A frightening picture of drug war reality

In Andalusia, Alabama 16 people have enterEd guilty pleas for various crimes and offenses.

One of those people, Christopher David Hughes, 32, plead guilty to "sexually abusing an intellectually disabled female family member, He has remained incarcerated in the Covington County Jail since his arrest in May."

The paper goes on to inform us that Mr. Hughes had previously been convicted and incarcerated for raping a 15 year old girl.

And the judge and prosecutor agreed on a deal whereby Mr. Hughes will serve one year in prison. For raping an intellectually disabled female relative.

Meanwhile nine of the remaining guilty pleas were from drug offenders. No mention of violence connected with their crimes of possession or manufacturing and certainly no mentally disabled rape victims in their wake. Yet the minimum sentence for this group was nearly three years and the maximum was 25 years on two drug charges.

What's wrong with this picture? Who are you more afraid of walking the streets? The guy who occasionally likes to smoke a joint or the guy who preys upon defenseless handicapped girls?

If I were in Andalusia I'd make it a point to let the judge and prosecutor know just how out of line these sentences are and be looking for their replacements come next election. I will be writing a letter tonight. I hope you will join me.

Child rapist gets one year, drug offenders get up to 25

Here is a quote from the esteemed Walt Merrell District Attorney of Covington county Alabama where all of this took place. The quote is from a story a few months back about how he planned to cage all drug users.


“(Those arrested) have preyed on the young, the weak and the afflicted for long enough,” Merrell said. “The act of selling drugs is sub human, and we won’t tolerate it. Predators belong in a cage, and that’s where we intend to put anyone who sells drugs.”

– Walt Merrell
District Attorney
Covington Co, AL
07/07/11
334-469-5744

Please take a moment and let Mr. Merrell know what you think about his practices.

I have an OpEd in today's Birmingham News about HB25 the medical marijuana bill which has been prefiled in the Alabama House.

Alabama must enact law for medicinal Marijuana use

Please read, comment and pass along.

Then use this form to determine who your representatives in Montgomery are and contact them and ask for their support on HB25.

Alabama House Roster

Medical Marijuana bill filed in Alabama House

Rep. Patricia Todd has pre-filed the Michael Phillips Comapssionate Care Act, the medical marijuana bill in Alabama. The number is HB25
It has been assigned to health committee. Please contact your legislators and ask them to support safe access to medical marijuana in Alabama by voting YES on HB25. Legislative contact information is here

When bullies get bullied

I've just returned from my daughter's school where web had a very lively discussion with the offending teacher from yesterday. Up front I will say that I intended to piss her off so I could see how she would react and then measure how her reaction coincided with my daughters description of how she acts in class. And, wouldn't you just know it....she acted just like my daughter said she would. Beautiful!

When we first got there the assistant principal said right off the bat that this teacher had received some emails asking for permission to use the restroom and that she, the teacher, felt it was harassment. I just nodded my head. I don't think it constitutes harassment. If you work in government or for government in some way, in this case she is a teacher and therefore a state employee, and you do something that outrages the public then they are perfectly within their rights to let you know about it. Her email address is public.

But anyway the asst. Principal said that his discussion with her had gone well and that she was sorry and so forth and so on. He said that, much to his surprise, she had even indicated a willingness to apologize to my daughter in front of the class. Her willingness to apologize implies guilt in my eyes. I told him that was fine but that I still wanted to have a chat with her. Then he invited her in. And things got complicated. Quick.

I don't remember exactly what I said first. I believe I asked her to explain to me why she felt the need to make such a big deal out of a request to use the restroom. I told her I could maybe understand her reaction if there was a history of my daughter abusing bathroom privileges. There isn't. And even if there was it would not excuse the teacher's behavior. Something to put her on the defensive for sure. Could have been the fact that I went in with the intent to handle things like a prosecutor. I deposed the defendant. Before the meeting I had my daughter write down everything she remembered from yesterday. I then proceeded to go down the list and ask the teacher if she had said those things.

"Did you tell my daughter that there is no way she had to use the restroom right after the bell rang but not before? If so, then explain how you are more attuned to her biological functions than she is?"

I asked her, "After my daughter returned from the restroom did you ask her in front of everyone if she knew how to use the bathroom?"

I asked her if after my daughter returned from the restroom and was obviously in the throes of a panic attack did she check on her or ask if she needed the nurse. She claims she did. My daughter says differently.

She denied saying any of that. Just flat denied it. Which is exactly what I expected. But she wasn't convincing.

