SONOMA, Calif. -- There is one thing, and perhaps one thing only, that the two candidates for governor of California agree on: Ballot Proposition 19, The Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010, is a bad idea. In 1996, California voters approved medical marijuana, which has -- with some exceptions -- enjoyed widespread acceptance. Under current law, there are roughly 500,000 patients at hundreds of dispensaries. Cannabis, with estimated annual sales of $14 billion, has become the state's largest cash crop. [continues 313 words]
A few years ago, I visited Mexico as part of an international delegation of journalists seeking to learn more about an enduring problem in that country, the corruption of the press. It is widely known that reporters there routinely supplement their salaries by accepting fees, bribes, even monthly stipends, from the sources they cover. However, something happened during our visit that changed the nature of the trip. The nation's chief drug enforcer, a general who operated with a presidential mandate and the backing of the Mexican army, was arrested and revealed to be on the take from drug lords. [continues 568 words]
Three days before the election, Gov. Joe Kernan received a report from a task force set up to study the problem of methamphetamines in Indiana. The drug, which can be homemade in garages or barns or cooked outdoors in rural cemeteries, has reached epidemic proportions in our state. Vigo County Sheriff Jon Marvel says 85 percent of inmates in his jail are facing meth-related charges. Three days after the election, 4-year-old Tyler Fogarty became the poster boy for the problem. Summoned at 1:30 a.m. to his home in Roachdale, Putnam County police officials found the boy abused and unconscious, soaking in a bathtub where he was placed by his mother's boyfriend. Crystal meth was plainly visible in the house, and the boy died the next day. The boyfriend and the mother are in the Putnam County lockup, where Sheriff Mark Frisbie says that 90 percent of his law enforcement work now involves meth: people making it, taking it or stealing to get it. [continues 615 words]
