These Soldiers Aren't Portrayed in Movies, but Their Role Is Key They work behind the scenes in the state's war against illegal drugs, analyzing data, testing money for narcotics residue and helping prosecutors build cases against traffickers. They don't go out on raids with the police, don't kick in doors or roust dealers on street corners, but much of what they do helps law enforcement agencies do just that. And when they aren't doing that, they are in schools and working with community organizations in an effort to reduce the demand for illegal drugs in Delaware. [continues 733 words]
One of our most infamous contemporary laws is the 100-1 difference in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Under federal drug laws, prison sentences are usually tied to the quantity of drugs the defendant trafficked. For example, selling 5,000 grams of powder cocaine (about a briefcase full) gets a mandatory 10-year prison sentence, but so does selling only 50 grams of crack cocaine (the weight of a candy bar). Working for the House Judiciary Committee in 1986, I wrote the House bill that was the basis for that law. We made some terrible mistakes. [continues 666 words]
Jumping Professional's Pro-fitness, Anti-drug Message Ropes In Richey Elementary Students NEWPORT -- Students are getting high without drugs in the Red Clay Consolidated School District. All the district's elementary and middle school students recently participated in "Jump Against Drugs," a nationwide program that encourages youths to live drug-free and physically fit lives. The dynamic presentations featured professional rope jumper Mark Rothstein of Atlanta. Funding was provided by the federal Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program and BofA. [continues 544 words]
The message that U.S. Attorney Colm Connolly sent on Thursday to dealers of deadly fentanyl-laced heroin was needed. They face mandatory federal jail time -- from 20 years to as much as life in prison -- when their tainted batches of dope kill or seriously harm buyers. This is the first time in Delaware that prosecutors have invoked a federal law with no regard for a criminal's intent. It's a tough call needed for tough times in drug enforcement. [continues 213 words]
The message that U.S. Attorney Colm Connolly sent on Thursday to dealers of deadly fentanyl-laced heroin was needed. They face mandatory federal jail time -- from 20 years to as much as life in prison -- when their tainted batches of dope kill or seriously harm buyers. This is the first time in Delaware that prosecutors have invoked a federal law with no regard for a criminal's intent. It's a tough call needed for tough times in drug enforcement. [continues 214 words]
Three people now face criminal charges after overdosing on heroin this weekend in the city of Wilmington. The incidents all occurred within 12 hours of each other Saturday afternoon into early Sunday morning, police spokesman Master Sgt. James Gestwicki said. All three victims were found unconscious and revived by paramedics. Gestwicki said the first incident occurred at 1 p.m. when police and paramedics were called to the 1000 block of West Fourth Street for a 41-year-old unconscious woman suffering from an apparent overdose. [continues 171 words]
Wilmington police are investigating a rash of heroin overdoses that occurred Wednesday within 10 hours. None of the cases were fatal. The first incident occurred about 12:25 p.m. when officers found a 34-year-old man unconscious in the 1300 block of Lancaster Ave. Wilmington police spokesman Master Sgt. Steve Elliott said the victim still had the hypodermic needle in his arm. The victim was taken to Wilmington Hospital where he was treated. Eight hours later, police found a 46-year-old man in a restaurant in the 700 block of West Fourth St. where he had just shot up in the bathroom with a package of heroin marked "Luke Oil" that he had just purchased. [continues 59 words]
Gov. Ruth Ann Minner today signed into law a controversial bill allowing a pilot needle exchange program in Wilmington. She also signed a bill aimed at protecting consumers from fly-by-night credit-counseling services. Minner said she hopes the needle exchange program will cut down on the state's HIV/AIDS infection rates and the long-term health care costs associated with the disease. In addition to providing drug users with clean needles on a one surrendered, one given basis, the program will provide HIV testing, health counseling and information on drug treatment programs. [continues 144 words]