At one point I asked her that after my daughter returned from the restroom did my daughter inform her that there should be an email in her box concerning restroom breaks? She said yes. I asked her if she then checked her email to confirm that and she said yes. I asked her if she, after reading the email, apologized to my daughter for her conduct and she said yes.

My daughter said no, that what actually happened was that the teacher subjected her to further ridicule in front of the class and even kept her after class to lecture her some more. Later on I brought the issue of the email up again and the teacher completely changed her story and denied that my daughter ever said anything about a possible email from the nurse. I reminded her that only a few minutes before she had answered yes to those questions. She denied ever answering yes.

Now, I may or may not have a recording of the entire exchange :) Plus, she said all of that in front of a witness.

I brought up previous incidents that my daughter has shared with me involving this teacher. Namely her propensity to invade personal space and take the liberty of touching my daughter. She likes to put her hand on the student's shoulders and squeeze. I explained that my daughter does not like to be touched if she hasn't invited anyone to touch her. Further, I told her that I see that form of touch as intimidation because it implies that someone else has physical power over your person. I informed her that she is never again to lay one finger on my daughter. She seemed very offended and put off and said, "Well I can promise you
that I will never touch her again!"

"Good then we understand each other," I said.

I then mentioned what my daughter told me a few weeks ago about an altercation she had with this teacher regarding an admission slip. After a student is absent, in order to get back into class, they have to have an admission slip from the office. The excuse for the absence had not made it to the office yet and my daughter thought it had to be there in order to be given an admission slip. When she tried to explain this to the teacher the teacher started her usual routine of ridicule and humiliation in front of the class.

When I asked the teacher if this happened she denied ridiculing my daughter and then immediately contradicted herself by saying out loud and in front of me, "I asked her how she ever made it to 9th grade without knowing what an admission slip is."

For the record my daughter is an honor student and unless it has changed very recently turning in admission slips has nothing to do with whether or not a student passes to the next grade.

Then I said, "And you don't think saying something like that in that manner and tone in front of the whole class is ridiculing or humiliating...condescending maybe? Hateful?"

She didn't. I opined that we obviously have very different views on what constitutes being ridiculing, humiliating, rude and hateful. It was beautiful for her to just come right out and be herself. It was exactly what I wanted her to do. Show her true colors.

Basically she claimed my daughter was rude and hateful and was lying about everything and that she herself was an unsoiled angel in all of this. I told her that I don't buy that because, as far as teachers go, I never get complaints about my daughter, that all I ever get is praise about how polite she is, how helpful she is, how mature she is, what a joy she is to have in class etc....

"Well she was rude to me," she said.

My daughter said, "I wasn't rude to you. I just asked for permission to go to the restroom and you blew up at me in front of the whole class."

Then this crazy whack job all of a sudden said to my daughter "I can still write you up right now!"

And boy howdy that did not go over well with me. I looked at her and said, "You do that but let me remind you that teachers no longer have tenure in Alabama."

She said, "Are you threatening me?" (Well, duh?)

My daughter piped up and said, "Well you just threatened me."

I couldn't believe the teacher was foolish enough to threaten my daughter with a write up a day after the fact and while we were sitting in the office discussing the teachers hateful nature and bullying ways. It was her final attempt to hang on to her imaginary authority. And it was a colossal mistake.

I said, "You can take it however you like...I'm merely pointing out the fact that you no longer have tenure and you'd do well to remember it."

At this point the assistant principal saw that there would be no resolution. He asked me what I wanted to do and I told him that I wished to file a formal complaint and that I was prepared to take it to the top if the education food chain. He again mentioned that the teacher had offered to apologize in front of the class and did we still want that. Before I could say anything my daughter spoke up and said, "I don't want her apology because it wouldn't be sincere." I concurred and stated that her speaking some empty words would not prevent this from happening again. At the point the teacher got up and stormed out. It was hard to keep from giggling...but somehow I managed it.

During further discussion with the assistant principal he pointed out that I hadn't really been nice and had been more than a little provocative. I admitted to as much. My whole intention was to push the teachers buttons and see how she would react. And she did just what I thought she would. Fell right into my trap.

As we got up to leave he asked my daughter if she was checking in. I told him that she would not be checking in (she was very upset) and that she also wouldn't be marching with the band tonight, mainly for medical reasons. I said we would go around to the band room and let the instructor know and the assistant principal said, "Mrs. Nall after that confrontation I think it would be unwise for me to allow you to go anywhere on campus unsupervised." I found that highly amusing.

