"DEA" is like "Cops," but 35 miles east of Ann Arbor. Spike TV has strayed from its path of visual beauties and dudes beating the crap out of each other with its new reality show, which focuses on the Detroit division of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Cameras follow the officers through stings and busts, giving the public - and possibly other drug dealers - inside information on the drug enforcement system. Sadly, though, there are no drunken car chases involving hillbillies and police officers, making the show more than a little boring. Despite the tense techno music and grainy film effects, "DEA" is nothing more than one hour of waiting in cars, chattering on walkie-talkies and more scenes of officers arming themselves than the "Iliad." [continues 399 words]
Poet John Sinclair Returns for 37th Annual Celebration of Cannabis Culture Even hip-hop music blasting from three-foot speakers couldn't stop the accordion player. Though most of his lyrics were incomprehensible, the people who clustered around him on the Diag could easily understand the chorus. "Free the weed!" he sang raucously, accompanied by two men on miniature guitars. The trio stopped its music only when John Sinclair, a bearded man wearing an old jacket, Birkenstocks and high white socks stepped before a microphone on the steps of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library. [continues 714 words]
To the editor: Rep. Dave Camp's 03/12/08 letter concerning tax and spend tells us that we are about to get hit with the largest federal tax increase in American history. With property values going down our property taxes continue to rise along with every other kind of tax that you can name. Our exploding drug war costs and corrections costs are the cause of it. We imprison more people than any other county in the world. We are over filling our jails and prisons with prohibited drug offenders. Last month Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear stated that the crime rate had increased 3% in the past 30 years, while the state's inmate population has increased by 600%. Those figures are probably similar for all of our states. Spending for the drug war and imprisoning our citizens is not worth the money spent on it. The drug war created the largest criminal and most lucrative industry in the world with the black market drug trade. It has created a drug abuse epidemic in all of our communities. [continues 101 words]
Looks like voters here in Michigan will get a chance to voice their opinions on this issue next November, thanks to some amazing activists. Thank you to everybody who has helped out in this campaign. I sure hope the voters take advantage of this golden opportunity to help others and vote with compassion and common sense this coming fall. If you have ever been close to someone with a terminal illness or someone who is constantly in excruciating pain, you know how tough it is for them to function and live life normally. Sometimes, the medicine prescribed to them helps, other times it doesn't. But when a seriously ill person finally finds a medication that works for them, they should feel encouraged, not fearful of arrest. [continues 143 words]
Annual Event Finds Common Ground The Hash Bash survived Saturday, as its organizers say it always will. Pushed out of its traditional spot on the Diag by a University of Michigan student group called FOKUS, a modified 30-minute Hash Bash took place in what organizers of both parties said was in the spirit of getting along. A crowd filled the U-M Diag on a sunny day with temperatures in the high 50s. The people crowded on steps, many expecting to hear speakers for the Hash Bash, a pro-marijuana rally held on campus since 1972. [continues 370 words]
Regardless of whether Hash Bash is held this year on the Diag, every U.S. citizen should critically evaluate the continuation of America's failed drug policy, exemplified by the War on Drugs. Michigan and our country as a whole are facing economic and fiscal problems with no clear solutions in sight. But we continue to spend billions of tax dollars on policies that are proven failures. The War on Drugs is nothing but a financial blackhole. In fact, America's War on Drugs under the reign of George W. Bush has actually led to a two-fold increase in cocaine production worldwide. [continues 612 words]
Tomorrow's Hash Bash Needs a Student Revival Even though it is now dominated by aging hippies and stunted by underwhelming turnout, Hash Bash is one of Ann Arbor's most recognizable traditions with one of its most important messages. Instead of a half-baked celebration of marijuana culture, the event is supposed to be a protest against America's unnecessary and counterproductive marijuana laws. In this 37th year, students and activists should seize this opportunity to return Hash Bash to its roots - potentially with help of one of the event's key figures. [continues 460 words]
IONIA - An initiative to vote on whether to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in Michigan is drawing a response from law enforcement officials and medical experts alike. "We would look at it like other prescription drugs," said Dwain Dennis, Ionia County Sheriff. He said people caught with the drug and not properly prescribed would be dealt with accordingly. "You would be in possession of a controlled substance," he said. If approved, Michigan would join 14 other states legalizing the drug for medicinal use. [continues 347 words]
I am a church-going American with Midwestern family values. As a hobbyist, I have studied herbal medicine for 13 years. As a professional, I am a forester, with a strong background in the dynamic relationships between plants and animals in nature. I believe I was formed by a loving creator who planned out every cell in my body and yours. This creator gave me cannabinoid receptors throughout my mammalian body. They were specially designed to receive cannabinoids from the cannabis (marijuana) plant. There is no other reason for them to exist. They are strongest in the brain, the immune system, and -- in women -- the uterus. When these receptors receive cannabinoids, they are soothed and healed. [continues 220 words]
I support the initiative to permit the use of marijuana in Michigan for medical purposes. Yes, there would need to be guidelines and restrictions, like other methods of dealing with human disorders. The issue should be approved by our Legislature. It seems to be a no-brainer to me. Marlin Gerber Kalamazoo [end]
