GEARY COUNTY – A Fort Riley man was injured in an accident just after 7p.m. on Wednesday in Geary County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1990 Nissan Skyline driven by Elijah D. Lewis, 25, Fort Riley, was eastbound on Interstate 70 at the Fort Riley exit.

The driver lost control of the vehicle when it hydroplaned. It struck a guardrail, re-entered the roadway and was hit by a Mack truck.

Lewis and a passenger Kody M. Seiler, 19, Wilton, CA., were transported to Geary Community Hospital.

The truck driver from Missouri was not injured.

According to Weathertap Radar, today’s forecast calls for a high of 49 degrees with cloudy skies.

There is a high probability of rain showers in the morning, then a slight chance of rain showers in the afternoon; chance of showers is 80 percent.

 

“Ever since Colorado decriminalized marijuana and even simply for medical purposes, it has caused a big increase in the black market out of Colorado with high grade marijuana.”

Tony Cruz, Assistant Geary County Attorney said that the legalization of marijuana for recreational purposes in various states across the country and specifically Colorado is creating a sharp increase in overall drug use Geary County.

“Given the fact that we’re on the border [of Colorado] it makes it very easy to drive six hours and get high grade marijuana,” said Cruz.

Many in Kansas and other states where marijuana use remains illegal argue that legalizing the drug can bring a surplus of revenue into the state and local communities.

“I’ve spoken to several prosecutors in Colorado and also California, and they see a huge increase in people moving to those states to basically do nothing but smoke marijuana and it’s caused a huge increase in the homeless population,” said Cruz.

Adding to the problems with legalization, Cruz said those states where the recreational use is legal have also seen an increase in drug related emergency room visits.

“There were several reports of people going to the ER because they had consumed too much [marijuana edibles],” said Cruz. “There were also more fires [related to drug use]; there is an extraction process where people take marijuana and extract the THC oil and it’s highly flammable and highly volatile.”

Cruz also noted that marijuana use at earlier ages (under 21) stunts brain development and the high grade marijuana usage is creating illnesses like cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome.

If the surge of marijuana in community isn’t enough cause for concern, the increase in methamphetamine and introduction of heroin to the area is alarming.

Cruz noted that in the early 2000s there was a surge in meth labs across the midwest and plains states, but with harsher laws and a crackdown by law enforcement a lot of that was eradicated.

“In the last couple of years, meth has started to come back,” said Cruz. “We are seeing a huge surge of that.” Part of the reemergence in the community is due to the simplified methods in which methamphetamine is made. “When the general public thinks about meth labs, they think of the 1950s mad scientist laboratories that take up an entire room; unfortunately, that method has been so condensed that you can literally use a two liter bottle [to make meth].”

The spike in methamphetamine is making way for another drug – heroin. Cases of the drug in Geary County are very few in number, but Cruz noted that in the last few years Sedgwick County has seen a 600% increase in heroin overdoses. Sedgwick County is 124 miles from Geary County.

The domino effect of legalizing marijuana is hard to ignore…it’s not only leading to a higher prevalence of other very addictive drugs, it’s significantly contributing to local crime.

“There is a significant tie with crime rates and drug use and drug sales,” said Cruz. “Two of our homicides are drug related, a lot of our property crimes are drug related; the Denver [Colorado] D.A (district attorney) advised that their crime rates for property crimes skyrocketed right after they made marijuana legal for recreational use.”

Cruz was a guest on the 1420 KJCK – The Talk of JC Wednesday morning.

“Life is what you make it.”

Melissa Sharp, Junction City High School (JCHS) Principal, was a first generation college student that wanted to make a difference in the lives of others.

“Neither one of my parents graduated from high school, but they were always pushing university on me, they were always pushing education [on me]…once you have that diploma, once you have that degree – that’s something you have forever and you don’t need anybody else to make you successful in life, you can do it all by yourself,” said Sharp.

Sharp, a former coach, said that she’s carried many of her principles learned early on in coaching into her role as Principal of JCHS.

“I just coach people to aspire to be more than they think they can be,” said Sharp. “I’m not the most talented person on the basketball court, I’m not the most athletic, I’m not the best read person in the room – but I do believe that I am purposeful in my work, I do believe that I work hard and I care about my job, and I hope that people see that about me.”

With the prospect of a new high school in the near future, Sharp is excited for her students and the possibilities of the future.

“I’m anxious to find out what we’re going to do with the high school, that’s exciting to me [because] a lot of principals don’t get to do that; that was exciting to me as the Freshman Academy Principal,” said Sharp.

Sharp says her immediate goals are to finish her dissertation for her Doctorate degree and to maintain a close relationship with her son who will begin his freshman year at Kansas University this fall, and to maintain her relationships with staff and students.

“As a teacher you have a shadow of influence within your classroom, or as a coach you have a shadow of influence with your athletes; and as you move to different positions in education your shadow becomes larger…I have the ability now to put the right people into positions to cast their own shadow,” said Sharp.

For her son:  “I want him to dream for himself, I want it to be bigger than I could even imagine,and I want him to be happy,” said Sharp.

Originally from Levelland, Texas, when asked ‘where are you from/what do you call home’, Sharp always says Junction City.

“I love my job, I love this district.”