Re: "Stoned -- again -- in court," May 17, news: If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents.

The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. White Americans did not even begin to smoke pot until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda.

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Medical marijuana providers James and Lisa Masters and their lawyers enjoyed a 20-second victory in court on May 14, before a judge dismissed most of their latest round of motions. Larimer County Chief Judge James A. Hiatt ruled that a drug task-force officer illegally searched the Masters' house, but he then refused to throw out the evidence gathered during a follow-up search.

The Masters are charged with possession and intent to distribute marijuana, stemming from a child-welfare check at their home on August 2, 2006. At the time, the couple advised county child protection staff and accompanying police that they were medical marijuana caregivers and agreed to allow them into their grow rooms. The couple was arrested. Then Det. Todd Brubaker arrived and entered the home.

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At Least 5 Pages Raise Alarm At Conifer High

CONIFER - Some parents are up in arms over photos and captions in this year's Conifer High School yearbook that depict underage drinking and illegal drug use.

"It's showing illegal activity," said Karen Marshall, 46, of Morrison, whose daughter is graduating this year. "They have broken the law, and they have broken the zero tolerance policy on Jefferson County school grounds."

Marshall was among a number of parents who were horrified at what was published in this year's yearbook, which was released last week. There were at least five pages that parents found objectionable.

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Conifer - Families offended by photos and text of student alcohol and drug use published in Conifer High School's yearbook can get their money back or have their copies "treated," school officials said Monday.

"The issue quite honestly for me is there are some things in the yearbook that I don't feel like I can defend," principal Pat Termin said.

"In looking at the overall tone and some specific pictures and some specific quotes," Termin added, "I really do believe that we have crossed the line."

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Denver police would have to make possession of small amounts of marijuana by adults their lowest law enforcement priority under a proposal a pro-pot group is pushing.

"We're doing this because the city has been unwilling to recognize the fact that people in Denver do not think adults should be punished for using marijuana, a less harmful drug than alcohol," Mason Tvert, executive director of Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation, said Thursday.

In 2005, voters approved Initiative 100, which legalized, under city ordinances, possession and private use of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults.

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The jury is in. Oh, wait! There will be no jury. Police in Michigan have decided not to press charges after one of their own, former Cpl. Edward Sanchez, took some marijuana from a drug bust and used it to make pot brownies. After eating the brownies, Sanchez and his wife had a little freak-out and called 911, believing that they were "overdosing."

"I think we're dying," Sanchez pleaded during the five-minute phone call. "We made brownies, and I think we're dead. I really do."

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MONTROSE - An Olathe teacher was sentenced to additional jail time after County Court Judge John Mitchel found he tried to get around a court-ordered drug test.

Jon Dickerson was before the court Friday for a show-cause hearing initiated by his estranged wife's allegations he'd failed to show up for mandated drug testing.

Emmarae Garcia failed, however, in her bid to have Dickerson held in contempt for allegedly failing one of the tests and for allegedly contacting her by telephone when a civil no-contact order was in effect.

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An Olathe High School math teacher was put on administrative leave Tuesday after a judge sentenced him to jail after finding that he tried to manipulate a court-ordered drug test, a school district spokeswoman said.

(redacted), 42, who has been with the Montrose County Re1-J School District for 14 years, is to spend 11 days in jail, Montrose County Judge John Mitchel ordered Friday.

"I think it is obvious there was a definite attempt at substitution," Mitchel said.

"I cannot let it go. I can't. This is a very widespread problem of people sabotaging drug testing."

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Former Loveland Resident Educates Teens On Drug

Just as Wayde Krueger predicted, the high school students fidgeted during a meth-amphetamine video he showed, but they listened intently as he told the story of how his brother, a meth addict, stabbed his mother to death. Krueger, formerly of Loveland and now living in Grand Junction, told his story recently to students at Loveland, Mountain View and Thompson Valley high schools.

Studies show that not many high schoolers are hooked on the highly addictive drug, but the number of addicts escalates dramatically for people just out of high school.

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Addiction experts say home tests have a big drawback: They destroy child-parent trust.

The Boulder mother had been down this road with one child and swore she would never make a return trip. When she became suspicious her younger son was trying drugs, she went to Walgreens, plunked down $38 for a home drug-test kit and told him to pee in a cup.

The high school junior was furious. And busted.

"Don't you trust me?" he wailed.

His mother would not budge.

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Two students from Fruita Monument High School admitted Wednesday to distributing fliers around Grand Junction that touted the benefits of using crystal methamphetamine. The students came forward to school officials and were suspended, Mesa County School District 51 spokesman Jeff Kirtland said.