New Castle County Blames Lack Of Funds For Deactivation An extra New Castle County paramedic unit put together in May to help with a spate of heroin overdose calls was deactivated this week because there isn't enough money to pay for it. Public Safety Director Guy Sapp said it would have cost $100,000 to run Medic 9 for six months because it was paid for mainly with overtime. "Given the current situation in the budget, we cannot continue to staff Medic 9," Sapp said.Advertisement [continues 531 words]
Wilmington police announced three more heroin overdoses on Wednesday, bringing the total number of overdose cases in New Castle County since June 29 to at least 15. Wilmington vice squad detectives are investigating the rash of heroin overdoses in the city and warning people to avoid the potentially deadly drugs. A Drug Enforcement Administration task force was formed months ago to investigate distribution of a deadly batch of heroin mixed with the painkiller fentanyl that has killed users in the Delaware Valley and nationwide. In that task force, cases in Delaware are investigated by the DEA's Philadelphia office. [continues 108 words]
On Thursday the First State became one of the last states to permit a needle-exchange program to stem the increase in HIV and hepatitis C infections. Aided by an overwhelming tide of supportive research and anecdotal evidence, Senate Bill 20 won passage in the House by 23-15 after a decade of consideration. It wasn't the patience of Job that finally brought the state into the real world but the persistence of Sen. Margaret Rose Henry. The five-year pilot program will cost $315,000 the first year for a specially equipped van, supplies and salaries for social workers and counselors. [continues 247 words]
Bill Creates A Pilot Needle Exchange Program In Wilmington DOVER -- A decade-long legislative effort to provide intravenous drug users with access to clean needles and help reduce the spread of AIDS passed the General Assembly late today. The bill creates a pilot needle exchange program in Wilmington, where the ravages of drug addiction and AIDS have decimated some black neighborhoods. Senate Majority Leader Harris B. McDowell III, D-Wilmington North, rallied with about 75 supporters of the bill today on the steps of Legislative Hall earlier today, touting the programs benefits. [continues 319 words]
Bill Aims To Cut Down On AIDS, Hepatitis C In Wilmington DOVER -- Intravenous drug users in Wilmington will finally be able to get clean syringes under a pilot needle exchange program the General Assembly passed Thursday, delighting advocates who said the measure will reduce the spread of AIDS. Infection from dirty needles is a leading cause of AIDS in Delaware, which had the nation's sixth-highest AIDS rate from all causes in 2004. Until Thursday, though, Delaware was one of two states without a program that allows drug users to swap used needles for sterile ones or to buy syringes in pharmacies without a prescription. The other is New Jersey, where Gov. Jon Corzine is trying to start a program. [continues 716 words]
While Politicians Bicker, More Intravenous Drug-Related Infections Occur Empty bags of heroin, orange syringe caps, needle plungers, spent lighters, stainless steel cooking spoons, bloody clothes and used condoms -- all surround a tattered bed in an abandoned Wilmington row house. The second-floor bedroom, stinking of urine and feces, has long been a hideaway for drug addicts and prostitutes. Earlier that day, a worker clearing out the property had thrown out more than a half-dozen dirty hypodermic needles. In a nearby alley, a rusting needle lay in the wet dirt. [continues 1523 words]
The Faith Community Partnership meeting, a monthly forum on the impact of HIV, will take place tonight from 5:30 to 7 at the PAL Center on 3707 N. Market St. Tonight's forum will examine the needle exchange program, in which drug users to exchange used syringes for new ones to stop the spread of HIV. Delaware and New Jersey are the only two states in the nation that prohibit both needle exchanges and access to syringes at pharmacies without a prescription. [continues 55 words]
The drug mixture is suspected of nearly 30 deaths in the Philadelphia area and at least seven in Delaware. Almost a month after the start of a string of overdoses and deaths related to heroin that has been laced with a powerful prescription painkiller, law enforcement officials are unable to pinpoint the source of the deadly mixture. The drug mixture is suspected in nearly 30 deaths in the Philadelphia area and at least seven in Delaware. Autopsies on the cases in Delaware won't be complete for four to six weeks, said Jay Lynch, spokesman for the Department of Health & Social Services.Advertisement [continues 535 words]
