Re "Student rights lost in the balance" (Editorial,Feb. 27) - I deplore the use of illegal drugs by anyone, young or old. I support all reasonable measures intended to address the problem. That support does not include adopting what would appear to be the misguided understanding by principal Dinise Severin and school board superintendent Rusty Hick of the place of the provincial Education Act and the Safe Schools Act. Provincial legislation always remains subordinate to the Charter unless the Charter's notwithstanding clause was invoked in its creation. That is not the case here. [continues 234 words]
I take issue with retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent Gary Fouse's characterization of the Tenth Amendment. He paraphrases it as "any laws not covered by federal law are left to the states" ["Drug laws," Reader rebuttals, March 4]. This is false. The Tenth Amendment reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people." Thus the Constitution provides that the states retain power not specifically given to the federal government by the Constitution, not by federal law, as this ex-DEA agent falsely alleges. If it were as Fouse claims, then as long as the feds pass a law in any area, there is no area in which the states could legislate. [continues 98 words]
Re "FBI joins L.A. policing effort in war on street gang crime," Jan. 19 I see there was a good start to the joint efforts of local law enforcement and federal resources to combat growing gang crime in Los Angeles. The images of flak-jacketed federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents last week shutting down sources of medical marijuana for those with prescriptions in West Hollywood are sure to help the residents in the Harbor Gateway area sleep better at night. R.L. Root Westminster [end]
Students Who Drive, Play Sports Or Are In Activities Can Be Tested EAST GERMANTOWN, Ind. - Of the 88 random drug tests conducted at Lincoln High School throughout the past school year, three came back positive for drugs. In his report to the Western Wayne school board Monday, Chris Franz of Sport Safe Testing Services, Inc. of Powell, Ohio, said 308 students were in the pool of students that could be randomly selected by the testing lab. Because the students are selected randomly for the urine tests, some students were tested more than once and only 74 different students were tested. [continues 102 words]
Students Who Drive, Join Extracurricular Activity Could Be Picked HAGERSTOWN, Ind. -- Hagerstown Junior-Senior High School next year will begin randomly drug testing student drivers and students involved in extracurricular activities. Nettle Creek school board members approved a random drug screening policy at their regular meeting Wednesday. A committee of staff, parents and other community members began working on the policy in 2004. According to the policy, the purpose of the program is "to educate, assist and direct students away from drug and alcohol use and toward healthy and drug-free school participation." [continues 431 words]
If Approved, Proposal Would Take Effect In 2005-06 School Year HAGERSTOWN, Ind. -- Random drug testing could begin at Hagerstown Junior-Senior High School in the 2005-2006 school year. According to a timeline approved by the Nettle Creek School Board on Wednesday, the board will study the policy until a final vote in March 2005. The board action followed a recommendation by junior-senior high school administrators and the student relations specialist and a community meeting about the matter. According to the timeline, oral testing kits will be purchased with a 2003-04 Safe and Drug-Free Schools Grant. Student relations specialist Kristina Dale said an eight-to- 10-member committee will be established to develop the policy and procedures. [continues 284 words]
Finally, Bob Dornan has made himself useful. In making medical marijuana the focus in his attempt to take Dana Rohrabacher's seat in Congress, Dornan has opened up a debate that's long overdue. The issue is normally considered a political third rail and is purposely avoided in elections, so the electorate is denied the opportunity to hear any meaningful debate. Hopefully over the next few months, this debate will educate voters on the science and truths concerning marijuana and expose the myths and spins that prevent a rational national policy toward marijuana as medicine. [continues 620 words]
