Pro-pot forces dominated a town hall discussion on marijuana laws hosted by two television stations Thursday at the WNC Ag Center. By a show of hands, most of the roughly 100 people attending the televised forum favored legalizing marijuana for medicinal or recreational uses. But at least two panelists urged caution before North Carolina goes the way of Colorado and Washington in legalizing adult use of pot. The "Your Voice, Your Future" town hall was sponsored by WLOS News 13 and WMYA and moderated by Mark Hyman, host of Sinclair Broadcast Group's opinion segment, "Behind the Headlines." News 13 streamed the program live on its website and WMYA will broadcast it Saturday at noon. [continues 578 words]
SAN FRANCISCO On Monday, somewhere in New York City, 420 people will gather for High Times magazine's annual beauty pageant, a secretly located and sold-out event that its sponsor says will "turn the Big Apple into the Baked Apple and help us usher in a new era of marijuana freedom in America." They will not be the only ones partaking: April 20 has long been an unofficial day of celebration for marijuana fans, an occasion for campus smoke-outs, concerts and cannabis festivals. But some advocates of legal marijuana say this year's "high holiday" carries extra significance as they sense increasing momentum toward acceptance of the drug, either as medicine or entertainment. [continues 1029 words]
In recent months, the border cities of Juarez and Tijuana, Mexico, have been under siege by the blatant violence of drug cartels fighting to control what may be the most lucrative business in the entire world. In a press conference in March, President Obama acknowledged that the vicious cycle of dealing and smuggling drugs in virtually every city in America has been fueled by cash and guns flowing back across the Mexican border. So far, our solution to this problem has focused on tougher law enforcement, more and better fencing along the Mexican-American border, more prisons and harsher sentences for drug addicts. Unfortunately, this approach, which we've been hawking for more than thirty years, hasn't worked. There are reasons for that which lawmakers, who have the power to come up with a more effective approach, have steadfastly refused to acknowledge, let alone work toward a solution. The biggest reason is money. In this case, the old saying is poignantly true: If you want to find the root of the problem, follow the money. [continues 755 words]
To The Editor: The war on certain drugs was never meant to be won, it was meant to be continuous. It was designed specifically to reduce the civil rights and liberties of the general population, accustom them to an ongoing and ever-growing police and military presence in their daily lives, drain taxpayers' dollars and to keep lawyers rich, cops busy and jails full. In that regard, it has been a huge success. In the future, this war will be used to justify all manner of suppression of privacy and civil rights and civil liberties. You think Soviet Russia was bad? Or Nazi Germany? Those totalitarian prison states will seem like summer camp in comparison to what is coming for North America. Cameras everywhere, ID checks and sniffer dogs on every street corner, drug testing, forced military service, your iPod and laptops being scanned, zero privacy, internment camps (most of which are already built). Everything is almost in place -- both the laws and the technology -- and all Obama needs is one "emergency" to declare martial law. A war (caused by U.S. drug policy) on its southern border should do nicely. Russell Barth Nepean, Ontario Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis [end]
To The Editor: It is curious that Susan Lane never considers the one thing that would really solve the drug problem in Mexico - legalization. Decriminalization is a dead end street because it reduces penalties for drug users while leaving the drug business in the hands of outlaws. The decriminalization model being discussed is identical to the way alcohol prohibition worked - when Eliot Ness raided a speakeasy, the operators went to jail and the customers went home. This system enabled Al Capone and his ilk to violently control the bootleg booze market, the same way decriminalizing drugs will leave the drug cartels in control. The solution is to follow the pattern set after alcohol prohibition had proved to be a disaster - repeal and regulation. Repeal put the bootleggers out of business and we haven't had a bombing or a shoot out over a beer route since 1933. Ralph Givens Daly City, Calif. [end]
It is a huge irony that Americans are getting a taste of the horrors of modern warfare, not from Muslim extremists, but from the hit men and drug runners that make up one of the most dangerous armies in the world today, the armed soldiers of the Mexican drug cartels. As we watch daring attacks against the legitimate government of Mexico by armed gunmen of the Juarez and Tijuana cartels, we wonder how bad does it have to get before someone comes up with a plan that's tough enough to put an end to drug trafficking in the United States. More importantly, what would that plan look like? [continues 702 words]
