WASHINGTON -- The percentage of teenagers using illegal drugs continued a decade-long decline in 2006, but the illicit use of prescription drugs remains worrying, according to a survey released Thursday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. "I think we're seeing a generation that has gotten wiser about drugs," said Lloyd D. Johnston, the survey's principal investigator. But more attention, Dr. Johnston said, should be paid to prescription drug abuse. The survey showed a decline of 23 percent since 2001 in the percentage of students who said they had used "any illicit drug" in the month before taking the survey, with 14.9 percent saying they had used such drugs. [continues 380 words]
Prescription Abuse Persists, Survey Finds Federal officials are concerned that teenagers are abusing prescription medications and over-the-counter cold remedies even as their use of illegal drugs has generally declined over the past five years, according to a government survey released yesterday. Illegal drug use by teenagers has fallen 23 percent since 2001, but their use of prescription narcotics, tranquilizers and other medicines remains "relatively high," government investigators said. For the first time researchers asked whether teenagers were using nonprescription cough or cold medicines to get high and found reason for concern. Over-the-counter medicines often contain the cough suppressant dextromethorphan, which alters mood and consciousness when consumed in high doses and can cause brain damage or even death, officials said. [continues 690 words]
US Opens 25-Year-Old Files on State Secrets Some secrets, it turns out, are too old or too big to keep - even for the Bush administration, which has made a crusade of rooting out leaks and clamping down on information on the inner workings of government. In the new year, the CIA, FBI, state department and more than 80 other government agencies that handle state secrets will declassify hundreds of millions of pages of documents under a new policy that institutes an automatic release of material after 25 years. [continues 269 words]
Overall Illicit Drug Use Down, but Officials Say Numbers Worrisome WASHINGTON - Federal officials are concerned that teenagers are abusing prescription medications and over-the-counter cold remedies even as their overall illegal drug use continued a decade-long decline in 2006, according to a government survey released Thursday. While illegal drug use by teenagers has fallen 23 percent since 2001, their use of prescription narcotics, tranquilizers and other medicines remains at relatively high levels, government investigators said. What's more, researchers for the first time asked whether teens were using cough or cold medicines to get high and found reason for concern there, too. Such over-the-counter medicines often contain the cough suppressant dextromethorphan, which alters mood and consciousness when consumed in high doses and can cause brain damage or even death, officials said. [continues 462 words]
Kirk Muse (Letter: "Scarce weed," Dec. 5,) illustrating another facet of cannabis persecution, prohibition and extermination is an eye-opener. Another reason to relegalize cannabis (marijuana) that doesn't get mentioned is because it is Biblically correct since Christ, as God our Father, indicates he created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the very first page. The only Biblical restriction placed on cannabis is that it is to be accepted with thankfulness. Stan White (Dillon, Colo.) [end]
A 32,500-plant medical marijuana garden grown in plain sight along a Lake County highway in 2004 cannot be used as evidence in a federal case against high-profile marijuana activist Charles "Eddy" Lepp, a federal judge has ruled. "The biggest bust in the history of the DEA (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration) just did go up in smoke," Lepp said. U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel has ruled that evidence seized in 2004 must be disallowed because the warrant used in the police raid failed to identify the evidence to be seized, said U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Luke Macaulay. [continues 374 words]
TYLER, Texas - A one-time Texas drug agent described by a former boss as perhaps the best narcotics officer in the country plans to begin selling a video that shows people how to conceal their drugs and fool police. Barry Cooper, who once worked for police departments in Gladewater and Big Sandy and the Permian Basin Drug Task Force, plans to launch a Web site next week where he will sell his video, Never Get Busted Again , the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported in its online edition Thursday. [continues 162 words]
Drug use among America's youth continues to decline, according to a report released this week. While that news is encouraging, we must remain vigilant in this country if we are going to continue to win the war against drugs. Of concern is the fact that cough syrup, prescription painkillers and inhalants remain a popular choice among our youth. For the better part of the last decade, drug use among teen-agers has declined. For the fifth straight year, the use of marijuana has dropped. [continues 320 words]
