In his editorial on medical marijuana, Leo Morris quotes Mark Souder as saying that nobody is very consistent when it comes to federalism. Not correct, Mark. A minority reads and understands the limitations on government power written into the Constitution and amplified in the Federalist Papers. Our present-day contempt for hard limitations on the powers of the national government has not always been the case. Consider that when the idea swept the nation in 1919 that the evils of alcohol outweighed a citizen's right to pollute his or her own body, the people had enough respect for our constitutional form of government to record their prohibition of alcohol in an amendment rather than a simple majority act of Congress or an executive order or a "ruling" from the bench. The Constitution is still on the books as the supreme law of the land, and we will see its restoration to favor when we get bored with our long dance with socialism, say, about the time the bill for Social Security comes due. Tom Jaquish [end]
Nevada Medical Marijuana Users Have a Large Stake in the Case Before the Supreme Court John Ashcroft. It's a name that's haunted Americans and their civil liberties for four years. And while the attorney general announced his resignation last month, his name will not soon be forgotten - especially among medical marijuana users if things go wrong this week. On Nov. 29, the Supreme Court began hearing arguments in Ashcroft v. Raich. It's a case that will determine whether a federal ban on marijuana can be enforced in states allowing the drug's use for medical purposes. It also considers whether the feds can arrest citizens for abiding by state drug laws. [continues 892 words]
Typically, if conservative Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas were overheard waxing sympathetic to federal regulations bullying state law, reasonable people would wonder what they'd been smoking. Alas, this week, in Raich v. Ashcroft, the latest medical-marijuana case to come before the high court, that's exactly what they have been up to. The case concerns Angel Raich, a terminally ill California resident who puffs away the pain of a brain tumor and sundry other ailments using pot grown in the state. [continues 674 words]
Assault weapons drawn, dozens of black-clad federal agents, in full riot gear and body armor, burst into a peaceful suburban Aurora home at the end of quiet cul-de-sac. No, they don't seek Osama bin Laden; instead, agents scour every nook and cranny for that pernicious threat to national security: state-approved medical marijuana, used by sick patients for relief from illness and pain, as Colorado voters intended. Inside the home, agents find a terrified man who peacefully presents his state of Colorado-issued card and certificate, the government's permission for him to grow, possess and use medical marijuana. This gentle man, Dana K. May, suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a debilitating and potentially lethal nerve disease with pain so intense that some of its sufferers take their own lives. May, a clean-cut Republican and married father of three, describes the pain as though "my feet are in a deep fryer." [continues 622 words]
An organiser of the Alpine Unity dance party has been jailed for nine years for his part in a drug ring that imported lsd. Canadian Tael Nikolai Smolski, 28, bowed his head throughout his sentencing in the High Court at Wellington yesterday. Smolski had pleaded guilty to charges of importing and conspiring to import lsd and conspiring to supply the drug. A shipment with an estimated street value of $240,000 had arrived in New Zealand late last year. Earlier, a bigger shipment of 40,000 tabs had been brought in. If it had been of normal strength its street value would have been about $1.6 million, police said. However, it was of such poor quality that scientists were unable to confirm the presence of lsd in the sampling of tabs tested. [continues 136 words]
WASHINGTON - More than 40 percent of Americans take at least one prescription drug, and 17 percent take three or more, the government said Thursday in a comprehensive report on the nation's health. The report documented the growing use of medications in the past decade, a trend that it attributed to the growth of insurance coverage for drugs, the discovery and marketing of new products, and clinical guidelines that recommend greater use of drugs to treat high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and other disorders. [continues 352 words]
Call it the Cleven clause: a law change inspired by the justice system's failure to snare the money of a notorious alleged drug lord. Peter "Pedro" Cleven was the Headhunters gang member accused of making a fortune from drugs including cannabis and methamphetamine. Described by police as a kingpin of organised crime, he boasted, in bugged conversations, of dealing "a hundred pound of dak a week" and making a million dollars a year from the harder stuff. When they arrested him on supply charges in 2000, police used the Proceeds of Crime Act to freeze his assets, including a Titirangi mansion, Harley-Davidson motorbike, Mercedes-Benz convertible and swanky powerboat. [continues 1482 words]
To the Editor, Regarding Susan Hundertmark's Nov. 24th op-ed, the importance of parental involvement in reducing drug use cannot be overstated. School-based extracurricular activities also have been shown to reduce use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely to get into trouble. In order for drug prevention efforts to reduce harm, they must be reality - based. The most popular drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is often overlooked by parents. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined. [continues 142 words]
The consideration of state medical marijuana laws versus federal anti-drug laws by the United States Supreme Court has sparked nationwide debate on the subject. The arguments by the federal government on the issue of medical marijuana are merely a subset of our national drug policy as a whole, which sounds something like this: Drugs are bad. If you do drugs, you're bad, and you should be punished. I have long opposed the War on Drugs as a matter of principle. You, as an adult, have the right to do whatever you wish to your own body so long as you are not harming someone else; you should be held fully responsible for the consequences if you misuse your substance of choice. [continues 659 words]
