The recent seizure of hundreds of pounds of marijuana in Lincoln, apparently harvested in states where it can be grown legally, raises the question of how long the country will tolerate the current patchwork of laws. In one case deputies with the Lancaster County Sheriff's Deputies seized 1,517 pounds of pot worth an estimated $7.5 million. The marijuana was stuffed into 39 duffel bags in a rental RV traveling from Oregon, where marijuana can be grown legally, to Georgia. [continues 425 words]
Medical cannabis is again being addressed in the legislature. I pray the elected officials who oppose the legislation will see the ironies in their stances on LB 643, the Cannabis Compassion and Care Act, and rethink their opposition ("Veteran promotes legalization of medical marijuana, Garrett's bill," Jan. 6). First, opponents of the bill say they don't want medical cannabis to be abused. When asked to name even one person they could save from abuse opponents of the bill, they can't because they're talking about hypothetical people. There are thousands of living, breathing Nebraskans who would benefit. Ironic that it appears that representing hypothetical abusers takes precedence over sick and suffering Nebraskans. [continues 192 words]
The Omaha Tribe of Nebraska is considering getting into the lucrative marijuana business, but at least one tribal expert fears doing so could put the tribe at risk of losing any investment it may make in marijuana industries. The tribe plans to hold a referendum Tuesday in which members will vote on whether the tribe should allow recreational use of marijuana, medicinal use of marijuana, and growing industrial hemp on its northeast Nebraska reservation. Ultimately, however, the Omaha tribal council will decide all three questions. The referendum vote simply will give the council guidance on whether to move forward, according to an information sheet distributed by the tribe. [continues 388 words]
Here's a news flash for you, Gov. Ricketts: Alcohol is a dangerous drug, nicotine is a dangerous drug, caffeine is a dangerous drug, aspirin is a dangerous drug ("Governor signals his position on medical marijuana," April 28). How many of these drugs do you and billions of others use? The three medications prescribed for my blood pressure by my primary care physician and my cardiologist cause swelling to the point where I can't flex my toes and, some days, I can't get my shoes on. I must use a walker to get around, even room to room in my home. Medical marijuana does not cause feet to swell. [continues 203 words]
If I were arrested in Nebraska or Oklahoma for possessing a small amount of marijuana, and the arresting officer asked where I got the marijuana, I would say Colorado, and 99 percent of others would probably do the same. Would we rat out a friend, neighbor or co-worker? No. Kirk Muse, Mesa, Ariz. [end]
Mandatory and random drug testing in the workplace will still get you fired for trace amounts of cannabis. Unlike alcohol, where the the drug's effects are processed by the liver, THC hangs in there after the effects are gone. However, the testing cannot tell whether it is residual or freshly consumed. For example: I personally do not want to be working alongside an electrician working on live circuits, with him being stoned. Make sense? There is no way to tell in a test whether he is stoned or that the last time he smoked was days ago. Mike Rockefeller, Lincoln [end]
I applaud the two recent thoughtful articles about marijuana ("Cindy Lange-Kubick: A legal doobie for Nebraska?," Jan. 6, "Cannabis Crazy: It could happen to you," Jan. 7). Both Cindy Lange-Kubick and Susan Shapiro spoke from their own experience as well as citing research which supports their opinions. Both reinforce my belief that marijuana possession and use should not be criminal. While I agree with Shapiro that "marijuana essentially fries your brain," I also believe that alcohol, gambling, pornography, sugar, caffeine, football, tv, and violence are not good for our brains but we don't have laws to prohibit those things. What "sins" do we let people make their own choices about? How do we teach people to make mature choices about behavior which can be harmful to themselves or others? [continues 89 words]
I respectfully disagree with a letter submitted by Kim Mayhew opposing AG Bruner's suit against Colorado due to the increased enforcement costs to the state to combat the flow of marijuana into Nebraska ("Letter, 12/26: Open eyes to marijuana," Dec. 26). Too many lives have been lost or ruined by this "gateway" drug. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health reports that one in eight people over the age of 12 use marijuana in Colorado. Studies suggest that marijuana use shrinks brain size. I have seen what marijuana can do to people as they lose friends, family, respect and resources. Support Nebraska's efforts to curb the use of this dangerous drug. David Christensen, Beatrice [end]
Many people want to place the blame for the reason this country is in so much of a deficit on our president. What they need to do is take a look at how our tax money is being spent. Much of what we consider necessary spending is not at all needed. Consider drug testing of welfare recipients/potential recipients. This would be a grand idea if only the government were actually preventing drug users from using government programs such as Aid to Dependent Children, Medicaid, and/or food stamps. [continues 77 words]
I am a 55-year-old mother of three and grandmother of two and believe Nebraska should reverse its 86-year-old ban on marijuana. We need to legalize the recreational use of marijuana and open a new market for our farmers with industrial hemp. In 2012, Nebraska had 1,779 alcohol-related auto crashes, 1,209 alcohol-related injuries and 81 deaths. I was unable to locate any statistics for accidents, injuries or deaths related to marijuana use in our fair state. [continues 106 words]
Jim Lerdahl ("Sell seized marijuana," letter, Nov. 12) suggested the state sell seized marijuana to Colorado. I've got a better idea: The state ought to legalize marijuana like Colorado and Washington did, end the pointless War on Drugs and release all those first-time drug users. Because of the War on Drugs, the United States (aka Land of the Free) has the highest prison population. We lock up more people than any other country in the world. That is not something to be proud of. Alcohol is more dangerous than marijuana. We often hear stories of someone getting drunk and hitting somebody, but not of anyone smoking marijuana and hitting somebody. Sam Sticka, Lincoln [end]
Our federal government continues to refuse to acknowledge the medicinal value of cannabis/marijuana, despite the mountain of well-documented studies that conclude otherwise. More states are disagreeing. In July, New Hampshire became the 19th state to allow medicinal marijuana. It was followed by Illinois on Aug. 1. Other countries are moving more quickly than the United States. The Uruguayan House of Representatives passed a bill to legalize cannabis. Its Senate is expected to approve it. Uruguay will become the first country to regulate production, distribution and sale of the plant. New Zealand is the first country to have a law allowing recreational drugs to be legally approved if shown to be safe. [continues 99 words]
A federal judge has ordered the government to return more than $1 million in suspected drug money to a California woman. The Nebraska State Patrol trooper confiscated the money after a traffic stop near North Platte last year, but the judge said there wasn't enough of a connection between it and drugs. "There is no nexus between the currency and any illegal activity," U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bataillon said in an opinion this week. He said Tara Mishra, of Rancho Cucamonga, was entitled to the money - all $1,074,900 of it. [continues 570 words]
As the nation's capital prepares to open its first legal medicinal marijuana dispensary and Sen. Rand Paul's call for legalization basks in bipartisan praise, it's time for President Barack Obama to clear the air around his own passive-aggressive position on pot. Until now, Obama has been remarkably adept at taking positions that seemed to be ahead of their time -- and getting ahead of them. For example, when he declared his full support for the right of same-sex couples to marry, there were fears among his supporters that he would lose important votes before his re-election campaign, particularly among black churchgoers. Those fears proved to be exaggerated. [continues 619 words]
When the recent Summit of the Americas in Colombia decided to commission a study on whether to decriminalize drugs, many thought that would be the end of it, and the whole thing would be forgotten quickly. Well, maybe not. For starters, it was the first time that such a large group of heads of state ventured into that once-taboo area. And there are several other unrelated factors that may contribute to put decriminalization in the front burner later this year or in early 2013. [continues 619 words]
I avoid debates about the war on drugs, because the debate has become nearly as useless as the actual war. The letter Jan. 12 ("No to legalization") forced me to make an exception. In what other subject would a reference to an 1858 China law be considered an acceptable point of comparison when addressing a modern government policy? On May 13, 2010, The Associated Press reported that after 40 years and $1 trillion, the war on drugs has been completely ineffective. [continues 85 words]
It's not often a letter like Susie Dugan's gets published ("Don't legalize marijuana," Dec. 29). Space constraints make a line-by-line refutation of her letter impractical, but she makes three particularly egregious claims that warrant correction. First off, states that have legalized marijuana for medical purposes have not seen increases in use among youths, but in fact have seen significant reductions, according to a number of studies referenced in an American Academy of Pediatrics publication. Secondly, states that have legalized medical marijuana have actually seen a reduction in the number of traffic fatalities, a study from university researchers published in November shows. [continues 189 words]
