It's not official, but chances are good that South Whidbey will become home to two of Island County's new retail marijuana stores. South End business owners Maureen Cooke and Lucas Jushinski have both submitted applications to the state to open shops in Bayview and Freeland. Yet ironically, despite the passage of I-502 in 2012, it appears these early entrepreneurs will owe their existence - if they are successfully permitted - to Island County commissioners Helen Price Johnson, a South Whidbey Democrat, and Jill Johnson, a Oak Harbor Republican. [continues 325 words]
To the editor: I have read with interest the back-and-forth discussion of whether to allow a distribution point for medical marijuana on this island. I would like to write against that idea. It is not that I have no sympathy for those in great pain, but I would like to present some deep reservations I have about this plan. 1. All drugs have side effects, but marijuana has more serious side effects that other painkillers do not have, such as long-term damage to the brain and greater impairment to driving skills. I understand that a driver can be as impaired, if not more so, under marijuana's effects as with alcohol. We already have a tremendous problem with drunk drivers on this island. I would hate to see it made worse. [continues 237 words]
Lucas Jushinski wanted to talk about marijuana Monday night, but Mayor Larry Kwarsick delayed the discussion until the next Langley City Council meeting April 16. "I'd like a conversation about medical cannabis," Jushinski said during the public comment portion of the meeting. He had proposed a medical marijuana business for Langley, but during a non-voting council workshop last month, Kwarsick informally scotched the idea. His main concern was the conflict between lenient state marijuana laws and strict federal laws. The council at the time seemed to support the mayor's position. [continues 63 words]
LANGLEY - The plans for a medical marijuana "access point" in the Village by the Sea got a warm but wary welcome from city officials at a special council workshop this week. Lucas Jushinski, a 35-year-old Freeland resident, Iraq War veteran and combat medic, has applied for a business license with hopes to set up Island Alternative Medicine behind the All Washed-Up Laundromat on Second Street. The nonprofit would provide medical marijuana to patients who are legally authorized to use the drug in a low-key, professional manner, he said. [continues 1114 words]
LANGLEY - An Iraq War veteran and local community volunteer is making plans to start a medical marijuana business in Langley. Lucas Jushinski met with city officials last week to outline his plan for a medical marijuana "access point," which would be located in a low-key facility just outside the downtown area. Langley leaders have been cautiously supportive of the idea, and will hold a special meeting Feb. 15 to gauge public reaction to the idea. Jushinski, 35, said Monday the business would provide medical marijuana to patients who are legally authorized to use the drug. He said his business would be safe, legal and transparent. [continues 702 words]
To the editor: Please read the U.S. Supreme Court decision made June 16, 2011 ( www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/09-1227.pdf ). This decision confers the sovereign constitutional rights of the state to the individuals of the state. This decision also reaffirms that only those rights granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States are enforceable. All other rights fall to the state, now the individual. It is my opinion that this Supreme Court decision has made enforcement of federal law against medical cannabis workers a violation of constitutional rights. [continues 80 words]
To the editor: Re: "Freeland man sets fire to pot crop to quell critics and threats." To all genuine medical marijuana patients -- the criminal element is ruining the whole program, inflating prices for people who can barely afford medications prescribed by their medical providers. As a recent (August) patient, I encountered obvious illegal dealers, who where noticeably amped up on a stimulant. And after 25 years in one location without a robbery, one month after I started home deliveries I was ripped off for 110 grand of studio and guitars (mainland), amplifiers, meds, etc. [continues 160 words]
To the editor: My name is Captn Blynd and I have a proposal for the community. While at first this may seem absurd, please take a moment and really think about it. I propose that the South Whidbey Garden Club ask for volunteers to form a low-profit business. I will pay for this licensing. I ask that all proceeds go to the Island County Food Bank. I will provide what equipment I can afford. I will provide my business outline. [continues 155 words]
America's war on drugs has failed, and the United States should take a new approach to illegal drugs other than throwing drug users in jail, said Roger Goodman, director of the King County Bar Association's Drug Policy Project. In a speech Thursday to the League of Women Voters of South Whidbey Island, Goodman presented the outline for a new legal framework to handle drugs. The plan focuses on getting treatment for drug users, and includes suggestions such as retail sales of marijuana at state shops and dispensaries for addicts of drugs like heroin. [continues 791 words]
