Homeless in Arizona

Letter: Legalizing marijuana point of sale a safer option

Posted: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 10:37 am

Letter to the Editor

If your son or daughter uses marijuana, where would you prefer they purchase it from? Drug dealers who also sell other drugs like cocaine and heroin, or medical marijuana cardholders?

Kirk Muse

Mesa

NYC to restrict painkillers in emergency rooms

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New York City to Restrict Prescription Painkillers in Public Hospitals’ Emergency Rooms

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS

Published: January 10, 2013

Some of the most common and most powerful prescription painkillers on the market will be restricted sharply in the emergency rooms at New York City’s 11 public hospitals, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Thursday in an effort to crack down on what he called a citywide and national epidemic of prescription drug abuse.

Under the new city policy, most public hospital patients will no longer be able to get more than three days’ worth of narcotic painkillers like Vicodin and Percocet. Long-acting painkillers, including OxyContin, a familiar remedy for chronic backache and arthritis, as well as Fentanyl patches and methadone, will not be dispensed at all. And lost, stolen or destroyed prescriptions will not be refilled.

City officials said the policy was aimed at reducing the growing dependency on painkillers and preventing excess amounts of drugs from being taken out of medicine chests and sold on the street or abused by teenagers and others who want to get high.

“Abuse of prescription painkillers in our city has increased alarmingly,” Mr. Bloomberg said in announcing the new policy at Elmhurst Hospital Center, a public hospital in Queens. Over 250,000 New Yorkers over age 12 are abusing prescription painkillers, he said, leading to rising hospital admissions for overdoses and deaths, Medicare fraud by doctors who write false prescriptions and violent crime like “holdups at neighborhood pharmacies.”

But some critics said that poor and uninsured patients sometimes used the emergency room as their primary source of medical care. The restrictions, they said, could deprive doctors in the public hospital system — whose mission it is to treat poor people — of the flexibility that they need to respond to patients.

“Here is my problem with legislative medicine,” said Dr. Alex Rosenau, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians and senior vice chairman of emergency medicine at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Eastern Pennsylvania. “It prevents me from being a professional and using my judgment.”

While someone could fake a toothache to get painkillers, he said, another patient might have legitimate pain and not be able to get an appointment at a dental clinic for days. Or, he said, a patient with a hand injury may need more than three days of pain relief until the swelling goes down and an operation could be scheduled.

Dr. Rosenau said that the college of emergency physicians had not developed an official position on the prescribing of painkillers in emergency rooms and that he appreciated Mr. Bloomberg’s activism in the face of a serious public health problem. But he said pain clinics in states like Florida and California, states where prescription drug abuse is rampant, as well as the household medicine cabinet, were probably a more common source of unneeded painkillers than emergency rooms.

City health officials said the guidelines would not apply to patients who need prescriptions for cancer pain or palliative care, and drugs would still be available outside the emergency room. They said that in this era of patient-satisfaction surveys, doctors were often afraid to make patients unhappy by refusing drugs when they are requested, and the rules would give those doctors some support when they suspected that a patient might be faking pain to get drugs.

“There will be no chance that the patients who need pain relief will not get pain relief,” said Dr. Ross Wilson, senior vice president and chief medical officer of the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs the city’s public hospitals.

Similar rules have been adopted in Washington State and Utah. Dr. Thomas A. Farley, the city’s health commissioner, said opioid painkillers were not much different from highly addictive and more taboo street drugs like heroin. He called them “heroin in pill form.”

More than two million prescriptions for opioid painkillers are written in New York City each year, the equivalent of a quarter of the city’s population, Dr. Farley said, and about 40,000 New Yorkers are already dependent on painkillers and need treatment. Painkillers were involved in 173 accidental overdose deaths in New York City in 2010, a 30 percent rise from five years earlier.

Officials could not say how many prescriptions were written at emergency rooms. Libby Holman, a spokeswoman for Purdue Pharma, which manufactures OxyContin, declined to comment.

Dr. Farley said the city lacked the regulatory authority to impose the new guidelines on its 50 or so private hospitals. But several private hospitals, including NYU Langone Medical Center in Manhattan and Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, said they would adopt them voluntarily.

Dr. Hillary Cohen, medical director of emergency medicine at Maimonides, said that even now, OxyContin was rarely prescribed in the emergency room.

You can't deduct your marijuana expenses on your Food Stamp application

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USDA draws the line on food stamps, rules against medical marijuana deductions

By Judson Berger

Published August 03, 2012

FoxNews.com

It's the last dance with Mary Jane for states that had been illegally allowing food stamp recipients to claim deductions for medical marijuana.

The Department of Agriculture last month sent out a memo ordering states to stop permitting the practice. Though 18 states currently allow medical marijuana use in some capacity, it remains illegal under federal law.

And until recently, at least a few states were allowing food stamp users to deduct the cost of their medical marijuana in order to meet the income eligibility requirements.

For instance, a family of four under USDA guidelines must earn less than $1,863 a month to qualify for food stamps. In limited cases, families were deducting the cost of their medical marijuana every month to bring their monthly income within that limit.

That's a no-no, Lizbeth Silbermann, director of the USDA program development division, wrote in the memo last month.

"FNS is now reaffirming its long standing policy that a household may not utilize the SNAP medical deduction for the cost of any substance considered illegal under Federal law," she wrote. SNAP stands for Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps.

Silbermann called out violators, though not by name.

"It has come to FNS' attention that some State agencies are allowing elderly or disabled households to deduct the cost of medicinal marijuana from their income for SNAP purposes," she wrote.

The states -- which include Maine, Oregon and New Mexico -- had been allowing the deductions under a 2008 law that permits "allowable medical expenses" to be deducted for elderly or disabled recipients.

Marijuana, though, does not qualify as allowable, Silbermann wrote, warning that states must "cease this practice immediately" or face penalties.

USDA spokeswoman Alyn Kiel confirmed to FoxNews.com that the states have since discontinued the practice and come into compliance. She said the deduction was not widely used though it had been on the books.

Medical marijuana laws and enforcement across the country continue to be in flux. While the feds have cracked down on the practice, Los Angeles moved last month to ban the pot shops until the state's high court rules.

The USDA memo came as the department faces regular criticism from Republicans on Capitol Hill for allegedly encouraging food stamp enrollment. The food stamp rolls have swelled since the recession, growing roughly 40 percent since 2009. As of April, more than 46 million people were in the program, which costs $80 billion a year.

Some states unhappy about the idea of happy hours

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Some states unhappy about the idea of happy hours

Posted: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 4:00 pm | Updated: 9:53 am, Wed Jan 9, 2013.

Associated Press

During "happy hour" at the Summer Winter bar in Burlington, Mass., the bargain is on the bivalves, not the brews.

That's because Massachusetts legislators passed a law in 1984 banning bars from offering cut-price drinks. So James Flaherty, the bar's director of food and beverage, decided to use shellfish specials to draw customers.

"We've had to get creative by offering something other than a typical happy hour," he said. "Having a raw bar at the heart of the restaurant, we launched Oyster Happy Hour to appeal to the after work crowd with fresh, local selections and it's become a popular draw."

And Massachusetts isn't alone. The concept of happy hour — when bars offer lower prices or two-for-one specials — may seem like an American tradition, but is in fact illegal or restricted in quite a few places.

Laws vary by state, and even districts within states, so it's hard to get a handle on the national picture, but Ben Jenkins, vice president of government communications for the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), has noted some recent activity aimed at updating happy hour laws.

A few states, including Oklahoma, Massachusetts and Virginia, recently have considered changes to existing restrictions. The bills failed, but are likely to re-emerge.

Meanwhile, happy hour became legal in Kansas last year after a 26-year ban. In 2011, Pennsylvania extended happy hour potentials from two to four hours and New Hampshire changed its law to allow establishments to advertise drinks specials.

DISCUS does not take a position on happy hour bills, but Jenkins sees the activity in the context of a larger modernization trend. "States across the country are updating their liquor laws to provide better consumer convenience and increased revenue without raising taxes," he says.

The patchwork nature of the laws is a holdover from Prohibition, when states were left to set regulations once the federal ban had been repealed. Some of the laws written then are still on the books, which can strike an anachronistic note today. For instance, it's still illegal to sell alcohol in South Carolina on Election Day. And it may surprise you to know that Moore County in Tennessee is "dry" and also home to the Jack Daniel Distillery.

The reasoning behind happy hour bans or restrictions generally stems from concerns that lowering prices will encourage high consumption and its ensuing problems.

"Some communities have issues of morality regarding promoting the drinking of alcohol or concerns regarding the kinds of behavior that can come from drinking too much," notes Kyle-Beth Hilfer, an advertising and marketing attorney with the New York-based law firm Collen IP.

Having so many different rules means bar owners and restaurateurs need to keep up with changes in the laws and read existing statutes carefully, says Hilfer.

Some states allow happy hours, but ban advertising them. Oregon, on the other hand, is OK with bars advertising general happy hours but not specific price discounts. Utah outlawed happy hours in 2011.

Advertising also can be tricky. A state may OK advertising happy hour specials, but going beyond the simple price and inviting customers to "lose weight at our low-carb beer happy hour," could be subject to regulation by state alcohol beverage officials, Hilfer explains. She recommends that proprietors of venues that serve alcohol and have happy hours have a lawyer vet advertising copy.

Social media has added a new twist to the mix. In Virginia, it's illegal for bars and restaurants to advertise happy hours in electronic media, radio, TV and the Internet, a law that goes back to 1984, long before Twitter had left the nest. This year, Virginia legislators considered changing the rules, though the bill ultimately was withdrawn, partly due to concerns about underage drinking.

This wasn't Virginia's first time to update old laws. In 2006, a tapas restaurant was cited for serving sangria because its recipe, a mix of red wine, brandy and fruit, violated a 1934 law prohibiting the mixing of wine or beer and spirits.

In 2008, lawmakers passed a bill sanctioning sangria.

High electric use lets cops find marijuana farmers????

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San Jose: Tip leads to grow houses, marijuana worth $700,000

By Eric Kurhi

ekurhi@mercurynews.com

Posted: 01/11/2013 06:15:23 PM PST

SAN JOSE -- A tip led the Santa Clara County drug enforcement squad to more than $700,000 worth of marijuana at a pair of grow houses rigged with wiring to bypass the electricity meter to avert suspicion, officials said.

Hai Minh Vo, 37, and Tiffany Huynh, 41, were arrested Thursday without incident at their residence on Rue Lyon in San Jose. They are believed to be involved in the grow houses on the 1300 block of Trestlewood Drive and 4300 block of Crescendo Avenue, which were both modified to serve the sole purpose of cultivating marijuana, according to Santa Clara County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jose Cardoza.

"We got an anonymous tip a month ago, and from there the Marijuana Enforcement Team investigators started a surveillance operation," Cardoza said.

He said it was "not your average small operation."

"This took time, this took planning," he said. "It involved bypassing power lines and more than one home. It was a sophisticated setup." [Not really, bypassing an electric meter is a trivial task if you know what you are doing.]

While Cardoza said the electrical modification was likely done "so it so doesn't alert power companies to additional power brought into residence," a PG&E spokeswoman said they don't investigate usage unless alerted by authorities or a complaint of tampering. [The question is does PG&E report large residential users of electricity to the police as suspected marijuana farmers?]

"There are a lot of home-based businesses, and a lot of people telecommuting," said Monica Tell of PG&E. "Even though there might be a huge spike in a bill, we can't assume it's a grow house, and we respect the privacy rights of our customers."

However, she said "people have gotten very creative in terms of how to tamper with equipment" and added that ultimately it puts them in danger of causing a fire or even an outage in the area.

Between the two homes, 307 plants were seized along with 45 pounds of processed marijuana. Cardoza said each plant translates to a pound of pot, which in turn has a street value of $2,000. [$2,000 a pound??? That's sounds too high. That means the pot is selling on the street for $125 an ounce?]

Vo and Huynh were arrested on suspicion of unlawful marijuana cultivation, possession of marijuana for sale, conspiracy and theft of utilities.

Cardoza said the county's marijuana squad usually works on tracking down outdoor operations in rural areas during the grow season from spring to early winter, focusing on in-house crops in the off months.

Last year, the team removed more than 91,000 plants and 500 pounds of marijuana from grow operations, 22 of which were outdoors and seven indoors. They made 21 arrests and confiscated nine guns.

Contact Eric Kurhi at 408-920-5852. Follow him at Twitter.com/erickurhi.

Utah narcs bust restaurants who serve liquor before the customer orders food!!!

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Utah liquor cops clamp down on drinks before food

The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Jan 09 2013 07:26 am

On the eve of one of the year’s biggest gatherings of out-of-state visitors, restaurant owners in Utah are learning the hard way that it’s illegal for diners to sip an alcoholic beverage while deciding what to order from the menu.

Compliance officers and the state’s liquor-control agency say they are warning owners that their employees are in violation of Utah law if they serve alcohol before diners actually request food. To back up the effort, authorities in undercover stings have issued citations to eateries for this type of violation, which in the past was rarely enforced.

In December alone, nine restaurants paid fines, compared with five who were cited during the 11 previous months and with only one the year before. None of the restaurants had a history of previous violations.

The violation carries a liquor license suspension of five to 30 days or fines from $500 to $3,000.

The stricter enforcement comes just before the opening of the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 17. Undercover officers will be patrolling restaurants that serve many of the tens of thousands of people from Utah and worldwide who attend the 11-day event, which brings in nearly $70 million to the state’s economy. Now, when restaurants are crowded, diners waiting for tables will have to forgo an alcoholic beverage, including people who have made reservations, and customers who are seated may not have a beverage until they place an order for food.

"This will hurt tourism," said Joe Fraser, co-owner of seven ‘Bout Time Pub & Grub restaurants and bars in the state. "Utah already has a stigma that it’s difficult to get a drink, and now there’s one more hurdle people will have to face."

A spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control says the enforcement effort is a reaction to restaurants becoming lax in their procedures, but those associated with dining establishments in the state contend there’s been shift toward a stricter interpretation of the law, evidenced by recent DABC warnings to all restaurant owners.

"There’s absolutely been a change in policy — a huge change," said attorney Rick Golden, who worked at the DABC from 1977 to 1988 and has since represented clients before the board that oversees the agency’s operations.

In the past, compliance officers told restaurant servers they needed evidence that diners intended to order food before serving them an alcoholic beverage, said Golden. This could include a query such as, "Are you intending to dine with us tonight?"

While having a drink, patrons also were allowed to study the menu before deciding what to order, he contends.

Speaking Tuesday on behalf of the DABC, which since the fall has been under the direction of Salvador Petilos, who took over after a series of critical legislative audits led to departure of several top agency officials, spokeswoman Vickie Ashby denied there had been any broad change of policy. She referred to a statute which states "restaurant licensee may not sell, offer for sale, or furnish an alcoholic product except in connection with an order for food prepared, sold, and furnished at the licensed premises."

Ashby added that because some restaurants were not following the law, the DABC issued a reminder within the body of a holiday newsletter. Under the title, "Warning!" it said in bold print that to avoid penalties "the best practice would be to require that the food order be placed prior to service of the alcoholic beverage."

New DABC compliance director Nina McDermott was even more direct in a December memo to trainers who instruct servers on alcohol laws: "I have heard from quite a few licensees (restaurants) that a patron may order one drink while reviewing the menu but no second drink will be served without an order of food. The law does not allow for a one drink exception."

Both McDermott and director Petilos referred questions to Ashby.

Lt. Troy Marx of the State Bureau of Investigation, whose agency conducts the undercover stings, said the rise in citations could be the result of stepped-up enforcement efforts mandated by the Legislature. He added that the majority of recent violations occurred after officers told servers they wanted only an alcoholic beverage — without any food.

"The majority of restaurants we visit are complying with the law," he said. "There are more violations only because there are more officers visiting restaurants."

Last June, lawmakers increased funding for four additional liquor enforcement officers (for a total of 19 sting team members), while also addressing a chronic shortage of restaurant liquor licences by adding 90 to the mix. The money for the additional enforcement comes from a 10 percent increase on fees businesses pay for liquor licenses.

“The majority of restaurants we visit are complying with the law,” said Lt. Troy Marx of the State Bureau of Investigation. “There are more violations only because there are more officers visiting restaurants.”

At the time, lawmakers said the beefed up enforcement was necessary, citing the number of citations issued to restaurants for liquor violations.

But Melva Sine, president of the Utah Restaurant Association, said 41 violations in the previous 18-month period were miniscule, given how many meals that restaurants serve. Regardless of why certain aspects of the state’s liquor law are now being enforced, she thinks restaurant owners deserve a more clear explanation of why there’s been a change.

Sine said restaurants serving alcoholic beverages to diners while they study menus "has been the standard. Call it lax, call it overlooking the law, but what’s happening is the state is enhancing its enforcement procedures. People need to know what’s been altered."

In Utah, it’s eat, drink and be wary — and in that order

McEntee: In Utah, it’s eat, drink and be wary — and in that order

By peg mcentee

Tribune Columnist

First Published Jan 11 2013 04:02 pm

Francis Liong, owner of Salt Lake City’s iconic Lamb’s Grill, sounded a bit disheartened when I asked him about Utah’s crackdown on serving liquor in a restaurant until after the diner has ordered a meal.

"In a civilized world, when people go out to dine, they want to relax, have a drink and then order," said Liong, a transplant from an upscale restaurant in Beverly Hills, Calif. "Most people don’t go to a restaurant for a drink."

Evidently, the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC) doesn’t think that’s true. And the State Bureau of Investigation has launched an undercover sting campaign that nailed nine restaurants in December alone (a violation can lead to suspended liquor licenses or hefty fines).