Anne Greff's letter ("No to legalization," Jan. 12) would have been more convincing if her letter dealt with marijuana. Instead, she talked about "other drugs" and opium; she did not discuss marijuana, and that is what Proposition 19 is concerned with. The letter spoke about "some countries that have legalized drugs" and brought up China and opium. The Chinese were quite literally forced to buy and use opium produced by British mercantilists, who had heavy investments in opium. The Chinese did not want opium. Nor does Proposition 19 have anything to do with opium; it deals with marijuana for industrial and recreational purposes. [continues 80 words]
This letter is in response to the letters stating that drug legalization could be a good thing. I am not going to deny our country has a drug problem -- we do have one, a big one. However, legalizing drugs would not necessarily make things better. Take a look at the past. Some countries that have legalized drugs have not benefited at all, such as China. China legalized the use of opium in 1858 and soon became the biggest producer of it. Many people became addicted to it, which had many negative side effects. What if legalizing drugs in the United States had the same effect that legalizing opium had on China? [continues 149 words]
Len Schropfer's letter to the editor (LJS, Dec. 26) was factual about the state process to legalize hemp/cannabis/marijuana (Proposition 19). It touched on hemp uses, including as biofuel. Susie Dugan's response (LJS, Dec. 29) made 14 nonfactual assertions about pot. Cannabis can be abused, but causes a decrease of aggression, not an increase, as alcohol does. After significant time scrutinizing this plant's potentials and shortcomings, 16 states and the District of Columbia -- one-third of the U.S. population -- have approved medicinal cannabis by legislature or voter action. Legalizing, regulating, producing and taxing this plant makes sense. [continues 101 words]
Someone needs to correct the misinformation that Susie Dugan of PRIDE was spreading in her letter, "Don't legalize marijuana" (LJS 12/30). She makes many misstatements and unsupported assertions, but the one that takes the cake is when she implies that house fires will increase if marijuana is legalized! In fact, her point illustrates the most important fact about this whole issue: Illegality makes marijuana use more dangerous, not less. Entrepreneurs are forced to grow their product in an inappropriate place (increasing house fires) because it is illegal. Drug cartels exist because those in the marijuana business have no legal recourse in contract disputes. And children, whom Susie purports to care about, have access to this drug because there is no honest business person afraid to lose his license and livelihood by selling to a minor, as with tobacco or alcohol. [continues 108 words]
When Len Schropfer exhorted voters ("Don't be afraid to sign," letter, Dec. 26) to support the marijuana legalization initiative petition, he did not back up his plea with the truth about marijuana. The truth is that marijuana is an addictive, dangerous drug. Marijuana can attack the immune system so that it can make sick people sicker. Pot has more cancer-causing ingredients than tobacco. Marijuana can hurt the circulatory system and impair brain function of users. The legalization of marijuana would increase the use of that drug. Increased use would result in increased addiction and increased crime. Marijuana-related traffic crashes have increased in states that have legalized marijuana under the guise of calling it "medicine." Home fires also have increased in those states as a result of pot growing operations. [continues 88 words]
It's time for a little clarification on the initiative petition to end the hemp/cannabis/marijuana prohibition in Nebraska. Nebraska's Proposition 19 is a proposal to add Article XIX to the Nebraska Constitution that would remove all penalties for the private noncommercial use of cannabis and that calls on the Nebraska Legislature to enact a fair and equitable method of taxation and regulation for commercial growing and consumption -- like alcohol, tobacco or corn. To get on the November 2012 Nebraska ballot, we need signatures of 10 percent of the registered Nebraska voters at the time we turn in our petition to the secretary of state on July 6, 2012. That must include 5 percent of the registered voters in 38 different Nebraska counties. Quite a requirement. But we don't need a vote of the Legislature or the governor's signature to end this misguided prohibition -- only a vote of the people. There has been no amendment to the U.S. Constitution as there had to be with alcohol. [continues 109 words]
I owe Kyle Vogt an apology. A former military policeman, he's now a member of a group called Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, or LEAP, a group of former cops, prosecutors and judges that supports ending the war on drugs. When I interviewed Vogt for a column earlier this year, everything he said about the high cost and low results of the war on drugs made perfect sense. But he made one claim that, though I smiled politely, I didn't believe and didn't use in my column: that dozens and dozens of drug cops have contacted LEAP to express their support. [continues 530 words]