Nine Island County agencies agreed on a set of guidelines to follow for protecting children endangered by drug use. Representatives of those agencies gathered Thursday at the Law and Justice Center in Coupeville for the official signing. The memorandum sets guidelines for dealing with children found at the sites of methamphetamine production or distribution. Representatives of multiple agencies, including the Island County Prosecutor's Office, local law enforcement, Whidbey General Hospital, Naval Hospital Oak Harbor, and the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services signed on to the guidelines. [continues 543 words]
Citing an increase in 911 calls and claiming to have too few deputies to respond to them, Sheriff Mike Hawley has refused to sign onto a volunteer-generated plan for removing children from homes where methamphetamines are being produced. A memorandum developed by the Island County Meth Action Team, which directs law enforcement in the care of these children, asks for more than deputies and police officers can do in the time they have, Hawley asserted this week. While he lauded the group -- which includes representatives from other county and state agencies -- for the work that went into the proposed Drug Endangered Child Protocol, he says his office doesn't have the manpower to participate in the effort. [continues 672 words]
The back door of the rusty single-wide mobile home swings back and forth, while nearby a hand-painted sign in the yard threatens "Beware I'm watching you." The trailer shares its space with an old house and at least six cars parked around the yard. As Bells Beach-area residents Richard Cannon, Vicky Harvey and Richard Bullock walk by, a white kitten scampers out to greet them. The three are among a group of area homeowners who have been vocal in recent months over what they see as the deterioration of their neighborhood. [continues 853 words]
Twelve Langley Middle School students were disciplined recently for selling and or buying marijuana in two separate incidents that occurred at school on March 12. Three students were expelled for the remainder of the year for selling marijuana to other students, and nine more face suspension for possession. Greg Willis, the school's principal and the South Whidbey School District's acting superintendent, said the incident was unexpected. "This is an unusual situation because so many students are involved," he said this week. [continues 323 words]
Diane Watson said last week that tenth-graders at South Whidbey High School are a "wonder class." Watson, director of student support for the South Whidbey school district, made that statement while reporting the results of the "Healthy Youth Survey 2002" at a South Whidbey Board of Education workshop April 14. The voluntary survey asks students to respond to a broad spectrum of questions, including their attitudes, perceptions and behaviors related to drugs and alcohol and school atmosphere. The questions relate to the 30 days prior to the test. [continues 609 words]
Within the past three weeks, four South Whidbey High School students have been arrested in school for possessing illegal narcotics. The incidents, which involved the alleged possession and use of cocaine and marijuana, are the latest in a school year that has seen drug busts at the school increase in number and frequency. According to school officials, the 10 busts at the high school during the first 90 days of the school year equal the total number during the previous school year. Not all of the incidents occurred on school grounds, according to school administration. [continues 351 words]
State health and South Whidbey School District officials want to know the habits and behaviors of South Whidbey school students -- the ones they can't see at school. This week, middle and high students are taking a multiple choice survey with questions about their schools, their community and their health habits. The voluntary and anonymous Healthy Youth Survey will be administered during school hours. Answers to questions about friends and neighbors, eating and exercise habits, and knowledge and attitudes about the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs, safety and violence will reveal patterns of behavior in the district. [continues 208 words]
Judging by campaign contributions and political connections, Republicans Norma Smith and Herb Meyer are the frontrunners in the effort to defeat incumbent Congressman Rick Larsen, a Democrat. But there are other political parties, and while their candidates for Congress don't have a real chance of winning the election, their comments always spice up a forum, such as the one held Wednesday night in Oak Harbor. Bern Haggerty, the Green Party candidate in the race, lives in Bellingham, where he is a domestic violence attorney for the Lummi Nation. He rejects the war on terrorism. [continues 357 words]
Four Canadians suspected of marijuana smuggling were arrested Thursday morning as they tried to unload a barge on Deception Pass State Park land fronting Cornet Bay. Police found 15 big cardboard moving boxes stored in the hold of the small barge, which had been pushed ashore by a small tug. The boxes contained 446 pounds of marijuana in 374 plastic bags. The tug, named Delta Fox, and the barge were both registered in British Columbia, according to police at the scene. There were three men in the tug. [continues 533 words]
