Editor's note: Quotes from Javier Sicilia and Maria Guadalupe Aguilar Jauregui were translated from Spanish by a translator at the rally. Hundreds of members of the Austin community gathered at City Hall Saturday to call for an end to drug violence in the U.S. and south of the border. Saturday marked the Austin stop on a two-month, cross-country tour by the Caravan for Peace with Justice and Dignity, a grassroots initiative started by Mexican poet Javier Sicilia after his son and six of his friends were killed in 2011 in drug-related violence. According to an article on Sicilia in Time magazine, the drug war in Mexico has been responsible for at least 10,000 disappearances and 60,000 deaths since 2006. [continues 403 words]
APD Undercover Operation Results in Eight Drug-Possession Arrests A man dressed in black with old English letters on his shirt waves a white towel to oncoming traffic, whistles at them and asks "What do you need?" He is a crack dealer with rocks in his pocket looking for a customer - and he's a cop. In an effort to suppress Austin's crack cocaine market, the Austin Police Department made eight drug possession arrests Thursday night during a sting operation in the Georgian neighborhood of North Austin. [continues 791 words]
A sane argument to perpetuate prohibiting, persecuting and exterminating cannabis and hemp doesn't exist ("You and the drug war," Apr. 3). Another reason to end cannabis prohibition that doesn't get mentioned is because it will lower deadly hard drug addiction rates. DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) will have to stop brainwashing youth into believing lies, half-truths and propaganda concerning cannabis, which creates grave future problems. How many citizens try cannabis and realize it's not nearly as harmful as taught in DARE type government environments? Then they think other substances must not be so bad either, only to become addicted to deadly drugs. The old lessons make cannabis out to be among the worst substances in the world, even though it's less addictive than coffee and has never killed a single person. [continues 79 words]
Upwards of 6,300 people were killed last year in Mexico due to the violence of drug cartels, and since the beginning of 2009 there have been at least 15 drug-related deaths per day in Ciudad Juarez. The city has become one of the most dangerous on the Mexican border, according to a March 23 Reuters article. Even though both Mexican and U.S. governments have increased the presence of law enforcement along the border, the violence continues. Increasing efforts to enforce drug abstinence is a short-term solution to the war on drugs. For addicts, stopping drug use isn't a viable option without support and rehabilitation, and as long as addicts and occasional or social drug users demand drugs, drug cartels will be ready to supply. [continues 461 words]
High above the Pecan Street Festival, Texans for the legalization of marijuana showed their support Saturday night at the Third Annual Sixth Street Smokeout and 2008 Global Marijuana Music Awards at Momo's. The Texas branch of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, hosted the event with proceeds funding efforts to decriminalize recreational marijuana use by responsible adults. The diverse lineup ranged from spoken poetry to swing music, country to reggae, but all advocated legal change. The Broken Poetz drove their expertly spray-painted van five hours from McAllen to contribute their hip-hop-psychedelic sound to the lineup. The group addresses the problems surrounding current marijuana laws in their original songs. "Mr. Weedy" and "Two-Time Offender" received cheers of support at the smokeout. [continues 351 words]
Six Texas school districts were awarded nearly $800,000 in federal grants Wednesday for random student drug testing. Texas is one of 20 states receiving the grants, which total $5.8 million nationwide, from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Department of Education. The grants are intended for programs that test student athletes, students engaging in competitive, extracurricular or school-sponsored activities, or students who have opted into the random drug-testing program, according to a release from the Office of National Drug Control Policy. [continues 256 words]
Amid the incense aromas and reggae beats, several hundred Austinites rallied at the Capitol on Saturday for the legalization of marijuana for personal and medical use. The Texas branch of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, and Outgrow Big Bro, a cannabis-user advocacy organization, hosted Sunday's Texas Cannabis Crusade. Josh Schimberg, director of Texas NORML, said the Texas Cannabis Crusade was part of the 2008 Global Marijuana March. More than 200 cities worldwide registered for rallies at the Global Marijuana March Web site. [continues 387 words]
Retired undercover narcotics officer, Jack A. Cole, the Executive Director of LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, speaks passionately Wednesday afternoon in the atrium of the Peter T. Flawn Academic Center. In 1970, narcotics officer Jack Cole went undercover to infiltrate the seedy world of drug pushers, users and abusers. For 14 years, he was a frontline soldier in the U.S. war on drugs. Cole said he started having reservations about what he was doing three years into the gig, after living and working with the people he was trying to bust. [continues 405 words]
In response to "Free Speech 4 Jesus," June 27: The Supreme Court should take a cue from the nonsensical banner that inspired their recent decision limiting student free speech. It might do them some good to take a few bong hits for Jesus. Before sacrificing any more civil liberties at the altar of the drug war, they should ask themselves, what would Jesus do? Would Jesus persecute, incarcerate and deny forgiveness to nonviolent drug offenders? Zero tolerance is un-Christian. Morally, the drug war is wrong, and on a practical level, the drug war is a complete failure. [continues 121 words]
While the phrase "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" may not be inspired, meaningful or relevant to anyone in particular, it serves as a reminder that the Supreme Court decides what we can and cannot say. In 2002, onlookers gathered in Juneau, Ala. to see the Olympic torch on its way to the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. That same morning Joseph Frederick, a high school student at the time, held up a 14-foot-long banner with what he considered a nonsensical message written on it. Frederick's principal suspended him from school after the incident, and Frederick filed a civil lawsuit, claiming Deborah Morse violated his right to free speech. [continues 304 words]