This clampdown comes at a time when tens of thousands of people, many with sophisticated tastes and generous expense accounts, will stream into Utah for the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market and the Sundance Film Festival.

Can you say, "lights, camera, reaction?"

Utah law, long-standing but heretofore unknown to many restaurateurs, says diners must order food before they can get a cocktail or a glass of wine. It’s a counterintuitive statute, since most patrons — particularly those from out of state — are accustomed to dining in a relaxed mood helped along by a drink before dinner.

And what happens, Liong asked, when Outdoor Retailer attendees reserve a table for 30, and five come in early? Give them a glass of water? Some lemonade?

"It’s just bad overall," said Liong, who found out about the law in a DABC holiday newsletter.

Every Utahn who drinks knows how peculiar the state’s liquor laws are. You can’t buy a cold sixpack of so-called heavy beer at a state store. Prices are far higher here than in other states — a fifth of Stolichnaya vodka, for example, costs twice as much here as in California. All cocktails are metered.

I’ve pretty much lost hope that Utah lawmakers will one day understand that a cocktail, beer or glass of wine isn’t intrinsically dangerous. Certainly some people drink too much or are too young, but most adults don’t abuse alcohol. And certainly not by having a drink while perusing a menu.

Finally, state officials work hard to bring in new businesses, and they’re very good at it. But for Liong, whose restaurant is just a few blocks from the Outdoor Retailer market, every quirky liquor law is bad for business.

"It’s bad for tourists, it’s bad for restaurants," he said. "It’s bad overall. [Liquor officials] just have to think about the business owners."

And listen to them.

Peg McEntee is a news columnist. Reach her at pegmcentee@sltrib.com, facebook.com/pegmcentee and Twitter, @pegmcentee.

Rolly: New DABC boss shows Utah’s liquor wackiness dies hard

Rolly: New DABC boss shows Utah’s liquor wackiness dies hard

By PAUL ROLLY

The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Jan 11 2013 04:36 pm

In the 1988 movie "Die Hard," Bruce Willis runs around a high-rise office tower trying to save his wife and dozens of other hostages from a gang of East German terrorists who are also trying to hunt him down as he knocks off one terrorist at a time.

His only lifeline outside the building is a police radio contact with Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Al Powell as city, state and federal officers form a perimeter around the building.

But the sergeant and the Willis character keep getting thwarted by an incompetent LAPD deputy chief named Dwayne Robinson. This bumbler’s ego demands he be the one in charge, so he keeps interfering with the sergeant to make the point he is in command and his gaffes almost screw up everything.

Utah’s newly appointed Alcoholic Beverage Control director, Salvador Petilos, reminds me of Dwayne.

Just in time for the tens of thousands of out-of-staters coming to Utah this month, the DABC has a new interpretation of a 44-year-old law concerning the requirement that alcohol served in restaurants must be accompanied by food orders.

For decades, restaurants have used the practice, unmolested by liquor law enforcers, of allowing patrons to have a glass of wine while perusing the menu. But now, restaurants are told no wine can be served until the patron has ordered a meal.

That means no areas in restaurants for customers to lounge with an alcoholic drink while waiting for a table.

That means the tens of thousands of people in town this month for the Sundance Film Festival and the Outdoor Retailer trade show will have a negative experience at Utah restaurants — unlike just about anywhere else in the country.

And this comes at the same time Utah economic development officials are doing everything they can to keep the Outdoor Retailer show from jumping to another city in the future.

But, hey, there is a new sheriff in town and he has to show off his moxie.

Just like Dwayne.

—

Joke of the day » During the confirmation hearings for Salvador Petilos last fall, Utah senators, weary of the scandals generated by previous DABC leaders, gave the nominee one directive: Keep the DABC out of the news.

It didn’t take long for him to fail on that one.

Jim Fikar sent an email last week to Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan, responding to Bird’s proposal that $37 million be diverted to education from state liquor profits and the lawmaker’s comment that "if they have an idea to come up with $37 million in some other way, I’m all ears."

Fikar suggested the Legislature eliminate the child tax credit after the third child. "That way, those burdening the school system with a lot of kids pay their fair share."

Bird responded from his government-issued email account:

"Jim,

Thanks for your email.

Jim Bird

Oak Leaf Financial, your Insurance Professionals."

—

Fun times at the MTC » What do former Utah Senate President Michael Waddoups, a Republican, and failed 2012 gubernatorial candidate Peter Cooke, a Democrat, have in common?

They are both going to become mission presidents for the LDS Church somewhere in the world later this year.

Waddoups, who is stepping down from the Legislature, accepted a call to be a mission president a couple of months ago. Cook just received his call.

The assignments for new mission presidents will be revealed in March.

Their transition from politician to mission president is not unusual. One politico told me it’s the LDS Church’s way of sending Mormon political junkies to detox.

prolly@sltrib.com

Hemp legalization effort gathers steam

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Hemp legalization effort gathers steam

By Juliet Eilperin, Published: January 13

In the cannabis plant family, hemp is the good seed. Marijuana, the evil weed. Michael Bowman, a gregarious Colorado farmer who grows corn and wheat, has been working his contacts in Congress in an attempt to persuade lawmakers that hemp has been framed, unfairly lumped with the stuff people smoke to get high.

Somehow over time, as Bowman’s pitch goes, hemp, which is used to make paper, oils and a variety of useful products, was mistaken for its twin, marijuana — a.k.a pot, chronic, blunt and weed — a medicinal drug loaded with tetrahydrocannabinol that buzzes the mind. Hemp got caught up in the legendary crusade against pot popularized by the movie “Reefer Madness.” All varieties of cannabis ended up on the most-wanted list, outlawed by Congress as well as lawmakers in other nations, inspiring people to kill it on sight.

Bowman’s message is simple: Be sensible. “Can we just stop being stupid? Can we just talk about how things need to change?”

While the United States ranks as the world’s leading consumer of hemp products — with total sales exceeding $43 million in 2011 — it is the only major industrialized country that bans growing it, even though 11 states have passed measures removing barriers to hemp production and research. Ninety percent of the U.S. supply comes from Canada.

Since Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana by ballot initiatives last fall, a group of farmers and activists have been pushing to revive a crop they say offers a solution to vexing environmental, health and economic challenges.

Proponents value hemp both for how it grows — quickly and in a wide geographic range, without requiring much in terms of water, pesticides and fertilizers — and what it can produce. Its seeds and oil are fodder for health and beauty products, while the strength of its natural fiber makes it a good candidate to be used as a building composite. Combine hemp with water and lime and you get “hempcrete,” which can help construct a house; process it differently and it can make up a BMW’s interior door panel.

But Bowman’s project to plant 100 acres of hemp on his 3,000-acre farm on April 30 — to coincide with the 80th birthday of his friend singer Willie Nelson, known for his support for hemp and marijuana legalization — could run afoul of the Agriculture Department’s farm program, which helps subsidize his corn and wheat. He also grows edible beans, alfalfa and, occasionally, sunflowers.

In a statement, Agriculture Department spokesman Justin DeJong said that since hemp is considered “a Schedule I controlled substance” under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, it “cannot be grown on farmland” receiving federal commodity subsidies. If convicted of a violation, a farmer cannot get subsidies for five years.

Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Rusty Payne said in a statement that the controlled-substance law refers “to all cannabis plants, regardless of their THC content,” and that only marijuana growers with a DEA permit can grow it.

It didn’t used to be this way. In the colonial era, Benjamin Franklin published an article touting hemp’s virtues, and Virginia farmers were allowed to pay their taxes in hemp. A USDA botanist grew a half-dozen varieties of hemp on federal property in the 1920s. The U.S. government urged farmers to grow “Hemp for Victory” during World War II to provide the raw material for ropes, sailors’ uniforms and other supplies.

But a couple of factors — the high taxes the federal government imposed on growing hemp in the late 1930s and again in the early ’50s, and then the DEA’s interpretation of the 1970 law — made producing hemp nearly impossible. [marijuana was not made illegal until 1937 when the "1937 Marihuana Tax Act" was passed, most other drugs were made illegal in 1914 with the passage of the "1914 Harrison Narcotic Tax Act"]

But starting in 1999, states began to pass legislation making it easier to either grow industrial hemp or conduct research on it. These measures, however, have had little practical effect. Since the DEA only grants permits in rare instances and demands costly, elaborate security precautions, large-scale hemp growing in the United States is not viable.

The Canadian government, meanwhile, recently announced it would invest nearly $100,000 in marketing hemp and researching which varieties would thrive in different regions of the country.

Canadian Embassy spokesman Chris Plunkett described industrial hemp as “an important crop” for Canada because it grows well in the northern prairie “where other crops, due to climate, cannot grow,” and can be rotated in to break disease cycles.

In the United States, its advocates describe hemp in glowing terms. It can be grown organically with relative ease, and its stalks not only store carbon but could potentially produce biomass energy. The oil is rich in protein and Omega-3 fats and can be eaten as well as be used in products such as Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps. Hemp seeds are sold as snacks, and it can be made into paper as well as a building composite to replace fiberglass and in some instances concrete.

Lynda Parker, a Denver-based citizen advocate, learned about hemp while tracking legislation for a political science class she took in 1996. Five years ago, after retiring, she decided to lobby full time for legalization.

“If we’re serious about climate change and the environment, there is no single thing we can do that is more impactful,” she said.

Parker and Bowman, introduced to each other by a Colorado Department of Agriculture official, pushed several efforts in the legislature aimed at reintroducing hemp.

They worked hard to distinguish hemp — which can actually make marijuana less potent when the two plants cross-fertilize — from pot, trying to overcome what they called “the giggle factor.”

“People would ask, ‘Does this mean I can smoke my drapes?’ It’s always the drapes,” Parker recalled.

Victory came Nov. 6, when Colorado voters approved Amendment 64, which not only legalized pot but required “the general assembly to enact legislation governing the cultivation, processing, and sale of industrial hemp.”

Those working on the federal law describe it as a simple matter of economics. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) who introduced legislation last Congress with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to decouple hemp from marijuana as a controlled substance and plans to push for the bill again this year, noticed the seeds sold as a snack under the name “hemp hearts” last summer at his local Costco in Tigard, Ore.

“Why would you say you can sell it at your local Costco, but farmers around the world get to make most of the money?” Wyden asked.

Even potential Canadian competitors are trying to assist the hemp vanguard here. As Parker and Bowman worked on their state’s ballot initiative, the Canadian consulate in Denver served as unofficial advisers. They flew Canadian Mounties and an expert in composites to discuss the logistics of enforcement and processing hemp once it’s legal and funded Parker’s trip to Winnipeg to attend an industry meeting.

“If and when it becomes legal to grow hemp in the United States, that’s just going to add credence and credibility to what we’re doing,” said Hemp Oil Canada President Shaun Crew, who has already registered the name “Hemp Oil USA” for when he opens up shop south of the border.

Still, that day may be a while off. National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson, whose group supports legalization, failed to help North Dakotan farmers overcome federal opposition to hemp cultivation while serving as the state’s agriculture commissioner.

“I don’t want to throw cold water on this,” Johnson said, with hesitation in his voice. “We were in this fight for 10 years straight and got absolutely nowhere.”

But Vote Hemp President Eric Steenstra argued “there’s a lot of additional momentum” for legalization right now, noting that even conservative-leaning Kentucky is eyeing industrial hemp. The state’s agricultural commissioner, James Comer, is campaigning hard for legalization and on Friday, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce voted to back a Senate bill that would sanction hemp farming.

Crew is in favor of the campaign, though he warned his American allies not to exaggerate hemp’s potential and become convinced “there’s a big pot of gold at the end of the hemp rainbow.”

“This isn’t the be-all and end-all,” Crew said, noting that 15 years after legalization, hemp occupies only 50,000 acres of land in Canada. “We’re just a blip on the radar screen of agriculture in our two countries.”

San Diego halts all actions against marijuana dispensaries

San Diego halts all actions against marijuana dispensaries

Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

January 13, 2013, 6:32 p.m.

SAN DIEGO —

— At the order of newly elected Mayor Bob Filner, the city is dropping all legal efforts aimed at forcing marijuana dispensaries out of business.

In memos last week to the San Diego Police Department and code compliance officers, Filner ordered that "targeted code enforcement" against marijuana dispensaries end "immediately." Both departments report to the mayor.

Filner, a Democrat, also plans to revisit an issue the City Council has shown little eagerness to tackle: the creation of zoning rules to permit marijuana businesses.

Filner restated his support for making marijuana accessible to people "who legitimately need it for relief of pain." He said he will soon propose an ordinance allowing operation of dispensaries, although not near schools, playgrounds or anywhere that would harm neighborhoods.

"I believe that, in order to be a great city, we must also be a humane city and show compassion toward those who need help in dealing with chronic pain," he said.

Under current city zoning regulations, there are no legal areas for marijuana dispensaries. The City Council adopted a marijuana zoning ordinance but dropped it in July 2011 when marijuana activists complained that it was too restrictive.

As a result of Filner's action, the city will no longer pursue a dozen cases against dispensaries, said City Atty. Jan Goldsmith. More than 100 dispensaries have already been forced to close because of code-violation litigation by the city attorney.

Filner appeared Tuesday before a group favoring legalization of marijuana, and referred to Goldsmith's actions as "persecution." He suggested that the group may need to stage protests.

Goldsmith subsequently sent the mayor a letter saying he would halt the remaining cases, which had been filed at the request of the code compliance staff and Police Department.

"Rather than pursue the drama last night and call for a demonstration, you could have achieved your goal in less than 30 seconds" with a phone call, Goldsmith wrote.

In a telephone interview, Goldsmith said, "Filner is a new mayor and he needs a period of adjustment."

The marijuana issue is an indication of the differences in policy and governing style between the more assertive Filner and his predecessor, Jerry Sanders, a Republican and former police chief. Sanders supported the city attorney's legal action against the marijuana dispensaries.

Although Filner's action ends the city's closure campaign, U.S. Atty. Laura Duffy continues to order dispensaries to cease operation or face the prospects of criminal charges and asset forfeiture.

tony.perry@latimes.com

In California, It’s U.S. vs. State Over Marijuana

In California, It’s U.S. vs. State Over Marijuana

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Published: January 13, 2013

STOCKTON, Calif. — Matthew R. Davies graduated from college with a master’s degree in business and a taste for enterprise, working in real estate, restaurants and mobile home parks before seizing on what he saw as uncharted territory with a vast potential for profits — medical marijuana.

He brought graduate-level business skills to a world decidedly operating in the shadows. He hired accountants, compliance lawyers, managers, a staff of 75 and a payroll firm. He paid California sales tax and filed for state and local business permits.

But in a case that highlights the growing clash between the federal government and those states that have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational use, the United States Justice Department indicted Mr. Davies six months ago on charges of cultivating marijuana, after raiding two dispensaries and a warehouse filled with nearly 2,000 marijuana plants.

The United States attorney for the Eastern District of California, Benjamin B. Wagner, a 2009 Obama appointee, wants Mr. Davies to agree to a plea that includes a mandatory minimum of five years in prison, calling the case a straightforward prosecution of “one of the most significant commercial marijuana traffickers to be prosecuted in this district.”

At the center of this federal-state collision is a round-faced 34-year-old father of two young girls. Displaying a sheaf of legal documents, Mr. Davies, who has no criminal record, insisted in an interview that he had meticulously followed California law in setting up a business in 2009 that generated $8 million in annual revenues. By all appearances, Mr. Davies’ dispensaries operated as openly as the local Krispy Kreme, albeit on decidedly more tremulous legal ground.

“To be looking at 15 years of our life, you couldn’t pay me enough to give that up,” Mr. Davies said at the dining room table in his two-story home along the San Joaquin River Delta, referring to the amount of time he could potentially serve in prison. “If I had believed for a minute this would happen, I would never have gotten into this.

“We thought, this is an industry in its infancy, it’s a heavy cash business, it’s basically being used by people who use it to cloak illegal activity. Nobody was doing it the right way. We thought we could make a model of how this should be done.”

His lawyers appealed this month to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to halt what they suggested was a prosecution at odds with Justice Department policies to avoid prosecutions of medical marijuana users and with President Obama’s statement that the government has “bigger fish to fry” than recreational marijuana users.

“Does this mean that the federal government will be prosecuting individuals throughout California, Washington, Colorado and elsewhere who comply with state law permitting marijuana use, or is the Davies case merely a rogue prosecutor out of step with administration and department policy?” asked Elliot R. Peters, one of his lawyers.

“This is not a case of an illicit drug ring under the guise of medical marijuana,” Mr. Peters wrote. “Here, marijuana was provided to qualified adult patients with a medical recommendation from a licensed physician. Records were kept, proceeds were tracked, payroll and sales taxes were duly paid.”

Mr. Holder’s aides declined to comment, referring a reporter to a letter from Mr. Wagner to Mr. Davies’s lawyers in which he disputed the depiction of the defendant as anything other than a major-league drug trafficker.

“Mr. Davies was not a seriously ill user of marijuana nor was he a medical caregiver — he was the major player in a very significant commercial operation that sought to make large profits from the cultivation and sale of marijuana,” the letter said. Mr. Wagner said that prosecuting such people “remains a core priority of the department.”

The case illustrates the struggle states and the federal government are now facing as they seek to deal with the changing contours of marijuana laws and public attitudes toward the drug. Colorado and Washington legalized marijuana for recreational use last year, and are among the 18 states, and the District of Columbia, that currently allow its medical use.

