In response to the article on parish schools drug testing students that participate in extracurricular activities, the most comprehensive test of its kind has just been completed by the University of Michigan. Briefly, "The new federally financed study of 76,000 students nationwide, by far the largest to date, found that drug use is just as common in schools with testing as in those without it.' The Michigan study was financed through grants from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, as well as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which supports drug testing in schools. [continues 157 words]
HOUMA -- Fifteen hundred students, all of the parish's public school seventh-graders and some from area parochial schools, crowded into the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center Thursday morning for a talk on the evils of illegal drugs. Many of the students saw the outing as reprieve from schoolwork and as an excuse to cut up with their friends. But the throng of giggling teen-agers instantly sobered up when 10 chained prisoners were escorted out of a police van and paraded across the Civic Center a few feet away from where they sat. [continues 499 words]
The House voted on Monday to give prosecutors a heavier book to throw at dealers and manufacturers of amphetamines and methamphetamines. Rep. Emma Devillier's three-part package of proposed laws would also make operators of illegal drug labs pay for the cleanup of their chemicals and would hit them for running their shops with children in the house. Devillier, D-Plaquemine, said she was carrying the bills at the request of local prosecutors to clarify laws on methamphetamines and amphetamines. [continues 311 words]
Just recently I read that state Rep. Damon Baldone introduced a bill to the Legislature that would require teen-agers who are caught smoking to lose their driver's license. This is an absolute outrage. Does Baldone think this is a police state, or Iran where a dog groomer who gave a poodle a bad haircut had his hand cut off, or Iraq where a man who cursed Saddam Hussein had his tongue removed? Although smoking a cigarette doesn't seem a crime to me, the punishment should fit the crime. I guess for a second smoking offense he would want to remove the first two fingers from each hand and for a third offense remove both the upper and lower lips from the face of the offender. Heaven forbid a fourth offense ... the death penalty? [continues 179 words]
HOUMA -- Last Tuesday, after clocking out from her parish government desk job, Cheryle Hayes drove home in her Toyota Highlander, started dinner and tossed a load of laundry into the washing machine. And she considered herself fortunate to be able to do so. Sorting socks and stirring soup may seem like mundane tasks for most, but for Hayes each is a morsel of cherished freedom worthy of celebration. Convicted of heroin-distribution in 1979, Hayes served 20 years of a life sentence before Gov. Mike Foster ordered her freed. [continues 2200 words]
The Ouachita Parish School System has one of the more progressive drug testing programs of students participating in extracurricular activities in the state. The School Board, however, decided it needed improvement. The School Board recently approved moving scheduling responsibilities from coaches, sponsors and advisers to the labs performing the tests. It also made random testing a mandatory part of the program. Both measures go into effect with the 2003-04 school year. The change in scheduling makes testing more confidential for students, and that's important. It also makes the process more objective, taking it out of the hands of school personnel and taking away the lengthy advance notice. The possibility of invalidating tests with advance knowledge is greatly reduced by the new approach. [continues 255 words]
Residence Halls Crack Down On Drug Use During Derek's second semester at LSU, he and 12 other students from his residence hall dropped acid the day before a final exam and wandered "tripping nuts" around campus for 10 hours. This is in addition to the different times he smoked marijuana on the Parade Ground, in the War Memorial, the Quad, the Enchanted Forest, the Observatory in Life Sciences Building, Memorial Oak Grove and Tiger Stadium. In the last two years, there have been 21 drug-related cases referred to the Dean of Students. [continues 617 words]
HOUMA -- He started experimenting with alcohol and drugs at 13. By the time he reached adulthood, the 28-year-old Thibodaux man was addicted to cocaine and alcohol and had been in trouble with the law more times than he could count. "I started with beer, went to weed, and it grew from there," he said. The man's drug addiction made school a struggle, and he finally dropped out during his senior year at the age of 21. His life, he admits now, was in a downward spiral, and he had no hope for a successful future. [continues 1025 words]
A Bossier sheriff's narcotics agent who resigned after drugs and drug paraphernalia were allegedly found in a car he wrecked in October has been formally charged with two felonies. Based on its review of the case, the Bossier-Webster district attorney's office has charged Michael Brian Keith, 31, with possession of cocaine and malfeasance in office through tampering with evidence, court records show. Keith, who served seven years with the sheriff's office, is scheduled for arraignment June 2, the district attorney's office said Monday. [continues 196 words]
