A long overdue change in federal sentencing guidelines has finally and recently been made. For too long there has been a huge disparity between the sentences for powdered cocaine, aka "the white man's drug," and crack cocaine, aka "the black man's drug."

The difference in federal sentences was so large that it became common practice in Florida for the federal prosecutor to adopt cases made by local agencies under Florida statutes in order for the offender to receive sentences of at least 15 years as opposed to the five or so under state statutes in the mid-1980s.

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Patients, caregivers or private entities could get licenses from the state Department of Health to provide marijuana under New Mexico's medical marijuana program, according to proposed regulations released by the department Monday.

The proposed rules would establish a regulated system for the licensure, distribution and manufacture of medical marijuana.

The department plans to publish the rules for public comment later this month, and a public hearing will follow in Santa Fe on Jan. 14. Department spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer said the timeline for developing formal rules will depend on the comments received.

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In 1985, Drug Enforcement Agency's Enrique "Kiki" Camarena was killed while investigating a Mexican drug cartel in an undercover capacity. In honor of his memory friends and neighbors began to wear red satin badges. This recognition grew into the Red Ribbon Campaign.

As a result, Agent Camarena's death has been co-opted for propaganda purposes. Drug Enforcement Agency administrator Karen P. Tandy wrongly asserts that our nation is "one large community unified in taking a stand against drugs." We understand the harm that drugs, including alcohol, can cause, but as with the banning of alcohol in the 1920s, today's prohibition of drugs has spawned a criminal underclass in which illicit drug traffickers arm themselves to protect or expand their markets.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is dedicated to the taxation, regulation and control of all drugs. This would end the drug war, dramatically reduce violence in our communities and make life much safer for our nation's brave law enforcement officers.

J. Michael Jones

Taos

[end]

Today, one person will likely die of a drug-related overdose somewhere in our state. A family is gathering to visit a loved one in prison on a drug charge. A new name is placed on a waiting list for a treatment program. A parent is having their parental rights terminated because of their untreated addiction. And tonight, a teenager at a party will have to make a decision: do I or don't I?

And today, community members and experts from around the state and the country are sharing and learning about effective drug education at "Building Positive Communities: A Public Health Approach to Teen Methamphetamine Prevention."

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It certainly wasn't Albuquerque's "French Connection," nor even, perhaps, much of a Mexican connection.

But in the crime-ridden realm of illegal drug trafficking and using, it should at least be one heck of an inconvenience.

At the end of the day, last week's area-wide meth raid bust - organized by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department - we hope will put more than a dent in local methamphetamine drug trafficking.

We all can hope it leaves a gaping hole, despite the assessment of seasoned federal Drug Enforcement Agency Agent Evelyn Kilgas that it will hardly be noticed by the Mexican cartels that furnish the drugs confiscated in the raid.

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The Use Of Drugs Is Especially Discouraged During National Red Ribbon Week

According to a nationwide survey by the United States Department of Health, 90 percent of 12th graders surveyed said that marijuana was "very easy" or "fairly easy" to get; more than 47percent said cocaine was "very easy" or "fairly easy" to get; and more than 32percent said that heroin was "very easy" or "fairly easy" to get.

During the last week of October, the Socorro DWI Council asked youth to be especially aware of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. The council provided pledge cards to schools throughout the county asking students to promise not to use drugs or alcohol.

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CARLSBAD -- A group of approximately 40 persons gathered Saturday morning for the Fourth Annual Prayer Walk in downtown Carlsbad, walking one mile to the Beach Park and praying for the city.

The walk was sponsored by the Carlsbad Community Anti-Drug/Gang Coalition. Coalition Preventionist Alison Bryant said the prayer walk is one of the strategies the Coalition uses to help the community work toward becoming drug free.

"This year will be scaled down some with less people, there are so many things going on in Carlsbad today," she said.

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The Otero County Meth Coalition got people talking about meth Thursday night at its Methamphetamine Awareness Community Forum at First Assembly Worship Center on the corner of 10th Street and Florida Avenue.

Sylvia King, substance abuse counselor and president of the Otero County Health Council, opened the forum by thanking the church and its staff for the use of their facility. She also informed everyone the Meth Coalition meets the second Tuesday of every month and the meeting is open to anyone interested in attending.

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Many are calling for a political solution for the war in Iraq. It has become painfully obvious that a military solution is not aviable option.

Perhaps now people can recognize too that a military/paramilitary-like approach is not a viable solution to the U.S. policy known as the War on Drugs.

After 37 years of the enforcement ap-proach as national drug policy, we still have chiefs of police announcing new efforts to "target drug trafficking. The police force in Gainesville, Fla., where I served for more than 20 years including three tours as a narcotics officer and later, deputy chief of police, recently announced such a crack down. I use this example because it dem-onstrates the efforts of a chief to address the concerns of the citizens he serves.

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Since the state's medical-marijuana law took effect in July, 50 patients with debilitating health conditions have received permission to grow, possess and use this otherwise illegal drug.

