Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
The Republican plan to cut off congressional earmarks could cripple Tennessee's efforts in the war on drugs, officials said today.
Police agencies and communities around the state have relied for the past decade on the Tennessee National Guard's Counterdrug Task Force for anti-drug education programs, intelligence analysis and other support. Three-quarters of the funding for that task force comes from a $4 million add-on - or earmark - to the National Defense Appropriation Bill each year, said Maj. Randy Harris, spokesman for the National Guard.
Losing that earmark would mean slashing the task force from more than 80 Guardsmen to about a dozen for the entire state, Harris said. Guard helicopters that help local police search for marijuana could be grounded. Boot camps for juvenile offenders might have to turn kids away.
"If it doesn't pass, we don't have much choice but to cut back," Harris said. "It will pretty much curtail just about everything we do."
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright: 2010 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
Contact: letters@knews.com
Website: Knoxville News Sentinel: Local Knoxville, Tennessee News Delivered Throughout the Day.
Details: MapInc
Author: Matt Lakin
Police agencies and communities around the state have relied for the past decade on the Tennessee National Guard's Counterdrug Task Force for anti-drug education programs, intelligence analysis and other support. Three-quarters of the funding for that task force comes from a $4 million add-on - or earmark - to the National Defense Appropriation Bill each year, said Maj. Randy Harris, spokesman for the National Guard.
Losing that earmark would mean slashing the task force from more than 80 Guardsmen to about a dozen for the entire state, Harris said. Guard helicopters that help local police search for marijuana could be grounded. Boot camps for juvenile offenders might have to turn kids away.
"If it doesn't pass, we don't have much choice but to cut back," Harris said. "It will pretty much curtail just about everything we do."
NewsHawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright: 2010 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.
Contact: letters@knews.com
Website: Knoxville News Sentinel: Local Knoxville, Tennessee News Delivered Throughout the Day.
Details: MapInc
Author: Matt Lakin