Warren Hale's community column ("Evidence piles up on failure of drug war," July 16) told it like it is. A failed 40-year drug war has cost over $1 trillion. Its result is over 900,000 persons incarcerated for marijuana use, abuse and sales. The abuse is when alcohol is used with it. The vast majority of people are in for personal use, not for dealing. Family lives are affected. Unrelated citizen deaths have occurred during raids gone wrong. People lose jobs. Homes, vehicles and money are confiscated. Students are unable to obtain education loans. All for the use of marijuana. [continues 119 words]
Last month marked the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon launching the "war on drugs." Nobody celebrated or reminisced about milestones achieved, victories won or battles fought. Rather, a rising chorus pleaded for an end to the war. "The global war on drugs has failed," the Global Commission on Drug Policy said last month in a scathing report. The commission comprises such political heavyweights as current and former leaders of five countries, the former United Nations secretary-general and the former chairman of the Federal Reserve. The report urged "fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies" and treating drug addiction as a health issue, rather than a criminal one. [continues 641 words]
The day their petition language was approved, organizers hoping to legalize marijuana visited a Lincoln restaurant. They were there for food, not signatures. "But we had the petitions at the table, and one by one and two by two, the entire staff came up to us, and then people out of the kitchen," said Len Schropfer, a member of the Nebraska Cannabis Coalition. "There's a great wave of enthusiasm." As well as a great number of signatures left to gather to get their unprecedented plan on the November 2012 ballot. [continues 271 words]
LittleTree Strongbow has three children. She also has bipolar and post-traumatic stress disorders. And while the Omaha woman said using heavy pharmaceuticals like Valium to treat those illnesses doesn't allow her to be an effective mother, she believes marijuana does. So Strongbow showed up in downtown Lincoln on Saturday decked out in a marijuana-themed bandanna and a belt made of artificial cannabis leaves. With a bullhorn in hand, she and about three dozen other proponents paraded around the Capitol and along O Street advocating for legalized marijuana in agriculture and medicine. [continues 343 words]
The United States is reeling from a recession that shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. Nebraska should use its most plentiful natural resource to get ahead: our vast tracts of farm land. The citizens of Nebraska already have the knowledge and equipment to begin. Our state government also already is set up for the regulation and oversight. We can easily morph some of our wheat and corn production to marijuana. As a cash crop, it could breathe a lot of life in to our state. It also would bring in tourism and possibly other industries as well. [continues 150 words]
Dude, you're not in Colorado anymore. So you can put your license for legal marijuana away. Because that stopped being legal, oh, about the time you passed Julesburg and crossed the Nebraska border. A gap in Colorado law is allowing growers to produce far more medical marijuana than patients can legally possess. And some of the surplus is finding its way into Nebraska. "We've seen it here in the city of Scottsbluff, and we've seen it in the southern Panhandle, and we've seen it around the Sidney area," said Scottsbluff Police Chief Alex Moreno, also a coordinator of an 11-county drug task force. [continues 485 words]
Nebraska Board of Pharmacy members heard more than an hour of testimony Monday from proponents of legalizing medical marijuana. Dr. Alan Worth, a Lincoln family practice physician, and others testified they would like to see the board recommend the Legislature make cannabis legal for medical purposes. "You can provide a professional and scientific starting point," Worth said. But the five board members weren't ready Monday to make a recommendation either way, they said. In February, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy recommended to state lawmakers marijuana be reclassified from a Schedule I to a Schedule II drug. Schedule II drugs have acceptable medical uses for treatment, whereas Schedule I drugs are determined to have no proven medical use and a high potential for abuse. [continues 438 words]
It wasn't the mellow gathering one might expect. After a parade through downtown Lincoln on Monday, women in tie-dye dresses and men with cardboard posters cheered at passing cars in front of the Capitol. Their message: Across-the-board legalization of marijuana. To many, it would seem a pointless goal -- but between honking horns (and a few middle fingers) from passersby, Omahan Brian Gray and others still argued. "If I didn't think there was a point, I wouldn't be out here," Gray said. [continues 105 words]
Post-traumatic stress disorder is afflicting nearly one in five veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. The drugs they are prescribed have been implicated in several veterans' overdose deaths. Alternatives exist, but veterans are denied access. As former Gov. Bob Kerrey and Jason Flom of the Drug Policy Alliance noted in a nationally published column, the Veterans Administration has adopted a policy prohibiting its physicians from recommending medicinal cannabis to VA patients to treat PTSD. "The VA claims the ban is primarily a response to threats from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prosecute VA doctors for recommending medicinal cannabis or for completing necessary forms to enroll veterans in a state cannabis program," their column said. [continues 120 words]
