TEACHABLE DRUG MOMENTS’? PLEASE Regarding the Dec. 16 letter “Teachable drug moments”: Shelley Mowrey of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America wants us to be shocked at the video of Miley Cyrus smoking salvia divinorum. Mowrey calls it a “teachable moment,” which we parents should use to “initiate a conversation” […]

THE RIGHT TO SELF-MEDICATION Re “Medical marijuana user free after plea deal” (News article, Dec. 14): It seems to me that the right to self-medicate should be a fundamental right. Adult citizens of a so-called free country should not have to seek permission from their government to use a natural […]

TIME TO END THE WAR ON DRUGS Kudos to William Dixon for speaking the truth about our absurd war on drugs. A fact-based public discussion is exactly what is needed. When questioned about the utter ineffectiveness of their efforts, drug war bureaucrats crow about the latest seizures and arrest figures […]

DRUG ADDLED Re “Knocking down the kingpins,” Editorial, Dec. 5 Killing the heads of drug cartels has an effect similar to cutting off the top of a weed. It will grow back stronger than ever. The only way to get rid of any weed is to kill the root – […]

DISHEARTENING DEBATE ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA I spent Tuesday morning at the Capitol listening to the debate on the medical marijuana bill. It saddened me to find that so many of the representatives are so woefully behind times in their knowledge concerning medical studies of cannabis. One gentleman, who proclaimed himself […]

THIS IS NOT THE GOOD FIGHT Re: “Perry backs drug war troops – Military should be an option if Mexico approves, he says, because stronger tactics needed,” Friday news story. Gov. Rick Perry wants to send American kids to Mexico to risk being seriously injured or killed fighting drug gangs. […]

WRONG ANTIDOTE Apparently history has no lessons (Nov. 15). The legendary explosion of violence in the 1920s was caused not by the decriminalization of alcohol but by the criminalization of alcohol. It was not cured by redoubling enforcement but by re-establishing a legal and regulated industry. Had the nation continued […]

NO LEGAL AUTHORITY By way of introduction, I had a 24-year career in federal law enforcement and then worked for the state judiciary and the enforcement branch of the Department of Land and Natural Resources for 13 years. I am a strong supporter of law enforcement. Even so, I was […]

SAFE DRUG Buddy Sims, in his letter “It ain’t medicine” (Nov. 1), wrote, “The American Medical Association recommends that marijuana remain a Schedule I controlled illegal federal substance.” The AMA recently passed a resolution urging the rescheduling of cannabis as a Schedule II drug in the Controlled Substances Act. Further, […]