I am a very concerned citizen. I cannot fathom why or how the Yuba County supervisors disregarded all of the pleas from marijuana growers. I can't help but think they legitimately do not care about our county in general. I attend board meetings and I see the same look on Andy Vasquez's face, along with Randy Fletcher. I really don't know these men, but I do know they should want to help their constituents, the very people who pay their bills and the very people that put them up on those chairs. [continues 98 words]
Re "What's up with West Sacramento's outdoor medical-marijuana garden ban?" by Ngaio Bealum (SN&R The 420, August 8): Ngaio Bealum states, "[C]ities shouldn't be able to ban a small medical garden." I won't even go into the subject of how most "gardens"-at least in my neck of the woods-have nothing to do with medicine or with being small. I also find it a curious statement, given California is skirting federal law. I guess Ngaio and his buds (pun intended) are lucky the feds don't say, "States shouldn't be able to ignore federal law regardless of what the citizens of those states want." That argument can cut both ways, my friend. Enjoy your weed! Jack Hamlin via email [end]
A county health department flier that tells potential drug users how to lower their risks when taking Ecstasy has drawn the ire of a county supervisor who on Tuesday demanded a halt to its distribution. The two-page flier, intended to help potential users "make informed decisions and stay safe," tells potential users to avoid the drug. But it also offers advice for those who take it to minimize the harmful effects. For example, it counsels frequent breaks to let the body cool and rest, not mix the drug with alcohol or caffeine, stay hydrated, and to "aim low" in both dose and frequency. [continues 165 words]
Regarding "Ending reefer madness" (Opinion, Oct. 31), Cynthia Tucker claims in this endorsement of legalizing another crutch for the weak-minded that dysfunction in poor black neighborhoods is caused by fallout from marijuana being illegal; that black men make poor fathers, husbands and providers because they're in jail. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if these fathers, husbands and providers didn't smoke dope or sell dope, they wouldn't be in jail in the first place. [continues 76 words]
Saving Taxpayer Dollars While Offering Effective Treatment, Tough Regimen Remains Goal While The Clarion-Ledger editors would frown on my leaving a large open space on their editorial pages, I believe that this statement does, in fact, succinctly sum up the case for drug courts. For those unfamiliar with drug courts, they are special courts given the responsibility to handle cases involving drug-using offenders through comprehensive supervision, drug testing, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives. Drug courts rely upon the daily communication and cooperation of judges, court personnel, probation and treatment providers. [continues 1288 words]
It's no surprise that the federal government will appeal a court ruling that allows a safe drug-injection site in Vancouver to stay open even if its operating permit is not renewed by the end of this month. Stephen Harper's government has never been fond of Insite, a Liberal government initiative, and has only let it stay open with temporary permits. Letting junkies freely shoot up in a health centre goes against its hardline law-and-order agenda. But whether or not it agreed with this week's decision by British Columbia's highest court, the prime minister's decision to refer that ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada is the right thing to do. [continues 665 words]
The Guerrilla Group FARC Has Long Been Suspected Of Running The Colombian Cocaine Industry. But How Does It Move The Drug So Readily Out Of The Country In A Special Investigation, John Carlin In Venezuela Reports On The Remarkable Collusion Between Colombia's Rebels And Its Neighbour's Armed Forces Some fighters desert from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) because they feel betrayed by the leadership, demoralised by a sense that the socialist ideals that first informed the guerrilla group have been replaced by the savage capitalism of drug trafficking. Others leave to be with their families. Still others leave because they begin to think that, if they do not, they will die. Such is the case of Rafael, who deserted last September after 18 months operating in a FARC base inside Venezuela, with which Colombia shares a long border. The logic of Rafael's decision seems, at first, perverse. He is back in Colombia today where, as a guerrilla deserter, he will live for the rest of his days under permanent threat of assassination by his former comrades. Venezuela, on the other hand, ought to have been a safe place to be a FARC guerrilla. President Hugo Chavez has publicly given FARC his political support and the Colombian army seems unlikely to succumb to the temptation to cross the border in violation of international law. [continues 2835 words]
First, it was Office of National Drug Control Policy Director John P. Walters contending last week that of the "roughly 7 million people we have as an estimate that need treatment because of dependence or abuse of illegal drugs, roughly 60 percent are dependent on marijuana." To which Bruce Mirken, director of communications for the Marijuana Policy Project on Capitol Hill, responded that Mr. Walters was being "deliberately and rather brazenly disingenuous," because the majority of medical-treatment admissions he cited "were referred by the criminal justice system -- i.e., kids were arrested and offered treatment instead of jail." [continues 194 words]
In two weeks, the licence for Vancouver's safe drug-injection site will expire and the federal government shows no interest in renewing it. Shutting it down would be a mistake. It's saving lives and millions of dollars every year while giving addicts a chance to break the scourge of addiction. It's also a counter-intuitive approach, that seems to encourage law breaking. That's the hurdle the federal government seems to be having trouble leaping. The injection site was created three years ago in Vancouver's Downtown East-side, which is reputed to be North America's worst area for open drug abuse. [continues 458 words]
