Georgia's Court System: Criminal justice needs alternatives A lock-them-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach to all crimes, including the nonviolent, is a cost-prohibitive stance the state no longer can afford. Georgia's courts are overburdened and underfunded. Meanwhile, paying the bill for the state's prison system has become much tougher during these cash-strapped times. For the sake of public safety and fiscal prudence, there has to be a better way. In his inaugural address, Gov. Nathan Deal, a former prosecutor, may have started the state down the road to cost savings and better results when he implored Georgia to rethink its habit of locking away many nonviolent criminals, drug addicts or the mentally ill. Sentencing reform is not a feel-good topic for an inaugural, but it is a necessary one in a state that spends about $3 million a day on prisons. [continues 615 words]
Legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho will be proposed in Boise this January, said the man behind the movement, Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow. Trail is drafting legislation modeled after bills from the National Conference of State Legislatures, and it will incorporate elements of statutes from Washington and Oregon, he said. "I have a number of doctors up here who are very supportive of it," Trail said. Thirty states had medical marijuana laws in 2007, with 12 - mostly in the west - protecting patients from criminal prosecution, according the Marijuana Policy Project, a Washington D.C. non-profit organization, which promotes legalization of medical marijuana and other measures to regulate pot like alcohol. [continues 162 words]
Children in Crosland Moor are playing just yards from a "sickening" drugs den strewn with blood-spattered needles. Youngsters who use the swings and slides at the bottom of May Street can watch gangs of drug addicts roaming the area preparing to use drugs. The addicts, who inject heroin, use a patch of grass near the play park to meet up and administer the evil substance. Colne Valley High pupil Stacey Elson, 15, and a friend were out walking dogs near the park when they stumbled across piles of used needles, swathed with toilet rolls covered in blood and other substances. [continues 153 words]
