In your recent article "'Budbusters' move in on pot plantations" you describe a huge effort by police and military to eradicate some pot plants. What was not mentioned in the article is how much this effort will cost-my guess is a lot. Will this effort make a difference on the availability of pot? No, but it will help to wipe out some competition for some gangsters. The only thing they are accomplishing is maintaining the high value of the plant. It's absolute insanity that the general public allows this to happen. Our money is being wasted, and we are creating a lucrative market that often breeds violence. Take the value, and violence, away through legalization-it worked with alcohol. Andrew Brown Nanaimo [end]
Whether you think the Shasta Union High School District's stymied drug-testing policy is a gross violation of students' right to privacy or a sensible way to fight youth drug abuse, wouldn't it be nice if the courts would give the district and the plaintiff students a final answer? If everyone could get back to studying English and math instead of legal pleadings? No such luck. The state's 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, based in Sacramento, last week rejected the district's appeal of an injunction that Shasta County Superior Court Judge Monica Marlow had granted last year. At the same time, the court declined to decide the case on its merits (as the district also requested), instead throwing it back to the lower court for a possible trial. [continues 399 words]
The lowest point in Damon McCredie's life came in his 20s, when the drug-addicted east Vancouver man was in jail and sobriety forced him to recognize the jarring bleakness of his life. "That's when I had enough clarity to realize what was happening in my life," said McCredie, now 32. "Basically every kid that I grew up with, and ran with from the age of 13 on, they're all dead now as a result of drug overdose or violent death." [continues 399 words]
Recent news stories reported the government of Iran was considering outlawing certain hairstyles for men -- ponytails, for instance. However, widespread ridicule from abroad has apparently caused the Iranian government to back down temporarily. Nevertheless, Iranians have been subject to grooming codes and dress codes for decades. This summer, Iranian police have reportedly been arresting women for such heinous offences as wearing too much lipstick or sporting suntans. Barber shops have been ordered by police not to pluck men's eyebrows. Do the people of Iran enjoy liberty? Most Canadians, upon hearing of these bizarre, intrusive rules, would respond with a resounding "No." Such regimentation, enforced by law, spells full-fledged authoritarianism to us -- the very antithesis of liberty. [continues 735 words]
Robert Galia's letter Thursday espousing "family" pot farms contained two consecutive stunningly contradictory sentences. Let's examine them. 1. "The cannabis plant is in fact a medicine, a wonderful and healthy substitute for addictive and unhealthy synthetic narcotics." Nonsense. Medicines cure or, at least, alleviate the symptoms of disease. In Galia's words, "most of us know and agree" that marijuana merely masks the pain associated with disease. Then, in his very next sentence, Galia further puts the lie to the health benefits of pot. [continues 88 words]
MISSION VIEJO The City Council voted 4-1 to enact an ordinance that would make the use of residential dwellings as commercial marijuana "grow houses" punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine, or both. The new law was brought to the council by Councilman John Paul Ledesma, who said he wanted to tackle the topic "before it becomes an issue in the City of Mission Viejo," according to a staff report. The law makes any commercial use, "quasi-commercial or nonresidential" use of homes illegal under the city's municipal code, though City Attorney Bill Curley said the law is geared toward bulk pot growers. [continues 169 words]
Prompted by roughly 35 medical marijuana advocates - including one who used the public comment period to play a Native American tune on a flute made of bone - the Marysville City Council voted 3-1 Tuesday night to change future meetings so public comment will be near the end, rather than at the beginning. Tuesday's public comment was allowed at the beginning and the end of the meeting as a one-time measure to accommodate the agenda and the crowd. Mayor Bill Harris voted against the proposed change. Councilman Ben Wirtschafter was absent. [continues 305 words]
CORNING - Police and drug agents raided Tehama County's sole remaining storefront-style marijuana collective Tuesday, along with the home of its owner and a second property in Rancho Tehama belonging to him. As of about 4 p.m. Tuesday, all the marijuana in Tehama Herbal Collective in Corning had been seized. Agents also took paperwork, computers and more than $12,400 from the collective. Agents seized another 100 plants from a property on Elder Creek Circle in Rancho Tehama belonging to THC owner and Corning City Council candidate Ken Prather, another $1,200 and records from his Walnut Street residence in Corning. [continues 254 words]
RCMP Drug Bust Nets Tomatoes And Dahlias A Courtenay man is furious after police came to his house looking for marijuana, only to discover garden tomatoes and dahlias. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the man told the Echo that the incident has left him "sick to his stomach" and calling for more civilian oversight of the RCMP. On Aug. 29 (Sunday) at about 10:30 p.m., the man was sleeping upstairs in his room. His wife, who was preparing to head to bed, saw several police cars pull up in front of the house. [continues 639 words]
Medical Marijuana in Jail Is An Idea Whose Time Has Not Yet Arrived The issues surounding medical marijuana in Oregon are numerous and complex. But we think Jackson County Sheriff Mike Winters was right to refuse to allow medical marijuana inside the county jail. The issue found its way into court last month when Dennis Vickoren asked to be allowed to use legally prescribed medical marijuana to treat his migraine headaches. Vickoren's attorney, Jeni Feinberg, asked Jackson County Circuit Judge Mark Schiveley to issue a court order allowing her client to use marijuana while serving his 30-day sentence for encouraging child sexual abuse. Schiveley declined to grant the request. [continues 340 words]
Re: 'Budbusters' move in on pot plantations, Sept. 3 Here we go again wasting the taxpayers' hard earned money. So what if the "The Budbusters - a joint team of police and military staff -have worked together to locate 460 plantations across Vancouver Island." It sounds like a lot of pot, but what difference will it make? Last year's police pot harvest didn't stop this year's crop and this year's police harvest won't stop next year's crop. In fact, the pot plantations are just getting bigger and more numerous. [continues 257 words]