Drug Sales

Porter Middle School administrators believed a boy was dealing pot on campus. So they allegedly sent a student to buy some. The sting worked -- to a point. The student successfully bought drugs and the administrators at the Granada Hills campus reported the incident to authorities.

Should the United States control drug prices? Every other advanced nation does, and more than a few Americans think we should too. The advocates say U.S. medication costs are skyrocketing and wonder why they should pay more than consumers in other parts of the world. They complain that drug consumption is manipulated through advertising and marketing. And they blithely dismiss the idea that lower prices might damage essential research and development. But their arguments don't hold up. For one thing, drug costs have been slowing relative to the rest of the healthcare system.

The Obama administration, signaling a sharp departure from more than 20 years of federal policy, urged Congress on Wednesday to close the gap in prison sentences given to those convicted of dealing crack versus powdered cocaine. Assistant Atty. Gen. Lanny Breuer said the mandatory-minimum sentencing guidelines are so inherently unfair that they have undermined trust in the country's judicial institutions, particularly among minorities who bear the brunt of the law.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Thursday he will prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries for over-the-counter sales, targeting a practice that has become commonplace under an initiative approved by California voters more than a decade ago. "The vast, vast, vast majority, about 100%, of dispensaries in Los Angeles County and the city are operating illegally, they are dealing marijuana illegally, according to our theory," he...

A British prosecutor says an elderly milkman supplied customers with cannabis as well as bottles of milk. Robert Holding, 72, delivered marijuana as he made his daily rounds in the town of Burnely, in northwestern England. Prosecutor Sarah Statham said Friday that Holding offered the drug to elderly customers suffering from aches and pain. She says the customers left notes for Holding on their doorsteps to order the marijuana. Holding pleaded guilty and was given a suspended jail sentence of 36 months.

Thirty-six people linked to the Mexican Mafia have been charged with crimes including drug trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and attempted murder, the U.S. attorney's office announced Friday. The charges come after a yearlong undercover investigation targeting street enforcers who use violence and intimidation to control drug sales in San Diego, officials said. In addition to an affiliation with the Mexican Mafia, the defendants also were involved with 14 Latino street gangs in San Diego, National City and Chula Vista, according to the indictments.

Federal Communications Commission officials and deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's gang unit busted a pirate radio station they said was reportedly broadcasting information on where to buy drugs. The "Street Heat" broadcast included live advertisements for criminal gangs and discussions of where to buy drugs and find prostitutes, officials said. Two men were arrested and charged with unauthorized transmission and possession of cannabis with intent to deliver.

A Canadian hit man whose victims included outlaw bikers, mobsters and bystanders pleaded guilty to 27 charges of first-degree murder, making him one of Canada's worst killers. Gerald Gallant, who has become a police informant while serving a life sentence for a 2001 slaying, also pleaded guilty to 12 charges of attempted murder and several other charges. The killings between 1978 and 2003 targeted members of motorcycle gangs, mobsters and members of street gangs. Biker gangs have long been a problem in the French-speaking province of Quebec, and most of the killings occurred between 1994 and 2002 as the Hells Angels and Rock Machine gangs battled over drug sales.

Mexican Mafia gunman Salvador Perez was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole for the 2002 murder of a drug-gang rival and other crimes. In his guilty plea, Perez said the Mexican Mafia controls drug sales in San Diego and in state prisons through its connection with violent Latino street gangs in San Diego. Perez was the last of 35 defendants to be sentenced under a major organized crime investigation in San Diego by federal and municipal law enforcement agencies. But even as Perez was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw, officials conceded that the Mexican Mafia's influence remains.

Re "D.A. prepares to crack down on pot outlets," Oct. 9 Even though a majority of L.A. County and California citizens wanted to make pot more readily available to those who benefit medically, it doesn't matter to these "crusaders of right" what most people want. Can't the prosecution spending spree on these matters be better spent on keeping our cops from being laid off? After 26 years on the Superior Court bench, I can tell you by experience that looking for baby-killers and out-of-control gang members is far more important.