The number of Iowa children who were victims of abuse hit an all-time high last year, but fewer of them suffered repeat abuse in the state child welfare system, according to new statistics.

On Wednesday, the Iowa Department of Human Services made public numbers from last year that show:

A 57 percent drop in the number of children exposed to methamphetamine-making. Child welfare officials say they believe the trend reflects a state law that has restricted the sale of certain cold medications that contain a key ingredient for making meth.

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Drug Free Youth in Touch, or D.F.Y.I.T., wants to show its middle and high school-age members that there's more to life than drugs.

That's why its eighth annual youth conference Friday focused on four other important topics they wanted to know more about.

"We wanted to give them the opportunity to learn more things that they might not necessarily learn about in school. We want them to be more aware of things that are going on around them," said Katy Embree, a prevention specialist at the Center for Alcohol and Drug Services, and D.F.Y.I.T. coordinator.

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John Grim is tired of staying quiet about his pain and the medicine he takes to control it. He's fed up with the stigma surrounding the thousands of patients like him who use narcotics for legitimate reasons. And he's outraged that state regulators want to set up a computer database that would track every prescription he fills.

"I'm worried about scrutiny from people who have no business snooping into my medical issues," he says.

Grim is sitting at a cafe table near his home in Des Moines. He leans forward onto his forearms, grimacing as he shifts weight off his ruined back. "Do I look like a junkie to you?" he asks.

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John Grim's pain-control physician, Dr. Richard Rosenquist of University Hospitals in Iowa City, said Grim is one of more than 1,000 patients in his clinic who are treated with long-term prescriptions for narcotics.

Rosenquist said researchers are working on less-addictive alternatives to the drugs, with mixed success. Some new techniques, such as electronic stimulation, help some patients. But the doctor doesn't foresee a broad replacement for narcotics coming soon.

Rosenquist understands Grim's concerns about his privacy being invaded if the state sets up a centralized computer system to monitor Iowans' prescription orders. But the doctor said he believes such a system would help control the real problem of patients who "doctor shop" to buy excessive amounts of drugs. "It would be very helpful to know when somebody who's illegitimately using opioid drugs is getting them from more than one doctor," he said.

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The case of a 13-year-old runaway from Minneapolis who was kidnapped and brought to eastern Iowa has led to investigations of child prostitution and heroin trafficking, rare crimes in rural America.

"I think it's an important and compelling case for people to know about," Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams said of child sex charges against Demont Cortez Bowie, 26, an alleged one-time Minneapolis gang member who had moved to Wellman, Ia.

The Bowie investigation was a window into a drug ring connected to a rash of heroin deaths and overdoses in eastern Iowa, law enforcement officers said. After a woman who overdosed on heroin last March in Wellman said she got the drug from Bowie, "We started asking questions about (Bowie's) drug activity," Washington County investigator Mike Clark said.

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Republican reactionaries are a peculiar lot. They decry drug abuse but oppose a tobacco tax. They want harsh penalties, like Rush Limbaugh, except for themselves. They will fund incarceration rates that civilized nations find barbaric, with our great-grandchildren's money, while cutting spending for beat cops and programs that actually tackle crime causes and provide alternatives. Dogma masquerades as purpose in public policy; if it doesn't work, just do much more of the same.

Now they are singing full-throated and with their usual unison against common-sense proposals made to the Legislature by Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek. Personally, I would rather see my law-enforcement tax dollars used to track and incarcerate the sociopaths preying on our communities than stigmatizing those whose only infractions in a lifetime might be simple possession. To those who say that would be sending the wrong message, I would ask what message we send by criminalizing the behavior of large swaths of otherwise law-abiding, productive citizens? Whatever might be the message we are sending now, there are an awful lot of people it hasn't reached.

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You'd be surprised how easy it is to con a doctor into believing that you need narcotics for pain, Joe Leonetti says.

He should know. Before he became sober last June, the Des Moines man supplemented his methamphetamine habit with OxyContin, Vicodin and other powerful prescription drugs. He says he obtained many of the pills by going to emergency rooms or medical clinics and spinning a tale of back pain or other hard-to-diagnose ailments. "It's really, really simple," he says.

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I applaud the Iowa senators who support increased penalties for marijuana possession.

The Register criticized increased penalties and supported weaker penalties ("Rethink Jail Terms for Small Amounts of Pot," Feb. 18 editorial). The editorial supported Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek's proposal that would weaken Iowa's drug laws pertaining to marijuana possession.

The Register fails to understand that an overwhelming number of law-enforcement officers in this state do not agree with Pulkrabek's stance. The sheriff is only one man with one opinion.

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We owe Gloria Walker sincere thanks for her courage in telling the truth about marijuana in our culture ("Lay off marijuana," Feb. 27).

Medical studies have documented health benefits derived from the cannabinoids found in marijuana, beyond the widely known applications of treating glaucoma and providing relief from pain and nausea for the dying. MS, asthma, epilepsy, menstrual cramps, migraines, alcoholism, and depression, to name a few, are all conditions that respond to the beneficial medicinal effects of marijuana. Marijuana has been used in gynecological medicine for centuries around the world. In the early part of the last century, tincture of cannabis were sold in pharmacies in this country.

