Saunders Co. Officers Make Record Pot Bust

Drug Bust Nabs Marijuana Activist

POSTED: 2:50 pm CDT October 1, 2009
UPDATED: 10:58 am CDT October 2, 2009

SAUNDERS COUNTY, Neb. Police officers in Ashland, Neb., seized 150 pounds of marijuana during a traffic stop Wednesday night on Highway 6. The seizure was the largest in Saunders County history, said Ashland police. Investigators say the record discovery was made late Wednesday, several miles away from Interstate 80.. I-80 has long been known to authorities as a drug pipeline, but as state and local law enforcement agencies step up enforcement efforts along the interstate, smugglers appear to be turning to back roads."They also come down the rural highways trying to avoid the interstate," Ashland Police Chief Mark Powell said. That, he said, is exactly what one of his officers encountered near the city limits, miles away from the interstate. He said the incident started when police stopped conversion van driving erratically. When the officer approached the van and saw several bags of marijuana in plain view, he called for assistance, police said. Powell said multiple agencies responded to that call. The drugs were in duffel bags found throughout the vehicle, police said. "Further investigation revealed 150 pounds of marijuana that was loaded inside the van," Powell said. Ashland police said Saunders and Cass county sheriffs' deputies helped in the seizure. Three men in the van were Christopher Ryan, Irvin Dana Beal and James Statzer. All three are being held in Saunders County Jail and are suspected of drug possession with intent to deliver, officers said. They all face charges of possession with intent to deliver. Beal is a political activist who has advocated for marijuana legalization in the U.S. Powell said the bust is a reminder that I-80 isn't the only route on which authorities need to be alert for drug traffickers. "Luckily, we have people around who are watching there, as well," Powell said. Authorities said Ryan and Statzer are being held on $100,000 bond each. Beal is being held on $500,000 bond.

OMAHA WORLD HERALD

ASHLAND, Neb. — A nationally known advocate of marijuana legalization is sitting in the Saunders County Jail on $500,000 bail. Irvin Dana Beal, 61, an anti-war activist from New York City, was one of three men arrested about 10:35 p.m. Sept. 30 in a drug bust on U.S. Highway 6 in Ashland. Saunders County Attorney Scott Tingelhoff said an effort to drum up Beal’s bail has begun on the Web. Beal must raise 10 percent — or $50,000 — to be released. Ashland Police Chief Mark Powell said Beal was arrested after Officer Chris Engel stopped a silver Ford Econoline van whose rear license plate was obstructed. The van had Ohio plates. Powell said Engel could smell marijuana when the door to the van was opened and saw drugs inside the van. Seven bales of marijuana weighing 150 pounds were found in duffel bags in the vehicle, along with about $1,000 cash. Christopher Ryan, 51, of Columbus, Ohio, and James Statzer, 43, of Buchanan, Mich., also were taken into custody. The men were being held at the Saunders County Law Enforcement and Judicial Center. They are charged with possession with intent to deliver and having no drug tax stamp. Authorities say the marijuana seizure was the largest in Saunders County history. Saunders County Court Judge Marvin Miller set bail at $100,000 for Ryan and Statzer. Powell said U.S. Highway 6 has become a more popular route with drug traffickers as the Nebraska State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies have cracked down on nearby Interstate 80. “Some are going to try alternate routes,” he said. A Nov. 10 court date has been set in Saunders County Court for the three men. They remained in custody at the Saunders County Jail.

WHO IS IRVIN DANA BEAL?

According to his brother Charlie Beal, Beals roots trace back to the Charlmagne and the Hessians. One of his ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence so it is no surprise Beal has been a fighter for the Bill Rights and was able to prevent encroachment on it by the evil Mayor Giuliani. This case set an important precedent regarding the right of peaceful assembly. Beal's father was the archivist for the State of Michigan. Dana has traveled internationally promoting Ibogaine, which many former junkies say helped them kick dope and which clinical tests have shown to effective in resetting heroin receptors. His last trip was to New Zealand.