A group that believes Nebraskans should be able to use marijuana for medical needs is taking its case to the state's pharmacy licensing board. They are hoping the pharmacy board will recommend that the Legislature open the door for medical marijuana use, as the Iowa Board of Pharmacy did in February. But a city official in Billings, Mont., where the number of medical-marijuana businesses has risen from a handful to more than 70 since October, had some advice to Nebraskans. [continues 680 words]
I find the Journal Star's fear-mongering regarding the string of pot busts in Lincoln unsurprising yet still disappointing. Officers in haz-mat suits, terrified neighbors watching from the "safety" of their homes? Not a single weapon was found in any of these grow houses. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and cigarettes. In addition, there is not one recorded death caused by overconsumption of marijuana . anywhere ... ever. Alcohol can't even make it through a month without killing someone. [continues 138 words]
A legislative bill that would make Salvia divinorum an illegal drug in Nebraska has little chance of passage during the last six weeks of the legislative session. Lincoln Police on Monday made a Salvia bust anyway. Citing a state statute that prohibits Nebraskans from selling certain compounds that will induce an intoxicated or otherwise mind-altering state, officers executed a search warrant on Exotica, 2441 N. 48th St. The Lincoln store sells the herb, a cousin of sage, generally smoked to create a short-term hallucinogenic experience. [continues 330 words]
WILBER -- In her time as a district judge, Vicky Johnson has realized there are two types of drug users. There are the kind who have extensive criminal histories, who sell drugs, who are violent, who have problems that extend far beyond drug use. Then there are those who have perhaps lost their jobs as a result of their drug use, who have stolen and lied to feed their addictions, but who are, above all, addicts. Johnson sends the first kind of drug users to prison. [continues 686 words]
They've found them in homes and cars, in motel rooms, even storage sheds and barns. But a year after a law to keep pseudoephedrine off store shelves went into effect, the state's law enforcement officers are finding a lot fewer methamphetamine labs. And, at a press conference Tuesday at the State Capitol, Gov. Dave Heineman pointed to the 80 percent drop as proof that the state's "anti-meth law" is working. A bar chart beside him laid out the numbers. From Sept. 4, 2004, to Sept. 3, 2005, there were 322 meth labs reported in Nebraska. The next 12 months, saw just 53. [continues 409 words]
Police dogs combed the North Star High School parking lot Thursday, a new way for Lincoln Public Schools officials to communicate an old message: school is no place for drugs and alcohol. "Along with messages we've already been sending... this would be another avenue to strengthen that message," said Becky Wild, LPS director of student services. Police will search other high school lots, Wild said, but she wouldn't say when. When considering the parking lot searches, administrators weighed issues of privacy with concerns about drug activity. [continues 524 words]
Drug use, weight problems and parenthood have been taking their toll on the military in the past three years, since the war on terror began, according to newly released Pentagon data. Documents released to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act indicate the number of enlisted personnel leaving the military each year has increased from 8.7 percent in 2002 to 10.5 percent last year. Enlisted losses -- including people whose enlistments had expired -- increased from 118,206 in 2002 to more than 137,465 last year, while officer losses have increased from 5,619 in 2002 to more than 7,500 last year. [continues 911 words]
Inside the house, police found three children -- all younger than 5. Their parents were taken to jail in handcuffs, and the kids were whisked off to a hospital. When they got there, their clothes were removed, double bagged and prepared for special disposal as highly toxic waste. The children were checked for breathing problems, chemical burns, malnutrition and signs of abuse. Their urine was tested. Next, they were taken to a decontamination room, where they were bathed and shampooed in an effort to remove residual chemicals from their skin and hair, dressed in hospital gowns and sent to Cedars Home for Children for emergency shelter. [continues 1463 words]
State lawmakers may be asked during the upcoming legislative session to set aside millions of dollars for a new, medium-security treatment facility in Norfolk for methamphetamine addicts. The facility, which could cost upwards of $17 million to build, is one of many things needed for the state to successfully combat a rate of methamphetamine use that is higher than most of its neighbors, according to a report by the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The report, requested by state government, was presented to the state Community Corrections Council on Friday. The council is charged with finding ways to treat and supervise drug offenders instead of cramming them in already bulging state prisons. [continues 712 words]
