CROWN POINT -- The Lake County sheriff is defending the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force against allegations it is torn by ethics and performance problems.

Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said Friday state police are reviewing whether HIDTA cars, leased at public expense, were routinely sold to HIDTA employees after the leases expired. Meanwhile, Lake County HIDTA officials say they are dealing with scrutiny from Washington that the local agency fails to meet national standards in the fight against gangs and drugs.

[continues 318 words]

This writer still vividly recalls learning about how to say no to drugs at a very young age.

My parents, of course, had that talk with me, but I'll never forget some lessons learned as a fifth-grade student in Melanie Gerber's class at Bluffton Middle School.

During the 1991-1992 school year, Bluffton Police Officers Bruce Holland and Robert Morgan visited our classroom on a weekly basis for quite some time to teach the D.A.R.E. program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).

[continues 620 words]

A divided U.S. Supreme Court, in Morse v. Frederick, a case involving a cryptic student banner (and labeled as "oddball" by The New York Times), last month whittled away at 38 years of legal precedent and further restricted the First Amendment rights of our students.

The 5-4 decision, marked by angry rhetoric on both sides, represented another aberration from 1969 when the high court boldly proclaimed in Tinker v. Des Moines that there should be no age restrictions when it comes to free speech and that student First Amendment rights don't stop at the schoolhouse gate.

[continues 485 words]

We live in a timeout society and, if we don't watch out, it will destroy us.

It starts at home, when parents think they are punishing their children by sending them to a timeout. In reality, children learn that a timeout means the child has won the battle of wills. It's the parents who need the pause from conflict. The child grows up without respect for the word "no" and no respect for authority.

Timeout is further ingrained in our America spirit with our love of sports. When the going gets tough, call "timeout."

[continues 463 words]

The Supreme Court's recent ruling on a high school free speech question seems legally correct but morally regrettable.

Legally correct because, confronted with the question over who has final authority on school grounds for student behavior, the court is duty bound to uphold the supremacy of elected school boards and top administrators,

Morally regrettable because, in practice, the decision undermines rather than expands student appreciation for free speech rights and responsibilities and often places teachers and other classroom advocates at odds with administrators and school board members.

[continues 233 words]

I'm writing about the recent article headlines "Traffic stop turns into marijuana bust," published June 21.

I'm sure many marijuana growers and sellers are thankful to the Vermillion County sheriff's deputy for this latest marijuana bust and others like it.

Without operations like this, marijuana would be worth what other easy-to-grow weeds are worth -- very little.

Thanks to the Drug Enforcement Administration and other so-called "drug warriors," the easy-to-grow weed is worth more than pure gold -- and completely tax free.

The marijuana trafficker arrested will soon be replaced. They always are.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.



[end]

The Issue: Nonsensical "bong hits" banner goes to court. Our View: And schools gain a bit more control.

In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that students do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." It was a good ruling with exceptions that allowed school officials to bar speech that advocated dangerous or illegal conduct or was substantially disruptive.

The Roberts Supreme Court has expanded schools' powers to regulate speech in a case in which the speech in question was described as "cryptic," by Chief Justice John Roberts in the majority, and as "nonsense," by Justice John Paul Stevens dissenting.

[continues 221 words]

WASHINGTON -- Looking for a way to improve the responsibility-taking among black fathers? Or to improve the economic standing and stability of black families overall? Or for confronting these statistics: One of every three black kids is being raised by a never-married mother; one of 20 white children is being raised by a never-married mom.

One step to addressing this complicated problem is to rewrite a law that forces federal judges to send people to jail for mere possession of one type of drug, a substance more commonly used in the black community than by whites. Crack cocaine is created by adding powder cocaine to baking soda and water and then baking the mixture. The result is broken into "rocks" and can be sold in very small quantities. In the mid-1980s crack became a significant problem in cities.

[continues 976 words]

GARRETT -- Garrett-Keyser-Butler schools will start random drug, alcohol and tobacco tests of students next year, the school board decided Monday.

The board voted unanimously to approve the one-year pilot program for grades seven to 12, as long as financing can be secured. The program, estimated to cost $5,000, will be reviewed next spring and will be financed by grants or donations.

If money is not available in time to implement the program next fall, it will begin in the first athletic season after money comes through, Superintendent Alan Middleton said.

[continues 331 words]

Authorities said the federal arrests of a 12 heroin dealers in Porter, Lake and Cook counties two months ago has produced a list of several dozen users who keep the drug trade thriving.

The users didn't get charged, but drug enforcement officials have visited their homes to deliver a face-to-face message to give up their habits or face criminal charges.

"They got notified: If they were dealing with these people, they were not far from joining them in jail," said Don Rospond, leader of the Northern Indiana Office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. "Their options are few. They're either going to end up on the street, in jail or dead."

