Know What You Smoke Smoking weed is not a new thing. Marijuana and its related studies have been going on for several years. It is the most widely used illicit drug in America. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) claims that over 38 percent of the total population between the ages 12 and 17 have tried marijuana at least once in their lifetime. Though surveys show a decline in the usage of the drug amongst eight graders, it also suggests that marijuana use is still a major issue amongst adolescents. In 2001 however, over 20 percent of eight-graders had tried marijuana and 8 percent were using marijuana on a regular basis. The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) reported marijuana as the reason behind over 110,000 emergency department visits in the United States. [continues 460 words]
Earlier this year, Webster Alexander was sentenced to 26 years in prison for selling four ounces of marijuana to an undercover police officer over the course of a month. He was no "drug kingpin"-the officer had to drive him to make the buys. He is now 19 years old. The offenses took place while Alexander was still in high school. Between then and his sentencing, Alexander graduated from high school, began community college and got a part-time job as a bricklayer. Now he's looking at 26 years in an Alabama prison with murderers and rapists who will likely be out long before him. [continues 254 words]
Could a former Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent and the editor-in-chief of the counterculture publication "High Times" agree on anything when they came to USA to debate over the legalization of marijuana? Yes, and it was their belief that drug users should have no place in America's prison system. The Jaguar Productions-sponsored "Heads versus Feds" debate took place Wednesday, Sept. 24, at the Student Center Ballroom and featured 25-year Drug Enforcement Administration veteran Bob Stutman and marijuana activist Steve Hagar. Joseph Lepore, a USA history professor, mediated the event that drew the larger-than-expected crowd of more than 500, according to JP's Mirian Hubbard. [continues 769 words]
Earlier this year, Webster Alexander was sentenced to 26 years in prison for selling four ounces of marijuana to an undercover police officer over the course of a month. He was no "drug kingpin"-the officer had to drive him to make the buys. He is now 19 years old. The offenses took place while Alexander was still in high school. Between then and his sentencing, Alexander graduated from high school, began community college and got a part-time job as a bricklayer. Now he's looking at 26 years in an Alabama prison with murderers and rapists who will likely be out long before him. [continues 249 words]
One is the editor-in-chief of a racy pro-marijuana magazine and the other is a retired DEA agent. Not since that 1968 hit The Odd Couple, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau, has there been two more different people! It is Snoop Dogg meets McGruff the Crime Dog - it is Heads vs. Feds featuring Steven Hager of High Times Magazine and Robert Stutman, the founder of Employee Information Services, Inc.-the nation's largest management firm specializing in substance-abuse for employees-and they are both coming to a college campus near you! [continues 639 words]
USA Student Thinks The Costs Of Marijuana Prohibition Outweigh The Benefits The question of marijuana legalization raises many issues that affect each of us in some way. My purpose herein is to explore some of the moral, cultural, legal and economic issues related to marijuana legalization. Most Americans agree that drug abuse is immoral because it distorts perception, impairs judgment and can jeopardize one's health. As a Christian, I agree that drug abuse is wrong and stupid and sets a bad example. However, these criticisms apply equally to alcoholism, which shares the exact same faults while remaining legal. Alcohol, tobacco and obesity each kill tens of thousands of people, yet there is not a single documented case of a marijuana overdose. [continues 718 words]
In a back office of the Pelham Police Department, two detectives start each day with a stack of cases that never seems to end. The illegal sale and use of pharmaceutical drugs hit town about three years ago and has not let up since, said Bobby Smith, one of two detectives assigned to the city's drug unit. This year has been especially busy for the city, possibly a record when the final numbers are calculated, he said. The drug unit has signed 114 felony warrants and 125 misdemeanor warrants, and has worked 11 trafficking cases, said Mike Roberts, the second detective in the unit. [continues 552 words]
You think you're different. It won't happen to you." That's Crystal, a 23-year-old recovering methamphetamine addict, talking about the fast trip down and the long climb out. It's national Recovery Month, and Crystal is 16 months off the needle. That's a clean run that may make her one of the six addicts in a hundred to kick America's newest chemical nightmare. Six out of 100. Those are the odds against prolonged recovery, I'm told. Six percent will quit. Ninety-four percent will eventually lose their money, jobs, homes, health, families or freedom because of methamphetamine. [continues 411 words]