Two of Mr. Davies’s co-defendants are pleading guilty, agreeing to five-year minimum terms, to avoid stiffer sentences. Mr. Davies, while saying he did not “want to be a martyr,” decided to challenge the indictment with a combination of legal and public-relations measures, setting up a Web site devoted to his case and hiring Chris Lehane, a hard-hitting political consultant and former senior aide in Bill Clinton’s White House.

Among Mr. Davies’s advocates here in California are Paul I. Bonell, who was the president of the Premier Credit Union for 21 years before Mr. Davies hired him in early 2011 to oversee his businesses’ fiscal controls. After the businesses were raided in October that year, Mr. Bonell took a position as the head of the Lodi Boys and Girls Club.

“I had some reservations going in,” he said of Mr. Davies’s enterprise. “But the industry was exploding. Matt wanted to have internal controls in place. And we thought: This was a legitimate business. If the State of California deems it legitimate, we want to be the best at it.”

Mr. Davies’s accountant, David M. Silva, said he set up spreadsheets to keep track of inventories, revenues and expenses. “I’ve been a C.P.A. for 30 years,” Mr. Silva said. “What I saw was a guy who was trying to run an operation in an up-and-up way.”

The federal authorities said they stumbled across the operation after two men were spotted apparently breaking into Mr. Davies’s 30,000-square-foot Stockton warehouse. The police said they smelled marijuana plants. Federal agents conducted a raid and confiscated 1,962 plants and 200 pounds of marijuana.

Mr. Davies, who is free on $100,000 bail, greeted visitors to his gated home by asking them to speak softly while walking through the entryway so as not to awaken his sleeping infant. He called out to his wife when asked when he was indicted: “Hey, Molly — we were indicted on your birthday, right? July 18.”

Mr. Davies referred to marijuana as “medicine,” and himself as a turnaround expert.

“We were basically pharmacists for medical marijuana — everything was in full compliance with state law,” he said. “We paid our employees. We paid overtime. We had people going for unemployment if we fired them.”

“Why are they coming after me?” he asked. “If they have such a problem with California, why can’t they sue California?” [Because bullies and government tyrants prefer to pick on people that can't defend themselves. And of course the state of California has the resources to fight the Feds for decades, while Uncle Sam thugs can bankrupt Mr. Davies in a few years with legal expenses]

Stephanie Horton, 25, who went to work for Mr. Davies after going to one of his dispensaries to obtain medical marijuana to help her deal with ovarian and cervical cancer, said she was devastated by the arrest of employers she described as among the best she had ever had — not to mention the loss of her job.

“I’d go back and work there in a heartbeat,” Ms. Horton said. “I totally trusted them. We’re not criminals. I’ve never been arrested my whole life. I need that medication, and so do a whole lot of people.”

But federal prosecutors offered a much less sympathetic view of Mr. Davies. The authorities shut down the warehouse and two dispensaries but said that Mr. Davies had ties to a total of seven dispensaries in the region, which they said yielded $500,000 in annual profits. Mr. Davies’s lawyers disputed those assertions.

“Mr. Davies is being prosecuted for serious felony offenses,” Mr. Wagner wrote to Mr. Davies’s lawyers. “I understand he is facing unpleasant alternatives. Neither a meeting with me nor seeking a review in Washington will change that reality.”

This is as much a legal clash as a cultural clash. Recreational marijuana use is common across this state, and without the legal stigma attached to it in much of the country. The federal government is viewed as a distant force.

“It’s mind-boggling that there were hundreds of attorneys advising their clients that it was O.K. to do this, only to be bushwhacked by a federal system that most people in California are not even paying attention to,” said William J. Portanova, a former federal drug prosecutor and a lawyer for one of Mr. Davies’s co-defendants. “It’s tragic.”

Mesa Police violate people's rights with mobile fingerprint scans???

I refuse to tell the police my name and certainly would refuse to give them my fingerprints if they asked.

With that in mind how will the Mesa police deal with that problem? When people refuse to let the cops take their fingerprints.

I suspect the Mesa police will use physical force to illegally force the people to give them their fingerprints. Probably violating the persons 4th and 5th Amendment rights.

And of course when they do find someone with a warrant out for their arrests as a result of a forced fingerprinting, the cops will commit perjury, or testilying as the police call it and say the people agreed to let them take the fingerprints.

When I was stopped by the Mesa police they refused to honor my request to take the 5th and refuse to tell them my name. The continually lied to me and said I didn't have any 5th Amendment rights and had to answer their questions.

I suspect if they had their fingerprint machines back then they would have used physical force to make me give them my fingerprints.

Source

Mesa police tout mobile print scans

By Gary Nelson The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:19 AM

As Mesa police officers talked last week about their newest whiz-bang technology, Mayor Scott Smith couldn’t help thinking about an old movie.

“It reminds me of the time I saw a girl passed out in an alleyway, and the police came and did a retina scan” to figure out who she was, he said. “Oh, wait — that was ‘Back to the Future II.’ ”

The cops weren’t demonstrating retina scans during Thursday’s City Council study session. They were demonstrating fingerprint scans — on the council members themselves. Evidently, the council has no outstanding warrants; no one was hauled away in handcuffs.

But Mesa police spokesman Sgt. Tony Landato said that has happened on the streets since the department began using six scanners in a pilot program during last Fourth of July weekend.

Now the department is buying 30 more, pending council permission.

The cost is a bit over $53,000, $50,000 of which is from a federal grant under auspices of the 2009 federal stimulus package.

The payback, Landato said, is in better use of officers’ time and more efficient apprehension of crooks.

“It’s pretty common practice for a bad guy not to carry any ID or at least not let us know that they have any on them,” Landato said. “So when we’re trying to sort through what we have, this is a great tool that allows us to take care of it right there. The turnaround time is one to two minutes.” [Translation - if they don't have any ID we are going to force them to give us their fingerprints so we can find out who they are. Of course that is a violation of their 4th and 5th Amendment rights but cops never get arrested for breaking the law]

If it turns out the person isn’t wanted by police, the matter can be dropped right there, as opposed to taking a subject to the station to clear things up.

In one recent case, Landato said, police responded to a domestic-violence call where the alleged abuser had fled.

“We set up a perimeter,” Landato said. “Our officers stopped a subject who matched the description who was acting very suspicious. ... We ran his fingerprint. It was not our suspect in the domestic violence. It was a homicide suspect,” who was arrested.

In another case, he said, Phoenix police used a scanner to identify the victim of a fatal crash who was still trapped in a mangled car.

Landato said people sometimes ask him whether there’s a “Big Brother” element in the scanners, but he said the machines are not collecting data on citizens. They compare only a person’s fingerprint with those already on file with the state police, although that capacity soon may be expanded to include federal databases.

“None of this information is saved,” Landato said. “This isn’t documented any more than the stop itself.” [Why don't I believe that????]

The state fingerprint database includes every print for at least the last 15 years, and fingerprints taken in Mesa go further back than that; the city’s entire print inventory has been transferred to the electronic archive. [Which is why I don't believe the last statement. The cop want to add every fingerprint they take to their database]

Councilman Alex Finter said the technology offers what former Police Chief George Gascón called a “force-multiplying effect,” keeping officers in the field instead of pulling them back to headquarters for suspect ID checks. [If a person refuses to cooperate and help the police identify them it is illegal for the police to force them do do so. And arresting a person who refuses, to take them downtown in an attempt to id them is certainly a violation of their constitutional rights]

“It sounds like a great opportunity to make the best use of our people,” Finter said.

The next step, Landato said, will be scanners that can identify latent prints at a crime scene.

“You can imagine how helpful that would be to an investigation,” he said. “Instead of a day or two, we’re getting it on the spot. We can go track down the suspect before they have time to get rid of the evidence or come up with an alibi or flee. We will be the only department using that when it comes.”

Assistant Police Chief John Meza said Mesa is one of the first agencies in the state to embrace the concept on a large scale. “It’s really a cutting-edge technology in law enforcement,” he said.

And, it’s on hand two years earlier than 2015, when the “future” part of Michael J. Fox’s famous movie was set.

Still, Smith suggested technology hasn’t advanced as far as he had hoped.

“We just don’t have hover skateboards yet,” he said.

Link between pot smoking, IQ drop challenged

Link between pot smoking, IQ drop challenged

Associated Press Mon Jan 14, 2013 12:56 PM

NEW YORK — A new analysis is challenging a report that suggests regular marijuana smoking during the teen years can lead to a long-term drop in IQ.

The author of the new paper says pot might not have anything to do with the mental decline seen in the original study, and that other factors may be to blame.

The original study included more than 1,000 people who’d been born in the town of Dunedin, New Zealand. Their IQ was tested at ages 13 and 38, and they were asked about marijuana use periodically between those ages.

Participants who said they were dependent on pot by age 18 showed a drop in IQ score between ages 13 and 38, according to researchers at Duke University and elsewhere. Their report, which got wide attention last August, suggested pot is harmful to the adolescent brain.

Not so fast, says the new analysis, published online Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Ole Rogeberg of the Ragnar Frisch Center for Economic Research in Oslo, says the IQ trend might have emerged from differences among the study participants in socioeconomic factors like income, education and occupation.

He based his paper on a computer simulation. Drawing on results of earlier research, It traced the potential effects of those socioeconomic factors on IQ. He found patterns that looked just like what the Duke study found for smoking marijuana.

In an interview, Rogeberg said he’s not claiming that his alternative explanation is definitely right, just that the methods and evidence in the original study aren’t enough to rule it out. He suggested further analyses the researchers could do with their data.

The Duke scientists, who learned of Rogeberg’s paper late last week, say they conducted new statistical tests that ruled out his explanation.

Rogeberg says they need to do still more work to truly rule it out.

Experts unconnected to the two papers said the Rogeberg paper doesn’t overturn the original study. It “raises some interesting points and possibilities,” but provides “speculation” rather than new data based on real people, said Dr. Duncan Clark, who studies alcohol and drug use in adolescents at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said observational studies of people like the Duke work can’t definitively demonstrate that marijuana causes irreversible effects on the brain. In an email, she said Rogeberg’s paper “looks sound” but doesn’t prove that his alternative explanation is correct either.

Arizona drug-related DUIs rising

Source

Arizona drug-related DUIs rising

By Jim Walsh The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Jan 14, 2013 10:58 PM

A growing percentage of arrests statewide for driving under the influence are related to prescription and illicit drugs, not alcohol, authorities say.

Overall DUI arrests are down, but authorities attribute the surge in DUI drug arrests to a combination of better enforcement and the continuing fallout from the prescription-drug epidemic.

Arizona has nearly 500 officers trained to recognize the symptoms of drug impairment, compared with only a few two decades ago.

“I think the availability of prescription drugs in great quantities has created this,” said Alberto Gutier, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “This has created a prescription-drug epidemic.” [I will have to disagree. I suspect the new demon of DUI on drugs is mostly about increasing the revenue from DUI tickets and has almost nothing to do with safety. If a normal person or cop can't tell a person is stoned, the person certainly shouldn't be charged with DUI]

He said prescription painkillers and synthetic drugs such as “spice” are common culprits.

Gilbert police Sgt. Jim Lahti, who supervises the night traffic squad, said he remembers meeting two officers who were the only drug-recognition officers in the state 22 years ago when he was police recruit.

Officers would suspect someone was impaired by a substance other than alcohol but were unable to pinpoint it because of a lack of training, he said. [That sounds like a lame excuse. Under Arizona law a person can receive a DUI ticket without having a breath test for liquor]

“We have officers that are better trained now in recognizing drug impairment,” Lahti said. “The other factor is that there are more people driving who are impaired by drugs.” [Of course he doesn't give us any numbers to back up that statement]

While the number of DUI arrests dropped more than 13 percent in 2012 from 2011, the number of DUI drug arrests increased 12 percent, according to Governor’s Office of Highway Safety statistics.

The percentage of DUI arrests that were drug-related increased to 14 percent in 2012 from 11 percent a year earlier.

Even more dramatic is the increase in drug-related DUI arrests over a longer period, with the number rising 18-fold from 2003 to 2012.

The trend was spotlighted during the holiday season by the annual East Valley DUI Task Force.

Mesa officers working with other agencies throughout the region made 540 DUI arrests from Nov. 21 to New Year’s Day.

Of those arrests, 344, or 63 percent, were for drug DUIs. Other participating agencies made fewer drug arrests, but nearly one out of three arrests was drug-related.

The 2012 East Valley Task Force figures further confirm a trend noted in Mesa during the 2011 calendar year, when DUI drug arrests outpaced alcohol arrests for the first time.

Mesa police Lt. Thomas Intrieri, who supervises the traffic unit, said there has been a 10-year trend toward gradually increasing numbers of DUI drug arrests.

All Mesa motorcycle officers are drug-recognition officers, trained to recognize symptoms of drug use, he said. Most of them also have 10 or more years of experience enforcing traffic laws.

“If you are not trained to recognize a problem, how do you know of one?” Intrieri wrote in an e-mail. [So if a normal untrained person can't determine that a person is intoxicated on drugs why should the person be arrested for DUI if it's not effecting their driving??? OK, because the cops get a cut of the $2,000 fine] Lahti said officers see a gamut of impairment from a wide range of prescription drugs, along with prescription drugs mixed with alcohol.

“It’s a wide spectrum,” he said. “You see people using muscle relaxers where they can hardly keep their eyes open, and they want to drive a car.”

Lahti points out that although alcohol has been legal for years, that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable for anyone to drive impaired on any drug, including medical marijuana.

Chicago uses anti-marijuana laws to raise revenue

Source

380 pot tickets issued in Chicago

Fines for marijuana possession have totaled nearly $98,000

By Leonor Vivanco, RedEye

7:25 a.m. CST, January 15, 2013

Nearly 400 tickets were written for pot possession in Chicago since the ordinance decriminalizing marijuana went into effect over the summer, bringing the city nearly $98,000 in fines.

From Aug. 4 through Dec. 25, the city issued 380 citations for possessing up to 15 grams of marijuana, according to data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. More tickets were issued in August than any other month.

The City Council passed the law decriminalizing marijuana possession June 27, and it went into effect Aug. 4. Possessing small amounts of pot carries a fine of $250 to $500 for the first offense. A second violation within 30 days comes with a $500 fine.

Once a ticket is issued, it heads to the Administrative Hearings Department, a quasi-judicial body that settles parking matters, red-light camera tickets and tickets for using a cellphone while driving.

Of the 380 cases, administrative law judges found 138 of those accused were liable, meaning they violated the ordinance. All but two were slapped with a $250 fine.

People failed to show up for 128 cases and all but three were hit with the maximum $500 fine.

The city's attorney decided not to proceed with 32 cases, and 55 others are pending.

Hearing officers dismissed 27 cases.

lvivanco@tribune.com

NYPD looks to GPS bottles to combat pill bandits

Source

NYPD looks to GPS bottles to combat pill bandits

By TOM HAYS, Associated Press

Updated 1:15 am, Tuesday, January 15, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) — Police in New York City plan to combat the theft of painkillers and other highly addictive prescription medicines by asking pharmacies around the city to hide fake pill bottles fitted with GPS devices amid the legitimate supplies on their shelves.

The New York Police Department believes the so-called "bait bottles" could help investigators track stolen drugs and locate suspects.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly is expected to unveil the plan Tuesday at a La Quinta, Calif., conference on health issues hosted by former President Bill Clinton's foundation.

In prepared remarks provided in advance of his appearance, Kelly says the initiative was prompted by a spate of high-profile crimes associated with the thriving black market for prescription drugs, including the slaying of four people on Long Island during a pharmacy holdup in 2011. He also cites the case of a retired NYPD officer who, after retiring with an injury and getting hooked on painkillers, began robbing drug stores at gunpoint.

Prescription drug abuse "can serve as a gateway to criminal activities, especially among young people," the commissioner says. "When pills become too expensive, addicts are known to resort to cheaper drugs such as heroin and cocaine. They turn to crime to support their habit."

The NYPD has begun creating a database of the roughly 6,000 pharmacies in the New York City area with plans to have officers visit them and recommend security measures like better alarm systems and lighting of storage areas. Kelly says it also will ask them to stock the GPS bottles containing fake oxycodone.

"In the event of a robbery or theft, we'll be able to track the bottle, which may lead us to stash locations across the city," he says.

There have been similar attempts to track prescription drugs on a limited basis but the NUYPD claims this would be the first widespread effort.

59% of Arizonans support medical-pot law, poll says

59% of Arizonans support medical-pot law, poll says

By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez The Republic

azcentral.com Tue Jan 15, 2013 12:18 PM

A majority of Arizonans support the state’s medical marijuana law and would support any future initiative to regulate marijuana in a similar way to alcohol, according to a poll commissioned by a marijuana advocacy group.

The poll, a copy of which was obtained by The Arizona Republic, was commissioned by the National Cannabis Industry Association, which represents businesses that make up the emerging medical marijuana industry.

The results suggest the public may not support efforts of lawmakers, prosecutors and other officials seeking to repeal or prevent implementation of the state’s medical marijuana law, passed by voters in 2010.

The poll of 600 Arizona voters, conducted Jan. 9 and 10, found that 59 percent of residents either “strongly support” the law, or “support but don’t feel strongly.” Alternatively, 33 percent said they “strongly oppose” the law while 4 percent said they “oppose but don’t feel strongly.” Four percent said they were not sure how they felt.

Fifty-nine percent of Arizonans said they would vote “yes” on a future initiative to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. Fifty-three percent of residents said marijuana should be made legal for all adults; 44 percent said the drug should not be legal and 4 percent said they were unsure.

Forty-two percent of respondents identified themselves as Republican, 31 percent said they were Democrats and 27 percent said they were Independents or other.

