More than 104,000 pounds of marijuana plants with a street value of $52,307,205 went up in smoke this past summer thanks to the efforts of the Gila County Narcotics Task Force, Department of Public Safety and several other law enforcement agencies. The pot was discovered and destroyed during 21 raids that were conducted around the Rim Country during the past six months. A GCNTF agent, who asked to remain anonymous, said all of the marijuana gardens raided were very similar. [continues 549 words]
Since we can't get the press to pose real questions to this same old pack of professional politicians -- maybe my question for Jim Pederson will accidentally get published in the opinion pages. Billions of dollars are spent on purchasing marijuana. That money enriches the criminal element and hostile foreign powers. Harsh laws and prison walls have done nothing to curb the popularity and demand for this safe and effective medicinal herb. The drug and alcohol companies are making our government look stupid in their war to protect their markets. Professional politicians against the decriminalization of marijuana are either out of touch with society or in the pocket of the drug and alcohol industry. There is little middle ground on this forgotten war. Pederson's position on medical marijuana before this election is important since he is the only one claiming to be independent of these giant corporations. With the billions of dollars and lives being wasted by these laws, he must let his position be known. Alcohol has been filling our emergency rooms for the past 70 years, not marijuana. Honesty on this matter would make Pederson the most unique figure in American politics. Not one politician in this country has shown the courage to represent common sense. I challenge the press and these professional politicians to be honest about marijuana. Arlin Troutt Gold Canyon [end]
It never fails to amaze me how I can talk to kids about drugs and they understand. I talked to a young girl the other day in Las Vegas. I told her I wanted to legalize drugs. She said you can't do that, that kids will get them. I ask if she could get any drug she wanted at her school. She said yes. I ask if she could get alcohol. She said, no, you have to be 21 - and the light bulb came on. [continues 53 words]
KINGMAN - California outlaw motorcycle gangs were the pioneers in bringing methamphetamine into Mohave County. Sheriff Tom Sheahan said outlaw motorcycle gangs in California were the first to import meth into Mohave County and Arizona about 20 years ago. The ingredients to produce meth were easily available leading meth to be the drug of choice throughout the county and the state. The Eastern states in the country are now experiencing what the Western states have experienced 20 years ago, Sheahan said. In 2004, the sheriff's office conducted 554 drug arrests. In 2005, there were 591 drug arrests. About 70 percent of all drug arrests involve methamphetamine. [continues 475 words]
What If a Nation Hit Tenn. Barley Like We Treat Andean Coca? The most enlightening speech at the United Nations this week, I'm sorry to say, was the one by Evo Morales of Bolivia. I don't mean it was a good or even a coherent speech. That would be too much to expect from the world leaders' annual gasathon. The rhetorical bar is extremely low. Morales, like his friend Hugo Chavez, spent much of his time ranting about a new world order based on the economic policies that have worked such wonders in Cuba. [continues 690 words]
KINGMAN - Two Missouri authors and former drug dealers are spreading the word of the horrors of methamphetamine. Steve Box and Bill McLemore were in Kingman last week on a tour visiting 17 jails and prisons - including the Mohave County Jail, the juvenile facility and the newly built state prison off Interstate 40 southwest of Kingman. Box and McLemore, former drug dealers and meth users, spoke with prisoners on the dangers of meth. The authors also spoke to several dozen people, many former drug users, at a rally in Centennial Park in Kingman. [continues 376 words]
A 13-year-old at Goodyear's Eliseo C. Felix Elementary School is suspected of having brought a trace amount of marijuana to school, Goodyear police reported. The amount was so small that officers declined to press charges, said Sgt. Scott Benson, who supervises the Goodyear Police Department's school resource officers. The student brought a substance to school Tuesday morning and was showing other students, Benson said. After school, news spread to some parents through their children. A few parents attended the Avondale Elementary School District's board meeting Tuesday evening, expressing concern that the student was not adequately punished and wondering why police weren't involved. [continues 155 words]