BISMARCK, N.D. - Industrial hemp could easily become a leading alternative cash crop of the future in North Dakota, after all it has been growing wild for decades in the state - so proficiently, in fact, that it has even been classified as a noxious weed. But producers and ag officials are rediscovering the crop's agricultural value and have been working hard to allow hemp to be grown here. And beginning Jan. 1, North Dakota farmers may be able to get in on the value-added ag side of the crop as the state will be the first in the nation to issue licenses to farmers to grow industrial hemp next spring. [continues 1743 words]
"Never get busted again." Law enforcement officers around East Texas were startled to find one of their former brothers of the badge is scheduled to begin selling a video describing how to avoid getting caught when stopped by police looking for illegal substances. The Tyler Morning Telegraph has learned that Barry Cooper, a former Gladewater and Big Sandy police officer, is scheduled to begin selling his DVD "Never Get Busted Again," Tuesday with the launch of a Web site and a full page advertisement in a national publication targeted toward those interested in illicit drugs. [continues 1283 words]
The planned release of a video titled "Never Get Busted Again" by a former East Texas narcotics officer has generated reaction from around the globe. "Is this a bloody hoax?" a British reporter from The London Times asked a Tyler Morning Telegraph reporter Friday morning. Tylerpaper.com and the Morning Telegraph were first to break the story of Barry Cooper and the "Never Get Busted Again" video he plans to begin selling Tuesday, Dec. 26, when his Web site goes live. [continues 365 words]
A former US policeman and undercover drug agent has appalled narcotics officials by introducing a Christmas video for drug users on how to avoid arrest and fool the police. Barry Cooper, who is described by former colleagues as perhaps the best drug-enforcement officer in America, will next week begin marketing Never Get Busted Again, which will show viewers how to "conceal their stash, avoid narcotics profiling and fool canines every time". Mr Cooper, who supports the legalisation of marijuana, made the video because he believes that the fight against drugs in America is a waste of money. The convictions of marijuana users fills prisons with non- violent offenders, he says. [continues 297 words]
What is the best way to hide your stash of marijuana when the police come knocking? How do you avoid positive tests for drugs? And what can you do to hoodwink narcotics-trained sniffer dogs? All these questions and many more will be answered by a DVD called Never Get Busted Again, about to go on sale on the internet. US law enforcement officers are furious about the DVD. What has made them even more furious is the fact that, until recently, the man who made it was one of the most experienced narcotics officers in the Texas police force. [continues 303 words]
This is in regard to Tonyaa Weathersbee's Dec. 9 column. Former Fernandina Beach Police Chief Jerry Cameron is to be commended for raising awareness of the drug war's collateral damage. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime; it fuels crime. [continues 148 words]
TUCSON, Ariz. - A dozen Army and Marine recruiters who visited high schools were among those caught in a major FBI cocaine investigation, and some were allowed to keep working while under suspicion, a newspaper reported Sunday. None of the recruiters was accused of providing drugs to students. The recruiters worked in the Tucson area. They were targets of a federal sting called Operation Lively Green, which ran from 2001 to 2004 and was revealed last year. So far, 69 members of the military, prison guards, law enforcement employees and other public employees have been convicted of accepting bribes to help smuggle cocaine. [continues 148 words]
Governor Backs One Good First Step: A Sentencing Commission A federal district court judge would have been justified last week in moving toward capping the number of inmates in the state's prisons and ordering some of them released. The state's cramped and wasteful prisons are a mess, and the governor and legislators have proven incapable of fixing them. Gov. Schwarzenegger in effect admitted as much when he declared an official emergency in October and ordered that some inmates -- only a handful of volunteers so far -- be transferred to private, out-of-state prisons. [continues 534 words]
JOHN King's Dec. 15 letter ["County, state jails full up/Impact on 'hood' "] about jail overcrowding was wrong in many respects. In contrast to his statement that the public wants to see "criminals locked up," the fact is that polls consistently show that most people do not want to see our prisons and jail cells filled with people incarcerated for simple possession of small amounts of drugs. Ten out of ten local communities voted in the last election to tell their police to make marijuana enforcement their "lowest priority." [continues 199 words]
I respectfully challenge the Times' editorial coverage of the meth problem. A docudrama, moving youngsters to tears, is touted as an effective tool of prevention and endorsed by members of law enforcement. I disagree with your summation, as do the members of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). I invite the Times to critique a video from LEAP at http:/leap.cc/. Listen to ranking members of state and federal drug task forces telling audiences why they no longer support the war on drugs. LEAP's video provides rational insights for responsible solutions to drug abuse rather than a flashy sequel to "Reefer Madness." [continues 78 words]
