Wilmington cocaine bust not relevant, newsworthy The only word I can use to describe the story on Dan Paustian ("UNC student arrested in Wilmington on charges of cocaine, marijuana possession," Nov. 1) is inappropriate. Yes, he is a UNC student and yes, the student body is entitled to know what is going on in the lives of our peers. But whereas last year's cocaine incident involved multiple UNC students that were arrested in our actual vicinity, this occurrence involved solely one student positioned a good two and half hours away from our campus at the time of his arrest. Is this really worthy of the front page? [continues 139 words]
Pot, weed, dope, Mary Jane, Cannabis -- marijuana goes by many names. But whatever you want to call it, it is a drug worthy of legalization - -- at least for medicinal purposes. In the U.S., medical marijuana legalization is done on a state-by-state basis. So far, 14 states have already legalized the use of medical marijuana -- and with good reason. In California, the big debate is whether or not to legalize marijuana for personal use other than medicinal purposes. But in North Carolina, the bill to legalize it for medicinal purposes has still not passed. [continues 446 words]
Some people might have been shocked in September when several UNC students were arrested for selling cocaine. And, if the charges prove true, they probably weren't making the best career choice in the world. I wouldn't be too surprised. After all, illegal drugs are big business. In 2003, the United Nations estimated that the global illegal drug trade was worth nearly $322 billion. Cannabis is America's top cash crop, with a market value greater than corn and wheat combined. In a survey of more than 1,700 UNC students I conducted through Facebook, cannabis use was consistently more common than tobacco use. [continues 423 words]
Reefer Madness, a 1937 exploitation film, warned marijuana use causes "the total inability to direct thoughts (and) the loss of all power to resist physical emotions leading finally to acts of shocking violence." Some marijuana supporters who rightly laugh at these silly claims also say the natural presence of marijuana on God's green earth proves its harmlessness, forgetting that some of world's deadliest poisons grow naturally. Unfortunately, when it comes to assessing the U.S.'s medical marijuana policy, the irrational arguments on both sides of the debate hamper efforts to carry out much-needed research on marijuana's medical use. [continues 477 words]
Suggests Help, Taxes, Not Jail UNC economics professor Arthur Benavie doesn't want you to go to jail for smoking pot. His new book, "Drugs: America's Holy War," is Benavie's critique of the U.S. government's battle against illegal substances. Benavie calls the drug war a failure and proposes redirecting efforts to anti-drug education and addiction help, not incarceration. "We should have the federal, state and local governments take over the control and regulation of these drugs instead of letting the gangsters do it," he said. [continues 396 words]
To the Editor: Thank you for making the case of substance abuse treatment in your editorial ("Money in the right place, Oct. 22). A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs. Additionally, the drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Incarcerating nonviolent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior. It's time to declare peace in the failed drug war and begin treating all substance abuse, legal or otherwise, as the public health problem it is. Robert Sharpe Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. [end]
We commend a new grant from two national charities to fight substance abuse and improve mental health care in Orange County. The $270,000 grant will be used to implement the Reclaiming Futures program. This national initiative helps teenage substance abusers by screening and providing treatment to those entering the juvenile justice system. In the short term, the grant provides generous, much-needed funding for the area's substance abuse and mental health clinics. In the long term, it has real potential to fight drug addiction in Orange County and help criminal drug users get their lives back on track. [continues 227 words]
Prison Overcrowding Will Take Two-Pronged Solution N.C. legislators face the difficult task of finding a solution to prison overcrowding that doesn't jeopardize public safety by putting dangerous criminals back on the street. According to the N.C. Sentencing and Policy Advisory Commission, N.C. prisons are projected to run out of space this year, a reality that could strain already tight state resources. When balancing concerns about the costs of expanding prison facilities with public safety, government officials should use a combination of short-term and long-term approaches to the problem of prison overcrowding in North Carolina. [continues 351 words]
Allowing Retroactive Sentence Reduction Was Right Move The presence of one hydrogen atom and one chlorine atom used to mean the difference between probation and five years in prison. That is the chemical difference between powder cocaine and crack, the freebase form. With the extreme disparities in federal sentencing for powder and crack cocaine charges, the U.S. Sentencing Commission made the right decision to retroactively reduce punishment for crack cocaine offenders. As a result of this change, inmates in the Charlotte area became eligible Monday to apply for reduced sentencing. [continues 328 words]
Young people who are heavy smokers of cannabis, a substance found in marijuana, could be at a significant risk for gum disease, according to a study released Tuesday. The study found that participants who used cannabis between the ages of 18 and 32 were more likely to have mild and severe periodontal disease than those who never used the substance. "What we found out is that marijuana does pose a risk above smoking cigarettes," said James Beck, professor of dental ecology at the UNC School of Dentistry, who helped author the study. [continues 386 words]