I held up my hands and said, "I am unarmed except for my tongue." But, in the end, I accepted his offer to inform the band instructor that my daughter would not be there tonight.

Now on Monday I have to go back to the school and start the formal complaint process. This isn't over. And while it may sound odd to some of you I must admit that I had more fun today than I've had in months. There is nothing quite as satisfying and getting to bully a bully. There is nothing like making someone lose their composure like I made that teacher lose hers. I really should have gone to law school.

Is it school or prison?

Please GO HERE and ask Mrs. Hand for permission to use the restroom. Click the permission link to send her an email request.

It gets harder every day to distinguish between public school and prison. Today has been one of those days.

My daughter has been having alot of medical problems recently. After visit to the doctor yesterday and a medication change I sent a note to the school this morning instructing all her teachers to allow her as many restroom breaks as she needs and to not ask any questions about it. When she got to school this morning she gave my note to the school nurse who converted it into an email and sent out to all teachers. I didn't expect any problems. I mean my instructions were damn clear. If my child expresses a need to go to the restroom then she is to be allowed to do so. End of story.

However, there is this one old bat who can't follow simple instructions. I got an email from my daughter about ten a.m. Asking me to come and pick her up because she had a nasty confrontation with a teacher when she asked to go to the restroom. The bat jumped all over my daughter and humiliated her in front of the entire class about restroom breaks. She said "why didn't you go before the bell rang?" My daughter answered that she didn't have to go then. The bat said "well you know the rules...you have to go before the bell rings." To which my daughter responded that she's sorry but her biological functions aren't on a bell schedule. My god she's not a Pavlov's dog.

My daughter informed her that there was an email in her inbox just waiting to be clicked on that I had sent to school today about restroom breaks. The bat responded that she doesn't have time to check her email, that she has so many other things to do...blah blah blah...even though the asst. Principal said a few minutes ago when I went up there that teachers are instructed to check their email multiple times a day and that they have even been over it multiple times in staff meetings. And if she was sitting in front of her computer (which she was) then why not just check the damn email and avoid humiliating my daughter and getting me up her ass? I guarantee checking the email would have been the wiser course of action. But too late for that now.

Further, the old bat started telling my daughter that she needs to learn to do what she's told and to just sit down and shut up. Now, I don't know about other people but I did not raise my kids to sit down and shut up when other people tell them to. I did not raise them to bow authority just for the sake of bowing. I raised them to speak up for what is right and to always stand up for themselves. Sit down, shut up and do what you're told is NOT in our vocabulary. Never will be. I'm not the kind of parent who addresses school problems by siding with the oppressors and telling them to "whoop their ass and send them back to class". In fact, I am adamantly opposed to corporal punishment. That isn't an issue in this case but I'm trying to make the point that I am not the average parent and my kids aren't the average kids. And I'm proud of that.

So I called the school and asked to speak to this old bat. She was unavailable. So I talked to the assistant principal about this incident. He told me he could meet with me and the bat in the morning. I told him that I was on my way to the school right then. When I got there my daughter was in his office explaining what happened. The first thing I said to her and the assistant principal was "The next time any teacher denies your request to go to the bathroom you have my permission to drop trou and take a massive shit on their desk." Then I told the assistant principal that not even in prison are people required to ask for permission to take care of biological functions.

He was very nice and accommodating. He told my daughter that next time permission for a restroom break is denied that she can just walk out and go anyway and then they can deal with the fallout afterward. I like the idea of her shitting on the teachers desk much more as an act of civil disobedience...but I guess it is impractical. Would get the fucking point across though.

Tomorrow at 11 I am going back to the school to meet with the assistant principal and this hateful bat. The assistant principal warned me that she is stubborn. I say she has no idea what stubborn is as she hasn't tangled with me yet. I told him that I want her to be forced to apologize in front of the entire class since she saw fit to humiliate my daughter in front of the entire class. He said I may not get that. I then told him I'd be happy to remind her that teachers no longer have tenure and that her job is not guaranteed. If I don't get what I want then I will take it all the way to the state board of education.

Be ready for fireworks!

Don't Touch Me

Today after class I stopped off at a service station to pick up a few things. I was wearing my Vancouver Canucks jersey that Marc Emery gave me and also my STOP THE DRUG WAR backpack that I use to carry all my school books. The service station where I stopped is close to a State Trooper post. And as it happened there was an unmarked car there with a state tag on it. The man driving the car held the door for me. I didn't think anything about it. As I was at the register paying for my items he comes up behind me, puts his hand on my shoulder and asks, "What kind of hockey player are you?"

