On Jan. 17, Circuit Judge Joe Will dropped drug charges against David Beauprez of Daytona Beach. The ruling came after officers testified that they had told Beauprez's mother that someone had called 911 from her home. In fact, the police were acting on an anonymous tip that there were drugs in the house. Once inside, officers testified, the mother consented to a search -- but the woman said that the police did not ask permission before they opened a drawer in which drugs and paraphernalia were found. Will found that because officers used deception to gain entry, they were not credible. [continues 1900 words]
My friends in New Hampshire say politics in Concord sometimes baffles them. No wonder. The state Senate, at the behest of its Democratic leadership and the Democratic governor, recently thumbed its nose at public opinion and sent a strange message to young adults. For a party in control of state government for the first time since 1874, it was hardly a profile in courage. The Senate killed a sensible reform of New Hampshire's anachronistic marijuana possession law. But the end came after a surprisingly long journey through the legislative process that demonstrated the courage of the citizen-based state House and the timidity of the politician-based state Senate. [continues 604 words]
Point of View WASHINGTON - "We have nothing to fear but fear itself" -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933 Justice John Paul Stevens recently asked in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion "whether the fear of disapproval by those in the majority is silencing opponents of the war on drugs." The answer is a resounding "yes," though it's not at all clear that a majority actually agrees with current policies regarding marijuana regulation. Fear of being called "soft on drugs" is stifling rational debate about the relative merits of prohibition vs. regulation of a substance most regard as relatively innocuous. [continues 713 words]