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Gov. Tom Vilsack and some other political leaders wanted the state to build a new maximum security prison in Fort Madison to replace the old one. They argue that a new facility is justified, in part because of the security and other problems that drew national attention when two inmates escaped in November.

This week, however, an Iowa legislative committee that oversees the operating budget for the state corrections department said there's no money to build a new prison, which would cost an estimated $80 million.

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University of Iowa students can "leave with their degree in one hand and their criminal record in the other hand," according to Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek.

Overzealous sentencing mandates victimize students who possess small amounts of marijuana.

That's one of the points Pulkrabek made to a group of lawmakers last week.



[end]

Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek's suggestion to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana was met with "reefer madness" from state Rep. Clel Baudler (Feb. 9, "Sheriff: Tie Penalty to Pot Amount"), who stated, "It sends the message that "OK, if you are just a little crook, we're not going to really bother you.' "

Isn't that like saying it's a crime because it's illegal? I guess it's only OK with Representative Baudler to suggest increasing the penalties.

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County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek has good reason to question the wisdom of zero tolerance marijuana laws ("White responds to marijuana ideas," Feb. 10). The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to many Americans.

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Thank you, Lonny Pulkrabek, for having the guts to stand up to the drug war mentality by calling for more sensible penalties and policies for small-amount simple drug possession and public intoxication ("White responds to marijuana ideas," Feb. 10).

It's regrettable that lame duck county attorney J. Patrick White is hostile to reform. The candidates to succeed him, Janet Lyness and Nick Maybanks, should be asked about this issue at every candidate forum. So should our legislators and legislative candidates -- and they should not be let off easy with non-answers about how this won't reach the floor.

Sheriff Pulkrabek has taken a step forward in promoting sensible discussion of this taboo topic, and Iowans should take advantage of the opportunity.

John Deeth

Iowa City

[end]

Amazing. In the same weekend is a story about a county sheriff who doesn't want to enforce the laws and a story about how University of Iowa fraternity "men" have a higher arrest rate for drinking and drugs than other male students. Guess whose parents would prefer that they don't have arrest records? Guess whose parents are probably supporting Lonny?

Currently, I don't drive on dark country roads, anywhere after football games or downtown on any Thursday, Friday, or Saturday night. I think I'll keep it up. Also, I'll keep calling to report speeders and crazy drivers on Scott Boulevard after midnight. Not that our police force will be doing anything about it. I wonder who I'll sue after someone comes crashing through our fence, into the bedroom and kills my children? A druggie is a druggie, a drunk is a drunk, and they should both be arrested and off the streets.

Sheriff, earn your paycheck. Enforce the laws as written, or do us all a favor and quit.

Deborah Thornton

Iowa City

[end]

The Press-Citizen recently editorialized that Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek's recent proposal to state legislators "probably" did not further the case for the construction of a new jail facility in Johnson County ("Focus on pot takes focus off jail solutions," Feb. 15). We feel that the facts need to be stated here. Sheriff Pulkrabek is making these proposals to placate the political base in Johnson County that helped get him elected to office in the first place.

What you're not hearing from the sheriff (or the media for that matter) is the following:

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As a prosecutor, I know the county attorney can and should do more to ease jail overflow and spearhead a new method of processing cases through our system.

Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek bravely approached the Iowa Legislature and told them that we need to change the way we process low-level alcohol and drug offenses. Despite criticisms to the contrary, the sheriff is not proposing that we ignore laws against excessive drinking or use of illegal drugs. The sheriff has the best interests of the community in mind, as do I. I contend it is time we take a look at the way in which low-level alcohol and drug offenses are overwhelming our system, burdening our overcrowded jail and taking the focus away from more serious, violent offenders.

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Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek has good reason to question the value of zero-tolerance drug policies. Most students outgrow their youthful indiscretions involving illicit drugs. An arrest and criminal record, on the other hand, can be life-shattering. After admitting to smoking pot (but not inhaling), former President Bill Clinton opened himself up to "soft on drugs" criticism. And thousands of Americans have paid the price in the form of shattered lives. More Americans went to prison or jail during the Clinton administration than during any past administration.

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We think Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek really stepped in it last week while testifying before a legislative committee on sentencing reform.

When we elected Pulkrabek, we knew that we were getting someone who brought a new perspective to the office. Where former Sheriff Robert Carpenter had failed repeatedly to make a compelling case for why the county would need a new jail, Pulkrabek seems to understand that he needs to exhaust every alternative if he is ever to convince county voters that a new jail is needed. And, as demonstrated in his guest opinion, Pulkrabek has been considering the many issues affecting the overcrowding of the jail and the increased burden on law enforcement.

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Last week, I was asked to testify in front of a legislative committee. I was to provide input on sentencing reform and how it affects county sheriff budgets.

During my testimony, I advocated for a multiple-step approach to solving the overcrowding of the Johnson County Jail. I actually spoke on six different topics but, because two of the topics stirred debate, the public did not get to hear about the others.

In this guest opinion, I want to explain the two topics that sparked the lively debate -- the handling of people who are intoxicated in public and the charging of possession of a controlled substance for small amounts of marijuana -- and then summarize the others.

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