ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Hemp has been legally harvested in Minnesota for the first time in more than 60 years. A new state law passed this year allows researchers from the University of Minnesota to collect wild hemp. Researchers scoured the overgrown grounds at Fort Snelling Wednesday and cut some wild hemp. Dr. George Weiblen has been studying hemp for more than a decade. Weiblen says he has not been able to collect wild cannabis seed until now and had to import it from the Netherlands and Canada. Weiblen says he and other researchers hope to create new varieties with an aim toward reviving a domestic hemp industry in the U.S. He says that unlike traditional marijuana, the wild hemp has very little THC, the psychoactive compound. [end]
The Ho-Chunk Nation may look to legalize marijuana on its tribal lands. The tribe's electorate voted in favor of the move at a Saturday General Council meeting by a 2-1 margin. Votes at the annual meeting of tribal members are not binding, and the tribe now is studying the legal implications of the possible policy change. "The vote overturns previous policy refusing to legalize marijuana. During the session, tribal members spoke of the health benefits and that drug addiction already a problem in the communities," said Collin Price, the tribe's public relations officer. [continues 208 words]
La Crosse County leaders fighting the local heroin epidemic credit a life-saving drug with eliminating fatal overdoses. No heroin users died in 2014, thanks in large part to the availability and skyrocketing use of Narcan, the antidote for an opiate overdose. Two people died in 2013 and five in 2012 of accidental heroin overdoses, La Crosse County Medical Examiner Tim Candahl said. Nationally, heroin deaths surged 39 percent in 2013 in 8,260, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [continues 304 words]
BLACK RIVER FALLS - Authorities and community members are becoming increasingly concerned about the prevalence of heroin use and dealing in Jackson County. Use of the highly addictive opiate is rising, based on drug investigations, arrests and other information provided to law enforcement, and its impact in local communities continues to expand, local authorities say. "Overall, I believe that heroin is having an effect in Jackson County because it is not just about recreational drug use. It is about a drug that many times takes lives because people buying and using the heroin don't know exactly what they are putting into their body," Jackson County Sheriff's Department Capt. Tim Nichols said. [continues 1023 words]
Methamphetamine use is climbing as desperate heroin addicts search for a cheaper way to get high and avoid a fatal overdose. "Meth has never gone away," said Tom Johnson, who heads a regional drug task force. "We just never gave it enough credit." Local law enforcement saw meth use rise again in mid-2013 when heroin prices ballooned. Heroin can fetch up to $280 per gram; meth sells for as little as $50 to $100 for the same quantity, said La Crosse police Sgt. Andrew Dittman, who heads the department's narcotics unit. [continues 945 words]
Everybody's doing it -- confessing their youthful, pot-smoking ways - -- so here goes. I don't remember. Kidding, kidding. Anyone older than 30 recognizes the old adage: If you remember the 1960s, you weren't there. Nyuk-nyuk-nyuk. It is true that marijuana smoking tends to affect one's short-term memory, but the good news is that, while stoned, one does relatively little worth remembering. At least that's my own recollection. So, yes, I toked, too. This doesn't mean anyone else should, and I haven't in decades, but our debate might have more value if more of us were forthcoming. [continues 678 words]
Members of law enforcement are among the biggest opponents of marijuana legalization, citing concerns over potential increases in impaired driving, the potential for marijuana to fall into the hands of children and the drug's reputation as a =93gateway=94 to other harmful substances. The La Crosse Police Department declined to comment on the impact of medical marijuana legalization, but Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen came out in opposition to a previous legalization bill in 2009, writing that it would =93create serious impediments to the enforcement of state drug laws against those individuals who are not actually involved in the medical use of marijuana.=94 [continues 237 words]
Nobody wants to be a criminal. That's the thought that crosses John's mind each night as he gets ready for bed. Part of his nightly routine involves breaking the law, but he isn't losing any sleep over it. In fact, it's exactly the opposite. John (not his real name) uses medical marijuana to manage the chronic, neuropathic pain that he's lived with for the past nine years. Surgery to correct a herniated disc left scar tissue that put pressure on a root nerve, causing unbearable pain in his leg and foot. During the day he could keep himself distracted enough to cope, but at night he would lie awake in agony - sometimes going as many as five nights without sleep. [continues 1619 words]
In general, we're not keen on looking to Illinois for leadership and direction on, well, almost anything. But Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn did the right thing last week when he signed into law a bill that approves medical marijuana for Illinois residents, making our neighbor to the south the 20th state, along with the District of Columbia, to legalize pot for medical purposes. Wisconsin should step up and do the same, an act that would give our residents who suffer from many debilitating conditions the same relief that is available now in nearly half the country. [continues 295 words]
Backers of proposed legislation to legalize medical marijuana use in Wisconsin say they will demonstrate this afternoon at many Walmart stores in the state, including the Onalaska store. The peaceful demonstrations will begin at noon and are expected to last about four hours. Besides promoting the proposed legislation, participants also have criticized Walmart for firing an employee in Battle Creek, Mich., who was using marijuana for medical purposes. "It's not a 'hate Walmart' protest," said Jay Selthofner of Green Lake, a field director with Wisconsin's National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML. "It's really to increase awareness of the bill." [continues 85 words]
