WOODSTOCK - A former substitute Shenandoah County judge, accused of growing marijuana plants on his property, pleaded guilty this morning in the county's circuit court.

James H. Allamong Jr. accepted a plea agreement that amended the charges against him. He was charged with felony possession with intent to distribute, and felony manufacturing of marijuana. He was convicted of two misdemeanors: possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Retired Arlington County Judge Paul Sheridan sentenced Allamong to 30 days in jail beginning Oct. 5 and to pay a $500 fine. The sentence includes 12 months suspended jail time, two years probation and 200 community service hours.

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Boone offers advice on tackling substance abuse issues in area

Just because someone is a former felon or an addict doesn't mean that their life will never be anything, Delbert Boone said at a Recovery Day gathering Saturday.

Anyone can recover, he said, adding, "I'm living proof." Boone, a motivational speaker who travels across the country talking about overcoming addiction, spoke at Patrick Henry Community College on Saturday as part of Recovery Day.

Recovery Day was hosted by the Community Recovery Program of Piedmont Community Services and Drug Free Martinsville Henry County to mark September as National Recovery Month. The day also celebrates those recovering from alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness.

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RICHMOND- Cigarette smuggling has become so lucrative that organized crime is getting involved, and many former drug dealers have switched to peddling contraband smokes instead of narcotics, the Virginia State Crime Commission was told Wednesday.

The General Assembly last winter directed the commission to study illegal cigarette trafficking and make recommendations before the 2013 legislative session, which begins in January. The commission's staff conducted the investigation and will present its recommendations at the next meeting in November.

G. Stewart Petoe, the commission's legal affairs director, said the amount of money cigarette smugglers can make is staggering. That's because they can buy a pack of premium cigarettes for about $5.55 in Virginia and sell it for a big profit on the black market in New York City, where a higher cigarette excise tax pushes the retail price to about $14 a pack.

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NEWPORT NEWS -- When Quwanisha Hines was arrested numerous times as a juvenile for crimes related to abusing alcohol and drugs, she could see her life going down the wrong path.

One day, she said, she started imagining her future, and it wasn't pretty.

In addition to smoking marijuana, she was drinking a six-pack of beer every day, or two large malt liquors --and more on the weekends. Normally a "B" student, her grades slipped to "Ds" and "Fs."

"I saw my life flash before my eyes," said Hines, now 21.

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Re: Your July 23 editorial ("Synthetic drug manufactures concern"):

The use of synthetic marijuana is an unintended side effect of the war on natural marijuana. Consumers are turning to potentially toxic drugs made in China and sold as research chemicals before being repackaged as legal incense.

Expanding the drug war will do little other than add to what is already the highest incarceration rate in the world. Chinese chemists will tweak formulas to stay one step ahead of the law and two steps ahead of the drug tests. New versions won't be safer. Misguided efforts to protect children from drugs are putting children at risk.

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Wanna buy some drugs? How about some drugz?

Years ago, law enforcement had to worry about a handful of illegal intoxicants, primarily marijuana, cocaine, heroin and a few natural and chemical hallucinogens. There were also pills, diverted from the pharmacy or cooked in a kitchen.

But, for the most part, the composition of the various intoxicants was settled and well known by law enforcement and by regulators if not by users.

Today, the drug universe is as broad as the human imagination.

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The latest front in the war on drugs is found as near as a neighborhood store.

If synthetic drugs are the latest battle in the war on drugs, the front can be found at the neighborhood convenience store. There, merchants stock a product deceptively marketed as something else.

The problem with synthetic drugs is that as quickly as lawmakers vote to ban one particular substance, "chemists" concoct a slightly different brew.

Then packets of stuff labeled as bath salts, plant food or some other innocent-sounding concoction end up on store shelves. This isn't the Epsom salts of Grandma's day or the fertilizer your philodendron soaks up. And because it's sold in stores, naive kids mistakenly think, "If it's legal, it mustn't be bad."

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Re: the May 16 letter to the editor "Don't sweep [marijuana] resolution aside" (The Daily Progress):

The General Assembly just passed another budget that fails to adequately fund transportation. Virginia apparently has money to burn on other priorities though. More than 21,000 Virginians were arrested for marijuana offenses in 2010. That amounts to 6 percent of all arrests. Police time spent arresting marijuana offenders is police time not spent arresting child molesters, rapists and murderers.

Pot smokers busted after the age of 18 are branded as criminals for life. The drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2010, there were 853,839 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis.

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On May 7, the Charlottesville City Council boldly recast the debate about marijuana policy in Virginia. The council adopted a resolution urging the General Assembly to give due consideration to decriminalizing, legalizing or regulating marijuana like alcohol. The council signaled that there is substantial support for changing marijuana laws in our community.

This development undermines claims that marijuana legalization is a marginal issue in the commonwealth. When future sessions of the General Assembly debate this issue, our elected officials will need to give the issue a fair hearing.

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In the Weeds

A resolution that would have marked a shift in city policy toward prosecuting marijuana possession was ultimately passed by City Council last week as a watered-down request for the state to re-examine its drug policy, but that didn't keep the debate over legalization from raging on.

At the May 7 council meeting, the chambers overflowed with citizens ready to argue for or against marijuana decriminalization. After hearing from recovering drug addicts, attorneys, students, and parents, council members discussed the resolution at length. The original draft consisted of two parts, the first encouraging the Charlottesville Police Department to deprioritize by reducing punishment for possession and focusing on other crimes. The final paragraph proposed that the city address the Virginia General Assembly about a statewide decriminalization. It was the only portion that passed.