“Lawmakers are working against the will of the voters when they attempt to obstruct the implementation of Prop. 203,” said Betty Aldworth, deputy director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Cannabis Industry Association. “It’s quite apparent that across the nation, we’re seeing people… recognize that when you take marijuana off the streets and put it behind a counter, you are creating jobs, generating tax revenue, and providing a safer space for people to purchase a product they are going to purchase anyways, instead of empowering criminals.”

Asked if Arizona voters should expect to see a future initiative that would attempt to regulate marijuana like alcohol, Aldworth responded, “ I think we can expect to see such an initiative on the ballot in Arizona, yes.”

The poll was taken just days after state lawmaker Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, filed a bill that would refer the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act back to the ballot in November 2014. House Concurrent Resolution 2003 would require the Legislature's approval but not Gov. Jan Brewer's signature.

Kavanagh has said voters deserve the right to rethink whether the law, approved by them in 2010, should have passed in the first place. [What rubbish!!! Arizonans have voted 3 times to decriminalize drugs and the past two times our royal government rulers voted to reverse the will of the people. Now government tyrant John Kavanagh wants to flush the will of the people down the toilet again!!!!]

He said new findings by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission that some teenagers were obtaining pot from medical-marijuana cardholders “was the last straw.”

Arizona voters approved the medical-marijuana law in 2010 by a narrow margin of about 4,300 votes.

Under the law, nearly 34,000 Arizonans are allowed to smoke or grow marijuana for medical reasons, according to the state Department of Health Services. Of those, 3.76 percent use marijuana to ease cancer symptoms; less than 2 percent cite glaucoma. The overwhelming majority, 90 percent, cite severe and chronic pain.

Kavanagh thinks he'll have “overwhelming support” by the Legislature, which “was cool on the idea to begin with.” Like many other Republicans, he is also concerned that the state's medical-marijuana law conflicts with federal drug laws. [Not really, Many legal scholars say that per the 10th Amendment all Federal laws regulating drugs are unconstitutional. As of yet, a Constitutional amendment giving the Federal government the power to regulate drugs, has not been passed. The Federal government didn't have the power to regulate liquor until the 18th Amendment was passed.]

The half-baked plan to re-vote on pot

The half-baked plan to re-vote on pot

State Rep. John Kavanagh believes voters would rescind the state’s medical-marijuana law if given the opportunity to weigh in on it again.

But if a new poll commissioned by the cannabis industry is accurate, a majority of Arizonans not only support the law but are open to expanding it. If that’s the case, Kavanagh’s idea could end up backfiring.

Is he willing to take that gamble?

There’s a larger issue here, though, and that’s the precedent that a re-vote would set. The state has done everything it can to drag its feet on this law. It’s been two years since voters approved it, and it’s still not fully implemented.

Is it really fair to ask voters to rethink something that hasn’t had much time to play out? What’s more, should we really get in the practice of lawmakers referring laws they don’t like back to voters for multiple votes? That could kill the proposition system.

Some argue that we should. And in some ways, I agree. It’s pretty easy to get measures on the ballot, and almost none of them have sunset clauses. So, when voters approve an initiative, it just keeps going and going, like the Energizer bunny.

It would be nice to periodically revisit these things, particularly when the state’s purse strings are involved.

Ballot initiatives tied the hands of lawmakers when they were in budget dire straits. Oh, lawmakers tried to cherry-pick funding from voter-approved measures — and have since been slapped down in the courts for it.

There have been calls to reform the ballot-initiative system, but they haven’t gone far. Even lawmakers seem to recognize that scaling back the populist measure is easier said than done.

Worlds largest gun show is in Las Vegas

SHOT Gun Show - Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show

Their web site is here: www.nssf.org

You can register for the show here: www.shotshow.org and here

Source

Defiance, discretion at Vegas gun show

Justin Berton

Updated 7:26 am, Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Las Vegas -- A month after the elementary school massacre that threatens to change the American gun industry, a group based where that atrocity took place mixed defiance with discretion Tuesday in opening the doors to the world's largest gun show.

More than 60,000 gun dealers, retailers and apparel makers are in Las Vegas this week for the annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show, hosted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation of Newtown, Conn.

The four-day "SHOT Show" is not for the public - it's for those who sell to the public. With the killings of 20 schoolchildren and seven adults in Newtown prompting the Obama administration to move quickly on proposing changes in federal gun laws, the attitude in Las Vegas this week is a combination of aggressiveness, attention to image and adaptation to a new environment.

"You didn't cause the monstrous crime in Newtown and neither did we," Steve Sanetti, president and CEO of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, told members in opening-night remarks. A new product

On the floor of the Sands Expo and Convention Center, browsers gripped sleek new AR-15 rifles, such as the latest version of the Bushmaster Predator, which has an automatic option and can fire 30 rounds in a few seconds. Retailers showed off new inventions, including the iPhone case that doubles as a stun gun, a woman's bra that can holster a handgun - and a product from a Florida company designed to protect schoolchildren from a killer with a gun.

Unlike in past years, the SHOT Show isn't going out of its way to attract attention. Foundation officials declined interview requests from non-trade outlets and denied credentials to mainstream media a month before the trade show opened. A spokesman said a large media presence would be a distraction for people trying to do business at the show.

Gun control proponents interpreted the silence as an attempt to limit coverage of the convention, where assault weapons are on display and the latest military-style weaponry is geared up to amaze potential clients. Not 'puffed up' now

Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center, said industry executives were "puffed up" last year and happy to be interviewed on the convention floor after they reported record sales and estimated the value of the sporting gun industry at $4.1 billion.

"This industry is circling the wagons now," Sugarmann said. "The last thing the industry wants America to see and to think about right now is that these are the very guns the industry is promoting. Most people today would be shocked by what the gun industry has become - primarily marketing military-style weapons because that's the profit center."

Sanetti, the SHOT Show organizer, was among industry leaders who met Thursday with Vice President Joe Biden, who is leading an administration group that will recommend changes in federal gun laws.

On Monday, Sanetti issued a statement saying, "A prerequisite to any dialogue involving our industry and its products is an honest recognition of the legitimacy of what we do and the important part of the national culture we represent. Hunting and the recreational shooting sports are here to stay. And so are we."

The national debate dominated the concerns of conventioneers on the first day of the SHOT Show.

Gregg Thompson, co-owner of Crye Precision of Brooklyn, N.Y., which makes camouflage-pattern apparel including vests and helmets, said foot traffic appeared to be light.

"We are not in a good environment for what we do," said Thompson, whose sales team wore T-shirts that took a dig at the Obama administration: "Freedom Was Awesome 1776-2008."

Thompson added, "We should be looking for the solutions that give us more freedoms, not take them away."

Bad rap for rifle

For others, the trade show was an opportunity to network and try to put a new face on the gun industry.

Chris Cheng, a San Francisco resident and winner of the History Channel's reality marksman competition, "Top Shot," said he hoped to show that competitive shooters come from diverse backgrounds.

Cheng, an Asian American who left a job at Google to pursue his career as a marksman, uses the AR-15 as his primary rifle. It's the same gun that was used by Newtown killer Adam Lanza, which AR-15 fans say has given it a bad rap.

"Not only do thousands of other competitive shooters use the AR-15, but it is also the most popular modern sporting rifle in America," Cheng said. "That's an important piece of information to understand why talk of an 'assault weapons' ban is resonating with many gun owners."

Cheng was mindful of presenting a positive picture of gun owners. He answered questions through e-mail after his responses were vetted by his History Channel sponsors, and he declined to be photographed next to a poster of hunting rifles at the show.

School market

With the gun control debate focusing on the elementary school killings, Mike Hengstebeck was earning a lot of attention at his booth with a new item for schoolteachers called the LAD - Lockdown and Defend.

The $795 device resembles a fire extinguisher when it's not in use. If a teacher hears gunshots, Hengstebeck said, he or she can unfurl a bullet-resistant 2-by-4-foot sheet from LAD. The device also has two doorstops, which can be used to try to bar a gunman from breaking into the classroom.

Hengstebeck said the teacher can also hang the canvas over the window to protect the class or use it as a shield while students huddle behind it.

He said his company, SRT Supply of St. Petersburg, Fla., had just completed the product days before the show started and had already won the attention of local lawmakers.

"Unfortunately, a lot of times the people who get killed in school shootings are in the hallway," Hengstebeck said. "They hear the shots and they go running. With LAD, we're telling them to lock it down and defend themselves to give them a chance."

Justin Berton is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jberton@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @justinberton

Menlo Park police officer caught naked with prostitute

More of the old "do as I say, not as I do" from our government masters.

Aren't these the same cops that want to also throw us in jail for smoking pot, but they get an unlimited supply of free pot from the evidence room????

Source

Menlo Park police officer caught naked with prostitute while on duty

By Bonnie Eslinger

Daily News Staff Writer

Posted: 01/15/2013 08:12:09 PM PST

A Menlo Park police detective arrested in Sunnyvale after being caught naked in a Motel 6 with a prostitute is still working for the city's law enforcement department.

According to an incident report from the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, officers went to the motel at 806 W. Ahwanee Ave. at about 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2011, to conduct a probation warrant search on 32-year-old Natalia Ramirez. When police opened the door, they found Ramirez dressed in a black cat suit with several rolled-up $20 bills tucked into her cleavage.

Inside the bathroom, they found Menlo Park police Officer Jeffrey Kenneth Vasquez unclothed and "on his knees on the bathroom floor," according to the report, which does not say what the 48-year-old man was doing other than to note it did not appear he was trying to destroy contraband.

Vasquez eventually told Sunnyvale police he's a Menlo Park officer, said he was there for sex and said he had found Ramirez on My Redbook, a website commonly used to advertise sexual services. Ramirez confirmed she was there as a prostitute, according to the police report.

The Menlo Park detective said he was on duty when he went to Sunnyvale to serve a subpoena and had an "hour to kill" because the person he was trying to serve wasn't home yet, according to the police report. It was not the first time he had solicited a prostitute for sex, he told the officers. [Yea, it's always the "first time" when a cop gets caught committing crimes. ]

Throughout the incident, "Vasquez was remorseful and fully cooperated with the investigation," according to the report. [What do you expect, this cop wants to keep his high paying job. I think he is remorseful because he got caught] Asked by one officer why he would call a prostitute, Vasquez initially replied he didn't know, but a minute later said he was divorced and his mother had recently died.

"I feel like a loser," he told another officer.

According to the police report, Vasquez was released into the custody of two Menlo Park Police Department officers: Watch Commander Tim Brackett and internal affairs Sgt. Matt Brackett.

Charged with misdemeanor solicitation, Vasquez pleaded not guilty in June 2011 and by July his case was dismissed because the officer who interviewed Ramirez was unable to testify in court, according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Rob Baker, who supervised the case. [How convenient his fellow cops just forgot to testify against him!!!!]

"The investigator's wife was extremely ill," Baker said. "I wasn't going to ask a person who was going through that to come to court and deal with a misdemeanor situation." [Does he only use that lame excuse to keep cops from testifying against cops???]

Baker said the case wasn't postponed because Ramirez had not waived her right to a speedy trial. Knowing that the Sunnyvale officer wasn't available to testify, Vasquez's attorney, William Rapoport, filed to have his client's case dismissed.

Baker said he wanted to prosecute both cases, but when Ramirez "got the benefit" of having her case dismissed, it "didn't sit well" with him to continue to go after Vasquez.

Officials from Menlo Park would not confirm that Vasquez had been arrested or discuss any disciplinary measures that may have been taken against him for the alleged crime. [Of course the cops always have time to demonize people who are not police officers that were arrested for prostitution]

According to The Almanac, a local print and online news outlet, Menlo Park had to reinstate the officer after he challenged the city's undisclosed disciplinary action against him. An arbitrator sided with Vasquez, according to a conversation an Almanac reporter overheard between City Manager Alex McIntyre and former city manager Glen Rojas while sitting near the men at a table in the Menlo Hub restaurant. McIntyre and Rojas did not identify Vasquez by name, but the Almanac reporter was able to track down the arrest information using information from the conversation about the officer's gender and tenure with the police department.

According to salary data provided by Menlo Park to The Daily News, Officer Jeffrey K. Vasquez earned a base salary of $133,468.78 in 2010 for a full year of service, and $111,056.87 in 2011, a year in which it is noted that he did not work the entire year.

Vasquez was not available for comment; he did not work on Tuesday, according to the police department. Rapoport did not respond to a request for comment.

Email Bonnie Eslinger at beslinger@dailynewsgroup.com; follow her at twitter.com/bonnieeslinger.

Whistle-blower files lawsuit against AG Tom Horne

Source

Whistle-blower files lawsuit against AG Horne

By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez The Republic | azcentral.com Wed Jan 16, 2013 4:05 PM

The state criminal investigator who informed the FBI that Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne may have acted illegally and unethically, as a candidate for the office and in his duties as the state’s top prosecutor, has filed a lawsuit against Horne and his chief aide, saying they continue to retaliate against her and have ruined her reputation and ability to do her job.

Margaret “Meg” Hinchey, who still works for Horne, filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Maricopa County Superior Court against the state and Horne and his Chief Deputy Eric “Rick” Bistrow, both personally and in their capacities as state officials. The Arizona Republic obtained a copy of the lawsuit.

Hinchey, who had indicated in June she planned to file a lawsuit, alleges conspiracy, federal civil rights violations, slander, abuse of process, negligence, invasion of privacy, retaliation against a police officer, and other violations she claims occured during the course of her work. She seeks damages for economic loss, pain and suffering, attorneys fees and other damages caused by their conduct. Her earlier notice of claim, which was a precursor to this lawsuit, demanded $10 million.

A spokeswoman for Horne said the office was unable to comment in detail on lawsuit because she had not yet seen a copy of it.

In a statement, spokeswoman Amy Rezzonico said, "the allegations set forth in the press account are baseless. We expect that the state and the employees of the Attorney General's Office will be fully vindicated in a court of law. The AG's office treats its employees with dignity and respect and that principle has been applied to Ms. Hinchey."

Horne, in a response last year to Hinchey’s earlier notice of claim, had said in a statement: “The charges are false, absurd and completely without merit, and I’m confident the courts will see it that way.”

The complaint reasserts Hinchey’s allegations that Horne and his staff engaged in a coverup to keep secret alleged violations of state campaign finance law; that they wanted to destroy or re-classify investigative records tied to an internal probe to prevent them from becoming public; and sought to discredit Hinchey once Horne learned she had reported the allegations to federal agents.

The lawsuit provides new information about retaliatory actions she says Horne and his staff have taken against her since Horne last year learned she went to federal agents.

Among those allegations, the lawsuit says Horne and his staff slandered her by publicly questioning her integrity as an investigator; and that Horne and his staff wrongfully created the impression she is a political “hack,” a liar and “rogue” investigator. Hinchey also reiterates prior claims that Horne and others spread false rumors that she was intimate with Horne’s Democratic opponent, Felecia Rotellini, and was therefore disloyal to her boss.

The lawsuit also says Horne and his staff initiated a baseless internal investigation to determine whether she was untruthful during grand jury proceedings in an unrelated case in an attempt to discredit her as a witness to their actions. Hinchey claims she was forced to investigate herself; that she was stripped of some duties — including her duties with the FBI Public Corruption Squad — and denied repeated requests for re-assignments.

The lawsuit also raises questions about how Horne is conducting business in the Attorney General’s Office. The complaint says Horne’s assistant summoned Hinchey’s supervisor, Andy Rubacalva, to a three-hour “defense interview” by his and Bistrow’s private attorneys during normal work hours regarding Hinchey’s notice of claim. Hinchey’s attorney, Suzanne Dallimore, says it is unusual that an attorney representing the state was not present during the interview and it is unusual that it occured during work hours.

Hinchey also claims Criminal Division Chief Andrew Pacheco directed her to investigate herself and was feeding information to Horne and Bistrow that he obtained from a private attorney who was conducting the internal investigation against her. Hinchey also says Horne’s staff improperly left her alone with evidence tied to the internal investigation against her.

“Horne stood to benefit from discrediting plaintiff’s reputation for honesty in criminal proceedings in that plaintiff could one day be called to testify against Horne in the event of an enforcement action following the FBI investigation,” the lawsuit says.

One of the attorney general’s top investigators, Hinchey oversaw some of the agency's high-profile investigations, most recently its inquiries into illegal campaign contributions by high-level Fiesta Bowl employees and alleged improprieties into county officials stemming from investigations into Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.

As part of her duties with the state, she also worked as a deputized federal agent.

Hinchey says the ordeal has triggered various medical conditions, and on May 7 she had to tun in her service weapon because she was using antidepressants and other medications. She is now assigned to desk work.

The complaint says Hinchey in April 2011 began to have “serious concerns about the agenda and intent of Horne and his inability to understand criminal law.”

Soon after, she blew the whistle to federal agents on potentially illegal conduct within Horne’s office. Based on her information, federal and county law-enforcement officials initiated a 14-month investigation into whether Horne collaborated with an independent expenditure committee to raise more than $500,000 for his 2010 bid for office. State law prohibits a candidate from having any involvement in the operation of an independent campaign committee.

Federal and county investigators found Horne and his polticial ally Kathleen Winn deliberately broke campaign-finance laws during the 2010 general election, when Horne allegedly collaborated with Business Leaders for Arizona, an independent expenditure committee that raised more than $500,000 to run negative ads against his Democratic opponent, Felecia Rotellini. Montgomery ordered Horne and Winn, who now works for Horne’s agency and ran the independent campaign committee, to accurately report and refund an estimated $400,000 in contributions.

