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What's the Matter With Chicago? and Seattle and New York and Boston...?
Seattle has always had an identity conflict. Gay bathhouses are allowed, street protests are legendary, and marijuana is, by voter initiative, the police department’s lowest enforcement priority. Each summer a two-day event called Hempfest draws some 150,000 people who openly smoke weed in a city park with the blessings of the cops and the local government, which regards the festival as protected speech.
Yet Seattle has long had an unhealthy strain of nannyism as well. Washington was one of the first states to prohibit alcohol in the last century, and the city’s restrictions on strip clubs and card rooms are legendary. In the last five years, the nanny impulse has gone into hyperdrive.
In 2003 Seattle banned sales of high-alcohol beers and fortified wines in a part of town popular with the homeless and street drunks. Three years later, a city report found that the ban hadn’t reduced petty crime and street drinking. Yet Mayor Greg Nickels and the Seattle City Council slammed through another ordinance expanding the so-called “alcohol impact area” to several other neighborhoods. It’s a measure of just how contradictory paternalism gets in Seattle that you can still walk into a bar in these neighborhoods and buy locally crafted microbrews with even higher alcohol content, albeit at a much steeper price than a 40-ouncer.
In 2005 a state ballot initiative banned smoking in all public places. Unlike similar prohibitions in other cities, there are no exemptions for tobacco stores, cigar bars, or private clubs. As if that weren’t enough, the Washington State Clean Indoor Air Act bans smoking within 25 feet of the doors, windows (closed or open), and ventilation systems of any public building. In parts of Seattle, smokers literally have to stand in the middle of the street to comply with the law.
Ironically, many Seattleites who smoke pot voted for the smoking ban. Perhaps they didn’t look too closely at the language of the law, which prohibits “smoking,” not tobacco.
The city’s deep embrace of environmentalism and “sustainability” rhetoric also has a nanny odor to it. This year, for example, Mayor Nickels pushed the state legislature to enact an excise tax on cars based on their fuel efficiency. (For a change, the idea met with a significant public backlash and died.) But one enviro law did expand local freedom a bit. City Council Member Richard Conlin last year proposed that the city license pygmy goats as pets, partly so that residents can process their yard waste in a more eco-friendly manner. The proposal became law by a unanimous vote.
—Philip Dawdy Seattle has always had an identity conflict. Gay bathhouses are allowed, street protests are legendary, and marijuana is, by voter ini... more -
Kiwanis - Legalize all drugs?
A retired police officer visited Bellevue and Omaha last week to speak about drugs to the Kiwanis clubs. But he wasn't talking about the evils of drugs or encouraging them to support the war on drugs.
In fact, he was speaking in favor of giving up the war altogether and legalizing all drugs.
Tony Ryan, who was a police officer in Denver for 36 years, came on behalf of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a nonprofit organization made up of retired officers, prosecutors and judges who travel the country and speak in favor of the legalization of drugs.
If you just left it at that - that LEAP seeks to legalize all drugs - they would have little support for their cause. But Ryan has some very convincing facts in his corner, and he's committed to his cause.
"I came to the conclusion about 10 years into my career that a lot of vice and narcotic work was basically futile because we could arrest a lot of people, we could grab a lot of drugs, but it was always there - it's still there," Ryan said.
Over the next 26 years of his time on the force, Ryan watched narcotics officers make arrests and celebrate the "big busts." But it never seemed to make any difference.
He mentioned Jack Cole, the executive director of LEAP, who was an undercover narcotics officer for 14 years, and the futility he felt with each new arrest.
"He came to the realization whenever he arrested a drug dealer - which is always a low level dealer, we never get to the big guys - he realized all he was doing was creating a job opportunity for the next guy in line because there was always someone there to step in, and it was a safe opportunity because they didn't have to go against the guy who was there. The cops did it for him," Ryan said.
By keeping drugs legal, he says, drug dealers are kept in business and people end up committing crimes to support their habit.