Stiffer penalties for drug dealers who sell to individuals who die from an overdose have created a significant drop in suspicious drug overdoses, according to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Rick Davis said Friday that suspicious drug overdoses have gone down dramatically since two men were recently charged with second-degree murder after dealing drugs that caused fatal overdoses. One of those men, James Arnold, pleaded guilty earlier this week to the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, among other drug charges, and is awaiting to be sentenced. [continues 603 words]
With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down in drive-by shootings, nor do consumers go blind drinking unregulated bathtub gin. While U.S. politicians ignore the drug war's historical precedent, European countries are embracing harm reduction, a public health alternative based on the principle that both drug abuse and prohibition have the potential to cause harm. Examples of harm reduction include needle exchange programs to stop the spread of HIV, marijuana regulation aimed at separating the hard and soft drug markets and treatment alternatives that don't require incarceration as a prerequisite. Unfortunately, fear of appearing "soft on crime" compels many U.S. politicians to support a failed drug war that ultimately subsidizes organized crime. Drug abuse is bad, but the drug war is worse. Robert Sharpe, MPA Arlington, Va. Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
To The Editor: The federal government could inject an estimated $75 billion to $200 billion into our economy without spending a dime: Legalize marijuana. Why legalize? Firstly, it is imperative to recognize that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco. There is less risk of addiction, cancer and zero overdose risk. We must also consider the societal costs. We spend $10 billion to 14 billion annually enforcing marijuana prohibition and force illicit markets to take to the streets (i.e. guns, cartels/organized crime, etc.). It costs money to prosecute drug offenders, incarcerate drug users and employ federal enforcement agents. Marijuana and hemp industries could affect our economy in an extremely positive manner. Some estimate that $50 billion is spent by the American public annually on marijuana alone. [continues 84 words]
While Americans are busy trying to find ways to extricate ourselves from a war halfway around the world, a war has been raging right next door that may prove deadlier by far than the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. That may not seem possible, but if you analyze it carefully, even the terrorists in the Muslim world have only been able to convince other Muslims, their own people, to commit suicide in behalf of their cause. The war to end all wars is the one that makes ordinary people, good people, the kind of people who live right next door to you and I, maybe even people within our own homes, willing accomplices in their own destruction. This seemingly impossible feat is accomplished every day of the week by the gardeners, chemists, money launderers, traffickers, kingpins, dealers and pimps of the drug world. Narco-terrorism is the deadliest and perhaps the most pervasive form of warfare in the world today. Deaths are mounting not just from illegal drugs, but from the proliferation of prescription painkillers as well. [continues 768 words]
Printed on the same day on the front page of the Times-News last week were two stories about tragic and avoidable death. On Thursday, a Transylvania County magistrate issued a warrant charging a hunter with involuntary manslaughter for the accidental shooting death of a galax gatherer in the woods. [Name redacted] was hunting in the Turkey Pen area of Pisgah National Forest when the hunter allegedly fired a Winchester rifle shot that killed Luciano M. Martinez. Martinez, 50, of Marshall, had received a permit to gather galax in the forest two weeks before Christmas, a plant that is used in holiday decorating. [continues 486 words]
The same prescription drugs that can help patients suffering from debilitating pain can also be illegal and deadly when they fall into the wrong hands. That lesson hit home last week when the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office charged a Fletcher man with murder for selling a powerful prescription painkiller to a teenager who died of an overdose. Officers say it is part of a trend. James Michael Arnold, 23, of 273 Willis Way, was charged Sept. 8 with second-degree murder, possession with the intent to sell or deliver a controlled substance and sale or delivery of a controlled substance. Investigators say Arnold sold a Fentanyl pain patch to 19-year-old Justin Kane Anderson, a student at Blue Ridge Community College who died of an overdose on July 20. [continues 426 words]
Police officers who teach young children to stay away from drugs say prescription drug abuse has become more common. Sheriff Rick Davis and District Attorney Jeff Hunt announced last week that second-degree murder charges were filed against a 23-year-old Fletcher man in connection with the death of a 19-year-old who died of a Fentanyl overdose. An increasing number of abuse cases and overdoses such as this led D.A.R.E. officers to add prescription drugs to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, and even more focus may be needed. [continues 483 words]