Horne and Winn have said they have done nothing wrong and that they will be vindicated in court proceedings, scheduled for next month. Horne has said the entire case is based on “misleading speculation.”

The FBI file, reviewed by The Arizona Republic, shows witnesses described to investigators a sorority-type environment at the Attorney General's Office with women vying for Horne’s attention. Another witness told investigators that Horne, a Republican, kept lists of employees’ political affiliations and campaign contributions to Rotellini. Still another witness said Horne wanted her to contact another witness interviewed by the FBI to determine the line of questioning.

The ordeal has seriously damaged staff morale in the AG’s office, sources have told The Republic. Last week, Horne’s spokeswoman Amy Rezzonico said she was leaving Horne’s side after 10 years partly because of the “duress” of the inquiries into her boss. She follows other staff, including Jim Keppel, a former judge and Horne’s former criminal division chief, who said, he too, left because of the investigation.

Political observers say the scandal — which includes tawdry details about an alleged intimate relationship between Horne and a subordinate — has damaged him politically. Many insiders considered Horne a contender for governor in 2014, but now say he is too wounded to seek higher office. Others question whether he could survive re-election attempts: already, Rotellini has said she will again run for the office.

ER visits tied to energy drinks double since 2007

ER visits tied to energy drinks double since 2007

Posted: Wednesday, January 16, 2013 2:00 pm | Updated: 2:45 pm, Wed Jan 16, 2013.

Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The young man stumbled into the emergency room late one night after a house party, saying his heart wouldn't stop pounding and he could barely breathe after downing liquor mixed with energy drinks.

Emergency physician Steve Sun soon found the patient was so dehydrated he was going into kidney failure — one of many troubling cases Sun says he has treated in recent years tied to energy drink consumption.

Sun's changing caseload appears in line with a new government survey that suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.

"Five years ago, perhaps I would see one or two cases every three months or so. Now we're consistently seeing about two cases per month," said Sun, assistant medical director of the emergency department at St. Mary's Medical Center, on the edge of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.

From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving the neon-labeled beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of the cases involved teens or young adults, according to the survey of the nation's hospitals released late last week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

More than half of the patients considered in the survey told doctors they had consumed only energy drinks. In 2011, about 42 percent of the cases involved energy drinks in combination with alcohol or drugs, such as the stimulants Adderall or Ritalin.

The beverage industry says energy drinks are safe and there is no proof linking the products to adverse reactions.

The report doesn't specify which symptoms brought people to the emergency room, but it calls energy drink consumption a "rising public health problem" that can cause insomnia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat and seizures that are severe enough to require emergency care.

Several emergency physicians said they had seen a clear uptick in the number of patients suffering from irregular heartbeats, anxiety and heart attacks who said they had recently downed an energy drink.

"A lot of people don't realize the strength of these things. I had someone come in recently who had drunk three energy drinks in an hour, which is the equivalent of 15 cups of coffee," said Howard Mell, an emergency physician in the suburbs of Cleveland, who serves as a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "Essentially he gave himself a stress test and thankfully he passed. But if he had a weak heart or suffered from coronary disease and didn't know it, this could have precipitated very bad things."

The findings came as concerns over energy drinks have intensified following reports last fall of 18 deaths possibly tied to the drinks and so-called energy shots — including a 14-year-old Maryland girl whose family filed a lawsuit after she drank two large cans of Monster Energy drinks and died. Monster says its products were not responsible for the death.

Two senators are calling for the Food and Drug Administration to investigate safety concerns about energy drinks and their ingredients.

Late last year, the FDA asked the U.S. Health and Human Services to update the figures its substance abuse research arm compiles about emergency room visits tied to energy drinks.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's survey was based on responses it receives from about 230 hospitals each year, a representative sample of about 5 percent of emergency departments nationwide. The agency then uses those responses to estimate the number of energy drink-related emergency department visits nationwide.

The more than 20,000 cases estimated for 2011 represent a small portion of the annual 136 million emergency room visits tracked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FDA said it was considering the findings and pressing for more details as it undertakes a broad review of the safety of energy drinks and related ingredients this spring.

"We will examine this additional information ... as a part of our ongoing investigation into potential safety issues surrounding the use of energy-drink products," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said in a statement.

Beverage manufacturers fired back at the survey, saying the statistics were misleading and taken out of context.

"This report does not share information about the overall health of those who may have consumed energy drinks, or what symptoms brought them to the ER in the first place," the American Beverage Association said in a statement. "There is no basis by which to understand the overall caffeine intake of any of these individuals — from all sources."

Energy drinks remain a small part of the carbonated soft drinks market, representing only 3.3 percent of sales volume, according to the industry tracker Beverage Digest. Even as soda consumption has flagged in recent years, energy drinks sales are growing rapidly.

In 2011, sales volume for energy drinks rose by almost 17 percent, with the top three companies — Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar — each logging double-digit gains, Beverage Digest found. The drinks are often marketed at sporting events that are popular among younger people such as surfing and skateboarding.

From 2007 to 2011, the most recent year for which data was available, people from 18 to 25 were the most common age group seeking emergency treatment for energy drink-related reactions, the report found.

"We were really concerned to find that in four years the number of emergency department visits almost doubled, and these drinks are largely marketed to younger people," said Al Woodward, a senior statistical analyst with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration who worked on the report.

3 Schaumburg cops accused of robbing drug dealers

Source

3 Schaumburg cops accused of robbing drug dealers

Staff report

7:10 a.m. CST, January 17, 2013

Three Schaumburg police officers will appear in court this morning accused of robbing drug dealers, officials said.

John Cichy, Matthew Hudak and Terrance O’Brien were taken into custody by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday, sources said. They were arrested following an investigation by DuPage County authorities working with the DEA, a village source said.

The investigation involved a sting and an informant who wore a wire, said a source close to the investigation. The source added that DEA agents went to the Schaumburg police station on Wednesday to confiscate records related to the arrests.

Cichy and Hudak were each charged with manufacturing or delivering between 100 and 400 grams of cocaine, armed violence, criminal drug conspiracy, conspiracy to manufacture or deliver between 100 and 400 grams of cocaine, official misconduct, theft between $10,000 and $100,000 in a school or place of worship, and burglary.

O'Brien was charged with manufacturing or delivering between 100 and 400 grams of cocaine, armed violence, drug conspiracy, official misconduct, theft of stolen property between $10,000 and $100,000 from a school or place of worship, and burglary.

All three are being held on $750,000 bond, according to the DuPage County sheriff’s office. They are expected to appear in bond court this morning, and a news conference is scheduled afterward.

Schaumburg police spokesman Sgt. John Nebl said late Wednesday that the three have been placed on leave pending the outcome of the criminal investigation.

Nebl said the department has launched its own investigation into the matter and has “pledged its ongoing assistance” in the criminal probe.

Nebl referred inquiries to the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office. DuPage County spokesman Paul Darrah confirmed the arrests but declined additional comment.

triblocalfeedback@tribune.com

Another medical marijuana flashback

Another medical marijuana flashback

The issue of medical marijuana is like LSD for Arizona lawmakers. Mention “pot” or “weed” and our politicians have hallucinogenic flashbacks of lost elections.

It doesn’t matter that Arizona citizens have voted to approve the use of medical marijuana three times. It doesn’t matter that the laws we approved have never been fully implemented, although what is happening now is the closest we’ve come.

What matters to some of our elected leaders is trying, somehow, some way, to get us to change our minds.

The latest effort is being led by Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, who filed a bill that would refer the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act back to the ballot in November 2014.

Why is Kavanagh doing it?

“In terms of the fire in my belly that made me pick up the gauntlet,” he told me, “I guess as a retired cop I have this deep respect for the law, and when I see people scamming the law — and not all, but a lot of these medical marijuana card holders are scamming the law — I get particularly upset.”

Kavanagh points to the fact that “chronic pain” is the most cited reason by patients who have been prescribed medical marijuana. It’s easily faked, he says. And he says he’s concerned that only a handful of doctors are writing most of the medical marijuana prescriptions.

He also is angry over an Arizona Criminal Justice Commission survey that found some Arizona teenagers were getting pot from medical-marijuana cardholders.

“These are all yellow flags,” Kavanagh told me.

Then again, a recent study also showed that overall marijuana use among Arizona’s kids has gone down. And another survey showed that 59 percent of Arizona residents support the medical marijuana law.

The fact that some marijuana cardholders break the law and sell to kids is a bad thing. But tossing out the medical marijuana law because of that is like saying we should reinstitute Prohibition because some beer drinkers purchase six-packs for teenagers.

Still, Kavanagh is adamant.

He says he has the votes in the Republican-controlled legislature to put the measure on the 2014 ballot, even though there is no great (or even small) hue and cry to rescind the law.

If Kavanagh were not in the legislature, which has the power to refer issues directly to voters, he would have to put together an organization and collect tens of thousands of signatures to put medical marijuana back on the ballot. I asked if he could do that.

“No,” he said. “The opposition to the medical marijuana initiative raised a grand total of about $10,000. While we call it the people’s initiative, unless you’ve got big bucks in today’s modern, high-population Arizona you are not getting an initiative on the ballot. They just can’t raise the money.”

Maybe that’s because there isn’t much interest in going over this issue again.

“The initiative passed by the slimmest of margins and the people were grossly misled,” Kavanagh said.

He points to the fact that the medical establishment does not embrace the use of marijuana. Although, to me, it is difficult to question the benefits expressed by medical marijuana users with health conditions as varied a multiple sclerosis, arthritis and Crohn’s Disease.

Kavanagh said he’s pushing this year to have medical marijuana on the 2014 ballot because “I want to give fair warning to those who would invest in clinics that their investment might be short lived. Second, I want to give the opponents of medical marijuana, who might support my initiative, the time to raise some bucks.”

He said he wouldn’t be doing this if marijuana supporters had been “honest” and, instead of promoting medical marijuana, pushed for the legalization of small amounts of pot, as was approved in November by voters in the states of Colorado and Washington.

Then again, Kavanagh and his supporters in the legislature have the power to bypass medical marijuana put the legalization question on the Arizona ballot.

They should do it.

Unless they’re afraid of an honest answer.

Prosecutors: Cops caught on tape robbing drug dealers

Source

3 Schaumburg cops accused of drug ring

By Christy Gutowski, Dan Hinkel and John Keilman Tribune reporters

January 18, 2013

When Carol Stream police discovered nearly 10 ounces of cocaine in an apartment storage locker early this month, the alleged owner of the drugs had a story to tell.

He said that after serving as an informant for three Schaumburg tactical police officers, he had become their business partner. The cops, he said, stole cash and narcotics from drug dealers. The informant peddled the dope they seized.

That claim led the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to mount a sting operation against the Schaumburg officers. When it allegedly bore fruit, federal agents pounced, arresting the men Wednesday outside of Woodfield Mall.

The officers now face a barrage of felony charges that could land them in prison for decades. It's the second recent blot on the Schaumburg Police Department's reputation: Chief Brian Howerton was recently investigated on allegations he harassed his ex-girlfriend, though prosecutors declined to press charges.

Now village officials are left grasping for answers at how this case of alleged corruption could take place in their town.

"I think that this is going to leave a mark on the department," Village Manager Ken Fritz said Thursday after the charges against the officers were outlined at a bond hearing. "It's sad for those people that have to carry on in the future and it's going to take us a long time to earn back some of the trust of the community."

DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney Audriana Anderson said in court that the roots of the alleged conspiracy stretch back to 2010, when officer Matthew Hudak arrested a man on drug charges and convinced him to become an informant.

But that relationship changed in mid-2012, Anderson said, when Hudak and his colleagues John Cichy and Terrance O'Brien — all tactical officers in Schaumburg's special investigations division, which handles drugs, gangs and undercover work — approached the informant with a new deal in mind: They wanted him to buy and sell drugs on their behalf.

Marijuana, cocaine and thousands of dollars repeatedly exchanged hands, prosecutors said. Hudak allegedly funded one buy with $14,000 in cash; he allegedly gave his share of marijuana to another drug dealer to sell.

Other times, prosecutors said, the officers gave the informant a portion of the narcotics they had recovered in legitimate busts. He allegedly sold it for them and split the profits.

Hudak, 29, tried to keep an eye on his partner, Anderson said, by illegally using a law enforcement computer system to check whether the informant had been in contact with other police agencies.

The officers allegedly stashed 6 pounds of marijuana at the Hoffman Estates home of Nicole Brehm, 44, who prosecutors said was O'Brien's longtime girlfriend and the mother of one of his children. O'Brien, 46, who has been a police officer for 20 years, is married and has four other children with his wife, prosecutors said.

A woman at O'Brien's northwest suburban home declined comment to a Tribune reporter Thursday.

The scheme went on for six to nine months, prosecutors said, until Carol Stream police, acting on an unrelated tip, got a search warrant for the informant's apartment. Once they found the drugs, the informant told them about his relationship with the Schaumburg police officers, prosecutors said.

That led to DEA surveillance, in which allegedly illegal exchanges were secretly recorded, and finally a sting operation.

Prosecutors said the informant told the officers that an out-of-state associate was coming into town, and they decided to rip him off. On Saturday, prosecutors said, the officers went to a Roselle storage unit where they believed the dealer had stashed $20,000.

Audio and video equipment captured what happened next, prosecutors said: The officers, wearing masks, broke in and took the cash. Then they brought the money back. Then they returned one more time and retrieved it. Cichy was caught on video lifting his mask, prosecutors said.

On Wednesday, federal agents arrested the officers in a parking lot outside of Woodfield Mall and executed 20 search warrants at the police station, the officers' homes and their cars. They found $10,000 of the bait money in Hudak's home and $5,000 each with Cichy and O'Brien, authorities said.

"Everything you have on tape, I did. You got me on that," Anderson quoted Hudak as telling authorities.

O'Brien told investigators that the trio committed the crimes "for the thrill of it," Anderson said.

The men answered a few perfunctory questions in bond court. Only Cichy, 30, showed any sign of emotion.

He choked back tears, buried his head in his hands and repeatedly shook his head as prosecutors detailed the allegations and possible prison terms. Cichy's girlfriend, mother and aunt sat quietly in the back row of the courtroom gallery as the men were ordered held on $750,000 cash bond.

The two most serious charges the men face — unlawful delivery of a controlled substance and calculated criminal drug conspiracy — carry a prison term of up to 40 years.

Brehm, O'Brien's girlfriend, was charged with calculated criminal drug conspiracy for allegedly letting the officers use her house to stash drugs.

Thomas Glasgow, Hudak's attorney, said his client had been set up by a "snitch" who was trying to wriggle out of trouble. Narcotics officers often make deals with "little fish" to zero in on bigger criminals, he said.

"In order to collar the bad guys, you've got to act like the bad guys," Glasgow said.

The offices of the Cook County state's attorney and public defender are looking at cases in which the officers were involved to determine whether any have been compromised. Criminal defense experts said some prosecutions could be tainted because of questions about the officers' credibility and their unavailability to testify.

A 1998 federal report on drug-related police corruption found that insufficiently supervised narcotics bureaus could be "high-risk environments" for illegal activity.

Howerton, Schaumburg's police chief, said he felt there was sufficient oversight of his department's special investigations unit.

"We believe this is the actions of three individuals, not a pervasive situation within the department," he said.

Freelance reporters Clifford Ward, George Houde and Amanda Marrazzo and Tribune reporter Jonathan Bullington contributed.

cmgutowski@tribune.com

dhinkel@tribune.com

jkeilman@tribune.com

Wanna buy some meth??? Ask Monsignor Kevin Wallin

Sources: Cross-dressing meth priest liked sex in rectory

Daniel Tepfer

Updated 8:49 pm, Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Catholic priest busted for allegedly dealing crystal meth was suspended after church officials discovered he was a cross-dresser who was having sex in the rectory at Bridgeport's St. Augustine Cathedral.

Monsignor Kevin Wallin was relieved of his duties in May, but the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport had continued to pay him a stipend until his Jan. 3 arrest -- a day he was planning to fly to London on vacation.

Now dubbed "Msgr. Meth" by some, Wallin seemed to live a life that easily could have been ripped from the script of "Breaking Bad," the popular AMC series about a high school chemistry teacher turned crystal methamphetamine producer. At one point, Wallin was selling upwards of $9,000 of meth a week, according to his indictment.

In his post-priesthood, Wallin, 61, bought an adult specialty and video store in North Haven called Land of Oz that sells sex toys and X-rated DVDs. Investigators believe the shop helped him launder thousands of dollars in weekly profits.

Wallin's arrest sent shock waves through the Bridgeport and Danbury communities where he was known as a charismatic speaker who was involved in many charitable activities, and who enjoyed Broadway musicals and show tunes. He often attended musicals with his mentor, former N.Y. Cardinal Edward Egan and parishioners.

"There is an evil invading our world and it has come to our church," said Maria Spencer-Fonseca, a long-time parishioner at St. Augustine as she stood outside the cathedral Thursday. "This was a work of evil -- and I am praying for the monsignor."

"I can't fathom it," said 77-year-old Therese Ruppert, a parishioner at the Church of St. Peter in Danbury, where Wallin was pastor from 1996 to 2002. "He was so spiritual. His sermons were wonderful. He had such knowledge of theology."

Wallin, who is represented by a federal public defender, is charged with possession with intent to distribute and distribution of methamphetamine. He has been detained without bond pending an arraignment next week.

Diocese officials stressed that they had no information that Wallin was selling drugs when he was pastor of St. Augustine's Cathedral or when he previously served as pastor of St. Peter Parish.

Ordained in 1984, he served in Bridgeport from that year until 1996, when he went to Danbury. He returned to Bridgeport in 2002 and remained until his resignation in 2011.