Regarding "Tampa-Based Drug War Takes A Toll On Cocaine" (Metro, 12-13- 06). No matter how much cocaine is seized, it will be replaced. And any drug lords that are arrested will also be replaced; they always are. As long as American's want cocaine and are willing to pay a substantial price for it, somebody will produce it and somebody else will get it to the willing buyers. The law of supply and demand cannot be broken with arrests or seizures. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
You'd have to be stoned to draw any conclusions from City Manager Milton Dohoney's report on the impact of Cincinnati's new marijuana law. It's one of those reports that's most telling for what it doesn't say. For example, the report says police arrested 2,330 people for possession of marijuana between March 29 and Sept. 30. But it doesn't say that that's significantly down from a comparable period last year. The report covers the first six months of an ordinance making possession of less than 100 grams of pot a fourth-degree misdemeanor, with a possible 30-day jail sentence. Repeat offenders can be charged with a first-degree misdemeanor, carrying up to six months in jail. [continues 410 words]
Standing at the top of the imposing stone staircase leading up to the entrance to City Hall on a blustery late August day, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson finishes his speech denouncing George W. Bush, a man he calls "the most dangerous President the country's ever had," a leader he believes has precipitated an "incredible moral crisis" for America. Then, with no police escort, no men with guns protecting him, he bounds down the steps and descends into the five- or six-thousand-strong crowd. He's instantly mobbed. Hundreds of people, gathered to protest the presence of Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice at the American Legion convention in the nearby Salt Lake Palace, push toward him. Many appear desperate simply to catch a glimpse of the thin, medium-height, silver-haired man in the black suit, pressed white shirt and black-and-white-striped tie. They strain forward to shake his hand, to pat his back, to hug him, to talk with him or simply to throw words at him. [continues 2512 words]
North Carolina has a cop problem. This is how bad it is. Up until this year, when flashing blue lights showed up in my rear-view mirror or rolled down my street, I went through a mental checklist of what I might have done wrong. No more. In light of recent history, if a siren is meant for me, I fear for my safety. I take no joy in writing these words. I admire cops. A nephew is a Phoenix, Ariz., beat cop. When people claim a law enforcement officer has roughed them up, my gut reaction is to think the perps probably deserved it. The guff that patrol officers endure from citizens of every economic class is way beyond what you and I would put up with. [continues 610 words]
Lollipop Drug for Cancer Patients Can Be a Fatal High; Abuse on Rise A rare and expensive painkiller sometimes taken in the form of a lollipop contributed to the death of a 20-year-old Southern Methodist University student at his fraternity house earlier this month. The Dallas County medical examiner has determined that Jacob Stiles, a sophomore economics and psychology major from Naperville, Ill., accidentally overdosed on a toxic mixture of cocaine, alcohol and the synthetic opiate fentanyl. Fellow students found him unconscious the afternoon of Dec. 2 in his room at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity house. [continues 1458 words]
To the editor, Regarding your Dec. 15 editorial: Rutherford County's police-state approach to substance abuse will make for an interesting class discussion when the Bill of Rights is covered, but it won't likely impact rates of drug use. The steady rise in drug-sniffing dogs in schools, warrantless police searches, and random drug testing have led to a loss of civil liberties in America, while failing miserably at preventing drug use. Based on findings that criminal records are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents, a majority of European Union countries have decriminalized marijuana. Despite marijuana prohibition and perhaps because of forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country. [continues 129 words]
To the editor, After 92 straight years of failure, it is amazing that The Daily News Journal still thinks there is any virtue in a lunatic drug crusade. Rather than saving kids from dangerous drugs, drug prohibition exposes everyone to a dangerous criminal black market that functions in the shadows of Murfreesboro and every other city in Tennessee. History shows that no one was robbing, whoring and murdering to get drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, morphine, cocaine and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. A legal heroin habit cost less than tobacco addiction (25 cents per week) and "drug crime" was unknown. [continues 365 words]
