Re: "What Nerve -- Calderon's criticism of U.S. is galling," Wednesday Editorial. Our country is beset by persistent problems that seem to defy solutions. But like spoiled children we blame the problems on others. Take illegal immigration. Your editorial suggests that Mexico is partially to blame because of its failure "to stem the flow of illegal immigrants." Be serious! Would our government intervene if millions of our citizens decided to emigrate to Canada or Mexico? Most illegal immigrants come for jobs, and we fail to punish employers who hire them. We, the people, are addicted to cheap labor! [continues 97 words]
Re: "The dangers of pot," by James Phipps, Friday Letters. Mr. Phipps attempt to demonize the use of pot fails on many levels. How are the examples he uses any different than with alcohol? Alcohol is completely legal, and its abuse devastates many more lives than the use of pot. We need to fight the abuse (as opposed to use) of all drugs by treating it as the health issue that it is, not the criminal issue the prohibitionists want it to be. Lee Franke, Frisco [end]
Thirty-eight million arrests, most for simple possession. Lives ruined, families disrupted. America turned into the most prison-happy nation on the face of the Earth. Illegal rewards incentivizing shooting fields in inner-city neighborhoods -- enough bloodshed to appall even an Al Capone. Over $1 trillion in taxpayer outlays. Thirty-six years after President Richard Nixon inaugurated this country's misbegotten "war on drugs," worldwide narcotics markets are booming, drug ring profits are higher than ever, and drugs cost less than ever on the street. [continues 685 words]
If you call it political commentary, it's delivered in a way that only a Madman would dare. For 59 seconds, Ted Nugent, known as the Motor City Madman, assaults a howling rock audience and YouTube viewers with a nasty and dangerous diatribe against Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Holding up what appears to be two semi-automatic weapons on stage, Nugent unleashes first on Obama, saying, "You might want to suck on these, you punk." Then he goes after Clinton, holding up a weapon and saying, "Hey, Hillary, you might want to ride one of these into the sunset, you worthless b--." [continues 572 words]
Special Team Performs Cleanup After Drug Raid Cleaning up after a methamphetamine lab is raided can take a while, but it depends on the lab's size and the chemicals involved, officials said. While it only took 30 to 45 minutes to clean up the meth lab found at 806 W. Goodwin Ave. on Wednesday, it took a special team trained in removing hazardous materials to do the work, said Sgt. Erica Padilla with the Victoria Police Department. Because the Victoria Police Department is not allowed to touch the materials, a team from Responsive Environmental Solutions from New Braunfels was called in to remove the highly explosive materials used for cooking the drug. [continues 493 words]
As of today, misdemeanor possession of marijuana no longer requires police to arrest the offender and haul him off to appear before a magistrate. Instead, a simple ticket will do for people possessing quantities of less than 4 ounces if caught in their home county. Supporters of the new procedures insist this does not amount to decriminalization but clears our jails and frees up our police to apprehend people who pose a real threat to society. We're happy (in a drug-free way) because pot smokers never belonged among the likes of rapists and muggers in our jails. [end]
Texas lawmakers dropped the ball when they failed to pass bills that would have created a safe, controlled statewide needle exchange program. The bills would have crafted the program and amended current law to allow medical professionals to avoid prosecution under the Texas Controlled Substances Act. Texas is believed to be the only state without some form of authorized syringe exchange program. Through the efforts of Rep. Ruth Jones McClendon, D-San Antonio, lawmakers approved a pilot needle exchange program for Bexar County after efforts for a statewide program failed. Unfortunately, language exempting the program from drug paraphernalia laws was not included. [continues 275 words]
How Committing More Resources to Mexico's Drug War Will Only Make the Problem Worse President Bush confirmed last week, at the U.S.-Canada-Mexico "summit" meeting, that the U.S. is planning a "robust" aid package to help Mexico combat the illegal drug trade. There is little question that Mexico is experiencing a tragic wave of violence as various drug cartels battle among themselves and with the federales. But throwing more resources into enforcement will make matters worse. The administration was at pains to say that the proposed aid to Mexico was not at all like the "Plan Colombia" program that has seen $800 million to $1.3 billion sent to Colombia every year since 1998, when the Clinton administration started it. No wonder. After all that money was spent, the number of acres under coca cultivation in Colombia actually has risen in recent years, and the street price of cocaine in the United States has declined, which is exactly the opposite of what the plan was supposed to accomplish. [continues 269 words]
3 Deaths Awaken Campus, But Is Substance Abuse Ingrained? UNIVERSITY PARK - Students and parents at Southern Methodist University's orientation watch a film about a fraternity pledge in Massachusetts who died after a rum and beer binge. They learn that half of the nation's high school seniors have tried illegal drugs and that 1,700 college students die each year from injuries tied to alcohol. The message is particularly painful - and relevant - as this school year begins at SMU. Between December and May, three undergraduates died of drug or alcohol overdoses. That toll would stand out at any college, but it's especially conspicuous at SMU, a close-knit campus of 11,000 students that has long tried to shake its party-school reputation. [continues 2359 words]
Re: "Painkiller sales up sharply - Widening use reflected in DEA statistics has some concerned," Tuesday news story. According to the American Medical Association, over 50 million Americans live with pain. This appalling situation exists largely because it is Drug Enforcement Administration policy to frighten and intimidate physicians. When a physician suspected of wrongdoing is arrested, the DEA often bursts into the office, using agents in SWAT gear. After the conviction of a prominent pain specialist for drug trafficking, Dr. C. Stratton Hill, president of Texas Cancer Pain Initiative of Texas, wrote, "Any Texas physician (or any physician anywhere, for that matter) who treats pain adequately with opioids needs to have his or her head examined." The Justice Department is determined that it, not physicians, caregivers and patients, will determine what medical care is appropriate and available in this country. Suzanne Wills Drug Policy Forum of Texas Dallas [end]
