The legalization of marijuana is inevitable. The most we can hope for is that people are educated about the potential downsides of the so-called weed. We can hope that pot smoking will not give rise to the kind of alcohol fueled traffic fatalities we see now. Of course, we all know that people have been known to smoke and drive and have been involved in accidents but once it is legalized, there will doubtless be more pot users who will drive "under the influence." [continues 571 words]
Citing a Surge in Overdose Deaths, Many Begin to Discuss Using Supervised "Shoot-Up Rooms" Across the United States, heroin users have died in alleys behind convenience stores, on city sidewalks and in the bathrooms of fast-food joints - because no one was around to save them when they overdosed. An alarming 47,000 American overdose deaths in 2014 - 60 percent from heroin and related painkillers like fentanyl - has pushed elected leaders from coast to coast to consider what was once unthinkable: government-sanctioned sites where users can shoot up under the supervision of a doctor or nurse who can administer an antidote if necessary. [continues 1491 words]
The event's three professional presenters agreed that marijuana can have ill effects on young people. SOUTH GLENS FALLS - With marijuana now legal in several states, information and misinformation about the drug are swirling like smoke; so the Community Coalition for Family Wellness hopes to provide resources that promote safety and health, especially for youth. The school district's Oct. 29 Parent University night, called "Marijuana, What's the Big Deal?", gave families, students, faculty and community partners a look at current medical, sociological and legal aspects of cannabis use in teenagers. [continues 997 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - A debate over legalizing marijuana in the nation's capital is focusing on the outsized number of arrests of African-Americans on minor drug charges. Pot legalization supporters in Colorado and Washington state also spoke about racial justice, but their voters are mostly white and their campaigns focused more on other issues. The race factor hits closer to many more homes in the District, where nearly half the population is black. There are many other differences between the District and states that have legalized pot. The city is a patchwork of local and federal land, and there will be no lighting up in front of the White House or at the Jefferson Memorial. Also, Washington remains under the thumb of Congress, which could thwart the will of the voters as it has on other matters where liberal District tendencies clash with Capitol Hill. A poll last month showed nearly 2 of every 3 voters favor the initiative, which will be on November's ballot. [end]
What a wonderful Fourth of July in Downtown Saratoga Springs this year! The Firecracker Four Mile Run was so well put together and attended, and it is always great to see the amount of community support, from music along the course, to people setting up homemade "spritzer stations" to keep the runners cool, to the overall excitement and family-friendly energy that this annual event provides to our town. It was also a great evening of music, celebration, and fireworks in Congress Park. Being a native of this area, I often take these remarkable events for granted, but every year I hear people who come from all over the country, and in some cases, the world, who rave about all of the great things to do in downtown Saratoga during the summer. [continues 653 words]
ALBANY (AP) - The lead sponsor of a bill to legalize medical marijuana in New York said Thursday negotiations are underway between the governor's office, Senate and Assembly and her goal is an agreement within days. "We have been hoping that the governor's office would engage because we would really like to have a three-way agreement in time to be printed on Monday so it can be acted on by the end of this session," said Sen. Diane Savino, a Staten Island Democrat. [continues 58 words]
Six bills are being proposed by the state Senate Democrats in an effort to prevent heroin addiction and target a problem that is making its way across the Empire State. Members of the state Senate Democratic Conference held a press event Tuesday to discuss their proposals aimed at improving health insurance for heroin-related issues, improving drug education and increasing penalties and the number of community rehabilitation facilities. They featured the story of Patricia Farrell of Colonie, whose daughter died because of heroin just days before her 19th birthday. The Colonie Central High School graduate, who got her high school diploma early at the age of 16, was attending classes at a local community college as she figured out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. Farrell said that somewhere along the way her daughter, Laree, tried heroin and became hooked. [continues 265 words]
Alan Chartock's recent argument that New York lawmakers are "stuck in cement" regarding medical cannabis is completely true. But Mr. Chartock, unfortunately, gives readers the impression that cannabis is only helpful to people who are dying. That is flat-out wrong. Opponents of the proposed Compassionate Care Act, the legislative fruit of more than 17 years' work by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, aim to deny a natural remedy that could alleviate pain and discomfort among hundreds of thousands of sick New Yorkers. People enduring all types of cancer, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, PTSD and numerous other ailments support the Compassionate Care Act. [continues 143 words]
When I was a kid, I smoked weed a few times. My use was just experimental and I never used it regularly because it made me sleepy. I envied my friends who enjoyed it. They always thought they danced better but really didn't and they laughed excessively at mundane questions like, "What time is it?" During my middle adult years I smoked "ganja" once with a friend who insisted that I share her high. It wasn't really the kind of peer pressure you might be thinking about. She had stage four breast cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. I would have done almost anything she asked because I thought that she was going to die. Luckily she survived and after various treatments, she is well and thriving. [continues 525 words]
Alan Chartock's recent argument that New York lawmakers are "stuck in cement" regarding medical cannabis is completely true. But Mr. Chartock, unfortunately, gives readers the impression that cannabis is only helpful to people who are dying. That is flat out wrong. Opponents of the proposed Compassionate Care Act, the legislative fruit of more than 17 years' work by Assemblyman Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan), aim to deny a natural remedy that could alleviate pain and discomfort among hundreds of thousands of sick New Yorkers. People enduring all types of cancer, multiple sclerosis, Crohn's disease, PTSD, and numerous other ailments support the Compassionate Care Act. [continues 142 words]
