Ten members of an 11-seat pot panel were appointed this morning by Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, with the lone remaining seat open because the Denver district attorney's office declined to participate. The appointments fulfill a mandate created by the passage of Initiated Question 100 in November's Denver election. More than half -- 57 percent -- of Denver voters favored the initiative, making marijuana the city's lowest law-enforcement priority. "We commend Mayor Hickenlooper for appointing the Marijuana Policy Review Panel and taking a step toward a more rational marijuana policy in Denver," said Mason Tvert, executive director of SAFER, a marijuana-reform group which spearheaded the ordinance. [continues 243 words]
A Colorado judge ruled Wednesday that police should return dozens of marijuana plants to a former Marine and 1991 Persian Gulf War veteran who is a licensed medical marijuana user. "It's great -- I need my stuff back," said Kevin Dickes, 39, a Denver-area construction worker who left the Marine Corps as a lance corporal in 1993. Aurora, Colo., police raided Dickes' home in April and seized plants growing in his basement. He was handcuffed, arrested and charged with a felony count of cultivating marijuana, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison. [continues 306 words]
EAGLE-COUNTY -- A culture of rampant drug and alcohol use has been thriving at local high schools for years, parents say, and now they're ready to clean up the valley. Simply put, drugs and alcohol have become the center of high school social life in the Eagle County. Those who abstain are often teased and pushed away from friends, and many students voluntarily isolate themselves from the drug- and booze-fueled parties that are commonplace on weekends. The drug culture has become accepted as normal among students, and the many student who don't like it are often afraid to take a stand, although they are desperate for change. [continues 785 words]
A random drug testing policy is being developed at Battle Mountain High School to bring down substance abuse problems being reported at the school. The policy is still a work in progress. The main idea though is that students involved in extra-curricular activities like sports would be subject to drug testing. With about 75 percent of the students Battle Mountain involved in extra curricular activities, a drug testing policy would effect a lot of students. The details, though, haven't been decided, and the details are pretty important to doing the testing right, principal Brian Hester said. [continues 360 words]
Mike Allen had tried to stop drinking before. And he'd succeeded for a few months at a time. But he always went back to the bottle. That was until he was arrested on a drug charge, served a short time in jail as part of a probation sentence and then started receiving acupuncture this spring while on probation. Allen said the acupuncture helped with the physical symptoms of withdrawal and supplemented the work he was doing through recovery groups and counseling. [continues 986 words]
CENTENNIAL - Charges were dropped today against a Desert Storm veteran who was arrested for growing 71 marijuana plants in his basement. Kevin Dickes, who has a medical marijuana card, faced up to six years in prison. He was scheduled to go to trial in Arapahoe County District Court in February. Dickes said he needed the marijuana to help him with the pain he has suffered daily since a grenade landed next to him in Kuwait when he served there as a Marine in 1991. He has no feeling below his right calf and suffers from chronic vascular disease. [continues 144 words]
Craig Elementary Students Raise Funds For Substance Abuse Prevention Program Craig -- When Austin Luker received a laptop from Jerry Hoberg, Substance Abuse Prevention Program president, he said he felt one emotion. Relief. During a period of two and a half weeks in late October, Luker sold nearly 300 tickets to a pancake breakfast, the prevention program's sole fundraiser. His goal: to sell more tickets than anyone else. "It's one of the goals I've wanted to reach for a few years," he said. "Finally reaching it is really a relief." [continues 487 words]
When psychologist David Brown talks about "teenage pharming," he makes it clear to his audience he's not talking about kids going to 4-H or FFA meetings. Brown, who is on the staff at Parkview Medical Center, brings his message to two or three groups a month and on Wednesday spoke to members of the Pueblo chapter of Mental Health America about organized abuse of over-the-counter and prescription drugs by young people. The message was timely following the death in October of 17-year-old South High School student Corey Suazo from a drug overdose linked to a pharmaceutical party. According to sources, the arrest warrants were issued recently for 19 adults and juveniles on drug-related charges with one arrest yet to be made. [continues 594 words]
Addy M. Hansen ("Time to sober up," Letters, Nov. 29) comes off, in my opinion, as a moral absolutist. I agree that addiction must be treated, and law enforcement is ill-equipped to do so. Last time I checked, there was no such thing as absolute morals. What may be moral to some is not to others; case in point being certain tribes of South Africa that teach children about sex, and sexuality, from the time they can walk. I do not have the right, nor does anyone else, to say what is or is not moral, and one of the major problems with our society is the belief of a few that their morals are the standard instead of the deviation. In a republic, these people would not be able to pass their laws and prohibit someone from drinking, taking a narcotic or whatever. Prohibition didn't work in the 1920s and it is failing today. Restore the republic and the "drug war" goes away. License the dealers and tax their sales and, well, you begin to get the picture. Dwayne Schultz Colorado Springs [end]
Medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, but where do you get it? This is a question that Mabel (not her real name), a 64-year-old silver-haired grandmother, deals with every day. Mabel suffers from debilitating arthritis and chronic back pain. When her conditions flare up, she is barely able to turn the pages of a children's book with her 4- and 2-year-old grandchildren sitting on her lap. After years of trying dozens of prescription medications, and screaming out in pain as she developed a tolerance to each of them, and vomiting up dozens of pills as her stomach, liver and kidneys were overtaxed, Mabel tried medical marijuana for the first time in her life at age 60. [continues 570 words]