It was stories like this that Ryan presented to the Bellevue Kiwanis and the Bellevue-Offutt Kiwanis clubs last week. While not everyone was convinced, several were intrigued.
Walt Kujawa, a retired Air Force officer who has lived in Bellevue for roughly 40 years, said Ryan brought up ideas he had never considered and he backed them up well. He admitted that the legalization of drugs was a new idea to him, but he would now be open to that idea and much more aware of the war on drugs.
"His idea has some merit based upon the facts," Kujawa said of Ryan. "Whatever we're doing, it's not working, so it's time for some rethinking. I do think that [legalizing] marijuana is a place to start and maybe see how that works."
Ryan frequently refers to the alcohol prohibition of the early 20th century as a parallel for the current war on drugs, saying that after prohibition was repealed, violence in the country dropped and the gangsters producing liquor illegally lost a lot of business.
He says a similar effect could be expected if drugs were legalized. It would put drug cartels in other countries out of business, take drug dealers off the streets, cut down on overdoses by allowing government regulation of drug content and decrease gang violence.
Frank Kumor, who owns Erwin's Jewelers in Olde Towne, said that while he was impressed by Ryan's talk and information, it would take a lot more to convince him.
"I'm still part of the old school where I'm kind of used to the old ways," Kumor said. "It would take a while for me to accept drugs off of prohibition."
But, Kumor added, he would like to see if it would work. "A guy can give it a try." A retired police officer visited Bellevue and Omaha last week to speak about drugs to the Kiwanis clubs. But he wasn't talking about t... more -
Paralyzed man sues Chicago cops, says they hit him
CHICAGO --
A paralyzed man sued the City of Chicago and seven policemen Thursday, claiming they dragged him from a car and beat him unconscious when he was too slow to obey an order to get out.
Daniel Casares charged that the seven officers engaged in excessive use of force and battery. He asked for unspecified damages from the city.
The officers stopped a car in which Casares was riding on the city's southeast side Oct. 9, 2006, on the suspicion that the driver - Casares' brother - was using marijuana. They asked Daniel Casares to get out and when he didn't do so immediately they dragged him out, the lawsuit said.
Some or all of the officers allegedly continued to kick Casares while he was on the ground, according to the complaint.
Casares was convicted after a bench trial of battery and resisting arrest for charges that came from the stop. He received court supervision and is appealing his conviction.
A spokeswoman for the city law department, Jenny Hoyle, said she hadn't seen the complaint and therefore would not be able to comment.
"They are allegations and have to be proved in court," she said. "Once we get served with the complaint and review it we can respond."
Casares attorney Blake Horwitz said the officers approached the car with guns drawn and yelled at Casares, who was in the passenger seat, to get out. He said Casares had been a quadriplegic as a result of a car accident for four years before the incident.
The lawsuit was assigned to U.S. District Judge George Lindberg. CHICAGO -- ... more -
Super fine hemp to rival traditional wool
A Western Australian farmer hopes to export super-fine 'baby hemp' that he claims gives merino wool a run for its money.
Kim Hough is growing hemp at a time of the year when it grows quicker and has longer fibres than conventional hemp, making it ideal for the premium textile market.
He says the export market is keen.
"A lot of people get the wrong idea that hemp is coarse like your bags and things," he says.
"Now hemp has been refined to an extraordinary degree and now we're looking at super-fine fibres with the baby hemp.
"Japan is the place we're looking at at the moment but also China is looking at more high quality fibre." A Western Australian farmer hopes to export super-fine 'baby hemp' that he claims gives merino wool a run for its money. ... more -
Jorge Cervantes Interview - The Cannabis Guru
Jorge Cervantes, the World’s leading expert on Cannabis cultivation, has watched and influenced an entire sub culture that sprang from a relatively unexplored science.
In 1983 he authored the first complete book about indoor cultivation which revolutionised the way gardeners produced medical Marijuana, with new and affordable technology emerging it was now possible for medicinal growers to utilise the same techniques used by the professionals.
