SEABROOK - When Winnacunnet High School seniors Heather Fritz and Arlee Stankatis of Seabrook searched for a topic for their senior seminar project, they needed to look no further than their local police department. The 17-year-olds had heard and read much about Seabrook's heroin and drug problem, which was called "epidemic" last year by Ellen Arcieri of the state Narcotics Investigation Unit. They wanted to find out for themselves just what was going on in town. Fritz and Stankatis contacted the Seabrook Police Department, and found a bevy of officers willing to give more than 20 hours of their time helping them research the topic. [continues 361 words]
Eleventh-grader Kimberly Rizo helped dress up her school to encourage fellow students to adopt a drug-free lifestyle. She said it's the right message to spread. Rizo is just one of several students at the Career Center who have spent all week decorating their school for the contest among all schools in the Ector County Independent School District. The contest is to push awareness for "Red Ribbon Week," which starts Monday. A winning school will be chosen among the elementary levels and the secondary levels. [continues 463 words]
I was so encouraged to read the news about the anti-pot team ("Anti-pot team attacks push to legalize it," Oct. 14). We were teaching in the villages in Northwest Arctic in the '70s when the Molly Hootch schools were being built and the returning high-schoolers brought their "pot" connections to the villages. Almost overnight we watched our students change. They no longer seemed able to distinguish right from wrong or care if they were hurting others or themselves. The prefrontal cortex, where decisions are made, seemed to be disconnected from the intellect. [continues 80 words]
Michael Badnarik for president ... that is if I were a one-issue voter and that one issue happened to be legalizing marijuana. The Libertarian candidate wants to end the misguided, though well-meaning, drug war against potheads. So do I. The U.S. arrested nearly 700,000 people for violating marijuana laws in 2002, incarcerating 15 percent to 20 percent of them at great cost to taxpayers. Still, neither John Kerry nor George W. Bush has endorsed legalizing marijuana or leaving the issue up to the states. [continues 608 words]
Re: Busts of grow ops just drop in bucket (Bob Holliday, Oct. 22). I find it hard to believe that police union president Lorne Schinkel can believe his own BS! Putting people in jail for growing a "weed" is draconian and just backward thinking. Does anyone have any idea the costs involved with incarceration? While murderers and rapists are given a slap on the wrist, people who grow pot should be in jail for 10 years? If the government were serious in any way about cannabis growing, they would legalize the plant and charge a licencing fee to any who wish to grow for their personal use only, of course setting a reasonable limit to the number of plants per person per season. They would also produce, package, tax and control public sales to adults, just like tobacco and alcohol. Drop the stigma and allow those of us who suffer chronic pain to grow and use cannabis in the responsible manner that we do, so we can smile rather than grimace. T. Cook Winnipeg [end]
Supporters of Propositions 1 and 2 have reached the home stretch. As Election Day approaches, several groups behind the upcoming marijuana initiatives sponsored two events this weekend to promote the cause of medicinal marijuana and decriminalization, as well as other issues pertinent to the movement. On Friday, Howard Wooldridge of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, federal medical marijuana patient Irvin Rosenfeld and NORML president Keith Stroup each gave their views on marijuana. The event was sponsored by the MU Law Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, in collaboration with the MU chapters of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and Students for Sensible Drug Policy. [continues 376 words]
Proposals for Medicinal Marijuana Use Earn Mixed Reviews From the Medical Community Heather De Mian has vascular Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disorder that weakens the body's collagen - what she calls the "rubber bands and glue that hold the body together." She suffers from gastro-intestinal problems and is prone to dislocated bones and bruises because of ligament weakness and feeble blood vessels. Eventually, the disease may kill her. De Mian takes seven prescription drugs, two of which, Zofran and Marinol, are used specifically to treat the nausea and vomiting she experiences regularly. Because she qualifies for Medicare and Medicaid, taxpayers pick up the tab for her prescriptions; the Zofran and Marinol alone cost $32,000 per year. [continues 2230 words]
As someone who lives with multiple sclerosis, I was shocked and extremely saddened by the story of Jonathan Magbie as chronicled in an Oct. 2 editorial and Colbert I. King's op-ed columns on Oct. 9, 16 and 23. I don't understand what is going on in this country. What lesson did Superior Court Judge Judith E. Retchin think she was teaching? I would like The Post to continue monitoring this story and situation. This is too important to ignore. Chicago [end]
LONG BEACH - Drug deaths in Harrison County The Harrison County Coroner's Office reports 20 drug-related deaths January through Oct. 11, compared to 37 fatal overdoses in 2003 and 46 in 2002. The number of drug-related deaths this year by area: Gulfport: 11 Harrison County: 4 Long Beach: 2 Biloxi: 2 Pass Christian: 1 In a bedroom community, word of drug overdoses and related problems travels fast and hits hard - especially when news spreads of a fatal overdose and even more so when it claims the life of a young adult. [continues 1302 words]