As Addicts Die In Alleys, Call Goes Out To Address Overdoses WILMINGTON -- Robert I. Bovell Jr.'s eyes flickered down briefly before he said how police found his brother. "Face-down on the ground in an alley at Second and Broom ... dead from an overdose with the fresh needle marks in his arm." The death of 38-year-old Neil "Jai" Bovell, of Wilmington -- one of seven Delaware fatalities tied to a purer-than-usual batch of heroin and the painkiller fentanyl -- is a scenario experts say is being repeated nationwide. Advertisement [continues 1108 words]
Police and rescuers converged on a parking lot in Wilmington, where they found what authorities say is the latest in a string of deadly heroin overdoses. The unidentified man was pronounced dead about 1:10 p.m. Tuesday outside the Compton Court apartments on Eighth Street, said Sgt. Kelli Starr-Leach, spokeswoman for the New Castle County Emergency Medical Services. More than a dozen deaths in Delaware and surrounding states are suspected to be linked to a batch of heroin that reached the region, possibly mixed with a powerful anesthetic called fentanyl, authorities said.Advertisement [continues 383 words]
I applaud former prosecutor Peter Letang's call for a re-examination of the drug war and welcome him to the cause. He is not the first. Many other prosecutors, judges, and, most significantly, members of law enforcement who conduct the war out on the streets have also come forward, risking their careers and reputations. They have come together to form an organization to end drug prohibition. The organization is known as LEAP, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. I recently had the pleasure of meeting with a decorated member of the U.S. Marshal Service, Matthew Fogg. Mr. Fogg began as a marshall in 1978 and he has worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other areas of the Department of Justice on numerous drug interdiction efforts, including SWAT teams, and participated in the arrests of hundreds of drug dealers and drug users. [continues 918 words]
The credibility of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is dead. Accusations of political influence to sway science and medicine have dogged agencies during the Bush administration. On Thursday, when the FDA declared that smoked marijuana "has no accepted or proven medical use," it undercut its own authority because the conclusion came from a combined review with federal drug enforcement, regulatory and science agencies. Advertisement Marijuana is, of course, illegal except in 11 states that allow its medical use despite the threat of federal arrest. [continues 242 words]
I can't envision drugs being legal. What would be the purpose of going to treatment then? In treatment, counselors teach people how to get and stay off drugs and to find a better way to live. If you are talking about legalizing drugs and sending people to treatment, how are you not condoning the very thing you are against? Even if drugs can be gotten legally, there is always going to be some knucklehead who's not going to wait to go through a program to get his drugs. As with everything else, somebody will always try to get around whatever is legal. [continues 389 words]
Considering his credentials you wouldn't expect Peter Letang to call the war on drugs a failure. Until his retirement a week ago he had been Delaware's chief criminal prosecutor for five years. In addition, Mr. Letang, a Republican, has sent his fair share of addicts to jail. But other public officials have been quietly saying the same thing for years. Perhaps Mr. Letang's public comments will prod them to speak out so that our society can have the overdue conversation about what decriminalization of narcotics will mean to the addict and the non-addicted public. [continues 147 words]
The key phrase in Peter Letang's essay about drug laws on the previous page is: "I do not regard a recommendation for dialogue on this subject to be blasphemy." Neither do we, but it is apparent that many people do. Mr. Letang is to be commended for bringing this important topic out in the open. His credentials are impeccable. He spent years prosecuting all manner of criminals. He helped put a lot of them behind bars. So it is imperative that Delaware listens to him when he says the war against illicit drug use is not working. [continues 371 words]
