AZTEC - With U.S. Senator Jeff in attendance, the table was set for a discussion on meth in New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation reservation. Bingaman, who scheduled the meeting to discuss with area officials and leaders what could be done to combat meth, cosponsored the Combat Meth Act of 2005 and is now waiting for the full senate to consider the bill. "I've been going around the state the last few months to understand the problem and to learn what can be done both statewide and nationally to combat meth," said Bingaman. [continues 507 words]
The Portales City Council inched closer Tuesday to passing an ordinance that would place restrictions on the sale of over-the-counter cold and sinus medicines believed to be used in methamphetamine production. The council unanimously approved a motion to put the ordinance to vote. First the council must conduct a public hearing for the ordinance, which is being pushed by the Ninth Judicial District Attorney's Office. The hearing is scheduled for the council's Aug. 16 meeting. The Roosevelt County Commission already passed an intent for a meth ordinance in July. [continues 358 words]
CARLSBAD -- Arrest records for 2003 and 2004 from the Carlsbad Police and Eddy County Sheriff's departments and the Carlsbad office of the New Mexico State Police show increases in arrests for driving under the influence and drug-related incidents. The state police and sheriff's department showed increases in DWI arrests. The state police had 92 DWI arrests in 2003 and 97 in 2004. The sheriff's department saw an increase of 32 DWI arrests, from 44 in 2003 to 76 in 2004. The police department saw a slight decrease in DWI arrests from 115 in 2003 to 107 in 2004. [continues 572 words]
Court Ruling Won't Affect Legislative Efforts SANTA FE Reena Szczepanski says she won't let the U.S. Supreme Court get in her way when she lobbies state legislators to legalize medicinal marijuana next year. The nation's high court Monday ruled the federal government can prosecute people whose doctors have recommended they use medical marijuana to help alleviate their illnesses, regardless of state laws that allow it. But Szczepanski said the ruling wasn't on the merits of medical marijuana use and basically leaves matters the way they have been. The justices did not strike down state laws but affirmed the authority of federal law officers to enforce federal law. [continues 233 words]
A little down, but not devastated. That's how medical-marijuana activists in Santa Fe described their reaction to Monday's U.S. Supreme Court decision that the federal government can prosecute people who use pot prescribed by their doctors. Repeated efforts to legalize medical marijuana in New Mexico have failed in recent years. However, the high court ruled that such a state law wouldn't protect users from federal prosecution. "I just feel sad that our laws are getting in the way of giving these patients the care they need," said Reena Szczepanski, director of the Drug Policy Alliance of New Mexico. "But I don't feel we should back down in any way because of this decision -- I don't think we should stop advocating." [continues 458 words]
Somehow I never see it coming. I'll be sitting with my parents, watching "The Late Show," we'll be laughing and enjoying ourselves, and then the worst happens. Cut to a commercial. But this late at night programming doesn't cut to just any commercial. It fades in a public service announcement. That's when the trouble starts. A young man's face will appear on the screen. He will look distraught, as if his youth has been stolen away by some tragedy. And just as I am reaching for the remote, he'll make his opening statement: [continues 423 words]
A bill that would legalize marijuana to treat certain medical conditions has stalled on the floor of the House of Representatives because of a dispute involving an unrelated bill dealing with developer impact fees in Albuquerque. Rep. Dan Silva told a reporter Wednesday that because of his difficulty in getting his House Bill 805 heard in the Senate Judiciary Committee, he's worked behind the scenes to delay action on the medical-marijuana bill, Senate Bill 795. That bill is sponsored by Sen. Cisco McSorley, who is chairman of the Judicial Committee. [continues 701 words]
Legislation to restrict Albuquerque's impact fees and a bill to legalize medical marijuana may have fallen victim to last-minute political squabbling. House Bill 805 and its sister, Senate Bill 1005, which would have prohibited cities and counties from using impact fees as a tool to control growth, died early Saturday morning when the Senate's Judiciary Committee didn't have a six-member quorum to vote. The Judiciary Committee chairman contends his medical marijuana bill was subsequently allowed to "die" on the House floor in retaliation. [continues 695 words]
A Republican supporter of a bill that would allow sufferers of certain serious diseases to use marijuana made a last-minute - -- literally -- attempt to pass the bill that sat for days on the House calendar as a result of a political dispute over an unrelated bill. Though the move was unexpected, it wouldn't have been impossible to push the bill through. In the closing minutes of the session -- which, according to the state constitution, ended at noon -- the House took action on several bills. [continues 339 words]
The state Senate has passed three bills that, if they become law, would have New Mexico joining 12 other states that allow the medical use of marijuana. Currently, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington have enacted laws to legalize medical marijuana. It's not the first time lawmakers have dealt with the legislation - and it wouldn't be the first such program in the state. In the late 1970s, New Mexico set up a program linking the medical use of marijuana with a research project, which eventually lost its funding and became defunct. [continues 657 words]
