Marijuana

Our marijuana laws are the real travesty The Baltimore Sun made a number of valid points in its editorial about Michael Phelps ("Snark attack," Feb. 6). But there is more that needs to be said. No one would bat an eyelash if Mr. Phelps had been photographed hoisting a Budweiser. Yet the data show unmistakably that alcohol is more addictive than marijuana, vastly more toxic and orders of magnitude more likely to make its users aggressive or violent. Given the laws, Mr. Phelps took a big risk.

Late at night, tractor-trailers rumbled in behind a row of warehouses in Jessup and delivered mysterious cargo that was quickly spirited into Ace International.That caught the attention of neighbors perplexed by irregular deliveries and secretive handling of supposed perfume shipments."We really thought they were running guns or drugs," said Rob Wilson, president of Benchmark Industries, a neighboring business. "It just wasn't right."He was close to the mark. It was marijuana -- by the ton.On Tuesday, the last of three suspects arrested in December by a federal-led task force in connection with the fictitious Ace International pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on conspiracy charges stemming from one of the largest marijuana rings busted in Maryland.

Late at night, tractor-trailers rumbled in behind a row of warehouses in Jessup and delivered mysterious cargo that was quickly spirited into Ace International.That caught the attention of neighbors perplexed by irregular deliveries and secretive handling of supposed perfume shipments."We really thought they were running guns or drugs," said Rob Wilson, president of Benchmark Industries, a neighboring business. "It just wasn't right."He was close to the mark. It was marijuana -- by the ton.On Tuesday, the last of three suspects arrested in December by a federal-led task force in connection with the fictitious Ace International pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to conspiracy charges stemming from one of the largest marijuana rings busted in Maryland.

While the Long Reach High School football team sweated in the muggy heat yesterday, one of its star players sat at home, ruminating over his future.Devin Taron Conwell, 17, a starting football and basketball player at the Columbia high school, has been suspended from the school and its sports teams indefinitely after being arrested and charged with possession of drugs, Howard County school officials said yesterday.School officials decided to suspend Conwell after days of research and debate.

The Orioles baseball season ended as it began for pitcher Doug Johns, with the left-hander arrested in his Jeep Grand Cherokee on a marijuana charge.Johns was driving northbound on the Francis Scott Key Bridge yesterday morning when he was delayed at the toll plaza because he didn't have the $1 toll. He earns $300,000 a year.Maryland Transportation Authority police arrested Johns after he allegedly blocked traffic and a police drug specialist decided Johns showed signs of marijuana intoxication.

In separate drug raids, Howard County police arrested seven people, including a Columbia high school athlete, seized more than $211,000 worth of marijuana and shut down what they suspect was a major source of marijuana in Long Reach, authorities said.The most recent raid occurred last week at a home in the 8900 block of Footed Ridge in Columbia, where police said they seized 4.4 pounds of marijuana packaged for sale, $3,000 and a handgun. The marijuana was worth about $4,500, police said.

Had he sipped a beer on campus, Long Reach High School star athlete Devon Taron Conwell would have been automatically suspended from school and the football team.Howard County police have charged Conwell, 17, with far more serious offenses -- including possession with intent to distribute marijuana -- but the all-county football and basketball player might continue to attend the school and play football.Police said they also found two handguns in Conwell's home, but that also doesn't automatically mean he will be suspended from the school or the team.

Five people, including two people accused of being high-level marijuana and cocaine suppliers, were arrested on drug charges yesterday after state and local police conducted a series of raids, authorities said.Police seized nearly $15,000, more than a pound of marijuana, two ounces of cocaine and drug paraphernalia during four raids Thursday in Northwest Baltimore, Owings Mills and at two locations in Westminster, said Capt. Dean Brewer of the Westminster Police.The investigation, which began in April, is not over, Brewer said.

Westminster police arrested two Anne Arundel County men Monday on marijuana possession and distribution charges after staging a drug purchase at a dormitory room at Western Maryland College.Frederick N. Davis, 18, of Arnold and Charles E. Meiklejohn III, 22, of Annapolis were taken into custody after police reported a confidential informant was sent to a room in Rouzer Hall with $150 to buy marijuana.After the informant left the room with a bag of suspected marijuana, police obtained a search warrant and entered the room at 4: 40 p.m.Police said eight bags of suspected marijuana were seized with drug paraphernalia and $189.

ELK LICK, W.Va. -- The six children of Ronald and Eileen Jarvis came of age in treehouses over swamps and in a rickety 60-year-old boat.For seven years they lived a real-life version of "Swiss Family Robinson." No one knew where they were. And while they traveled from West Virginia to Maryland to Florida, they never stepped into a classroom or visited a doctor's office. They made money doing odd jobs and selling handmade wooden carvings.Then, in June, U.S. marshals caught up with them.Ronald and Eileen Jarvis are back in West Virginia, in jail awaiting trial on drug charges.

