Denver, Colo. has proclaimed itself the nation's forerunner for dealing with domestic violence. Billboards previously pasted up in the city showed the image of an abused woman, promoting support of Initiative 100 to "Reduce family & community violence in Denver," and, earlier this month, voters successfully willed it into action. Marijuana possession for recreational purposes is now legal for the first time in an American city. Mason Tvert, the leading proponent of the Alcohol Marijuana Equalization Initiative, was involved in the "Make Denver Safer" campaign. Of Initiative 100, he said: "If this passes, it will make the city of Denver safer by allowing adults over 21 to use marijuana as an alternative to alcohol." In January, Tvert also started an organization, SAFER (Safer Alternatives for Enjoyable Recreation), as a response to alcohol-related deaths at Colorado universities. He added, "There's no doubt that if people choose to use marijuana instead of alcohol we would not have the same number of problems." [continues 236 words]
While Richard Nixon was a central figure to the Vietnam War - -- one of the most unpopular and divisive conflicts in the history of the United States -- another battle he began rivals its reputation. The war on drugs has been a continuous force in American politics and justice for the past 30 years, at a cost of over half a trillion dollars, according to the Drug Enforcement Agency. But as drug-related cases crowd jails around the country and a seemingly endless supply of illegal drugs and drug dealers rush to satisfy the black market, the fight is accumulating a long list of casualties and few victories. [continues 1563 words]
Dear Editor, The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. Punitive marijuana laws have little, if any, deterrent value. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to many Americans. In subsidizing the prejudices of culture warriors, the U.S. government is subsidizing organized crime. The drug war's distortion of immutable laws of supply and demand make an easily grown weed literally worth its weight in gold. The only clear winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless tough-on-drugs politicians who've built careers on confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with a relatively harmless plant. [continues 65 words]
The ultimate praise of Nevada - the incomparable state in which adults enjoy the freedom to drink, gamble and have sex like the great hedonists of ancient cultures - is that its constitution permits adults to be just that: adults. With its permissive framework, Nevada deems adults - that is, grown men and women who, despite their various levels of maturity, have reached the age of accountability - as capable of handling certain freedoms that other states prohibit. And so it is unsurprising that advocates from the Committee to Regulate and Control Marijuana group, a child of the Marijuana Policy Project, strove to make Nevada the first state in which adults could possess the hemp plant free from the fear of persecution. [continues 434 words]
I'm afraid this could be held against me "Call me Bob Brown or something," a 22-year-old senior Hotel Management major at UNLV said, after countless students refused to admit to using marijuana on record. "It's not that I'm ashamed to tell anyone that I smoke it - because I'm not; even my own mother knows I do - it's just that I'm afraid this could be held against me. "The way things are now, smoking marijuana makes me a deviant." [continues 5184 words]
I am one of the founders of the Drug Reform Coordination Network, the organization that spawned Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. I also established the DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy, the world's largest online collection of research on drug policy at http://www.druglibrary.org . I cannot comment on any issues with SSDP and its chapters but I have taught more people how to debate this subject than anyone else, so I can comment on Alexander Marriott's arguments. [continues 374 words]
To The Editor: I wish to clarify the motives of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in revoking chapter status from its UNLV chapter, called into question by your April 21 article "Students for Sensible Drug Policy loses funding." The actions taken by SSDP were necessary because the UNLV chapter disregarded the SSDP organizational bylaws and values statement and appears to have engaged in behavior that could have subjected SSDP to criminal and/or civil liability. On March 17, 2002, the SSDP Board of Directors became aware of UNLV SSDP materials including a cartoon titled "How to Roll a Joint," and other images of students smoking marijuana in conjunction with the SSDP logo. At that point in time, SSDP UNLV was told to immediately stop using such images. SSDP's Board of Directors and National Office learned later that the UNLV chapter had entirely disregarded its demands. [continues 351 words]
This organization is really an organization that strives to make drugs legal because of the fact that they think it is "harmless". They keep on spinning the truth, like Sacco's comments about the medical benefits of Marijuana, which we've already voted on, and passed, I think a few years back. This is not about medical or anything, and they know it. The individuals that make-up SSDP want to legally use Marijuana, and that is why they use this "medical" reason, because they want to fool the American people in Nevada, and it did not work last time, and it sure will not work this time. [continues 108 words]
