Every year, southeast Ohio produces millions of dollars worth of marijuana that could boost the Athens economy, according to some Ohio University professors. "To serve and protect" the public is the police mission, but when it comes to marijuana it's seek and destroy. In the past six years, state and local law enforcement agencies reported confiscating more than $80 million worth of marijuana from 10 southeast Ohio counties in an effort to eradicate the intoxicating drug. In such economically depressed areas as southeast Ohio, marijuana eradication destroys wealth that would otherwise support the legitimate economy, said Rick Matthews, assistant professor of criminology and sociology at OU. [continues 1245 words]
A local government agency that works on drug treatment and drug prevention programs is trying to become a non-profit corporation separate from the Athens County government. And while the agency tries to evolve, at least two Athens County Commissioners have some questions about how the agency is being organized and whether it's the best way to fight the drug war. The agency in question is the Athens/Hocking/Vinton Treatment Alternatives to Street Crimes (TASC). Charles Walker, director of operations for TASC, discussed the changes that TASC wants to undertake with the commissioners last week. [continues 408 words]
The "narco-terrorists" have finally hit American shores, only they were here all along. In fact, they turned out to be America's children. A teenager smoking marijuana is now a terrorist or traitor to his or her country, at least according to President Bush's Office of National Drug Control Policy and the ads that aired during the Superbowl, and were followed by print ads in newspapers across the country. It is preposterous to insinuate that teenagers or anyone else who smokes marijuana is somehow a terrorist or traitor. The idea is based on the precept that drugs finance terrorist organizations, when in reality it is the prohibition of drugs that make the market in drugs so lucrative and therefore attractive to criminals and terrorists. Alcohol, a drug by any other name, does not fund terrorists because it is not illegal. When it was illegal, the proceeds funded all sorts of "terrorism" or in the vernacular of the time period "gangsterism." [continues 222 words]
The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy wants you to believe that domestic drug consumption supports international terrorism. This is only somewhat true and in a very circuitous way. However, the context of the delivery of this message makes it hypocritical. At the most superficial level, the Superbowl advertisements' argument that the underworld network in place to support the drug trade can easily be utilized by other malignant elements suggests a solution the White House Office is expressly against. Their allegations, while true, ignore the fact that the easiest method to eliminate the black-market infrastructure of the drug trade is to take the drug trade off the black market. [continues 528 words]
During the recent controversy over a proposal to strengthen marijuana penalties on campus, some students accused Ohio University's Review and Standards Committee of not representing all students. One former committee member agrees. Jeff Bruzzese, a 2000 OU graduate and former president of Students Defending Students at OU, recalls that his time as a member of the Review and Standards Committee was spent fighting for students' liberties and constitutional rights. "The Code of Conduct and the Judiciary Process will only be as fair as the Review and Standards Committee allows it to be." Bruzzese said. "The Review and Standards Committee can only be as good as the information it receives. So as long as the committee fails to meaningfully represent the student body, the lack of student representation will continue to manifest itself in unfair code revisions." [continues 1379 words]
The Ohio University Review and Standards Committee is taking longer than anticipated to vote on amendments to the Student Code of Conduct because of concerns over several of the proposals. A proposed amendment that would strengthen penalties for marijuana possession on campus has stirred opposition among students. But Richard Carpinelli, assistant vice president of student affairs and chair of the committee said Friday that the extra time has been a positive factor. Carpinelli said he does not know when the committee will finally vote on the amendments to the Code of Conduct, but that they will continue discussion on all of the issues. [continues 674 words]
Ohio University's Review and Standards Committee plans to reconvene today to discuss plans for sending proposals to revise the Student Code of Conduct to Vice President of Student Affairs Michael Sostarich. After hearing from representatives of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, an OU student group that opposes several proposals to toughen drug policy on campus, the committee was to meet again on Jan. 28 in order to discuss viewpoints presented by the student group. Because some committee members couldn't attend the Jan. 28 meeting, it was rescheduled for today. [continues 226 words]