An activist for anti-prohibition, Jorge holds a vast amount of information about the medical benefits of Marijuana, in particular a form of Cannabis known as “Sensimilla”, which has remarkable benefits for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) suffers.
He states: “Ninety-seven percent of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients who have tried marijuana report great relief from the spasms and tremors associated with the disease. The second-leading cause of blindness in the USA is Glaucoma, and approximately ninety percent of the sufferers using marijuana as medicine report that while standard medicines do not help them, smoking cannabis quickly restores their vision.
“Many long-term glaucoma patients have successfully maintained their sight using cannabis for twenty or twenty-five years and have avoided the gradual, painful deterioration to blindness that is otherwise inevitable.”
This leads to a much needed hard look at the legal status of Marijuana in most countries.
RINF Alternative News will be speaking to Jorge and would like to invite readers to take part and make your voice heard on this serious issue, no matter where you stand on the debate. The interview will lean towards the medical benefits, the law and what you can do to help end prohibition.
As Jorge is the World’s foreknowledge on Marijuana horticulture, we are also inviting a small forum of Amsterdam medical growers to take part so they can benefit from Jorge’s 30+ years of experience by asking questions about their own garden.
Please post your questions for Jorge Cervantes on the RINF forums.
http://forums.rinf.com/showthread.php?t=1234 Jorge Cervantes, the World’s leading expert on Cannabis cultivation, has watched and influenced an entire sub culture that sprang from... more -
Kenya: Let 'Unteachable' Children Go Home And Grow Yams
A few years ago, we were all gathered in our parents' countryside home for the end of year holidays, and one day a heated argument broke out about the quality of education.
As a general agreement seemed to be emerging that education had gone to the dogs, our old woman, who had said nothing, got up, and as she walked to her kitchen, said: "You people are making too much of this education issue. Just let the children go and grow up in school."
I had never thought of school as a place which, if it didn't offer a meaningful education, was nevertheless a good one for rural children to go to and while away the time as they wait to become minor village officials, join the army, or become chicken thieves if all else failed.
In other words, the role of school had changed, and society needed to adjust its attitudes and expectations accordingly.
I was reminded of this question in the face of the recent spate of strikes in Kenya in which several schools have been torched, with a student being burnt to death in one.
The country is angry and shocked at the tools of sin - cocaine, bhang (Cannabis Hemp), alcohol, and "weapons" like petrol - that have been unearthed in searches at the troubled schools.
The Government has responded appropriately, banning mobile phones, TVs and DVDs from schools.
Yet one can't feel that we are all missing the big picture. It is criminal to burn property, and even more so, to kill someone with the fire. However, the schools' crisis and burning of buildings is not uniquely Kenyan.
In the last year or so, 25 schools have been burnt in Uganda. Dozens of students have died in the fires. A few of the schools were burnt by rogue students, but most by other miscreants.
The tragedy of the fires aside, you might say that the arsonists are devils carrying messages that are well worth listening to.
In Britain, though you don't have violent strikes and arson, the debate about education is even more furious.
Recently, Chris Parry, the controversial chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, an organisation that represents half of the 2,500 private schools in the UK, caused quite a storm when he told The Guardian that the reason state schools were in a crisis was because they were struggling with "unteachable" children, ignorant parents, staff who don't want to be there, and a shortage of leadership.
His remarks, though slated as "snobbish and ill-informed", deserve attention in East Africa. Parry said even private schools, which did better, needed to be more up-to-date and to face future challenges.
In this future, he said, computers will increasingly replace teachers. He predicted that grey dog-eared textbooks will soon be out, and pupils will learn via Wikipedia-type programmes in class.
The role of the teacher will be to help them apply the facts they build from the Internet.
Parry's most interesting idea is his most controversial; that some students are simply "unteachable". A few years ago, we were all gathered in our parents' countryside home for the end of year holidays, and one day a heated argument bro... more -
DA wants 3-pronged drug plan: South Africa
This country, she said, was one of the few in the world that produced dagga (Cannabis) for export; and we produced 28% of all of the dagga produced in Africa (2 500 megatons). This country, she said, was one of the few in the world that produced dagga (Cannabis) for export; and we produced 28% of all of the d... more
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Platinum Stars midfielder Daniel Tshabalala - Cannabis
Platinum Stars midfielder Daniel Tshabalala has been found guilty of using the banned substance, cannabis, by the South African Football Association's disciplinary committee.
