in 2009, There Were No Drug Arrests in Jerauld County. a Crackdown Since Then, With the Help of a Drug Dog and Aggressive Law Enforcement, Has Produced 52 Drug-Related Charges Since the Beginning of 2010. WESSINGTON SPRINGS - What seemed like a routine motorist assist call turned into a tense, drug-related situation. Two men from Mitchell had been driving on a rural road in Jerauld County and got lost. Their vehicle got stuck in a snowbank on a dead-end road. Sheriff's Deputy Shane Mentzer responded to the call. [continues 2521 words]
Joe Graves simply doesn't have a clue about marijuana. To the Editor: Joe Graves simply doesn't have a clue about marijuana. He needs to read the following and try again: The short history of the marijuana laws at http://druglibrary.org/schaffer/History/whiteb1.htm. This is funny and fascinating, and not what you expected. The history of the marijuana gateway myth at: http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/media/schaffer1.htm The idea was fabricated from whole cloth in 1951. Anyone who makes the argument would instantly flunk any class in basic logic. [continues 312 words]
To the Editor: Joe Graves makes the common mistake of assuming that marijuana prohibition actually deters use. The United States has double the rate of marijuana use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available to adults. Spain legalized personal use cultivation and has lower rates of use than the U.S. Portugal decriminalized all drugs and still has lower rates of use than the U.S. If anything, marijuana prohibition increases use by creating forbidden fruit appeal. Thanks to public health education, legal tobacco use has declined considerably, without any need to criminalize smokers or imprison tobacco farmers. The drop in the use of one of the most addictive drugs available occurred despite widespread tobacco availability. The only winners in the war on marijuana are drug cartels and shameless politicians who confuse drug prohibition's tremendous collateral damage with a plan to scare up votes. Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy in Washington, D.C. [end]
Both ends of the political continuum seem to support throwing in the towel on at least some of the fronts on the war against drugs. Of the various election returns that mystified me from the most recent November plebiscite, the most confounding was the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington. It's not that I don't have some libertarian leanings - I do - but the legalization of drugs isn't one of them. To me, a simple historical example, the Opium Wars, settled the issue of decriminalizing drugs for all time given the relatively unchanging disposition of human nature. [continues 1057 words]
Only a week has passed and already there are rumblings about another vote on medicinal marijuana in 2012. Last week, South Dakotans overwhelmingly voted against legalizing medicinal marijuana, with 63 percent of voters saying they do not want it in our state. This comes after another medicinal marijuana issue was voted down by 53 percent of South Dakota voters in 2006. So after two votes in four years, we'll have to go through this same issue again in 2012? It's frustrating. [continues 178 words]
To the Editor: Stop the reefer madness, Mr. Kaemingk, and let people educate themselves with facts instead of uninformed and misguided propaganda. Medical marijuana is not a gateway drug; alcohol is, as it lowers inhibitions to make rational choices. Denny Kaemingk's editorial on Oct. 9 gave absolutely no substantial reasoning as to why sick people with MS, Parkinson's, glaucoma, cancer, fibromyalgia, etc., should not have the right to ease ailments with medical marijuana, which has absolutely no known side effects and is compatible with prescription and non-prescription medicine, again without added side effects. [continues 298 words]
Emmett Reistroffer said he has personally witnessed the healing power of marijuana. As a 10-year-old, he watched as his grandmother wasted away from chemotherapy treatments. Sitting behind a table in a tent Wednesday at Dakotafest in Mitchell, Reistroffer said the family's difficult decision to obtain marijuana for his ailing grandmother turned out well. "She kept losing weight. They didn't think she was going to live another year," Reistroffer said. "We found some (marijuana), gave it to my grandmother and, for the first time in her therapy, she gained weight. I sincerely believe it prolonged her life." [continues 325 words]
Medical marijuana advocates plan to file petition signatures Monday seeking a statewide vote on a proposal to legalize marijuana in South Dakota for use in treating pain, nausea and other health problems. Emmett Reistroffer of Sioux Falls, one of the organizers of the petition drive, said he had planned to file the signatures Wednesday but decided not to drive to Pierre because of icy roads. He said he will file the signatures with the secretary of state's office on Monday if travel is safe. [continues 304 words]
A longtime South Dakota supporter of legalized marijuana has been sentenced to serve 45 days in jail for possessing the illegal drug. Authorities say Bob Newland of Hermosa was found with four bags of marijuana, a scale and $385 in cash when he was stopped for speeding in March. He pleaded guilty in May to a possession charge under a plea agreement in which prosecutors agreed to drop a more serious charge of possession with intent to distribute. Newland will be on probation for the rest of the year following his jail term. During his probation, he is barred from publicly advocating the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes. [end]
PIERRE, S.D. - South Dakota isn't ready to legalize marijuana as a medical treatment for severe and chronic pain, a legislative committee decided. The House Health and Human Services Committee voted 9-4 on Tuesday to kill HB1127, which would have legalized limited use of marijuana to treat symptoms of illnesses such as MS or the nausea that can accompany chemotherapy treatments. Supporters of the bill said marijuana relieves symptoms that other drugs can't touch. But opponents said marijuana already is a major law-enforcement problem and legalizing a medical version of the substance would make that worse. [continues 406 words]
