Young black men in our communities are falling into a deep hole - a hole filled with crime, unemployment and despair. They are falling so far, and so fast, that extricating many of them might well be impossible. And yet, for their sakes and ours, we must try. Our personal lives and our many years spent as a Circuit Court judge and college professor, respectively, have caused us to question the destiny of the black community - particularly that of the black male. In December 2004 we independently published articles in a book titled The State of Black Baltimore. While one of our articles focused on the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and its continuing efforts to combat the nightmare of illegal drugs, the other focused on the job market and the overwhelming unemployment and underemployment in many black neighborhoods. [continues 903 words]
BALTIMORE - Organizations such as Sheppard Pratt Health System can now treat more than three times as many heroin addicts with the highly effective drug buprenorphine, thanks to a move by Congress to amend the Controlled Substances Act. The changes, approved Dec. 8, raise from 30 to 100 the number of patients a clinic or hospital can treat with the drug. That is a boon to drug abuse counselors and to addicts in the Baltimore region, said addictions educator Michael Gimbel, of Sheppard Pratt. "This is a very important piece of legislation. It will immediately allow us to treat more heroin and opiate addicts. Buprenorphine seems to be a very effective alternative to methadone in treating addicts." [continues 60 words]
BALTIMORE - In the shadow of the site of one of the greatest tragedies in city history, politicians and neighborhood residents gathered Monday for a ceremony to remember and search for hope. The event was held to dedicate a recently completed community center on the site where seven members of the Dawson family perished in a fire set by drug dealers in 2002. "On Oct. 16, 2002, the family of Angela and Carnell Dawson paid the ultimate price against evil," said Iris Tucker, pastor of the Knox Presbyterian Church, located across the street from where the Dawson home once stood. [continues 299 words]
It Aims To Expand Aid For Heroin Users Bill Aims To Expand Aid For Addicts The number of heroin addicts receiving a revolutionary drug that is safer than methadone could triple under pending federal legislation -- a change that Baltimore health care advocates say could help the city combat addiction. Physicians would be allowed to prescribe buprenorphine, commonly known as "bupe," to 100 patients -- up from the current 30-patient limit. Unlike methadone, bupe is taken at home and is less prone to abuse. [continues 525 words]
Thanks for publishing Cynthia Tucker's outstanding column "88 year-old woman is latest collateral damage in drug war" (Opinion Commentary, Dec. 4). The only thing unusual about the death of Kathryn Johnston was her age. Otherwise, this story would hardly have been news outside of Georgia. Apologies will be offered and actions will be regretted. But Ms. Johnston is still dead. Dead because Ms. Johnston was suspected of selling the wrong recreational drug to willing buyers. Dead because Ms. Johnston probably assumed that someone breaking into her home in the middle of the night was up to no good. Dead because Ms. Johnston tried to defend herself. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
I was truly outraged by The Sun's article "'Pawns' in the drug game" (Dec. 3). I was under the impression that we wage a war on drugs in this country so that these illicit substances stay out of the hands of children. Imagine my surprise to read about 9-year olds being charged with intent to distribute cocaine. What is going on here? Are these our tax dollars at work? When will people realize that as long as these drugs are unregulated they will continue to be bought and sold by anyone at any age? Selling drugs certainly pays better than a paper route. Joe Province Pittsburgh, Pa. [end]
The most-incarcerated nation in the history of human civilization has no right to call itself a "free society." Re: Sheldon Richman's outstanding commentary, "End the Other War Too" ( 12-01-06 ): I totally agree with Richman that "In a free society adults have the right to ingest whatever they want." However, we are not a "free society." We are a dictatorship masquerading as a "free society." The most-incarcerated nation in the history of human civilization has no right to call itself a "free society." [continues 70 words]
Mike Lewis Takes the Reins SALISBURY -- A proud and energetic Mike Lewis took the Wicomico County sheriff oath shortly after 4 p.m. Monday with family, friends and about 75 deputies close by. Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis Ruark said Lewis became sheriff by defining himself as a good man who will fight evil across the county. After taking the oath, Lewis said he is eager to work with his deputies and the County Council. "You all make me so proud. The last eight months have been a very long road," Lewis said addressing his deputies. "I commend you for your diligence and being strong through this tough time." [continues 220 words]
