Re "Drug tests" (Feature story, July 8):

Drugs have been around far longer than governments and will continue to be long beyond them.

Some do drugs to escape, party, get laid or have other juicy times.

Some do it to push the limits of consciousness or to try to find meaning and art.

Some abuse them, and that's bad.

I think if you're an adult, you should be able to explore the limits of your own world/mind without hindrance--not because some silly second-hander says, "No, that's scary," or someone else wants to pass a law to "protect" you from yourself.

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A Nevada ballot initiative petition is now circulating to make marijuana legal and set up a regulatory system akin to tobacco or alcohol. The petition would go first to the 2011 Nevada Legislature, and if the lawmakers fail to act on it, voters in 2012 would decide whether to enact it.

There are a number of unknowns surrounding the issue, but a new study may suggest questions that need to be addressed. The Rand Corporation, a leading think tank, has issued a report on the possible results of making marijuana legal in California. The report found:

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Welcome to this week's Reno News & Review.

I'm still getting a hard time over last week's cover story, "Drug tests," in which I sampled some of the legal substances available at local head shops. It's not from the expected sources--you know, I expected my dad to call, "What do you mean you took coke in the early `80s?" or from some distraught parent, "I never heard of this stuff. Why are you doing telling my kids about it?" (And by the way, I'd never heard of some of this stuff, either, but I'm willing to bet any kid who'd be inclined toward experimenting already knew about it.)

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I rarely use this column to explain my own writing, but I'm feeling a little creeped out by this week's cover story, and I think some of the themes are subtle for newsprint.

First, I consider myself a sophisticated member of our society. I had a well misspent youth, and I went down a lot of dark alleys. So my arrogance is, since I've seen it all, I know a lot, and if my friends or my child starts going down a dangerous path, I'd like to think I'd recognize it. This story convinced me that is not true. I didn't even know the words. Salvia? Bath salts? Spice? I could have been sitting with a group of teenagers, and if they were discussing Pep or Genie or Halo or K2, I'd have no idea what they were talking about. I'm not a big "we must save the children by limiting adults' fun" type, but I should at least recognize the words. And so should those other parents who grew up in the '70s and '80s.

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You Can Take These 'Legal' Intoxicants, but Do You Really Want To?

You should have seen the kid's face at the head shop when I told him I wanted to buy some salvia and some mephedrone. His lineless face dropped open, and he nervously stammered. He was plainly conflicted: If he told the old guy who looked about half like a cop how to take the drugs, he could be forfeiting his job and maybe even his boss' business. If he failed to tell the old guy how to take the drugs ... well, maybe there would be one less old guy.

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Even though Nevada voters have rejected them twice in recent years by 60-40 margins, the drug legalizers will return to the Silver State in 2012. I hope we send them home for good next time around.

The Washington, D.C.-based Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) announced last December that it is again seeking signatures for a Nevada ballot measure to legalize the "recreational, non-medicinal use" of marijuana. As most Nevada voters realize, however, that would only be the first step down the slippery slope of drug legalization. The MPP will need to collect more than 100,000 signatures by Nov. 9 in order to put their misguided measure on our 2012 ballot.

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One of two Honolulu police officers arrested Aug. 15 on suspicion of smoking marijuana in a van at a city park in Las Vegas was granted a second continuance in the case last week and is scheduled to go to trial on the charge Jan. 28.

Court officials in Las Vegas said officer Shayne Souza was granted the continuance for further negotiations in the case.

Souza had been scheduled to go to trial on the charge Nov. 18, but was granted a continuance until Dec. 16. On that date, a second continuance was granted, this one until Jan. 28.

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While Nevada and many other states are trying to figure out how to close their massive budget shortfalls, the Dutch in the Netherlands are trying to figure out what to do with their closed prisons. While the Netherlands has a total population of about 16.5 million, it has only about 12,000 prisoners. On the other hand, the United States has more than 2,300,000 total prisoners.

If my math is correct, we in the U. S. have 18.2 times the Dutch general population and 191.6 times their prison population. Why the glaring disparity? I suggest it's our drug policies.

In the Netherlands, adult citizens can use, buy and possess small amounts of marijuana without criminal sanctions. In the United States, adult citizens are subject to arrest, and jail or prison for buying, selling or possessing various amounts of marijuana.

Kirk Muse

MESA, ARIZ.

[end]

Re "The Pot Issue" (Feature story, Nov. 5):

Open letter to the northern Nevada medical community:

I am a 50-year-old disabled veteran. Because of injuries I sustained in the United States Army, I suffer from chronic pain. I consume 90 hydrocodone, 180 naproxin/acetaminophen, and approximately 120 aspirin/Tylenol per month. I have grave concerns over the long-lasting effects of this drug use on my body.

With the recent dialogue and state legalization of medical marijuana, I thought this might be my answer. I contacted the state agency in charge of this program only to find that they wouldn't recommend a physician or tell me how to find one with some knowledge in this area of treatment. My Veterans Administration doctor is a federal employee and unable to prescribe a medicine that is still federally illegal. After going to the yellow pages and calling numerous physicians, it became apparent that despite its Nevada legality there are no Northern Nevada physicians with the courage to explore this option.

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Trial for Second HPD Veteran Rescheduled From Wednesday to Dec. 16

One of two Honolulu police officers arrested Aug. 15 for allegedly smoking marijuana in a van at a city park in Las Vegas will be facing a felony charge and could face up to four years in prison, according to Nevada law.

Among the charges in a complaint filed this week against officer Kevin Fujioka by the Clark County District Attorney's Office is a felony count titled, "under the influence of a controlled substance."

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Or A Tale Of Two Patients. Use Of Medical Marijuana Can Be Both A Godsend And A Trial.