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Still, Two-Thirds Don't Smoke Pot, Say Results of Survey in County

The percentage of Henry County Schools high school students who say they smoke marijuana every day has increased dramatically in the last few years, and some other measures of marijuana use also have increased significantly, all mirroring national trends.

But Katie Connelly, community organizer for prevention for Piedmont Community Services, said it's important to point out that when the drug survey was most recently done early this school year, about two-thirds of students said they did not smoke marijuana.

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The Charlottesville City Council has shown its willingness to push the envelope on marijuana policy, but Central Virginia's representatives in Richmond seem uneager to follow suit.

The City Council broke new ground last week by calling on state lawmakers to rethink penalties for pot possession and give "due consideration" to legislation that would decriminalize, legalize or regulate marijuana like alcohol.

Pro-legalization activists believe it's the first resolution of its kind in the state, but because marijuana is illegal under state law, nothing will change unless the General Assembly decides to act.

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RICHMOND - After months of an undercover investigation in 2008, a York County sheriff's deputy finally had enough evidence to charge Brandon Gomez, then 18, with intent to distribute marijuana.

"I had actually been just basically the middleman," Gomez said, describing himself as an intermediary between a dealer and users in marijuana sales.

During the investigation, the undercover officer bought 4 ounces of marijuana. After Gomez spent a few nights in jail, the officer offered him a deal: If he turned in his dealer and buyers, the felony charges would be reduced to misdemeanors. Gomez reluctantly agreed, and spent the next six months betraying the people who trusted him most.

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CHARLOTTESVILLE - After a wide-ranging, hourlong discussion of marijuana policy, the City Council voted Monday night to approve a resolution calling on the state to revisit its pot possession policies.

Councilors were split on the issue, with some voicing concerns about whether a broader resolution that defined marijuana possession as a low priority for police would send the wrong message to children.

At least two councilors supported the stronger resolution, but they picked up the third vote needed by narrowing the resolution down to a single paragraph.

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After a wide-ranging, hour-long discussion of marijuana policy, the Charlottesville City Council voted Monday night to approve a resolution calling on the state of Virginia to revisit its pot possession policies.

Councilors were split on the issue, with some voicing concerns about whether a broader resolution that defined marijuana possession as a low priority for police would send the wrong message to children.

At least two councilors supported the stronger resolution, but they picked up the third vote needed by narrowing the resolution down to a single paragraph.

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CHESAPEAKE - When it comes to marijuana, the nose knows.

Even in a moving car. Even with the windows up.

Police officers in Chesapeake have been pulling over cars on the grounds that they smelled marijuana while cruising down local roadways, defense attorneys say. And according to the testimony of one officer, it's become common practice to try to sniff out pot from behind the wheel.

"We drive our patrol car with the vents on, pulling air from the outside in, directly into our faces," Officer Barrett C. Ring said late last year in court during a preliminary hearing, according to a transcript of the proceedings. "Commonly, we'll be behind vehicles that somebody in the vehicle is smoking marijuana, and we can smell it clear as day."

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Americans' Experience With Marketing's Power Inclines Them to Favor Prohibition and Enforcement Over Legalization and Marketing of Drugs. but This Choice Has Consequences.

WASHINGTON - Amelioration of today's drug problem requires Americans to understand the significance of the 80/20 ratio. Twenty percent of American drinkers consume 80 percent of the alcohol sold here. The same 80-20 split obtains among users of illicit drugs.

About 3 million people - less than 1 percent of America's population - - consume 80 percent of illegal hard drugs. Drug trafficking organizations can be most efficiently injured by changing the behavior of the 20 percent of heavy users, and we are learning how to do so. Reducing consumption by the 80 percent of casual users will not substantially reduce the northward flow of drugs or the southward flow of money.

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Televangelist Pat Robertson has never been my go-to guy for proof that there is a God, but last week he made me believe in miracles.

The Virginia Beach-based Southern Baptist and public scold announced we should stop criminalizing marijuana and treat it like beverage alcohol because our endless war on drugs is bankrupting us, spiritually and financially.

"We here in America make up 5 percent of the world's population, but we make up 25 percent of jailed prisoners," Robertson said on a recent broadcast of The 700 Club.

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A recent national survey conducted among 8th-10th grade public school students indicated that kids within that age group are smoking marijuana more but consuming alcohol less. I was a bit skeptical of the findings, due perhaps not so much to the results, but because I questioned the need to survey children that young to begin with. Seemed a little superfluous to me.

So I conducted a small survey of my own recently among kids I know and much to my disappointed surprise it turns out I was wrong and the survey was right: Apparently even seventh-graders are smoking pot in abundance these days. That's 12-year olds getting their hands on either imported or home-grown bud and toking it up like it's no big deal.

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More than 75 percent of Virginians think welfare recipients should be required to pass a drug test to receive benefits, according to a poll released Thursday.

Overall, voters support testing for public assistance by 76 percent to 21 percent with strong support across race, gender, party, income, religious and age groups.

A measure to require the testing was carried over to 2013 by the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday to give lawmakers more time to study the potential costs. A fiscal impact analysis attached to the bill introduced in the House of Delegates estimated the cost of drug screening some recipients at $1.3 million in the first year and $1 million annually after that.

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