Area Experts Weigh in on Marijuana Debate

If you could entirely get rid of one drug, which would it be?

This question was posed to a law enforcement officer with more than 30 years of experience at a recent drug prevention conference in Columbus. Mentor Municipal Court Judge John Trebets, who runs the Lake County drug court, was in attendance.

"In my head, I'm yelling out 'Heroin!' " Trebets said. "Then he looks out and says if he could get rid of one drug it would be marijuana."

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New York Yankees baseball legend Mickey Mantle was my boyhood hero. I collected all of his baseball cards and memorized every statistic about his performance. I couldn't wait for my Uncle Tony to finish reading the Sporting News so I could cut out articles about the greatest baseball player of my generation, which I then carefully stored in a shoebox beneath my bed.

It wasn't until I was much older that I realized that my boyhood idol was an alcoholic who began drinking at age 20 after the death of his father from Hodgkin's disease.

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In November, Colorado and Washington both passed referendums allowing for recreational use of marijuana by adults over the age of 21.

At the same time, Connecticut and Massachusetts passed measures legalizing the drug for medicinal purposes, making them the 17th and 18th states to do so. Washington D.C. also has a law legalizing the drug medicinally.

But despite the expansion of the marijuana reform movement, it is yet to be seen if the changes have had any effect on Ohioans' perception of the drug.

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Opiates pose toughest problem in local war on drugs

MARION - The drug problem in Marion isn't getting better.

Officials say it's getting worse.

"It's bad," said Wade Ralph, Marion Fire Department public information officer. "It's bad bad. It's a major problem in Marion right now."

Major Bill Collins with the Marion Police Department agrees.

"It's not unusual for us to probably deal with 10 or more heroin-related calls a week," he said. "That could be somebody overdosing or a mom that found heroin instruments in her kid's room or the heroin addict who robbed a Motomart to get money for heroin. So it's hard to put a number on that unless you know exactly whether they're a heroin addict or not."

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But KY. High-Schoolers Still Choose Tobacco Over Marijuana

Marijuana use among teenagers is surging nationally, and the trend has health officials in Ohio and Kentucky worried.

The most current data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shows that American high school students are now smoking marijuana more often than cigarettes.

The 2011 survey shows that 23 percent of the nation's high school students report using marijuana, while only 18 percent of 9th-through 12th-grade students say they recently smoked cigarettes. For decades, the number of teenage smokers has been on the decline while marijuana use has fluctuated. At times, pot and cigarette use were close to the same level, but last year marked the first time marijuana use was clearly higher.

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MARTINS FERRY - I went on the ride of a lifetime Friday.

It was one that potentially placed me in harm's way, but one that triggered excitement and anticipation, rather than fear or trepidation.

What was to fear?

I was amongst a sea of Belmont County's finest - an army of law enforcement personnel.

It started when Martins Ferry Police Chief John McFarland asked Tuesday if I was up for taking a cruiser ride. The former Martins Ferry High football star, however, was tight-lipped about the mission. He just said it was "big."

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The Libertarian candidate for Ohio's first congressional district hosted a rally promoting his platform Monday.

"We got a lot of issues on our platform," said Jim Berns, the Libertarian candidate. "But [gay marriage and legalization of marijuana] are two very important ones, because students at the University of Cincinnati can relate to these two."

Berns has run for public office 13 times as the Libertarian candidate and won two primaries, he said. The UC College of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning laboratory manager's beliefs on gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana will help him garner the support of young voters, he said.

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Dillon Starnes chose jail over heroin. Homeless and facing the prospect of spending the night at a house full of junkies and relapsing, Starnes on July 11 sat outside his mother's home in violation of a temporary protection order she had against him and told police when they arrived that he wanted to get clean in the Lorain County Jail. v "There's no help around here. They just give you the runaround," he said in a recent interview. "It's pretty sad I had to put myself in jail to get help."

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Caravan for Peace arrives in Toledo

A group of about 80 people denouncing the war on drugs walked Wednesday from St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on West Central Avenue to Corpus Christi University Parish on Dorr Street.

Once they neared Corpus Christi, members of the Caravan for Peace -- many of them Mexican citizens who have friends or family among the tens of thousands who have died there in drug-related crimes -- chanted, "No more drug war."

Through a translator, Lourdes Campos Romo said her son was shot five times inside his own home two years ago.

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Dear Editor,

Let me be frank ... Until we legalize our largest agricultural cash crop, marijuana, our economy will contiue to be sluggish, at best.

We cannot expect our economy to prosper as long as we keep the biggest agricultural commodity America has ever known illegal. It's not going to happen, folks.

