OTTAWA -- Marijuana may not be so bad after all, says a report from Canada's chamber of sober second thought. The Senate committee on illegal drugs, chaired by Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, issued a discussion paper yesterday after studying the pros and cons of pot use for 14 months. The report, intended to guide public consultation on marijuana issues, says it's probably better not to use marijuana, a psychoactive substance that can affect some people's health. But those effects, it notes, are relatively benign. [continues 179 words]
Arriving in Calgary with a half-century's worth of dope in tow has landed a Surrey, B.C., man a 15-month jail term. Justice Virgil Moshansky agreed with Crown prosecutor Scott Couper that a jail sentence was needed for Nam Que-Hoai Lam to deter other potential drug couriers. Lam, 26, was busted Jan. 10, 2000, at Calgary's downtown Greyhound station by the RCMP. Police seized a suitcase full of marijuana Lam had carried with him off a bus from Vancouver. Couper noted a drug expert pegged the street value of the 22 kilos at more than $282,000. [continues 155 words]
Courts: A Life Term Given To A Minor Drug Offender In Alabama Is One Case Cited By Critics Of The Laws, Which Face Judicial Review And Rollbacks In Several States. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Theresa Wilson--a first-time, nonviolent drug offender--tried to sell a prescription medication to an undercover police officer for $150 back in 1998. She was tried as a "drug baron" under this state's strict narcotics laws, and sentenced to life in prison. On Wednesday, the 34-year-old mother of two got perhaps the first break of her life. She was freed. [continues 687 words]
Local activist Rick Reimer and his pot-smoking pals are holding a rally on Parliament Hill tomorrow to support legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes. "Every person in this country who's ever smoked a joint and who doesn't think they're a criminal ought to be there," Reimer, a marijuana user, said yesterday from his home near Killaloe. The event is from 2-6 p.m. Reimer, a retired lawyer who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has been granted a Health Canada exemption from prosecution. Since leaving law nearly two years ago, he's been lobbying to have marijuana decriminalized. He was recently slapped with an impaired driving charge for smoking a joint while behind the wheel. He's planning to fight the charge by arguing the weed helps his driving. [end]
The people in West Virginia have taken a good step. The Senate majority leader introduced Senate Bill 617 to add Oxycontin to Schedule 1 of the state's uniform controlled substances act. I challenge the members of the Missouri House and Senate to do the same. There are other equally effective pain medicines for those who need them. Isn't it time we took away legitimacy from this narcotic that has hurt so many people? Ray Eaton, Springfield [end]
Quebec Hells Angels Boss Organized Deal To Import Cocaine, Court Documents Say MONTREAL -- Quebec Hells Angels leader Maurice (Mom) Boucher, who is awaiting the jury's verdict in his murder trial, actively organized the importation into Quebec of more than four tonnes of cocaine bought from Colombian drug lords, U.S. Department of Justice documents say. The allegations emerged after a Quebec judge ruled yesterday that there is enough evidence to extradite Guy LePage, a close associate of Mr. Boucher, for trial in Miami. [continues 341 words]
Bunker Hill Police Chief Jesse Cunningham nurtured his crop for a month. He watered the tiny plants every 36 hours. He kept the light on in his office day and night. He even set the plants near a window so that curious passers-by could take a look. On Thursday, Cunningham delivered his harvest to the Illinois State Police crime laboratory. He expects the results to confirm what he already suspects: He has been growing marijuana. "The (Macoupin County) state's attorney said to me, 'I've never heard of a police chief growing his own evidence,' " Cunningham said Thursday with a chuckle. [continues 312 words]
In December, the University of Michigan released its annual survey, "Monitoring the Future," which measures drug use among American youth. Very little had changed from the previous year's report; most indicators were flat. Yet what it brought to light was deeply disturbing. Drug use among our nation's teens remains stable, but at near-record levels, with some 49 percent of high school seniors experimenting with marijuana at least once prior to graduation - and 22 percent smoking marijuana at least once a month. [continues 465 words]
The simultaneous roundups of street-level drug dealers Monday in Covington and Newport undoubtedly sent the message Mayor Butch Callery said he intended. "We want to put out the word that we're not going to tolerate drugs in the community," he said after 60 officers from federal, state and local police agencies swept in on Covington's Eastside neighborhood and Newport Housing Authority apartments. Investigations conducted over several months in the two cities resulted in warrants for the arrest of more than 60 people. Drugs, money and weapons were seized in the roundups that saw more than 40 people arrested over two days. More arrests are expected. [continues 172 words]
To the editor: I read with interest the letters sent by citizens supporting Rep. Mark Souder. I have to comment on some things said about him and his supposed "representation." I have seen Mr. Souder make comments that make me embarrassed to be from Indiana. My most vivid memory was years ago in the federal investigations regarding Waco, Texas, and the Branch Davidian cult. Mr. Souder actually said, on national TV, that if we went in to stop David Koresh because of the allegations of child abuse and incest, shouldn't we also go after places like Kentucky and Georgia where these things happen all the time? This prompted an angry response from the representatives of those states and made me cringe to think we had such an ignorant man to represent Indiana. [continues 390 words]
WILLIAMSBURG -- Tyler Smith and his classmates at the College of William and Mary turned some heads earlier this semester when they spent a Sunday in the Sunken Garden dressed in hippie gear and took tokes from hand-rolled cigarettes and a nearly-3-foot-tall water bong. "We had families walking by and gawking at us," said Smith, adding that the only thing they were smoking was cherry-flavored tobacco. "Our point was we can sit here and legally smoke something that is much worse for us and much more addictive," than marijuana. [continues 706 words]
AFTON -- School officials have asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse an order requiring the district to reinstate a teacher who was fired after facing marijuana charges. Matt Cyran, the Afton School District's attorney, said Tuesday the schools have asked justices to reverse an April 11 decision by the Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals. The appeals court ordered the district to reinstate Carolyn Weaver, who was dismissed in November 2000 on grounds of "moral turpitude, neglect of duty and incompetence." An Ottawa County judge had upheld her dismissal. [continues 240 words]