Tshabalala tested positive for the drug, also known as dagga or marijuana, on April 13 with a concentration level higher that the Wada limit of 15ng/ml.
The player pleaded guilty to the charge of contravening SAFA's anti-doping regulations along with going directly against the South African Institute for Drug-Free Sports Act.
The committee banned Tshabalala from participating in professional soccer in South Africa and /or in any soccer game under the auspices of SAFA or the Premier Soccer League for two years with effect from June 1.
He was also ordered to pay the legal costs amounting to R2 000 within 20 days of Thursday's judgement .
Meanwhile, the Tycoons did not escape punishment and were ordered to pay half of Tshabalala's fine.
... more -
Canadian customs officer in drug ring bust
The RCMP said Thursday that it has broken up a cross-border drug ring and arrested a Canadian customs officer in connection to the case.
Seven others have also been charged.
The investigation began in 2007 based on information given to the RCMP by the U.S Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI.
The FBI had arrested a cannabis supplier in Florida and made links in its investigation to Quebec and New Brunswick.
Police say the drugs originated in Panama and Colombia.
The customs officer was arrested last during an undercover operation at the St-Bernard-de-Lacolle border crossing between Quebec and the U.S.
The RCMP has arrested another four people in Quebec and Edmunston, N.B., in connection to their investigation, while three others are still being sought in the investigation.
The border guard was charged with corruption.
With files from The Canadian Press The RCMP said Thursday that it has broken up a cross-border drug ring and arrested a Canadian customs officer in connection to the cas... more -
Public hearing planned on medical marijuana
New Mexicans will be able to have their say on proposed rules for the state's medical marijuana program.
The state Department of Health announced Thursday that it will hold a public hearing Sept. 8 in Santa Fe to take comments on regulations that would set up rules for patient identification cards and a regulated system for licensing, distributing and manufacturing medical marijuana.
The state law that took effect in July 2007 allows marijuana for pain or other symptoms of specified debilitating illnesses. The department has approved 169 people for medical marijuana, including 40 with spinal cord damage, 39 with HIV-AIDS, 36 with cancer, 28 with multiple sclerosis, 14 with epilepsy and 12 with glaucoma.
New Mexico has been careful in drafting its regulations because no other state has developed rules for a distribution and production system, Health Secretary Dr. Alfredo Vigil said.
The state proposes two types of licensed producers: a qualified patient who can produce a defined supply for personal use only and a nonprofit private entity operating a facility limited to 95 mature plants and seedlings at any time.
The health secretary will consider the needs of qualified patients and public safety in determining the number and location of licenses.
The regulations include measures to prevent unauthorized marijuana use by requiring criminal background checks for applicants, security measures for facilities and a warning that unauthorized use will be referred to state law enforcement.
The hearing also will take public comments on the proposed rules for the identification card program, the third hearing on that part of the program.
That plan would let patients possess six ounces of medical marijuana as a supply for three months. Patients with a license to produce could have four mature plants and 12 seedlings.
The department has made several changes in the draft proposal based on previous comments, including adding definitions for usable marijuana, adding an appeal and revising a monitoring system to be more respectful to patients. New Mexicans will be able to have their say on proposed rules for the state's medical marijuana program. ... more -
Drug legalization debate, 6/26/08, aired across Europe and the Middle East
Click here to view the full one-hour program on presstv.com. David Borden did not appear in the first half due to technical problems. PressTV is an English-language network based in Teheran, which airs across Europe and the Middle East.