On the other hand, if we legalize marijuana, our economy will go right through the roof ... off the charts! Marijuana is huge, already developed, already in place, all ready to go in all 50 states.

Legalize marijuana - recession is over, immediately and permanently. We need legal weed!

David L. Hornberger, age 70

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"We're effective when communities are involved. It's stronger when communities are involved. We need each other."

Guernsey County Sheriff Mike McCauley spoke those words to Cambridge Kiwanians Tuesday. He paid the club a visit to update members on several aspects of his job. Among them: Bath salts.

"That drug has hit us with full vengeance," he said.

Bearing brand names such as K2 and Spice, the salts are cheap and easily accessible hallucinogens that are available at more than one location in Cambridge.

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A pair of state senators have partnered to craft a bill that would establish procedures for the remediation of real property that previously was used as an illegal meth lab.

"It is important to set uniform state standards for the clean up of these dangerous sites and clarify responsibilities related to the remediation of sites used for meth production," said Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Akron.

LaRose, along with Sen. Bill Beagle, R-Tipp City, has introduced Senate Bill 348 into the Ohio General Assembly.

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As a mother and a grandmother, I guess I wanted to believe that the rumors I have been hearing about the use of drugs among young people are untrue, and just that - rumors. But when you start hearing and seeing lives torn apart because of heroine and cocaine usage by close friends, neighbors, family persons, you are awakened to the realization that this "thing" is in our own community!

Folks don't want to talk about it, don't want to think about it, as long as it does not affect them. In every county and suburb, the drug problem is becoming rampant. I am sure it is difficult for safety forces to find the sources, and then what?

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"Bath salts are a synthetic, man-made substance," said Steven Dunkin, executive director of the Brown County Community Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services. "I think they originally came from China and India and they can be taken orally, smoked, or injected into veins."

They are typically sold in tobacco stores, gas stations, convenience stores, and over the internet.

"Drugs tend to be trendy," Dunkin said. "I think part of it is the cost. Bath salts have typically been pretty inexpensive."

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Summit County is experiencing an epidemic -- one that the majority of the county is unaware of: a rise in meth and heroin abuse. It's a well-kept secret to those who don't experience it first-hand.

"If you saw what I saw on some days, you would understand why it's an epidemic," said Sarah Hulburt, a Summit County defense attorney. But most people are "not aware of [the drug problem in Summit County] at all," she said.

"I wasn't aware of it, it was completely shocking to me. The only awareness of it they might have is if a friend or if they have a child themselves that has been addicted to it."

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It was shared with me that the keynote speaker at a recent county gathering made the comment that there are a lot of groups fighting the drug problems in our county, but that nothing is being accomplished.

I do not know what context this statement was made in and am not writing to argue with this speaker, but I am writing to let the people of this county know that this cannot be a blanket statement as there are groups that are actively fighting drug abuse in our county. These groups have taken note that our county has a huge problem with drug addiction, especially heroin and other opiates, and are trying various things to combat the problem.

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As meth and heroin use peaks in Summit County, Tallmadge authorities have observed a particularly high frequency of meth-related crimes.

"Heroin seems to come and go with popularity," said Lt. Ron Williams, public information officer for Tallmadge Police, "but meth has been on the rise for awhile. It's not uncommon to come across either right now."

Williams noted the department tracks drug offenses in general, but doesn't specify the drug involved. Regardless, Williams said, both drugs and the paraphernalia associated with them have become "part of our everyday existence, even in a place like Tallmadge."

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Few would argue Ohioans want their tax dollars being used by welfare recipients to buy illegal drugs.

Nor would anyone want that person's children going to bed hungry because the state had denied payments based on a positive drug test.

As we all know, the world is far from perfect.

That's why the controversial proposal to require drug testing for welfare recipients by highly conservative state Sen. Tim Schaffer, R- Lancaster, provokes such strong emotions.

Schaffer's original 2011 bill called for outright testing with no cash payments to anyone who was using drugs.

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Representatives from across the state came to Ohio University to discuss the logistics behind the legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio Tuesday evening.

The four-person panel included representatives from the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Association of Ohio, the Ohio Medical Cannabis Association (OMCA) and OU Community Standards (formerly Judiciaries). All agreed that marijuana could be beneficial as medicine, but some of the panelists stressed that additional research is needed before it is legalized for medicinal use.

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This past Sunday, the Eagle-Gazette published an article that showed just how frustrating the drug problem is for local authorities.

The response to our article, which detailed the sentences handed down to people caught up in a pair of highly-publicized drug sweeps performed by local law enforcement, has been strong, just as the response to the initial sweeps was strong. We thought it was important to bring you the rest of the story now that we know the results.

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