I am a constituent of U.S. Rep. Roger Wicker's in Amory. I object to his recent vote "no" on the Hinchey-Rohrabacher Amendment (roll call 333) related to using medical marijuana.

I believe Wicker did not listen.

Every single poll and poll initiative since 1995, 80 in total, has come back pro for medical marijuana. Even though Mississippi-based poll initiatives have yet to be done, does that not sound like the people are trying to tell Wicker something?

[continues 162 words]

Five members of the Aryan Brotherhood have been arrested for allegedly being involved in a methamphetamine ring that was directed from inside a Mississippi prison, the U.S. AttorneyThe investigation started in 2004 when correctional officers heard through telephone monitoring and confidential informants about the ring, MDOC Commissioner Chris Epps said.

The scheme lasted for about a year, Luzinski said.

He added there may be another arrest. The investigation is ongoing.'s office said Thursday.

Several imprisoned members of the white supremacist prison gang allegedly enlisted the assistance of former inmates and criminal co-conspirators outside of the prison to produce and distribute the drug.

[continues 159 words]

Regarding Perspective Editor Sid Salter's June 11 article ("Miss.: 25 years of AIDS"), needle exchanges have been shown to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug use. They also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for an especially hard-to-reach population.

Drug users are not the only beneficiaries. U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the United States are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs.

[continues 61 words]

Robin Webb doesn't dodge tough questions about AIDS. He's a veteran.

Webb, 49, of Jackson has been carrying the AIDS virus for the last 15 years after contracting the disease from what he said was "some sexual activity" in the 1980s.

"I remember those horrible early days in the 1980s when this (AIDS) affected almost everyone I knew," said Webb. "So many people died, so many suffered and all of us were treated like outcasts."

Today, Webb manages his illness as a chronic disease utilizing drugs that cost over $3,000 a month. "I'm on Medicaid and right now I'm getting what I need to fight the disease."

[continues 905 words]

At least 6,032 Mississippians have contracted AIDS since 1981 and 3,033 have died from it.

Mississippi's death rate from AIDS is 7 per 100,000 residents, while the national AIDS death rate is 4.7.

Three of four Mississippians who have contracted AIDS are male, but the fastest-growing AIDS diagnosis category is females.

Some 55 percent of Mississippians with AIDS got it from male-to-male sex or injection drug use, but one in five contracted it from heterosexual contact.

[continues 261 words]

Guntown's unexpected withdrawal from a cooperative drug law enforcement task force that includes all other Lee County municipalities and extends into the region needs re-examination and renewed conversation with the Lee County Sheriff's Department.

There's no reason to doubt Guntown's claims that its drug-law enforcement needs have increased, and that is unfortunate. But it is equally necessary to view enforcement in the larger regional framework of available resources and demands.

Illegal drug sale and manufacturing is a big problem across Northeast Mississippi, and it just plain makes sense for all the law enforcement agencies to pool information and share resources in common enforcement ventures. The problem is larger than any individual town, and beating the problem requires full interaction.

[continues 111 words]

ROBINSONVILLE -- Drug testing in schools is an effective tool to identify children who need help and deter illegal drug use, one of the nation's top drug control policy advisers told a conference of Mississippi drug court judges, staff and treatment providers on Thursday.

"We have this disease and it is being spread from child to child,"said Scott M. Burns, deputy director for State and Local Affairs in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Prevention is the most effective approach, Burns said.

[continues 247 words]

TUNICA -- One of the nation's top drug control policy advisers is calling for random drug testing in schools to deter substance abuse and will identify children who need help.

But a number of Mississippi officials were skeptical about due process and privacy issues that accompany such testing.

"We have this disease, and it is being spread from child to child," said Scott M. Burns, the deputy director for state and local affairs in the White House's office of national drug control policy.

[continues 241 words]

Starting this summer, students at Hattiesburg High School will be subject to random drug screenings - if they want to participate in extracurricular activities.

Students who participate in extracurricular activities ranging from power lifting to show choir will be subject to drug screening under the new policy, which goes into effect July 15.

Hattiesburg Superintendent Annie Wimbish said the policy is designed to deter student drug use.

"We have heard so much on the news about steroids," Wimbish said. "This is an effort to help kids think safe and be safe."

[continues 393 words]

Concerned parents, grandparents and citizens came out Saturday to Turner Chapel African-Methodist-Episcopal Church to learn not only about the harmful effects of illegal drugs but also how they look and smell.

"We're trying to better our community. We're trying to get you educated along with our kids," said Sgt. Demetrice Bedell, of the Greenwood Police Department Narcotics Division.

The three-hour Basic Narcotics for Parent Workshop, sponsored by Delta Sigma Theta sorority, also featured Rodney Williams, an agent with the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

[continues 495 words]

In November 2005, Denver passed a measure that allowed adults over the age of 21 to possess an ounce or less of marijuana without criminal prosecution. While not exactly legalization (fines are still able to be imposed, and it is still illegal to sell or buy it), it's a step closer for this hot-button topic.