TOHONO O'ODHAM NATION, Ariz. -- The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on legislation to build a double-layered 700-mile-long fence on the Mexican border, a proposal already approved by the House. If the fence is built, however, it could have a long gap -- about 75 miles -- at one of the border's most vulnerable points because of opposition from the Indian tribe here. More illegal immigrants are caught -- and die trying to cross into the United States -- in and around the Tohono O'odham Indian territory, which straddles the Arizona border, than any other spot in the state. [continues 1289 words]
Violent Crime In America Is Up - At An Alarming Rate. At a recent Violent Crime Summit in Washington, D.C., law enforcement executives and mayors from the 50 largest U.S. cities discussed this spike in violent crime. Across the nation, homicides, robberies and aggravated assault (shootings) are up as much as 30 to 60 percent and more over the last year. Some cities say the numbers have reached all-time highs. Most of the increases are attributed to young male offenders. [continues 551 words]
A long time ago, in a place far away, a free-spirited schoolboy tried to exercise his rights of free speech. Informed that he had none, and rudely rebuffed, the impetuous lad grew up to become a newspaperman. Four years ago, in a different place far away, another smart-aleck also stood upon his First Amendment rights. He had better luck, and now he's in the U.S. Supreme Court, ready to defend his glorious victory against a formidable foe. [continues 661 words]
Editor: I have some answers for Kirk Muse's thoughtful question, "Why The Harsh Punishment For Growing Marijuana?" (Aug. 18, 2006). Caging humans for using cannabis (marijuana/kaneh-bosm) is made possible in part because of failed clergy not speaking up and pointing out to Christian followers, society in general and politicians that Christ God Our Father indicated he created all the seed bearing plants saying they are all good on literally the very first page of the Bible (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). [continues 147 words]
I'm writing about Bill Richardson's thoughtful column on Sept 1: "Drug gangs' impact". The only way to effectively deal with the drug cartels is to put them out of business. The only way this can be accomplished is to regulate, control and tax the products that they deal in. And this can only be accomplished with legalization. Only legal products of any kind can be regulated, controlled and taxed by any government. Of course, the drug war cheerleaders will claim that legalizing our now illegal drugs will be giving into the drug dealers and drug lords. [continues 84 words]
Boomers' History Of Abuse Tied To Increase In Overdoses Of Prescription, Illegal Drugs Drugs are killing aging baby boomers in Arizona at unprecedented rates, a trend that experts attribute to increases in both prescription- and illegal-drug use. The problem has been mounting here and nationwide for years but has been largely overlooked by drug-abuse prevention officials, who were not focused on adult-age subgroups. "Drug addiction is so often talked about as a disease of our youth, but for so many people, it catches up with them when they age," said Dr. Marvin Seppala, a national expert on drug abuse and chief medical director at Hazelden, a substance-abuse treatment program in Minnesota. [continues 669 words]
More than 600 Paradise Valley Unified School District students underwent drug tests last school year, according to recent reports. But that number probably will increase as more parents take advantage of the district's 14-year-old random drug-testing program, a school official said. "Overall, the program is going very well," said Jim Lee, the district's director of student services. "From a parent perspective, it might be a way to give a kid a reason to say 'no' and reduce peer pressure, and to increase the lines of communication." [continues 402 words]
As Local Law Enforcement Officials Grandstand, Career Criminals Roam Free Welcome to another chapter in the ongoing soap opera "As The TAG Team Turns," starring Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard and this week co-starring Gov. Janet Napolitano. As the TAG Team looks for a way to get their name in the paper and on the six o'clock news as Election Day creeps closer, Thomas announces his outrage at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, hoping to garner some of the free press Arpaio and his hop-a-long political sidekick Napolitano grabbed by announcing they were personally responsible for writing the letter to Washington that led to the transfer of ICE's Arizona boss Roberto Medina, who is a highly respected cop, doesn't kiss political backsides and has been instrumental in attacking Mexican crime cartels. Unfortunately that's not what really happened. The governor's office was notified more than a month ago by Homeland Security officials in Washington that Medina's temporary Arizona assignment would end shortly and his new permanent assignment would be in El Paso, his hometown. Isn't it just like a politician to try and run a working cop who's leading the charge against organized crime out of town? [continues 599 words]
