I am a Michigan resident and also a senior at American University in Washington D.C., a school I was accepted into largely because of my strong record for academics and pursuit of social justice at Gull Lake High School. It is vital that members of this community understand how one of the teachers at Gull Lake contributed to my success. His name is Brett Johnson and he and his wife were recently convicted on criminal drug charges after they were found to be growing marijuana in their home. While I am not going to debate the laws on drug use and production at this time, I need to attest to the strength of Brett Johnson's character and his talent as a teacher. [continues 554 words]
We were distressed to read of the conviction of teachers Brett and Keri Johnson on marijuana charges and to hear that this may result in the loss of their teacher certification and even their home. Whatever they may do in the privacy of their own home, their professionalism at Gull Lake High School cannot be questioned. Hundreds of students have benefited from their teaching over the last 10 years. Our younger daughter, now a senior in college, regards Mr. Johnson as one of her most influential teachers. The Johnsons stood up for students who struggled to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at Gull Lake, and they did everything in their power to create a positive, accepting community. [continues 88 words]
It is good to see Mexico and the United States working together to battle the drug cartels that deliver hundreds of tons of illegal drugs to American consumers every year, killing more than 2,000 Mexicans annually along the way. Still, the Bush administration's proposed $1.4 billion counternarcotics aid package falls far short of what is needed to confront the problem. If Washington is serious about stopping the northward flow of cocaine, heroin and other drugs, it must begin an aggressive campaign to stop the southward flow of money and high-powered weapons that finance and arm the cartels. And there must be a far more serious effort to curb Americans' use of illicit drugs. [continues 344 words]
Re "Saying yes to DARE": The Long Beach Unified School District works closely with the Long Beach Police Department to make certain that our students remain safe. The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program is an important extension of that work. Today's youngsters must be well-equipped with specific knowledge and skills to avoid the pitfalls of a popular culture that in many ways glamorizes substance abuse. DARE officers reinforce many of the concepts that our schools teach in our health and safety curriculum. And the importance of positive interaction between students and police officers in the classroom cannot be overstated. We deeply appreciate DARE's work in our schools. Christopher J. Steinhauser Superintendent of Schools Long Beach Unified School District [end]
MEXICO CITY -- The Bush administration's proposed counternarcotics aid package for Mexico would set in motion a vast reengineering of the country's justice system, revamping the legal education process, creating a network of court clerks and helping to write new laws, according to two summaries obtained by The Washington Post. The $500 million plan would also fund anti-drug and human rights campaigns and new citizen complaint centers. It would provide money for efforts to develop "centers of moral authority" and for media campaigns to create "a culture of lawfulness." [continues 1081 words]
In a move that will change the way drug education is taught in Suffolk County schools, the police commissioner said yesterday that he is reassigning more than half of the officers in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, or DARE, as part of an amended drug prevention program. The program will drop from 26 uniformed officers to 10. Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said 16 officers will be reassigned to patrol duty as of January. The 10 remaining officers dedicated full-time to DARE - which places officers in fifth-, sixth- and seventh-grade classrooms for a 10-week curriculum - would be available to help teachers, he added. [continues 504 words]
NEW DELHI - The United Nations has drawn attention of world leaders to an alarming increase in opium production in Afghanistan which has gone up by 34% to 8,200 tonnes this year in comparison to 2006. The illicit trade, estimated at $4 billion, is half the GDP of Afghanistan. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has suggested governments to include major drug traffickers under the same list which has the Taliban and Al-Qaida. "The world community should add a dozen such traffickers names to the Security Council list, in order to ban their travel, seize their assets and facilitate their extradition," the UNODC said. [continues 254 words]
My children have attended Gull Lake Community Schools their entire lives. I am proud of the level of education and quality of teachers we have in our district from pre-kindergarten through high school. I find it extremely sad we have lost two of the finest teachers at Gull Lake, Brett and Keri Johnson. My oldest daughter graduated in 2004 and is a senior at American University in Washington, DC. Upon hearing a rumor from my younger daughter, who is a sophomore, that I relayed to my eldest daughter, she said she didn't think it could possibly be true. [continues 204 words]
Regarding the Oct. 27 article, "Former Gull Lake teachers sentenced for growing pot," I don't know any more of the facts than what I read and I haven't heard any of the local gossip since my youngest child graduated from Gull Lake High School in 2002, but I was deeply saddened to hear about the legal troubles facing Brett and Keri Johnson. Both of my children were students of Mr. Johnson's. My oldest child had Mr. Johnson when he was a student teacher at Gull Lake, and my youngest child had Mr. Johnson as an English teacher for several classes. They both liked him very much. I thought he was an excellent teacher, also. [continues 150 words]