Eligibility for federal student assistance is suspended for students convicted of a drug crime while receiving aid. A bill recently passed by a Senate committee may bring relief to financially dependent students who can no longer receive federal aid due to drug convictions. The amendment to the Higher Education Act, which suspended eligibility for federal student assistance of any student who is convicted of a drug crime, was authored in 1998 by Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., but was changed last year to only affect students who committed offenses while receiving aid. [continues 340 words]
Scholars and drugs go way back. The nonconformist, academic-genius lifestyle not only allows drug usage but encourages it. Live a Life on the Edge. I go to the ATM alone, and sometimes at night. I take both of my antacids in the morning instead of one with breakfast and one with dinner. I return library books the exact day they are due. This constant flirtation with potential disaster keeps life exciting for me. So naturally I've been thinking a lot about psychedelic drugs. Not in the irresponsible, thrill-seeking, destructive sense (I have enough of that on a daily basis from the activities listed above), but from a scholar's perspective. [continues 621 words]
On one hand we have Ron Paul: A little-known, unorthodox, irreverent proponent of peace, individual freedoms and federal frugality. On the other we have every other White House wannabe. Dr. Ron Paul's druthers lie on sheets of cellulose amid an atmosphere of argon and helium, inside seven separate metal-and-glass encasements at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. These so-called charters of freedom - the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights - have guided the U.S. representative throughout his 31-year political career and now into a second bid for the presidency. [continues 626 words]
One University of Arizona researcher has found the real magic behind "magic mushrooms." Dr. Francisco Moreno, an assistant professor of psychiatry, has successfully treated the symptoms of nine patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder using psilocybin, an active ingredient found in hallucinogenic mushrooms. Moreno said he first got the idea to begin research with psychedelic mushrooms in 1997 after a patient with OCD disclosed that the hallucinogen had helped subdue the symptoms that accompanied this disease. To conduct the research, Moreno obtained permits and licenses from the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Food and Drug Administration. [continues 402 words]
'YES' ON REF. 2 The Daily Texan supports the referendum calling for lower penalties for marijuana-related offenses. The most harmful effects of smoking marijuana are the grossly disproportionate penalties associated with it. Students have faced eviction from their dorms and expulsion from the University for possession or distribution of marijuana, but no harsher penalty than an alcohol awareness class awaits young freshmen caught smuggling Coors in their pockets. At the same time, some students, most recently Jack Phoummarath, die of alcohol poisoning each year. The University has an obligation to its students to provide equal opportunity and equal access to its resources; arbitrarily privileging one class of drug users over another runs contrary to this concept of equality. Falling back on drug laws is no excuse either - - the University is a not a police force: Its job is to educate students, not regulate their conduct in accordance with the law, especially if that law is unjust as it is here. [continues 96 words]
Group Asks Students to Vote to Lessen Action Against Possessors Today is the last day for students to show support for a referendum calling for UT to reduce penalties for the use and possession of marijuana. A local branch of the public education group Safer Alternative for Enjoyable Recreation has been collecting signatures since mid-January to place the referendum on the upcoming student election ballot. The referendum asks that the University's punishment for the use and possession of marijuana be no more severe than the punishment for illegal drinking, because the effects of alcohol are more dangerous than the effects of marijuana, said Ann Del Llano, SAFER Austin coordinator. [continues 252 words]
Aid denied for past drug offenders Report finds 160,000 students refused aid after convictions More than 160,000 applicants for student aid have been denied since 1998 because of past drug convictions, according to a report released Tuesday which covered the results of the provision made to the Higher Education Act. Under the amendment introduced by U.S. Rep. Mark Souder, R-In., convicted drug offenders, including those with only first offense misdemeanors, are barred from receiving select government benefits such as student aid money. [continues 385 words]
"Just tell her parents you lost track of her because you were stoned. They'll understand." That is the message that the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign wants Americans to hear about marijuana: It makes you lose small children. The validity of this new ad campaign is not an issue. It is an obvious guilt tactic that probably would not work on even the most gullible of marijuana users. What is at issue is that this message and messages like it cost an exorbitant amount of money to produce and air on national television. Very often this organization has airtime donated to it, but there is only so much of it and it is very important that it is used effectively and not a waste of time for the donors, producers, organizations and most of all, the viewers. [continues 495 words]
Background: This is the fourth of four editorials on the Solomon-Souder amendment to the Higher Education Act. The provision denies federal financial aid for a period of time to those convicted of drug possession or distribution. Congress is reauthorizing the act this year and has the opportunity to repeal the law. Previous editorials dealt with inequity in the current law; this one focuses on prevailing attitudes and possible solutions. People don't think the way Congress did in 1998, when students with drug convictions were barred from receiving financial aid. Not even the law's author. [continues 733 words]
Background: This is the third of four weekly editorials on the Solomon-Souder amendment to the Higher Education Act. The provision denies federal financial aid for a period of time to those convicted of drug possession or distribution. Congress is reauthorizing the act this year and has the opportunity to repeal this law. On the 2005-2006 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, it's Question 31: "Has the student ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs?" [continues 680 words]