The criminal case against an Athens man accused of possessing more than 21 pounds of marijuana in his home was put in jeopardy last Thursday when questions about how the man was arrested were raised in a court hearing. According to sheriff's reports, Keith Hineerliter was arrested at his West Wilson Road residence in Athens County on Jan. 17 after law enforcement officers were alerted to a package filled with marijuana that was set to be delivered to Hineerliter's home. Athens County Sheriff's deputies and Athens Police officers delivered the package to Hineerliter's home, and then searched his home and arrested him 20 minutes after the delivery. [continues 617 words]
So the Drug Enforcement Administration has decided to get tough on hemp pretzels, snack bars and veggie burgers (The NEWS, Jan. 7). The timing is bizarre to say the least. Now that America faces the all-too-real threat of international terrorism, the misguided efforts of government bureaucrats to shut down legitimate businesses like the Ohio Hempery are a gross misuse of tax dollars. Prior to the passage of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, few Americans had heard of marijuana, despite widespread cultivation of its non-intoxicating cousin, industrial hemp. America's marijuana laws are the result of racist yellow journalism, not health outcomes. Reefer madness hysteria followed a wave of Mexican migration during the early 1900s. Incredibly violent acts were allegedly committed by minorities under marijuana's influence. At the time few white Americans had even heard of marijuana, much less smoked it. [continues 150 words]
All of our body systems (nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, immune, digestive, reproductive) are controlled by endocannabinoids (marijuana-like compounds that our body makes). They are necessary for our health. Therefore, all humans have cannabis activity occurring throughout their lives. Today's modern analytical methods allow us to detect cannabinoids (both internally and externally produced) at activity levels below those found in all of us under normal conditions. When the government attempts to control external cannabinoids to activity levels below their natural levels, nothing of biological significance is accomplished, although the DEA enhances their reason for being. Therefore, sound regulations, if you believe in cannabis prohibition, would target only THC levels that had biological significance. [continues 87 words]
The crime of the century ("DEA Rules Threaten to Strangle Hemp Business," Jan. 7) has to have been the prohibition of hemp and cannabis. It is the epitome of ignorance. Christ God gave us cannabis and put cannabinoid (THC) receptor sites in our brains. Why use public taxes to punish citizens for making that connection? Now, we are talking about hemp with zilch for THC. There are two conflicting policies pertaining to cannabis: one is man's, caging humans for using cannabis, and the other is Christ God's saying cannabis is a blessing. [continues 62 words]
A while back some dudes called "The Framers" got out a nice blank sheet of HEMP PAPER and wrote this thing called the "U.S. Constitution." In this "Constitution" thing, there is this one part called the "4th amendment" that says that the government can't take property from citizens without a good reason. This means that if the government makes a law outlawing refined sugar ( for example ), the government has to pay all the sugar owners the value of their sugar since the law effectively confiscates private property. [continues 108 words]
Asa Hutchinson continues in the time-honored manner of the DEA; when it comes to marijuana, always lie. It is a lie that "hemp and marijuana are parts of the same plant and hemp cannot be produced without producing marijuana." Hemp is a totally different strain of the species. No part of the hemp plant contains significant amounts of THC, flowers, leaves, nothing. No part of it produces a "high." If planted in a field with THC-producing marijuana, hemp would cross-pollinate and seriously dilute the THC producer's potency. [continues 72 words]
In response to your cover story on the DEA's hemp food ban and its local implications, it's been a tough time for anyone in the U.S. who appreciates cannabis in some way. I was devastated by what happened to Don Wirtshafter when the DEA issued its interpretation of drug laws and made hemp foods illegal to consume (The NEWS, Jan. 7). I refuse to give up my seeds because they offer complete protein and essential fatty acids that we need in our diets. [continues 685 words]
