Pubdate: Sun, 24 Feb 2008 Source: Daily Local, The (PA) Copyright: 2008 Daily Local News - a Journal Register Property Contact: http://www.dailylocal.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4704 Author: Michael P. Rellahan Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?224 (Cannabis and Driving) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) LESSONS FROM TRAGEDY WEST CHESTER - Judge Howard F. Riley Jr. might have been looking directly at the 18-year-old from Lower Providence who was about to go to prison for driving a car while high on marijuana, but he was thinking of someone else. His mind went back 14 years to another high school student who got in trouble and never seemed to take what was happening to him seriously. An 18-year-old who was bright and charismatic and talented, but whose descent into mental illness came, Riley intimated, because of an attraction to drugs. A person who was eventually committed against his will for psychiatric treatment to Norristown State Hospital, where on Jan. 28 he was found dead, an apparent suicide at age 33. He was thinking of Robert Mulcare. "I suggest you learn something about his story," Riley on Wednesday told the Lower Providence youth, who had been kicked out of Chester County's Drug Court for testing positive for marijuana use three times over the five weeks he was enrolled in the program. "I'm not saying that is what is going to happen to you. But that's the kind of danger you are playing with." Riley, a 15-year veteran of the Common Pleas Court bench, has over the years developed into a staunch opponent of looking the other way when young defendants come to his courtroom facing charges that stem from drug use, particularly marijuana. He confronts them on their behavior with direct, hard-to-avoid questions that prosecutors and defense attorneys say are designed to get the defendants' attention before they slide into more criminal behavior. "I've been in front of him on a number of different occasions, not just cases involving drug use, and he doesn't have a whole lot of tolerance for people who throw their life away," said West Chester criminal attorney Dan Bush, a former county prosecutor. "That's the way he sees it. "I absolutely tell every one of my clients who appear in front of him that he is very hard with these types of issues," Bush said. "He gives you a chance, but you don't want to come back in front of him after screwing up." "He doesn't let them coast through with a drive-through plea," said Michelle Frei, the assistant district attorney who has been assigned to Riley's courtroom for more than three years and who prosecuted the young man from Lower Providence. "He holds them accountable and makes them answer tough questions that maybe they haven't had to answer before. "I truly appreciate that Judge Riley takes the time, and that he has educated himself on the connection between marijuana use and mental health, especially in young men. You want them to be successful, after all. You don't want them to come back." Mulcare came back to Riley's courtroom again and again for failing to meet the requirements of his probation or take responsibility for his behavior. In 1993, Mulcare was among a small group of teenagers from Great Valley High School who began playing pranks and committing acts of vandalism in and around the Malvern area - all the while dressed in black as self-styled ninjas. Police said they broke into schools, stole a computer, fire-bombed a car, took dozens of golf balls from a country club, pushed over a religious statue, damaged cars, tried to break into a gas station, and let the air out of the tires on buses at the Great Valley School District because they didn't want to go to school that day. Upon his arrest in 1993, Mulcare, of Willistown, was described by police as the leader of the group. "He's very influential," said one of the police officers who investigated the case. "I don't know what it is about him that makes people want to follow him. But it doesn't take him long to get people to go along with him." Mulcare was charged with offenses ranging from arson and burglary to theft and criminal trespass. In October 1993, Riley sentenced him sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in county prison and five years consecutive probation. "I consider this a break for you," he told Mulcare. But he was back in front of Riley less than two years later for violating probation. Mulcare claimed, among other excuses, that he had missed appointments with a court-appointed psychologist because of a severe sunburn. "My concern here I that it is just excuse after excuse after excuse," Riley said at the time. "I just feel like he doesn't care." Mulcare attended West Chester University and worked as a computer specialist. But he apparently struggled with drug use and was back in front of Riley on different occasions. In 2001, Riley ordered him committed to Norristown for evaluation and treatment after he was found by prison doctors to be a threat to himself. He would be re-committed several times over the years. Riley said in court last Wednesday there is no conclusive proof that marijuana use leads to mental illnesses like the one that haunted Mulcare. But he tells those who appear in front of him that they should look at the research that suggests there may be a correlation. A study published in 2007 in the journal Addiction found a growing body of evidence suggesting that regular marijuana use may increase risks of psychosis. According to a report on the study in The Time of London, "Research has suggested that regular users of the drug are up to six times more likely to develop schizophrenia. The story said the British mental health charity Rethink found at least five international studies that show marijuana use doubles the risk of mental illness, including schizophrenia. "A spokesman for the charity said: 'We now know that cannabis can be a trigger for mental health problems and smoking it under the age of 18 can double people's chances of developing psychosis,'" the story says. Those are studies that the young man from Lower Providence may soon be reading. As part of his sentence, Riley ordered the 18-year-old to complete a research paper on the correlation between drugs and mental illness. "I'm not saying marijuana causes mental illness," Riley said. "But if you are going to be stupid enough to use it you should know what you are facing, and I want to read it and know that you have done the research." It should hit home. The youth, who recently graduated from the 21st Century Cyber Charter in Downingtown, suffers from an anxiety disorder. When he was arrested by Easttown police in August for driving a Chevrolet under the influence of marijuana, officers also found prescription Klonopin in the car - a drug used to combat panic attacks. Although the youth's attorney said he had been sober since being turned out of drug court last November and was diligently trying to straighten himself out, Riley nonetheless took a hard line in the case - - sending the youth to prison for seven days to six months, far greater than the 72 hours suggested by his attorney. Frei said afterward that what Riley does in confronting those defendants did not arise because of a political agenda against drugs. "It is not a crusade," she said. "I think he does this out of real concern, and to educate these kids. They are only hurting themselves, and drugs only make things worse." The youth was led from the courtroom in handcuffs as his parents looked on. He was visibly shaken by the experience. Before he left, however, Riley had some parting words. "Listen to your parents," the judge said. "They are here for you. Yourdrug buddies aren't. And you might not think it, but I care about what happens to you." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek