Regarding Carl Welser's Oct. 22 column ("Don't make Grandpa a vigilante"), the importance of parental involvement in reducing adolescent drug use cannot be overstated. School-based extracurricular activities also have been shown to reduce use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely to get into trouble. In order for drug-prevention efforts to effectively reduce harm, they must be reality-based. The most popular drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is often overlooked by parents. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined. Alcohol may be legal, but it's still the No. 1 drug problem. [continues 141 words]
Black defendants in Michigan are far more likely to be locked up for drug offenses than white ones, underscoring the need for new policing practices and better access to urban drug treatment programs that can serve as alternatives to incarceration. Unfortunately, the disparities in how drug policies affect whites and people of color in Michigan aren't unusual. A new report by a nonprofit, Washington-based policy institute, examining nearly 200 of the nation's largest counties, found that 97% of them had racial disparities in drug incarceration rates. Overall, African Americans were 10 times more likely than whites to be imprisoned for drug offenses, even though whites and blacks sell and use illegal drugs at similar rates. [continues 335 words]
After Sept. 11, 2001, the nation's "war on drugs" dropped out of the headlines, replaced by a campaign against international terrorists. That suited many policy makers fine, because of the heat they took occasionally from the "treatment, not enforcement" crowd. Their argument for many years has been that government resources ought to be devoted to helping drug addicts kick their habits, not to arresting drug pushers. News last week indicated that the two campaigns -- against terrorists and drug lords -- are linked. [continues 102 words]
Marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes especially for cancer patients. My father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma and passed away in August. The cancer really was not the killer but the chemotherapy was. He lost 7 to 8 pounds every treatment because he was unable to eat after the chemo. My mother and I tried everything to get him to eat, but he said everything tasted terrible. So I told him he should try smoking some marijuana to increase his appetite, and he looked at me like I was nuts. But he didn't have much to lose at this point, so he tried it and he actually started putting weight back on - but it was too late. [continues 124 words]
To the Daily: Regarding the Daily's thoughtful editorial last week about rehabilitation services for prisoners (Locked-up logic, 11/28/2007): A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48. And there is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but so does society as a whole. Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior. [continues 78 words]
Congratulations are in order to Emmett Township police and the N.I.C.E. team after a Thanksgiving weekend interdiction of 959 pounds of marijuana secreted in a truck traveling along I-94. Seizures like this succeed where generations of alchemists failed. They convert a common, easily available substance into pure gold. The more pot confiscated, the higher the price goes, drawing ever more criminals into the mix. A perfect circle without end. If it wasn't for prohibition, a truckload of pot wouldn't be worth much more than a truckload of tomatoes. [continues 208 words]
In the eyes of the law, Dundee Middle School Principal Kirt Cannon has a clean past and no criminal record. Yet the Dundee Community Schools Board of Education is considering terminating him after six months on the job because of his involvement in a misdemeanor drug charge in another county that has since been expunged from his record. And there is a group of parents who believe that any association with illegal drugs, past or present, near or far, is reason enough to send him on his way. [continues 704 words]
GENESEE COUNTY - A few years ago, police sounded warnings that a scary drug was making inroads into Genesee County. A drug that would turn users into crazed maniacs. A drug that could be brewed up in the comfort of home, using common store-bought goods. Its name? Methamphetamine. "It's here, and it's only going to get bigger," a state police official told The Flint Journal in 2000. But, so far, meth remains a bit player on the local drug scene and hasn't been near the phenomenon that was predicted. [continues 566 words]
A 37-year-old Pontiac man suspected of selling a large amount of cocaine to an undercover officer was shot twice Tuesday after he attempted to run down police, Oakland County Sheriff's Office officials said. According to Undersheriff Michael McCabe, the office's Narcotics Enforcement Team was trying to arrest the man after the purchase at a home on Maxwell Street in Pontiac at about 9 p.m. "It was part of an ongoing investigation," McCabe said. A sheriff's deputy and two other officers from two local departments were involved in the shooting, McCabe said. The suspect remains under police guard at a local hospital. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening, McCabe said. [continues 74 words]
The experience of Brett and Keri Johnson, former Gull Lake teachers recently convicted of having a small marijuana garden in their basement, is a sad one for them. When multiplied by 800,000, it becomes a tragedy for the rest of us. The FBI's 2006 Uniform Crime Report pegged marijuana arrests for 2006 at 829,625. More than 90 percent of those arrests were for simple possession or small-scale, personal-use cultivation. Prior to arrest, hundreds of thousands of people, like the Johnsons, were tax-paying, otherwise law-abiding, contributing community members. Following arrest, they became tainted for life with the scarlet letter labeling them a drug criminal. For a substance that's safer than tobacco, alcohol or caffeine. Common aspirin kills 1,000 yearly. Marijuana kills zero. [continues 226 words]