When you tell someone you "got arrested," it's a safe bet you mean a cop put you in handcuffs and took you to jail. Turns out in Maryland you can "get arrested" without any of those things happening. In fact, the law says you can "be arrested" by a police officer even if that very same police officer insists he didn't arrest you. And that can affect what happens later, should you be charged with a crime. It comes down to this: At what point does a confrontation between citizen and cop meet the legal definition of an arrest?

Two men charged in the death of a bystander in Middle River during a drug deal gone bad were found guilty Tuesday in Baltimore County Circuit Court. A jury deliberated for more than four hours before finding that Warren J. Yates, 27, of Dundalk and Donald S. Kohler, 29, of Joppatowne were responsible for the death of Shirley Worcester, 58, who was hit by a stray bullet on Jan. 7 while standing in her driveway talking with relatives who had just returned from church. Prosecutor John Cox said that Kohler, in the act of buying marijuana from Yates in a house a block from Worcester's, had handed over what appeared to be $4,400 in cash, but was actually a roll of fake money with a $100 bill showing on the outside.

The war on cigarettes is heating up. Last week a new federal ban went into effect making flavored cigarettes and cloves illegal. The new regulation halted the sale of vanilla, chocolate and other sweet-flavored cigarettes that anti-smoking advocates claim lure young people into smoking. This ban is the first major crackdown since Congress passed a law in June giving the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate tobacco. There is talk of banning Menthol cigarettes next. Meanwhile, a report to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg from the city's health commissioner called for a smoking ban at city parks and beaches to help protect citizens from the harms of secondhand smoke.

A Baltimore man was arrested Thursday after officers found drugs, a handgun and ammunition in a home where two children ages 4 and 6 were locked inside, police said. Corey Baker, 39, of the 2600 block of Seamon Ave., was stopped by officers on patrol in Cherry Hill and admitted that he was in possession of marijuana, police said. He was arrested and then told the officers that his children were home alone. Officers responded to the home with Baker to check on the safety of the children.

The first question everyone should've asked was how 4 pounds of marijuana could fit in a sandwich bag. It couldn't, of course, and that answer at the start of this case might have prompted authorities to charge three men with misdemeanors that might have stuck instead of with felonies that prosecutors later dropped. The suspects walked free for what appears to be an honest mistake in weighing the drugs and omitting a decimal point in a court charging document riddled with grammatical errors and missing words.

Detective cleared in fatal shooting 4 A Baltimore police officer, who has drawn scrutiny for shooting three people in the past 21 months, has been cleared in his most recent shooting, police said. The fatal shooting of Shawn Cannady, 30, on March 6 prompted two state delegates and the Baltimore branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to call for a federal investigation, saying they were troubled that Detective Jemell Rayam had been involved in three shootings since June 2007.

A South Carolina sheriff has decided not to pursue criminal charges against Michael Phelps in connection with a recently published photo of the swimmer with his mouth on a marijuana pipe. "I'm glad this matter is put to rest," Phelps said yesterday in a statement. "But there are also some important lessons that I've learned. For me, it's all about recognizing that I used bad judgment, and it's a mistake I won't make again. For young people especially, be careful about the decisions you make.

Our marijuana laws are the real travesty The Baltimore Sun made a number of valid points in its editorial about Michael Phelps ("Snark attack," Feb. 6). But there is more that needs to be said. No one would bat an eyelash if Mr. Phelps had been photographed hoisting a Budweiser. Yet the data show unmistakably that alcohol is more addictive than marijuana, vastly more toxic and orders of magnitude more likely to make its users aggressive or violent. Given the laws, Mr. Phelps took a big risk.

Michael Phelps, the Rodgers Forge native who has won more gold medals than anyone in Olympic history, acknowledged yesterday that he had engaged in "regrettable" behavior and shown "bad judgment" after a photo of him smoking what appears to be marijuana from a glass bong was published in a British tabloid over the weekend. Marijuana is classified by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees Olympic and international drug testing, as a banned "in-competition" substance, meaning Phelps is unlikely to face punishment or suspension.

Baltimore police officers ripped up and confiscated 63 mature marijuana plants yesterday from Gwynns Falls Park, in a spot near a stream and so secluded that they could be seen only by officers overhead in a helicopter, authorities said. Sgt. Osborne Robinson, head of the Gwynns Falls trail unit, said each 6-foot-tall plant, neatly planted in rows and attached to stakes, can produce about 1 pound of marijuana, each worth about $1,000, he said. Robinson said officers also found gardening tools and a bucket - apparently used to haul water from the stream - secured under a tarp.