There's no doubt that Georgia's law enforcement officials dislike strings that restrict civil asset forfeiture, which is the power of law enforcement to seize and keep property suspected of being involved in criminal activity. They've told state legislators that, time and again. For the rest of Georgia, however, it's a problem. Unlike with criminal asset forfeiture, under civil forfeiture the owner of the property being seized does not have to be charged with a crime. Cash, cars, homes and other property can be taken without even filing charges, let alone convicting the property's owner of a crime. [continues 598 words]
GEORGIA LAWMAKERS haven't done much of anything this legislative session, which is not a bad thing. Here's one humane measure, however, that deserves passage - a law that would allow limited use of medical marijuana to treat young Georgians suffering from horrific bouts of seizures. First off, this isn't about legalizing pot. The bill that's pending in the Georgia House won't make weed more available so stoners can fire up a joint and achieve a Rocky Mountain-type high, which is the case in Colorado. [continues 447 words]
I remember watching a made-for-television movie in 1973 that changed my life. Not that I had much of it to change at the age of 11. Still, it grabbed me by the throat in the way that only a poorly filmed, terminally earnest public-service announcement ever could. "Go Ask Alice" was based on the book that every parent wanted every adolescent to read, and is still a necessary part of growing up. Some people think it's too simplistic, something along the lines of a Nancy Reagan "just say no to the bad drugs" riff. [continues 536 words]
Speaking as a retired detective, I know that every teen in Georgia has a job option to sell marijuana. Nationwide, nearly a million teens are employed in selling drugs and they carry guns. Every day kids are shot and shot dead because of their "employment." Moreover, pedophiles are not caught as often as possible, since detectives and narcotics officers spend tens of thousands of hours searching and arresting over a green plant. I agree with Bernard K. Logan (letter to the editor, Jan. 26) that marijuana is no play toy. It should be given the same rules and respect as beer. We are a thin blue line, Mr. Logan. Do we protect our teens from pedophiles or go after adults using marijuana? Albany [end]
Our president gives an interview to the New Yorker magazine and states that he has no problem with pot as it is just a vice, similar to cigarettes and no worse than alcohol. He reaffirms the strength of his position by stating that no, he would not desire that his daughters partake. Hmmm. Good for all the other folk, just not his. Here is the leader (from behind) of the not-so-free (anymore) world and he apparently is spouting his personal opinion, as any responsible doctor will tell you that pot is harmful, that cigarettes will kill you and that prolonged usage of alcohol has debilitating negative effects. [continues 293 words]
Drugs did not spawn Mexico's organized crime networks. Just like alcohol prohibition gave rise to Al Capone, drug prohibition created the violent drug-trafficking organizations behind all the killings in Mexico. With alcohol prohibition repealed, liquor bootleggers no longer gun each other down in drive-by shootings. Mexico's upsurge in violence only began after an anti-drug crackdown created a power vacuum among competing cartels. Drug prohibition funds organized crime at home and terrorism abroad, which is then used to justify increased drug war spending. Like it or not, drugs are here to stay. Changing human nature is not an option. Reforming harmful drug laws is an option which Congress should pursue. Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. [end]
In his State of the Union address last Tuesday, President Obama talked about the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, but didn't say a word about a war that is taking place next door, and that is killing more people than the others: the drug-related war in Mexico and Central America. Was it a careless omission? Or is Obama -- and, to be fair, his Republican critics -- deliberately overlooking one of the world's bloodiest wars because they don't have a clue what to do about it? [continues 509 words]
There was a quake last week, but you likely didn't feel it. See, this particular quake was not of the Earth, involved no shifting of the planetary crust. No, what shifted was a paradigm, and the implications are hopeful and profound. On Tuesday, you see, the NAACP passed a resolution calling for an end to the War on Drugs. Said NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous in a written statement, "These flawed drug policies that have been mostly enforced in African-American communities must be stopped and replaced with evidence-based practices that address the root causes of drug use and abuse in America." [continues 447 words]
Dear President Obama: Right after your election, somebody asked if I thought having a black president meant black people's concerns would now receive attention at the executive level. I told them I expected the opposite. There used to be a saying -- only Nixon could go to China. Meaning, of course, that only he, as a staunch anti-communist, had the credibility to make overtures to that nation without accusations of being soft on communism. By the inverse of that political calculus, I never expected that you, as a black man, would do much to address black issues. [continues 457 words]
As a retired police detective, I can say with some authority that the government can not fix stupid. Yet, after 40 years of failed drug war/drug prohibition policy, you still believe that the police can fix personal stupidity, via Sen. Carter's bill. Show me the evidence please. Yes, people are hurt and killed by taking too many pills like Oxicodone. Many more are hurt and killed by cigarettes and booze. Should we track and restrict their sales as well? Allow an adult to only buy one bottle of whiskey a week? Where do you nanny-staters wish to draw the line? Albany [end]
I think I understand why some Georgia lawmakers are reluctant to crack down on sleazy doctors and pill pushers who are making fortunes by addicting people to dangerous narcotics. They don't talk to the right people. Otherwise, State Sen. Buddy Carter, a Pooler pharmacist, wouldn't have to push watered-down legislation, out of political necessity, to create a statewide computer database that would track prescriptions of oxycodone, Vicodin, Percocet and other addictive painkillers. Consider his bill that recently cleared the Senate and is now awaiting action in the House. It includes this limp-noodle language -- immunity for all doctors and pharmacists who didn't check the database but had a patient or customer who got popped on the street for peddling $30 pain pills or died of a drug overdose. [continues 367 words]