I looked at him and said "I don't play hockey." I was so stunned that he had touched me it was all I could think to say. And it was a stupid question. Had I not been stunned by his bold act I would have told him to take his fucking hand off me. Where does this guy get off thinking he has the right to touch anyone he isn't currently placing under arrest? I can't stand for my personal space to be invaded by anyone who isn't family or close friend. I most especially hate it when it is a cop using touch as a way to intimidate. And he only did it because he didn't like my backpack. What a fuck wad!

Unless I invite you to do so it is unwise to touch me. I value my personal space and will respect yours.

Fake Reefer Madness

A few weeks ago members of the Alabama Dept. of Public Health, Alabama Beverage Control and anguished parents who have recently lost kids to suicide came together in Montgomery to try and pin the blame for those suicides on what the media refers to as 'fake marijuana'. The products in question are also known under the brand names of 'Spice', K-2, Black Magic etc... and can be purchased legally in just about any convenience store and tobacco shop across the state. For the record I have not and do not use them and do not recommend that anyone else use them either. About the only point I agree on with those who are having this discussion is that we do not know enough about these substances to assume they are safe. That doesn't mean I want them banned. I contend that if marijuana were legal then there would be no fake crap on the market to begin with. But, that only counts if it is proven that the fake crap caused the suicides.

Now, yesterday the Anniston Star lead with the following story. Go read it.

Suicides raise concerns over legal compound

In this article the parents of the suicide victims make the claim that use of these products is the only possible explanation for the deaths of their children. The Alabama Beverage Control board is adding fuel to the fire by agreeing with them where no evidence exists to support the claim. And, of course, when I point out these issues and others I am threatened with physical violence, a little boy in blue attempts to intimidate me, I am called names and accused of being insensitive. But no real answers are put forth to my reasonable questions. Not surprising.Loretta Nall: I'm very sorry for this family's loss...however it needs to be pointed out that 1) correlation does not equal causation and 2) that if real marijuana, which is completely safe and a known quantity, were legal then there would be no fake marijuana on the market. It is very sad that this family, who is at the guilt phase of grief where they are looking for someone or something to blame for the tragic death of their son, is being used as pawns in the prohibition game. Shame, shame, shame, on Mike Reese of the ABC for using them to promote his political agenda when they are so incredibly vulnerable.

And apparently that just makes me wrong on principal according to commenter Jessica and all the other hysteria prone folks commenting on this thread. You'll have to read all the comments at the AS website. I'm only using the ones where the participants are at least making an attempt at reasonable discussion.

Loretta Nall: Jessica how exactly am I wrong? Wrong about what? If it were my child I would want empirical evidence as to why my child committed suicide. Not speculation, not knee-jerk reaction based on emotion. Cold hard facts. There is no empirical evidence here. It's time we stopped passing laws and restricting basic freedoms just because it makes someone feel better. There are a thousand possibilities as to why this young man took his own life. Only one possibility is mentioned in this article. 999 others are not. Shouldn't we examine all possibilities before passing laws? Doesn't anyone else want laws passed to be based on scientific facts and only after vigorous public debate, so that all our rights and freedoms guaranteed under the US Constitution are protected? Seems to me like the majority of people participating on this comment thread only want laws passed in order to make themselves feel better....so they can think "well I did something" regardless of whether it was the right thing to do.

Emily Collinsworth responds with : We have evidence! .........


Loretta Nall: Emily what scientific evidence do you have that these products were directly responsible for his death? Many people use these products, yet the majority of them do not commit suicide. Why? What one thing is different in those who take their own lives and those who do not after exposure to these products? Now, if everyone or even a small majority of people who used these products started committing suicide then there would be more of a basis for these claims. But that isn't happening. Correlation does not equal causation. No matter how much one might want it to it does not add up to that. There are many reasons kids take their own lives. All of them horrible. I'm a parent of two teens and I can't imagine anything more devastating than that. But if one of them ever resorted to that I would want to know why...not grab on to the first thing that came to mind, although I admit it would be tempting to do so. In order to prevent suicides we have to know the real reasons it is carried out. In none of these cases do we know. Sure, we could go around and ban products because that's easy. What's hard is asking the tough questions of ourselves and doing the research necessary to come up with the right answer. I also want to know is why the ABC board is involved in anything to do with this fake crap to begin with. It isn't alcohol so why is the ABC involved? Not that they should be involved in alcohol either. IMOP they should not even exist. Additionally, I find it ironically sad that an agency whose sole purpose it to sell and make a profit from one of the deadliest drugs ever known to humankind (alcohol) is pointing fingers and making accusations against any other substance. It's pretty hilarious when you think about it. That very few others make the connection is plain scary. I wonder...did any of these kids who took their own lives ever once drink a beer with or without their parents knowledge? I'd put my money on yes. Yet, no one is blaming the ABC board or Budweiser. Why is that do you think?

