Our nation is threatened within, and we should do all we can to improve this situation. To weed out drug misuse and other outlaw dealing in America, there should be dedicated people to infiltrate groups that are connected to drugs. These dedicated people would hold foreign citizenship cards and account only to the foreign country. Because of the danger involved, only the president in the other country and in this country would know what's going on. They would start in many cities at the same time and end at the same time, say one year later. [continues 159 words]
The latest battleground in Good's eternal police action against Evil will be the TV clicker. Sunday at 9 p.m., viewers have the option of watching the premiere of an up-to-date drug-lord saga (NBC's "Kingpin") or the debut of an updated version of a five-decades-old cop character (ABC's "Dragnet.") "Kingpin" enters NBC's schedule as essentially a miniseries, with episodes airing on Sundays and Tuesdays for just a three-week run. (Gimmick alert: A slightly more explicit "Kingpin" cut will air in March on the NBC-owned Bravo cable network.) [continues 719 words]
Sunday February 02, 2003 Re: "Jordan unveils new team, goals," Jan. 30. The evening my colleagues and I were laid off from the district attorney's office, Eddie Jordan gave a news statement indicating he wanted to pursue alternative programs for drug offenders. Without realizing it, he had just crippled his own diversionary program, one of the most effective alternative sentencing programs I've ever encountered. We offered counseling, referrals to job search and training, GED placement help and experienced, caring hearts and minds. [continues 98 words]
PORT ALLEN -- The trial of a Baton Rouge man on a felony count of drug trafficking ended Wednesday in 18th Judicial District Court with prosecutors dropping all charges against him. The state decided to end the trial before it reached a conclusion, after testimony determined that key evidence against Ronald Nixon, 33, 233 Logis St., was left unattended in a file cabinet drawer, defense attorney Tommy Thompson said. Nixon was arrested Nov. 18, 2001, and was facing prosecution for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, Thompson said. Nixon's trial began Tuesday. [continues 105 words]
Ex-Judge Ronald Bodenheimer pleaded innocent to federal drug and conspiracy charges Thursday for the second time in six months, and his attorney began previewing their attack on the government's use of covert wiretaps to investigate a sitting jurist. Bodenheimer, whose term on the 24th District Court in Gretna ended Dec. 31, calmly reasserted his innocence before Magistrate Judge Louis Moore Jr. Bodenheimer is charged with conspiring to plant three prescription painkiller pills on a frequent critic of his Venetian Isles Marina. The plea came in response to a slightly amended indictment issued this month by a grand jury. The indictment alleges that Bodenheimer tried to recruit two police officers to assist with the frame-up. [continues 180 words]
WASHINGTON -- Tonja Myles of Baton Rouge, a 39-year-old recovered drug addict, Tuesday became President Bush's living example of faith-based programs that try to solve social problems. Myles sat one seat from first lady Laura Bush and on the front row of the spectators' gallery in the U.S. House chamber to witness the president's State of the Union address. The White House circulated Myles' autobiography to the media. Myles and her husband, Darren, lead two programs. [continues 954 words]
Demand For Drug Screen Leads To Dispute, Withheld Paycheck A mayor's edict that new Baker City Judge Mark Plaisance submit to a drug test before he gets his first paycheck has ignited a legal battle. Plaisance sued Mayor Leroy Davis and members of a Davis' staff to force them to release his paycheck. "We're kind of scratching our heads over this one," John Olin Brown, Plaisance's attorney, said Tuesday. According to the lawsuit, Davis instructed the city treasurer to withhold the check until Plaisance submits to a drug test, a requirement of Baker municipal employees. [continues 404 words]
Regarding the arrest of Dr. Walter Oliver Sanders, accused of trafficking in Oxycontin, the comment made by certain patients who claimed his waiting room was a "circus full of drug addicts" made me laugh. Such irony, considering they sat in the same waiting room! If getting real pain relief (and quality of life) requires one to look a certain way, then call it unfair as well as ridiculous. I've read of one guideline for doctors to judge a pain patient -- if they dress too shabby, or too nice, then automatically suspect them. [continues 312 words]
For Shreveport police Sgt. Richard Childers and other members of the Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force based in Shreveport, 60 hour work weeks are common. During the last year, task force agents have shut down an international ecstasy smuggling ring, infiltrated an outlaw motorcycle gang suspected of distributing methamphetamines and arrested a jewelry store owner believed to have been importing ecstasy. That work has not gone unnoticed. Fourteen task force agents, including Childers, received commendations for outstanding service Thursday afternoon. The awards are part of an Administrators Award for Outstanding Group Achievement awarded to the Shreveport Resident office, Resident Agent in Charge Bill Grant said. [continues 179 words]
Three teen-agers just graduated from a year-long program at the Youth Service Bureau. The program stopped their drug abuse, dropped their drug charges and gave them the skills, resources and support of a system they'll need to stay clean. They are the first drug court graduates at the Youth Service Bureau, and program Director Marie Smith said more are on the way. The Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Program is one of several operated by the bureau. The kids who are coming through this program had been abusing marijuana, crack, Xanax, Ecstasy, methamphetamine, alcohol, cocaine, opioids, Valium, gasoline, Special K, Freon, cold pills and whip cream canisters. [continues 554 words]