Legislators Had No Real Choice But To Expedite Parole Process Head for the hills! Hundreds, no, thousands, of Alabama prisoners are about to be set free to menace law-abiding citizens! No, it's not as dire a situation as that. But the Legislature has had to come to terms with prisoners and finances. And, because the state must balance its budget, finances prevailed. The state parole board will increase from three to seven members with the goal of putting from 5,000 to 6,000 inmates back on the streets during the next year. [continues 365 words]
Message Students Should Take Away Is Drugs Are Bad Red Ribbon Week in Madison is in late October, but the deadline for the associated Madison city and county poster contest is fast approaching. Juli Gerrits, director of Madison DON'T (Drugs Offer No Tomorrow), said first-place entries from each participating school are due in her office by Oct. 1. The contest is open to children in with grades K-8, said Gerrits. Posters will be judged at individual schools to determine first-, second- and third-place winners in each grade, who will earn prizes from her organization and Domino's Pizza. [continues 451 words]
In 10 Years, Todd Entrekin Has Seen A Lot Of Changes In The Drug World. Entrekin, one of the original members of the Etowah County Drug Task Force, believes that without the task force, the drug problems would be much worse in Etowah County. Entrekin now is chief deputy of the Etowah County Sheriff's Department. But the drug problem, still, is bad enough, he said. "We're not making much headway," he said, "but if we were not doing what we're doing, it would be much worse." [continues 349 words]
TALLADEGA COUNTY - The Drug and Violent Crime Task Force is preparing for its second year of operation after receiving a $284,000 federal grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs. District Attorney Steve Giddens said the money will likely be used to hire more officers. Seven officers serve on the task force, and Giddens said there is a possibility that two more will be hired now that much of the equipment needed to start up the task force is in place. [continues 438 words]
White-Collar Offenders Get Lenient Treatment Justice is supposed to be blind, not dumb. But it's hard to see any logic or fairness in the way a number of white-collar defendants have been sentenced in north Alabama. Consider the case of Sheila Pickett Allen, a former First Alabama Bank employee who embezzled $138,000, much of it from a church account. Federal sentencing guidelines called for her to serve 12 to 18 months in prison. Allen's initial sentence? One hour in custody. No fine. No restitution. No kidding. [continues 435 words]
MONTGOMERY - State lawmakers gave their final approval Wednesday to a bill making it easier for some felons to regain the right to vote. "If you've served your time, then I think you ought to get your voting privileges back," said the Senate sponsor, Sen. E.B. McClain, D-Midfield. The bill also would expand the state Parole Board so it could give early releases to an extra 5,000 state inmates in the coming year to ease prison crowding. The Senate voted 21-11 for the bill after less than an hour's debate. Gov. Bob Riley asked his fellow Republicans in the Senate not to delay the bill, said Sen. Steve French, R-Mountain Brook. [continues 622 words]
MONTGOMERY - The Alabama prison system could save nearly $3 million a year and safely reduce its female inmate population by at least 400 through greater use of community-based work and treatment programs, a nationally known prison expert says. Tim Roche of Washington, in a report filed Tuesday in a federal court suit on behalf of inmates at Tutwiler Prison for Women, said most women in Alabama prisons are serving relatively short sentences for non-violent crimes, making them prime candidates for effective and safe placement in community programs. [continues 447 words]
Alabama, like many states in our nation, is faced with overcrowded prisons and fiscal crisis. Releasing non violent inmates may help clear the way for more violent criminals, but it doesn't address the reason the prisons are being filled in the first place. There is one simple answer: the war on drugs. We are seeing the results of more than 50 years of prohibition. Many of these inmates should have never been arrested in the first place. What many people don't realize is that these released prisoners will be on probation and forced to undergo drug testing. So if they choose to smoke marijuana they could end up right back in prison. [continues 155 words]
State Needs to Take Balanced Approach to Solve Current Corrections Problems The Alabama prisoner population and associated budget have exploded during the past 20 years. In 1980, there were 6,368 state prisoners in Alabama. Today, there are 28,338 - more prisoners than in Canada, a country of more than 30 million people. Obviously, many don't need to be there. Now, at the expense of children's education and health care, nursing home beds and medications for poor people, the governor and Legislature scramble to address the problem. [continues 909 words]
Alabama taxpayers could be contributing an additional $16 million to the state's prison system next year -- a total of an estimated $250 million -- but unless a significant change in policy accompanies the money, a serious, avoidable risk to public safety will continue. With state prisons holding more than twice as many prisoners as they were designed to house and with a shortage of guards, each correctional facility remains a powder keg set to blow at the slightest provocation. Corrections Commissioner Donal Campbell set the cards on the table when he told the Sentencing Commission recently that "when inmates decide to come out of there," there will be no way to stop them. That has to be frightening to the outnumbered guards and to the folks who live in the neighborhoods just outside the gates. Irresponsibly, state officials have allowed the situation to deteriorate despite years of warnings -- and repeated federal lawsuits. [continues 408 words]
Drug dealers and meth manufacturers beware. Circuit Court Judge Burt Smithart sent a powerful message from the Barbour County Courthouse in Clayton last week. Judge Smithart sentenced a repeat drug offender charged with making illegal methamphetamine to prison. For life. With no chance of parole. David Robinette, 51, of Ariton, will serve out his days in prison. He was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine, a dangerous synthetic drug now on the streets in Eufaula and Barbour County. District Attorney Boyd Whigham's office proved four prior drug convictions, and tough new sentencing laws gave Judge Smithart wide latitude for the sentencing. [continues 258 words]
"I have already had a lot of parents come up and tell me they are behind this program 100 percent," explained Jacksonville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey, following Thursday night's meeting of the Jacksonville Board of Education. "Many of them have expressed how pleased they are that we are planning to do this. "This is cutting edge stuff for this area. We are the first among our neighbors to consider a policy of this nature and will be one of the first to implement it." [continues 1329 words]
It's the same scene. The 90210-esque party, college kids on the couch, smoke-filled-air and a bong on the coffee table. A distressed partyer bursts in with the news that the cops are on the way. Moments later the police are there arresting and handcuffing. Statistics show this scene is not uncommon in Auburn. In the past six months, campus police have arrested 16 Auburn students for possession of marijuana or drug paraphernalia. In the past year, the The Auburn Police have arrested three people for selling marijuana and 58 for possession. [continues 935 words]
They have always said that dog is man's best friend and in Jacksonville the police are relying on man's best friend to help clean up crime and stop a problem that is quickly growing by epic proportions. "We have experienced a huge methamphetamine use in our area," explained Police Chief Tommy Thompson, who spearheaded the effort to get a drug sniffing dog added to his force. "Like it is throughout the South, methamphetamines are becoming our number one problem. It is at the root of a lot of the problems we investigate, from petty theft and breaking and entering, to assault and robbery. [continues 1184 words]
The newest "teacher" at Bob Jones High School may dress in blue and wield a weapon, but he isn't there for any arresting experiences. Officer Wayne Kamus is the new DARE officer at Bob Jones. Kamus, who has taught drug prevention for two years at the elementary and middle school level, joins Officer Steve Wilkerson, the high school's resource officer, as a weekly teacher during health class for sophomores. Juli Gerrits, director of Madison DON'T (Drugs Offer No Tomorrow), said salaries and benefits for Kamus and new resource officers at Liberty and Discovery middle schools were covered by a $357,000, three-year grant from Community-Oriented Policing Services, or COPS, a federal program under the U.S. Department of Justice. [continues 478 words]
The state's prison system has been struggling with overcrowding for the past few years, but the release of thousands of inmates as suggested by Gov. Bob Riley may not be the solution some state officials were looking for. Riley recommended the move in foresight of a possible defeat against his $1.2 billion tax and accountability plan. Now, with the legislature in a special session to determine budget cuts, many officials are afraid of the direction the cuts are heading. [continues 621 words]
Four years ago, after the failure of his lottery referendum, then Governor Don Siegelman admitted that he had no plan B. While Riley's concession speech was not nearly that bad, I have decided to compile a top-ten list of things the state can do to save money, just in case they need the help. 1.Cut the legislative pork. Some of the accountability measures discussed still need to be passed. A recent Birmingham News article gave $120 million as a possible estimate of pork spending last year. I have no idea what the basis of this number is or how accurate it may be, but I have no doubt that elimination of special project spending by legislators would be significant. [continues 502 words]
