In approaching Errol Morris's "My Psychedelic Love Story," it doesn't hurt to have some familiarity with "Wormwood," the 2017 Netflix docudrama miniseries. In it, the fabled documentarian told the story of Frank Olson, a CIA employee who mysteriously fell to his death in 1953 nine days after being slipped LSD as part of an agency experiment. Was he pushed or did he jump? Was hippie socialite Joanna Harcourt-Smith being used as a CIA tool when her boyfriend, Timothy Leary, became a government informant in the mid-'70s? And what in the world is the connection? [continues 469 words]
The "kingpin" of drug trafficking organization was sentenced to 25 years in prison, prosecutors say. The "kingpin" of a drug trafficking organization that operated throughout the Baltimore region was sentenced to more than two decades in prison on drug-related charges in Baltimore County, authorities said. Baltimore County Circuit Judge Robert Cahill, Jr. on Thursday sentenced Charles Davenport, 29, to 40 years, with all but 25 years suspended, for conspiracy to distribute heroin and cocaine, possession with the intent to distribute heroin, and possession of large amounts of heroin, the Attorney General's office said. [continues 134 words]
Re Ban Pot For Young Canadians? Time for A Reality Hit (July 4): My family lost a son/brother due to a stoned driver. I am alarmed by the growth in drug-impaired driving in American states that have legalized marijuana; not that I didn't expect it. To choose to impair one's brain, and then expect to make reasoned judgments, is foolish at best, and criminally irresponsible at worst. Individual recreational preferences must not override the safety of the public, or the health and welfare of young Canadians. Young people do not have an inherent right to get high. I wish I could take every marijuana smoker into the ICU room of a person injured by someone else's stoned behaviour, and show them what unintended consequences look like. Joanna Anderson, Burlington, Ont. [end]
Regarding "Drug abuse rises as presidential campaign issue" (Dec. 26): Alcohol and tobacco have America, and the rest of the world, in an addictive grip that cannot change. It's the money. For one thing, we promote those drugs constantly in our life, every day, all day, morning noon and night. You cannot read a book, watch TV, go to a movie, read a magazine - your senses are under assault 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Try going a day making an effort to notice every time your senses become aware of these drugs and how this happens. No wonder it is so difficult to quit using these drugs. C.J. Anderson Del Mar [end]
After a large majority of voters approved Proposition 47, reducing many petty theft and drug offenses from felonies to misdemeanors, this newspaper posted an editorial characterizing the outcome as a mistake and a threat to public safety. The editorial asks: "What were the voters thinking?" and then suggests the voters were gullible and easily deceived. In my view, the voters got it right. Our country and state has in recent decades followed the vain hope that public safety could be achieved by building and filling up a vast array of prisons. Large numbers of nonviolent offenders now occupy and overcrowd, at substantial expense, our prison system. Michelle Alexander's recent book "The New Jim Crow" convincingly argues that we have created a new underclass, mostly of minority men and women, who for minor offenses are incarcerated and return to society as felons, suffering discrimination for the rest of their lives reminiscent of the old Jim Crow system. [continues 101 words]
It's Friday night in the 'Boro. You and your friends are looking to cut loose after a hectic first week of class. Before the debauchery commences you must procure the necessary supplies. Thus, you begin your journey to, where else, but the Fast and Easy. On this day, however, you're not simply venturing out for a six-pack. No, on this Friday eve you're on your way to purchase a gram or two of marijuana, and there's nothing the cops can do about it. [continues 378 words]
It's Highly Unlikely That Employers, Landlords, Hotels and Businesses in Portland Will Permit Pot Smoking. Portland may have become the first city on the East Coast to legalize recreational marijuana use, but residents who think this means they can light up, even in the privacy of their home, might need to think twice. Employers will still be able to forbid their employees to use marijuana, and if that employer receives any federal funding, it is expressly prohibited from allowing any employees to use the drug. [continues 901 words]
A correctional officer pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to smuggling drugs into the Baltimore City Detention Center for members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang. Adrena Rice, 25, could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years for "frequently" bringing drugs into the detention center on the behalf of Tavon White, prosecutors said in court. Authorities identified White as a top-ranking Black Guerrilla Family member at the jail who worked with correctional officers to get drugs and cellphones into the jails. He also impregnated four of the officers. Rice was not among the officers accused of conceiving a child with White. [continues 248 words]
There were many mornings, the authorities say, when a gray Mercedes GL4 S.U.V. pulled out from a driveway on a wooded street in Scarsdale, N.Y., and cruised through the Bronx before ending up inside an ugly, brick-face building in an industrial stretch of Queens. The driver, they say, was Andrea Sanderlin, a 45-year-old suburban single mother. Ms. Sanderlin, living with two young children and having a fondness for riding horses, seemed not all uncommon for a resident of her fashionable Westchester County community about 20 miles from Midtown Manhattan. She went to dinner parties and lived in a luxurious Spanish mansion. She owned three cars and had recently hired a nanny. She worked, or so she told acquaintances, in interior design. [continues 979 words]
Dear Editor, I am a criminologist who came to Guyana for 10 days last month to visit friends in the Corentyne area. I am also a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) which is an international group of current and former peace officers who are dedicated to drawing attention to the devastating consequences of drug prohibition. I made several observations during my trip which do not bode well for Guyana's efforts to control the global drug trade. Although we thoroughly enjoyed our time with the Guyanese people, there were two events which we found quite disturbing. Both involved being stopped on the Rupert Craig Highway by heavily armed men. Had it not been for our driver who quickly identified them as military personnel or, on the second occasion, as police officers, we had no way of knowing that the intervention was legally sanctioned. [continues 412 words]