Ohio University's Review and Standards Committee on Monday listened to arguments from a student group that's fighting an OU proposal to enact harsher drug penalties on campus. Jessica Markwood, president of OU's chapter of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP), and Abby Bair, vice president of the chapter, spoke during the Review and Standards Committee meeting in Baker Center. "The meeting was productive and turned into a roundtable discussion of the pros and cons for amending the Code of Conduct," Bair reported. The two SSDP leaders spoke against the "closed voting" procedures used by the Review and Standards Committee and also recommended that an SSDP member be added to the committee, Bair added. [continues 646 words]
If the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has its way, Athens County retailer Don Wirtshafter could soon be out of business. "On Oct. 9, I went from being a entrepreneur to being one of the biggest drug dealers in the U.S.," complained Wirtshafter, who runs the Ohio Hempery, a Guysville company that sells hemp-based products including food and clothing items. It's the food products that have become a problem since a decision last year by the DEA to change how it looks at hemp merchandise. [continues 965 words]
A student group that opposes administrative proposals to stiffen penalties for marijuana possession on the Ohio University campus for the second time has asked a university committee to delay its recommendation on the penalties. OU's Review and Standards Committee had been poised in late November to vote on recommending the stricter penalties to the OU Board of Trustees, but delayed its vote after Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) protested the changes. At that time, committee member Judy Piercy, director of Judiciaries at OU, said the committee had decided to wait because "we decided that it really is important to hear from everybody." [continues 466 words]
Here in Florida we watch with interest the attempt by Ohio citizens to change current drug policy to one that favors health-care alternatives over strict criminal sanctions. This over the overt and also covert opposition of Gov. Taft. In our own state, Gov. Jeb Bush is using similar methods, along with some of America's most ardent drug warriors, to derail a similar initiative. The same arguments are put forth, including the astounding suggestion that this is simply a "ploy" that will lead "to the full legalization of ALL drugs." [continues 118 words]
After all these years, His Highness Bob Taft still has an arrogant disregard for democracy, as reflected in his ongoing efforts to scuttle a proposed amendment to treat drug offenders instead of jailing them. Years ago, The Athens NEWS caught a glimpse of Taft's sense of his own majestic worth. Back in the mid-1980s, he blew a gasket when we became the only newspaper in the state that refused to fall in line behind his coronation as secretary of state. God forbid a voter or newspaper make a choice that runs contrary to King Bob's royal expectations. [continues 877 words]
In light of your recent article on OxyContin by Alaina Shearer (The NEWS, Dec. 6), your readers may be interested in the frequency with which this drug has been of choice for those referred for detoxification under a program funded by the Southern Consortium for Rural Care. The consortium is a collaboration of four Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Services boards covering 10 southern Ohio counties. One of its functions is the funding of detoxification services for alcoholics and addicts who have no medical insurance. [continues 329 words]
TEAM (Together Erasing Alcohol Misuse) Athens County has been awarded $28, 660 by the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services (ODADAS) to assist in dealing with alcohol and other drug abuse needs, along with mobilizing and promoting healthy youth development in Athens County. With the support of the Taft administration, 14 grants totaling $515, 000 have been awarded to community drug-free coalitions statewide for fiscal year 2002. In order to qualify for these grants, coalitions had to consist of at least four collaboration entities. In this area, the following groups are part of the resulting coalition: Health Recovery Services, Inc., Rural Action, Athens City-County Health Department and the Athens County Sheriff's Department, as well as numerous individual partners. [continues 145 words]
Hemp food is about to be outlawed. Did you know that? Did your newspaper carry the story? Did you learn about it on the web, as I did at www.votehemp.com/action.html? The DEA on Oct. 9 passed a ruling that had no public input, was not disseminated widely, and had no congressional oversight. If Congress had had oversight, my representatives would have voted the ruling out of existence because it's apparent to any rational being that hemp as a food causes no one damage. [continues 205 words]
