Our criminal justice system is in dire need of reform. The United States has 5 percent of the world's population, but houses 25 percent of the world's prisoners. With drug offenders accounting for half of federal prisoners and 21 percent of state prisoners, drug incarceration is a major cause of the burgeoning U.S. criminal justice system. Many of those serving time are low-level offenders with no history of violence. In a 2008 Zogby poll, three out of four Americans said the war on drugs is failing. This clear indictment of U.S. drug policy falls directly into the lap of Congress. As a whole, Congress has been hesitant to address the shortcomings of U.S. drug policy because of the perception that it is a controversial and politically damaging issue. [continues 505 words]
A Paterson man was sentenced to 23 years in state prison Friday for killing a drug dealer who he owed $1,200 because he feared the dealer was out to kill him first. Damian Anderson, 30, will have to serve 85 percent of his term under sentencing imposed by state Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin in Paterson. He previously pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in connection with the shooting. Anderson was originally charged with murder in the Aug. 16, 2007, killing of 30-year-old city resident Anroy Carnegie on 11th Avenue near East 28th Street in Paterson. [continues 285 words]
MEXICO CITY -- The U.S. government should reimpose a ban on automatic weapons sales and clamp down harder on the illegal export of guns and cash to Mexico, a binational panel of scholars and former government officials urges in a report released Friday. Mexico in turn must do more to stop to flow of illegal drugs and immigrants to the United States, in part through the creation of a unified and effective border police force, the report says. Both countries should tighten the cooperation already being implemented under the program that has earmarked $1.4 billion in U.S. funding for Mexico's anti-narcotics efforts, the panel says. The study by the Binational Task Force on the United States-Mexico also urges increasing the number of border crossings, making it easier to get securely through them. [continues 216 words]
Danforth and Ossington: Two neighbourhoods facing similar problems for different reasons A trip to the Danforth for many means niche boutique shopping in Greektown, a wine list at lunch and a Starbucks for the ride home. Three subway stops east, at Coxwell, the streetscape has changed. Trendy eateries are replaced with fast-food restaurants. Parking lots and sterile storefronts hopscotch one another down the Danforth drag. And the further you go, the more it slides. The kitsch of Greektown dries up at Jones Ave. Pass Donlands. An auto shop. A fried chicken joint. A funeral parlour. Coxwell is the dividing line. [continues 714 words]
In Florida, Palm Beach County Commissioner Burt Aaronson's generation is known for golf course communities, early-bird specials and impossibly strict homeowners association rules. After winning World War II and leading the postwar boom, America's Greatest Generation flocked to South Florida for sand, sea and sun. Smoking pot by the shuffleboard courts never entered the picture. That's why it's surprising that Commissioner Aaronson has taken a public stand in favor of legalizing marijuana. Commissioner Jeff Koons -- whose sister, Deborah, married the late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia -- maybe. But the 81-year-old Aaronson? [continues 551 words]
The Free Press editorial about medical marijuana ignored the plain language of the law in claiming that it is "anybody's guess" whether an employer can discipline a medical marijuana patient for "coming to work stoned" ("Marijuana initiative: No quick fix for it," Nov. 7). The voter-enacted law specifies that "Nothing in this act shall be construed to require: An employer to accommodate the ingestion of marijuana in any workplace or any employee working while under the influence of marijuana. " In other words, the initiative is perfectly clear about which section trumps the other. The section on employers disciplining employees for medical marijuana "shall not be construed to require" the employer to allow employees to work impaired. To use such a manufactured problem as an excuse to argue for denying the people the right to vote on issues is appalling. Were it not for the initiative process, Michigan's seriously ill would still face arrest for relieving their suffering. Karen O'Keefe Marijuana Policy Project Washington DC [end]
Peterborough MP is calling for council chiefs to release the locations of the special sharps bins being set up around Peterborough. Stewart Jackson branded the decision to keep their location a secret as "absolutely appalling" and today vowed to write to the Peterborough City Council's chief executive Gillian Beasley to ask where the eight bins, designed for drug users to deposit their needles and syringes, will be placed. And if Mrs Beasley refuses to co-operate, Mr Jackson said he would not let the matter rest pledging that he would complain to the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Johnson. [continues 333 words]
If the editors at The Patriot Ledger truly believe that "to guide drug policy, you must take ownership of it," (Our Opinion: "Legislature wise to address legalization of marijuana," Oct. 20), then they should be advocating in support of legalizing and regulating marijuana - not opining against it. Only through state government regulation will we be able to bring necessary controls to the marijuana market. By enacting state and local legislation on the use, production and distribution of marijuana, state and local governments can effectively impose controls regarding: [continues 267 words]
I really like the approach that the Citizen Collective is taking here. It's about time someone took the initiative in Chico to provide safe access for qualified patients, and working with law enforcement and city officials is the right way to go. Thank you for shedding light on this subject. Robin Indar Chico [end]
Re: "Reality a bitter pill in drug politics," Mindelle Jacobs, Nov. 4. Canadians need look no further than their own government to see ideologically-driven skulduggery like this. We are about to pass a law that will impose mandatory minimum jail sentences for growing as few as six marijuana plants (Bill C-15). The Senate is examining this outrageously counterproductive bill, but are getting publicly criticized by the Tories as being "soft on crime" as a result of that due diligence. Science, history, and common sense mean nothing to the Tories. They are pandering to their voter base -- a group not known for intelligence, tolerance, or critical thinking. Russell Barth (That's politics. Insulting their motivations won't help.) [end]
Re: "What of the pain drug dealers cause?" (Letter-writer) Richard Oldenborger seems to be under the impression that drug dealers are deliberately trying to find customers, drum up business, and cause bad things to happen. The truth of the matter is, it is the public who drives the industry. The dealers are the result of the ever-growing and ever-more-exotic demands of a drug-hungry public. Dealers merely fill the demand, they don't create it. The dangers in the drug trade (poor product, no regulation, gun violence) is a direct result of our society's psychotic desire to stop certain people from choosing how they would prefer to alter their senses. [continues 91 words]
Re "Meet the Citizen Collective" (Newslines, by Meredith J. Cooper, Oct. 29): When California voters approved Proposition 215 more than a decade ago, they envisioned safe, clean medical offices where people who have a doctor's prescription could gain access to their medicine. Medical-marijuana citizens' collectives have a holistic approach to healing people. They offer yoga, tai chi, chi gong, massage and nutrition and health classes. Marijuana is a natural drug and safe; it is impossible to overdose. It can be vaporized, which isolates the medicinal properties of the cannabinols and produces no smoke. Inhaling marijuana vapor is similar to inhaling water vapor; there are no side effects. [continues 120 words]
The drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. In 2008, there were 847,863 marijuana arrests in the U.S., almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend shrinking public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not necessarily lower rates of use. The U.S. has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. An admitted former pot smoker, President Obama has thus far maintained the status quo rather than pursue change. Would Barack Obama be in White House right now if he had been convicted of a marijuana offense in his youth? [continues 76 words]
