MONTREAL - For police forces across Canada, August is harvest time. Officers slip on their coveralls, grab thick gardening gloves, shoulder machetes and begin the annual ritual of chopping down marijuana plants hidden in cornfields, remote mountain valleys and forest clearings. If the grower is unlucky enough to be caught red-handed, he is cuffed and taken off to court. Each police unit hits two or three of these hidden marijuana plantations, with the confiscated pot taken to incinerators. The destruction of marijuana plants goes on for about two weeks, and then it's back to normal police work. [continues 1101 words]
On May 5, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik called me at home to say she would share my concerns with the House Armed Services Committee on which she sits. My concerns about our deployed troops becoming manipulated into fighting what are essentially proxy wars for the Sunnis and Shiites received positive feedback from Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former chief of staff; Matthew Hoh, an Iraq war vet and Senior Fellow at the Center for International Policy; and a recently retired senior staffer at Homeland Security. [continues 278 words]
The Jefferson County Board of Legislators is set to discuss a policy at Tuesday's Health and Human Services Committee meeting that would arm sheriff's deputies with the overdose-reversal drug naloxone hydrochloride, marketed under the name Narcan. Narcan already is carried by the 13 advanced life support emergency response agencies in the county, but overdoses are on the rise -- in 2012, EMS teams were dispatched to more than 300 overdose calls -- and giving deputies the ability to use the drug is seen as a way to save more lives in a predominantly rural county where they are often the first to respond. [continues 397 words]
Marijuana use by young people is on the rise, and officials say conflicting messages about the dangers of marijuana contribute to the increase. The annual Monitoring the Future Survey conducted by the National Institute of Drug Abuse found that use of the drug on a daily basis has increased among eighth-, 10th- and 12th graders. One in 16 high school seniors used marijuana daily or almost daily, and for the second year in a row more 12th graders used marijuana than smoked cigarettes. More than a fifth of the seniors said they had used marijuana within 30 days of the survey while about 19 percent had smoked cigarettes. [continues 83 words]
Journalists try very hard, even in the face of danger, not to back down from reporting a story. In parts of Mexico, that is a tall order. Hence, El Diario de Juarez, the largest newspaper in Ciudad Juarez, has declared a truce of sorts after drug criminals killed its second employee in less than two years. A new employee, Luis Carlos Santiago, 21, a photographer, was slain last week. In 2008, a crime reporter from the same newspaper was slain by gunmen. At least 22 Mexican journalists have been killed and seven others have vanished in the last four years, the Associated Press reported. ADVERTISEMENT [continues 164 words]
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) famously defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Nothing better describes the war on drugs. The 40-year war on drugs has cost U.S. taxpayers $1 trillion, thousands of lives and broken up families and failed to meet any of its goals. Cocaine, heroin and marijuana were sold in drug stores without a prescription as medicine and treated as such in the early years of the last century. Yet the deadly drug of tobacco is legal (because it's taxed) which kills hundreds of thousands a year. [continues 86 words]
PITCAIRN -- Michael F. Lewis's life was pocked with drug use, failed rehab stints and run-ins with the law, but his grandmother -- with whom he lived on and off -- always seemed willing to give him another chance to turn himself around. Irene D. Layboult's chances of seeing that turnaround were erased, however, when she died in a pickup crash with her drugged grandson behind the wheel on a Saturday night in July. Why she was in the truck that night is something Mr. Lewis and other family members debate. He says his grandmother wanted to take a ride in her husband's truck to relieve stress after an argument at her home with relatives. Others say Mrs. Layboult would go with Mr. Lewis when she let him use the truck because of fears he might not bring it back right away. [continues 1032 words]
It's time to end America's longest war -- specifically, the drug war starting with marijuana. Because it is not about our safety but our control. Up to 1937 (see Drug Policy Alliance, www.drugpolicy.org marijuana tax act) marijuana was sold over the counter in drug stores as medicine without a prescription and was affordable to the poor. That made it competition to the big drug companies. John D. Rockefeller, the nation's first billionaire, 1839-1937 said "competition is a sin," which meant he wanted to stomp out the competition getting President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Congress to make it illegal because it took profit from the big drug companies he had interest in. [continues 253 words]
MALONE - Authorities charged eight people, including four from Franklin and St. Lawrence counties, over their alleged roles in an international drug smuggling operation linked to the Russian Mafia that moved about $27 million worth of marijuana. The two-year investigation exposed a pipeline moving thousands of pounds of marijuana from the north country to Cleveland, prosecutors said. The crime syndicate is alleged to have moved the marijuana, which came from Canada through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, over the last three years. [continues 356 words]
The savage drug war in Mexico. Crumbling state budgets. Weariness with current drug policy. The election of a president who said, "Yes - I inhaled." These developments and others are kindling unprecedented optimism among the many Americans who want to see marijuana legalized. Doing so, they contend to an ever-more-receptive audience, could weaken the Mexican cartels now profiting from U.S. pot sales, save billions in law enforcement costs, and generate billions more in tax revenue from one of the nation's biggest cash crops. [continues 531 words]