I have to agree with Mark Dornan that there are indeed significant differences between his father, Bob Dornan, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher ["Dornan, Rohrabacher aren't cut from the same cloth," Commentary, Dec 14]. But in pointing out those differences, Dornan the younger spins the facts. Dornan charges that HR 2233, a bill Rohrabacher co-sponsored, would "legalize marijuana." The truth is that HR 2233 would prevent Drug Enforcement Administration resources from being wasted on targeting legitimate medical marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana has legal status. I'm thankful that Rohrabacher has the courage to protect individual liberty and states' rights and to see that our precious federal resources are sensibly directed. I'm concerned that our federal representatives treat all citizens with equal respect and protection per the spirit and letter of our Constitution. Rick L. Root Westminster [end]
The federal prosecution and incarceration of Michael Teague for using medical marijuana is antithetical to the principles of liberty and justice ["Man gets 18 months in marijuana case," Local, Aug. 19]. Following our state law, Teague had a doctor's recommendation to use marijuana in place of the toxic prescription medicines to which he was allergic. Yet our court rules that justice is served by incarceration. Teague sought to better his quality of life while harming no one - the essence of liberty. [continues 162 words]
"Clear the Fumes at the DEA" (editorial, Aug. 5) was right on the mark. I am simply appalled at how our federal government continues its war on medical marijuana with such a superficial attitude. But how could the Senate confirm Karen Tandy as head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, a person who, when asked about the 1999 federal Institute of Medicine report that recognized medicinal value in marijuana, answered that she was "not personally familiar" with the report? Shouldn't it be required reading in the mind of any clear-thinking, justice-and-liberty-supporting official? [continues 108 words]
Re "Marijuana Found in Home; Two Arrested," Jan. 12: As I read the story of the two fellows in Tustin busted for growing 149 marijuana plants in an apartment, I realized the TV commercial playing in the background was a government message telling of how the black market for drugs supports a line of distribution that has terrorists and such at the upper tiers. We do realize, don't we, that the quantity represents no more than a mom-and-pop operation in terms of distribution capability? Potential customers of the two Tustin fellows -- whose money would have been returned to our own local economy -- are now more likely to buy marijuana with a significant portion of that money leaving our community. [continues 116 words]
In reference to the congressional call for an inquiry into what U.S. officials knew about al-Qaida threats before the Sept. 11 attacks, Audrey Wicks rhetorically asks, "What American in his right mind could have had such information and not put out an alarm?" [Letters, Oct. 16] - as if it were a given that our leaders are incapable of considering average citizens to be expendable. The question deserves much more than cursory agreement to its implied rhetorical answer - not as an indictment of government involvement but as a means to show that government is capable of such callousness. [continues 562 words]
The type of "void" Rep. Bob Barr's defeat will leave in the Republican Party will be welcome, from my libertarian viewpoint ("Barr's defeat said to leave void in GOP," Nation, Thursday). Those who refer to him as a "civil libertarian" (as quoted in the article) could by the same reasoning refer to Adolf Hitler as a humanitarian. Mr. Barr single-handedly voided the votes of D.C. residents who overwhelmingly passed a medical marijuana initiative. Mr. Barr has been a tyrant's tyrant toward reefer reason, choosing to embrace blindly the worn-out reefer-madness propaganda of a bygone era. Now that he has been given the boot by his constituents, it's likely he'll get an appointment from his fellow "civil libertarian" Attorney General John Ashcroft, who also was booted from office by his constituents. [continues 78 words]
Examples of hypocrisy from politicians are hardly rare, but the example is clear in [Sen. Orrin] Hatch's unbending support for the dietary supplement industry ["A Dose of Herbal Reform," editorial, April 10] . Even though death and serious health problems are documented from the use of certain dietary supplements, his insistence is that the industry--which is mainly based in his own state--remain free of any regulation and its products be treated as food products. Yet Hatch is a staunch supporter of the federal war on marijuana, a war where even a hint of suggesting regulation is ridiculed as being preposterous. Any discussion on the subject of a state's right to regulate the medical use of marijuana is summarily dismissed, even though marijuana has never caused a single death; quite to the contrary, it is a healing herb. [continues 253 words]