There is a medical marijuana bill in committee in the Wisconsin Legislature. We need the people's help to get it passed by calling their politicians in Madison. It's being held there by representatives who are good people but under-informed. What we are asking for in not a pot-smokers' law. Many of us vaporize it or eat it, which gives us the cannibnoids that help fight obesity, cancers, fibromyalgia, phantom pains and muscle spasms from paraplegia and other neuromuscular ailments. [continues 93 words]
The La Crosse County Board on Thursday approved accepting a $322,011 federal stimulus grant to hire a full-time drug investigator to work in a five-county regional drug task force. La Crosse County Sheriff's Department Chief Deputy Jeff Wolf said the task force covers La Crosse, Jackson, Monroe, Vernon and Trempealeau counties. The grant will pay for the investigator to work for three years. The program will sunset and the position end after that, he said. The grant also includes funding for training and education relating to prescription drug crimes. [end]
University of Wisconsin-La Crosse sophomore Matt Edwards was a "DARE child" who promised in elementary school never to do drugs when he grew up. That didn't last, he said: He smoked marijuana in high school. Drug prohibition has failed," said Jake Cox, a UW-L student and president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. "Prohibition has taken drugs and put them in the hands of people that want to make money off them, regardless of a person's age." [continues 175 words]
I am disgusted to read that La Crosse County Assistant District Attorney Brian Barton is not commenting on the Nov. 20 case involving the discovery of a half-ton of marijuana in a semi-trailer. Is it because it is highly unlikely that anyone will ever be convicted at either the local, state or federal level for this serious crime? It sounds like a good idea for a video game. See how many tons of marijuana you can haul across the country without being busted. [continues 168 words]
Crime-prevention programs such as DARE - Drug and Alcohol Resistance Education - could take a hit in funding with a change in how citations can be paid. A new law became effective March 27 that repeals the ability of judges to force a defendant or make a contribution to a crime-prevention organization as an alternative to sentencing or judgment. In a letter to municipal court judges, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin stated, "Although the organizations that receive the funds are often valuable to the community, this funding mechanism creates the potential for inappropriate prosecutorial charging decisions, the appearance of fundraising or favoritism by the judges and a general perception by the public that favorable outcomes in criminal cases can be bought by defendants who can afford them." [continues 264 words]
A hallucinogenic herb, banned in several states and foreign countries, remains legal in Wisconsin but might soon be outlawed in Minnesota. The herb, a member of the sage family, is called salvia divinorum, but is most widely known as salvia and many different street names. It is sold locally and over the Internet as an incense, but when the herb is chewed or smoked, it can cause a psychedelic high that can last up to a few minutes, or even longer when salvia extract is smoked. While the substance is legal, local police still keep their eyes open for its use, particularly in the schools, but a La Crosse investigator, Jake Jansky, said he does not believe it is being widely abused. [continues 499 words]
SPARTA, Wis. -- Parents of middle and high school students in Sparta may test their kids for drugs and alcohol at home under an agreement the district entered into with a national drug-testing company late last month. It allows parents to order testing kits anonymously from the company's Web site -- www.testmyteen.com -- and test their kids without the school district's knowledge. The first 250 Sparta parents get the first kit free under an offer the company extends to districts that join. After that, the most common test costs $18.99 plus shipping and handling (about $9). Each kit is single-use. Parents in other districts may order testing kits, but they won't get the first kit free. [continues 389 words]
MADISON - Thirty years ago, Madison was at the forefront of the effort to bring the nation's marijuana laws in line with growing public opinion that, among adults, smoking a joint is akin to drinking a beer. But after three decades, Madison's historic ordinance permitting possession of small amounts of marijuana remains at odds with state and federal laws, putting city police in a difficult position. And Madison advocates are still pushing for Wisconsin to join other states that have relaxed their laws against pot. [continues 1098 words]
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Police shouldn't have searched a man during a traffic stop simply because they saw him reach under the front seat and he fell down, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. The court said those actions weren't enough to support officers' claim that they believed Gary Johnson was hiding a weapon or drugs. Its 5-2 decision affirmed a 2005 appeals court ruling that reversed his conviction on a drug charge. "Given the circumstances, there was no reasonable grounds to believe he was armed and dangerous," said Johnson's attorney, Eileen Hirsch. "He's one very happy client today." [continues 378 words]
Sometimes the war on drugs is fought on odd battlegrounds, and against people you would not expect. Let's say you're a 61-year-old woman and you live in a public housing project in La Crosse. And let's say the cops knock on your door at 2:30 in the morning, looking for your grandson. You answer the door to find two uniformed officers there, and two more on the way. They want to know where your 17-year-old grandson is because they think he might be involved in a burglary committed about an hour earlier. [continues 589 words]
