Issue Might Prove Excellent Starting Point in Consideration Of Criminal Code Overhaul In the years that this newspaper has known and endorsed Tom Knollman in his role as a Republican...- 11:08 pm To the contrary, this Union County farmer, while struggling with his speech and movement as a consequence of battling multiple sclerosis, is soft-spoken, thoughtful and deliberate in his positions and subsequent votes in the General Assembly. His conservative, law-and-order credentials are above reproach. So when Knollman testified in favor of keeping marijuana available for people like himself, suffering lifetime disorders, his remarks deserve an audience. [continues 212 words]
DENVER -- Inside the green neon sign, which is shaped like a marijuana leaf, is a red cross. The cross serves the fiction that most transactions in the store -- which is what it really is -- involve medicine. The U.S. Justice Department recently announced that federal laws against marijuana would not be enforced for possession of marijuana that conforms to states' laws. In 2000, Colorado legalized medical marijuana. Since Justice's decision, the average age of the 400 persons a day seeking "prescriptions" at Colorado's multiplying medical marijuana dispensaries has fallen precipitously. Many new customers are college students. [continues 669 words]
The most surprising response to Attorney General Eric Holder's recent announcement that the federal government would cease raids or arrests in states where medical marijuana is permitted is the general lack of response. Sure, Holder was simply making good on a pledge delivered by candidate Barrack Obama. But on another level, the administration's announcement could change the entire balance, or some would say historic imbalance, where drug enforcement and punishments are concerned. Politics in practice demands nothing less than a tough posture against crime. [continues 312 words]
WASHINGTON -- In an act of merciful sanity, the Obama administration has made good on its promise to stop interfering with states that allow the medical use of marijuana. Clink-clink, hear-hear, salud, cheers, et cetera, et cetera. The announcement from Attorney General Eric Holder surely comes as a relief to the many who rely on cannabis to ease suffering from various ailments. This new, relaxed approach doesn't let drug traffickers off the hook. It merely means that 14 states that now provide for some medical marijuana uses no longer need fear federal raids on dispensaries and users operating under state law. [continues 667 words]
The Supreme Court's recent ruling on a high school free speech question seems legally correct but morally regrettable. Legally correct because, confronted with the question over who has final authority on school grounds for student behavior, the court is duty bound to uphold the supremacy of elected school boards and top administrators, Morally regrettable because, in practice, the decision undermines rather than expands student appreciation for free speech rights and responsibilities and often places teachers and other classroom advocates at odds with administrators and school board members. [continues 233 words]
On Christmas Eve morning, Pastor Robert Mays sat alone in front of his church's piano and played a battle hymn. Although he didn't know it was a battle hymn at the time, he knew he was at war. "This church is in what I call a spiritual war zone," he said. "There are drugs, drug dealers and drug abusers all around me." Mays was ready to take another step in his plan to win back his community. [continues 673 words]
Students Who Drive, Play Sports Or Are In Activities Can Be Tested EAST GERMANTOWN, Ind. - Of the 88 random drug tests conducted at Lincoln High School throughout the past school year, three came back positive for drugs. In his report to the Western Wayne school board Monday, Chris Franz of Sport Safe Testing Services, Inc. of Powell, Ohio, said 308 students were in the pool of students that could be randomly selected by the testing lab. Because the students are selected randomly for the urine tests, some students were tested more than once and only 74 different students were tested. [continues 102 words]
I'm writing about Chuck Avery's thoughtful column, "Moonshine, marijuana and prison population" (May 29). I agree with Avery, imprisonment (of drug users and dealers) isn't working; let's try something else. Prohibition isn't working; let's try something else. Prohibition didn't work for alcohol and it's not working for drugs except to provide for the full employment of those doing the prohibiting; let's try something else. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
The Nettle Creek School Board needs to educate itself on the limitations of student drug-testing. Student involvement in after- school activities like sports has been shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they are most likely to get into trouble. Forcing students to undergo degrading urine tests as a prerequisite will only discourage participation. Drug testing may also compel marijuana users to switch to harder drugs to avoid testing positive. Despite a short-lived high, marijuana is the only illegal drug that stays in the human body long enough to make urinalysis a deterrent. Marijuana's organic metabolites are fat-soluble and can linger for days. More dangerous synthetic drugs like methamphetamine are water- soluble and exit the body quickly. If you think drug users don't know this, think again. [continues 103 words]
Students Who Drive, Join Extracurricular Activity Could Be Picked HAGERSTOWN, Ind. -- Hagerstown Junior-Senior High School next year will begin randomly drug testing student drivers and students involved in extracurricular activities. Nettle Creek school board members approved a random drug screening policy at their regular meeting Wednesday. A committee of staff, parents and other community members began working on the policy in 2004. According to the policy, the purpose of the program is "to educate, assist and direct students away from drug and alcohol use and toward healthy and drug-free school participation." [continues 431 words]