DONALD TRUMP has figured out that America is addicted to addiction stories. With Tara Conner, the current Miss USA, you see the pattern with red-white-and-blue efficiency: Young hottie works hard, makes it, parties too hard, is seen bouncing half-naked on Fox News every 20 minutes, middle-aged male solons on same network tut-tut young babe's immorality, and when that gets old even for middle-aged men, she enters rehab. Yes, this is the age of the short- attention span scandal. Over-achievers hit rock bottom before they're 21. [continues 440 words]
Regarding "Mercy Plea Travels A Painful Road" (Metro, Dec. 19): Dan Ruth often writes about bureaucracy gone wild, so it was natural for him to write about the case of Richard Paey, who is afflicted with multiple sclerosis and chronic pain, and was sentenced to 25 years - no parole allowed - for cutting corners to treat his pain. The prosecutor worked seven years through three trials to send Paey to prison. Most of us blame prosecutorial misconduct, but the real culprit is Chapter 893 of the Florida Statutes, under which Paey was prosecuted. The only way to block such prosecutions - Paey is not the only one - is for Chapter 893 to be declared unconstitutional as cruel and unusual punishment. [continues 52 words]
We sincerely hope that the newly established Tate County drug court will help curtail the growing problem of drug-related crimes. It seems common sense not to simply throw the offenders in jail, where they can sometimes continue to procure their illicit substances, but to offer them a way out of their addiction. Yes, it will be expensive, but those enrolled in the program are being expected to hold steady employment and contribute towards the cost of their treatment. Some of these individuals are seeing structure and accountability for the first time in their lives. If the root cause of the crimes is drug addition, it seems elementary that the ultimate solution is ridding the offender of that addiction. [end]
Regarding Roger Clawson's thoughtful Dec. 14 column, the drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to many Americans. [continues 133 words]
It is unfathomable that the country is bonkers over 3,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since 2003, while ignoring an insane drug crusade at home that directly murders more than 30,000 (overdoses) every year. If all deaths caused by prohibition are added up, there are more than 100,000 fatalities (HIV, hepatitis C, etc.) every year. Drug prohibition is responsible for these needless deaths because history clearly shows that unintentional opiate overdose deaths were extremely rare before drugs were outlawed. Most drug-related deaths before the Harrison Narcotic Act were suicides. Nowadays, Drug Czar John Walters tells us there are more than 30,000 accidental drug deaths every year. Since the fighting began in Iraq more than 300,000 American citizens have been murdered by a lunatic drug crusade. [continues 240 words]
IRONWOOD -- A cancellation of a proposed demonstation and locker search using drug dogs at Luther L. Wright High School has school officials fuming. Citing a "no-tolerance" drug policy, Ironwood Schools administrators and board members want the district's schools drug free. At Monday night's school board meeting, members expressed anger when they heard the Dec. 1 demonstration had been canceled without any "apparent explanation" by Gogebic County Prosecuting Attorney Richard Adams. However, Adams -- in a telephone interview after the meeting -- said he was opposed to "using the dogs for a blanket walk through students' lockers," and said he explained his reasoning in a March 10, 2005, letter to Luther L. Wright Principal Tim Kolesar following a similar request last year. (Adams did not attend Monday's school board meeting). [continues 583 words]
Putnam Is Expected to Be the First County to Do So but the Practice May Soon Become a Common One Across County Lines. WINFIELD -- Putnam County employees are about to be held accountable for their off-the job behavior. Random drug testing will begin in January for those holding safety-sensitive positions. "Would you want someone showing up, like me in my position, answering a call under the influence of a narcotic?" asked Putnam County Sheriff's Deputy Chas Ashley. "I just think it'll hold everyone accountable for their actions." [continues 200 words]
In a small-scale preliminary study, a UA psychiatrist has found that psilocybin, the active agent in psychedelic mushrooms, is effective in relieving the symptoms of people who suffer from severe obsessive compulsive disorder. Dr. Francisco A. Moreno and his colleagues conducted the first FDA-approved clinical study of psilocybin since it was outlawed in 1970. The results are published in the latest edition of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Moreno cautions that the study was simply to test the safety of administering psilocybin to OCD patients. The effectiveness of the drug is still in question until a larger controlled study can be conducted. [continues 957 words]
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela's president on Wednesday backed Ecuador's president-elect Rafael Correa in his fight against U.S.-funded spraying of Colombian drug crops, accusing Washington of hypocrisy in its war on drugs. President Hugo Chavez also accused the United States of using its anti-narcotics drive to gain a military foothold in Latin America and charged the American envoy in Caracas with lying when he said drug smuggling was soaring in Venezuela. "The battle against drug smuggling has been an excuse that imperialists have used for several years to penetrate our country, trample our people and justify a military presence in Latin America," Chavez told reporters at Caracas' airport during a visit by his leftist ally Correa. [continues 256 words]