Santa Fe -- The Senate has voted to allow patients with cancer and other debilitating diseases to legally use marijuana. The Senate on Wednesday passed three bills, each of them establishing a program run by the state Department of Health. If any of the bills were to become law, New Mexico would join 10 other states that allow the medical use of marijuana. Senate Judiciary Chairman Cisco McSorley, D-Albuquerque, said his proposal would provide "one more opportunity for life for our loved ones." [continues 458 words]
Not one, not two, but three bills that would set up state programs to provide marijuana to patients suffering from certain serious medical conditions won overwhelming bipartisan approval from the state Senate on Wednesday. If any of the bills makes it through the House and is signed by the governor, patients suffering conditions such as cancer, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, certain spinal-cord damage, epilepsy and HIV-AIDS would be able to use marijuana supplied by the state Health Department. A spokesman for Gov. Bill Richardson issued a statement that said: "For people who are living in a tremendous amount of pain as a result of life-threatening diseases, this is a treatment that they should be allowed to have." [continues 554 words]
Belen -- A Belen Middle School teacher was arrested on Wednesday on one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor after accusations surfaced that he allegedly told a parent he was helping students hide drugs before scheduled searches by police. Tony J. Salas, 56, has taught social studies at the middle school since August of 2000, district officials said on Thursday. He was placed on paid administrative leave on Thursday, Feb. 17, after school officials received a complaint from a parent who alleged that Salas told her during a parent-teacher conference that he helped her son hide a marijuana pipe in the bed of his truck before police brought in a dog trained to detect the presence of drugs. [continues 762 words]
Max Gardner was at death's door because he had little desire to go through the kitchen door. Stricken with colon cancer, he didn't have much appetite and chemotherapy-related nausea made it difficult to keep food down, according to his mother, Vicki Plevin. A skeletal six-footer in his mid-20s, Gardner weighed about 80 pounds. Modern medicine has developed an amazing array of weapons against cancer, but they are pointless if a patient dies of starvation. That's where age-old nature comes in: Marijuana enhances the appetite, calms queasy stomachs and helps patients keep their strength up for the battle of their life. [continues 235 words]
Erin Armstrong, a 23-year-old woman from Santa Fe who is a cancer survivor, dreads the day she gets taken off her parents' insurance plan. After that, the medication she takes for nausea will cost her $3,000 a month. That's why she is asking state lawmakers to pass a medical-marijuana bill. Sen. Cisco McSorley, D. Albuquerque, told reporters Monday that he will sponsor a bill in which the state Health Department would oversee a program to legally provide marijuana to sufferers of specific medical conditions. [continues 612 words]
Illegal Immigrants and Drug Traffickers Stream to New Mexico to Avoid Patrols Elsewhere. COLUMBUS, N.M. -- Frustrated by security crackdowns in Arizona, thousands of illegal immigrants and drug traffickers are flooding once-quiet New Mexico, making it the newest frontier in America's struggle to control its southern border. Border Patrol agents who once caught handfuls of immigrants a day here now arrest 140 or 150 a night. Armed confrontations are increasing, high-speed chases have become routine and officials say they lack the resources to hold the line. At the same time, Mexican crime syndicates using two-way radios and sophisticated cellphones have American law enforcement under surveillance. [continues 1685 words]
Judges Deserve Discretion In Sentencing, Not Mandatory Absurdity Federal prison sentences have become front-page news. Over time, the federal sentencing laws have evolved until today they are no longer fair or just, and they are a scandalous waste of your federal tax dollars. To understand the problems with the present sentencing laws, it is helpful to have some historical perspective. In the 1970s, there were concerns that defendants who committed similar crimes sometimes received different sentences from different judges or in different areas of the country. [continues 797 words]
Dear Editor: After reading the "Community Guest Column" by Paul Stern, I felt a need to express my concern about the treatment options for drug-dependent adults as well as youth in the Grants area. As a past resident of Grants, I am appalled by the drug abuse that is running rampant on the street and even more ashamed of the available treatment options for them. It seems to me that the streets in Grants need to be cleaned of the dealers that contribute to the drug abuse among the youth as well as the adult offenders. [continues 279 words]
I'm no expert, but I'd venture there are two types of drug-addicted youth: those who want help and those who don't. I think what we as a community need to do is create a treatment program that both types of youngsters will want to participate in - and the program needs to be here in Cibola County so that kids aren't shipped off to centers elsewhere in the state. If you don't think our community has a juvenile substance abuse problem, read the Beacon's Friday police blotter. [continues 744 words]
Yellow space suits, high-powered rifles and your parents screaming as some stranger drags them away. The methamphetamine bust as seen by the child on the inside, officials say, is a frightening thing. But according to statistics from the New Mexico State Police, this unfortunate drama is fairly common. When a methamphetamine lab is busted, children are on the scene about 30 percent of the time. Since 2001, statistics show law enforcement officials have busted roughly 20 methamphetamine labs a year in Curry and Roosevelt counties. [continues 463 words]
Inside New Mexico