Despite Millions of Dollars and Crowded Prisons, Drugs Are Still a Problem Fact: The proliferation of illegal drugs over the past 30 or 40 years has profoundly impacted our world -- from individual household tragedies to global foreign ramifications -- no venue has been immune. Fact: Billions of dollars are dedicated annually to eradicate foreign sources, to interdict supplies and suppliers, to arrest and punish those profiting from the drug trade, and to treat and counsel those consumers who sustain the market. Fact: Drugs are more available today, in larger quantities and from more disparate sources, than ever before -- and the sophistication of drug distributors has paralleled the increased expenditure of resources to stem the tide. [continues 614 words]
Peter Letang joins a growing army of former prosecutors and other law enforcement officials who now realize that the "the war on drugs" is a lost cause. Mayor James M. Baker, as well as other governmental officials, acknowledge that the efforts put forth to try and stem the flow of drugs is doing more harm than good. While Letang would not go so far as to endorse the decriminalization of drugs, preferring to find some "middle ground somewhere," decriminalization is the middle ground. [continues 349 words]
Parents must be nosy about where their children are and what they're doing, and parents who notice that their children are hanging out at the Midway Movie Theatres or the Wawa on Route 1 should be concerned about their children's activities, Cape Henlopen School District officials say. At a Wednesday, March 22 meeting for parents held at the high school, School Resource Officer Det. Mark Ostroski presented a handout listing locations where police say they've seen teen violence and drug activity. Also listed were the Red Mill Inn, the Anchorage Motel on Route 1 and the Boardwalk during the summer months. [continues 651 words]
Herb, Available Legally Through Many Web Vendors, Would Be Placed In Same Category As Heroin, LSD A hallucinogenic herb that may have contributed to the suicide of a Salesianum School senior in January would become an illegal drug under a proposed state law. Salvia divinorum, which is widely and legally available through hundreds of Internet sites, would become a Schedule I controlled substance under Senate Bill 259, putting it in the same category as heroin and LSD. The Senate Health and Social Services Committee sent the bill to the full Senate after a hearing Wednesday. [continues 530 words]
LSD-Like Herb Blamed in Delaware Teen's Suicide In the daily search for reasons behind their 17-year-old son's suicide, Dennis and Kathy Chidester keep coming back to the same answer: salvia divinorum. The herb, a cousin of the flowering sages enjoyed by backyard gardeners, contains the world's most potent natural hallucinogen, as strong as LSD. The drug is legal in most states, including Delaware, and easily available through hundreds of Internet sites, including eBay. That aura of legitimacy lulled Brett Chidester, a straight-A senior at Salesianum School, into thinking smoking salvia leaves was safe, even while convincing himself that he had gained incredible insights into the universe, his parents said. [continues 1883 words]
Congress Orders Assistance For Education To Resume James Harrison earned his high-school diploma while serving three years in prison for trafficking heroin. From there, he went on to be pardoned and earn his master's degree in human services from Lincoln University in Oxford, Pa. He also received a federal student loan to help finance the degree, which he's still paying off. But the 49-year-old from Wilmington credits the loan with saving his life. "If I wasn't able to obtain my higher education, I would have to have resorted to my old lifestyle of drug trafficking," Harrison said. "I wouldn't have had any options if I didn't get the loan."Advertisement [continues 837 words]
Delaware One Of Two States Without Program Basha Closic sees the damage wrought by intravenous drug use every day: HIV infections, collapsed veins, broken lives. Closic, the program director of HIV protection services at Brandywine Counseling in Wilmington, says her job would be easier if Delaware would pass legislation to allow drug users to exchange their dirty needles for clean ones. That way, drug users would reduce the risk of contracting or spreading HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and it would bring them into closer contact with experts who could help them kick their drug habits. [continues 964 words]
WILMINGTON -- At the 12-12 Club on the corner of 27th and Washington streets, relatives of murder victims and others exposed to the violence on Wilmington's streets meet each week to commiserate and to cry. A red rose is placed on each chair, arranged in a circle, before the group sits down to talk about how long to keep a dead family member's room the same, when to throw out their clothes, how often to go to the cemetery. [continues 1638 words]
Inside Delaware