Many Buy Medicine to Aid in Studying As finals approach, health officials expect many students will try different measures to stay awake for late nights and stressful cramming. The usual stimulants include coffee and caffeine pills, but in the past five years, college campuses have seen an increase in the use of Attention Deficit Disorder drugs, according to Timothy Honigman, Student Health Center chief of staff. "We started recognizing more requests for medication from students who hadn't been evaluated," Honigman said. [continues 550 words]
Operation Iraqi Freedom refers to the slogan drawn up by American leaders to describe their position on war with Iraq. Perhaps, it should be necessary to return to the drawing board for yet another long-overdue battle. A war against drugs to be fought from its highest levels. Operation Iraqi Freedom is a reality now. The Iraqis are free, and I'm happy for them, but I'm saddened by the many underprivileged and hard-working adults held prisoner from within the walls of their drug-infested communities. For the most part, it aches my heart to see the blood of so many of our black youth being spilled over the dirty urban and rural streets of America, while others are handed life sentences in 4-by-8 cells, forever caged like animals in a zoo. Most of these incarcerated are deprived of their souls, leaving behind families whose lives become filled with complexities and uncertainties, which in turn sets the stage for a destructive behavior pattern to remain a part of the woven thread stitched by a well-planned strategy from the world of yesterday. [continues 281 words]
BATON ROUGE -- Concerned about potential constitutional lawsuits, a state Senate committee rejected a bill Thursday that would have drug-tested recipients of state-college scholarships. Senate Bill 117 by Sen. Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, called for the thousands of students involved in the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students, or TOPS, to be tested randomly throughout their collegiate careers. "I've visited with many employers in my district and around the state, and I've discovered that they can't accept many potential employees or applicants because they can't pass a drug screen," said Gautreaux, whose district includes western Terrebonne Parish. [continues 164 words]
Some Nearly Done With Their Sentences By the end of March, 16 inmates had been freed through the risk-review process, according to the Louisiana Department of Corrections. Two others remained in a New Orleans substance abuse rehabilitation program, waiting to join them. About 20 additional inmates found relief through programs such as work release or boot camp. Although their cases didn't go through the state Pardon Board, the inmates got the attention of the Corrections Department when they applied for risk reviews. [continues 258 words]
He Sees Bodenheimer As Threat, Lawyer Says The FBI informant on whom Ronald Bodenheimer conspired to plant drugs has sued the former Jefferson Parish judge, claiming a "continued pattern of harassment" that disrupted his livelihood and caused him to fear for his life. Coming out publicly for the first time, Eric Michael Boe said in a lawsuit filed Monday that Bodenheimer used "threatening phone calls," had him falsely arrested and was "framing him for a felony crime involving drugs." The lawsuit was filed in 24th Judicial District Court, where Bodenheimer served until his arrest in June. [continues 495 words]
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Louisiana has yet to realize even 10 percent of the savings projected when the state Legislature instituted a parole program designed to ease the strain on crowded prisons. Since the program began in late 2001, 16 inmates have been released, according to a review by The Times-Picayune. Another two are waiting for release from a local substance-abuse recovery program. With boot camp and work-release transfers figured in, the program had granted relief to 36 people by late March. [continues 525 words]
Drug abuse and stress are among the ongoing problems Baton Rouge teenagers face, say some members of the Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission. "I think the biggest problem is drug abuse. It's compounded by all the stress we have to deal with in high school," said Jonathan Byrd, 18, commission member. The Mayor's Youth Advisory Commission was formed last year to represent Baton Rouge youth. Teens meet monthly to discuss issues and then take action through campaigns and advocacy. [continues 295 words]
Federal taxpayers spend more than $22,000 a year to incarcerate a nonviolent minor drug offender, yet only $7,086 to educate a child. Federal drug laws require federal judges to give out harsh sentences to those convicted. African-Americans are the targeted minorities in this drug war, since they comprise 30 percent of those imprisoned while accounting for only 12 percent of the general population. Federal drug laws have failed. Drugs are cheaper and more available on the streets than ever before. Our government must spend more and more money on building prisons. [continues 55 words]