DRUG CAMPAIGNER PUSHES TRANCE CURE

A pro-cannabis group is pushing for the introduction of a hallucinogenic-type drug as a treatment for P addiction. American drug law reform campaigner Dana Beal will today address a public forum at the University of Otago on the use of ibogaine, a drug which sends people into a dream-like trance for several hours. Supporters say it reduces craving and leads drug users to confront their drug-taking behaviour after one or two doses, with the help of psychotherapy.  Ibogaine has previously been used with heroin addicts and is now being promoted as a weapon against pure methamphetamine. However the drug is banned in some countries, including the United States and Europe, because of its hallucinogenic properties. Dr Fraser Todd, a senior lecturer at the National Addiction Centre at Christchurch Medical School, said the main problem with ibogaine was a lack of clinical trials to prove its safety and effectiveness. It worked in a similar way to ketamine, a drug which had been tested overseas and could be trialled soon in New Zealand. "If that drug [ibogaine] doesn't have long-lasting side effects from a one-off use and does fix addiction, that's potentially a major addition to our armoury." But drug education campaigner Mike Sabin said the drug could be especially dangerous for the many methamphetamine users who took other medication for mental illnesses. "There's a lot of things to be ticked off before you could say this could be safely administered."

Mr Beal, 62, a longtime marijuana legalisation supporter, has been brought to New Zealand by the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws New Zealand. President Phil Saxby said ibogaine had some side effects on users but so did medicinal marijuana and aspirin. "If you banned everything because it had side effects you'd never do anything." Auckland psychotherapist Dr Tony Coates, who would like to use the drug as an addiction treatment, said he had tried it himself and found it was "everything it was cracked up to be" in personal accounts on the internet. He said most ibogaine users remained fully awake but went into a dreamlike trance for five or six hours. Addicts confronted vivid memories of the experiences which led to their drug taking and could discuss these afterwards with a counsellor.  Ibogaine also removed craving for other drugs. Dr Coates said ibogaine appeared to have no legal status in New Zealand but Medsafe had told him it would have to be registered as a medicine before he could give it to patients.  There had been no large-scale clinical trials of the drug and he had found it difficult to interest anyone in starting one. 

DANA BEAL IS A COUNTER-CULTURAL INSTITUTION

By AJ Weberman

Dana has helped a lot of people out of life threatening addictions. When I read the mail in the e-mailbox Aron Kay set up I found many people who wrote that without his intervention they would be dead. I have witnessed Dana offer heroin addicts treatment wherein he agreed to foot the bill. I know him longer than anyone else in NYC other than his brother Charlie and I can vouch for his altruistic work in harm reduction and in mitigating the pain of those suffering from HIV/AIDS and chemotherapy. Now Dana needs your help. There is more to his arrest in Nebraska than meets the eye. It was no routine traffic stop. I believe certain provisions of the Patriot Act were used against him due to the fact he is an American dissident. He helped publish and research my bio of Rudy Giuliani, HOMOTHUG, which Bracewell and Giuliani had supressed by threatening the printer and distributor with a massive lawsuit. If he gets locked up freedom dies.

OUR BROTHER DANA IS STILL LANGUISHING INSIDE THE CONFINES OF THE SAUNDERS COUNTY JAIL IN WAHOO, NEBRASKA....THE TIME FOR RECKONING IS NEAR!!! WE MUST LISTEN TO OUR HEARTS TO GET DANA OUT OF THE SLAMMER!!! I AM PERSONALLY REACHING OUT TO ALL OF YOU ON THIS LIST TO TALK TO 10 OF YOUR COHORTS AND HAVE THEM RELAY THE INFO DOWN THE LINE TO SCRAPE TOGETHER FUNDS FOR DANA'S FREEDOM!!! YOU CAN STILL DONATE TO DOUGREENE@EARTHLINK.NET VIA PAYPAL TILL SOMETHING BETTER TURNS UP!!! NOW WE MUST SHOW THE WORLD THAT WE THE MARIJUANA USERS DO EXPRESS SOLIDARITY WITH DANA!!!! FREE DANA BEAL!!! THE SKY IS THE LIMIT!!!!FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME, ARON PIEMAN KAY VIA 347-962-5024 if you have any questions!!