All wars have a way of creating collateral damage, as the desk-bound bureaucrats euphemistically call the dead innocents, destroyed buildings and decimated towns that just happen to be in the way of bombs and bullets. Kathryn Johnston was collateral damage in America's misguided "war on drugs." On Nov. 21, the 88-year-old woman was shot dead by Atlanta undercover police officers who crashed through her door after dark to execute a "no-knock" search warrant for illegal drugs. Living in a high-crime neighborhood, apparently frightened out of her wits, she fired at the intruders with a rusty revolver, hitting all three. That's according to the police account, which says the officers then returned fire, striking Ms. Johnston in the chest and extremities. [continues 573 words]
The Oswego Mall Complex Has Some of the City's 5,000 Kids Caught Selling Drugs -- and Some Who Kill A shirtless boy of about 14 slurps from a plastic cup and jaws with two other teenagers in oversized T-shirts. They stand at the edge of a playground in the Oswego Mall public housing complex, enveloped in the summertime whoops and laughter of children playing all around them. The teenagers occasionally turn toward a fourth figure, at first standing a bit apart. He is older, more man than boy, with short dreadlocks and wearing a striped polo shirt. They clearly defer to him, competing, it seems, for his approval as they dance in place and bump fists with him. To a casual observer, he could be an older brother or a favorite uncle. [continues 2447 words]
The War in Iraq Goes On, but We Shouldn't Let It Overshadow the War At Home--the War on Drugs. It is the very nature of victimless crimes that pushes the police to use unscrupulous tactics. Since the buyer and seller willingly participate in the transaction, the only way the police can detect the criminal activity is to set it up themselves or encourage informants. The war in Iraq goes on, but we shouldn't let it overshadow the war at home--one that frequently takes the lives of people who don't deserve to die. It's known as the War on Drugs, but it's really a war on people who themselves are not making war against anyone. [continues 598 words]
Talk about having a lousy day in court. As Devin K. Hoerauf's robbery trial in Rockville was wrapping up Tuesday afternoon, the 19-year-old accidentally dropped a bag of marijuana on the floor when he stood up at the defense table. The judge's assistant noticed a plastic bag containing "a green, leafy substance" and pointed it out to a Montgomery County deputy sheriff, who picked it up and added two misdemeanor charges -- possession of a controlled substance and possession of paraphernalia - -- to Hoerauf's criminal history. [continues 365 words]
Bigger Force, Refocused Beats Curbing Illegal Activity, Police Say By Joshua Partlow Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, November 19, 2006; C06 A group of young men wearing dark jackets stood next to a chain-link fence along Greenleaf Road one recent evening when Maj. Markus A. Summers, giving a tour of his Prince George's County police district, drove past. "Here's a pocket of it, right here," he said. He pulled over. With something akin to casual hurrying, the men began to disperse. Summers jumped out of the car. [continues 1320 words]
Debate Flares Over DARE's Elimination The race to become sheriff of one of Maryland's fastest-growing counties might turn on a popular drug education program -- and whether it does any good. St. Mary's County Sheriff David D. Zylak (D) eliminated the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program used to warn elementary school students away from drugs two years ago, citing staffing shortages and questions about its effectiveness. His opponent, Republican Tim Cameron, is running on a platform of restoring DARE, saying parents want their children to receive accurate information about drugs from trained police officers. [continues 975 words]
The RHA overwhelmingly failed a bill to reduce penalties for marijuana use last night, signaling an end to the first in a wave of similar resolutions set to appear before various university governing bodies in the upcoming months. The proposed legislation would have thrown the group's public support behind an SGA referendum that favored reducing punishments for marijuana users but was rejected because some senators considered it to be too broad and poorly researched, said Residence Hall Association Director of Public Relations Alex Lockwood. [continues 338 words]
It was early in the morning, and already you could hear the edge creeping into Kevin Zeese's voice. The night before was supposed to be the crowning moment for him, a chance to ignite his struggling campaign for U.S. Senate. The night before, he had finally pushed his way into a rare three-way debate in Baltimore. The next morning, however, he woke to find a sharp dose of reality waiting at his doorstep. Newspaper headlines recounted a heated debate between Republican Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele and Democrat Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin. The front-page photo in The Washington Post, Zeese angrily pointed out, had cut him out of the picture entirely. His name wasn't mentioned until the 11th paragraph. [continues 1173 words]
WASHINGTON COUNTY - Washington County's first new sheriff in 20 years will have to confront the challenges of a growing community, manpower needs and the rise of drugs and gangs, said the two men vying for the office. While the department's second-in-command, Col. Douglas W. Mullendore, said he has the experience to get the job done, challenger Rich Poffenberger, a Maryland State Police corporal, said he is looking forward to taking to the streets as a hands-on Sheriff. [continues 455 words]
The Baltimore City Council voted last night to give preliminary approval to a zoning law change that would make it easier to open drug treatment centers in the city, even in residential neighborhoods. The measure supported by Mayor Martin O'Malley's administration seeks to broaden the definition of health care clinics to include the centers and to remove the requirement for council ordinances to open them. The 15-member council's action last night advances the ordinance to the Oct. 30 meeting, where it is expected to be up for a final vote. If approved, as expected, the ordinance would permit outpatient drug treatment centers - such as methadone clinics - to open in areas zoned for various industrial and business uses, Councilman Edward L. Reisinger said. [continues 178 words]
3rd-party Long Shot Decries Status Quo 'Influence-Peddling' It's long after dark outside the Giant Food supermarket at the Dorsey's Search Village Center in Howard County, and Kevin Zeese is in the parking lot looking for votes. He spots three people standing around a car and makes his way over. Tracy Meyers and Mark Davis are visiting Giant worker Laura Riesett on her break. Zeese shakes hands, introduces himself and tells them he is running for the U.S. Senate. [continues 1581 words]
Baltimore City Health Department counselor Jeffrey Long talks to a drug addict as they exchange needles inside a recreational vehicle Sept. 29. In a recreational vehicle parked along a row of abandoned rowhouses off Greenmount Avenue, drug addicts place bundles of used syringes in a biohazard container and receive new ones in return. Baltimore City Health Department counselor Jeffrey Long counts the old needles and enters the numbers into a laptop computer. "Five, 10, 15, 20," he counts. The scene at 24th and Barclay streets is part of the daily routine for the health department's Needle Exchange Program, which operates in 14 neighborhoods with high addiction rates. [continues 553 words]
Hoping to make a revolutionary treatment more available for heroin users, Baltimore officials are taking the unusual step of subsidizing a training program that could more than double the number of physicians permitted to prescribe a new medication to cure opiate addiction. Buprenorphine, commonly referred to as "bupe," is being used in place of methadone to wean addicts off heroin because it can be taken at home, is less prone to abuse and is easier to discontinue when the patient is ready. But fewer than 90 physicians in Baltimore have completed the eight-hour training course required to prescribe the drug."In a city like Baltimore, where we have a lot of doctors, this really offers a potential for a major expansion of access to care," the city's health commissioner, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, said of the training initiative. "Getting doctors trained is just incredibly important." [continues 805 words]
HC DrugFree, a Howard County nonprofit organization working to help teens avoid alcohol and other drugs, will offer a free program, "Drinking and Drugging in Howard County: Find Out What's Happening," from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 10 in the Homewood Center cafeteria. The program for high school students and their parents will begin with an overview of teen use of alcohol, marijuana and other drugs in Howard County, presented by Mary Ann Warnke, of the Howard County Health Department, and by an officer from the Howard County Police Vice and Narcotics Unit. [continues 52 words]
BERLIN -- Maryland is making slow progress toward the goal of providing treatment, not incarceration for non-violent drug offenders, according to a report released last week, but Worcester is ahead of most jurisdictions thanks to its award-winning drug court established last year. The Justice Policy Institute last week issued a report on Maryland's efforts to offer drug treatment as an alternative to prison sentences for non-violent substance abusers, which shows jurisdictions across the state are making slow, but steady progress in attaining the goal. It is widely accepted that substance abuse treatment, not incarceration is more successful in reducing recidivism, dropping crime rates and ultimately costing much less in the long run and Maryland adopted measures several years ago to provide treatment as an alternative for non-violent offenders. [continues 762 words]
Poor Economy Hurt Ehrlich Initiative Maryland continues to spend far more on sending drug offenders to prison than to treatment programs despite a high-profile bid by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. to reverse that trend, according to a report released today by the Justice Policy Institute. The study by the D.C.-based think tank found that the state has made "slow progress" in diverting nonviolent offenders from jail and prison. For each dollar spent to put them behind bars, the state provided just 26 cents through its Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration to treat drug-dependent adults referred by the criminal justice system, the report estimated. [continues 537 words]
As a student leader in a different state with a different set of problems, I find Megan Maizel's conclusion that changing the sanctions for marijuana possession would amount to a "mockery [of the law]" to be counterintuitive. It strikes me that the mockery comes from the fact that government has assumed the authority to punish people for possessing and using a drug. This is clearly not the legitimate role of a government that respects liberty, whether this government takes the form of a nation, a state or a university. [continues 121 words]