We do know that this need to get high is beyond some people's control. Our drug policy of prohibition and interdiction makes it difficult and dangerous for people like Hoffman to get high, but not impossible - and it makes these tragic overdose deaths more common than they have to be. Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is yet another victim of the war on drugs. Prohibition is not working. It is time to try something new. Hoffman, 46, was found dead in the bathroom of his Manhattan apartment, apparently the victim of a heroin overdose. According to widely published reports, there was a syringe in his arm. Police found the place littered with small plastic bags stamped "Ace of Spades" or "Ace of Hearts" - brand names that street dealers use. [continues 581 words]
On Jan. 1, the Centennial State (it hasn't yet changed its nickname to "The Rocky Mountain High State") became the first place in the country to legalize marijuana sales for recreational purposes. And Brandon Harris is stoked. The 24-year-old Harris drove 20 hours from Cincinnati, along with a smoking buddy, to be the first Ohioans to buy legal pot in Colorado. "It's such a big day in history," Harris, told the Washington Times. "The fact that we don't have to be criminals and can just smoke, and not be looked down on, or have to mess with the local police." [continues 607 words]
NEW YORK (AP)- Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a political splash by introducing his medical marijuana plan in the State of the State speech, but his cautious approach has met muted cheers from pot advocates who question how meaningful it really is. While nearly two dozen states have OK'd marijuana for medical purposes and Colorado and Washington have legalized its use for pleasure, Cuomo is tapping a 1980 state law to allow as many as 20 hospitals to dispense the drug to people with certain severe illnesses as an experimental research project. [continues 484 words]
SARATOGA SPRINGS - In Wednesday's State of the State address, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, long a hard-line opponent of any form of marijuana legalization, announced his plan to bring medical marijuana to New York patients suffering from serious illnesses. Locally, some are pleased with this step forward, and others are concerned as to where the path may lead. "I'm delighted to see Gov. Cuomo take this step toward making medical cannabis available to state citizens, but I worry that the proposed arrangement will leave the vast majority of patients without any of the medicine," wrote Mitch Earleywine, Ph.D., professor of psychology and director of clinical training at the state University of New York at Albany, in an email to the Saratogian. "Relying on a mere 20 hospitals to provide for everyone in need seems unrealistic. Roughly one in four deaths in the state are related to cancer. Over 120,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV." [continues 876 words]
Given changing ... attitudes ... Colorado and Washington are apt to be the vanguard states, not the outliers. Marijuana legalization may be the same-sex marriage of 2014 - a trend that reveals itself in the course of the year as obvious and inexorable. At the risk of exposing myself as the fuddy-duddy I seem to have become, I hope not. This is, I confess, not entirely logical and a tad hypocritical. At the risk of exposing myself as not the total fuddy-duddy of my children's dismissive imaginings, I have done my share of inhaling, though back in the age of bell-bottoms and polyester. [continues 535 words]
ALBANY (AP) - New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday he's comfortable with his plan to allow a limited number of hospitals to dispense marijuana for severe ailments, even as other states loosen marijuana laws more dramatically. In his State of the State speech on Wednesday, Cuomo will formally announce plans to allow 20 hospitals to dispense marijuana to people suffering from cancer and other selected diseases under state Department of Health regulations. He refused to give details on how he would use his administrative powers - rather than legislative action - to phase in use of the drug. [continues 213 words]
The For all who believe in colorblind justice - and want to see fewer AfricanAmerican and Hispanic men caught up in the system -there are two items of good news: a judge's ruling ordering changes in New York's "stop and frisk" policy and Attorney General Eric Holder's initiative to keep nonviolent drug offenders out of prison. First, "stop and frisk." Mayor Michael Bloomberg is having a hissy fit over U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin's finding that the policy amounted to "indirect racial profiling." [continues 686 words]
SEATTLE (AP) - An effort is building in Congress to change U. S. marijuana laws, including moves to legalize the industrial production of hemp and establish a hefty federal pot tax. While passage this year could be a longshot, lawmakers from both parties have been quietly working on several bills, the first of which Democratic Reps. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Jared Polis of Colorado plan to introduce Tuesday, Blumenauer told The Associated Press. Polis' measure would regulate marijuana the way the federal government handles alcohol: In states that legalize pot, growers would have to obtain a federal permit. [end]
SOUTH GLENS FALLS - The "War on Drugs" can be won, but requires a three-pronged approach of tough law enforcement, improved treatment programs and constant education. That's what an official who headed the federal government's anti-drug program during the Reagan and Bush administrations said last week during a visit with fellow military veterans in South Glens Falls. Lt. Gen. Stephen G. Olmstead (U.S. Marine Corps, retired) fought at Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War and was later commanding general at Parris Island, S.C. - the Marines' boot camp facility - before taking a position in July 1986 as deputy assistant secretary of defense for drug policy and prevention. [continues 487 words]
MILTON - Supervisor Frank Thompson said he'll confer with Town Board members this weekend to decide whether to seek Highway Superintendent [name redacted]resignation. [name redacted], 43, of Lee Street in Ballston Spa, was one of 12 people charged Thursday with drug trafficking following a five-month investigation by Saratoga Springs Police and the Drug Enforcement Agency. "We can ask for his resignation, but he doesn't have to do it," Thompson said. "I've been talking to them (board members). I haven't gotten a good consensus yet." [continues 267 words]