It parades as an anti-drug bill under the near-acronym VICTORY (Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations) Act of 2003. The rationale for the bill is to "combat narco-terrorism.'' The legislation sweeps far wider than that. If Congress passes the VICTORY Act, Americans will lose more of their freedom and terrorists can claim the victory. Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, authored the bill. It is scheduled to be introduced in the Senate this fall. [continues 818 words]
Gallant Man Plans Book About Peru's Cocaine Trade. When he is not working as an instructor at the Peruvian Air Force School of Jungle Survival, Jeff Randall is researching his latest passion - Peru's elusive cocaine trade - for a book he expects to release next year. Randall has for more than six years split his time primarily between Peru in South America and Gallant in western Etowah County. He already has co-authored one book, "Adventure Travel in the Third World: Everything You Need to Know to Survive in Remote and Hostile Destinations," with Mike Perrin, a resident of Blaine, Tenn. [continues 1271 words]
MONTGOMERY -- More than 7,000 non-violent state convicts could be paroled next year if the Legislature approves Gov. Bob Riley's proposal to increase the board's membership and budget, a spokeswoman said. Cynthia Dillard, assistant director of the three-member Board of Pardons and Paroles, said Riley's proposal would add three members and one alternate to the board and increase its budget by $10 million to ease prison crowding. Riley put the parole bill in his call for the special session that began Monday to deal with a shortfall in state agencies. Lawmakers also introduced bills to establish a statewide lottery, shorten the school year, and levy a vehicle registration fee in Jefferson County to match federal mass transit dollars. But those subjects were not in Riley's special session call and have a lesser chance of passing since they require a two-thirds majority. [continues 601 words]
In April, the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles began "special docket" parole hearings for nonviolent offenders as a way to relieve prison crowding. Gov. Bob Riley wants to continue that process with an expanded parole board. To be eligible for early paroles, inmates must meet the following criteria: Not serving a split sentence (in which judge divides the sentence between prison time and non-prison time) No convictions for a Class A felony (violent crime against a person) Must not have had three revocations of probation or parole within last five years No violations involving use or threatened use of a knife or gun Not serving time for an offense involving a victim injury Not serving time for domestic violence No convictions for drug trafficking No convictions for sexual offenses No history of child abuse convictions [continues 907 words]
The director of the parole board said many more nonviolent offenders could be released in response to Alabama's budget crisis if they can be properly supervised -- and that would mean hiring more than 100 officers. Bill Segrest, executive director of the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, told the Sentencing Commission on Friday that his agency cannot solve the prison system's crowding problems. But he said the board is willing to parole many more nonviolent inmates if they can be properly supervised. [continues 390 words]
TUSCALOOSA - Listening to Bob Marley sing the lyrics "legalize it, I'll advertise it" may have put some of the more than 700 University of Alabama students gathered at the Ferguson Center plaza Wednesday evening in the mood for herbal refreshment. But the only smoke being blown on a balmy weeknight came from tobacco cigarettes as students heard from two speakers from opposite ends of the marijuana legalization debate in a forum called "Heads vs. Feds." The event, which featured Steven Hager, editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, and Robert Stutman, former head of the New York office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, was sponsored by UA's University Programs. [continues 515 words]
This is a great time to be a criminal in Alabama. Law enforcement agencies are going to be hard pressed for resources to catch lawbreakers. Courts won't have the money to deal with the cases coming to trial. Crime labs are too backlogged to handle evidence. And the state is too strapped to house its prisoners. The icing on the cake is that Alabama has a scofflaw at the head of its legal system. Though he's currently suspended for disobeying a court order, he's expected to be right back in his old job soon. [continues 505 words]
MONTGOMERY -- Alabama's crowded, understaffed prisons are a threat to public safety, Prison Commissioner Donal Campbell told the state Sentencing Commission Friday. "We're on the verge of breaking down. It's broken," Campbell said. The prison system has 28,142 inmates in facilities designed for half that many. There are so few officers on duty in Alabama prisons that "when inmates decide to come out of there" there will be no way to stop them, Campbell said. One prison with nearly 2,000 inmates has only 22 officers on duty between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and only one officer on duty in a gymnasium with 250 inmates, Campbell said. [continues 367 words]
