WHITEFISH - School officials have backed away from mandatory random drug testing at Whitefish High School, but they now are considering a plan that would include voluntary testing of student athletes. "We're trying to balance everyone's interests," said assistant principal Jeff Peck. "We're doing what we think is the right thing to do, to create a safe environment for all our students." Previously, the school board had considered a controversial program that would have required random drug testing for any student participating in extracurricular activities. [continues 1127 words]
Re: your April 13 article, "Hundreds remember teen killed in Malibu car wreck": Another dead teen. Even though the medical-marijuana initiative was passed by California voters in 1996, the distribution of marijuana, except under special circumstances, is still illegal. Narcotics are controlled by the federal government and federal laws supersede state laws. Yet, our teens and young adults continue to flock to physicians who charge between $150 to $200 to issue a medical-marijuana card with little or no medical indication. [continues 412 words]
WHITEFISH - For years, backpacks crammed with cash have slipped north into Canada, followed closely by hockey bags packed with premium marijuana skating south into Montana. A favorable exchange rate (not long ago, one American dollar bought one and a half Canadian dollars) made the smuggling profitable, and thus popular. But last month, for the first time in more than 30 years, the two currencies were at par, matched in value, and Sunday a Canadian dollar bought $1.06 U.S. The financial tables have turned, and global economics have done what U.S. law enforcement could not: Capitalism has stopped the smugglers in their tracks. [continues 1495 words]
WHITEFISH - For years, backpacks crammed with cash have slipped north into Canada, followed closely by hockey bags packed with premium marijuana skating south into Montana. A favorable exchange rate (not long ago, one American dollar bought one and a half Canadian dollars) made the smuggling profitable, and thus popular. But last month, for the first time in more than 30 years, the two currencies were at par, matched in value, and today a Canadian dollar buys $1.10 U.S. The financial tables have turned, and global economics have done what U.S. law enforcement could not: Capitalism has stopped the smugglers in their tracks. [continues 1500 words]
WHITEFISH - For years, backpacks crammed with cash have slipped north into Canada, followed closely by hockey bags packed with premium marijuana skating south into Montana. A favorable exchange rate (not long ago, one American dollar bought one and a half Canadian dollars) made the smuggling profitable, and thus popular. But last month, for the first time in more than 30 years, the two currencies were at par, matched in value, and today a Canadian dollar buys $1.10 U.S. The financial tables have turned, and global economics have done what U.S. law enforcement could not: Capitalism has stopped the smugglers in their tracks. [continues 1496 words]
KALISPELL - They come across in small airplanes and on foot, astride horses and atop snowmobiles. They hike and float and ski and dog sled their way out of Canada and across Montana's northern border, often smuggling drugs or people. Sometimes they are caught. Sometimes not. "What we do is one of the toughest jobs in the world," said Lonnie Moore, information officer for the Spokane Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. "I believe we catch most of them, but we're not naive enough to think it's 100 percent. There's always room to improve." [continues 1747 words]
KALISPELL - A police officer posing as a high school student wrapped up more than two months in the classroom Tuesday with the arrest of 11 Kalispell teens on charges of drug dealing. "There will probably be more arrests," said Frank Garner, chief of police in Kalispell. "We're also investigating reports that one parent might have been supplying some of the drugs to the kids." All 11 were busted for selling marijuana to an undercover policeman during the past couple months. [continues 403 words]