Well, someone has to speak up and point out the obvious when the king has no clothes. Bill Hamburg sees a three-piece suit where the nakedness of the war on noncorporate drugs is clear ("Terrorists and drugs," Public Forum, March 3). While he may agree with the drug war-speak that claims smoking a joint is the moral equivalent of flying a jetliner into a skyscraper, I doubt he's considered that the drug war acts as a protection racket for the grossly inflated profits made off simple garden products. [continues 62 words]
In tying drug-trade profits to terrorism this government agency clearly shows us why the drug war and prohibitions should end. Clearly, the more successful the efforts are in interrupting drug flow, the higher the profits become for those involved. The drug war thusly serves as a protection racket for those high profits. It's the ONDCP, our national drug policy and drug prohibition that have made simple garden products more valuable than gold and handed terrorists a means to support their activities on a silver platter. [continues 242 words]
The Office of National Drug Control Policy, through its ads televised during the Super Bowl [and in The Times, Page A15, Feb. 4], would have us believe that those who consume prohibited drugs are in effect supporting terrorists. This is simply typical drug-war-speak, rhetoric designed to emotionally rally support for escalation of the unwinnable war on noncorporate drugs. In tying drug-trade profits to terrorism this government agency clearly shows us why the drug war and prohibitions should end. Clearly, the more successful the efforts are in interrupting drug flow, the higher the profits become for those involved. The drug war thusly serves as a protection racket for those high profits. It's the ONDCP, our national drug policy and drug prohibition that have made simple garden products more valuable than gold and handed terrorists a means to support their activities on a silver platter. [continues 242 words]
Re: Lawmakers Renew Bid for Medical Marijuana, January 31, 2001 So what's the deal? Can't the corporate-drug lobby find Vermont or do you actually have legislators who live by your wonderful state motto? RICK ROOT Westminster, Calif. [end]
In regard to John Goldie's comments (In Your View, Dec. 18) suggesting we Californians who oppose the drug war ought to legalize drugs in our state so that drug users in your state might move out here, he really ought to consider that the most likely residents to make such a move are those who otherwise are quite law abiding and who live their lives peacefully, productively and as they choose. People who can see past all the "reefer madness" propaganda know that throughout the United States we don't have a drug problem so much as we have a drug prohibition problem. Further scrutiny of failed drug policy will show that prohibition isn't about public safety, it's about public safety budgets. Addiction isn't limited to ingestable substances. Rick Root, Westminster, Calif. [end]
U.S. Cracks Down On Medical Marijuana In California To the Editor: In an Oct. 31 news article about the Justice Department's escalating war on medical marijuana in California, a department spokeswoman is quoted as saying, "The recent enforcement is indicative that we have not lost our priorities in other areas since Sept. 11." I find it rather disturbing that in the face of terrorist attacks and threats to the general population, the Justice Department has any priority toward denying the sick and dying access to a nontoxic medicine that greatly improves their quality of life. Even without the outside aggression being directed toward our country, the policy of denying beneficial medicine to those who need it is unfathomable. Richard L. Root, Communications Director American Medical Marijuana Assn. Westminster, Calif., Oct. 31, 2001 [end]
Re "Baffling Drug Czar Choice," May 15: President Bush, in nominating hard-line conservative John P. Walters to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy, tells how he will redirect drug war policy with emphasis toward curbing demand. He mentions increases in treatment, which would certainly seem to be a step toward curbing demand. But let's not neglect reality. The addict takes up a small percentage of the prohibited drugs consumed in this nation. Most prohibited drug use is recreational, without discernible effect on society, certainly significantly less than the legal counterpart, alcohol. What does treatment do for a recreational user, that is, a non-abuser. [continues 357 words]