Officers with the Grand Junction Police Department removed hundreds of fliers from vehicles parked at Mesa Mall and Wal-Mart on Rimrock Avenue on Tuesday afternoon. Fliers were also placed on cars at Fruita Monument High School and Grand Junction High School.

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What needs to be looked at to "solve" the problem of school shootings is the role that psychiatric drugs have had on the killers. Columbine. Virginia Tech. What school will be next?

I invite you to view CCHR's website. Think psychiatric drugs are safe? Think again. www.cchr.org will show you the hard, cold facts. Bottom line: We get psychiatric drugs away from people, and we have less crime. Less insanity. Fewer psychiatrists makes a saner world.

But does anyone want that? Drug makers will deny any links between antidepressants and the violence we face.

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Organization Capitalizes on Day to Spread Message

The closing of Farrand Field did not stop the celebration of cannabis culture on April 20.

CU students relocated on Friday to Norlin Quad, where many students celebrated the tradition of civil disobedience. Although Norlin was not the location in past years, the word spread quickly through Facebook groups and on-campus sidewalk messages.

The CU public-interest lobby known as NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) had booths set up at the Quad from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There, the group sold T-shirts, brownies and sunglasses. NORML also hosted a concert at noon at the UMC Fountain area where attendees were asked to donate laptops for Zimbabwean college students.

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More than 700 people gathered in Denver's Civic Center Park today as part of the national "4/20" rally to protest laws against marijuana. The Denver event held on April 20, or 4/20, at 4:20 p.m. drew high school and college students and others, mostly in their 20s.

"It's a weed smoking festival," said Joe Smith, 18, who recently moved to Denver from Nevada. "I believe in the medicinal benefits of marijuana."

"Everyone came together to smoke marijuana and chill," said G.K. Hoovers, 20, of Aurora. "It's been cool. There were no problems."

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There is much disapproval toward any positive stance on marijuana, especially its non-medical legal use. In November 2006, voters were asked to decide on Amendment 44, which would have allowed the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana for persons 21 and older.

In many of my classes I am studying the topic of differential social power. This is the idea that dominant groups use power to subjugate subordinate ones. Dominant groups are able to pass and enforce rules that define other's behavior as deviant.

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Hayden Resident Encourages Support For Medicinal Use

Steamboat Springs - Hayden resident Don Nord says being able to smoke marijuana or eat banana bread and oatmeal cookies baked with pot has helped him live a more productive and fulfilling life in light of the myriad of medical conditions he lives with.

Nord, a vocal lobbyist for the legalization of medicinal marijuana and marijuana law reform, will again spread that message Friday afternoon as he hosts the fourth annual Routt County Medical Marijuana Awareness March on the Routt County Courthouse lawn.

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ASPEN - On Snowmass, ski-town culture is undergoing a quiet battle that no one wants to fight - one fueled mostly by liability concerns.

The controversy regards the fate of a dozen or so shacks that represent some of the coolest hangout spots on Snowmass Mountain.

The smoke shacks - or "unapproved structures" as the Forest Service calls them - are basically little hideaways to take a break and spark a joint. Most are well-hidden, with found wood and some twine, though a few have taken it to the next level with seats, multiple levels, and even iPod speakers.

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City Council member Richard Polk was allowed to keep his job last Monday-but not without a strong reprimand by other council members.

Polk came under the spotlight last fall when a police officer stopped him for driving too slowly. The responding officer reported smelling marijuana and confiscating a warm pipe from Polk's car. While the police officer said that Polk admitted to smoking marijuana, Polk took a drug test, which turned up negative. Earlier this year, Polk plead guilty to a misdemeanor offense-reckless driving.

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Marijuana legalization advocates say they are furious with Denver police for arresting more people for misdemeanor possession after city residents voted to legalize the weed in 2005. Mason Tvert, who led the charge to get marijuana legalized, said the group will hold a noon news conference today at the steps of City Hall to decry the findings.

Arrests for most minor crimes rose in Denver last year, and rose faster than marijuana arrests, following a change in policing philosophy.

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Regarding Sam Chaltain's March 23 op-ed, alcohol kills more Americans each year than all illegal drugs combined. Prescription overdose deaths are second only to motor-vehicle crashes as a cause of death from unintentional injury. Television is filled with pro-drug messages paid for by alcohol and pharmaceutical companies. The Bush administration doesn't have a problem with corporate drug pushers. But hoist a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner at an off-campus high school rally in Alaska, and they will fight you all the way to the Supreme Court.

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