A Maryland Court Rules That Addicted Moms-To-Be Would Be Best Served by Treatment, Not Imprisonment Let's say you're pregnant. Driving without a seatbelt, playing ice hockey, subsisting on Cheetos: They may not be recommended by What to Expect When You're Expecting, but do they constitute illegal reckless "child endangerment" -- punishable by imprisonment? In a decision hailed by National Advocates for Pregnant Women, Maryland's highest court has, in effect, said no. "Imprisonment is not only the most costly thing the state could do," Lynn Paltrow of NAPW told the Washington Post. "It's the most family-destructive thing the state could do." [continues 523 words]
Maryland's New Title As "'No. 1 Counterculture School' Leaves Some to Question Campus Reputation Thirty years ago, College Park students were more likely to find shops selling bongs and rolling paper than burritos or Starbucks coffee, and McKeldin Mall was often dotted with long-haired hippies conducting hazy smoke-ins rather than bikini-clad girls getting suntans. But according to High Times monthly magazine -- the weed-smokers' bible -- the university may not be so far behind those free-love days of puff-puff-pass with its recent designation as the No. 1 counterculture school in the nation. High Times doesn't use the tired old standard of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, however: The critical factor in the ranking decision was last semester's ballot referendum that asked students whether the university should loosen penalties for marijuana possession on the campus. [continues 631 words]
Last week I wrote an article in favor of the legalization of marijuana in Colorado. My point had to do with the concept that, in fact some drugs really are not as dangerous as others. Right as the paper with that article went to print, we got a fax in the office having to do with students being kept out of universities due to drug related convictions. This sheds light on a whole other aspect of the unfair effects that current drug policies have on Americans. Not only are we not free to make an informed choice about what we put in our bodies, the government and school systems actually punish users by making enrollment in universities after drug convictions difficult if not impossible. [continues 599 words]
Megan Maizel's Sept. 5 column "Marijuana lobby aims off target" contributed yet another opinion to the ongoing, hotly contested marijuana debate, and though the column provided several insightful points, it lacked sufficient arguments that should change anyone's mind about this issue. First and foremost, the author's belief that last year's referendum, in which students overwhelmingly showed their support to decrease punishment for marijuana-related offenses on the campus, should represent only a symbolic victory is false. NORML and SSDP clearly do not have the clout to alter our country's national policy on illegal drugs. As such, working to amend policy at the university level is a goal not only worth working toward, but one within reasonable reach. [continues 320 words]
This past April during SGA elections, a referendum was passed suggesting the punishments in dorms for marijuana and alcohol be the same. As it stands currently, marijuana is listed as a "Section A" offense, meaning any individual caught with marijuana will have his or her housing terminated immediately, as well as be subject to other potential punishments. Possession of alcoholic beverages, meanwhile, is listed under "Section B," which requires a warning and probation from housing, as well as potential community service for first offenses. [continues 566 words]
For years, Roland R. Griffiths had heard about the profound spiritual experiences of people who had ingested psilocybin, a hallucinogen that, if you came of age in the 1960s, you might recall as "magic mushrooms." Anthropologists had described, sometimes rapturously, the effects of psilocybin, but Griffiths, a Johns Hopkins professor of psychiatry and behavioral biology, was skeptical. He knew of little rigorous clinical research in which psilocybin had been administered under appropriate laboratory conditions. After completing his own carefully constructed study of the drug, he is skeptical no more. [continues 633 words]
In 2005, there were 39 million people worldwide living with HIV, 4 million new HIV infections and just fewer than 3 million deaths because of AIDS. Four years earlier, the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS committed to substantial steps to reduce infections and provide treatment to people with HIV. Given the prevalence of HIV, as reflected in the statistics, has this commitment made a difference? Yes, but it is not nearly enough. In the past five years, for example, the number of people receiving HIV treatment worldwide has jumped more than 540 percent. Yet despite this expansion of treatment, only about one out of five people needing anti-retroviral drugs now receives them. [continues 776 words]