CRITICS OF state Sen. Buddy Carter's bill to help track drug prescriptions in Georgia are right about one thing: Its voluntary nature may lessen participation and might provide an out for shady doctors or pharmacists who dish out addictive pain pills like candy. Still, one must consider the difference between what might be preferable in a perfect world, and what has a better chance of passing the state legislature. As passed in the Senate, Mr. Carter's bill provides for a computerized database to make available information now filed only on paper forms. [continues 322 words]
GOV. NATHAN Deal is on the right track with his proposal to divert nonviolent drug offenders from prison to alternative programs. That's what Chatham County has been doing for about a decade, and the track record is encouraging. It makes sense to try to replicate it across Georgia. All we get from locking up crackheads, meth users and other addicts - besides a hefty bill - is 17 percent of our prison population who become better criminals when they are eventually released. [continues 386 words]
Gov. Nathan Deal says he's moving ahead to reduce Georgia's prison population by diverting non-violent drug offenders to other programs. Deal touted the idea - already being implemented in some parts of Georgia, including Chatham County - in his Jan. 10 inaugural speech. "One out of every 13 Georgia residents is under some form of correctional control," he said. "It costs about $3 million per day to operate our Department of Corrections." A 2009 national report said drug-related crimes were listed as the primary offense for about 17 percent of Georgia's prisoners. [continues 588 words]
I was pleased to read the letter by Robert Sharpe ("Drug treatment investment pays dividends") regarding treatment vs. incarceration for drug offenders. The rampant abuse of both legal and illegal drugs and the continuing drug war is indeed "destroying... futures and families." The current warehousing of our mostly young adults is a farcical endeavor; something akin to repeatedly shooting wayward horses while refusing to address the open barn door. Until our society opens its collective mind to the hard truth that addiction is a chronic, progressive, fatal and, more often than not, genetic brain disease, nothing will change. Only after such acceptance will we, as a matter of course, begin the treatment of addicts with drug therapy (ie., Suboxone, Camprol) as well as behavioral therapy, in the same way that we treat cancer or diabetes patients. Ideas must change in order to prevent the near loss of current and future generations. However, with our governments now considering the appalling notion of legalizing non-medical marijuana for no reason other than their financial benefit, I for one, don't hold much hope. Savannah [end]
Gambling machines, lottery tickets, beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, blunts, overpriced junk food, and the list goes on and on. All of these items are geared to extract as much cash as possible from the patrons who buy these "misery" items. The sad part is that these items are mostly found in so-called "convenience" stores in the poorest neighborhoods in Savannah. Combine these items with a very thriving crack cocaine market and you have a true recipe for economic disaster. We in the Victorian District are currently fighting to halt the placement of yet another source of misery in the form of a liquor store to be placed right in the midst of our mostly residential neighborhood. A Time magazine article on Nov. 1 cited a study conducted in Great Britain that concluded that alcohol was the most dangerous drug followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Why in the world would Savannah approve a liquor store that would increase the availability and access to alcohol? Savannah should be working diligently to decrease the availability of drugs and alcohol and should also be following the lead of Michelle Obama to encourage the poor to make healthier food choices. Savannah [end]
Georgia is one of many states grappling with overcrowded prisons. ("Georgia needs options to prison," Mark Levin, Nov. 20) Throughout the nation, states facing budget shortfalls are pursuing alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs. There is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. Not only do the children lose out, but society as a whole does too. Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders alongside hardened criminals is the equivalent of providing them with a taxpayer-funded education in anti-social behavior. [continues 78 words]
As a police officer and detective for 18 years, I learned that the use of marijuana is much less dangerous to both the user and those around them, when compared to the second deadliest drug in Georgia, alcohol. ("Georgia needs prison options," Nov. 20) Another simple and effective method to reduce prison populations would be to make simple possession of marijuana a civil infraction like a parking ticket. This common sense change would send a signal to my profession to spend more time looking for child predators and DUIs and less time looking for the Willie Nelsons of Georgia. Howard Wooldridge Albany [end]
Gov.-elect Nathan Deal has earned his stripes as a tough-as-nails prosecutor. At the same time, prosecutors in Georgia and around the nation also see up close the many low-level, nonviolent offenders who cycle through the system. In Texas, which is known for its law and order approach, one impetus for successful reforms was prosecutors and judges who told lawmakers they were reluctantly sending low-level, nonviolent offenders to prisons who were not a danger and could succeed in a community corrections program. [continues 474 words]
Last week, the FBI and DEA raided and shut down two rogue pain management clinics in Jacksonville, Fla. Records show that one of the clinics had dispensed 611,000 oxycodone pills in April and May of this year alone. "Pill mills," as these clinics are referred to as, have become increasingly popular as the growing problem of prescription drug abuse grips our nation. Claiming to be pain management clinics, these facilities are in reality nothing more than fly-by-night operations that set up in communities to make a quick buck. They infest our communities, bringing increased crime and abuse and give legitimate pain management clinics a bad name. [continues 628 words]