"They're very, very sick people," said Dr. Steve Jenison, the program's medical director at the Health Department, who is pleased the law isn't being used as it has been in some other states.

The patients carry special identification cards and have protection from prosecution under state, but not federal, law. Their identity is kept secret, unless a member of law enforcement calls the Health Department to verify whether a person is on the registry.

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Millions of Americans are living in pain; so many, in fact, that doctors now prescribe enough painkillers in a single year to medicate every person in the nation. According to a disturbing new study by the Associated Press, Americans in 2005 consumed over 90,000 kilograms of powerful narcotic painkillers, not only codeine, hydrocodone and morphine, but also meperidine (Demerol) and oxycodone. In many cases, these drugs can be habit-forming. In some cases, their use can be deadly.

But what if there were a safer, cheaper, and potentially more effective alternative available for pain management -- one that greatly reduced the user's risk of dependency, and one that was incapable of causing a lethal overdose?

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American Civil Liberties Union members in Santa Fe County are dying to learn from County Commissioner Harry Montoya why stemming intolerable pain in people who suffer from cancer, spinal cord injuries and other maladies is "socially, morally, ethically and physically ... not a good policy," as he recently declared in The New Mexican (Aug. 30, "Montoya takes on new pot law").

Relieving suffering is the point of New Mexico's Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act, yet Commissioner Montoya insists on confusing this laudable purpose with Reagan-era pronouncements about the moral perils of inhaling marijuana smoke.

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I am writing in response to Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya's stance on the use of medicinal marijuana. I was severely injured in a car accident in 1995, and again in a job-related accident in 2005. As a consequence, I feel I was used as a guinea pig by various doctors and pharmaceutical companies for pain management primarily involving opiates in one form or another.

Anyone who has gone through a prolonged period involving the use of opiates for pain relief knows the results: mood swings, anger and depression, nausea, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, addiction, etc.

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At the center of the labyrinth of issues around medical marijuana is a snarled garden of Catch-22.

Certified patients in New Mexico can use it - but they have no way to legally get it.

If they have a supply but end up in the hospital, nurses can't administer the drug because it's against the law.

Earlier this year, the Legislature told the Department of Health to find a way to produce and distribute medical marijuana - but to do so would subject its employees to federal prosecution.

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Gov. Bill Richardson lashed out at the Bush administration on Thursday over this week's arrest of a wheelchair-bound Eddy County man who was certified by the state Health Department to possess and smoke marijuana for medical reasons.

The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, a multiagency law enforcement group in Southern New Mexico, raided the Malaga, N.M., home of Leonard French, who is one of 38 patients approved to participate in the state medical-marijuana program. The program started in July after a new state law went into effect. Officers seized several marijuana plants.

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Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya seems to be confused. Medical cannabis is allowed by prescription only. It is illegal to use any prescription drug without a doctor's prescription for that drug. It is legal to use any prescription drug, if one has a doctor's prescription for that drug.

Medical cannabis is a prescription drug. If a doctor prescribes it, under New Mexico law, a patient can use it.

Medical cannabis is no different from any other doctor-prescribed drug.

I see no mixed message.

Robert C. Ford Cerrillos

[end]

I appreciate the concerns expressed by Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya and Diego Lopez in the Aug. 30 article, "Montoya takes on new pot law."

However, fear might have clouded their minds.

I do not advocate drug use.

I do advocate personal responsibility and the legalized regulation of drugs.

I share similar goals with Montoya and Lopez: the protection of, and chance for a better life for, our children.

Who makes the decision to sell drugs to our children?

Criminals, who aren't licensed or regulated, whose drugs vary in strength, purity and fillers because there are no standards.

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County Commissioner Harry Montoya said Wednesday that he disapproves of the state's new medical-marijuana law and will try to use his elected position to prevent sanctioned cultivation or distribution in Santa Fe county.

Montoya is president and chief executive of a nonprofit called Hands Across Cultures, which works to prevent and treat substance abuse, among other goals. As a commissioner, he represents District 1, which is primarily in the northern part of the county and includes Nambe and Chimayo.

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Our Wrongheaded System Prohibits What It Should Regulate

I am a retired deputy chief of police from Gainesville, Fla. My wife and I have lived in Taos for 10 years. I am a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition.

There have been front-page stories all over New Mexico about the attorney general saying the feds might arrest and prosecute Health Department employees who distribute medical marijuana. The production and distribution of marijuana is still a crime at the federal level, and that is something that state laws can't change, says Tom Riley, spokesman for the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

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Man in Wheelchair Faces Possible Federal Drug Charges After Raid

MALAGA, N.M. -- Agents with a regional drug task force raided Leonard French's home in southeastern New Mexico on Tuesday and seized several marijuana plants.

But the wheelchair-bound man said he's certified by the state Health Department to possess and smoke marijuana for medical reasons. The 44-year-old lost the use of his legs about 20 years ago as the result of a motorcycle crash and now suffers from chronic pain and muscle spasms.

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