A federal court judge and jury handed Baltimore County a well-deserved rebuke this week when they found that a county zoning law discriminated against a methadone clinic in Pikesville and also violated the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. The county, which is considering an appeal, would do better to simply change the law. When the private, for-profit clinic, called A Helping Hand, opened in 2002, protests from nearby homeowners prompted passage of a law requiring many state-licensed medical facilities, including methadone treatment centers, to be located at least 750 feet from any residence. While fears of increased crime and loitering have not materialized to any significant extent, the discomfort felt by some close-in neighbors has not dissipated. [continues 135 words]
County Law Restricting Medical Facility Sites Faulted A federal jury ruled yesterday that Baltimore County officials discriminated against the patients of a Pikesville methadone clinic when they enacted a law prohibiting state-licensed medical facilities from locating within 750 feet of homes. After hearing testimony over three weeks, the U.S. District Court jury deliberated for less than five hours yesterday before finding in favor of A Helping Hand methadone clinic. The clinic, which also prevailed in a judge's ruling that the county law violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, will remain open. [continues 657 words]
Federal Court Case Is Winding Down Four years after the opening of a methadone clinic in Pikesville prompted protests by residents, fines from Baltimore County officials and swift legislation aimed at shutting it down, the two sides are continuing their argument before jurors in a trial nearing its end in federal court. The result of the trial could force a change in Baltimore County and, legal experts and drug treatment advocates say, send a signal to other local governments that they, too, need to modify zoning laws for rehabilitation programs. [continues 1106 words]
Critics' Picks: New DVDs The Wire: The Complete Third Season // HBO // $99.98 HBO's The Wire is a TV series that seems tailor-made for DVDs. Story lines and emotions in this compelling meditation on urban life are not artificially reduced to provide closure and a reassuring worldview at the end of each hour as many television dramas do. (Think Law & Order.) Quite the contrary, creator David Simon and his highly talented team of writers and producers have instead aimed for a far more literary form of storytelling in which episodes play like chapters in a book - -- referring back and building on moments that came before, even as they leave viewers wanting to immediately see what's next when the hour comes to a close. [continues 293 words]
Maryland's reckless endangerment law cannot be used to prosecute women who give birth to babies exposed to illegal drugs, the state's high court ruled yesterday, overturning the convictions of two Eastern Shore mothers. Prosecutors said such charges were needed to protect children, but some advocates for pregnant women welcomed the decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals as an affirmation that such cases could make pregnant women vulnerable to prosecution for an array of potentially dangerous behaviors -- such as smoking cigarettes and driving without a seatbelt -- and that drug-using mothers need treatment, not punishment. [continues 485 words]
Most of the time, police aren't surprised when they find a ballpoint pen crammed with cocaine, or illicit pills stashed in a secret compartment of a running shoe. But when a bag full of smiley-faced gumballs hollowed out and stuffed like mushrooms with marijuana were confiscated early this year at a Howard County high school and last week in Northern Virginia, it took authorities by surprise. "This is very unique," said Edward Marcinko, special agent and public information officer for the Baltimore District Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "It is very alarming to see this." [continues 1017 words]
Jessup Prison's Lax Culture Problematic, Workers Say Amid the steady flow of drugs, tobacco, cell phones and other contraband at the Maryland House of Corrections, officers who strictly enforce the rules end up putting targets on their backs, say former inmates and those who have worked in the Jessup prison. Officer David McGuinn, who was not one to look the other way, was stabbed to death last week by inmates who, according to colleagues, considered his diligence an annoying burden. Since March, three inmates were stabbed to death and two officers were wounded with homemade knives. [continues 1856 words]
CRISFIELD -- The urn on the TV stand in Heather Britton's living room is testament to a community's need for the Somerset County Drug Task Force. Had Donald Lee "Bunky" Britton lived, the Crisfield waterman, husband and father would have turned 26 in June. In August, he would have seen his daughter turn four. And next week, they would have celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary. Instead, Britton was lifted from a bathroom floor at a Somers Cove Apartments unit and placed in an ambulance, where he died en route to Crisfield's McCready Memorial Hospital. [continues 453 words]
Zeese Tries to Woo Voters in Wee Hours Amid the drunken revelry of a Thursday night at the entrance to Bushwaller's Irish Pub in Frederick, a man who wants to be Maryland's next U.S. senator introduced himself through a haze of cigarette smoke: "I'm the Midnight Candidate," Kevin B. Zeese said. There was no crowd to hear his stump speech and no babies to kiss. But a young blond woman, her earrings dangling and her shoes lighting up with each step, did stick Zeese's campaign flier down her cleavage. [continues 1132 words]