Kudos to Gov. Huntsman for Giving Methamphetamine Addiction the Attention It Deserves. Here are some facts about U.S. drug enforcement law, and illegal drugs, you may or may not be aware of: Despite the fact that it's darned hard on your lungs compared to mainstream tobacco, marijuana's toxicity is less than half that of heroin or cocaine. Despite the fact that millions of baby boomers have inhaled marijuana's mind-altering active chemicals, these same people are hardly seeking treatment for addiction. Although psychologically addictive--along with television, desserts and other items offered legally in our society--the evidence that marijuana poses any physiological addictive threat is scant at best. In fact, there's strong evidence it's effective in treating cancer, AIDS, glaucoma and multiple sclerosis. How curious, then, that the Federal Drug Administration licensed a drug called Marinol that mimics marijuana's medicinal effects, even as it prohibits any medical testing of marijuana's benefits. Even the UK's straight-laced Economist magazine chimed in as of late. "Marijuana is medically useful, whether politicians like it or not," it wrote. [continues 795 words]
It's the war nobody in Washington is talking much about these days, primarily because we're losing it so badly. The war was started by Richard Nixon and has been fought by Republican and Democratic administrations alike with no measurable difference in the outcome: we're losing and losing badly. We're talking about the War on Drugs that was supposed to cleanse the nation of the curse of illegal substance abuse. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars at home and abroad fighting this war. [continues 399 words]
TRENTON - New Jersey became the last state in the nation to allow drug users access to clean needles without a prescription when Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed legislation Tuesday to allow pilot needle-exchange programs in as many as six cities. "This is long overdue," Corzine said. "Quite simply, this bill will save lives." Atlantic City and Camden are expected to start the state's first legal needle-exchange programs sometime within the next three months. Both city councils passed needle-exchange ordinances in 2004 that were ultimately struck down in court. [continues 737 words]
Council Voted to Take Action Against CannaHelp Last Week in Closed Session PALM DESERT - A Palm Desert medical marijuana dispensary is staying open despite a cease-and-desist letter the city issued on Tuesday ordering it to close. The letter was issued to CannaHelp at 73-350 El Paseo after an undercover police officer "who did not have correct credentials to buy medical marijuana" bought some there, according to city officials and as reported Tuesday on thedesertsun.com. Owner Stacy Hochanadel sent his employees home Tuesday, but he stayed behind with a few volunteers. Hochanadel said his attorney has advised him that it's a civil matter and that he cannot be arrested if he stays open. [continues 406 words]
SACRAMENTO - For years, activists in the marijuana legalization movement have claimed that cannabis is America's biggest cash crop. Now they're citing government statistics to prove it. A report released Monday by a marijuana public policy analyst contends that the market value of pot produced in the United States exceeds $35 billion -- far more than the crop value of such heartland staples as corn, soybeans and hay. California is responsible for more than one-third of the cannabis harvest, with an estimated production of $13.8 billion that exceeds the value of the state's grapes, vegetables and hay combined -- and marijuana is the top cash crop in a dozen states, the report says. [continues 165 words]
The News Journal recently reported that a local judge sentenced a 20-year-old man to life imprisonment for marketing cocaine. According to the report, no evidence was provided indicating the man had harmed anyone or was in any other way a threat to society. The only reported charges regarded the marketing of a substance arbitrarily stigmatized and deemed "illegal." I use the word "arbitrarily" with intent, since there is no evidence that cocaine products are more addicting or damaging to individual health and social welfare than many socially acceptable drugs. [continues 489 words]
Smoking Non-Crime The Chronicle's Dec. 11 article "Not all agree new jails needed / Lawmaker says county should let some offenders out on bail to free up existing cells" hit the nail on the head by its highlighting of the problems in our overcrowded jails. Low-level offenders do not need to be taking up space needed for violent criminals. It's good to see that Texas Sen. John Whitmire may be getting smart on crime in looking into "shorter sentences for some crimes." Simple marijuana possession should not be an offense that causes an arrest. If a crime is committed, then lock the criminal up, but don't put someone through the criminal justice grinder when they use marijuana responsibly. Steve Nolin President, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws Houston [end]