To the Editor, Re: Police seize cocaine, cash in drug arrest, Jan 17. The recent seizure of drugs and weapons by Nanaimo RCMP does nothing to disrupt supply and won't prevent more illicit drugs from entering the city. The largest drug seizure in Canadian history took place in 2000 when 100 kilograms of heroin was confiscated in Vancouver's port. Subsequent research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2003 showed that contrary to law enforcement predictions, the price of heroin actually dropped in Vancouver. A seizure of this magnitude had no impact on supply. [continues 176 words]
So, recreational pot is legal in Washington state. No one is talking about the impact on children and others who live (and breathe) around those who will enjoy this recreational activity. I guess this will bring teenagers together with their parents as everyone gathers on the couch while mom and dad light up. Oh well, at least we will get a few tax dollars. Jerry Anderson Vancouver [end]
When members of Baltimore County's tactical unit burst into a Reisterstown home this summer, they were looking for potentially armed suspects in the attempted murder of a 15-year-old boy. But in the chaos of the raid, Officer Carlos Artson shot and killed the home's owner - who was not a suspect - after he thrust a large sword at the officer, police said. That raid - and its outcome - mirrored a 2005 Baltimore County police action, in which officers equipped with a battering ram and flash grenades stormed into a Dundalk home to search for drugs. In an upstairs bedroom, a 44-year-old woman pointed a revolver at Artson and he fired three rounds, killing her. [continues 1403 words]
To the Editor, Re: Pot legalization gets support from municipal reps, April 26. I agree with Mayor John Ruttan's recent comment that young people should not smoke, whether it's cannabis or tobacco. However, if they do choose between the two, I hope it's a decision which does not include them among the 40,000 Canadian deaths which occur annually. According to Health Canada, fewer and fewer young people have started smoking over the past decade. This change in national behaviour was accomplished through education and the regulation of tobacco products, and not by threatening smokers with arrest, criminal records, or imprisonment. [continues 103 words]
Gary Mason suggests that legalizing marijuana will produce policy complexities (Legalize Weed, Yes, But The Demon's In The Details - Feb. 16). Here are just a few: 1) Marijuana makes people with some mental illnesses more prone to psychosis. How will we protect vulnerable people from this harm?; 2) Marijuana smoke is as damaging to physical health as tobacco smoke; 3) Because raw marijuana has been accepted as a "medication," anti-smoking regulations must be strengthened so they can be applied even to those who claim they are taking medication; 4) Legal marijuana will become a gift worth billions to Big Tobacco. The industry will devote its vast resources to obfuscating research on health effects, resisting regulation, targeting youth and maximizing marijuana's addictive qualities; 5) Roadside tests must be developed to detect and prosecute drivers impaired by marijuana. We need careful preparation before we jump on this bandwagon. Judith Anderson, Burnaby, B.C. [end]
To the Editor, Re: B.C. public health officers behind taxing, legalizing marijuana, Jan. 3. The Health Officers Council of British Columbia has taken a bold step by urging political leaders to take control of the cannabis trade. Organized crime now has a monopoly on a $7-billion clandestine trade which spawns violence, murder and unsafe communities. Every objective outcome measure shows us how badly prohibitionist policies have failed to reach their declared goals. Today, marijuana is stronger in potency, more widely used by young people, and easier to obtain despite decades of repressive laws and enforcement tactics. [continues 166 words]
Four Vancouver ex-mayors currently advocate the end of laws which create networks of criminal organizations that use violence and intimidation to conduct their trade. Nearly 70% of B.C. residents believe that our current crime control policies are ineffective. The message is clear - it's time to legalize the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. Marijuana has never been a serious health concern, nor has law enforcement had any lasting impact on its availability. Recent Canadian research shows the criminalization of marijuana creates and sustains violence between criminal organizations. [continues 204 words]
Four Vancouver ex-mayors currently advocate the end of laws which create networks of criminal organizations that use violence and intimidation to conduct their trade. Nearly 70% of BC residents believe that our current crime control policies are ineffective. The message is clear: it's time to legalize the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana. Marijuana has never been a serious health concern, nor has law enforcement had any lasting impact on its availability. Recent Canadian research shows the criminalization of marijuana creates and sustains violence between criminal organizations. [continues 217 words]
Re: "Legal drugs and gangs," July 1. The editorial on the failed "war on drugs" is music to the ears of the criminal justice professionals who make up Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. We know, from personal experience, that prohibition enriches criminal gangs and fosters criminal activity while doing nothing to reduce drug use and the attendant violence in our cities. Forty years of the so-called "war on drugs" in North America has actually increased the supply and potency of illegal drugs. Countries which have removed criminal penalties for drug use, such as the Netherlands and Portugal, have achieved declines in use and addiction. [continues 131 words]
If you are like me, you are one of thousands of commercial medical marijuana growers in Northern California, and you, like me, are concerned about what Prop. 19, the "tax and control" initiative will do to our economy. You have thrived in a community that supports and even depends on the (variably legal) medical marijuana commerce. If you are like me, when you first heard about the initiative, your first desire was to vote against it. You have exhausted hours discoursing with friends, acquaintances, and probably even strangers about how this will hinder our community and its economy. You, like me, are scared of change and the end of our day in the sun. [continues 691 words]