LEESVILLE - Fifty-four inmates at the Vernon Parish Correctional Center tested positive for drugs this month, according to Sheriff Sam Craft. The investigation began in March when corrections officers discovered someone was sending cocaine to the jail through the U.S. mail, Craft said. The two inmates involved were sent to other jails, he said, then he and local corrections officers asked the state Department of Corrections for help. The Vernon Parish Sheriff's Office supervises the parish jail. All 209 inmates were subsequently tested for drugs, Craft said, and 54 of them tested positive. [continues 547 words]
LEESVILLE - More than 25 percent of the inmate population of the Vernon Correctional Facility has tested positive for drug use. Earlier this month, Louisiana Department of Corrections officers from Phelps Correctional Center in DeQuincy came to the Vernon Correctional Facility to test the 205 inmates for drug use. After a full day of collecting samples, 54, or 25.3 percent, of the 205 inmates tested positive for marijuana use, said Johnny Creed, head of DOC's adult services in Baton Rouge. [continues 783 words]
Katy Reckdahl's critique of the "prison-industrial complex" in her article ("Big Picture," April 1) unfortunately looks at only one small part of the picture. Families of felons are hurt when their loved ones are incarcerated (whatever the likelihood prisons are teaming with good parents). However, we must also calculate the benefits to everyone of fewer felons on the street, not the least of which are the residents of Treme. Ms. Reckdahl discussed the costs of policing and jailing criminals in certain areas. Certainly this is a tiny percentage of the cost to individuals and society from crime. Most career criminals will commit dozens of crimes during a lifetime. Keeping felons in prison (especially until middle age when men commit many fewer violent acts) greatly reduces the number of crimes. [continues 240 words]
Alternatives move nonviolent offenders, juveniles out of jail. On a proportional basis, Louisiana still is locking up more people than any other state, a report last week from USA Today shows. Louisiana is historically opposed to prison reform. A "hard-line" on justice is required. But there is evidence the state is rethinking its approach to sentencing. For example, on March 9, 2002, the respected television show 60 Minutes aired a positive program on the Louisiana criminal justice system. In Louisiana, 60 Minutes said, the expensive policy of locking up petty criminals for long terms - even life - for repeated nonviolent petty acts was being reversed under laws that remove mandatory drug sentences for certain nonviolent crimes and cut in half many drug sentences. [continues 326 words]
Legislators this session will repeal an unconstitutional drug-testing law, but do not think they are losing their touch. Chances are they will enact another. "Defending unconstitutional laws" should be a separate appropriation in the state budget. The law that is to be deep-sixed was one of a batch passed in 1997, when Gov. Foster seemed intent on subjecting the entire populace to urinalysis. Included were welfare recipients, state contractors and elected officials. Some legislators, however, thought random drug tests were an unwarranted intrusion, at least in their own case, and filed suit when the bill covering elected officials was passed. [continues 604 words]
The Times' March 22 editorial on the absurdity of drug testing exceptional students was right on target. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court issued a controversial ruling that paved the way for school drug testing of students who enroll in extracurricular activities. This latest drug war exemption to the Constitution may do more harm than good. Student involvement in after-school activities has been shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they are most likely to get into trouble. Forcing students to undergo degrading urine tests as a prerequisite will only discourage participation in extracurricular activities. [continues 120 words]
Local Police Department Possibly Too Ready For Threats As I skimmed through the Baton Rouge Police Department's Web site recently I noticed little information about the BRPD fighting terrorism in our area. Granted, the Baton Rouge police have their hands full tracking the serial killer, so all their resources may not be allotted to fighting terror. One police department in this state is fully dedicated and prepared for terrorist scenarios, though. The Opelousas Police Department seems to be one of the most enigmatic police departments in the nation. Serving a town of 22,860 people, one wouldn't think a city with such a small population would need such a large, armed-to-the-teeth police department. Let me explain. [continues 475 words]
Group Suggests Alternative Ways To Fight Crime Amid grim stories of social injustice and the brutality of prison life, the Rev. Goat Carson chose to laugh. It's a symbol of freedom, he announced Friday night inside Treme Center, at the start of a weekend conference dedicated to ending the nation's reliance on prison cells and razor wire to stop crime. "I want to laugh in the face of this oppression," Carson shouted, rousing the crowd to join him. "We are still here, we are still here. We are the people." [continues 620 words]