People in Denver are more likely to go to prison for drug offenses than residents in almost all other urban areas of the country, according to a study made public today. About 147 of every 100,000 Denver residents served time for drugs in 2002, according to the study by the nonprofit Justice Policy Institute, which studies alternatives to imprisonment. The 2002 data was the most recent and complete available, the group said. That placed Denver 12th out of the 198 most populous counties nationwide - higher than New York, Los Angeles and Detroit. The highest were the counties that include Bakersfield, Calif.; Atlantic City, N.J.; and New Orleans. [continues 275 words]
Couple Says Law Requires Medical Marijuana Be Maintained It took 16 months, but a Fort Collins couple Monday finally retrieved the medical marijuana seized from their home in August 2006. But the battle is far from over. The cultivation and possession charges against James and Lisa Masters, medical marijuana patients and caregivers for other patients, were dropped in June, but it wasn't until late last month that Chief District Court Judge James Hiatt ruled the police had to return the property. [continues 400 words]
Monday may have been the first day in Colorado history that someone got their marijuana back from the police. Early Monday morning, flanked by attorneys, supporters and the media, Lisa and James Masters appeared at the Fort Collins Police Department to retrieve marijuana plants, growing equipment and other paraphernalia seized 16 month ago from what the Masterses say was a growing operation solely for medicinal marijuana. "This is historic," said Robert Corry, a lawyer for the couple. "It's a beautiful day for medical marijuana." [continues 439 words]
After a prolonged legal battle, a Fort Collins couple today finally retrieved the medical marijuana seized from their home in August 2006, but the plants were dead. The cultivation and possession charges against James and Lisa Masters, medical marijuana patients and caregivers for other patients, were dropped in June but it wasn't until late last month that a judge ruled that police had to return the property. James Masters said he was "very, very happy to see this come to fruition," but that he was sad to see the plants had not been maintained. [continues 104 words]
The father of the 10-year-old girl who was fatally shot in her Denver apartment has a MySpace.com profile that trumpets marijuana use and gang culture. A photo of the girl, Auralia Cisneros, is posted on the page of Leo "Mickey" Cisneros, her 29-year-old father, with the caption "Rest in peace my angel I love you." A pictures link on the page shows additional photos of Auralia and other family members. The wallpaper of the page is a black background with blue marijuana leaves and the name of a well-known gang in west Denver - displayed prominently on the page. [continues 233 words]
Crime Does Not Pay. In Fact It Costs Taxpayers Dearly. While incarcerating the bad guys keeps them off the streets so they can't do more crime, the cost of housing them is tremendous, and the bill keeps rising. What's driving much of the crime is the use of illegal drugs, for users need to steal to pay for their habit. Now the state's prison population is growing, and new and expanded prisons are being called for. Ari Zavaras, executive director of the Department of Corrections, addressed that need to the Legislature's Capital Development Committee, which prioritizes state construction needs other than highways. [continues 199 words]
James Masters quotes Abraham Lincoln - "Revolutions do not go backwards" - when speaking about the progress of the medical marijuana movement from inside the PVMC, otherwise known as Poudre Valley Medical Cannabis. The space is, in fact, Northern Colorado's first medical marijuana dispensary, and since opening its doors in October, James and his wife, Lisa, have sought to emancipate sufferers of cancer, HIV, multiple sclerosis and glaucoma by using cannabis to cope with and alleviate their illnesses. [continues 844 words]
Aspen Skiing Co. has changed its drug testing policy for employees who are injured on the job, who damage company equipment in an accident, or who are in a situation where a guest has been injured. Employees in those and other circumstances are no longer automatically required to take a mandatory drug test to determine if there are threshold levels of marijuana, cocaine, opium or barbiturates in their bloodstream. Instead, employees will only be tested if their supervisor, a supervisor or manager at a higher level, and someone from the human resources department all determine that a drug test is reasonable. [continues 704 words]
No doubt without intending to, a U.S. Justice Department report on the ambitious federal marijuana plant eradication program, documents that the campaign has not only failed to make much of a dent in the marijuana marketplace, it has had the perverse effect of driving producers to indoor sites, notably to suburban homes. In other words, if one of your neighbors has converted the place to an indoor marijuana plantation, guarded by somewhat unsavory-looking characters who look as if they might be packing heat and attracting a number of disreputable-looking hangers-on, you can thank the state and federal governments. It's your tax dollars at work; except that the drug war isn't working. [continues 199 words]
A Fort Collins couple and their lawyer plan to visit the Larimer County sheriff's office Wednesday in hopes of recovering 39 marijuana plants seized by narcotics officers during a raid at their home in August 2006. A Larimer County District Court Judge ruled Monday that authorities must return the plants and growing equipment taken from James and Lisa Masters. Their lawyer described them as medical marijuana providers for themselves and about 8 to 10 other people. Brian Vincente, lawyer for the couple, hopes authorities have taken care of the plants as provided by the state's medical marijuana law, which was approved by voters in 2000. [continues 361 words]
Inside Colorado
