With every passing year the drug problem seems to get worse. The U.S. government responds by pumping billions more dollars into the war on drugs. Federal spending for this "war without end" is more than twenty times what it was in 1980 and still the drug traffickers appear to be winning. Despite more than six billion dollars spent on "Plan Colombia" alone, cocaine production has actually increased in that country. Now the Bush Administration is asking for $1.4 billion more to aid the Mexican government's drug crackdown through the "Merida Initiative."

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After months of debate and discussion, USD No. 353 Wellington made it's first school drug testing policy a reality.

On Thursday, Aug. 9, members of the school board unanimously passed the current policy with a 6-0 vote.

Debate on who would be tested, how, how often, and what would be tested for was up in the air, but after two poorly attended public meetings were held, the school board came to their decision.

School board President David Peck said there was little opposion to the testing policy, seeing as it has already been established at other schools around Kanas including El Dorado. He said students and parents openly welcomed the policy as an extra way to keep everyone safe.

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Officials from school districts that already have implemented random student drug testing agree community support is vital for the program to be successful.

"If the community is not supportive of this, then you are fighting a losing battle," said Jay Sabatino, superintendent of Community High School District 117 in Lake Villa, Ill.

For the last five years, the Illinois school district with more than 2,600 high school students has performed random student drug tests on students in athletics and those with a parking pass, Sabatino said.

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Lawrence Appeal Is One of Two Challenging Police Actions

Topeka - Two minor drug cases, including one in Lawrence, have led to major constitutional questions before the Kansas Supreme Court over when police can search a person.

The court will hear oral arguments at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in a dispute arising from the June 16, 2005, arrest of Paul Martin near Trinity Episcopal Church, 1011 Vt.

The incident started as Lawrence police Officer Reid Walter was on patrol investigating whether someone was urinating in the area and he approached Martin, according to court records.

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Students Question Policy Draft

De Soto High School senior Jessica Pennington Tuesday night gave a word of warning to the committee studying a random drug testing policy for De Soto USD 232.

"If you asked us if we would stop participating in activities if this policy were in place the answer is yes," she said. "It's not that we feel we have anything to hide. If you did present me with this option I honestly feel I would turn my stuff in right now."

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If enough teens participate, the Kansas Communities That Care Student Survey can measure and predict delinquency, substance abuse and violence.

But only 26 percent of Wichita students take the survey. Backers of the survey would like to have 80 percent participation. They blame the low response on a Wichita schools policy called "active consent." Parents must sign a form permitting their children to take surveys. By contrast, many districts require parents to opt out of such surveys.

Unless participation rises, the state could miss out on a $14 million federal grant to combat underage drinking.

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Drug Abuse Resistance Education or DARE has been around nationally since 1983. This past week the Parsons Police Department expanded its DARE program in hopes of reaching and helping more students. This is a positive step for students and the police.

Public Safety Officer Sherri McGuire recently graduated from DARE school and joined Sgt. Walter Largent as the second DARE-trained officer on the Parsons force. The program consists of 80 hours of training in areas such as child development, classroom management, teaching techniques and communication skills. With the unfortunate increase of drug use around the country and now the proliferation of over-the-counter drug abuse this couldn't have come at a better time. And having two officers who can cover for each other will ensure the program doesn't miss a beat in teaching kids to say no to drugs.

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Law enforcement, along with local social and prevention agencies, will come together Tuesday in Great Bend to discuss statewide awareness of methamphetamine and its impact in Kansas.

The summit, which is hosted by the Kansas Task Force addressing methamphetamine and illegal drugs, will feature speakers who have become the frontrunners for meth research, clandestine lab investigations and treatment of meth addictions.

Juliene Maska, who is responsible for staffing the drug task force, said the importance of the summit helps educate agencies about the prevalence of meth in their areas and effective ways to combat it.

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Each year students across the nation fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and when they do, there's a small box under Question 31 that - if marked - can cost them significant federal aid.

College students in the United States and Canada rallied against this question, which asks students if they have been convicted for the possession or sale of illegal drugs, last week as part of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy's week of action.

Tom Angell, government relations director for SSDP, said about 40 campuses participated in the week of action against the Aid Elimination Penalty, though K-State was not one of them.

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Cocaine is stacked after a traffic stop turned into a drug bust of 500 pounds of the drug in Franklin County.

A traffic stop by a Franklin County Sheriff's deputy Wednesday led to the seizure of 500 pounds of cocaine found stashed in a hidden compartment aboard a box van.

The cocaine, estimated by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration as having a street value of $5 million, is the county's largest drug seizure ever, Sheriff's Lt. Jimmie Dean said in Thursday's announcement.

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It comes as no surprise to me that many prescription and even over-the-counter drugs are dangerous, and that "adverse drug events" have escalated dramatically during the past decade ("Prescription 'adverse events' mount, despite oversight," Sept. 11 Eagle). According to the article, the drugs most often linked to serious problems, including deaths, are from two categories: those that work primarily on the immune system, such as drugs used for diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS and Crohn's disease; and pain relievers, both prescription and nonprescription, commonly used for degenerative disk disease, osteoarthritis and many other causes of chronic pain.