PLATTSMOUTH - The men charged up the rickety steps to where the two girls hid from the explosions in a small room littered with nails, bugs and construction debris. A wide-eyed 6-year-old stared silently at the masked officers, who were dressed in black tactical gear and had oxygen tanks strapped to their backs. A 13-year-old struggled and was handcuffed. Downstairs, the entry team of law enforcement officers searched for a meth lab in the old, boarded-up house just outside Plattsmouth. [continues 508 words]
The Nebraska Board of Pardons is looking for ways to streamline the pardon process as more people seek an official pardon for past convictions in the post 9/11 background-checking era. "We have been swamped with paperwork and agenda items," said Secretary of State John Gale. The meetings are getting very long, he said. In June, the board spent almost four hours on 56 cases and finished just 15 minutes before the governor's first evening appointment. The board members are the secretary of state, governor and attorney general. [continues 1452 words]
Home grown or community, area dispensary grown cannabis affects interstate commerce, so says the Supreme Court. How so? One way is that pharmaceutical companies will lose money on the sale of synthetic drugs. Another way is that some patients who, reluctantly, go to the street to find a dealer wouldn't have to do that. Therefore, the poor drug lords and dealers could only buy a Ford, not a BMW. Drug companies pump big money into politics today. It will be a cold day when our Congress goes against their benefactors and allows the public legal access to medicinal cannabis again. Drug companies would have to search dark corners of old vaults for old drug formulas. By the 1930s, Eli Lilly, Parke-Davis, Tildens, and Brothers Smith and Squibb were selling top quality cannabis products. [continues 317 words]
Lincoln's teens appear to be following a national trend, with fewer of them smoking or using drugs. A federal study showed both smoking and drug use among young people declined again this year. The number of teens who smoked declined dramatically. In Lincoln and Lancaster County, the biggest drop was in the number of smokers. In 1992, 72.8 percent of ninth-to 12th-graders reported smoking. That dropped to 49.2 percent in 2003. "On the cigarette front we've got some really good data," said Steve Frederick of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department. "We're kind of holding our breath to see if the 2005 data shows the same thing." [continues 156 words]
Any blurring of the state Community Corrections Council's mission was brought into sharp focus Friday with one pronouncement by Harold Clarke. As of Friday morning, the Department of Correctional Services director reported a new record had been reached: 4,095 people incarcerated in Nebraska prisons. Council members responded during a high-pitched, five-hour meeting -- its last before the start of the legislative session -- by putting finishing touches on a draft bill that represents years of work and will be presented to the Legislature next month. The bill aims to significantly reduce the prison population by changing how the state treats its drug-addicted residents. [continues 643 words]
A federal hammer fell this week on the owners and employees of Lincoln pipe shops that sold items authorities eyed with a question: Where do tobacco pipes end and marijuana bongs begin? The U.S. attorney for Nebraska, Mike Heavican, announced the indictments Wednesday of four people from two shops on federal drug paraphernalia charges. If convicted, they could face up to three years in prison for each charge and fines of up to $250,000 each. They also face federal inspection of their business bookkeeping, authorities said, efforts that could lead to the forfeiture of money made selling illicit items. [continues 600 words]
WASHINGTON -- Girls and young women get hooked on cigarettes, alcohol and drugs more quickly and for different reasons than boys, and should receive specialized treatment that reflects that, according to a study released Wednesday. Teenage girls often begin smoking and drinking to relieve stress or alleviate depression, while boys do it for thrills or heightened social status, according to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. "(Girls) get hooked faster, they get hooked using lesser amounts of alcohol and drugs and cocaine, and they suffer the consequences faster and more severely," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., chairman of the center. [continues 361 words]
From high school students in his district, Wausa Sen. Doug Cunningham got the idea of raising the penalty for smoking dope. Many times when Cunningham visited schools, students would point out that they have to pay a much heftier fine if they get caught with alcohol than if they get caught with a marijuana joint. Minor in possession of alcohol carries a maximum $500 fine, and many judges set a $200 to $250 fine, explained Cunningham. Possession of less than 1 ounce of marijuana is a flat $100 fine. [continues 367 words]