Since a smaller share of Americans are breaking the law than at any time since the '70s, who's being locked up? The answer, of course, is drug addicts - most of them imprisoned under mandatory minimum-sentencing laws enacted two decades back. In 1980, there were about 42,000 drug offenders in America's prisons and jails; now the number is nearing half a million. Imprisoning drug offenders might make sense if it worked to squelch drug abuse, but it doesn't. States that boost drug-offender incarceration rates typically experience a jump in drug use. Worse, the drug kingpins that mandatory minimums were created to disable don't seem to be the ones feeling the sting. Most of America's drug inmates are low-level users or penny-ante street dealers; only about a tenth qualify as big-time dealers. [continues 120 words]
I hadn't dreamt of Jeannie in a long time, but there she was on "Larry King Live" a few nights ago, discussing her 35-year-old son's death from a heroin overdose. Barbara Eden of the enviable flat tummy has gone from grantor of grown men's wishes to poster girl for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. First the qualifiers and disclaimers: Eden is a lovely woman whose heart is in the right place. She has suffered a tragic loss and wants to help others. She noted repeatedly on King's show that she's no expert and was offering only her own point of view. [continues 646 words]
Other Views The Supreme Court recently gave its approval to random drug testing of public high school students involved in extracurricular activities. By a vote of 5 to 4, the court ruled that local school officials can require drug tests of students in the band or on the debate team. If we really believe demanding urine samples from the Chess Club will stop drug use, why not test all students? Why just the ones participating most fully in school life? Why not? Because mandatory drug testing for all students begins to sound as invasive, excessive and unnecessary as it is. [continues 185 words]
Decrying government policy in the hope of repeal is common. Less so is taking the initiative to work outside the system, and detractors of a federal student aid guideline are doing just that. The law in question is designed to keep federal aid dollars out of the hands of college students who have criminal drug records. On the federal student aid application, fund-seekers are asked if they've ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs. For those answering "yes," one possession conviction renders students unable to receive aid for a year after conviction. For a second possession or first drug-sale conviction, the funding ineligibility is two years. [continues 106 words]
Wow. Random drug testing for students? Have we come to this? Maybe. The U.S. Supreme Court apparently believes random drug testing for students involved in extra-curricular activities is OK. During arguments Tuesday, a number of the justices seemed to be in agreement that such testing was not an infringement of civil liberties. They found some logic in the case stated by an attorney for an Oklahoma school district, which contended that random testing is a reasonable response to the problem of drug use among young people. [continues 231 words]
Have we come to this? Maybe. The U.S. Supreme Court apparently believes random drug testing for students involved in extra-curricular activities is OK. During arguments Tuesday, a number of the justices seemed to be in agreement that such testing was not an infringement of civil liberties. They found some logic in the case stated by an attorney for an Oklahoma school district, which contended that random testing is a reasonable response to the problem of drug use among young people. [continues 230 words]
Alex White Plume, his wife Debbie and their children, make up an average Lakota family residing on the Pine Ridge Reservation, with one exception. For two summers they have planted and cultivated crops of hemp on the supposed sovereign soil of the Pine Ridge, nay - - - - - Oglala Lakota Nation. Instead of standing up against the thugs of the Drug Enforcement Administration as they mowed White Plume's crops to the ground for the second time this summer, Oglala Sioux Tribal President, John Steele, stood silently watching with his thumb stuck securely in his hip pocket. [continues 820 words]
At first glance, chances are that nobody would expect longtime Mitchell resident Gladys Baldwin to be a hemp supporter. But Baldwin - a retired realtor, the daughter of a farmer, an active community member and a senior citizen - is among those who say it may be a good idea to legalize the growth and production of industrial hemp in South Dakota. A petition, started by Hermosa artist Bob Newland, is criss-crossing its way through South Dakota, hoping to secure enough signatures to land an initiated measure on the 2002 ballot that would ask voters to allow the growth and production of hemp. [continues 1510 words]
Ever since the 1997 state law was passed imposing harsher penalties for juvenile drug offenders, many people, including us, have had second thoughts. The law requires that students who use drugs must be suspended from sports and other school activities for a year. On the surface, the law seemed like a good idea. If kids don't toe the line, crack down on them. Take away their privileges. Let them experience the consequences of their act. It's an old-school approach, and it's easy to agree with it. [continues 346 words]
Illicit drugs may be more prevalent among Mitchell youth than tobacco, according to a recent survey of 750 students. "This information is something to be aware of and to build from," said Tonya Derdall, who administers the Healthy Communities, Healthy Youth program at the Community Alcohol and Drug Center in Mitchell. "Instead of getting scared and saying, 'Oh, my God!' We need to look at what we can do," she said. In March, The Search Institute Survey: "Profiles of Student Life - Attitude and Behaviors," sampled 373 male and 377 female Mitchell students in sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th grades. [continues 697 words]
