Fewer Small-Time Offenders Are Jailed, Leaving More Time to Fight Serious Crimes. In the squad room of the New Orleans Police Department's 6th District, a large red square is painted on the wall behind the lectern, as if a cop had acted on some Abstract Expressionist impulse. It is a wordless reminder to officers here, one that could serve as a new motto for the city's criminal justice system. "It means, 'We don't arrest squares,' " said Sgt. Yolanda Jenkins, a community outreach specialist. [continues 850 words]
In a move that proponents said will reduce the dockets in Criminal District Court and give police more time to deal with major crimes, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously Thursday to designate marijuana possession, prostitution and two other relatively minor crimes as municipal offenses, giving police the option to issue a summons rather than make an arrest. If you get picked up for marijuana possession or prostitution in New Orleans, police no longer will have to arrest you and take you to jail. [continues 730 words]
More teenagers these days are smoking marijuana. That troubling word comes out of the most recent Monitoring the Future Survey, which was released earlier this week. One in 16 10th-through 12th-graders are smoking marijuana daily or nearly daily, according to the report. And, for the second straight year, the study found that more 12th-graders had smoked marijuana than had smoked tobacco cigarettes within the past three months. Perhaps even more disturbing than the actual number of kids using marijuana is the indication that more teens look favorably at the drug than has been the case in the past. [continues 324 words]
To the editors: Another reason to legalize cannabis (marijuana) that doesn't get mentioned (Student club supports marijuana reform, Dec. 3, 2010) is because it's biblically correct. God, The Ecologician, indicates he created all the seed-bearing plants saying they are all good, on literally the very first page of the Bible (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is to accept it with thankfulness (1 Timothy 4:1-5). What kind of government cages people for using what God says is good? Stan White stanwmtn@colorado.net [end]
If you are anything like me, when you heard that Prop 19 wasn't voted into action over in California you thought to yourselves, "Ah well, that's probably a good thing," and continued updating your Loyola University-specific contingency plan for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. To those of you who were not updating their contingency plans and think that the zombie apocalypse is a dumb idea that will never happen, I would like to say that you have been factored into the "Escape" phase of my plan and I thank you for your selfless contributions on the behalf of the rest of us. [continues 468 words]
Five students are pushing for a greener society but the organization they recently chartered is not necessarily environmentally friendly. Loyola University is now home to the National Organization Reform of Marijuana Laws student organization NORML. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws,is an activist group devoted to promoting the reform of marijuana laws. The purpose of NORML is to push the idea that marijuana users are not criminals and to inform people about marijuana and laws that are active, in the making, and planning to be proposed. [continues 265 words]
After reading the letter about the disposal of drugs confiscated by the law, I want to express my desire to see these drugs legalized, taxed and regulated just as liquor is and probably by the same government branch. There is no reason whatsoever to prohibit the use of these drugs. There is a reason to enforce the misbehavior of individuals under the influence of drugs, just as individuals under the influence of alcohol. Now don't give me the sad story about the person that has sunk to such a terrible state that we see occasionally. We see those that are in this same predicament from the use of alcohol. [continues 143 words]
BATON ROUGE - More than 17 years ago, the St. Martin Sheriff's Office found a substantial amount of cocaine underneath the house of a candidate in the 3rd Congressional District race. But Jeff Landry says that's only half the story. Landry, a businessman and attorney from New Iberia, said the illegal drugs belonged to a roommate and the 1993 documents linking him to the incident are being spread around by his opponent in the Oct. 2 Republican primary. Landry also said he willingly signed the warrant allowing law enforcement officials to search the property at 123 W. Berard St. in St. Martinville. [continues 470 words]
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse website. The average American teenager or young adult will experiment with marijuana sometime in high school or college. Ambitious students may altogether shun socially stigmatized hallucinogenic drugs, but many of us hold less lofty personal standards, especially as adolescents. Conviction for possession of marijuana will strip even a 4.0 undergraduate of his student loans for one year. Repeat offenders fare worse: A second offense will suspend one's student loans for two years, and after three strikes ... well, you know the saying. Third-time offenders will be indefinitely barred from obtaining student loans, as mandated by the Drug Provision of the Higher Education Act. [continues 528 words]
Re: "Forfeiture law stacked against Louisiana property owners" (June 22): Thank you for lighting a candle on the shameful, dark practice of my colleagues to go around state law to seize property from citizens. Worse, we now focus more on drug dealers than rapists, child molesters and those possessing child porn. Why? Because we can only take money from drug dealers, not pedophiles. Over the past 40 years of drug prohibition/war on drugs, my profession has become addicted to the $70 billion in tax dollars you give us every year. Even that is not enough, as Dr. Fraser pointed out so well. When will we become as wise as our grandparents and repeal our prohibition? Howard Wooldridge Retired detective/officer Drug policy specialist Citizens Opposing Prohibition Adamstown, Md. [end]