* Re "Medical Marijuana Backers Target D.A.s With Recalls," Feb. 12: When questioning the source of the recall funding, Marin County D.A. Paula Kamena asked, "Are these the people who sell drugs to our kids." A little common sense might show that the drug dealers Kamena speaks of would more likely support the disregard being shown for Proposition 215 by so many county D.A.s. It's this disregard that drives legitimate patients out of medical marijuana buyers' clubs and co-ops and into supporting black-market drug dealers. [continues 72 words]
I must applaud the commentary of Deborah J. Good in addressing the failure and negative ramifications of the war on drugs (Nov. 2). Contrary to what its supporters would have us believe, our children have a much higher chance of slipping into a life controlled by illicit drugs because of prohibition than if drugs were decriminalized and regulated as are alcohol and prescription drugs. There aren't people down at the schoolyards trying to push these legal substances off on our children. [continues 130 words]
I was very pleased to read the coverage you gave the case of medical marijuana patient David Zink ("Activist fighting felony drug charges," Aug. 28). I do, however, think a more accurate portrayal of Mr. Zink would be that of patient rather than as activist. Mr. Zink was simply engaged in lawful activity that helped to improve his and his fellow patient's quality of life. He is a patient who has been forced into becoming an activist. Most disturbing, and most telling, though, is the quote from Long Beach City Prosecutor Thomas Reeves, who said, "We all rely on federal grants. Nobody wants to put that at risk." Therein lies the ugly truth as to why The Compassionate Use Act is ignored throughout so much of the state. R.L. (Rick) Root Communications Director American Medical Marijuana Association Westminster [end]
I do, however, think a more accurate portrayal of Mr. Zink would be that of patient rather than as activist. Mr. Zink was simply engaged in lawful activity that helped to improve his and his fellow patient's quality of life. He is a patient who has been forced into becoming an activist. Most disturbing, and most telling, though, is the quote from Long Beach City Prosecutor Thomas Reeves, who said, "We all rely on federal grants. Nobody wants to put that at risk." Therein lies the ugly truth as to why The Compassionate Use Act is ignored throughout so much of the state. R.L. (Rick) Root, Communications Director, American Medical Marijuana Association, Westminster Cited: American Medical Marijuana Association: http://www.drugsense.org/amma/ [end]
Letter writer W. D. Allen Sr. should seek out more information before commenting on a subject he obviously is terribly misinformed about (McWilliams had option for alternative medicine, Letters, June 30). Peter McWilliams' use of marijuana was not for the "ethical relief of pain." McWilliams used marijuana to suppress nausea brought about by taking the "cocktail" of prescription drugs necessary to sustain his life while suffering from AIDS and cancer. Without marijuana he would vomit up his prescriptions within a short period of time after taking them, rendering them virtually ineffective. The use of Marinol is effective about a third of the time, at best, but still would not help much in allowing his life-saving drugs to help keep down his "viral load". [continues 60 words]
Peter McWilliams' use of marijuana was not for the "ethical relief of pain." McWilliams used marijuana to suppress nausea brought about by taking the "cocktail" of prescription drugs necessary to sustain his life while suffering from AIDS and cancer. Without marijuana he would vomit up his prescriptions within a short period of time after taking them, rendering them virtually ineffective. The use of Marinol is effective about a third of the time, at best, but still would not help much in allowing his life-saving drugs to help keep down his "viral load". [continues 58 words]
Letter writer Ray Haskell ("Legalizing pot cuts jail time," March 14) argues that the problem of overcrowded jails causing the premature release of violent convicts could be eliminated through the decriminalization of marijuana. While I agree that marijuana should be legal -- marijuana prohibition causes much greater harm to society than marijuana -- he's looking at a problem that's not a problem in the eyes of those who decide. First, check the amount of money the prison guards unions spend annually on lobbying efforts. Then consider that what they lobby for is more laws that throw more people in prison and for longer sentences. Bulging prisons are bulging budgets. And marijuana smokers certainly are easier to baby-sit than rapists and robbers. [continues 52 words]
Hysteria is the fuel that keeps it going and silence is its oxygen. Even our prohibition against alcohol pales in comparison to the harm brought upon the innocent by this war on drugs. R.L. Root, Westminster [end]