Henderson County Sheriff Rick Davis and District Attorney Jeff Hunt announced murder charges against a man they say sold a prescription pain killer to a 19-year-old who died of a overdose, and delivered a strong warning to other dealers. "We are trying to send a message that the sheriff and I will continue to prosecute drug cases to the fullest extent of the law," Hunt said. In an unusual joint news conference, the county's top lawman and chief prosecutor also warned those who legally take the powerful pain medicine to guard it closely. [continues 795 words]
Polk County Sheriff's officers returned marijuana growing equipment Friday afternoon to a local man whose drug charges were dropped earlier in the week. Charges against medicinal marijuana advocate Steve Marlowe were thrown out Monday after a judge ruled that deputies showed a "reckless disregard for the law" in using a discredited informant's statement to obtain a search warrant. The charges against Marlowe of Mill Spring were dismissed by the District Attorney's Office late Monday afternoon, according to Marlowe's attorney, Ben Scales. [continues 140 words]
Charges against medicinal marijuana advocate Steve Marlowe were thrown out Monday after a judge ruled that deputies showed a "reckless disregard for the law" in using an informant's statement to obtain a search warrant. The charges against Steve Marlowe of Mill Spring were dismissed by the District Attorney's Office late Monday afternoon, according to Marlowe's attorney, Ben Scales. The informant, 33-year-old Charles Grady Shehan Jr., was led out of court by deputies Monday afternoon after he testified about telling police he had seen a marijuana growing operation at Marlowe's house. Shehan refused during a court break to comment about his testimony Monday, or previous statements to police which led to Marlowe's arrest in 2007. [continues 946 words]
Advocates and local residents will speak before the state House this week to encourage a study into the use of medicinal marijuana. Polk County resident Jean Marlowe, Democratic Rep. Earl Jones of Guilford County, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Jocelyn Elders and Saluda resident Ray Pague plan to speak Wednesday at the Capitol auditorium. Jones said he will introduce a measure calling for a study to be done on the benefits of medicinal marijuana. "Dr. Elders will address the Science and Technology Committee of the House about this subject," Jones said. "I have a bill that will be requesting a study committee." [continues 438 words]
An attorney for a Polk County man who advocates marijuana for medicinal purposes has filed motions in his criminal case that say the Polk County Sheriff's Office used false information to obtain a search warrant. Steve Marlowe, 59, of Mill Spring was arrested in November 2007 and charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, maintaining a vehicle or dwelling for the use or sale of marijuana and manufacturing marijuana. Marlowe's attorney, Ben Scales of Asheville, has filed motions that claim the Polk County Sheriff's Office forced an informant to give investigators information to obtain a search warrant. [continues 781 words]
To The Editor: Regarding Susan Hanley Lane's Aug. 27 column:There is middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization. Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has reduced disease, death and crime among chronic users.Providing addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the problems associated with heroin use. Addicts wouldn't be sharing needles if not for zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes, nor would they be committing crimes if not for artificially inflated black market prices. Heroin maintenance pilot projects are underway in Canada, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction. Marijuana should be taxed and regulated like alcohol, without the advertising. As long as marijuana distribution remains in the hands of organized crime, consumers of the most popular illicit drug will continue to come into contact with sellers of methamphetamine. Given that marijuana is arguably safer than legal alcohol, it makes no sense to waste scarce resources on failed policies that finance organized crime and facilitate the use of hard drugs. Robert Sharpe, Washington Robert Sharpe is policy analyst for Common Sense for Drug Policy, headquartered in Washington. [end]
On Aug. 19, a United States Coast Guard vessel noticed three small plastic pipes skimming the surface of the ocean near Guatemala and Costa Rica. Curious, they decided to find out what was going on, never dreaming that they would stumble onto a veritable gold mine. White gold. The "white gold," they seized was none other than cocaine, three and a half tons of it, worth some $352 million when it hit the streets of the USA. The three pipes skimming the ocean's surface turned out to be connected to a homemade submarine, carrying its deadly cargo from the fruitful coca growing regions of Latin America straight to the noses (snorting), arms (shooting IV) and lungs (smoking crack) of those cursed with an addiction to cocaine. [continues 823 words]