Baltimore County - When former Glen Burnie pizza shop owner Joel Prell wanted to distribute regulated narcotics to heroin addicts in a quiet Pikesville neighborhood, the local county council had to do everything in its power to stop him. That's what attorneys told a federal judge Tuesday as they defended members of the Baltimore County Council against claims they passed a discriminatory zoning law to keep a methadone clinic out of a neighborhood. Opening statements began before U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake in the case that tests the 2002 county zoning ruling and will determine if the Pikesville clinic can stay open. [continues 207 words]
Sex Trade Plays A Part In Vicious Cycle Of Urban Blight Editor's Note: Aliases have been used to protect the identity of some sources. SALISBURY -- In the middle of the humid July heat, Shelly Johnson sat down to the first full meal she's had in weeks wearing a long-sleeved hooded sweatshirt, which was far too big, and baggy blue jeans that had seen better days. ADVERTISEMENT These were the only clothes she had left, and in the past six months, her clothes had been stolen six times. [continues 2171 words]
Govans Principal Who Wrote Letter For Ex-Con Might Retire Parents, children and community members rallied outside Govans Elementary School in Baltimore last night for the principal, who was asked to retire after writing a letter in support of a teacher who pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine. A lawyer for Edith M. Jones, who has been the principal of Govans for eight years, said the school system knew that special-education teacher Martius Harding was a convicted felon when it hired him in 2002. The lawyer, Ron Kowitz, also said Jones contacted the system's legal office last summer after learning of Harding's guilty plea in a cocaine possession case. [continues 829 words]
A Baltimore man who appeared in the anti-police video Stop Snitching pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to conspiracy to distribute heroin. In a statement of facts presented at his plea, George Butler, 31, admitted that he bought large quantities of drugs from a drug gang that prosecutors have said distributed heroin in and around Baltimore. Toward the end of the Stop Snitching digital video disc - an underground production that warns people against cooperating with police - Butler speaks to the camera as he grabs a gun from his belt: "We don't talk about what we're going to do. We just do it." Butler faces at least 10 years in prison at sentencing, scheduled for Sept. 15. The suspected leaders of the drug organization, Howard Rice, 39 and Raeshio Rice, 33, both of Baltimore, are scheduled to go to trial Oct. 10. [end]
Letter Asks Judge For Leniency For Convicted Felon A Baltimore principal used school stationery to request leniency for a teacher who had pleaded guilty in August to carrying 5 pounds of cocaine in his car and was allowed to continue teaching until his sentencing two weeks ago. The two-page letter of support from Principal Edith M. Jones defended Martius Harding as a talented but troubled teacher who shepherded his special education pupils and served as a role model for children and staff at Govans Elementary School. [continues 926 words]
Eric Sterling wrote about the recent increase in robberies in and around the Metro (''Better policing through better management," June 14 letter). I wish to respond to his criticism of our department and address his reasoning about resource allocation. Mr. Sterling contends that since the department makes so many more marijuana arrests than robbery arrests this indicates that too much emphasis is being placed on narcotics enforcement to the detriment of robbery investigation, resulting in the recent increase. In fact the vast majority of those marijuana arrests are made by patrol officers proactively conducting street level enforcement to reduce all types of crimes. [continues 291 words]
As a Silver Spring business person, the recent robberies near the Silver Spring Metro are very alarming ("Early-morning robberies plague area near the Silver Spring Metro," June 7 story). I fear the occurrence of these robberies may be a symptom of mismanagement by the county police department. According to the Maryland Uniform Crime Reports, 856 robberies were reported in the county in 2004 and 310 robbery arrests. On the other hand, there were 2,746 drug offense arrests; 1,536 of the arrests were for the possession of marijuana. [continues 58 words]
Two years ago, my 23-year-old brother became addicted to painkillers after breaking his leg and undergoing several operations to repair it. Last year, while he was checking into rehab for abusing OxyContin, I was drafting a chapter in my new book calling for drug legalization. It was a difficult moment to believe in individual liberty: I felt firsthand the effects of what it's like when people make bad decisions. I saw how hard my brother struggled to get clean, first moving forward and then backsliding again into substance abuse. [continues 570 words]
When Len Bias died in his Washington Hall dorm room 20 years ago this week, a sea of questions emerged. Some wondered about the university's future and many said college athletics had to change. But whatever reforms at this university that would take hold over the next several years would be dwarfed by what members of Congress would steamroll through the House of Representatives in Washington that summer, part of a legislative frenzy in the wake of Bias' shocking and tragic death. [continues 638 words]
Inside Maryland