While a vast number of people are beginning to grasp the harm caused on society by the failed Drug War, a recent letter writer (Letters, Dec. 22, 1999) wished to expand the war to go after producers of tobacco. I wonder if he just doesn't accept that Liberty is an inalienable right of the individual, or that his idea of Liberty is the cause and effect of a public-school education or other form of federal propaganda program. Granted, some lives are cut short or disrupted from the use of tobacco. Alcohol has an even greater impact on those types of events. The same is true in regards to the use of illegal drugs. Similar results, and in many cases with higher percentages of death and destruction, are experienced from the use of fire, automobiles, electricity, aggression, prescription drugs and on and on. [continues 305 words]
Dear Editor, I am not at all ashamed to say that I cried upon reading the story of Rusty Windle ["Drug Warriors," Nov. 5], who was shot and killed in a drug warrior task force raid of his home. I cried not just for Rusty, but also for those who have already died and are yet to die in the same fashion. The foot soldier who shot Rusty was not only cleared of wrongdoing, he was praised by his superiors. His superiors are the ones who should face charges, for they have allowed, as have so many local jurisdictions across America, to be co-opted by federal agencies and mandated into implementing tactics used within regimes where the only Bill of Rights lists the rights of government. The War on Drugs breeds contempt within law enforcement for citizens' civil rights with disregard for individual privacy, right to property, right to self-defense, and many other rights defined and declared as inalienable by our Bill of Rights. Even the most basic right, the right to life, has been deemed to be forfeitable by the anti-drug lords that wage this war. The war on drugs is a war on people. It has as much to do with drugs as the Boston Tea Party had to do with tea. And just as King George's oppression of the colonists was basically economic, the war on drugs continues and grows because it is a multibillion dollar industry. The drug warriors in Washington have no plans on ever ending their cash-cow drug war. They are addicted to the power and the money. They become the pushers, addicting local police forces no differently than drug lords wish to addict those weak enough to sample their wares. The drug lords fear decriminalization and regulation as much as the drug warriors, as that would put both sides out of business. Take a long hard look, America. It's the drug warriors who are addicted. It time for you to stand and JUST SAY NO! to this draconian policy. In the cause of liberty and justice for all, I am, Very sincerely yours, R.L. Root [end]
I am not at all ashamed to say that I cried upon reading the story of Rusty Windle ["Drug Warriors," Nov. 5], who was shot and killed in a drug warrior task force raid of his home. I cried not just for Rusty, but also for those who have already died and are yet to die in the same fashion. The foot soldier who shot Rusty was not only cleared of wrongdoing, he was praised by his superiors. His superiors are the ones who should face charges, for they have allowed, as have so many local jurisdictions across America, to be co-opted by federal agencies and mandated into implementing tactics used within regimes where the only Bill of Rights lists the rights of government. The War on Drugs breeds contempt within law enforcement for citizens' civil rights with disregard for individual privacy, right to property, right to self-defense, and many other rights defined and declared as inalienable by our Bill of Rights. Even the most basic right, the right to life, has been deemed to be forfeitable by the anti-drug lords that wage this war. The war on drugs is a war on people. [continues 160 words]
I read with interest the story of Burnaby residents coming together out of concern over the growing problem of drug pushers in their neighbourhoods. May I offer a suggestion as to an easy way to rid yourselves of the pusher problem? Decriminalize and regulate drugs. The pushers will be out of business overnight. It's really so simple, yet so very impossible. Here in the U.S. the only thing that would keep it from happening is that it would also end the multi-billion-dollar war on drugs - that favorite cash-cow of nearly every government agency. R.L. Root, Westminster, Calif. [continues 5 words]
May I offer a suggestion as to an easy way to rid yourselves of the pusher problem? Decriminalize and regulate drugs. The pushers will be out of business overnight. It's really so simple, yet so very impossible. Here in the U.S. the only thing that would keep it from happening is that it would also end the multi-billion-dollar war on drugs - that favorite cash-cow of nearly every government agency. R.L. Root, Westminster, Calif. [end]