Former Jefferson Parish Judge Ronald Bodenheimer made a disgraceful exit from public life Monday when he stood before a federal judge in New Orleans and pleaded guilty to three crimes, two of which involve him abusing his authority as judge. Not only did Mr. Bodenheimer admit to scheming to fix a custody case in favor of restaurateur Al Copeland, but he also admitted to reducing and splitting bonds to maximize profit for bondsman Louis Marcotte III. Mr. Bodenheimer, owner of Venetian Isles Marina in eastern New Orleans, also says he conspired to plant drugs on a man who had criticized the marina. [continues 503 words]
Doctors Can Prescribe Treatment In Office A new weapon against addiction to heroin and painkillers increases the chances for success because doctors can prescribe it in their own offices without having to send patients to drug clinics, substance-abuse experts told local doctors and counselors Monday. The drug is buprenorphine, a small pill that dissolves under the tongue and can deliver the equivalent of a high dose of methadone, said Dr. Kenison Roy III, a longtime local specialist in substance abuse. The federal Food and Drug Administration approved it in October. [continues 293 words]
Is it possible to amend the state constitution so that the legislature will meet every ten years? If this could be done the public would be protected from the idiotic and mean-spirited proposals put forth by legislators on the eve of a new session. A ten year interval between sessions would give citizens almost a full decade between outbreaks of moronic behavior. The latest bad idea is a recommendation that all TOPS students be required to take a drug test. This is consistent with the thinking of those who want to use drug tests to crack down on high school students. Last year they selected jocks and kids in extracurricular activities for close scrutiny. I object. [continues 545 words]
With the convening of the 2003 regular legislative session less than a week away, the nine members of the state Legislature representing Tangipahoa Parish have already begun prefiling bills and making final changes to drafts before Friday's 5 p.m. prefiling deadline. A number of issues will be under consideration this session, including the AMBER Alert Network, the expulsion of students with drug offenses, funding for the Port of Manchac and term limits for senators and representatives. Powell Rep. Henry "Tank" Powell of District 73 has filed a bill to repeal the authority of the South Tangipahoa Parish Port Commission to levy and collect ad valorem and special taxes. Powell has said the port needs to become self-sufficient. His proposed law would take away the power of the commission to levy taxes to cover administrative, operative and maintenance expenses of the board. If his bill is passed, a special election would be held in the future whereby voters would get to decide whether taxes should be levied to fund the port. [continues 1931 words]
The judge handling the drug conspiracy case against former Jefferson Parish Judge Ronald Bodenheimer improperly held a closed-door court hearing and sealed more than 20 pleadings, according to a motion filed Friday by The Times-Picayune. Attorneys for The Times-Picayune asked U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan to unseal the pleadings and to provide the newspaper with transcripts from any closed court proceedings. The only document in the public court record that might explain the sealed pleadings is a Sept. 11 protective order that relates to surveillance federal investigators conducted on Bodenheimer's court chambers and telephones during an 8 1/2-month investigation into possible corruption at the Jefferson Parish Courthouse. [continues 155 words]
Legislation Targets Tops Students For Drug Tests. A 2.5 grade point average in a more demanding curriculum and a good college entrance exam score aren't enough, says one South Louisiana lawmaker who wants to add another requirement to the process of getting a state-paid scholarship: passing a drug test. Sen. Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, has filed a bill that would require all Tuition Opportunity Program for Students scholarship recipients to sign a drug-free pledge, submit to a drug test and pass it before the start of the 2004 fall semester. [continues 246 words]
Preserving some of the most dramatic evidence in the Jefferson Parish Courthouse corruption case, a federal judge Wednesday refused to strike months of secret wiretap recordings that prosecutors are using against former state Judge Ronald Bodenheimer and others. U.S. District Judge Ginger Berrigan denied a motion by Bodenheimer to suppress the wiretaps, in a move that observers said shattered the former judge's best hopes of wrecking a drug conspiracy case against him and fueled speculation that he may try to reach a plea agreement with the government just weeks shy of his April 14 trial. [continues 879 words]
St. Tammany school officials have agreed to allow students to be surveyed about drug and alcohol use in the fall in response to a federal mandate, and that's a step forward for a school district that shot down the idea in the past. But the St. Tammany sixth-, eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders won't fill out the same state-commissioned survey that students in every other school district in Louisiana will answer. Instead, they'll be taking another survey, Smart Track, which School Board members deemed less intrusive. [continues 441 words]