This place is seeping with meth, friends fight and kill over that powder death, Hateful - unfamiliar, rude and crude, If you don't try it then you're a prude It's your loss, maybe another time Stare at me like I've commited a heinous crime Bang! Bang! an officer's dead Rick's shot, too, but not a tear's shed "Verlon's dead. Verlon's dead!" What will we do? "Kill those boys; they should die, too!" 'Cause the only way to stop animosity is to create some more [continues 123 words]
The Linden City Council voted Monday to purchase and provide transportation for a new drug dog. The approval of the motion by councilman Dennis Breckenridge was given over the strong objections of Linden Mayor Pat Vice. The city has not had a drug dog since January 2002. The council at the time voted to stop paying for feed and medical service for the dog, which was owned by a former police officer. "I'm strongly opposed to a (drug) dog," the mayor said. "...Demopolis has a drug dog that we can borrow." The liability and the cost of a drug dog is not made up by the number of drug arrests, Vice said. [continues 134 words]
Crime Prevention Academy Discusses History Of Problem When he grew up in Birmingham, Joe Black, 75, says he can't remember ever hearing anything about all the different illegal drugs he hears about today. Things like marijuana and cocaine either weren't around, or just not popular with his crowd. But on Thursday, Black finally got a chance to ask a question he's been wondering about for quite some time: "When did these drugs get to be such a problem?" [continues 567 words]
MONTGOMERY - Police chiefs Thursday braced for a new round of prisoner releases and higher traffic fatalities as a possible result of Gov. Bob Riley's plan to plug a $675 million hole in next year's budgets. Prison commissioner Donal Campbell said Riley will seek legislation to increase the number of parole board members from three to seven in order to speed the release of between 5,000 and 6,000 inmates in the next few months. School officials said $180 million would have to be cut next year and $140 million in fiscal year 2005. [continues 848 words]
Gov. Bob Riley will ask lawmakers in a special session that will begin at noon Monday to expand the Pardons and Paroles Board to speed the release of 5,000-6,000 nonviolent offenders from state prisons and deeply cut other state agencies. In a Thursday news conference, Finance Director Drayton Nabers and the heads of public safety and public health agencies outlined budget cuts the governor will propose after voters rejected a $1.2 billion tax and accountability package Tuesday. [continues 1014 words]
Governor, Lawmakers To Trim Budget MONTGOMERY - Alabama in coming months likely will give early releases from prison to between 5,000 and 6,000 state inmates convicted of nonviolent crimes, Gov. Bob Riley said Wednesday. State budgets he will propose for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 also would cut spending so that teachers and other public school and state employees would have to pay more for health insurance coverage, and Medicaid pharmacy benefits and nursing home care for poor people would have to be reduced. [continues 647 words]
Heads Vs. Feds To Put Different Spin On Marijuana Debate It is on T-shirts, key chains, magnets and the minds of people across the nation. Steven Hager and Robert Stutman hope to place it back on the hot topic platter by bringing a new buzz to the old debate of marijuana legalization tonight. Heads vs. Feds, an unconventional way of debating the marijuana debate, will visit the University at 7:30 p.m. in the Ferguson Center Plaza. The event is sponsored by University Programs. [continues 439 words]
As An Alternative To Jail, Drug Court Lets Offenders Sew For The Needy As A Community Service You may have heard of the People's Court, but Drug Court was in session Saturday. In Judge Tracy McCooey's assembly room, Anthony Oliver, 35, and three other people indicted on drug-related charges and struggling with addictions listened steadily to instructions on techniques like backstitching from Mary Hill, state coordinator of the national ABC Quilts Project. At the same table where the four worked sat McCooey -- not in a long black robe but rather a T-shirt and shorts -- lending guidance to the quilt makers. [continues 337 words]
CLANTON - On Wednesday, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley awarded $298,000 to continue the fight against illegal drugs in Chilton, Autauga and Elmore Counties. The grant will help in funding the Central Alabama Drug Task Force, which is made up of the district attorney's office and sheriff's departments in those three counties. Also included in the task force are the Clanton, Millbrook, Prattville and Wetumpka police departments. "We must aggressively pursue and prosecute drug dealers whether they are in our major cities or our rural communities," Riley said. [continues 114 words]