References for statements made by David Borden:
* Past-year prevalence of marijuana use among young people in the tolerant Netherlands about half as in nearby France:
The State of the Drugs Problem in Europe, 2007 report EMCDDA (page 41)
* States with marijuana decriminalization have not seen resulting rises in use:
various studies including Institute of Medicine, Monitoring the Future, Connecticut Law Review Commission, others
* Teen marijuana use declines in states with medical marijuana laws:
Marijuana Use by Young People: The Impact of State Medical Marijuana Laws
* Substitution effect between marijuana use and alcohol use:
Substitution of Marijuana for Alcohol: The Role of Perceived Access and Harm, Journal of Drug Education, 2006
* Average Age of Netherlands heroin addicts has been increasing (e.g. few young heroin addicts):
Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction
* Opiates and cocaine were banned almost a century ago (1914) by the Harrison Narcotics Act:
Consumers Union Report on Licit and Illicit Drugs
* Taliban earns $100 million in opium profits in 2007:
Drug War Chronicle citing UN Office on Drugs and Crime Chief Antonio Costa on BBC
* Drug prohibition sends hundreds of billions of dollars per year in illicit revenues to the global underground:
UN World Drug Report, via Drug War Chronicle
* The US homicide rate increased under alcohol prohibition and decreased following it's repeal:
Schaffer Library alcohol prohibition section
* Street price of cocaine (adjusted for purity and inflation) drops by 80% since 1980:
Rand Corporation, via Joint Economic Committee, US Senate Click here to view the full one-hour program on presstv.com. David Borden did not appear in the first half due to technical problems. ... more -
In New Orleans, you can get 5 years in prison for a joint of marijuana
Drug war defenders are indeed fond of pointing out how hard it is to actually get jail time for using drugs. So they should probably stop New Orleans District Attorney Keva Landrum-Johnson before she finishes filling Louisiana's prisons with the pettiest marijuana users she can find:
The flood of new felony charges didn’t target murderers, rapists or armed robbers — they targeted small-time marijuana users, sometimes caught with less than a gram of pot, and threatened them with lengthy prison sentences.
The resulting impact has clogged the courts with non-violent, petty offenses, drained the resources of the criminal justice system and damaged low-income African-American communities, [Orleans Public Defenders Office Chief of Trials Steve] Singer said.
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A first-time marijuana possession charge in Louisiana is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison but typically results in a small fine. A second offense is a felony that can carry up to five years in jail and a third offense up to 20 years.
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Some say Landrum-Johnson’s decision to buck history and charge marijuana users with felonies is a political decision meant to assist in her run for Orleans Criminal District Court Section E judgeship. By prosecuting thousands of marijuana possession cases as felonies, Landrum-Johnson can then go to the voters of New Orleans and claim she is “tough on crime,” [Tulane University criminologist Peter] Scharf said. She can point to the massive increase in felony prosecutions under her tenure without explaining that those prosecutions were for people holding joints and not guns, he said. [New Orleans CityBusiness]
Only Landrum-Johnson knows what her motivations are, so I won't belabor that point. She is presiding over a deliberate effort to place large numbers of small-time marijuana users in prison for 5-20 years and there exists no noble motive for doing that. Whether she believes this can help her become a judge, or she possesses a virulent and vindictive animosity towards people who smoke marijuana, or she is merely detached utterly from the consequences of the authority she wields, the result is disastrous and the justification is a fraud.
This, I'm afraid to say, is the reality of America's war on drugs. Everyday our drug policies produce outcomes none of us intended and almost none of us support. The idea of imprisoning nonviolent drug users is so obviously unpopular that the DEA has a whole page arguing that it almost never happens. But will anyone in Washington, D.C. approach the New Orleans DA's office and tell them to stop? Of course not. The very people who so vigorously argue the scarcity of such injustices are the same ones who work tirelessly to conceal them and enable their continuation. Drug war defenders are indeed fond of pointing out how hard it is to actually get jail time for using drugs. So they should probably s... more -
"Dying to Get High: Marijuana as Medicine" - Book Review
In "Dying to Get High," sociologists Wendy Chapkis and Richard Webb have written a sympathetic yet academically rigorous account of the contemporary controversies surrounding medical marijuana. They trace the use of marijuana as medicine in the US, its decline as a medicine in the early 20th Century, its removal from the pharmacopeia in 1941 (just four years after it was banned by federal law), the continuing blockage of research into its medical benefits by ideologically-driven federal authorities, and the renaissance of medical marijuana knowledge today, much of it derived from -- gasp! -- patients, not doctors or researchers.