The Czech Republic is the only country in the world where adult citizens can legally use, possess and grow small quantities of marijuana (In the Netherlands, marijuana is only quasi-legal). The Czech drug arrest rate is 1/585 of our drug arrest rate and the Czech robbery rate is less than 1/72 of our robbery rate. According to our drug war cheerleaders, tolerant marijuana laws cause people to use other, much more dangerous drugs; this doesn't happen in the Czech Republic. [continues 91 words]
To the Editor: Marijuana prohibition has done little other than burden millions of otherwise law-abiding citizens with criminal records. A University of Michigan study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than in any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has not been shown to cause an overdose death and does not share the addictive properties of tobacco. [continues 67 words]
TO THE EDITOR: As a Christian, I'd like Jeff Soplop ("What to do about the doobie: part one," Nov. 8 and "What to do about the doobie: parts two," Nov. 15) (to know that) cannabis should be legalized. It is luciferous to cage responsible adult humans for using what God says is good on literally the very first page of the Bible. Cannabis is safer than alcohol, especially when compared to whiskey. It's less addictive than coffee, and in more than 5,000 years of documented use it hasn't killed one human, while cigarettes kill more than 1,000 Americans daily. It is irresponsible that government makes it a Schedule I substance, along with heroin, while meth is only a Schedule II substance. It's time to add credibility to America's drug laws and re-legalize cannabis. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
As a police officer, I learned that marijuana prohibition dramatically reduces our ability to detect and arrest the deadly DUI driver. Police spend millions of hours arresting for simple possession. Mr. (Jeff) Soplop's accurate comments ("What to do about the doobie: part two," Nov. 15) unfortunately left out the most compelling reason to end prohibition. Thousands of lives will be saved each year, when my profession focuses on the deadly DUI and reckless driver. If you have a problem with pot or any drug, see a doctor. Howard J. Wooldridge Education Specialist Law Enforcement Against Prohibition [end]
Marijuana is supposed to make you relax, but the last few weeks it's been stressing me out. The reason for the duress is my attempt to understand whether smoking the doobie should be legalized. My quest began when I saw the writing on the wall, literally, in a men's room on the fifth floor of Davis Library where someone scribbled "legalize it" on the tile. In light of that gastro-inspirational moment, I wrote last week's column on the health implications of marijuana. Although I concluded that marijuana is no worse for your health than alcohol or tobacco, the broader legalization question remained open. [continues 481 words]
Crack cocaine is dangerous. It is addictive. It facilitates gang violence. But the same can be said for powder cocaine, a truth that federal officials are attempting to recognize by reducing what some consider a race-based discrepancy between the penalties for crack cocaine possession and powder cocaine possession. A bill under consideration, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., would equalize the punishment for possession of either form of cocaine. This spring the U.S. Sentencing Commission passed new guidelines that reduced penalties for crack cocaine possession, and officials are now debating whether the new guidelines should be applied retroactively - a change that would affect an estimated 19,500 inmates. [continues 405 words]
Jeff Soplop's column, "What to do about the doobie: part one" ( Nov. 8) was interesting. A tad off base, but interesting. Soplop did get some things right, like when he said "it would be ridiculous if the government outlawed (alcohol and cigarettes)." Yet he is so, so wrong when he says "because marijuana is no more harmful than cigarettes or alcohol doesn't mean that it should be legalized in the United States either." Cannabis (marijuana) is a lot less harmful than either tobacco or alcohol. Monumentally less harmful: 5,000 years of recorded historical use without one fatality from consumption compared to 400,000 deaths each year for tobacco (in the U.S. alone) and another 100,000 from alcohol. [continues 123 words]
Interesting ideas can cross your mind at the strangest times. Recently, my own ruminations were sparked in the men's room on the fifth floor of Davis Library, where I noticed that someone had scrawled "legalize it" on the tile wall. Normally, the graffiti found in UNC's bathrooms is entertaining but not very thought provoking. But this wasn't your ordinary act of vandalism. Instead it inspired me to ponder if I could answer the question of whether marijuana should be legal from an objective point of view. [continues 542 words]
Solution To Overcrowding Doesn't Lie In Bigger Jails Orange could be the new it-color in Durham if the county's inmate population keeps growing at the present rate, according to a jail assessment submitted to the Durham County Board of Commissioners in June. The review of more than 70,000 jail admissions since 1999 reported that by 2030, if current procedures stay the same, Durham's jail population could double. The increase would require the already overcrowded jail system to provide 664 additional beds at a price of nearly $60 million. [continues 362 words]
5-4 Decision Imposes Limits On Freedom Of Speech The latest chapter in the saga of how far the protections of the First Amendment reach in public schools was written Monday. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 in favor of the Juneau, Alaska, high-school principal who suspended a student in 2002 for displaying a banner which read "Bong hits 4 Jesus" at an Olympic Torch parade. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. cited the danger of promoting dangerous activities such as drug use and said the school was justified in its actions. [continues 490 words]