We have all heard the statistic. Most of us have tried it. A lot of people use it, even though it is illegal. The one point I have as a non-user is, since so many people are doing it, why doesn't the government just legalize it and tax it like alcohol and tobacco? I have read most of the studies and personally tried marijuana with no ill effects. Most of the bad things I have heard are when other drugs are added to the marijuana and the government could stop this by legalizing weed. The question is not why marijuana should be made legal, but why it was ever made illegal in the first place? Justin Wiley Allegan [end]
The Kalamazoo Gazette's report that seven out of 10 southwestern Michigan legislators oppose the Michigan Medical Marijuana ballot initiative was informative. I wonder, though, if you didn't miss the forest for the trees. The real story is how, once again, the Michigan Legislature is completely out of touch with the people who put them there. Seventy percent of our representatives oppose the initiative, which allows a small number of terminally and seriously ill people to use marijuana in private if it helps treat the symptoms of their disease. Yet more than 60 percent of voters are in favor of protecting patients and their caregivers from being dragged through the muck of the criminal justice system for choosing to use a natural plant when other pharmaceuticals have failed. [continues 71 words]
I am the daughter of a mother who vomited more than 15 times daily after having chemotherapy treatments. With the use of marijuana, she stopped vomiting. She died 27 years ago and I witnessed the salvation marijuana offered. I am now married and my husband suffers from severe eye pain, spasms and body pain from multiple sclerosis. With the use of marijuana this pain dissipates and it helps take away unexpected spasms throughout his body. I have seen firsthand the significant relief marijuana offers. For those who have not seen the pain and humiliation one suffers during illnesses, please open your eyes and allow dignity into the lives of these people. Please vote "yes" to legalize medical marijuana. Elizabeth Gilmore Bystrycki Otsego [end]
Marijuana contains impurities, chemicals besides tetrahydocannibinol (THC). The impurities are inhaled along with the active THC. This is little different from the impurities inhaled when smoking tobacco. The inhaled impurities from marijuana dissolve in the body fat and are stored there. The impurities from a single smoked joint can be detected in the blood after a week. The Upjohn Co. saw this when screening volunteers. The storage of the impurities from marijuana is cumulative because it stays in the fat and accumulates to very large amounts. [continues 105 words]
Thanks for publishing Robert P. Wood's outstanding letter, "Insane Drug War" (People's Forum, March 23). The drug war is a huge bureaucracy and industry. Victory is not the goal in the drug war. Victory in the drug war would mean that the bureaucracy and industry are out of business. The notorious gangster Al Capone made most of his illegal money from alcohol prohibition. Capone had hundreds of politicians on his payroll. Is it unreasonable to suspect that the drug lords are following Capone's business model? What type of politicians would the drug lords have on their payroll? Politicians who urge the status quo of drug prohibition, or politicians who suggest that we re-legalize drugs to put the drug lords out of business? Kirk Muse, Mesa, Ariz. [end]
I am extremely excited about the possibility of marijuana being legalized for medical purposes. While alcohol-related deaths continue to climb and pharmaceuticals (even common aspirin) can be lethal if used incorrectly, it is a breath of fresh air to know there could potentially be an organic alternative. Some members of the Legislature have said they are not in favor of passing the medical marijuana initiative for a number of reasons, but I believe they need to look at the other 12 states that have gone forward with the initiative. [continues 54 words]
My wife and I both live with chronic pain every day. When needed, we take an over-the-counter pain medicine that does not alter our mind and allows us to make rational decisions, unlike marijuana, a dangerous controlled substance. It merely kills brain cells and makes it difficult to function in everyday life, plus it is very addictive and dangerous. If you legalize marijuana, what's next? Take away all speed limits, seat belts in all automobiles, allow teachers to carry weapons into their classrooms, or allow bus drivers to smoke cigarettes while carrying passengers? Stop the legalization of medical marijuana! Bill Kaminga Kalamazoo [end]
Get Big Country on the phone, you can pick up pretty quickly from his Southern drawl that he's not from around these parts. But four years into a career as a federal agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Country, who hails from Texas and has a real first name of Justin, says he loves working in Detroit. He and some of his DEA buddies are to be featured Wednesday on the Spike cable network as part of a six-installment series on DEA efforts to fight drugs in metro Detroit. [continues 640 words]
Even Legal Users Could Be Tangled in Criminal World of Drug Sales KALAMAZOO -- Even if Michigan voters this fall approve the use of marijuana for medical purposes, sick people will have to get friendly with their neighborhood dope dealers to buy it. There's no provision in the ballot proposal to provide access to the drug through the state or pharmacies, and sale of the drug would remain a felony, even to legal users. Supporters hope users would grow their own plants, but in the interim until harvest, the marijuana would have to be bought off the street. [continues 1187 words]
KALAMAZOO -- The use and sale of marijuana is illegal, but the pipes, papers and other paraphernalia used to smoke the drug are available - -- and legal. The debate rages about the propriety of allowing seriously ill people to legally use the drug. But no one has batted an eye at the array of drug paraphernalia available and on prominent display at gas stations, convenience stores and neighborhood mom-and-pop operations. The On The Rocks store on Portage Road, for instance, started selling glass pipes and hookahs last November, employee Dawn Fassett said. [continues 461 words]
Inside Michigan