Throughout our state, oppressors persecute sick and dying people for using a medicine that works. Medical marijuana is the front line in the war on drugs. Other battlegrounds include privacy rights, property rights, freedom of association and right to due process. The war on drugs is a war on people. It has as much to do with drugs as the Boston Tea Party had to do with tea. And just as King George's oppression of the colonists was basically economic, the war on drugs continues and grows because it is a multibillion-dollar industry. Just as the drug warriors in Washington do not plan on ever ending their cash-cow drug war, neither do the drug lords want to see it ended. R.L. Root, Westminster [end]
* How extremely ironic that the judge who ruled that Peter McWilliams and Todd McCormick could not use Proposition 215 in their defense against marijuana charges is named King, George ("Judge Bars Medical Need, Prop. 215 as Basis for Defense in Marijuana Trial," Nov. 6). Throughout our state, oppressors persecute sick and dying people for using a medicine that works. Medical marijuana is the front line in the war on drugs. Other battlegrounds include privacy rights, property rights, freedom of association and right to due process. The war on drugs is a war on people. [continues 82 words]
I was thrilled to see you place Libertarians! Libertarians! Libertarians! in the No. 114 position of your Best of OC 2,000 Guilty Pleasures list (Oct. 22). When I saw the following week that you were listing OC's 31 Scariest People (Oct. 29), I was hoping to get yet another thrill and see Republicans! Republicans! Republicans! and Democrats! Democrats! Democrats! But I was disappointed. I just can't understand how you could leave off those who condone the arrest, property confiscation and personal incarceration of sick and dying people who choose to exercise their rights as granted by the passage of Proposition 215. [continues 175 words]
Recently the libertarian-minded Republican governor of New Mexico, Gary Johnson, stepped forward in a call for a national debate on the war on drugs, a policy of militarized prohibition that every day sees more and more citizens and editorialists calling it a failure. I have been watching this drama play out from the first day that Gov. Johnson took this brave stand. I believe that those who oppose his view do so by mischaracterizing his statements and replaying the deceitful rhetoric of the past, both of which are by design meant to appeal to emotion rather than reason. [continues 519 words]
I doubt that it is possible to find a better description of why the war on drugs continues than was given by Myron Von Hollingsworth in his Oct. 11 letter, "Criminals winning the drug war." "Maybe the drug war-mongering politicians are required to adhere to the party line of prohibition because law enforcement, customs, the prison industrial complex, the drug-testing industry, the INS, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA and the politicians themselves can't live without the budget justification, not to mention the invisible profits, bribery, corruption and forfeiture benefits that prohibition affords them." [continues 190 words]
"Maybe the drug war-mongering politicians are required to adhere to the party line of prohibition because law enforcement, customs, the prison industrial complex, the drug-testing industry, the INS, the CIA, the FBI, the DEA and the politicians themselves can't live without the budget justification, not to mention the invisible profits, bribery, corruption and forfeiture benefits that prohibition affords them." The only possible inaccuracy in that statement would be the word "maybe." Mr. Von Hollingsworth's term for those who push this war, "drug war-mongering politicians," is brilliant, although I prefer the label that fits both the politicians and the bureaucrats who have found their own niche in the drug market: "Anti-drug lords" who are every bit the danger to society as the drug lords themselves. [continues 117 words]
The will of the people who passed Proposition 215 will be subverted if Chavez is made to serve this very unfair sentence. Governor Davis can send a clear message to county and local prosecutors that the will of the people is to be honored and respected. Governor Davis can be reached at the State Capitol Building Sacramento, CA, 95814, phone (916) 44502841, fax (916) 44504633. This is much more important than simply speaking out against the injustice done to Chavez. We must also stand to protect our right to correct unjust legislation and to enact legislation through propositions. R.L. Root Westminster [end]