"We had no indication he had a drug problem and never had complaints regarding him and drugs," said Diocese Spokesman Brian Wallace.

Instead, Wallace said they became concerned in the spring of 2011 when they began receiving complaints from parishioners regarding Wallin's appearance and erratic behavior.

"We approached him and he admitted he was struggling a bit and shortly after that he resigned (July 2011) and the bishop granted him a sabbatical," Wallace said.

Wallin did go for a health assessment but then didn't go for follow-up examinations and subsequently dropped out of sight. As a result, Wallace said Wallin was suspended.

But sources knowledgeable with the case said the situation went deeper than diocese officials will publicly admit.

While pastor of St. Augustine's, sources said he often disappeared for days at a time; and rectory personnel became concerned and notified diocese officials when Wallin, sometimes dressed as a woman, would entertain odd-looking men, some who were also dressed in women's clothing and engaging in sex acts.

In addition, diocese officials found bizarre sex toys in Wallin's residence, the sources said.

Diocese officials consulted lawyers about the situation and were assured none of Wallin's behavior appeared illegal.

After he left the church, federal authorities say, Wallin rented two apartments on Golden Hill Street in Waterbury, one for himself and the other for his alleged partner in the drug business, Kenneth "Lyme" Devries, who was also arrested in the case along with Chad McCluskey and his girlfriend, Kristen Laschober, both of California.

Federal authorities said in July 2012 they received information from an informant that Wallin was selling methamphetamine in the Waterbury area.

They said the informant had met Wallin at a party in early 2012 and struck up an agreement for Wallin to sell the informant six ounces of the drug a week for a total of $9,000.

The arrangement last about six weeks, delayed only when Wallin had to go into rehabilitation for his own addiction to meth. During that time Wallin gave the informant the number of his California source so that the informant would still get the drug, the indictment affidavit states.

Beginning in late September 2012, an undercover officer with the Statewide Narcotics Task Force began buying meth from Wallin. During one of their meetings in Wallin's Waterbury apartment -- where he was later arrested -- the affidavit states the undercover officer saw a gallon-size plastic bag filled with crystal meth.

The telephone transactions between Wallin and the officer were recorded.

Despite the huge amounts of cash rolling in, Wallin would often get into disputes about money and disagreements with his partners over the weight of the drugs.

Wallin also kept three cell phones, rented two Waterbury apartments and delivered meth in magazines, the affidavit shows. The crystal meth came in shipments from McCluskey and his girlfriend, Laschober, who live in California. Both also have been indicted.

Wallin also was fluent in drug lingo, and in text messages he would often use street phrases such as "5 Grover Clevelands," for $500 worth of meth or "eight balls," for an eighth of an ounce, the indictment states.

Staff writer Michael P. Mayko contributed to this story

US commandos teach Mexico how to track drug cartels

Sounds like Pena Nieto is going to continue Felipe Calderon's insane Mexican drug war.

It's articles like these that make me think the American military or police will in the future launch drone strikes against suspected drug dealers in America.

Source

Congressmen: Operation will improve safety on border

Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2013 10:23 pm

By LAURA B. MARTINEZ The Brownsville Herald

Two South Texas congressmen have thrown their support toward a program in which U.S.-based commandos will teach Mexican security forces how to track drug cartels similar to the way the U.S. hunts al-Qaida terrorists.

The Pentagon is stepping up training for Mexico’s security forces and will train them how to focus on drug criminal networks that have left at least 70,000 dead during a six-year period, The Associated Press reported.

U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, said such a program will make both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border safe and could possibly give Mexicans who have fled their country for safety concerns a chance to return home. [Rubbish - The only way to make American and Mexico safer is to end the insane "War on Drugs"]

“I think this is the kind of robust effort that our country needs to put forward so that we can make Mexico safe for its own citizens along the border — safe enough so people who have moved over who want to go back can go back and live in their homes, and for us to visit” there, Vela said.

The program, based out of the U.S. Northern Command in Colorado, will show Mexican security forces how U.S. special troop operations built an interagency network to target al-Qaida mastermind Osama bin Laden and his followers, The AP reported.

“I think the bottom line is, making Mexico safe help keeps us safe here,” Vela said.

The special operations program already has helped Mexico establish its own intelligence center in Mexico City to target networks, patterned after similar centers in war zones built to search for al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Iraq, the AP reported.U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, said the program is an extension of the Mérida Initiative that he helped establish around 2007 and 2008 that provides extensive military assistance to Mexico.

“I am in full agreement with what the Pentagon is doing to help Mexico in the drug war that they are in. I think the experience that our U.S.-based special operations folks can teach Mexican security forces to find and disable the drug cartels, the way they did al-Qaida, is something that I think the Mexicans, if they take advantage of this, will be extremely helpful to them,” Cuellar said.

Statistics show the U.S. has spent $821 billion in direct operations on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than $9 billion in Colombia. [Wow! That is about 5 percent of the $16.5 trillion national debt] It has spent $1.9 billion on the Mérida Initiative. The Obama administration is seeking to spend an additional $234 million on this plan.

Statistics also show 50,168 Iraqi casualties in the Iraq War, compared to the more than 70,000 killed in the Mexico drug wars. When Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto took office Dec. 1 he said it is important that the U.S. and Mexico work together to fight border violence, sharing intelligence information and cooperation between law enforcement authorities.

Cuellar said helping Mexico curtail drug violence is something he has supported for a while and he is glad that the Department of Defense is offering its assistance.

He emphasized that the U.S. will not go into Mexico to hunt down the drug cartels or conduct any raids there. “We respect Mexican sovereignty and we will do as much as Mexico wants us to do.”

“This is something that is long overdue,” Cuellar said. “What is happening in Mexico, it is alarming in certain areas and I think all of this comes in at the appropriate time.”

lmartinez@brownsvilleherald.com

Pentagon offers boost in aid to Mexico’s security forces

Pentagon offers boost in aid to Mexico’s security forces

Posted on January 17, 2013 By AP Mexico

Will Mexico agree?

Mexican and U.S. military officials played down the change, and it’s unclear whether the Mexican government will agree to boost its training.

“We are merely placing a component commander in charge of things we are already doing,” said Northcom spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis in a written statement.

Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Department emailed a statement saying it had been briefed on the changes, and had no further comment.

The creation of the new command marks another expansion of Adm. Bill McRaven’s special operations empire, as he seeks to migrate special operators from their decade of service in war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan to new missions, even as the rest of the military fights post-war contraction and multi-billion-dollar budget cuts.

The new headquarters will also coordinate special operations troops when needed for domestic roles like rescuing survivors after a natural disaster, or helping the U.S. Coast Guard strike ships carrying suspect cargo just outside U.S. territorial waters, according to multiple current and former U.S. officials briefed on the mission. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the Pentagon has not formally announced the new headquarters.

The initial document petitioning Panetta for the command stresses the command’s role in military-to-military cooperation with Mexico. The document was signed in September 2012 by McRaven and Northcom commander Gen. Charles Jacoby.

Northcom’s current special operations training missions are an outgrowth of the Merida Initiative that was formalized in 2008, to provide extensive military assistance to Mexico. The extra special operations staff, including both troops and civilians, will help coordinate more missions as Mexico requests them, current and former officials said.

Pena Nieto is likely to welcome the continued training to help him build and coordinate the forces he needs to reduce drug violence, according to Rand Corp.’s Dr. Agnes Gereben Schaefer.

“He has talked about setting up a paramilitary force…made up of former military and police forces, which he has described as more surgical,” than the current campaign by Mexican army and police, Schaefer said. He would dispatch the force into towns that have been overrun by drug violence, where police don’t have the numbers to fight it, she said.

These news don’t mean U.S. special operations teams will be conducting raids in Mexico

Mexican military, intelligence and law enforcement chiefs have already toured the Joint Special Operations Command headquarters at Fort Bragg in North Carolina to see how U.S. officers coordinate efforts by special operations aircraft, naval vessels and air- and sea-based raiders, according to one current military official.

A small group of top Mexican military and intelligence officials also visited the command’s targeting center at the Balad air base in Iraq before the U.S. troop withdrawal in 2011, a former U.S. official said.

U.S. officials stress that sharing this expertise does not mean U.S. special operations teams will be conducting raids against targets in Mexico, nor will they be entering the country with their own weapons. Mexico forbids U.S. military or law enforcement officers from carrying guns inside their borders, with few exceptions, though American commandos have conducted training missions in the past, two current and one former U.S. military official said. They were speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive missions.

The war on pot is no safe bet - Protecting teens? It hasn't worked

The war on pot is no safe bet

Protecting teens? It hasn't worked

Steve Chapman

January 20, 2013

As recreational drugs go, marijuana is relatively benign. Unlike alcohol, it doesn't stimulate violence or destroy livers. Unlike tobacco, it doesn't cause lung cancer and heart disease. The worst you can say is that it produces intense, unreasoning panic. Not in users, but in critics.

Those critics have less influence all the time. Some 18 states permit medical use of marijuana, and in November, Colorado and Washington voted to allow recreational use. Nationally, support for legalization is steadily rising. A decade ago, one of every three Americans favored the idea. Today, nearly half do — and among those under 50, a large majority does.

These trends have die-hard drug warriors screaming bloody murder. Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., has formed a new organization to stop what he imagines to be the "300-miles-per-hour freight train to legalization." He says that such a change would be especially harmful to teenagers.

White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske insists that even allowing medicinal pot "sends a terrible message" to adolescents. Mitchell Rosenthal, a psychiatrist who founded the substance-abuse treatment group Phoenix House, says there is "mounting evidence of the dangers it poses, especially to young users."

They might have a point if existing drug laws were keeping weed out of the hands of wayward kids. In truth, they're about as effective as a picket fence in a tidal wave. In a 2009 survey, high school students said they found it easier to get than beer. In 2011, 23 percent of 12th-graders said they had used weed in the preceding month.

In the past five years, drinking and cigarette smoking have dropped by more than 10 percent among high school seniors. But pot smoking has risen by 23 percent. Alcohol and tobacco are legal for adults. Marijuana is not.

What these trends indicate is that authorizing the sale and use of a substance does not necessarily mean more people will use it. There is no contradiction between letting adults make up their own minds, with some government regulation, and providing effective education for youngsters about the hazards of underage consumption.

No one, after all, is talking about putting pot in vending machines or handing out blunts at Taylor Swift concerts. The idea is to treat pot like booze — permitting its sale and use to adults in a government-regulated market, with penalties for behavior (like driving under the influence) that endangers other people.

The tolerance-fuels-use theory is thunderously lacking in real-world support. In the Netherlands, where "coffee shops" are allowed to sell pot, teenagers are far less likely to use it than their American peers.

The experience here falls short of bloodcurdling. "In the states that have passed medical-marijuana laws, youth marijuana use has decreased," Amanda Reiman, policy manager for the Drug Policy Alliance, told me. In California, "the number of seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders reporting marijuana use in the last six months and in their lifetimes all declined" after 1996, when the state passed its medical marijuana law.

The alleged harms of cannabis on the teen mind and body are generally exaggerated. Critics have trumpeted a study last year that said teenagers with a heavy habit turn out to have lower IQs as adults than their peers who avoided the stuff.

But a new assessment by Norwegian scientist Ole Rogeberg, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that the IQ differences might well stem from differences in income, education and other factors. "The true effect," he said, "could be zero." It's pretty clear that heavy drinking is a far bigger danger to developing brains.

Those worried about the welfare of potheads might also want to take into account the dangers that exist only because cannabis is illegal. Criminals who grow or supply the stuff have little incentive to monitor quality, prevent adulteration or assure consistent doses.

A kid who gets his hands on beer doesn't have to worry about getting toxic chemicals or nasty fillers. Buying pot in illicit markets may also expose users of all ages to violence, robbery or extortion. But you don't see innocent bystanders getting killed in shootouts among liquor store owners.

The alternative to legalization is sticking with a policy that has produced millions of arrests, squandered hundreds of billions of dollars and turned many harmless people into criminals in the eyes of the law — all while failing to stem the popularity of pot. For kids or adults, there is nothing healthy in that.

Steve Chapman is a member of the Tribune's editorial board and blogs at chicagotribune.com/chapman.

schapman@tribune.com

Twitter @SteveChapman13

Alcohol kills 10 times as many people as guns do!!!

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Turley-Hansen: Time to get real about the world’s addiction to alcohol

Posted: Friday, January 18, 2013 9:45 am | Updated: 10:43 am, Fri Jan 18, 2013.

Guest Commentary by Linda Turley-Hansen | 11 comments

She’s young, tall-model-slender, beautiful and with a song bird voice. I’ll call her Annie. And, today she sits in jail, serving a lengthy term for her history with drugs. Like so many others, her road to trouble started with alcohol.

So, we all want our children safe, right? Few debates elicit unity in the way child protection issues do. Here in the East Valley we’re a family community and we work hard at providing every opportunity for the next generations. But still many are not willing to provide safety at adult expense. Case in point: the world’s addiction to alcohol.

Did you know Arizona ranks at the top nationally in regards to youth drinking (U.S. Center for Disease Control, June 8, 2012)? Arizona high schools surveyed rank No. 1 “for alcohol use and binge drinking” and No. 2 “for cocaine use and drinking alcohol on school property.”

We yip and carry on about gun dangers, yet right in our own homes are the roots of not only death, some of them slow and torturous, but also the collapse of marriages, endless lost jobs and more sorrows than can be recounted in one little column. Just ask Annie.

It’d be a wonderful world if there were no killing machines, but humans have proven we’ll still find a way to do ourselves and others in. It’s when we lead our kids down destructive paths that we really stand condemned. Yet we remain complacent because we don’t binge and are not addicted — so what’s the big deal, right?

I’ve harped on this before, but when we see news reports about high school students binging, and dying, and involved in alcohol related rapes and other violence, the topic cries to be revisited with the same passion as gun control, infant car seats and fast food.

Experts tell us in today’s culture, teens feel extreme social pressure to drink. Then, as their youth/adult crossroads overflow with confusion they discover alcohol suppresses feelings. Without adults to show them a better way, their choices are predictable.

Still not convinced?

Think about this: Women are the fastest growing segment of the alcohol abusing population. Yet, women’s bodies are less tolerant to alcohol than men. Further, “binge drinking can increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer, heart disease, unintentional pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and auto accidents” (CDC).

Of 23,000 annual deaths attributed to excessive alcohol use among females, binge drinking accounts for more than half (CDC).

One other small fact: The CDC reports for every gun related death, there are ten alcohol related deaths. Yeah. Let’s “get the guns.”

Politics drive this issue; we know that, while one of the biggest killers ever is sitting right in children’s homes, used by their parents, night after night “just to relax,” or as a primary social beverage.

Not your problem? Really? This is one monster failure of society. The affects touch everyone from taxes to spiritual deprivation. Ask Annie and all the others.

Why wait for social norms to change? As just one parent, your example and educated outreach might save a child, or dozens. One of them might just belong to you.

East Valley resident Linda Turley-Hansen (turleyhansen@gmail.com) is a syndicated columnist and former Phoenix veteran TV anchor.

Indonesia sentences UK woman to death over drugs

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Indonesia sentences UK woman to death over drugs

By FIRDIA LISNAWATI, Associated Press

Updated 5:41 am, Tuesday, January 22, 2013

BALI, Indonesia (AP) — An Indonesian court sentenced a British grandmother to death on Tuesday for smuggling cocaine worth $2.5 million in her suitcase onto the resort island of Bali — even though prosecutors had sought only a 15-year sentence.

Lindsay June Sandiford, 56, wept when judges handed down the sentence and declined to speak to reporters on her way back to prison, covering her face with a floral scarf. She had claimed in court that she was forced to take the drugs into the country by a gang that was threatening to hurt her children.

Indonesia, like many Asian countries, is very strict on drug crimes, and most of the more than 40 foreigners on its death row were convicted of drug charges.

Sandiford's lawyer said she would appeal, a process that can take several years. Condemned criminals face a firing squad in Indonesia, which has not carried out an execution since 2008, when 10 people were put to death.

A verdict is expected in the trial of Sandiford's alleged accomplice, Briton Julian Anthony Pounder, next Tuesday. He is accused of receiving the drugs in Bali, which has a busy bar and nightclub scene where party drugs such as cocaine and Ecstasy are bought and sold between foreigners. Two other British citizens and an Indian have already been convicted and sentenced to prison in connection with the bust.

In London, British Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire told lawmakers Wednesday that the government strongly opposes Sandiford's sentence.

"We strongly object to the death penalty and continue to provide consular assistance to Lindsay and her family during this difficult time," he said.

Martin Horwood, a member of Parliament representing Sandiford's Cheltenham constituency in western England, called the sentence a shock and said he would raise the case with Foreign Secretary William Hague.

"The days of the death penalty ought to be past. This is not the way that a country that now values democracy and human rights should really be behaving," Horwood told the BBC.

Harriet McCulloch of human rights charity Reprieve, which is assisting Sandiford, urged the British government to support her appeal.

"Lindsay has always maintained that she only agreed to carry the package to Bali after receiving threats against the lives of her family," McCulloch said. "She is clearly not a drug kingpin — she has no money to pay for a lawyer, for the travel costs of defense witnesses or even for essentials like food and water."

In its verdict, a panel of Denpasar District Court judges concluded that Sandiford had damaged the image of Bali as a tourism destination and weakened the government's drug prevention program.

"We found no reason to lighten her sentence," said Amser Simanjuntak, who headed the judicial panel.

