, and don't mind the sticker price.

[continues 349 words]

WE HAVE a prime opportunity during the next year or two to step back and take a look at whom we send to our state prisons and how long we require them to remain behind bars.

North Carolina state government will partner with the Council of State Government's Justice Center to conduct a "justice reinvestment" study.

The study is aimed at analyzing objective data surrounding our criminal justice system and looking at options for redirecting our money that could change the number of people sent to prison while at the same time reducing crime.

[continues 367 words]

I sit here today totally disabled. You ask why? I have a disease called Transverse Myelitis.

It has left me with numbness and tingling in both legs, an awkward gait and the inability to stand for any length of time without additional pain. I currently take more medications than I can afford on disability income. I do not qualify for Medicaid.

After my last visit with my neurologist at Duke, he mentioned that "pot" had shown promise as a way of helping with pain, stiffness and muscle spasms in my legs. I have not tried it because currently in North Carolina it is illegal. I do not drink -- never have, never will because of all of the damage it has done to families over the years.

[continues 105 words]

Regarding the Feb. 23 article "These are your grandparents, on drugs," the fact that most N&O readers are mature adults is irrelevant. How many kids in Wake County high schools had to come to history class with a current event from the newspaper, and saw the front-page "grandparent" hitting a marijuana smoke-filled bong?

How many kids cut this picture out to show their classmates as their interest in experimenting with drugs has been ever-increasing?

With all the anti-drug spots on TV, it would be nice to see a similar ad in the paper occasionally instead of giving kids ammunition against their parents to become users.

Nicholas Solovieff

Raleigh

[end]

State Sen. Charlie Albertson says he can relate to country music legend Willie Nelson.

Sen. Charlie Albertson -(D) Duplin A lifelong musician himself, the Duplin County Democrat spent 56 days on a tour bus in Germany in the late '70s and understands how "a bus is sort of like a home to a band," he said

So he got upset after state alcohol officers raided Nelson's tour bus in Albertson's home county and cited band members for possession of marijuana and moonshine.

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In March of 2008, when New Hanover County was considering the purchase of a helicopter for the sheriff's office, authorities said local taxpayers wouldn't foot the bill.

At the time, former sheriff Sid Causey said the $683,050 helicopter would be paid for by federal grants and seized drug money.

But now that Sheriff Ed McMahon is forwarding money the office received from forfeitures that occurred in local courts during the past few years, that promise appears to no longer hold true.

[continues 345 words]

New Hanover County Schools will receive an additional $150,646 in forfeited money from the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office, officials say. The funds are seized money that authorities now suspect should have gone to the schools in the first place.

Sheriff Ed McMahon's announcement on Tuesday means that in the past two months he has pulled $323,529.15 from his office's budget and given it to the schools.

All the money was seized by sheriff's deputies in criminal investigations and then forfeited to the sheriff's office by way of court orders signed by local judges between the fall of 2005 early 2009.

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Police, Business Owner Talk Controversial Product

An herbal product sold in local head shops as incense apparently mimics the effects of marijuana when smoked. But unlike marijuana, it's legal and undetectable in drug tests.

The incense contains a mixtures of herbs and spices along with a compound known as JWH-018, a synthetic cannabinoid first used in scientific research with properties similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the psychoactive substance in the cannabis plant.

Serenity Now, a product sold online and at Smoker's Edge in Shelby and Lowell, has been identified as one of the products purported to give users a marijuana-like euphoria. Other products known as "K2," "Spice," "Genie" and "Zohai" are also said to contain JWH-018.

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Top S.C. Cop Warns of New Threat From Traffickers Quietly Leaving Atlanta and Relocating in Carolinas.

ROCK HILL - Mexican drug cartels are fleeing Atlanta and taking refuge in suburban and rural parts of South Carolina, the state's top cop told a Winthrop University audience on Thursday.

Reggie Lloyd, director of the State Law Enforcement Division, returned to his alma mater with a warning about new threats from the drug trade.

Pushed beyond Atlanta by heavy law enforcement, drug cartels are leaving the former East Coast drug capital and settling in places with lighter police presence, Lloyd said. They're quietly gaining footholds in neighboring Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.

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