I was shocked and amazed to read the phrase "transgressions against the University" in a story about OU marijuana policy. For what purpose does a university exist? Not for its own purpose but for the purposes of the people who are served by the university. A university is built around two classes of people -- the people who put up a small fortune to pay for the services offered by the university, and the faculty who dedicate their careers to providing the actual services that define the purpose of the university. Only these two groups of people should have the right to decide what constitutes a transgression against those interests that the university exists to serve. The only transgressions that can possibly matter here are transgressions against the interests of faculty and students, and one could make a strong case that marijuana prohibition, in and of itself, constitutes a transgression against that community. Patricia Schwarz, Pasadena, Calif. [end]
Ohio University was right to postpone a decision on whether to recommend tougher penalties for simple possession of marijuana. Now that they've postponed it, they should scrap the idea altogether. It's difficult to imagine a pot-smoking scenario at OU that would warrant kicking a student out of school forever. Yet, a university committee is proposing that possession of small amounts of marijuana expose students to a maximum penalty of expulsion. Currently, under OU's Student Code of Conduct, possession of minor misdemeanor amounts of pot (under around three ounces) carries a maximum penalty of disciplinary probation. Students on probation can be suspended if they get in trouble again. In other words, as things stand now, if a student gets nabbed with a joint a second time, he can get booted for up to a year. That's no slap on the wrist. [continues 786 words]
An Ohio University committee that had been poised to recommend stricter penalties for possession of marijuana decided last week to delay the recommendation, in order to collect more input from students and other interested parties. "We decided that it really is important to hear from everybody, and so we're going to wait," OU Director of Judiciaries Judy Piercy said Sunday morning. She serves on the university's Review and Standards Committee. She said the committee will meet Jan. 7 and at that time discuss how to collect more input from interested parties before making a recommendation to the OU Board of Trustees. [continues 834 words]
The "sneakiness and secrecy" of anti-marijuana policy at Ohio University to which Larry Hayman, president of the OU chapter of the ACLU refers (The NEWS, Nov. 12), is nothing new in this nation when we speak of the "War Against Drugs." The Marijuana Tax Act of 1936 was slipped through the back door of Congress, supported by the fabrications and lies of William Randolph Hearst, the religious fanaticism and racial bigotry of Harry J. Anslinger, and then the perjury of Congressman Vinson, who was later rewarded by being appointed chief justice. [continues 964 words]
It's quite obvious that the OU Review and Standards Committee has not done any research on America's longest war. The move to stiffen marijuana penalties is futile to say the least (The NEWS, Nov. 1). The students will just find more efficient ways to hide their use. I have long been an advocate of marijuana decriminalization and see this as another short-sighted blow to the cause. After all, isn't this the USA? Don't we pride ourselves on our freedoms and liberties? How free can we be as long as anybody wants to oppress the freedom of choice? [continues 238 words]
An emergency meeting, called last Wednesday night by Students for a Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) at Ohio University, laid an action plan against a university proposal to toughen penalties for marijuana use on campus. The Alumni Lounge in Baker Center overflowed with students trying to participate in the meeting, which was called by Abby Bair, vice president of SSDP. She called the meeting in response to a recent report in The Athens NEWS, and subsequent reports elsewhere, that a university committee is recommending that the penalty for possession of small amounts of marijuana be made more severe. [continues 1244 words]
The suggested revision of the A-15 and B-6 sections of the Student Code of Conduct proposed by the Ohio University Review and Standards committee under chairperson Richard Carpinelli is unfair and should be thrown out. At the very least, it needs to be postponed until winter quarter when the students it will affect are in town and are, if nothing else, aware of the decision and how it will affect them personally, academically and financially. Carpinelli is working to get this new amendment passed by Jan. 1 during winter break when virtually none of the students this will affect are in the way. [continues 208 words]
According to Ohio University administrators, the university takes a broad approach in addressing drug and alcohol abuse, but some critics say it relies too heavily on law enforcement. University programs once focused entirely on providing information about drugs and alcohol, said Charlene Kopchick, director of the university's Department of Health Education and Wellness. The university's efforts now take an environmental approach, she said. "An environmental approach is multi-faceted," Kopchick explained. "The environmental approach (involves) working with everyone in the community." [continues 1147 words]
