Each day, I drive out of the dark hills and into the city of Huntington when I go to class. Each day, I pass trailer park meth labs and flop house apartments as I wriggle out of the trees and on to Marshall's campus. Drugs are ubiquitous; there's no escaping it. The War on Drugs isn't a war, it's one group of people sandbagging for a flood while another group is swimming in the water. They're never going to leave, and it'd be in our best interest as a society to learn to live with it rather than against it. [continues 282 words]
The new random drug testing program for Cabell County schools is supported by most students. The program was implemented for the 2008-2009 school year. Students who participate in athletics or purchase a parking pass at Cabell Midland and Huntington high schools will be subject to random drug testing throughout the year. All parents of Cabell County high school students may volunteer their child to be drug tested for $27. "The feedback's all been positive, we really haven't had any students complain at all," Administrative Assistant for Secondary Education, Todd Alexander, said. According to Alexander, the policy was implemented due to drug problems in Cabell County. [continues 429 words]
Heroin use is escalating among an already growing addiction to drugs in Huntington. Genise Lalos, director of addiction services for the Prestera Center in Huntington, said she has noticed a major increase in treatment of individuals using opiates, which also includes drugs like oxycontin and methadone, among others. "In 2001, we saw only 51 cases of heroin use," Lalos said. "In 2005, that number rose up to 249 cases." Lalos also has noticed more young people seeking treatment for opiate abuse. [continues 237 words]
The arrest of David Anderson, principal of Pratt Elementary, has stirred controversy among parents, educators and members of the Kanawha County Board of Education. Although Anderson was not convicted, administrators have begun to question whether such instances could be prevented with the use of drug testing. "I believe there are a lot of issues concerned with drug testing," Dr. Ronald Duerring, Kanawha County superintendent, said. "Certainly we are working through those issues now." The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled in the Twiggs v. Hercules Corporation case in 1990 that drug tests cannot be administered unless the employee is in a safety sensitive position or unless there is reasonable cause to believe the employee has been using drugs. [continues 198 words]
So I was scrolling through these different campaign issues that have recently popped up on Facebook (by the way, I still do not like the site's annoying news feed), and there was one campaign issue in particular that caught my eye - the legalization of marijuana. That made me wonder: why exactly is marijuana illegal in the first place? If I were to make a plant illegal, I'd choose something like poison ivy or kudzu. Even though I have not smoked marijuana, I know what it smells like. How is that you may ask? Because in every apartment complex I've lived in there have been at least two tenants who like to party with Mary Jane. And I must say - the stuff doesn't smell bad. Actually, it almost has a pleasant, earthy smell to it. I wish I could say the same for cigarette smoke, which, to me, smells like old, moldy gym socks. [continues 477 words]
Thousands of students are ineligible for financial aid this semester due to an obscure amendment made to the Higher Education Act in 1998. Congressman Mark Souder, R-Ind., made provisions to the HEA in 1998. The provision included a line stating drug felons were not eligible for financial aid. In reaction to law, Students for Sensible Drug Policies formed. SSDP is an international grassroots network fighting for fair drug regulations. "These harsh drug laws are directly targeting our generation," Tom Angell, SSDP Campaigns Director, said. "If we don't fight back against them, then no one else is going to." [continues 254 words]
At a recent National Coal Group meeting, Sen. Robert C. Byrd told audience members that coal needs to play a part in America's new energy policy in the coming years. During this past State of the Union, president Bush outlined a plan that would begin to phase out our reliance on foreign oil and look to more renewable resources. Coal, however, is also a non-renewable resource and is just as bad for the environment. Coal has also been an energy staple in America since the beginning of the 20th century. How then can it be part of a "new" energy policy when it is a dinosaur from the old energy policy? [continues 272 words]
If our federal governments used science and logic to form our laws there would be no prohibition against marijuana to begin with. Instead they use fear and politics. The war against marijuana users isn't about protecting our children or society. We've lived under that pretense for the past 70 years and what have been the results? We send people to prison for marijuana possession and cultivation yet past presidents, along with many other politicians and other prominent members of society, have admitted to using marijuana. [continues 178 words]
Thanks for publishing the outstanding letter from Scott Russ: "Fear, politics keeping pot illegal" (3-25-04). However, Russ didn't mention anything about the right of a free country's government to punish adult citizens for potentially harming only themselves. Even if marijuana were very dangerous and harmful, which it is not, our government has no legitimate right to punish adult citizens for using it. Our government doesn't punish adult citizens who attempt suicide and survive. So under what authority does our government have to punish adult citizens who harm only themselves by using the wrong (politically selected) drugs, even in the privacy of their own homes? [continues 72 words]
It Turns Out Mary Jane Is The Most Popular Student At Marshall. "Marijuana is the drug of choice on the Marshall campus, next to alcohol," Marshall Police Chief Jim E. Terry, said. In 2003, 50 citations for controlled substance use were issued at Marshall and about 17 have been issued since January. In 2002, 15 citations and eight arrests were made for the possession of controlled substances. "I think marijuana is used in movies, music and on television, exposing younger people to marijuana earlier in life, making it thought of as casually as a cigarette," Sergeant Darren Francis of the West Virginia State Police Crime Lab, said. [continues 903 words]
Marshall University has teamed up with a leading pharmaceutical company to fight prescription drug abuse in West Virginia. Marshall President Dan Angel recently teamed up with officials of Purdue Pharma L.P. and The West Virginia Prevention Resource Center (WVPRC), which is operated from the Marshall Graduate College in Charleston, to announce the establishment of a program to fight prescription drug abuse in three southern West Virginia counties. The pilot project will take place in Mingo, Logan, and Wyoming counties. According to Dr. Wayne Coombs, director of the WVPRC, these three counties were chosen because they have had high amounts of prescription drug abuse in recent history. [continues 334 words]