Jessica Cornwell: Loretta Nall I had a LONG response typed out to you but since Anniston Star's website apparently has some flaws it disappeared so instead I will say this..

1) YOU do not know as much about the ABC Board as you think. 2) Lt. Reese's only agenda is to SAVE LIVES. 3) You do NOT know either of these boys so you do NOT KNOW what they were like, or their lives were like. 4) Spice IS directly related to their deaths and the at least 6 others coast to coast I can name. 5) YOU had your chance to speak and listen to the "cold hard facts" on Sept 19th..YOU were NOT there.

YOU, Mrs. Nall, are assuming you know something about all of this, you do not. Since July this has consumed my life and I will continue to do anything I can to make sure it is banned!

To which I respond

Loretta Nall: Jessica all you have is conjecture. You don't know how much I know about anything. If you really believe that someone whose job it is to sell alcohol has strictly an interest in saving lives then I question your judgement. How is Spice directly related to the deaths of the kids you are referring to? So, they all took spice or similar products and committed suicide. That doesn't mean Spice or other similar products were responsible. They might all have drank milk that morning too or had a beer a few weeks ago, yet no one is looking at those things. There is absolutely NO empirical evidence that these products are responsible for the deaths of these kids. In order for it to be empirical we will have to rule out everything else. Things like home life situation, critical life changing events happening recently, mental illness in any of the family tree, depression (how many of these kids were on an anti-depressant?), was there a history of bullying at school and on and on and on. All of those things and many more would have to be ruled completely out and only spice or related products left before we can even begin to come close to proving that it was the cause. If it was the cause then how did it work? On what part of the mind did it work. How come the majority of people who are using this stuff aren't committing suicide? Can you answer that question? From what I have been reading in these cases it looks like maybe the kids were starting to exhibit signs of mental illness, quite possibly schizophrenia. That particular disease strikes mostly males and usually between the age of 18-25. No one knows what the trigger is for schizophrenia. All science knows is that people are born with it and that at some point in their life it triggers. Signs and symptoms are very similar to what is being described about the behavior of these kids shortly before they took their own lives.

Then Emily comes back with...

Emily Collinsworth: The symptoms of prolonged spice use are paranoia and hallucinations. This has been studied. Brandon was not bullied nor did he have anything wrong in his life. We would not blame it on spice if there could have been some other reason, but there aren't any other possible reasons. You are just being insensitive. Imagine if one of your kids died and you knew why, but there was some ingorant person trying to tell you there had to be something else wrong with them. That is insulting and completely untrue. Maybe you will understand better when this happens to someone in your life which is what WILL happen if people keep abusing this stuff. I bet you're feeding off of this stuff like you get some sick satisfaction out of letting people know everything you think. Well get this, you can't always be right. You aren't even worth all of this time and anger so this is all I am going to say. Just stop being ridiculous and trying to get your opinion out (not to supress it but you have already gotten your point across) and pray for us like any good person would do. That's all we want is prayer and support.


Loretta Nall: Emily, who studied the symptoms of prolonged use of Spice? What were the criteria for the study? Where are the peer reviewed published results? I am not being insensitive. I am being objective. We can't base our laws on the emotions of suffering parents whose children have committed suicide. That isn't how things work...or at least it shouldn't be. You can make all the baseless claims about me you want. That doesn't make them true. You can't argue your point effectively or answer my questions so you are trying to deflect. Please post peer reviewed studies published in credible medical journals which prove that prolonged use of spice and spice-like chemicals cause suicide, depression, paranoia, hallucinations. If it exists you will have no problem posting it for the rest of us to see.

And that is where this conversation currently is. I want facts, scientific proof that these products cause suicide. I want the media to be more objective in covering these types of stories. I'm sick of laws being passed just because it will make someone feel better. And I am sick of slick ass politicians using suffering, grieving parents as pawns in their prohibition games.

Is that to much to ask?

Feel free to join the conversation on the AS website HERE