Mayor Worries About Money For Community Policing Mayor Bobby Simpson isn't worried about whether Baton Rouge police officers and firefighters will have the proper face mask respirators, chemical escape suits or hazardous materials expertise should terrorists decide to retaliate for the war in Iraq. That, he knows, is bought and paid for. What does concern the mayor, however, is the future availability of resources that facilitate fighting those crimes that aren't exactly fodder these days for CNN, but no less troubling to those who live and work in this community: Drugs, theft, robbery, corruption and murder. [continues 997 words]
Now They're Required After Work Accidents To comply with a request from its workers' comp insurer, the St. Charles Parish Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday requiring all parish employees to take drug and alcohol tests after work-related accidents. Under the old policy, employees involved in such accidents were tested only if illegal drug use was suspected, Chief Administrative Officer Tim Vial said. Though the former policy specified urinalysis as the kind of test that would be used, the new ordinance allows any type of drug or alcohol test because there are more options available now than in 1990, when the tests were first required, Vial said. [continues 176 words]
Bill Would Make Students Sign Pledge BATON ROUGE -- High school seniors graduating in 2004 would have to pass a drug test to qualify for the state's TOPS scholarship and face random drug screenings in college to keep their awards, if a bill filed by a south Louisiana lawmaker becomes law. Senate Bill 117 by Sen. Butch Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, would add the mandates to the grade-point requirements and other stipulations already in the Tuition Opportunity Program for Students scholarship. The legislation has been filed for consideration in the general legislative session that begins March 31. [continues 173 words]
Imagine making a doctor choose between amputating a patient's broken arm and putting a Band-Aid on it. In Louisiana, prosecutors and judges face choices that are about that stark. N.B. and a friend vandalized two cars outside a school near his family's Kenner home. The boy was later caught with marijuana. Grace Bauer, who lives in the southwest Louisiana town of Sulphur, says her son had a drug problem, helped break into a truck and took his parents' gun to another child's home. [continues 941 words]
Behind-Scenes Work On Sex Film Blasted As New Orleans police careers go, the file on Lt. Bruce Little is thicker, and certainly a lot more colorful, than most. He's been suspended for brawling with a police captain outside of a bar. He was reprimanded for busting into the wrong house in a drug raid. He once violated department rules by distributing a carload of confiscated items -- including a television, power tools and bottles of liquor -- at a district station instead of placing them in the Central Evidence Room. [continues 1225 words]
Julie came home from a date with some serious problems. Her heart rate was elevated and her body temperature was through the roof, she had muscle cramping and chills. As her parents took her to the hospital emergency room they thought this was a bad case of the flu, but they learned that she was suffering side effects from the use of ecstasy. It turns out that her date had taken her to a party where she was given a tablet to "unwind." [continues 567 words]
19-Year-Old Son Charged In Mother's Stabbing LAFAYETTE - The "magic mushrooms" changed a family's life, perhaps forever, the people closest to Kevin Lewis said this week. By all accounts, the 19-year-old was a good son, student and friend. He was raised in an Ozzie and Harriet-like family with his mother, Jeannine Lewis, father, Mark Lewis and older brother, Daniel Lewis. Today, he stands accused of stabbing his mother on Feb. 19, behind a strip mall on West Congress Street, nearly killing her. Daniel Lewis said his mother was begging her youngest son to get help for a drug habit, when his brother allegedly attacked her. [continues 755 words]
Town Talk Managing Editor Ron Grant in his column last Sunday implies that tougher police action is required for the drug interdiction problems of South Alexandria. Such action is apparently already stern, and to make it tougher seems of dubious value. Needed in Alexandria and in the rest of the nation is to place the problem on an economic basis by enforcing drug consumption in a manner similar to that of alcohol. As reprehensible as it may seem, letting Philip Morris market illegal drugs would not only instantly dry up this multibillion-dollar black market, but it would also provide tax revenue for the funding of economic incentives leading to the gainful employment of endangered young black males presently engaged in activities leading to their early deaths. John Moser Pineville [end]