More than 6,000 marijuana plants were cut down and burned this week during an eradication effort along the Alabama-Florida state line. Along with the illegal plants, law enforcers also rounded up a 63-year-old Bonifay, Fla. man who had marijuana growing on his property, according to authorities. "This shows we will put people in jail, not just pull up their plants," said Holmes County Sheriff Dennis Lee. The Holmes County Sheriff's Department was the center of the operation that included the Geneva County Sheriff's Department, U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Alabama Department of Public Safety-Alabama Bureau of Investigation, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Alabama National Guard. [continues 400 words]
BIRMINGHAM - The University of Alabama at Birmingham is using drug dogs to check dormitory rooms after a methamphetamine lab was found in Blount Hall in February. The searches began after the drug lab was found, said Andy Marsch, assistant vice president for student life. "That will be something we continue on a random basis," he said. "We were very upset about the situation, and we felt we needed to send a strong message." Two students and another young man were arrested after authorities discovered tools to make methamphetamine in one of the students' suites. Drug Enforcement Admin-istration agents also found marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs in the suite. [continues 61 words]
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is using drug dogs to check dormitory rooms after a methamphetamine lab was found in Blount Hall in February. The searches began after the drug lab was found, said Andy Marsch, assistant vice president for student life. "That will be something we continue on a random basis," he said. "We were very upset about the situation and we felt we needed to send a strong message." Two students and another young man were arrested after authorities discovered tools to make methamphetamine in one of the students' suites. Drug Enforcement Administration agents also found marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs in the suite. [continues 62 words]
Law enforcement officials seized and eradicated 39 marijuana plants, which are worth $78,000, Tuesday afternoon. The Tallapoosa County Narcotics Task Force, Marijuana Eradication Team and members of the New Site Police Department and Alexander City Fire Department found the plants in helicopter fly-overs Tuesday and Wednesday for the second time this year. "The 39 plants were found off of Highway 22 and Hillabee Creek," said Narcotics Investigator Jay Turner. "We had gotten information about some plants up there. We found about five plants that were 10 to 11 feet tall and the smallest plants were 5 feet tall." [continues 132 words]
A study conducted by Hartselle City Schools shows student use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs slightly less than the national average. Some 1,200 Hartselle students in grades six- 11 participated in the national Pride Survey. The survey has some 216 questions and polls students on issues such as use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs. The results show the use of illegal substances to be slightly lower than the national average. Results include: a.. 21.6 percent of students said they had used cigarettes in the last year, as compared to 24.9 percent nationally. [continues 251 words]
The Greatest Fear of Most Parents Is the Death of a Child. Charles and Brenda Douglas Had That Fear Become Reality. Let me tell you about the morning of June 10, 2003. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and I'd already received two telephone calls, one from my daughter and the other from my husband. I had gone to bed late the night before, leaving my 20-year-old son in front of the computer, where he usually was late at night. That morning, I stayed in bed, but had I only known, I would have been awake before the dawn or stayed up all night .... [continues 1403 words]
Dear Editor: I'm writing about: "AN EPIDEMIC ADDICTION: Meth Labs Multiply Faster Than Police Can Find Them" (8/24). Today's meth labs are very similar to the illegal distilleries of the era known as the "Noble Experiment." During our alcohol-prohibition era, thousands died from what was known as "bathtub gin." Like the meth of today, the "bathtub gin" was easily made from household or industrial products. Like the meth of today, the illegal alcohol could be manufactured anywhere. Like meth, the "bathtub gin" was a product created by Prohibition. [continues 93 words]
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is checking dormitory rooms with drug dogs this fall in the wake of a methamphetamine lab found in Blount Hall in February. "Occasionally there have been, and there also will be, random inspections by narcotics dogs for our housing facilities," said Andy Marsch, assistant vice president for student life. "That will be something we continue on a random basis." He said the dog searches were instituted after the drug lab was found. "We were very upset about the situation and we felt we needed to send a strong message," he said. [continues 196 words]
Inside Alabama
