I read with interest the article about all the marijuana plants found in this area. However, I found the following statistics from the February American Legion magazine very amazing. In 2001, 316,441 marijuana plants were seized in national forests. This was done with $5.32 million in U.S. Forest Service expenditures. In 2010, 3.1 million marijuana plants were seized in these forests. This was done with $15.9 million in U.S. Forest Service expenditures. Just thought I'd let you know how some of our taxes are being spent and why. - -Joan Keener Rockford [end]
CLARK LAKE - Dr. Timur Baruti, as reported by the newspaper March 17, told the Human Relations Commission that marijuana is not addictive, not a gateway drug and has many positive health benefits. He added that hospitals, pharmacies and pharmaceutical companies oppose legalization because it will hurt their business, a claim I believe is not true. The federal government has made the use, the importation and the growing of marijuana illegal. If legal, it would be a great source of business for drug manufacturers. Reduction of nausea induced by cancer-fighting drugs has been demonstrated certainly. There are other drugs equally effective, of course. However, marijuana has the additional effect of inducing a drug euphoria, which is why people use it. [continues 148 words]
A Surrey man known as "Nasty Dan" has become the second person in B.C. to be sentenced for commissioning an offence for a criminal organization. Daniel Michael MacNeil was recently sentenced to seven years in prison by a B.C. Supreme Court judge after being found guilty of several charges, including conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, and commission of an offence for a criminal organization. MacNeil and his associates were the focus of a 15-month drug trafficking investigation. [continues 84 words]
After suffering over 15 years with fibromyalgia, my pain and symptoms have only gotten worse. My life has increasingly become more limited as I'm getting older. Due to the fibromyalgia pain, I cannot sleep. Without sleeping, my body can't get the rest it needs to help it heal. The lack of sleep has had its own impact on my health. The pain was making me miserable, so I was ready to try anything. I had been prescribed enough pharmaceuticals to open my own drug store and nothing worked - I was still in pain and the side effects were awful. Medical marijuana topical cream changed this for me. [continues 194 words]
The City allowed medical marijuana centers to open and operate, then turned around and banned them. Centers used the rights afforded them by our system, and now the City wants to vote them out. Sounds backwards! The issue we're facing as voters is as confusing as the City's decision-making process. For most people, they believe that banning centers means banning medical marijuana; this is untrue. Medical marijuana is here to stay because over 10 years ago we voted to allow it. Even with new laws, local municipalities cannot ban medical marijuana or patients from obtaining it. What the City can control is the way patients can access medical marijuana. The only safe option for accessing medical marijuana in our community is through regulation and tax. Only centers are regulated and pay sales tax. Centers have hundreds of pages of rules and regulations to follow, and six enforcement officers to monitor the eight centers that are operating in GJ. [continues 78 words]
Regarding your March 22 editorial, not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. [continues 79 words]
So help this registered nurse understand the current discussion in legalizing cannabis sativa in Washington state. When I was involved in clinical drug testing, laboratory analysis was able to detect delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (marijuana) as late as 30 days after the reported use. Alcohol is water-soluble and leaves your body pretty quickly. If I remember my science correctly, cannabis is fat-soluble so it takes days to weeks for the chemical to leave the body. Has anyone discovered the legal and sensible limit for operating a motor vehicle after using marijuana? [continues 90 words]
Arrests for marijuana possession per 1,000 people in Pullman were nearly triple those of Spokane last year. And the arrest rate could increase this year in the college town; Pullman police have made only 10 fewer arrests than Washington's second-largest city so far, and are on the way to making nearly 60 percent more arrests than in 2010, based on the current quarterly rate. Three of Washington State University's starting basketball players - Reggie Moore, Klay Thompson and DeAngelo Casto - have been cited for pot possession during the past three months, and in the wake of those highly publicized events, some critics say that Pullman police are targeting student athletes. [continues 464 words]