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety," Benjamin Franklin said in 1759.

Many parents in the Maize school district won't understand what that means; they proved that by signing the consent form for their children to have random drug testing. Had they not signed it, their children couldn't be in sports or any extracurricular activity, including graduation or parking in the parking lot.

Now isn't that what giving up our freedom is all about? I take responsibility for my own children. That includes watching which kids they hang out with, talking to them, and teaching them respect, responsibility, right from wrong and their rights as human beings. Then others come along and look for someone to make their jobs as parents less complicated. So now my child has to suffer because they can't take care of their children.

Thank you, parents, for letting this go by so easily. Maybe someday someone else can teach your children their constitutional rights. Enjoy your temporary safety. Now you've got Big Brother watching your kids for you.

Michele Lyon,

Wichita

[end]

In his Aug. 23 letter, Eric Voth decries former Attorney General Bob Stephan's endorsement of medical marijuana. Dr. Voth states that marijuana isn't a safe drug and is not "clearly effective." He goes on to list some of the side effects of its use.

The point here isn't whether medical marijuana is more or less effective, or more or less dangerous, than many of the other drugs regularly prescribed by doctors for their patients. The point is to decide who will make our medical decisions. Will it be the patient herself, teamed with a licensed medical professional? Or will it be non-medical groups intent on imposing their non-medical agendas on the rest of us?

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Dr. Eric Voth's letter, "Goal isn't medical help," (Aug. 18) is truly what is terrible about medical marijuana. The anti-cannabis fanatic's colors wave dull and dark in Voth's screed.

Dr. Voth in declaring his chairmanship of the Institute on Global Drug Policy also declares his association with the worst of the prohibitionist movement in the 21st century, including folks like Mel and Betty Sembler, who were instrumental in the failed and torturous Straight Inc. organization, a group that has tortured American children in the jihad against drugs and those who use them.

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Federal Funds Could Help State Make Further Dent In Cutting Meth Supply Lines

Kansas law enforcement officers have won a battle against methamphetamine, but the war is far from over.

Authorities said meth lab busts have plunged dramatically in recent years, suggesting there has been a steep drop in the amount of the drug being manufactured in the state.

But the bad news is that importation of the drug has climbed, apparently so much that the overall supply of the destructive drug has remained relatively steady despite the decline in domestic labs.

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Former Attorney General Bob Stephan recently ventured outside his area of expertise and endorsed a new push for medical-excuse marijuana in Kansas ("Former AG supports medicinal marijuana," Aug. 17 Local & State). He has joined ranks with advocates of drug legalization to advance their cause under the guise of "compassionate" marijuana.

It is most important to understand that legislative actions giving access to marijuana seriously jeopardize consumer protection. Our processes for bringing medicine to the public have been established so that science, not emotion, prevails. The Food and Drug Administration opposes medical-excuse marijuana and such legislative actions.

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Former Kansas Attorney General Bob Stephan is one of the most respected figures in Kansas law enforcement. People should listen when he says the state should legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

We also should pay attention because Stephan is a cancer survivor and suffered through seven years of chemotherapy. He has a special understanding of the pain and nausea brought on by treatments.

Marijuana has been found to alleviate these symptoms, yet archaic and politically charged laws keep it illegal.

Today's restrictions on marijuana began with a laughable series of events in the 1930s, when Harry J. Anslinger, who worked in the Bureau of Prohibition, led the political fight against marijuana using baseless arguments, false accusations and racism. Industrialists in paper and plastics, who feared competition from hemp production, helped support his efforts.

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Former Attorney General Bob Stephan said Friday he wants to start a legislative discussion on medicinal marijuana in Kansas.

Stephan, a cancer survivor, said he did not use the drug himself during his treatments, but believes that Kansans suffering from a list of diseases and disorders proven to be helped by marijuana should have the opportunity to take advantage of the positive effects of the drug.

Yes, the benefits for those suffering from pain due to cancer treatments, multiple sclerosis, eye disorders and other conditions sound too good to be true. But look at the problems other states with medicinal marijuana laws have had and one can see that these patients will not be the only customers at any potential "medical marijuana dispensaries."

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TOPEKA - An effort under way in Kansas to legalize the medical use of marijuana was endorsed Friday by former Kansas Attorney General Bob Stephan.

Stephan recounted his own bouts with cancer. He was diagnosed with the disease at age 39 and was given only two to four weeks to live.

He outlived that prediction but spent years undergoing chemotherapy treatments that always left him nauseated. He said doctors prescribed medications for the nausea but they never worked well.

Stephan was asked if he smoked marijuana during his illnesses, a question he said he had been asked numerous times but declined to answer. He answered it Friday.

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Former Kansas A.G. Says Treatment of Drug 'Absurd'

Topeka -- The push to legalize medical marijuana got a big lift Friday when former Attorney General Bob Stephan announced his support and urged Kansans to get behind the effort.

"The state should not pre-empt the role of the physicians when it comes to deciding what is best for ill Kansans," said Stephan, a cancer survivor and the longest serving attorney general in state history.

But lawmakers said there was little chance of legalizing medical marijuana, at least in the 2008 legislative session that starts in January.

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