Prosecutors had been seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Sandiford, who was arrested in May when customs officers at Bali's airport discovered 3.8 kilograms (8.4 pounds) of cocaine in the lining of her luggage.

State prosecutor Lie Putra Setiawan told reporters that the verdict was "appropriate," explaining that prosecutors had been demanding 15 years because of Sandiford's age.

Indonesia has 114 prisoners on death row, according to a March 2012 study by Australia's Lowy Institute for International Policy. Five foreigners have been executed since 1998, all for drug crimes, according to the institute.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has granted clemency to four drug offenders on death row since he took office in 2004.

The most publicized recent case internationally is that of Schapelle Corby, an Australian convicted of smuggling marijuana in 2005. Her 20-year sentence was reduced last year and she is now eligible for parole, but she remains imprisoned.

___

Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

Marijuana still a drug with no accepted medical use

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Marijuana still a drug with no accepted medical use, court says

By David G. Savage, Washington Bureau

January 22, 2013, 6:48 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Marijuana will continue to be considered a highly dangerous drug under federal law with no accepted medical uses, after a U.S. appeals court Tuesday refused to order a change in the government's 40-year-old drug classification schedule.

The decision keeps in place an odd legal split over marijuana, a drug deemed to be as dangerous as heroin and worse than methamphetamine by federal authorities, but one that has been legalized for medical use by voters or legislators in 20 states and the District of Columbia.

A marijuana advocacy group went to court, arguing that federal officials had a duty to reexamine the medical evidence and reclassify marijuana as a drug that has clear benefits for those who are suffering and in pain. Joe Elford, counsel for Americans for Safe Access, said federal drug officials had a bias against marijuana that caused them to ignore its benefits and to exaggerate its dangers.

But three judges said they had a duty to defer to the judgment of federal health experts who had concluded they needed more evidence before reclassifying marijuana.

"To establish accepted medical use, the effectiveness of a drug must be established in well-controlled, well-designed, well-conducted and well-documented scientific studies [with] a large number of patients. To date, such studies have not been performed," the Drug Enforcement Administration said in defense of its decision. The passage was quoted in Tuesday's opinion.

Judge Harry Edwards, writing for the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, said the judges did not dispute that "marijuana could have some medical benefits." Instead, he said, they were not willing to overrule the DEA because they had not seen large "well-controlled studies" that proved the medical value of marijuana.

"We're disappointed, but not surprised," said Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access. She said more than 1 million patients used marijuana as medicine across the nation.

She said the group would appeal to the Supreme Court. "We are also turning our attention to Congress. It is time we had a conversation about marijuana at the federal level," she said.

In December, President Obama and Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said they were prepared to reconsider federal law that makes possession of small amounts of marijuana a crime. They were reacting to voters in Colorado and Washington who opted to permit recreational users to have an ounce of marijuana at home.

"So, what we're going to need to have is a conversation about how do you reconcile a federal law that still says marijuana is a federal offense and state laws that it's legal," Obama told ABC News.

Leahy said he would consider legislative proposals that could relax federal enforcement against small amounts of marijuana.

david.savage@latimes.com

Who the h*ll is Jesus Malverde????

Medical pot advocates: Target illegal clubs, leave law alone

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Medical pot advocates: Target illegal clubs, leave law alone

By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez The Republic | azcentral.com Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:55 PM

Dispensary owners, patients and advocates of medical marijuana are asking state lawmakers to reconsider an attempt to repeal the 2010 law that legalized the drug to treat certain medical conditions.

Instead of taking the medical marijuana issue back to voters, they urged the Legislature Thursday to clamp down on unregulated marijuana clubs — often called “compassion clubs,” — to ensure patients receive their recommended drugs within the guidelines of the new law.

There are no provisions for such clubs in the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, and they are not regulated by the Department of Health Services, which oversees the medical marijuana program and regulates dispensaries where patients and caregivers can legally buy marijuana.

The compassion clubs typically ask patients to pay a fee to obtain marijuana even though the law does not allow people to exchange anything of value for the drug except in dispensaries. However, the clubs popped up statewide as patients waited for the opening of dispensaries, which were delayed because of prolonged legal battles between medical marijuana advocates and state and county officials. In a few known instances, law enforcement has taken action against the clubs. In the two most high profile cases, police raided the clubs and the Maricopa County Attorney's Office prosecuted the operators under existing drug laws.

Ryan Hurley, an attorney specializing in medical marijuana law, said the law should not be repealed, but that police, prosecutors and lawmakers, should target the unregulated clubs to ensure patients receive their medication in a controlled and secure environment.

“If there are abuses in the system, that's where they can be addressed, with law enforcement, the Department of Health Services, (and) we're happy to work with the Arizona Legislature to regulate and to reform, where needed," he said.

Medical marijuana advocates say lawmakers who want to repeal the law either don’t understand how the drug helps patients, or they are putting their politics before the will of voters.

Jim Dyer, 60, a Republican and former attorney said during a Thursday news conference that conventional painkillers and muscle relaxants aren’t an effective treatment for his Multiple Sclerosis because they put him to sleep or further affect his muscles. Medical cannabis, he said, is the only remedy.

“I don’t understand why the legislature wants to get in the face of the voters again and tell them, oh hey, we want you to vote on this again,’” he said. “That’s insulting to me, and it should be insulting to the rest of the voters in Arizona.”

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, has introduced a bill that would refer the marijuana law back to the ballot in November 2014. House Concurrent Resolution 2003 would require the Legislature's approval but not Gov. Jan Brewer's signature.

Kavanagh said voters deserve the right to rethink whether the law, approved by them in 2010, should have passed in the first place, pointing out that voters approved the law by a narrow margin of about 4,300 votes.

He said the program is seriously flawed, citing recent findings that only a portion of the state’s physicians are recommending marijuana, that some teens report they are obtaining pot from medical-marijuana cardholders, and that most patients are citing chronic pain as debilitating conditions —not cancer, as he says voters were led to believe.

Kavanagh questioned the effectiveness of marijuana in treating medical conditions and cited a decision by a three-member panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which rejected a petition to reclassify marijuana from its status as a dangerous drug with no accepted medical use.

“There are so many yellow flags that say this program is full of abuse … that the voters should be allowed to reconsider,” he said. “Everybody’s heart has to go out to people who have debilitating and painful illnesses, and mine does also. But these people have to be protected from ineffective and dangerous drugs.”

About 34,000 Arizonans are allowed to smoke or grow marijuana, according to the state Department of Health Services. Of them, 3.76 percent use marijuana to ease cancer symptoms; less than 2 percent cite glaucoma. The overwhelming majority, 90 percent, cite severe and chronic pain.

Voters’ will goes to pot — again

Source

Voters’ will goes to pot — again

If state legislators believe that Arizona citizens want to reconsider the medical marijuana law they should go out and collect signatures and put an initiative on the ballot, just like Arizona citizens have done three times, passing a medical marijuana law each time.

Instead, Rep. John Kavanagh and the Republicans who control the legislature want to put the issue on the ballot in 2014 without having collected a single signature. (See the latest article here by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez.)

It’s a little perk legislators have that the rest of us do not.

Not long ago, when I wrote a column about this, I asked Kavanagh if he thought he could get the question on the ballot if he weren’t a member of the legislature.

“No,” he said. “The opposition to the medical-marijuana initiative raised a grand total of about $10,000. While we call it the people’s initiative, unless you’ve got big bucks in today’s modern, high-population Arizona, you are not getting an initiative on the ballot. They just can’t raise the money.”

But is it the money or the desire?

Have you seen any large group of people demonstrating at the capitol to reverse the medical marijuana law?

Me neither.

Because there is none.

Some politicians simply don’t like citizens taking matters into their own hands when it comes to issues like this.

Instead of beating the opposition in a fair fight, they keep putting the issue before voters, making it difficult, if not impossible, to get a workable system up and running.

Investors get squeamish, not knowing if their business will suddenly become illegal.

It’s a backhanded attempt to thwart the will of the voters.

You.

The people they’re supposed to represent.

Government rulers protect themselves from us serfs!!!

Elgin puts safety — of its City Council — first

Elgin puts safety — of its City Council — first

Bulletproof dais and individual panic buttons part of $75,000 package

By Kate Thayer and John Keilman, Chicago Tribune reporters

9:53 p.m. CST, January 23, 2013

The streets of Elgin are as safe as they've been in 40 years, but government leaders aren't taking any chances when it comes to City Hall.

The City Council voted unanimously late Wednesday to spend nearly $75,000 to bolster security as part of a remodeling of the 45-year-old building. The new features will include a staffed metal detector at the entrance, a bulletproof dais and panic buttons in the council chamber and several new surveillance cameras.

City officials said no specific threat was behind the planned changes. It simply made sense to beef up security during the remodeling, they said, especially because the council chamber also serves as a branch of the Kane County court.

"Most people who walk into a government building, they expect to be on camera somewhere, they expect to be protected," said Councilman John Prigge. "In this world we are surrounded by video cameras. We are a normally high-tech world. In the council chambers, it's fair to say we're not."

Strong security measures have long been in place in courthouses, police headquarters and federal buildings, but city halls and school boards have remained relatively open. Across the country, though, that's starting to change as well-publicized acts of violence convince elected officials that it's time to turn their buildings into hard targets.

They're installing metal detectors, having police officers stand guard during public meetings and, in some cases, adding features to their meeting rooms meant to protect officials from gunfire.

Albuquerque, N.M., is one of numerous cities that have lined their meeting room daises with bulletproof material, providing a chance for City Council members to duck out of harm's way should a shooting break out. The Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County, Calif., spent $77,000 to create what the local media referred to as a "panic room" behind its meeting chamber. (A county spokeswoman described it as a reinforced conference room, without offering details.)

Officials with Bay District Schools in Panama City, Fla., decided to add a bulletproof dais and an armed sheriff's deputy after a disturbed man showed up at 2010 board meeting with a gun. He fired several times at Superintendent Bill Husfelt and several board members as they dropped behind their plywood dais, missing them, before being shot by the district's security chief and taking his own life.

"I feel safer now than I did before, but I think it's a mental thing we did mainly for our employees," Husfelt said.

Barbara A. Nadel, a New York architect who writes frequently about building security, said new features alone aren't enough to ensure safety in public buildings. She cited a 2003 incident in New York City in which a gunman evaded a metal detector by entering City Hall with a councilman who didn't have to pass through security.

The gunman, a political opponent of the councilman, shot him dead in the council chamber before being killed by a police officer.

"We can put in all kinds of bells and whistles, but if people aren't following policies and procedures, security can be breached," Nadel said.

The security changes at Elgin's City Hall come as the growing suburb — its population is now about 109,000 — is poised to add two seats to its City Council after the April municipal election. The council now has six seats, plus the mayor.

City officials said the expanding council prompted a remodeling plan, budgeted at $374,000, and security quickly became part of the discussion. Mayor David Kaptain said last month's mass school shooting in Newtown, Conn., did not affect the city's plan, which had been under discussion for more than a year.

Although police recently reported that Elgin's crime is at a 40-year low, the city best known for its Grand Victoria Casino has had its share of violence compared with other suburbs. City Council meetings often draw a crowd, and sometimes a heated discussion.

City Hall has kept a metal detector at the entrance to the council chambers, but visitors have only had to pass through it when the room hosts satellite sessions for the Kane County court. It hasn't been used for council meetings, but the city now plans to put it at the building's front entrance so all visitors are screened.

As for bulletproofing, the council chamber's dais already has a single panel that protects the spot where the judge (or mayor) sits. The city's plan calls for outfitting the entire dais with similar material.

City Manager Sean Stegall said Elgin tried to strike a balance between security and open government; that's why no one considered topping the dais with bulletproof glass, he said.

But he added that installing more bulletproof panels is a wise precaution should anyone get past the metal detector with a weapon. Council members would be the likely target in such a scenario, he said.

Other features to be added include panic buttons for each council member that, when pressed, would alert a police dispatcher to trouble. City Hall also will get new security cameras in the council chamber, the lobby and stairwells.

The city also plans to upgrade its audiovisual equipment and audience seating. Stegall said that is meant to make for better viewing of council meetings, whether in person or via the local cable TV access channel.

kthayer@tribune.com jkeilman@tribune.com

Woman gets 10 years for giving child a pain killer

Source

Mom gets 10 years giving boy Methadone

By Cecilia Chan

Arizona Republic-12 News Breaking News Team

Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:52 PM

A woman accused of overdosing her son with a mixture of Kool Aid and methadone was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison, the Maricopa County Superior Court reported.

Judge Edward Bassett, following a plea agreement, also gave Jennifer Campos a lifetime probation for child abuse and attempted child abuse, officials said.

Campos, 26, and Anthony Casillas, 38, were arrested in 2011 after suspecting of giving their then-2-year-old son a mixture of the punch and prescription painkiller, according to court documents.

The couple were staying at a motel near Black Canyon Highway and West Griswold Road in Phoenix when the incident occurred.

At some point during the motel stay, the boy apparently became fussy. His gums were bleeding and his teeth were rotting, according to the documents.

The parents mixed the narcotic with Kool Aid and gave the drink to the child, authorities said.

The child's lips swelled, prompting friends at the motel room to call authorities. Responding police officers found the toddler unresponsive and not breathing, according to the documents.

The court records indicate the child had methadone, amphetamine, acetone and nicotine in his system.

Gilbert, Arizona declares war on alcohol!!!!

Source

The hypocritical war on alcohol

MORNING UPDATE, JAN. 25:

Tea-totaler: The war on alcohol has resurfaced in Gilbert. Jared Taylor, a newly elected town councilman, has pledged to vote against all liquor licenses, while Mayor John Lewis and Vice Mayor Ben Cooper joined him in voting against alcohol samples at Sprouts because — gasp! — children could see adults drinking in a grocery store.

Efforts to curb alcohol in town have surfaced several times over the last few years, almost exclusively from its socially conservative elected leaders. They seem to think booze degrades Gilbert’s “family-friendly image,” whatever that means.

In reality, their efforts make the town seem boring and backward — hardly the place young, educated types would want to live, much less visit. Which leads me to this excerpt from a 2010 column I wrote:

This viewpoint doesn’t square with the reality of life in Gilbert. If anything, it perpetuates a stereotype that doesn’t exist.

Don’t believe me? Pay attention to what people are buying the next time you’re in line at the grocery-store checkout. I see lots of six-packs and bottles of wine in carts, and there are always people in the alcohol aisle, often with kids in tow. …

Though some might suggest otherwise, not everyone who lives here takes such a hard-line view on alcohol. There are plenty of us who think that society will be just fine if kids witness adults drinking responsibly.

If looks could kill: If a picture is worth a thousand words, two shots say all that needs to be said about Wednesday’s congressional hearings on Benghazi. BuzzFeed offers two hilariously curt images from departing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Arizona Sen. John McCain, one of her loudest critics. Clearly, there is no love lost here.

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery tries to can Prop 203 - Again!!!!

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County attorney seeks Arizona Supreme Court ruling on medical pot

By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez The Republic | azcentral.com Fri Jan 25, 2013 9:47 PM

Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery is petitioning the Arizona Supreme Court to bypass the appellate court and hear his arguments on a high-profile medical-marijuana case.

The case centers on whether the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act is pre-empted by federal law.

A Maricopa County Superior Court in December ruled that federal drug laws do not pre-empt the state’s medical-marijuana program and that public officials must implement the voter-mandated law.

In his petition, filed Friday, Montgomery stressed the importance of quickly resolving whether that ruling should stand.

“The issue presented — whether the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act is pre-empted by the federal Controlled Substances Act — is an important issue of statewide impact,” the petition says.

Voters approved the state’s medical-marijuana law in 2010.

More than 33,000 people have permission to use medical marijuana in Arizona.

State health officials in August selected nearly 100 dispensary owners who are authorized to sell and grow marijuana if they meet state regulations.

In his ruling, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon made it clear that marijuana is illegal under federal law, but he wrote that the U.S. Constitution allows Arizona to make different policy choices from the federal government when it comes to decriminalizing and regulating medical marijuana.

The Arizona Medical Marijuana Act does not undermine the federal Controlled Substances Act, which makes possession, sale or use of marijuana a crime, he wrote.

There is a paid snitch in your jail cell????

What Scott Dekraai is accused of doing was wrong and I don't endorse crimes like it.

But about two thirds of the people in American prisons are not there for committing real crimes, but for committing victimless drug war crimes which should be legal.

So if you are in jail for a victimless drug war crime or other victimless crime like gambling, prostitution or insulting a royal government rulers remember keep your mouth shut. There is a good chance there are paid government snitches in jail with you and anything you say will be used against you.

Source

Defense in salon killings will get data on jail informant

By Nicole Santa Cruz, Los Angeles Times

January 25, 2013, 8:13 p.m.

Prosecutors were ordered Friday to hand over material about a jailhouse informant who helped authorities secretly record hours of conversation with the man accused of gunning down eight people in the deadliest mass shooting in Orange County history.

The recordings were made a week after the arrest of Scott Dekraai, 43, in the 2011 midday rampage at a Seal Beach salon where his ex-wife worked.

Defense attorney Scott Sanders argued that he needs more information about the informant and his involvement with other criminal cases, including Dekraai's, to determine whether his client's right to a fair trial has been violated.

In court filings, Sanders said the informant, who is facing two life sentences for various crimes, including drug-related felonies, has had three years of delays on his cases and has been the "beneficiary of special treatment."

Prosecutors argued that because the informant would not be called as a witness in the trial, the information did not need to be turned over. But Orange County Superior Court Judge Thomas Goethals disagreed and ordered prosecutors to turn over the information.