On Thursday, the debate takes center stage at The Union as the Heads vs. Feds debate rolls into town.

The event, which has become intensely popular on college campuses around the country, is headed by Steven Hager and Robert Stutman.

[continues 588 words]

Testing students who participate in extra-curricular activities appears to be a trend taking hold with area school districts according to a survey conducted this week.

The Scott County Board of Education approved unanimously last week to move forward with drafting a policy and seek funding resources to support the testing.

In an informal survey, The Scott County Times contacted nine school districts that border Scott County to ask whether those districts either have policies in place or are considering such policies. Results from that survey showed that of the nine districts contacted, four districts already have policies in place, three are considering implementing policies and two officials reported their districts have no current plans to implement student drug testing.

[continues 1017 words]

Couple Hospitalized After Police Burst Into Home Looking For Meth

An unidentified elderly Horn Lake couple were hospitalized Thursday after police burst into their home thinking it housed a methamphetamine laboratory.

The incident occurred Wednesday about 4 a.m., said police Capt. Shannon Beshears. Beshears said it was the right address, but the wrong house.

Beshears said a heavily armed Tactical Apprehension Containment Team stormed the house.

"We had good information from a reliable source that had been backed up by a purchase of narcotics linked to the address," he said. "However, when we arrived at the designated address, there were two houses on the lot. We hit the larger of the two houses."

[continues 252 words]

Elderly Couple In Wrong House At Right Address Hospitalized

Elderly couple in wrong house at right address hospitalized An elderly man and woman were hospitalized with injuries Wednesday morning when Horn Lake police raided a house reported to be the site of an illegal methamphetamine laboratory.

It was the right address, but the wrong house, authorities said Wednesday.

Capt. Shannon Beshears of the Horn Lake Police Department said the department's Tactical Apprehension Containment Team stormed a house in the 6700 block of Allen Drive about 4 a.m. after receiving a tip that a methamphetamine laboratory was in operation there.

[continues 321 words]

Ecstasy Has Surfaced In Greenwood, Raising Concern By Authorities.

Known as MDMA or 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline.

Sgt. Demetice Bedell of the narcotics division in the Greenwood Police Department warned those gathered at the monthly meeting of the Ward 4 Neighborhood Watch on Monday night.

Merck Company first synthesized MDMA in 1912 and patented the drug two years later when researchers stumbled across it while researching drugs to stop external bleeding.

[continues 642 words]

After reading your front page article ("Lawmakers from Delta to offer bills to help area," Jan. 6), I could not help but wonder how many more task forces, studies and millions upon millions of hardworking taxpayers' money is it going to take for the people of this state to realize the real problem of the Delta.

Too many of our young people are dropping out of school and too many who drop out are using and/or dealing drugs, mainly crack, leading to other crimes. This lowers of the quality of life for all in the area.

[continues 67 words]

BOONEVILLE - The new fiscal year brought an end to the five-year DARE program in Prentiss County.

When it became necessary to choose between patrol officers and supporting two DARE program officers, Sheriff Randy Tolar said he was forced to put the day-to-day services of the department ahead of the popular anti-drug education program.

"We had a three-year grant to start the program, which required that the county continue to fund it an additional year," Tolar said. "When those four years were up, I kept the two DARE officers on an additional year, but when the department was over budget, the supervisors decided not to continue funding for the program."

[continues 190 words]

That's The Mission Of Local Drug Court For Juveniles

Natchez -- It's easy to regret your actions from the basement of the Juvenile Detention Center.

But regretting getting caught and regretting smoking pot are two different things, and Elizabeth and Derrick haven't quite sorted out which is which yet.

(The names in this story have been changed at the request of the Adams County Youth Drug Court director.)

Both have spent time locked up, and both have been given a second chance.

[continues 648 words]

Defendants indicted in November by a Lauderdale County grand jury made their initial court appearances, and entered pleas, Friday morning during "arraignment day" in Lauderdale County Circuit Court.

Judge Robert Bailey presided over the three-hour session. After it was over, circuit court officials said 2005 had broken the record for the number of new felony cases logged in Lauderdale County in a single year - 1,077. The previous record was 932 in 2002.

District Attorney Bilbo Mitchell attributed the increase to unusually high numbers of indictments for illegal drugs: "I think there were more drug cases than I've ever seen, especially in the November grand jury session."

[continues 310 words]

In Lamar County this year, students in government class are learning that any American is innocent of a crime until proven guilty in a court of law. Down the hall, their peers are being forced without reason or suspicion to prove their innocence by urinating into a cup on demand.

The school board should reconsider its drug-testing program for students who participate in extra-curricular activities because these invasive programs set a bad example in a free society and because, more importantly, drug testing simply doesn't work.

[continues 327 words]