While the sheriffs of Oswego and St. Lawrence counties are calling upon state Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, to "just say no" to weakening the so-called Rockefeller drug laws, their counterpart in Jefferson County says the current mood in Albany "is a step in the right direction." Oswego County Sheriff Reuel A. Todd and St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin M. Wells released a joint statement Monday asserting that reducing current penalties "for major drug dealers" will result only in sending "a dangerous message to drug dealers, users and young people." [continues 61 words]
A Sensible Approach On Federal Policy The decision by the Obama administration to refrain from pursuing state-approved medical marijuana dispensaries is a reasonable shift in drug policy. It should allow the federal government to redirect limited resources against traffickers and distributors of more dangerous drugs. Marijuana is illegal under federal law. However, California became the first state in 1995 to permit its medical use to alleviate pain for sufferers of chronic diseases. A dozen other states have followed suit with similar legislation, setting up a confrontation with federal laws. [continues 294 words]
Federal authorities continue rounding up suspects reportedly involved in an international marijuana-smuggling operation. Eight more people, including two Fort Covington residents, were charged during the past two weeks with reportedly helping move thousands of pounds of the drug through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, reportedly netting about $100 million. So far, authorities have charged 18 people in connection with the alleged syndicate. Fort Covington residents Sean Barilko, 37, and Floyd Bingham, 36, each faces charges of conspiracy to import and distribute marijuana and money laundering, federal court records show. [continues 188 words]
Cartel Violence Calls For U.S. Response The alarming escalation of violence among drug cartels in Mexico has heightened attention to border security. U.S. officials have warned of increased activity by the cartels in Americans cities such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Birmingham, Ala. Stepped-up enforcement stopped nearly three-quarters of a million people from illegally entering the country last year. Officials confiscated 2.8 million tons of drugs. State Department officials estimate that $22 billion in drug-related profits made its way from the United States back to Mexico in a five-year period ending last year. [continues 341 words]
A jury found two Franklin County residents guilty on federal charges of operating a marijuana trafficking ring. Danny E. "Vinny" Theriault, 33, and Jackaleen A. "Ma" Theriault, 56, both of North Bangor, were each found guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Albany of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute marijuana. Both will be sentenced July 28. The jury also found them liable for a forfeiture totaling $129,000 and a furnace, along with a money judgment of $1.54 million. [continues 111 words]
Atlanta Is Main Distribution Center Even though Mexican drug cartels operate in 195 American cities, Atlanta, Ga., has been singled out as a main distribution center, reports USA Today. Thus, the same criminal organizations creating havoc on the U.S.-Mexican border are working in Atlanta. In 2008, federal agents seized $70 million in drug-related cash in Atlanta and $30 million so far this year. Atlanta is relatively close to several major U.S. cities and has access to transportation systems. It has a growing Hispanic community, especially in suburbs northeast of the city. [continues 146 words]
Give Judges More Sentencing Authority The state Legislature this week will begin discussing further reform of the draconian Rockefeller-era drug laws with proposals to give judges more discretion to consider alternatives to prison for some people convicted of drug crimes. Reforms enacted in 2004 revised the harshest mandatory sentences under the strict laws enacted in 1973 when Nelson Rockefeller was governor by reducing the length of prison terms and increasing the amount of drugs that could lead to longer sentences. But they left in place mandatory minimum sentences judges must impose. [continues 195 words]
The problem in Mexico is not drug use, the problem is prohibition; (editorial Sunday, Feb. 22). One example of its failure is Colombia. After wasting $4 billion of taxpayer money, the U.S. government pulled out. There is absolutely nothing to prove the $4 billion did any good to stop cocaine. We are to believe this is the answer to Mexico. If any of our politicians were serious about ending the 60-year-old drug war, they would bring legalization to the debate. [continues 122 words]
Battle For A Civil Society On Mexican Border Recent killings on the U.S.-Mexico border show drug gangs act with impunity despite Mexican authorities' attempts to enforce law and order. On Friday, gunmen in Ciudad Juarez killed a police officer and a jail guard. The killers left signs on the bodies promising to kill at least one officer every 48 hours until the city's police chief resigns. Ciudad Juarez is a city of 1.3 million people across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas. The slaying of Cesar Portillo marked the fifth officer killed in a week. Analysts say the violence signifies drug gangs' resolve to control the police force of the largest Mexican city on the border. [continues 129 words]
A federal judge has declared the prosecution of 10 people charged with running an international marijuana smuggling operation a "complex case." The designation by U.S. District Court Judge Sandra L. Townes means the case will have a large amount of discovery, numerous defendants and possibly numerous motions that could drag it out for some time, federal prosecutors said Friday. So far, 10 people have been charged in connection with the crime ring that netted about $100 million, moving an estimated 50,000 pounds of pot through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation [continues 127 words]