A proposal to legalize medical marijuana could appear before Michigan voters in the 2008 election. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care recently turned in nearly 496,000 signatures to the Michigan Secretary of State, surpassing the minimum requirement of 304,101 signatures, said Dianne Byrum, spokeswoman for the coalition. The Michigan Secretary of State must approve the validity of the signatures before the proposal appears on the ballot. "We are confident we will qualify for the ballot," Byrum said. "People believe that seriously ill patients using medical marijuana under a doctor's orders shouldn't face the threat of arrest or jail." [continues 341 words]
In the latest of his many considerable flip-flops, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney called on Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Kathe Tuttman - whom he appointed to the bench when he was Massachusetts governor - to resign. Tuttman is at the center of a major controversy over her decision to allow a murderer to be released near the end of his sentence, despite a pending charge of assaulting a corrections officer. The prisoner, Daniel Tavares Jr., went on to kill a newlywed couple. [continues 560 words]
ALLEGAN COUNTY -- Within just a few years, this county had earned an unflattering reputation. Some called it the "meth capital of Michigan" because of the soaring number of clandestine labs that cropped up five years ago, most in rural areas where makeshift cooking operations might go unnoticed. The reputation still lingers, but the methamphetamine problems are beginning to fade under a full-press attack by police, social workers and legislators. "I think Allegan County had a black eye for a while," said Allegan City Police Chief Rick Hoyer, a member of a countywide meth task force formed five years ago. "Now, it's time we do get out and say things are getting better. [continues 573 words]
It's An Alternative to Jail Time for Some Offenders GAYLORD -- Court officials intend to launch a program in Otsego County to focus on rehabilitating hard-drug users. The 46th Circuit Court in January will begin handling certain criminal cases in a separate drug court that is designed to keep hard-drug users clean and sober and obeying the law, said Rudi Edel, court administrator. "People would be in the drug court program for 18 months, often with weekly meetings with officials," he said. [continues 304 words]
LANSING -- A group that wants to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes has turned in nearly 500,000 signatures to put the issue on the November 2008 ballot. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care says the 496,000 signatures it gave the secretary of state's office should easily contain 304,101 valid signatures, the minimum required. If approved by voters, the initiative would allow qualified, seriously ill patients to use and grow a limited amount of marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a doctor. Twelve states and five Michigan cities have passed laws allowing the medical use of marijuana. Marijuana is illegal under federal law under all circumstances. [end]
LANSING (AP) - A group that wants to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes has turned in nearly 500,000 signatures to put the issue on the November 2008 ballot. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care says the 496,000 signatures it handed over to the secretary of state's office should easily contain 304,101 valid signatures, the minimum required. If approved by voters, the initiative would allow qualified, seriously ill patients to use and grow a limited amount of marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a doctor. Twelve states and five Michigan cities have passed laws allowing the medical use of marijuana. Marijuana is illegal under federal law under all circumstances. [end]
A proposal to allow Michigan patients to use marijuana for medical purposes appears to be headed to the November 2008 ballot. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care said Tuesday it turned in 496,000 petition signatures to the Secretary of State's Office. It needs about 304,000 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot. "Seriously ill patients who are following the advice of their doctor should not face the threat of arrest and jail for simply taking their medicine," coalition spokeswoman Dianne Byrum said in a statement. [continues 64 words]
Big Petition Seeks State Vote LANSING -- Michigan residents may get a chance to vote next fall on whether to decriminalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, after supporters of the idea submitted nearly a half-million petition signatures to state elections officials Tuesday. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care claimed to have gathered the signatures of 496,000 registered voters, far in excess of the 304,000 required to put the issue before the Legislature and, if no action is taken, to state voters. [continues 504 words]
OTSEGO COUNTY - The 46th Circuit Trial Court unveiled plans for a drug court to help alleviate overcrowding at the Otsego County Jail and to rehabilitate hard drug users. Chief Judge Patricia Morse and court administrator Rudi Edel, who discussed the plan Tuesday night at the Citizens Jail Committee meeting, indicated the program has a projected starting date of Jan. 2. The drug court will operate as an alternative to jail and will provide offenders an intensive period of support for a period of 18 months, Morse said. The county prosecutor will make all referrals to the program. [continues 221 words]
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A group that wants to allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes has turned in nearly 500,000 signatures to put the issue on the November 2008 ballot. The Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care says the 496,000 signatures it handed over to the secretary of state's office should easily contain 304,101 valid signatures, the minimum required. If approved by voters, the initiative would allow qualified, seriously ill patients to use and grow a limited amount of marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a doctor. Twelve states and five Michigan cities have passed laws allowing the medical use of marijuana. Marijuana is illegal under federal law under all circumstances. [end]
Inside Michigan