I appreciate The Times of Acadiana publishing two outstanding letters by Robert Sharpe (Letters to the Editor: Government misinforms On Marijuana, Dec. 11) and Kirk Muse (Letters to the Editor: Marijuana's History a Benign One, Dec. 11). Take marijuana out of the drug war. The war on drugs today is mostly about marijuana. Marijuana arrests, convictions, incarcerations and the seizure of property in marijuana cases constitute the great majority of "drug-war incidents." Without marijuana prohibition, the War on Drugs and its bloated budgets would simply not be justifiable, nor the DEA, nor foreign intervention, nor political anti-drug posturing; without marijuana prohibition the whole War on Drugs would soon fall apart. [continues 119 words]
Illegal drug use in our community is an "insidious problem at crisis levels" according the Judge Peter J. Garcia, 22nd Judicial District Court. He further states that "eight out of 10 arrestees in St Tammany test positive for drugs." Substance abuse problems do not magically begin at age 18. Our young children are being exposed to illegal substances at very early ages and they are showing up in drug court. Judge Peter J. Garcia presides over both an Adult and Juvenile Drug Court in St Tammany Parish. [continues 427 words]
Law enforcement officers throughout central Louisiana were on edge Thursday as the events of the Wise Street standoff unfolded. When the gunfire finally ended, two Alexandria police Special Response Team members and the gunman were dead. Three other officers were injured by gunfire in the attack. Several other officers were injured also. SRT team members were met with gunfire from a fully automatic weapon about 12:30 p.m. when they went to serve an arrest warrant at a residence. The warrant was in reference to a Wednesday morning ambush of a police officer. The officer's patrol car was riddled with about 20 bullets. [continues 466 words]
Thursday's shootout on Wise Street shouldn't leave a stain on the black community there, City Councilman Everett Hobbs said. The shootout left two Alexandria police officers dead and three others wounded. The assailant, who was killed, reportedly was a black man. His name has not been released. Some members of the predominantly black crowd that gathered to watch the excitement turned on police, calling the officers obscene names. Some crowd members said police officers are unfair to the black community. [continues 959 words]
The Issue: Drug Activity Crackdown. We suggest: Residents deserve it. A recent crackdown on drug traffic in Terrebonne Parish prompted some residents to express their appreciation to police for the effort. But that appreciation was expressed anonymously -- for fear of retaliation from the drug dealers. It's a shame those citizens feel so threatened by their environment. Steps must be taken to improve that situation; fortunately, it seems authorities are working on the problem. Daniel Turner Trailer Park, a mobile home court on Houma's east side, is known for being a location of drug activity. In recent years, that activity has been overflowing the boundaries of that trailer park and impacting the quality of life for nearby residents. Some say that except for going to church and on shopping excursions, they remain indoors to shield themselves from drug activity and gunfire. [continues 310 words]
BATON ROUGE -- A Houma lawmaker wants to broaden the interpretation of the term "accessory" as it applies to felony crimes. House Bill 50 is among measures state Rep. Damon Baldone, D-Houma, has filed in advance of the March 31 legislative session. Accessories help commit crimes but aren't the primary persons responsible. Baldone's bill adds "minor accessories" as parties to felony crimes and provides for greater interpretation of the term "accessory." While present law defines parties to certain crimes as either "principals" or "accessories after the fact," Baldone's bill would add "minor accessories" to the list. [continues 210 words]
EUNICE - The Eunice City Council has decided to do nothing about a request by the Eunice Housing Authority to declare it's four housing complexes "drug free zones." It doesn't have too. Kelly McFarlain, housing authority executive director, came before the council last month asking for the action to fight what he described as serious drug problems. At the request of City Attorney Jacque Pucheu Jr. the council put off a vote then to give him time to research the law. [continues 116 words]
BUSH - A concerned Bush resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said she couldn't believe the man she saw checking under the hood of his truck last week was Gary Cooper. Cooper was arrested amidst much fanfare two weeks ago and called, by the head of the St. Tammany Narcotics Task Force, one of the region's major OxyContin distributors. He'd allegedly been caught with 850 Oxy tablets, and more than 50 prescription bottles of illegal drugs, a pound of marijuana, seven guns and more than $1,000 cash. [continues 326 words]
System for Easing Jail Jam Defended When authorities arrested Gary Bruce Cooper two weeks ago, they called him one of the New Orleans area's largest dealers of OxyContin, a powerful and often-abused prescription painkiller linked to a rash of overdose deaths across the country. At a news conference to publicize Cooper's arrest the next day, narcotics agents called him a "major, major player," saying they had seized more than 50 bottles of illegal drugs and seven guns during a raid on his home near Bush. [continues 714 words]
Inside Louisiana