Two individuals, both suffering from debilitating, degenerative diseases, both arriving at the legal use of medical marijuana for pain management, could not have come to more dissimilar conclusions regarding its use. Strike that--at least on this point: Both agree the drug is an effective tool against pain. It's the social side effects that split them on the issue.

If you don't mind, call me when you're outside. I'll come out."

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Reyna Barnett operates a website, www.drreefer.com, that offers information about medical marijuana programs in the United States, but more important, offers to help people interested in medical marijuana complete the government applications and connect with doctors willing to prescribe the marijuana. Be wary with things on the site, or with anything having to do with your health. For more information, call (702) 309-3839 or (702) 769-1552.

What made you get involved in medical marijuana?

What made me get involved in that is because my son is a patient, too. He went through a lot. He was growing medical marijuana for patients. I see how hard it is for people who want to get into a medical marijuana program. It's really hard for the way they do it from the health department; they have this application that people can't access on the internet or anywhere else, they have to request it through the health department in Carson City. It takes a very long time for the health department to send the application. I request the application for a lot of people, and that goes a little bit faster because I also use the UPS service. In that respect I help them out. Then I call them up to do an appointment with the doctor. That's when the doctor will sign the program recommendation. I also help the patient with all the information that they need to know with the medical marijuana program and help them with the paperwork. Then they finish the process with the health department, and the health department will send them the letters that say when they can go to the DMV and get their picture taken for the medical marijuana license.

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When Patricia Copening, a petite, 35-year-old doctor's office receptionist, bought nearly 4,500 doses of prescription painkillers one year, alarm bells sounded at the Nevada controlled-substance task force. The state board sent letters to 14 pharmacies in the Las Vegas area warning that Ms. Copening could be abusing drugs.

On the afternoon of June 4, 2004 -- a year after the letters were sent -- Ms. Copening climbed into a gray Dodge Durango, veered onto U.S. 95 and was seen weaving erratically in and out of three-lane traffic, witnesses later said. She plowed into 21-year-old Gregory Sanchez Jr., a delivery-van driver who had pulled over to repair a flat tire on the highway's shoulder, killing him at the scene. She also hit Robert Martinez, 33, who had been helping Mr. Sanchez move packages out of his van. Mr. Martinez suffered a head injury, a broken right leg and other wounds. Ms. Copening wasn't injured.

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My applause to the enlightened Galena High School parents who voted against mandatory random drug testing.

The legal issues here, although disturbing, are not my area of expertise and I'll refrain from comment. As an analytical chemist whose career was largely devoted to drug analysis, I do feel qualified to make the following comments:

Drug testing is not something that should be placed in the hands of bureaucratic amateurs. All screening tests can produce false positives and, depending on the manufacturer, some more than others. Rather than counseling, a positive result for a screening test requires a more rigorous confirmatory test, usually GCMS. Additionally, there are tests to confirm the integrity of the sample to check for adulteration, dilution for example.

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Two Police Veterans And A Social Worker Are Charged With Marijuana Possession

What happened in Vegas this weekend won't stay in Vegas for two Honolulu police officers, and that worries some fellow officers.

Police employees who asked to remain anonymous said they are concerned that their two colleagues, charged with various drug offenses, might have tarnished the reputation of the whole department, locally and nationally.

Officers Kevin Fujioka, 37, and Shayne Souza, 47, were arrested Saturday night after leading authorities on a short chase near Desert Breeze Park, about six miles west of the Las Vegas Strip, Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said.

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"It was my life," is how one former methamphetamine addict described his craving for a drug he used for decades.

Carl Kelly, who now works for New Frontier Treatment Center, said he started using alcohol at the age of 13 before turning to meth four years later.

"It was the drug of choice. I did it everyday," he said, adding he knew he knew there was a problem the first time he used it.

"There was no turning back," he remembered. "I kept doing it for 25 years."

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The 90 football players at Galena High School will not take random drug tests this year after less than two-thirds of parents voted for the program, a school administrator said Tuesday.

Parents at a Thursday barbecue at the south Reno school were given a form to indicate their choice. School officials this week collected the forms and contacted parents who were not at the barbecue, said Shaun Finnigan, Galena assistant principal for athletics.

Parents of students on the school's girls volleyball and boys and girls soccer, cross country and tennis will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at the school to discuss random drug testing.

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In one way, the Obama administration is conducting business as usual. The president's drug "czar," Gil Kerlikowske, was in Fresno for a pot bust last week, and he said that marijuana "has no medicinal benefit," just as Democratic and Republican administrations have been claiming for decades. See how easy it is to lie about health care matters and get away with it?

As we knew it would be, this is a season of major lying. Drafting of health care legislation is before Congress, and the two political parties have been engaging in debate that is truth-free.

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Sound familiar?

As long as people use drugs, there will be demand and the drug lords will make billions. Do I condone drug use? No! However, as with Prohibition, it is senseless to try to control its use by legislation.

Instead, the government should control the distribution of drugs the same way we control alcohol use. The billions in revenue could be used to trim our national debt, jails won't be as crowded and crime-related killings will be eliminated.

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Director Says Nevada Residents Are Pragmatic About Drug

The Marijuana Policy Project has set up its first state chapter in Las Vegas, launching another effort to get voters to legalize pot in Nevada.

The national nonprofit advocacy group is too late to qualify an initiative for the 2010 ballot, and would likely try for 2012, director Neil Levine said.

"Our goal is to see marijuana treated the same way as alcohol," Levine said.

Nevada voters twice since 2002 have rejected opportunities to legalize the use of marijuana, but in 2000, 65 percent of Nevadans approved a ballot initiative to allow the medical use of marijuana. The law authorized Nevadans to grow up to seven plants, only three mature, and possess an ounce for their own use.

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