AUSTIN -- If a police officer in Texas catches you with a few ounces of marijuana you're going to jail, right? Maybe not. Beginning Sept. 1, police officers will have the discretion to issue citations similar to traffic tickets rather than hauling the offender to jail. House Bill 2391, which passed with virtually no opposition during the 2007 legislative session and was signed into law without fanfare by Gov. Rick Perry, does not change the penalty for pot possession. But supporters say the discretion may only be used when the person is in possession of four ounces of marijuana or less and lives in the county where the stop was made, and only when the suspect is not considered a threat to public safety. Plus, they say, it will save a lot of time and paperwork for beat cops and it will help prevent local jails from being clogged with otherwise low-risk lawbreakers. [continues 542 words]
We've Spent 36 Years And Billions Of Dollars Fighting It, But The Drug Trade Keeps Growing. Poppies were the first thing that British army Capt. Leo Docherty noticed when he arrived in Afghanistan's Helmand province in April 2006. "They were growing right outside the gate of our forward operating base," he said. Within two weeks, he realized that "poppy is the economic mainstay, and everyone is involved right up to the higher echelons of the local government." Poppy, of course, is the plant from which opium and heroin are derived. [continues 1359 words]
Re: "Another marijuana field found near GP border," Wednesday Metro. I have no idea what it costs the taxpayers to fly a helicopter around all day looking for marijuana, which most feel should be decriminalized anyway. I'm sure the expense of this aerial assault would go a long way toward funding the needs of the extra police officers needed to patrol our streets to be able to respond to our burglar alarms. As recreational drugs, all proven less harmful than alcohol, become harder and harder to get, they'll become more expensive, resulting in even more crime. The biggest crime is such a blatant waste of our tax dollars in attacking a problem most don't even consider to be a problem. Norman Hines Iii Dallas [end]
LAREDO -- When police investigators realized the hit men they had under surveillance were about to attack a local dentist driving a Hummer, they issued a hurried order to a patrol car. Pull the Hummer over, right now. A few frantic moments later, the dentist was parked, the police cruiser behind him, lights flashing. The hit men kept driving, thrown off by an apparent routine traffic stop. They had almost killed the wrong man -- again. But police were only days away from stopping them for good. [continues 2261 words]
HORIZON CITY -- The halls of Horizon High School are spotless and shine with new paint that comes with being one of the newest high schools in the El Paso region. But the pristine campus decorated with its scorpion mascot -- according to a federal agents -- was the recruiting ground for a student-led drug trafficking ring suspected of smuggling 14 tons of marijuana between JuA!rez and Oklahoma City last school year. Recent Horizon High graduate Rene Humberto Perez, alias "Jetta," is accused of hiring fellow students to drive marijuana-filled vehicles destined for an Oklahoma City connection identified only as "El Tio" (the uncle), a federal criminal complaint affidavit stated. [continues 816 words]
Are we supposed to be surprised that when government makes an easy-to-grow weed almost as valuable as gold, lots of people will take advantage of the situation ("Pot fields springing up like weeds in North Texas," Aug. 3)? If marijuana were legal, our government could collect billions of dollars in taxes instead of throwing billions down the drain in a futile attempt to nullify the law of supply and demand. - - Kirk Muse, Mesa, Ariz. [end]
With millions of citizens choosing to use the relatively safe God-given cannabis plant, it's not surprising millions of plants are being grown across the nation ("Pot fields springing up like weeds in North Texas," Aug. 3). Americans have a right to choose to use cannabis and should demand a regulated cultivation and market system to make it available. Government has no right to prohibit, persecute and exterminate cannabis. Either way, the great demand for cannabis will be met. That's why it's the No. 1 crop in many states. So Texas and other states can go backward and continue spending limited tax resources to futilely attempt to stop what can't be stopped or go forward and increase tax revenue legalizing and regulating cannabis use - which is going to occur anyway. - - Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
GARCENO - Police seized more than 4,000 pounds of marijuana worth about $2.5 million after raiding a stash house here. No one was arrested at the home east of Roma and a mile north of Highway 83. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and county drug task force agents found 321 bundles of marijuana that weighed 4,243 pounds, according to a statement from ICE. Agents also found trash bags with drug wrapping materials. [end]
Don Erler's Tuesday column ("Let those thoughts on government soar") was right on target. Marijuana prohibition has done little more than to burden millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records. The University of Michigan's "Monitoring the Future" study reported that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than in any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. [continues 128 words]
AUSTIN -- It's been decades since Willie Nelson smoked that first joint in Fort Worth, but -- Ain't it funny how time slips away? -- he's still singing the praises of pot. On Friday, the country music legend headlines Austin Freedom Fest, a benefit concert for four pro-marijuana groups, including the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Nelson co-chairs NORML's advisory board. "Marijuana is like sex," the Hill Country crooner wrote in his 1988 biography, Willie. "If I don't do it every day I get a headache." [continues 494 words]
Inside Texas