Neighbors Call for More Police Assistance Many residents in the historic Elizabeth Starr District are concerned about prostitution, drugs and noise in their neighborhood. So are the Richmond Police. So police and neighbors got together last week to discuss ways of cooperating to eliminate the problems. The three problems are connected and illegal drugs are the root problem. "You're never going to get rid of drug dealing entirely," Police Chief Kris Wolski said. But the persistence of the problems is causing irritation among the neighbors. [continues 482 words]
Hello. My name is Tarah Knorpp and I have been involved in the Richmond D.A.R.E. program for four years. I love it. D.A.R.E. is a place to go and have fun with your friends and meet new people. If I had to describe D.A.R.E. in one word, that one word would be love. I have never been in an environment that I have seized so much love in one summer. When you hear the name Officer Rick Thalls, what do you automatically think? The average person that has seen his overall appearance would think he is intimidating and a big tough guy. Don't get me wrong, Rick has to be a tough guy at work. But when he is at camp for a dance or camps during the summer, he is just a big kid at heart. He loves going to the river to fish or watch campers swim, or going on a hayride, or doing sports. He just wants to show young children and people that just because drugs are at arm's length all the time in this community doesn't mean you have to reach for them to fit in. Rick shows us through time that if you put yourself out there as a person wanting to make new friends or better yourself, it's at arm's length also. [continues 106 words]
Isolated Instances Are Coming Into Greater Frequency, Police Say Methamphetamine is a dragon of a drug -- dangerous in the making, dangerous in the taking. It's a dragon that is stalking the land, moving from the west coast toward the east. It is a scourge that prefers the rural to the urban. Farm country provides one of the major components for its manufacture -- the fertilizer anhydrous ammonia. Farm country also provides seclusion to hide the toxic, noxious fumes produced by a meth lab. [continues 327 words]
If the Bush Administration retreats federally in the battle against methamphetamine, it will have handed drug dealers a victory that will prove far more costly in the years ahead than the budget savings that might be realized today. Unlike the debates that surrounded decriminalization and the federal role of law enforcement in policing marijuana 40 years ago, we already know -- or, rather, law enforcement knows -- that meth and its effects pose a huge threat to the nation. Yet, despite this, the president proposes slashing a Justice Department methamphetamine initiative by some 60 percent, in addition to steep cuts in grant programs for anti-drug efforts to state and local governments. [continues 100 words]
Patch Behind Kmart Could Have Yielded Quarter Of A Million On The Street Wayne County Sheriff's Department deputies ruined the harvest for some diligent marijuana farmers Friday afternoon. They found and destroyed a 140-plant patch of the homegrown narcotic just north of Kmart at 3150 National Road West. Deputies scouring the county in a helicopter spotted the crop from the air. After they located it they went in with machetes and bow saws and cut down 70 female stalks of marijuana that were up to two-inches thick at the base and towered above a man's head. [continues 376 words]
If Approved, Proposal Would Take Effect In 2005-06 School Year HAGERSTOWN, Ind. -- Random drug testing could begin at Hagerstown Junior-Senior High School in the 2005-2006 school year. According to a timeline approved by the Nettle Creek School Board on Wednesday, the board will study the policy until a final vote in March 2005. The board action followed a recommendation by junior-senior high school administrators and the student relations specialist and a community meeting about the matter. According to the timeline, oral testing kits will be purchased with a 2003-04 Safe and Drug-Free Schools Grant. Student relations specialist Kristina Dale said an eight-to- 10-member committee will be established to develop the policy and procedures. [continues 284 words]
Rural Areas South Of Here Ideal For Producing Illegal Drug Methamphetamine production has spread across Indiana like a cancer. It has not metastasized in east central Indiana yet, but just south of here it is eating its way into Franklin County. "It's an epidemic," Sheriff Dale Maxie said. The number of meth-related arrests has quadrupled in the past year. "It's hit us hard, but we're working on it hard," Maxie said. Franklin County is ideal territory for producing methamphetamine. "Cookers (people who produce methamphetamine) are looking for counties with open, secluded areas," Maxie said. The process for making meth produces a pervasive stench. Franklin County has another attractive quality for drug makers: it's next to Butler and Montgomery counties in Ohio, providing easy access to the Cincinnati market. "Most of our arrests have been in the southeastern part of the county," Maxie said. Not much of a problem here [continues 807 words]
If a person has 18 boxes of the decongestant Sudafed, a bill under consideration by the Indiana General Assembly would give police the authority to arrest him. The proposal, House Bill 1626, assumes that most people wouldn't have that much of the drug unless they were making methamphetamine, an addictive stimulant that is spreading across the Midwest. Although that assumption may be logical, some other provisions in the bill would extend police authority too far into surveillance of personal lives. [continues 448 words]