Will other districts soon follow suit? More than 600 Paradise Valley Unified School District students underwent drug tests last school year, according to recent reports. But that number will likely increase as more parents take advantage of the district's 14-year-old random drug-testing program, a school official said. "Overall, the program is going very well," said Jim Lee, the district's director of student services. "From a parent perspective, it might be a way to give a kid a reason to say no and reduce peer pressure, and to increase the lines of communication." [continues 431 words]
U.S. Congressman Rick Renzi recently witnessed first-hand the mountain of evidence associated with the war on drugs in rural Arizona. Renzi was in Florence on Monday, Aug. 14, and visited briefly with county officials at the Pinal County Courthouse before heading over to the sheriff's office. There he met with Sheriff Chris Vasquez and received a brief tour, which included demonstrations by the Narcotics Task Force, K-9 Unit and the Pinal County SWAT Team. Renzi, a Republican, and Sheriff Vasquez, a Democrat, see no party affiliation when it comes to the war on methamphetamine and its devastating effect on Arizona's rural communities. Putting party affiliations aside, Sheriff Vasquez and Congressman Renzi, a member of the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, have joined forces in the methamphetamine war. [continues 411 words]
Editor: In Max Foster's Aug. 1 article, "Marijuana grower sentenced to 10 years," you and the editorial staff missed several points and issues that should have been discussed. Firstly, Foster quotes a drug force agent that says that marijuana gardens "present a danger to hikers" and cause "tremendous" environmental damage, but never explains what these dangers are or how such damage actually occurs. In addition, Foster, in his August 4. Article, "Marijuana garden kept intact for training," does not ask why law enforcement officers would use the "danger to hikers" and "environmental damage" argument to send a man to prison for ten years, but then keep an even larger garden for its own benefit. Foster quotes DEA Special Agent Tim Landrum as he celebrates that "millions of dirty dollars never made it into the drug trade" but never asks how much money tax payers are forced to spend in order to fund the GCNTF (Gila County Narcotics Task Force), Department of Public Safety, Gila County's Sheriff's Office, U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Gila County Attorney's Office, DEA, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Arizona Game and Fish Department, all of whom, Foster reports, participate in the marijuana raids, along with a "DPS Ranger helicopter and a SWAT team." [continues 57 words]
How badly do parents want their children to have after-school program opportunities? We should know by year's end. On Wednesday, the Kingman for Kids Task Force met to discuss its next moves in efforts to start after-school programs. The task they face is daunting. They agreed on their first two moves. The first is to contact local school district officials to schedule meetings and find out what commitment they might make for use of school facilities. Secondly, they hope to bring Tom Brown to their next meeting to tell them how to go about putting together a sound program. Brown operated after-school programs in the Flagstaff School District until his retirement this past spring. [continues 566 words]
Editor: I'm writing in response to the article, "Marijuana grower sentenced to 10 years." (Published on Aug. 1). It looks like the citizens of Arizona are going to be paying for the room, board and education on how to become a "real" criminal for Oscar Nunez-Medina, the evil gardener caught growing the evil natural herb: marijuana. However, I'm a little confused. Why is it that we severely punish those who grow the easy-to-grow weed that has never been documented to kill a single person in the 5,000 years history of its use, yet we treat tobacco growers and sellers as upstanding and honorable citizens? Our annual tobacco vs. marijuana kill ratio is about 400,000 to zero in the U.S. and about 4.5 million to zero worldwide. Kirk Muse Mesa [end]
Inside Arizona