Editor: The fact that Bill Moos lifted DeAngelo Casto's suspension and that Ken Bone started him just goes to show that I am not the only person who thinks you should not be punished for possessing marijuana. We can all see that the most harmful thing about marijuana is its illegality, along with the negative stigma associated with its use. In a Letter to the Editor, Jeff Hanson said marijuana makes you lazy. I do not think I need to point out the hypocrisy of both being a basketball player and being lazy, but you have given me no choice. Casto is not showing a lack of respect for the university - he is showing a lack of respect for the war on drugs, which I applaud. [continues 160 words]
Editor: I am writing in support of the three athletes caught this year with marijuana as well as in support of the athletic department. It is completely unfair for the media and alumni to bash these players for their actions. These men work twice as hard as most students and dedicate their entire college careers to making WSU a proud name. We pump them full of pain killers and growth hormones without second thought but treat them like animals if they want to smoke a joint and relax after 18-hour days. [continues 106 words]
Dear Editor, The problem Mr. Erbacher discusses reaches far beyond homeopathy [Pseudoscience dangerous, March 1 Letters, Langley Advance]. For example, many plants have medicinal properties, like garlic and ginseng and coffee, but overuse of those plants can cause sickness and even death. Water is good for you, but if you try to drink too much too fast, you can die. Nutmeg is harmless in low doses, but is a powerful hallucinogen in large doses, and a deadly poison in higher doses. [continues 306 words]
If you have a $62 million investment, representing the biggest single chunk of your $218 million in wealth, and you put it in a trust under your wife's name, does that mean you're no longer involved in the company? Florida Gov. Rick Scott says it does. Scott has aggressively pursued policies like testing state workers and welfare recipients for drugs, switching Medicaid patients to private HMOs and shrinking public health clinics. All these changes could benefit that $62 million investment, but Scott sees no legal conflict between his public role and private investments. [continues 1772 words]
The state and nation's excessive debt has progressively increased in recent years. Could legalizing marijuana be a solution? Marijuana is the third-most-common recreational drug in America, after alcohol and tobacco, and the usage is steadily increasing, despite decades of anti-drug advertising campaigns. According to a National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2009 there were 2.4 million persons aged 12 or older who had used marijuana for the first time within the previous 12 months. We levy sky-high taxes on alcohol and tobacco, so why are all these potheads getting their buzz on tax-free? [continues 128 words]
Under legislation passed by the Senate March 31, patients using medical marijuana would legally be allowed to purchase up to 6 ounces each month. Passed 18-3, Senate Bill 17 decriminalizes the possession of marijuana for patients with certain illnesses. The bill creates a system of identification for eligible patients and allows them to hold marijuana products. The bill now heads to the House, where a date for a vote has yet to be determined. [end]
I am a 69-year-old male with chronic nausea and chronic pain. I play golf as a distraction. I must take three to four puffs of marijuana to reduce the constant nausea in order to even play golf. I smoke away from other players in order to avoid secondhand smoke or smell interfering with them. I was under the wrong assumption that we in California have become compassionate enough to support people who struggle with age-related chronic disabilities. People I've played golf with in blind-draw tournaments have complained to management about my smoking marijuana on the golf course and management has verbally informed me that it is illegal for me to smoke even medical marijuana on the golf course. Discussions between management, golfers and employees of the club have violated my right to medical privacy. It appears to me that management's instructions are a violation of the American with Disabilities Act. As a layman, I would sure like to know what steps I might take to protect my rights. Life is difficult enough without fighting unnecessary battles, but "I would rather die strong than live weak," so I battle on. Don McCrea-Hendrick Chico [end]
Knock, knock. Who's there? Pullman police. Open the door, DeAngelo. But it's 1:20 in the morning. Open the door now! Do you know a Reggie Moore or Klay Thompson? Yeah. Well, we have reason to believe that you are in possession of 40 grams of marijuana (or less), and we're not leaving until we find it. Another hardened criminal busted. Ken Bone is no doubt pulling his hair out, but in his heart, he knows these kids. Yes, they smoke a little pot now and then, but they are fine examples of hard work and discipline, who come together as one to accomplish a team goal. What I would like to see DeAngelo do is say, "Yes, it was mine, and I accept full responsibility." The fact that he smokes a little pot certainly wouldn't change my opinion of him in the least. The Pullman Police Department, needs to stop the witch hunt. I, for one, think they are barking up the wrong tree. Gary Puntney Veradale [end]