A question for Judge Pamela Lightvoet on the two Gull Lake teachers who lost their teaching jobs and who may no longer be able to afford their home after being convicted of growing cannabis for their personal consumption. Do the people of Michigan have a say in the creation of the laws over which they preside as jurors? Are all juries able to discuss whether the law, as it is presented, is just or unjust? If not, must the prosecuting attorney prove what the government has said about cannabis -- that its use will make one violent, will make one insane -- and if the prosecutor cannot show that the use of cannabis has caused these actions, must the jury find the accused innocent because the underlying premise is not correct? [continues 75 words]
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - Lancaster County Convention Center Authority reappointed Ted Darcus as chairman over the objections of one board member Wednesday night.Darcus, who has headed the board since 2004, was reappointed 3-1, with board members Willie Borden, Dave Schwanger and Joe Morales approving the measure and Laura Douglas opposing it. "Mr. Darcus has been a very strongly divisive force on this board," Douglas said after the vote. "He is blinded to certain issues, and instead of considering them, he goes ahead and moves forward." [continues 407 words]
The Christchurch student held in Dubai on drugs charges will face a preliminary hearing today to determine whether she has to face a full trial. Mariam Shafeek, 21, was arrested at Dubai airport one week ago after being found with 0.2g of marijuana. Her mother, Seham Ayad, has travelled to Dubai and managed to see her on Tuesday. "She's very low, she's getting very thin, she was in tears constantly," she said. "They are testing her and taking a lot of blood without saying what it's for." [continues 149 words]
Prime Minister Helen Clark says the case of Miriam Shafeek, the Christchurch student arrested in Dubai on drugs charges, should serve as a lesson to young people. New Zealand diplomats were doing all they could, Clark said, denying claims by Shafeek's mother that the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade (Mfat) had failed to help when she contacted them. "I'm always very concerned when a Kiwi is picked up in another country on drugs charges," Clark said yesterday. "There are countries where drugs charges carry extremely serious penalties, up to and including death. So the clear message is that no-one should ever put themselves in such a position." [continues 357 words]
Kansas Attorney General Paul Morrison is supporting a legislative push by the Wichita Branch NAACP and a statewide task force to ban the sale of drug paraphernalia in Kansas. "He wholeheartedly supports banning all drug paraphernalia," said Ashley Anstaett, communications director for Morrison's office. "He prosecuted one of the first drug paraphernalia cases in 1981." The recommendations by the NAACP and the Drug Paraphernalia Task Force aim to strengthen current law by defining drug paraphernalia more specifically and stiffening penalties for violators, among other provisions. [continues 486 words]
Another person has been shot six times and is dead. He's the latest casualty in the war. This casualty, however, is not from the war in Iraq. This casualty is from the war at home, the war on drugs. ("Undercover officers fatally shoot drug suspect," The Ann Arbor News, Jan. 24) Let's compare them. They're both wars in which the body counts continue to rise with no clear exit strategies in sight. They're both wars that our government tries hard to "sell" us, even though we know the strategies are flawed. They're both wars that many Americans think we can't win. The stakes, in both, are extremely high. [continues 95 words]
A Windsor lawyer will go to the Supreme Court in a case that could give Canadians more power to fight extradition to countries where they face prosecution for crimes they have already been convicted of in Canada. The Supreme Court said Thursday it will hear the appeal Frank Miller filed on behalf of his client Talib Steven Lake -- who pleaded guilty in 1998 to three counts of trafficking crack cocaine to an undercover officer, two of possessing proceeds of crime and one of conspiracy to traffic. [continues 455 words]
Question 31 on the Fafsa Inspired a UC Berkeley Student Senator to Create a Program That Gives Aid to Those Denied Federal Aid Because of Drug Convictions The biggest problem with question 31 on the FAFSA 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 school in the first place - at least according to Director of Student Financial Aid Elizabeth Bickford. [continues 514 words]
Sacramento -- Unable to find enough volunteers, California prison officials said Friday they would begin forcing inmates to transfer from the state's jam-packed prisons to private lockups in Mississippi, Arizona and Oklahoma. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and corrections administrators said the move to ship unwilling inmates out of state was necessary to deal with severe overcrowding, but an inmate advocate said the move is illegal and the state's prison guards union warned it could spark violence in already-tense lockups. [continues 816 words]
CHILDREN as young as 11 have been receiving treatment for heroin addiction in our region, it was revealed today. New figures obtained by the Yorkshire Evening Post show that a total of 34 under-16s in Yorkshire and Humberside were given help for problems with the class-A drug between April and December last year. Although most of those in rehab were aged 15, four 14-year-olds, three 13-year-olds, four 12-year-olds and one 11-year-old were among those treated. [continues 293 words]
Cannabis may be legalised for medicinal purposes but patients prescribed it could be taking it in the form of a pill rather than smoking it. Rotorua MP Steve Chadwick has added her voice of support to cannabis being legalised for medicinal purposes but says it should be in the form of a pill rather than patients being allowed to smoke it. Yesterday Kaingaroa man Peter Hunt went public about wanting the drug legalised for medicinal use. Left with a nasty ankle injury that has never healed after a crash in 1999, he smokes up to 15 "joints" a day, claiming cannabis is the only thing that relieves his constant pain. [continues 490 words]