As sociologists, Chapkis and Webb have a keen eye for the broader social, cultural, and political forces surrounding the issue of medical marijuana, from the rise of the pharmaceutical and medical establishments to the "culture war" contempt for marijuana and users among many Americans. But as much as middle America may disdain pot-smoking hippies, it seems that it is marijuana's location on the wrong side of the modern scientific and pharmaceutical discourse that most hinders its acceptance as a medicine.
Pot is a plant, not a pill. It is an herbal medication, not a chemical compound. It is a "crude plant material," not a "pure drug." All of this, Chapkis and Webb suggest, make it difficult indeed for the medical and scientific establishment to wrap its head around medical marijuana. And when scientific bias is coupled with cultural disdain and fear of widespread "abuse," that the federal government remains resistant to medical marijuana is hardly a surprise.
Chapkis and Webb deliver a resounding, well-reasoned indictment of the political and (pseudo) scientific opposition to medical marijuana, and their succinct discussion of the issues surrounding the controversy is worth the price of admission.
But "Dying to Get High" is also an in-depth portrait of one of the country's most well-known medical marijuana collectives, the Wo/Men's Access to Medical Marijuana (WAMM) collective in Santa Cruz, California, and it is here that the authors are really breaking new ground. They go from the big-picture sociology of medical marijuana in the past century to narrowly focus on ethnography of a patient collective, describing in loving detail the inner workings, dynamics, and tensions of a group with charismatic leadership -- Mike and Valerie Corral -- more than 200 seriously ill patients, and the specter of the DEA always looming.
Their account of the emergence and permanence of WAMM is both moving and enlightening. Rooted in the fertile soil of Santa Cruz, already well-tilled by previous social movements such as feminism, gay rights, and AIDS activism, WAMM may only have been possible in a place that friendly to radical movements and that familiar with activism around issues of medical care and social justice. Chapkis and Webb chart its formation, its growth, its conflicts and problems, and the humanity of its suffering members.
They also tell the story of the 2002 DEA raid on the WAMM garden and its devastating impact on members. But that raid and its aftermath were not just a blow to the sick and dying, they were a call to arms, impelling WAMM into ever more overtly political action to protect itself and the broader movement.
More broadly, Chapkis and Webb do a great service by dissecting WAMM, looking at how it works, how it handles dysfunction, and how it provides a service far beyond mere medical marijuana to its members. WAMM is perhaps the model medical marijuana collective, and it has many lessons to offer the interested reader. In "Dying to Get High," sociologists Wendy Chapkis and Richard Webb have written a sympathetic yet academically rigorous account of th... more -
Why worry?
Sheriff Hedges obtained the confidential records of medical marijuana users. Could that be a problem?
*****
Elaine McKellian vomits three to four times every day. When she sits, her legs knock together uncontrollably at the knees, a condition she apologizes for offhandedly. McKellian suffers from several chronic, debilitating maladies ranging from gastroparesis, which severely impedes digestion of even the most benign liquids, to restless leg syndrome. Nausea keeps her at home most of the time and when she does move it’s in labored, deliberate steps with the aid of a cane. She employs a caretaker. Despite it all, she said life is better than before she started smoking prescription marijuana.
BUSTED
Sheriff’s deputies and federal agents carried out evidence from Compassionate Caregivers in Morro Bay during the March 29 raid, last year. That evidence is being used in Charles Lynch’s federal trial, which began July 22.
“I was throwing up between 12 and 15 times a day,” McKellian said. “I could wake up from a nap and it would just hit me, throwing up bile. Nothing has to be in my stomach. And so I was confined to my bed, and I had a bucket near my bed, and what kind of a life is that? So my caregiver read in the paper about the dispensary opening, and about medical marijuana, and said maybe I should try it. It worked immediately.”
