Things are looking pretty dicey on the state budget front these days. Then again, everyone pretty much knew that already. But that didn't stop voters on Tuesday from decisively rejecting five ballot measures designed to absolve at least part of the massive budget deficit that currently threatens to drag California's ailing economy all the way to the floor. Proposition 1A, backed by higher-education leaders and most state officials, gained less than 40 percent approval. Propositions 1B, 1C, 1D and 1E fared no better. The only measure that did pass was Proposition 1F, which will implement a largely symbolic and ultimately useless cap on legislative salaries during deficit years. [continues 520 words]
Taxing and regulating marijuana makes sense. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. [continues 104 words]
A New Bill Sanctioning Wholesale And Usage Of Marijuana Could Earn $1.3 Billion In Annual Tax Revenu STATE NEWS - Call it good timing, or just sheer opportunism: Last Monday, Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) introduced a bill seeking to legalize marijuana use for individuals over age 21. The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act (AB 390) would tap into an estimated $14 billion industry - leading to a potential $1.3 billion increase in annual tax revenue for the state of California and an additional $50-per-ounce levy on retail sales. Although controversial, the bill is a practical solution to California's budget crisis. [continues 826 words]
Nearly 100 people suspected of involvement in a recently exposed drug ring at San Diego State University were arrested this week, ending a months-long undercover sting operation that revealed a network of illicit substance distribution and purchase within and around the campus. Officials said a total of 96 people have been arrested in connection with the case, 75 of whom are students. Investigators have reported confiscating up to $100,000 worth of cocaine, marijuana, Ecstasy and illicit prescription drugs. A number of weapons - including a shotgun and three semiautomatic pistols - and $60,000 in cash were also seized as evidence, authorities said. [continues 768 words]
Dear Editor, Regarding Dave Johnston's April 12 column: Alcohol kills more people each year than all illegal drugs combined. Prescription overdose deaths are now second only to motor-vehicle crashes as a cause of death from unintentional injury. Television is filled with sophisticated pro-drug messages paid for by alcohol and pharmaceutical companies. The Bush administration doesn't have a problem with corporate drug pushers. But hoist a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner at an off-campus high school rally in Alaska, and they will fight you all the way to the Supreme Court. It is not clear how this nonsensical phrase somehow merits limiting free speech. [continues 122 words]
April 12, 2007 - Guest Columnist - Warren Spade, U.S. Department of Education Good morning, UCSD High School! Your principal asked me to come here today to explain the limitations on your constitutional rights, namely your "right" to free speech. Have any of you heard of something called the Bill of Rights? ... No one? Good. Well, the Bill of Rights lets you say anything you want and there's nothing your principal can do about it! Just kidding. In fact, as students at a public high school your speech can be censored by your teachers and your principal in a number of ways. [continues 787 words]
Dear Editor, Regarding your Feb. 15 editorial ("Strife Over FAFSA Aid Provision Remains Symbolic"), the actual number of students stripped of financial aid due to drug offenses is 189,065. To obtain state-by-state numbers, Students for Sensible Drug Policy teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union and sued the U.S. Department of Education, after their Freedom of Information Act request was denied. I encourage you to check out their Web site. The number of students impacted is hardly symbolic. [continues 218 words]
In late January, the Associate Students at UC Berkeley created a scholarship program that would grant aid to students considered ineligible for federal financial aid due to a provision denying grants to students who have been convicted of drug offenses. The largely symbolic $400 stipend is meant as a protest against question 31 on the Federal Application for Federal Student Aid, which is the stumbling block for any student who has been convicted of a drug offense as a college student or while in high school. [continues 163 words]
EUGENE, Ore. - The biggest problem with question 31 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, which asks whether a student has been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs, is not that it will strip students of their financial aid, but rather that it will scare people off from applying to college in the first place - at least according to University of Oregon Director of Student Financial Aid Elizabeth Bickford. In her experience, the extreme minority of students who initially answered yes to the question soon realized that their convictions didn't affect their aid. Those who do answer yes - that they were convicted of selling or possessing drugs when they were older than 18, while they were receiving federal financial aid and have not completed a drug treatment program - can easily get their aid reinstated, Bickford said. [continues 446 words]
Court Rules Federal Financial Aid Revocation for Illegal Drug Possession Is Not Unconstitutional. Last month, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a drug provision that prevents students from receiving federal aid if convicted of drug offenses while enrolled in college. In the lawsuit, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the American Civil Liberties Union claimed that a provision in the Higher Education Act violated the Fifth Amendment on two charges. By singling out individuals convicted of drug charges, the government was denying due process, they said. [continues 526 words]
Dear Editor, The original prohibition was harmful to America and the sequel is worse ("A War on Drugs Is a War on Ourselves," Oct. 12, 2006); at the very minimum, it is time to re-legalize cannabis. Another reason to end cannabis prohibition, persecution and extermination is because it is biblically correct, since Christ God Our Father indicates that He created all the seed-bearing plants, saying that they are all good. (See Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30.) The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). It's time to stop caging humans for using what God says is good. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
