LSD Users Have Their Downs, as Do Police and Prisoners

Laws enforced.

* A 15-year-old girl was arrested by San Diego cop Dennis Mason for possession of several tabs of LSD, which is regaining popularity among students.

The girl also planned to mail a tab to a friend in Poway.

Asked about her interest in the drug, the girl answered blithely, “Where else can you get a buzz that lasts for 12 hours for only $3?”

Not that the buzz doesn’t have a downside. Just before being busted, the girl was vigorously retching.

* After the Rodney King beating, the Christopher Commission probing police abuse in Los Angeles found that L.A. cops used the microcomputers in their cars to swap hard-edged jokes with racial and ethnic slurs.

Now, the same kind of “mobile data terminals” (for checking lists of stolen cars, warrants, etc.) are being installed in SDPD cars.

The process started last month and should be completed in July; 520 terminals at $5,513 each.

With the King case in mind, one of the first things San Diego cops are being told during training sessions: No jokes, no slurs, no “suggestive” comments.

Computer transmissions will be monitored by the brass, and punishment will be swift and sure.

If that isn’t enough, Page 2 of the training manual warns that transcripts and other accounts of computer talk are subject to subpoena (by defense attorneys).

* The county is being paid to use the downtown jail to house overflow federal prisoners from the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

The federal government is happy (crowding at MCC is alleviated). The county is happy (proceeds will be used to open the East Mesa jail).

But less happy are the federal prisoners who have been transferred. Staying at the county jail is making them downright homesick for MCC.

They’re complaining bitterly about the no-smoking rule, lack of federal lawbooks (for writ writing), restricted visiting hours and less-than-gourmet food.

“It’s not very nice in here,” said convicted bank robber Tom Radtke in a plaintive telephone interview.

“Transferring us here wasn’t right,” said Mark Flitter, also a bank robber. “I’m fairly versed in U.S. Bureau of Prison policy after spending 11 years in prison.”

Cut Out by Secret Service

Other things on my mind.

* Hotel proprietors love it when a president or vice president (and entourage) stays at their establishment: like Vice President Dan Quayle, who stayed at the San Diego Marriott & Marina last week.

Bellboys, however, are less enthused.

The Secret Service insists on carrying all the luggage, for security purposes. Hence, no tips.

* To avoid wear and tear, Hugh and Elaine Willner of Clairemont have removed the bedsheet cross they had draped on their hillside property to show support for the Mt. Soledad cross.

But they promise to restore their cross before Easter, again making it visible to 140,000-plus cars daily on I-5.

* Spotted by George Weston of El Cajon: a vanity plate on Interstate 8, B394EVR.

No, Jack Benny was not driving.

* Barbara Hutchinson, the Libertarian from Rolando, goes to court today in Sacramento to force the secretary of state to list her as “tax protester” on the ballot for the 50th Congressional District.

She figures three years in prison on a tax rap qualifies her to use the title.

* Melinda Merryweather, one of the La Jolla activists opposed to the back-yard fence at the contemporary art museum, lists herself as a “fashion therapist.”

A fashion therapist, she explained to the La Jolla Light, is “someone who helps people find themselves through their wardrobe.”

Thin Political Skins

Is there something about San Diego politics that adversely affects the female epidermis?

* Katie Lowery, wife of Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego), on how she felt when her husband was caught in the check scandal: “I felt like someone had ripped off my skin and poured acid all over me.”

Quoted in the Union-Tribune last Thursday.

* Now ex-Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas), on how she felt when she was defeated for reelection: “(It) feels so wonderful--like you’re standing naked in the sun, and somebody’s pouring warm maple syrup all over you.”

Quoted in the Tribune, Nov. 25, 1990.