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Pennsylvania

1. US PA: Survey Shows Higher Drug And Alcohol Use Among Class Of 2014
   The Patriot-News, 15 Jun 2013 - What's going on with the class of 2014? That's the big question that emerges from the results of the Pennsylvania Youth Survey (PAYS) that Perry County students took in 2011. At the time of the survey, today's rising seniors were sophomores, but many of their rates for drug and alcohol use were on par with or higher than the seniors of that year -- the class of 2012.
2. US PA: Editorial: Dubious War
   Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 14 Jun 2013 - Blacks Suffer a Disparity in Marijuana Arrest Rates Ever since President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs," one misguided policy after another has distorted the criminal justice system. With more than 2 million people behind bars, the United States has the dubious distinction of jailing more of its citizens than any other country on the planet.
3. US PA: Editorial: Pot-ential Bias
   Philadelphia Daily News, 13 Jun 2013 - Why Do Cops Arrest More Blacks Than Whites for Possession? AN EXPLOSIVE report by the American Civil Liberties Union about the racial disparity in marijuana arrests in the United States essentially confirms a new category of crime: smoking weed while black.
4. US PA: State OKs Medical Marijuana Site In South Jersey
   The Philadelphia Inquirer, 06 Jun 2013 - For the first time, marijuana can be grown legally in South Jersey, now that the state Health Department has granted a permit allowing seeds to be planted at a soon-to-open medical marijuana dispensary in Egg Harbor Township. Dave Knowlton, chairman of Compassionate Care Foundation, said the nonprofit, which got the permit Thursday, hopes to begin selling marijuana to registered patients in mid-September out of the Atlantic County facility.
5. US PA: OPED: Charting A New Course On Illegal Drugs
   The Pocono Record, 03 Jun 2013 - As Manuel, a Colombian farmer, showed me his peppercorn crops ravaged by the defoliant sprayed in a futile effort to kill his neighbor's drug crops, he explained why the Drug War could never be won. No matter how much money or chemicals drug warriors threw at eradication efforts, he told me, the crops always reappeared. After 40 years of failing to stem the drug trade, there's a global conversation about new approaches. That debate is particularly vibrant south of the Rio Grande.
6. US PA: Facts On Early Marijuana Use
   The Philadelphia Inquirer, 02 Jun 2013 - Changes in Brain Structure, Lower Iq, Memory Disorders Are Among the Effects. We often hear that marijuana isn't that dangerous. In reality, regular use of marijuana may permanently damage a teen's developing brain, and could lead to a reduction in IQ, other drug use, and mental health issues.
7. US PA: No Stranger To Complaints
   Philadelphia Daily News, 23 May 2013 - JEFFREY WALKER, the veteran Philly narcotics cop who was federally charged yesterday with allegedly robbing a drug dealer, has been the subject of 18 Internal Affairs complaints during his career. The civilian complaints - none of which was sustained - included accusations of theft, physical and verbal abuse, and illegal searches.
8. US PA: OPED: Want To Legalize Pot? Here's How
   The Patriot-News, 22 May 2013 - The first time I talked to Mark Kleiman, a drug policy expert at UCLA, was in 2002, and he explained why legalization of marijuana was a bad idea. Sure, he said, the government should remove penalties for possession, use and cultivation of small amounts. He did not favor making outlaws of people for enjoying a drug that is less injurious than alcohol or tobacco. View full size But he worried that a robust commercial marketplace would inevitably lead to much more consumption. You don't have to be a prohibitionist to recognize that pot, especially in adolescents and very heavy users, can seriously mess with your brain.
9. US PA: Pot-Backers Agitated, Mellow In Court
   Philadelphia Daily News, 21 May 2013 - TWO ACTIVISTS arrested at a pro-marijuana protest on Independence Mall on Saturday had different reactions to the same bad news in court yesterday. Authorities say Adam Kokesh, a former Marine, and Richard Tamaccio, a comedian who goes by N.A. Poe, "assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, and interfered" with National Park rangers at Saturday's "Smokedown Prohibition." U.S. District Judge Thomas J. Rueter ordered both men held for a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday after Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Goldberg said Kokesh has been silent and uncooperative and pointed out Tamaccio's alleged "substantial drug use."