Her frame may be petite and frail but McKellian is capable, and matter-of-fact about her circumstances. She is sick and, in accordance with California law, wants her medicine. She also wants her medical records returned with an apology from Sheriff Patrick Hedges, who solicited federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents to raid the home of Charles Lynch and his Morro Bay business Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers, in March last year.
To lawmakers who backed Proposition 215, and Assembly Bill 420—the so-called medical marijuana laws—McKellian is a model candidate for “alternative” pain relief; she can’t digest the pill Marinol, a synthesized version of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active compound in marijuana.
To federal prosecutors trying to convict Charles Lynch on five charges of distributing, cultivating, and trafficking in marijuana from the Morro Bay dispensary, McKellian is a liability.
Prosecutors actually made a formal motion to keep “sick looking” people off the stand. It didn’t work. McKellian will likely testify in Lynch’s defense, but she has her own legal battle to wage. On June 20, she filed a lawsuit against the County of San Luis Obispo, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department, and Sheriff Hedges himself, seeking unlimited damages for his role in busting the dispensary. Sheriff Hedges obtained the confidential records of medical marijuana users. Could that be a problem? ***** ... more -
Abuse of prescription drugs a concern
BENNINGTON — The problem of prescription drug abuse has been on the increase throughout the country, causing law enforcement officials and doctors to re-examine the tactics used to combat it.
Issue is broad
Bennington Police Detective Peter Urbanowicz, who handles drug cases with the department, said the scope of the issue is broad. "The prescription drug problem is a nationwide one," Urbanowicz said. "The Pacific Northwest is seeing an increase in pharmacy robberies, where drugs are taken instead of money. New Hampshire has had a problem with Methadone overdoses."
"It's getting a lot more attention recently," Urbanowicz said. "People are realizing it's a big problem."
Urbanowicz said the prescription drugs typically abused include methadone, hydrocodone, oxycodone, Percocet and Vicodin.
Bennington County State's Attorney Erica Marthage said she had seen a jump in the number of abuse cases she'd seen locally. "It's definitely on the increase. I don't think there's any question about that," Marthage said. "When I started working here in 2000, I didn't see nearly as much prescription drug cases as I do now."
"It's not any one particular group of people behind it — I can't say that it's generally younger or older people," Marthage said.
Marthage did say some of the supply of the drugs come from older people. "Some of the older folks have a lot of prescriptions, and they may engage in behavior they otherwise wouldn't," Marthage said. "If they sell these drugs, it provides income for them."
According to Marthage, one of the major problems in fighting prescription drug abuse is low awareness of the problem. "It's not something that most parents think about," Marthage said. "Usually, they're concerned about illicit drugs and underage drinking."
That problem is made worse, Marthage said, by the relative invisibility of the drugs themselves. "It's not like marijuana, where you have to smoke it somewhere," Marthage said. "Kids could go to school with these pills on their person, and no one would know."
According to Marthage, the government's attention to the problem has been lacking as well. "I think the mistake being made is that people are treating it like marijuana or underage drinking," Marthage said. "It's very different, both in terms of the effects on one's body and how addictive they are."
However, efforts are being made to combat the problem. Marthage said the recent problems had led to better coordination between members of the medical, pharmaceutical and law enforcement communities.
"As far as tracking, I think pharmacies and doctors' offices are much more aware of inconsistencies in prescriptions," Marthage said. "There's more of an open line of communication between doctors and pharmacies."
"I've received a number of cases where pharmacies have filled a prescription that they think is odd," Marthage said. BENNINGTON — The problem of prescription drug abuse has been on the increase throughout the country, causing law enforcement officials... more -
Drug testing may have unintended effects - Opinion and Column
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Jackson School Board needs to educate itself on the downside of student drug testing. Student involvement in afterschool activities like sports has been shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they are most likely to get into trouble. Forcing students to undergo degrading urine tests will only discourage participation in extracurricular programs.
