The Supreme Court refused Monday to referee a simmering dispute between Colorado and two neighboring states over the cross-border impact of marijuana legalization, heartening legalization advocates who feared the high court could have rolled back their gains. The justices denied an effort by Oklahoma and Nebraska to bring their grievances about pot-related crime directly to the nation's highest court without seeking to go through lower courts first. Oklahoma and Nebraska complained that pot purchased legally in Colorado is being transported illegally into or through their states, overwhelming police and courts dealing with a sudden influx of smugglers. [end]
The DEA recently raided a medical marijuana clinic in California. The 100 patients now have to buy marijuana on the street instead from the clinic's safe supply. One might question Attorney General John Ashcroft as to whether this use of federal agents makes much sense when the FBI apparently is in need of new recruits. RICHARD B. WOLF, Coral Gables [end]
Kudos for the Feb. 4 editorial Save a penny, lose a life. Drug addiction is a medical problem, and the prison system has no place in it. One dollar spent on treatment has the same effect on reducing cocaine use as $7 spent on law enforcement. Drug addiction is bad, but the drug war is worse. I am sure that Gov. Jeb Bush understands this because of his daughter's drug problem, but political considerations prevent him from viewing his constituents in the same light as he does his family. [continues 180 words]
Joe Oglesby's Aug. 22 column Racial profiling: It's ugly and wrong was a great piece. My first reaction was anger at Customs and a strong hope that the jury gives a very substantial award to the black woman who was so badly mistreated. My second reaction came after reading the A-section story A governor attacks the war on drugs. It describes the conservative Republican governor of New Mexico who has come to the obvious conclusion that the war on drugs makes no sense. It has been going on for 35 years and has given us a huge prison population but has had no effect on the drug trade or drug consumption. But hooray! Gov. Gary Johnson has concluded that the ugliness and wrongdoing described by Mr. Oglesby could be eliminated if we had more politicians like Gov. Johnson and more discussion of the tragedy of drug prohibition. RICHARD B. WOLF Coral Gables [end]
This girl was a victim of our failed drug war. So long as drugs are illegal, the drug suppliers have only one way of settling disputes -- through violence. Innocent people often are caught in the cross-fire. Contrast this way of settling disputes with the relatively civilized manner used in the tobacco and liquor industries. Richard B. Wolf Coral Gables [end]
