The Prohibition Is Not Working, As Records Show IT'S times like these that I wish I had been alive when prohibition was coming to an end in America. I'd like to know if the folks who believed that the attempt to eradicate alcohol in America was not working were labeled immoral drunks. After all, those of us who believe marijuana prohibition isn't working are labeled "potheads" or worse. No matter what they think, the war on marijuana isn't working. It's costing billions and it's giving criminal records to thousands of people who don't deserve it. [continues 519 words]
Sunday suits and murder scenes Brandi Jacobs-Jones is the youngest and one of the newest members of Huntington City Council. She ran unopposed in her district last November. She lives in the very heart of the city's drug-dealing district, only a few blocks from where four teenagers were gunned down Sunday morning. Last week, she looked out her window and saw young men and women aimlessly walking her street. Some of them were prostitutes, she says. Some of them were dealing drugs. Some of them -- the ones who "look like zombies" -- were drug users. [continues 849 words]
Everyone knows how easy it is to make methamphetamine. Making the illegal drug has become a favorite pastime, or even full-time work, for apparently hundreds, if not thousands, of West Virginians. The outbreak of illegal meth production (There is no legal meth production) hasn't escaped the attention of the West Virginia Legislature. It's considering a bill that would put one of the basic ingredients for making meth off the shelves of pharmacies and other businesses in the state and put pseudoephedrine behind the counter. To get it, you'd have to provide ID and sign for it. [continues 449 words]
Heaven Forfend West Virginia Weed Mature Unmolested In the weeks to come, you're going to hear about the exercise in futility known as the marijuana harvest, not by those who grow it but by law enforcement officers who have better things to do. They'll spend millions tracking down the plants with airplanes and four-wheelers and millions harvesting and burning them. And with all that effort, they'll get maybe 10 percent of the crop. First and foremost, I am not a pot smoker. I used to be, just as I used to drink gallons of beer and smoke a couple of packs of cigarettes every day. Now my only addiction is nicotine chewing gum. [continues 454 words]
I first learned what the American Civil Liberties Union is all about while in Louisiana in the mid-1970s. A parish school system in that state had barred the Ku Klux Klan from holding an informational membership meeting at a local school. The group planned no cross-burning. All it wanted to do was tell those who voluntarily attended a meeting about the joys of belonging to the racist organization. After all, belonging to the KKK is no more illegal than belonging to the PTA or Rotary. [continues 447 words]
Despite Rule After Rule, People Continue To Smoke The Cabell-Huntington Health Department board is at it again. Having achieved success a few years ago in creating non-smoking areas in Cabell County restaurants, the board is about to enact rules that would ban smoking entirely in most county restaurants, other businesses and public buildings. It's part of a movement toward national tobacco prohibition, a bizarre attempt to ban a legal substance with backdoor rules and regulations. The movement is nothing new. It's merely a renewal of an old idea. In the 100- plus years of the movement, it has never worked and it won't now. [continues 579 words]