Crack, cocaine, and speed are all highly addictive drugs that plague the streets and homes of America. According to Narconon, a drug rehabilitation center in California, nearly one out of four Americans between the ages of 26 and 34, has used cocaine once. They also claim that 69 million Americans over the age of 12 have tried marijuana at least once. For those that are truly addicted, there are such things as drug rehab, treatment centers, and intervention crisis options. I think the main question here is if they really work. The Baldwin Research Institute doesn't think so. The New York corporation has been researching and developing programs for alcohol and drug addicts since 1989. They claim that there is not one recovery program out there that has a higher success rate than 30 percent. This is a dismal figure considering how many people in America are alcoholics or addicted to drugs. [continues 268 words]
In light of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy chapter at UNLV having its funding withdrawn, I think it's time to rethink the strategy employed thus far that has led to the break between the national organization and our campus chapter. As far as I can tell, the use of the marijuana plant upon flyers and organization literature, as well as on shirts, etc., angered the national organization to the point where they thought the UNLV chapter was doing more harm than good. They have a point, sensible drug policy includes more drugs than just marijuana, where are the shirts with lines of cocaine and heroin needles? [continues 850 words]
Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) received some startling news last week: the national SSDP organization no longer recognizes the group as a legitimate entity and as a consequence, UNLV is pulling funding for the student group. UNLV chapter of SSDP may not receive the $500 seed money it was promised this semester due to national SSDP's decision. According to UNLV SSDP President Jenn Gross, the national organization objected to the pervasiveness of marijuana references in the group's material. [continues 579 words]
TO THE EDITOR: In response to your article on "club drugs" (March 24), you completely misidentified the contents of Ecstasy or MDMA. It does not contain either Methamphetamine (Speed) or Mescaline, the active compound in Peyote. MDMA is a synthetic stimulant compound that causes a release of the natural brain chemical Seratonin, making the user feel alert, happy, and emotionally open. MDMA has been used clinically in the past, and is currently being studied in the United States for potential use with victims of rape and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It allows the patient to open up and work through their experience in therapy. [continues 185 words]
UNLV took part in sponsoring "Dancing with Darkness," a student town hall meeting held inside the Moyer Student Union ballroom last Monday evening. The meeting's purpose was to educate students concerning the physical and psychological impact of "club drugs." "Club drugs" is a term used for the most pervasive drugs at nightclubs and "raves." The three primary club drugs frequently used in the club scene are known as ecstasy, "special K" slang for Ketamine," and GHB. MDNA, or ecstasy, is in a tablet form, and is often imprinted with designs or commercial logos. It contains 100 milligrams of MDMA: methamphetamine mixed with mescaline. [continues 948 words]
To the Editor: How nice of Secretary of State Colin Powell to warn prospective spring break travelers that American-style zero tolerance awaits them in foreign countries. Students who end up in third world jails have the U.S. State Department to thank for their misfortune. The failed drug war would have ended decades ago if the United States didn't use its superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe. The drug war is in large part a war against marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. Marijuana prohibition has done little other than burden millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. [continues 200 words]
We are all very aware of the fact that spring break is looming on the horizon. It is waiting patiently to relieve us from our academic woes, procrastinated paperwork, and mundane midterms. Well my little buddy Secretary of State Colin L. Powell took it upon himself to provide the Rebel Yell with vital spring break information for those of us traveling abroad. So let's play the pretend game. I don't know about you but my loving parents are filthy rich and so (because I'm their special little guy) I get to go to (foreign country) this semester, and man am I going to get wasted as soon as I step off that plane. [continues 952 words]
FOR MY NEW Year's resolution, I resolve to call out the media on propagandistic malarkey whenever I see it. And so, I present the following for your consideration. Something has really stuck in my craw since the Super Bowl of last year. A very disgusting something I call "Patriotism--the Anti-Drug." This is the newest hook of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America--buy drugs, and you support terrorism. Inevitably, this produced a backlash from progressive watchdogs. [continues 577 words]