The co-owner of a rural Blanchardville home where three men died in drug-related shootings last March was charged Tuesday in Lafayette County Circuit Court with helping run a drug house. A woman , 29, told investigators she knew her husband, Brad, was growing marijuana in a secret basement room and helped him grow and process it, according to the criminal complaint. Brad Fandrich, a gun collector, shot two men raiding the home March 16, then killed himself while being interviewed by Lafayette County deputies who responded to the wife's telephone call for help. [continues 421 words]
Tom Riley's response on behalf of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy to calls for cannabis to be regulated is a non sequitur at best. He uses examples of the failures associated with control of coca in Colombia and opiates in Afghanistan in an attempt to support the same failed prohibition policies for cannabis in this country. His logic makes as little sense as allowing criminals to control the markets for dangerous drugs. David Lane Santa Cruz [end]
Department of Corrections Secretary Jim McDonough says that Florida will release 36,000 inmates this year and a third of them will be back in the state's prisons within 36 months. The reason so many reoffend, McDonough says, is that "they're not prepared to live a life without crime." Finding ways of helping them change that pattern was the job of a task force appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush that just submitted its final report and recommendations. Most of the task force's findings and suggestions are obvious - providing inmates with educational opportunities because most enter prison with about a 6th-grade reading level; and offering vocational training and substance abuse treatment because more than half of all inmates enter the system with an addiction problem. But Florida does woefully little to help ex-offenders succeed in a crime- free life after prison. And we reap what we sow, with whopping prison costs, higher crime rates and fewer productive citizens. [continues 380 words]
Re "Pot Is Called Biggest Cash Crop," Dec. 18 No doubt the report is accurate, but its "real" market value would be much smaller should marijuana be legalized. Prohibition is an effective price-support program. Other economic effects would be loss of income for the law enforcement and prison/industrial complex, as well as competition against the pharmaceutical companies' products. Gerald M. Sutliff Bakersfield [end]
"Unfortunately, a little while before I was born, I lost a grandfather to cigarettes," said Kylie Schultz in an essay written for the drug education program DARE. "I never got to know him because he got lung cancer and died. He died at 69. He started smoking as a teen and smoked two packs of cigarettes a day. He died younger than his seven siblings. "Luckily, my grandma is a smart person. When my grandpa was alive and smoking, she wouldn't let him smoke in the house so it wouldn't affect the kids like it does in many houses in the world." [continues 487 words]
Arielle James doesn't take drugs. Not now, not ever, she says. The E.E. Smith High School freshman isn't going to start getting stoned, either. And if she ever even thought about it, "You can bet my mom would have something to say about it." Bright and articulate, with shy eyes and a winning smile, the 14-year-old is literally one of the last people in her school you'd expect to be taking a test for illegal drugs. [continues 1042 words]
FOSTORIA -- Fully-loaded 1995 GMC Suburban, new electrical and paint and one incarcerated owner. If interested, contact Fostoria's new Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer at city schools. The unveiling Tuesday night of a once infamous chrome-wheeled SUV as a DARE-mobile marked a new beginning for the truck and the program in Fostoria. Mayor John Davoli announced the program, inactive for five years, would restart in January and introduced the vehicle and the city's newly-trained DARE officer, Matt Noftz. [continues 143 words]
ABINGTON -- After an 18-year-old girl was found dead in her home of an apparent heroin overdose last weekend, Police Chief David Majenski went to the house to comfort her family. It was, he said, a heart-breaking visit. He said it should also be a wake-up call to everyone in Abington and surrounding communities. "You can go to any community, it is not just in Abington, and heroin can be found among this age group," Majenski said. "We can no longer put our head in the sand and say it's not around." [continues 631 words]
Consequences Of Behind-The-Counter Rules Medicines On Shelves Called Weaker Stuffed up? You might want to check the label before grabbing your favorite medicine off the drugstore shelf. In response to new laws to curb illegal methamphetamine production, the makers of Sudafed, Tylenol and other drugs have reformulated their cold medications this winter to eliminate the decongestant pseudoephedrine. Its substitute, phenylephrine or PE, isn't as effective and must be taken more frequently, experts say. A study released this fall by Claritin maker Shering-Plough found PE gave as much nasal relief as a placebo. Some consumer advocates and members of Congress want a reluctant Food and Drug Administration to re-examine 30-year-old PE dosage standards. [continues 220 words]
Inside United States