Regarding Ronald Fraser's op-ed June 22: The financial incentives created by civil asset forfeiture laws create a dangerous precedent. Police can confiscate cars, cash and homes without bothering to charge owners with a crime. Vague allegations of drug trafficking don't justify turning protectors of the peace into financial predators. The drug war threatens the integrity of a country founded on the concept of limited government. Police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing dogs in schools and random drug testing have led to a loss of civil liberties while failing miserably at preventing drug use. Despite marijuana prohibition and perhaps because of forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country, a majority of which have decriminalized marijuana. [continues 81 words]
NORML Louisiana will have its second Medical Cannabis Rally in Monroe on Saturday. The rally will be at Tsunami on Olive Street. NORML is the acronym for the National Organization for the Reformation of Marijuana Laws. There will be guest speakers and live music. The event is for those age 18 and above and there is a $5 cover that will be donated to the cause. The event will be from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m. Four bands will be at the event ready to entertain. Electric Sermon, Hunter and the 3D Glasses, The Navigator and Sixty Cycle will all be at the rally playing some coveted local tunes. [continues 476 words]
Instead of relying on state laws to protect property owners, Louisiana law enforcement officers are using state and federal statutes to stack the law against them. Law enforcement officers can seize your car, your cash or your boat if they merely suspect the property was involved in a crime - and they don't even have to prove it. In most cases, you must prove the property is innocent to get it back. "Modern civil forfeiture exploded during the 1980s as governments at all levels stepped up the war on drugs, and Congress and the states created new incentives for the use of civil asset forfeiture - one of the worst abuses of property rights in our nation today," according to the Institute for Justice report Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture. [continues 373 words]
BATON ROUGE - Second-conviction felony drug dealers should have that noted on their driver's licenses, a House committee said Tuesday. The House Transportation, Highways and Public Works Committee unanimously approved House Bill 139 by Rep. Rickey Hardy, D-Lafayette, after increasing the fee assessed on offenders from $10 to $25 to cover the cost of issuing a special license with "DRUG OFFENDER" in bright orange on the bottom. Similar licenses with "SEX OFFENDER" already are issued to people convicted of certain sex crimes. [continues 211 words]
Inside the green neon sign, which is shaped like a marijuana leaf, is a red cross. The cross serves the fiction that most transactions in the store -- which is what it really is -- involve medicine. The U.S. Justice Department recently announced that federal laws against marijuana would not be enforced for possession of marijuana that conforms to states' laws. In 2000, Colorado legalized medical marijuana. Since Justice's decision, the average age of the 400 persons a day seeking "prescriptions" at Colorado's multiplying medical marijuana dispensaries has fallen precipitously. Many new customers are college students. [continues 669 words]
Civil liberties advocates have cheered a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the strip search of a 13-year-old student in search of prescription drugs was unconstitutional. But school officials say it gives little guidance on how they can balance the interests of protecting students' privacy and keeping dangerous drugs out of the classroom. "The decision is based on the level of dangerousness" of the suspected hidden drugs, said Francisco NegrA3n, general counsel for the National School Boards Association. "But it is not clear from the opinion what the level of dangerous might be. aE& There are a lot of unanswered questions." [continues 381 words]
Marijuana arrests on campus are rising like smoke. The LSU Police Department has made 38 drug arrests this semester, and a majority involved marijuana. LSUPD spokesman Maj. Lawrence Rabalais said the number of marijuana arrests has significantly increased since the implementation of the Crime Interdiction Unit in 2008. Formed in response to the murder of two University doctoral students in December 2007, the CIU is made up of four officers who patrol campus in plain clothing. Their goal is to stop and identify suspicious people, Rabalais said. Drug arrests nearly tripled between 2007 and 2008 - climbing from 56 to 152. [continues 681 words]
Many of the most credible media outlets - from CNN's Ted Turner to CBS's Walter Cronkite, from the conservative Wall Street Journal to the liberal New York Times - have labeled America's War on Drugs an abject failure. We stand by that assessment. In opining on the Vietnam War, a critic offered that America was fighting an invisible enemy in an undeclared war backed by a silent majority. As with most wars of similar circumstance, an invisible enemy indicates no clear path for victory. [continues 172 words]
Marijuana is bad. On this most auspicious of days, the calls for legalizing marijuana reach their wheezing, coughing climax. And year after year, these calls go unanswered for good reason. As much as we want to think our parents are over-protective and paranoid, there's a reason they always told us not to smoke pot, and there's a reason pot is still illegal. Marijuana smoke contains 20 times more ammonia and five times more hydrogen cyanide and nitrogen oxide than tobacco smoke, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. [continues 460 words]
Inside Louisiana