The informant, referred to as "Fernando P." in court documents, alerted law enforcement after Dekraai began talking about the case in his jail cell, according to court documents.

After prosecutors, investigators and law enforcement officers met with the man, a recording device was placed in Dekraai's cell for six days.

The recordings include 132 segments of one-hour audio files, many of which include conversations about Dekraai's "crimes and personal history," according to court documents.

Prosecutors intend to use the recordings at a jury trial, Assistant Dist. Atty. Dan Wagner said.

In a court filing, Wagner said that the inmate did not initiate the conversations, and responded only with words such as "really," "wow" and "huh."

He also said that the district attorney does not intend to give the informant any leniency on his sentencing. [Yea, sure!!!!! If you believe that I have some land in Florida I would like to sell you!!!!]

In court Friday, Wagner said that Dekraai babbled "on and on" to the informant without being prompted and made "inflammatory" statements such as "I wrecked my life."

"We want the jury to hear everything the defendant said," Wagner said after the hearing.

He added that he believes the evidence in the tapes will show Dekraai's "mind-set" about the crimes.

In January 2012, Dekraai was indicted on eight counts of murder with special circumstances and one felony count of attempted murder. Dekraai has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty.

A tentative trial date has been set for March 25, though Sanders said the defense is "not close to being ready."

nicole.santacruz@latimes.com

Miranda rights in Mexico???

Fifth Amendment rights in Mexico???

Of course the cops always tell me I don't have any stinking 5th Amendment rights and make all kinds of nasty evil threats on what will happen to me if I don't answer their questions.

I suspect the Mexican cops will behave the same way.

Believe it or not the Mexican Constitution has it's own version of the 5th Amendment which is Article 20 and allows people charged to remain silent.

Artículo 20

II. No podrá ser compelido a declarar en su contra, por lo cual queda rigurosamente prohibida toda incomunicación o cualquier otro medio que tienda a aquel objeto;

Second Amendment rights in Mexico???

Artículo 10

Los habitantes de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos tienen derecho a poseer armas en su domicilio, para su seguridad y legitima defensa, con excepción de las prohibidas por la ley federal y de las reservadas para el uso exclusivo del Ejército, Armada, Fuerza Aérea y Guardia Nacional. La ley federal determinara los casos, condiciones, requisitos y lugares en que se podrán autorizar a los habitantes la portaron de armas.

Mexican suspects to get Miranda-style warnings

Associated Press Sat Jan 26, 2013 2:02 PM

MEXICO CITY — Reading suspects their rights is something most Mexicans have only seen in American movies.

But authorities say they are starting a program to require police to read suspects their rights or risk letting them go free.

The assistant secretary of the interior says all federal police will have to advise detainees of their right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer.

Eduardo Sanchez says the warning will also advise foreigners they have a right to consular assistance and Indians that they can have translators.

The Interior Department said Friday that suspects could appeal to win their release if they are not read their rights, but that would not necessarily void the charges against them.

The United States has required so-called “Miranda Rights” warnings since the 1960s. [Yea, but the police routinely ignore your Miranda Rights. About the only place you will ever see a cop read somebody their Miranda Rights is on a TV show. As I said at the beginning I always tell the cops I am taking the 5th and refusing to answer their questions. And they have always threaten to harm me if I didn't answer their questions.]

Colorado's new growth industry: pot

Colorado's new growth industry: pot

By Joe Mozingo, Los Angeles Times

January 26, 2013, 7:10 p.m.

DENVER — Two hedge-fund partners — monogrammed shirts, taut Windsor knots, cuff links — step into a hipster cafe called Sputnik on an unorthodox mission.

They are meeting a business consultant to discuss a way to boost share prices at one of their portfolio companies, which sells indoor garden kits for tomatoes, herbs, flowers and salad greens. Their idea is to tap into a new market, one they need to be discreet about for fear of blemishing the publicly traded company's reputation:

Marijuana.

Similar meetings have been taking place across Colorado in the two months since state voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing the adult use of recreational weed. The state has become a nucleus of the rapidly evolving marijuana industry, offering a glimpse at what life might be like if weed is legalized nationwide, with companies, entrepreneurs and investors maneuvering for a piece of the expected boom.

Dispensaries are handing out glossy prospectuses to lure investors. Luxury cannabis leisure magazines in the vein of Cigar Aficionado are promoting the industry and cannabis tourism. Companies are jostling for various sectors of the market, from grow lights to point-of-sale systems. And marijuana growers are shedding the pothead vibe to sell their services to MBAs, who may have the capital to get started but not the arcane knowledge required to produce good weed.

The hedge-fund partners from Lazarus Management Co. are among the new breed. They have come to Sputnik to talk to Ean Seeb, a consultant specializing in marijuana.

"In the past you had a bunch of marijuana enthusiasts with little or no business acumen looking to get into this industry," said Seeb, 37, co-founder of Denver Relief Consulting. "Now we're seeing a complete role reversal. A bunch of businessmen with a lot of money who recognize this opportunity, and they have no clue what they're doing as far as cultivation."

The state already boasts a regulated for-profit market of medicinal marijuana. It's much more regimented than California's industry, which operates under murky, ever-changing rules that vary from place to place.

In Colorado, sellers of medical marijuana must go through a background check, pay between $15,000 and $20,000 a year in licensing fees and submit to regular inspections by the state. Every plant is tagged and numbered, from seed to sale. No such system exists in California.

Seeb and his partners have run a dispensary for medical pot since 2009, and they know the key players in Colorado and how to get licensed. They tapped that expertise to start consulting in 2011. Their first client was a 97-year-old Denver institution, Central Bag and Burlap, which wanted to provide packaging for pot shops and marijuana edible products.

"We helped them create their name, their logo, their product line, the initial marketing," Seeb said. "They are now the premier packaging supplier for the industry in Colorado."

Other businesses are hoping the new law will spur even more growth. Toni Fox, owner of 3-D Denver's Discreet Dispensary, is seeking investors. She printed a company prospectus the moment Amendment 64 passed.

With $500,000, Fox could build grow rooms in a warehouse next door and buy another dispensary in the mountain town of Buena Vista. She expects to produce 75 pounds of marijuana a month, worth well over $300,000 by 2014, when businesses will get the first licenses to sell recreational pot.

It hasn't been easy to get this far. Banks don't give loans to dispensaries because they are illegal under federal law, so Fox and her husband sold the assets of their commercial landscaping business — as well their boat, a motor home, her Mercedes-Benz and his Hummer — and invested it all in the dispensary. They spent $300,000 in construction costs before she could even get her certificate of occupancy and state license.

Last year, their net income was $17,040. But they see a big boost coming, with a rise in volume and price. She has a big advantage because existing dispensaries will get first dibs on the retail licenses, which are expected to be limited in number. Their prospectus predicts net income jumping from $338,190 this year to $5,888,990 in 2014 and $6,770,990 by 2015.

Expecting to draw tourists, they decorated the waiting room like a Rocky Mountain cabin and installed an 80-foot "viewing corridor," with windows so customers can see the marijuana plants being grown.

"I am the closest dispensary to the airport," she said.

The giant caveat hanging over this new marketplace is how the Justice Department will react.

President Obama signaled early in his first administration that prosecutors would not go after medical marijuana users, which all but launched an industry in California and, to a lesser extent, other states. Then in 2011, U.S. attorneys around the country began a campaign of raids, civil suits and prosecutions to rein it all back in.

After marijuana legalization measures passed here and in Washington state in November, Obama said in a television interview that it "would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined it's legal."

This comforted some, but users have generally not been the targets of the crackdowns. The sellers have been.

Even without a full crackdown, Colorado is affected, stuck in a kind of half-Prohibition. Purveyors of marijuana can't get bank accounts, loans or institutional investors. They have to file tax returns under a provision targeting drug traffickers, which prohibits them from deducting routine expenses such as payroll.

When Wanda James founded her company Simply Pure, producing high-end marijuana-infused foods, she thought she could avoid the gray areas. She was a well-connected political consultant who was on Obama's national finance committee in 2008 and also a restaurateur with her husband, a chef.

In 2010, Simply Pure began producing high-quality soft candies, olive oil, banana bread, marinara sauce, mango salsa. Over 120 dispensaries sold the products on a regular basis.

But last July her bank closed her accounts. She could have lied about what the company sold, but she didn't want to.

She's not giving up. Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed her to a task force to sort out regulations for the new recreational weed industry. Finding a solution to the banking problem is among her objectives.

"We would love some day to be able to work with Whole Foods or Trader Joe's to produce a line of cannabis products that people can rely on, that taste great and are good for you," she said. "You might not be able to imagine your mom taking a hit from a bong, but you might see her taking a bite of a peppermint cup."

Back at Sputnik, Seeb listens to the hedge-fund partners. Leery about the stigma of marijuana, they ask to withhold their portfolio company's name from this article.

Managing partner Justin Borus asks Seeb if he sees a market for the indoor grow kits. "And if there is a market for this, where should these things be sold? Should they be sold at Bed Bath & Beyond? Should they be sold at dispensaries?"

Borus and his partner wonder if someone like Seeb might want to join in as a sister marijuana company — getting the word out that these devices work for pot, selling the seed kits and giving online training that customers might want.

Borus' partner, who did not want to give his name, said the company would probably not want to market directly for marijuana use. "But there are probably some fun ways to do it with a wink and a nod," he said. "They say, 'Marijuana? We have nothing to do with marijuana. But you might go online and check out this company that might just have seed kits that fit perfectly into our device.'"

Seeb was on board. Last week, he and his partners went to the company's headquarters for their first meetings.

joe.mozingo@latimes.com

Hitler & Mussolini were great guys????

Of course "It CAN happen here" and this article shows there are lots of people that still love Hitler and Mussolini and would love for it to happen here again.

Source

Berlusconi defends backing of Hitler

Associated Press Mon Jan 28, 2013 12:21 AM

ROME - Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi praised Benito Mussolini for “having done good” despite the Fascist dictator’s anti-Jewish laws, immediately provoking outrage as Europe on Sunday held Holocaust remembrances.

Berlusconi also defended Mussolini for allying himself with Hitler, saying he likely reasoned that it would be better to be on the winning side.

The media mogul, whose conservative forces are polling second in voter surveys ahead of next month’s parliamentary election, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan to commemorate the Holocaust. In 1938, before the outbreak of World War II, Mussolini’s regime passed the so-called “racial laws,” barring Jews from Italy’s universities and many professions, among other bans. When Germany’s Nazi regime occupied Italy during the war, thousands from the tiny Italian Jewish community were deported to death camps.

“It is difficult now to put oneself in the shoes of who was making decisions back then,” Berlusconi said of Mussolini’s support for Hitler. “Certainly the (Italian) government then, fearing that German power would turn into a general victory, preferred to be allied with Hitler’s Germany rather than oppose it.”

Berlusconi added that “within this alliance came the imposition of the fight against, and extermination of, the Jews. Thus, the racial laws are the worst fault of Mussolini, who, in so many other aspects, did good.”

More than 7,000 Jews were deported under Mussolini’s regime, and nearly 6,000 were killed.

Outrage, along with a demand that Berlusconi be prosecuted for promoting Fascism, quickly followed his words.

“It is the height of revisionism to try to reinstate an Italian dictator who helped legitimize and prop up Hitler as a ‘reincarnated good guy,’” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which monitors anti-Semitic incidents worldwide. Berlusconi’s praise of Mussolini constitutes “an insult to the democratic conscience of Italy,” said Rosy Bindi, a center-left leader. “Only Berlusconi’s political cynicism, combined with the worst historic revisionism, could separate the shame of the racist laws from the Fascist dictatorship.”

Tyrant Bill Montgomery tries to destroy Arizona's medical marijuana law!!!!

Maricopa County attorney asks court for quick medical marijuana response

Posted: Sunday, January 27, 2013 11:08 am

By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services

Hoping for a speedy conclusion, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery on Friday asked the Arizona Supreme Court to immediately take up his challenge to the state's medical marijuana law.

In legal papers filed with the high court, Montgomery told the justices that his bid to overturn a lower court ruling upholding the law is proceeding at the Court of Appeals at a very slow pace. Montgomery filed his formal brief Friday; now the other side gets time to respond, with Montgomery then getting a chance to reply to that.

He said quick resolution is needed.

"The issue presented -- whether the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act is preempted by the federal Controlled Substances Act -- is an important issue of statewide impact,'' Montgomery told the justices.

Key to all that is whatever the high court rules will affect not just his fight with a proposed Sun City dispensary but ultimately whether any of the 126 dispensaries envisioned under the 2010 voter-approved law can operate.

Six already have opened their doors -- three in Tucson and one each in Glendale, Bisbee and Williams -- and would be forced to shutter if the justices agree with Montgomery.

But Montgomery claims the impact would be greater. He contends if the Supreme Court accepts his legal arguments it would wipe out the entire Arizona Medical Marijuana Act.

That would mean not only no more dispensaries but no more individuals given state permission to obtain and ingest the drug. And it would immediately invalidate the nearly 36,000 cards already issued to authorized medical marijuana users.

Jeffrey Kaufman, attorney for the White Mountain Health Center which is at the heart of the dispute, said Friday he has no problem having the case expedited.

The 2010 initiative allows those with a doctor's recommendation to get a card from the state health department allowing them to obtain up to 2 1/2 ounces of marijuana every two weeks. It also envisions state-regulated privately run dispensaries to grow and sell the drug to cardholders.

This dispute flared when White Mountain, seeking to locate in the unincorporated area of Sun City, sought the necessary certification from Maricopa County that the site was properly zoned. Montgomery instructed county officials not to respond, contending that would make them guilty of violating federal laws which still prohibit not just the possession and sale of marijuana but doing anything to facilitate either. And he argued those federal laws supersede the Arizona law.

But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon last month ruled there is no conflict and ordered the county to provide the required zoning information. He said nothing in the state statute precludes federal agents from arresting Arizonans who violate federal law.

In seeking to overturn Gordon's ruling, Montgomery told Capitol Media Services he is not limiting his arguments to dispensaries.

"You start with the very basic premise that the distribution, cultivation and use of marijuana as set forth in Arizona's Medical Marijuana Act is in direct violation of federal law,'' he said.

"The way the Controlled Substances Act is written means states can't authorize prohibited conduct,'' he said. Montgomery said for the court to rule on whether county officials are facilitating the violation of federal law means the justices have to address the entire question of federal preemption.

"If a court were to simply say, 'You're not allowed to dispense it because that's preempted,' the basis for that preemption would necessarily have to apply to all the other elements of the Medical Marijuana Act,'' he said. "I don't see how a court could say, 'We're going to address dispensaries and let everything else stand.' ''

But Dan Pochoda of the Arizona chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, pointed out that the facts before Gordon -- the case on appeal -- deal specifically with the question of whether the county would be facilitating the violation of federal laws in providing the zoning information. Pochoda said the Supreme Court may decide to limit any decision strictly to that issue rather than making a sweeping ruling.

If Montgomery wins but the court limits its decision to the dispensaries, that creates a different dynamic.

The Arizona law says cardholders have to buy their drugs from the licensed dispensaries -- but only if they are located within 25 miles of one of the shops.

Right now, with dispensaries in the Tucson and Phoenix areas, that covers most of the state's population. But if the court requires dispensaries to shut down, then no cardholder would be within 25 miles of a dispensary and all would be free to grow their own.

Anybody want to buy some cocaine????

Let's face it the drug war always has been a dismal failure and never will be winnable. The only solution is to legalize ALL drugs.

Source

Houston officers charged in cocaine conspiracy

Associated Press

By Associated Press Associated Press Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:42 AM

HOUSTON (AP) — Two police officers have been charged with accepting bribes and allowing cocaine to be smuggled and distributed in the Houston area.

Federal prosecutors on Monday announced the arrest of Houston police Officer Emerson Canizales of Kingwood and Officer Michael Miceli of Humble (UHM’-buhl).

Both face court appearances on charges of conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute and accepting bribes for protection services.

The indictment was returned last Wednesday. Canizales and Miceli were arrested Sunday as they reported for duty.

Investigators say the 26-year-old officers in late December conspired to possess cocaine and received $1,000 payments for providing protection.

Police Chief Charles A. McClelland Jr. says the officers were relieved of duty with pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

Twitter says government requests for user information are rising

Twitter says government requests for user information are rising

January 28, 2013, 12:04 p.m.

Twitter said Monday that requests from governments around the globe for information on its users jumped nearly 20% in the second half of 2012.

The company said it received 1,009 requests from July through December, up from 849 in the first half of the year.

"Over the course of 2012, we saw a steady increase in government requests (with a slight decline in copyright takedown notices). All signs suggest that these government inquiries will continue to climb into the foreseeable future," Twitter noted.

This is Twitter's second "transparency" report. It revamped the report to make it more like Google’s and timed the release to "Data Privacy Day."

"It is vital for us (and other Internet services) to be transparent about government requests for user information and government requests to withhold content from the Internet; these growing inquiries can have a serious chilling effect on free expression — and real privacy implications," Twitter legal policy manager Jeremy Kessel wrote in a blog post. "It's our continued hope that providing greater insight into this information helps in at least two ways: first, to raise public awareness about these invasive requests; second, to enable policymakers to make more informed decisions. All of our actions are in the interest of an open and safe Internet."

Twitter said most of the requests — 815 — came from the United States. The company complied — at least in part — with 69% of those requests. Typically the requests involved user account information for criminal investigations or cases.

In the U.S., Twitter said 60% of the requests used subpoenas, while 19% used a search warrant and 11% a court order.

Twitter said it informs users about the requests except when barred from doing so by law.

Previous articles on Medical Marijuana and the evil Drug War.

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