[continues 294 words]

There are times when I think our nation is heading to continued greatness, prosperity and happiness. But there are times when I get so darn discouraged I feel like dropping out of society and moving the family to a dental floss farm in Montana.

Did you know, for example, that in our community more than 15 young people have died in the past year from taking a new, low-cost form of heroin? On the street it is called "cheese" and combines heroin with over-the-counter pain medications.

[continues 717 words]

Alexandria's new random drug-testing policy, which takes effect this fall, is modeled on those of other school systems in the state and will include students who drive to school or participate in sports or extracurricular activities. A testing policy for the entire student body is illegal, according to Alexandria Community Schools Superintendent Jim Willey.

These policies are problematic in that they concentrate on groups instead of the whole and, despite protestations from school officials, are fundamentally punitive.

In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Board of Education of Pottawamie vs. Earls that students who participate in extracurricular activities can be drug-tested. The Indiana Supreme Court ruled the same in Linke vs. Northwestern School Corp., also in 2002.

[continues 304 words]

VALPARAISO -- Officials will be able to drug test Valparaiso High School students based on reasonable suspicion starting in the 2007-08 school year.

The Valparaiso School Board approved the new policy Tuesday

Reasonable suspicion, according to the revised VHS student handbook, could arise from a number of indicators. These include physical appearance, unusual behavior, odors or credible information communicated to administrators. The testing might be done with either saliva or urine samples.

The district considered a random testing policy, Assistant Superintendent John Hutton said, but decided against subjecting students to stresses related to such a policy, on top of other things they deal with.

[continues 207 words]

Arthur Foulkes' May 1 column was right on target. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime.

With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking unregulated bathtub gin. While U.S. politicians ignore the drug war's historical precedent, European countries are embracing harm reduction, a public health alternative based on the principle that both drug abuse and prohibition have the potential to cause harm.

[continues 81 words]

The Duneland Schools' Positive Life Committee will be asked to review the school system's drug-testing policy, possibly by combining the current suspicion-based program with random tests.

The matter came up at Monday's school board meeting at the request of School Board President Janice Custer, who noted that Porter County ranks third in the nation in opiate use, in a comparison of other major metropolitan areas. She said given the ongoing drug problem, it may be appropriate for the Duneland Schools to review its drug testing policy.

[continues 533 words]

TERRE HAUTE-- It's gotten to the point that when I hear of a tragedy, scandal or disaster, I find myself, after the initial shock, anger, or sadness wears off, worrying what those in government will do in response to the problem.

Lawmakers and other government officials want to be seen to be doing "something" in the wake of a disaster, scandal or widely perceived problem. Unfortunately, the laws they pass often create new problems that will eventually result in new laws, and on, and on. One example of this may be in the current legislative steps being taken to combat the "methamphetamine epidemic" - the latest front in the government's decades-old war on drugs.

[continues 987 words]

We've all seen the images and heard the testimony of ailing Americans who gain relief from their chronic physical pain or discomfort by smoking marijuana. These people have no other remedies at their disposal to make their lives more tolerable.

Since the 2006 Supreme Court ruling against people who use prescription pot, 12 states have rallied to pass bills protecting them from prosecution.

Efforts to get such a bill through the Illinois General Assembly have been bumpy. But with the shift in power in Springfield, there is optimism that a bill introduced by Sen. John Cullerton, D-Chicago, will be approved. We urge his colleagues to pass it when it comes up for a vote. We also encourage the Indiana General Assembly to follow its neighbor's lead.

[continues 161 words]

President Jimmy Carter once told Congress that "penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than the use of the drug itself.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the laws against the possession of marijuana in private for personal use."

That was in 1976. Today, despite the efforts of Carter and many others like him, laws prohibiting marijuana continue to carry penalties and consequences far more damaging than an individual's actual use of marijuana. Not only does marijuana prohibition harm the individual, but it is taking a grave toll on American society as well. The damage done by marijuana prohibition far outweighs the good it is doing, and for this reason marijuana should be decriminalized.

[continues 689 words]

If it were up to the organizers of this year's Cannabash concert, next year would bring a change to dorm living, where students would not be kicked out after being caught with marijuana.

The fourth annual Cannabash concert is sponsored by National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws and will start at 3 p.m. Saturday in Matthews Hall, Room 210. The event is free to attendees and is open to all ages.

This year, one of the goals of the concert will be to try to change the discipline system in the dorms. The current setup has students being kicked out of their dorms for using marijuana on the first offense, but a three-strike rule applies to alcohol.

[continues 312 words]

Students Say Random Drug Tests Can Seem Like Punishment, But School Officials Say The Practice Helps

MUNCIE -- Kylie Dorton doesn't like the idea of schools testing students for drugs. Dorton, a senior at Delta High School, has never been tested, but because she is a student driver and an athlete she is in the pool of students who could be randomly tested.

"I just don't think high school students should have to be put through this at all," Dorton said.

[continues 748 words]