Death Of Officer's Son Spotlights Influx Of Prescription Drug Into SW Florida Lee County sheriff's Capt. Jeff Taylor was chatting with a sergeant about their families when Lt. Matt Powell walked into his office on June 19, 2003. It was another routine morning until his friend told Taylor that his son had overdosed on drugs. As Taylor drove to Gulf Coast Hospital, he thought it would be a great lesson for his son. His son would get sick -- maybe he'd have his stomach pumped -- and learn the stupidity of drugs. The teenager's experience would end with a grand chewing out by dad. [continues 828 words]
It Took A Prison Term To End Old Patterns And Turn Downstate Man Into An Anti-Drug Crusader PEORIA - Matthew Yeater had made meth hundreds of times. But seconds after the 20-year-old grabbed a Thermos of stolen anhydrous ammonia--a key ingredient--it exploded in his face. Yeater inhaled a lungful of the toxic gas, and the vapors began eating away at his eyes. "I [thought], oh my God, I'm going to be blind if I don't die," said the former resident of Pleasant Hill, Ill. [continues 431 words]
I am very angry and broken-hearted at the recent events that have led to George McCrackin's resignation. I feel as if Mr. McCrackin was a scapegoat. He would never have resigned on his own free will. Why should the heart and soul of Stratford High have to resign when the only thing he is guilty of is caring for his family? Yes, I do mean family. Mr. McCrackin has a family that exceeds 2,700 children. He also has the best reputation of any principal I have ever met. I feel very sure that I am speaking for the majority of Stratford parents. [continues 143 words]
Drug Dealers Are Running Out Of Places To Hide In Calera The Calera Police Department is doing several little things in order to hinder the sale of drugs within the community, such as cutting down bushes and trees, leaving open fields. The police department also has bigger things in the works-in this case, the possibility of joining forces with the Central Alabama Drug Task Force. Officers becoming involved with the Drug Task Force would become investigators, focusing on the manufacture, possession and sale of illegal drugs, according to Calera Chief of Police Jim Finn. [continues 229 words]
Medical health officer Dr. Mark Vooght says alcohol use by youth is the most disturbing aspect of a comprehensive survey in the Five Hills Health Region. The lifestyles survey was released at a Thursday workshop of social, health and education agencies, with presentations on various issues. "What stood out for me was some specific substance use and alcohol, but also the interaction of use of alcohol and other substances at parties," he said. According to the survey, almost nine in 10 males, aged 10 to 14, have been at parties where street drugs and alcohol were used. More than two-thirds said that drug use made them more sexually active. Half admitted to driving after doing drugs and drinking alcohol. [continues 411 words]
Drug testing at three school districts in the area has deterred many high school student-athletes from doing drugs, at least during their athletic seasons, school officials say. Only 10 students from the thousands of tests administered in recent years have tested positive, they said. Hardin County, Elizabethtown Independent and LaRue County schools are among only 10 of Kentucky's roughly 160 school districts that test athletes for drugs, according to the state Center for School Safety. After testing thousands of athletes, area athletic directors say testing works - not to catch students, but to give them one more reason to say no to drugs. [continues 512 words]
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, should go further than this week's legal downgrading of cannabis and decriminalise or legalise the drug, according to a survey for The Telegraph. More than 50 per cent of those questioned believed the sale and possession of cannabis - to be downgraded from a Class B drug to Class C on Thursday - should no longer be a criminal offence. The YouGov survey found 28 per cent favoured decriminalising the drug, making it a minor offence, while 23 per cent wanted full legalisation. [continues 349 words]
The Home Secretary's decision to downgrade cannabis from a class B to a class C drug has majority support among the public, according to YouGov's survey for The Telegraph. The survey reveals that more than half of all adults would be happy to see its sale and possession decriminalised or even legalised. The great majority reserve their fear and detestation for hard drugs such as heroin and crack cocaine. Nearly everyone believes these to be seriously addictive and almost invariably harmful to users. [continues 939 words]
HURLEY - Art Garfunkel, part of the folk music duo Simon and Garfunkel, was charged with marijuana possession after police pulled his limousine over for speeding in upstate New York. Garfunkel, 62, had a small amount of marijuana in his jacket pocket when a state trooper stopped the limo Saturday afternoon in Hurley, 55 miles southwest of Albany, the Daily Freeman of Kingston reported. Garfunkel, of Manhattan, was scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 28 on the charge, which carries a possible $100 fine, or he could respond by mail. [end]
I'm writing in response to Teresa Whiting's Jan. 12 letter titled "Mandatory Minimums Unjust." While there is widespread agreement that these sentences are sometimes applied unfairly, Ms. Whiting's argument was obscured by her suggestion that her brother was unfairly victimized. Fortunately, we can all avoid such consequences by choosing not to affiliate with drug dealers or users. It is difficult to feel sorry for someone who is responsible for setting a positive example for three children, yet persists in associating with someone who "has been arrested for drugs many times before." ASHLEE FRENCH, Lakeland [end]
The government's advisers are to review the system of classifying illegal drugs, an exercise which may pave the way for a further overhaul of the narcotics laws. They plan to review the harmful effects of all the substances governed by the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act, which seems sure to revive the debate about whether ecstasy should continue to rank with cocaine, crack, heroin, LSD and magic mushrooms. The relaxation of penalties on cannabis ,which takes effect on Thursday, is the first substantial change for 30 years. [continues 535 words]