Tommy Chong, the comedian and actor of Cheech and Chong fame, will be the keynote speaker for the Washington-based National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws' 2006 national conference, which begins tomorrow in San Francisco. "I guess you could say it's Chong sans bong," says NORML media guru Nicholas Thimmesch II, one-time communications director to former Rep. Steve Largent, Oklahoma Republican, and son of the late Los Angeles Times Syndicate columnist Nick Thimmesch. This columnist once asked Mr. Thimmesch, who began his career in the Reagan White House -- and later served on the 1992 Bush-Quayle campaign, ditto on the 1996 Dole-Kemp campaign, and huddled with former drug czar and conservative moralist Bill Bennett at Empower America -- what would Ronald Reagan say if he knew he was peddling marijuana decriminalization? [continues 196 words]
Monday marked an important milestone in making Red Deer a healthier and safer community. The municipal planning commission unanimously approved a plan to permit a temporary drug and alcohol detox centre downtown, on the main floor of a building southeast from City Hall square. It's stage one of a plan by the Safe Harbour Society to have a detox centre and an overnight shelter for people who are high on drugs and at risk set up together. The mood at City Hall for the hearing on Monday was markedly different from what transpired in earlier attempts to locate the detox centre at two different sites. [continues 667 words]
It's never a good idea to create laws whose effects will be far reaching and long lasting on the basis of emotion. There was emotion aplenty in Ottawa this week when relatives of the four Mounties murdered by James Roszko last year went to the capital to plead with MPs to get tough with violent criminals. The rage and sorrow that Canadians feel about these unspeakable acts remain very close to the surface. Much of what the grieving families said resonates with citizens from coast to coast. [continues 680 words]
Laws And Public Awareness Are Credited For The Decrease ENGLEWOOD - A weird smell wafted from the big recreational vehicle as it rolled through the streets Wednesday. Someone caught a whiff and called police. When officers pulled the vehicle over at West Radcliff Avenue and South Navajo Street a short time later, they discovered the source of the strange odor. The RV was a rolling methamphetamine lab. Police arrested the two people inside the RV and started decontaminating them and the contents of the vehicle. [continues 606 words]
Nobody better than former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders to headline the Marijuana Policy Project's 10th anniversary fundraising gala on Capitol Hill this week. Others speaking out in support of medicinal-marijuana patients are 2004 presidential candidate Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich of Ohio, and fellow Democratic Reps. Linda T. Sanchez of California and Sam Farr of California. (The latter is to receive a legislative leadership award). Meanwhile, Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, is expected to begin a drive this week to prevent federal government "attacks" on medicinal-marijuana patients. [end]
A month from now, Albertans will celebrate Family Day. It's a statutory holiday, held on the third Monday each February, that is not observed in other provinces. Family Day was created by former premier Don Getty to give Albertans a chance to spend quality time together, strengthening family ties. At the time, Getty's own family needed a chance to bond and heal together. His son Dale had gotten into cocaine and had run afoul of the law. When he created the holiday, Getty said it was a chance for us to celebrate the values of the pioneers who built this province. [continues 560 words]
No sooner did the Bush administration decide in recent days not to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a unanimous 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling of February that hemp foods should be legal for sale and consumption, than manufacturers began lining up to peddle hemp products at this week's food expo at the Washington Convention Center. The Hemp Industries Association (HIA) says there is now no question that it has won its three-year case against the Drug Enforcement Administration, which sought to ban hemp-seed and hemp-oil foods. The court basically ruled that hemp seeds were as safe for human consumption as poppy seeds. [continues 117 words]
President Bush was in Nashville recently attending a hospital technology seminar at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and fund-raising dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Clay Jackson. At the latter event, there were three tiers of contributors: $2,000 to hear Mr. Bush speak, $10,000 for a photo opportunity and $25,000 to dine with the president. "Tight-fisted conservative that I am, I chose the lowest-priced option," Paul H. Kuhn Jr. tells Inside the Beltway. "The president was terrific," he adds. "He spoke for about 30 minutes and was both humorous -- 'I want every American to have a home like the Jacksons' -- ... and serious when he touched on Iraq and other global issues." [continues 94 words]
It was a real treat to the taxpayers when it was announced that our brilliant elected leaders were to set up a "safe house" for the illegal drug addicts. Our leaders should approach the southern drug cartel for at least 50 per cent of the costs. Cartel sales should rise by at least 50 per cent. Is there any truth in the rumour that our leaders are going to set up a similar "safe house" for bank robbers? They would be allowed to count their haul without those nasty police interfering. Investment counsellors would be present to offer the best means of financial return. Our leaders think that if these robbers have a good financial portfolio they will quit robbing banks. Probably more to come. John McLaughlin, Sidney [end]
The first federal political action committee that focused on the medicinal-marijuana issue has made its first-ever campaign contributions to a bipartisan bunch battling it out in closely contested races. "This is the next step in the evolution of medical marijuana as a political issue," says Steve Fox, director of government relations for the new Marijuana Policy Project Medical Marijuana PAC in Washington, whose mission is to support candidates who work to ensure that physician-approved patients have legal access to medicinal marijuana - -- and to oppose officeholders who work against such protections. [continues 59 words]
The numbers tell the story clearly: drug-related crime is at a 20-year high in Canada; most of the cases involve marijuana possession and the most likely offenders are teenagers and young adults. The 2002 report released by Statistics Canada on Monday reinforces the argument to decriminalize marijuana. It speaks of a massive and expensive police effort for little or no gain at the lowest levels, while criminal gangs reap massive profits and fight lethal battles for market share at the other pole. [continues 160 words]