Drug testing also may compel marijuana users to switch to harder drugs to avoid testing positive. This is one of the reasons the American Academy of Pediatrics opposes student drug testing. Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only illegal drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent.
Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for days. More dangerous synthetic drugs like methamphetamine and prescription narcotics are water-soluble and exit the body quickly. If you think students don't know this, think again.
Anyone capable of running an Internet search can find out how to thwart a drug test.
The most commonly abused drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is almost impossible to detect with urinalysis. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more student lives each year than all illegal drugs combined. Instead of wasting money on counterproductive drug tests, schools should invest in reality-based drug education.
— Robert Sharpe, policy analyst
Common Sense for Drug Policy
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Gov. asked to find new way to fund farmers here
Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said last week on a visit to St. Mary’s that a farmer told him, ‘‘The only thing more profitable than tobacco is marijuana and you won’t let us grow it.” He added, ‘‘You’re darn right I won’t.” Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) said last week on a visit to St. Mary’s that a farmer told him, ‘‘The only thing more profitable than tobacco... more
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Make your home healthier in five easy steps - HEMP
When it comes time to buy new furniture, many experts feel it's worth a little extra effort to find PBDE-free options. Most products aren't labeled as such, so you'll have to ask questions at the store (or even call the manufacturer) to find out whether or not an item contains PBDEs. As a general rule, pieces made of natural fibers such as cotton, wool, and hemp don't catch fire easily or burn quickly, and so are less likely to be treated. When it comes time to buy new furniture, many experts feel it's worth a little extra effort to find PBDE-free options. Most products a... more
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CA Compassionate Use Act Loses to Feds. Again.
Sacramento: 54 year-old Richard James Marino of Roseville received 4 years and 3 months in prison and was fined $2,500 on Tuesday for violating the federal Controlled Substances Act.
Marino ran an Old Roseville cannabis dispensary under the California Compassionate Use Act. Marino told U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton "I'm a victim of a law that is backward and unfair."
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Wong said that the federal government had a zero tolerance policy and that Marino's dispensary was running a profit in violation of the California law.
Sacramento: 54 year-old Richard James Marino of Roseville received 4 years and 3 months in prison and was fined $2,500 on Tuesday for ... more -
Religious marijuana case to be appealed
Robert George Henry is free on bail for now, but the conditions might be a little hard for him to live with.
Henry, 48, of Fannettburg, Franklin County, was arrested in October 2007 on charges of unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, and driving under the influence of a controlled substance.
He argued that marijuana use is part of his religion and therefore ought to be protected, but Cumberland County President Judge Edgar Bayley rejected that approach. Bayley found him guilty during a non-jury trial in May and sentenced him Tuesday to serve up to 23 months in Cumberland County Prison.
However, when informed by Henry’s attorney, George N. Marros, that he planned an immediate direct appeal, Bayley agreed to let Henry out on $100,000 bail, already posted, pending the appeal.
But Bayley had barely issued the order when prosecutor Derek Clepper, Cumberland County senior assistant district attorney, asked if he could make one condition — that Henry not be allowed to use marijuana while on bail.
“That, my friend, is unnecessary, as it is against the law,” Bayley replied. “As he well knows, despite his protests.”
Religious practice
Henry testified previously that he has been using marijuana since he was 13 and that he has long grown his own marijuana organically, starting every day with pot and prayer. In January, he joined The Hawaii Cannabis (THC) Ministry, which claims the use of cannabis as a cornerstone of its religion, he said.
Clepper has pointed out that Henry became a member of the church only after his arrest, but Marros has said he expects the issue on appeal to hinge more on the fact that Henry has been “practicing his marijuana use since the mid ’80s.”
Marros expected the finding from Bayley and has said he did not think a Common Pleas Court judge “would rule on such a serious issue as this.” That is what the Superior Court is there for, he said. Robert George Henry is free on bail for now, but the conditions might be a little hard for him to live with. ... more
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