Re: "Twin study supports gateway drug theory," Jan. 22. Somebody should ask addicts, "What was the first drug you did, nicotine or marijuana?" I'll bet they would reply nicotine, and I'll bet they are still addicted. This country should recognize that the real gateway drug is cigarettes. It is more addictive than opium . . . and legal. Wake up, America. Adam Brazy New Orleans [end]
EUNICE - The Eunice Housing Authority wants the city of Eunice to declare it's four housing complexes "drug free zones." "We have some bad problems. We have drug problems. On behalf of our residents, employees and the board of commissioners I'm asking for your help," said Kelly McFarlain, executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Eunice. Police Chief Gary Fontenot said the designation, similar to a school zone, increases the penalty for anyone caught with drugs. "It doubles the time and doubles the fine," Fontenot said. [continues 70 words]
HOUMA -- A Slidell doctor accused of illegal drug trafficking in the Houma area was indicted by a Terrebonne Parish grand jury Thursday afternoon and arrested this morning. Walter Oliver Sanders Jr., 65, turned himself in to local authorities this morning and was scheduled to be transported to the parish jail. Once there, Sanders will be held in lieu of $600,000 bond. State District Judge David Arceneaux also ordered Sanders to turn over his passport until after he stands trial. Sanders was indicted on eight counts of illegally prescribing drugs to patients without an accepted medical need, said Terrebonne First Assistant District Attorney Mark Rhodes. [continues 523 words]
Men Face Courts-Martial In 'Friendly Fire' Accident That Killed 4 Canadians BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. - Two U.S. pilots who mistakenly dropped a bomb that killed four Canadians in Afghanistan had been issued amphetamines before the mission to stay awake, a defense attorney argued Tuesday at the opening of a military hearing to determine whether they should be court-martialed. The Air Force-issued "go pills" may have impaired the pilots' judgment, said David Beck, lawyer for Maj. William Umbach. He also said the pilots were given antidepressants upon returning from their mission. Umbach and Maj. Harry Schmidt are charged with involuntary manslaughter for dropping the guided bomb near Kandahar, Afghanistan, on April 17. The Air Force has said they failed to make sure there were no allied troops in the area. [continues 333 words]
Former Jefferson Parish Judge Ronald Bodenheimer tried to recruit two police officers as part of his efforts to plant drugs on a critic of his Venetian Isles marina, a federal grand jury said Thursday, in a superseding indictment that does not add new defendants or new charges to the case. Bodenheimer talked to the officers, who were not identified, in mid-2001 and early 2002, the indictment said. But prosecutors said they "do not allege, nor does the evidence suggest," that the officers helped Bodenheimer and co-defendant Curley Chewning plant the painkiller OxyContin on a neighbor who had complained to the FBI about drug activity at the marina. [continues 697 words]
U.S. Hearing Opens In Fatal Bombing Of Canadian Soldiers BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AP) - Two U.S. pilots who mistakenly dropped a bomb that killed four Canadians in Afghanistan had been issued amphetamines before the mission to stay awake, a defense attorney argued Tuesday at the opening of a military hearing to determine whether they should be court-martialed. The Air Force-issued "go pills" may have impaired the pilots' judgment, said David Beck, an attorney for Maj. William Umbach. He also said the pilots were given antidepressants when they returned from their mission. [continues 204 words]
Bolton High School special education student Jason Diamond, 18, was not coherent in class Monday because of a drug overdose. His mother, Donna Windham, wants to know why the school didn't call an ambulance immediately. Diamond's teacher called the school office three times to get an ambulance after she was unable to wake him up, Windham said. The office first tried to call Windham, but she wasn't home. The office then called Diamond's grandmother and asked if she would come pick him up. [continues 504 words]
New Orleans' Longtime and Controversial DA Harry Connick Says He Has No Regrets and Looks Forward to His Family Time and His Singing Career They had to block off a lane of Tulane Avenue to make room for the crowds that came to watch the inauguration of District Attorney Harry Connick on April 1, 1974. In so many ways, it was a different era. Moon Landrieu was the new mayor. Edwin Edwards was a first-term governor. Richard Nixon was months away from resigning the presidency. And Connick had narrowly drummed the flamboyant 12-year incumbent, Jim Garrison, out of the Orleans Parish district attorney's office by about 2, 200 votes. [continues 2203 words]
Narcotics investigators with the Lake Charles Police Department said they are seeing increased usage of phencyclidine (PCP) among drug users. The drug, which was widely used in the 1970s by narcotics abusers, was first seen in the city six years ago. "Gradually it has come back. The increase has been tenfold," said Lt. Mike John-son, head of the police department's special services division. Users are dipping marijuana into the liquid form of PCP. This practice is called "fry." Other street names for PCP are Angel Dust, Supergrass, Killer Weed, Embalming Fluid, Rocket Fuel, wack and ozone. [continues 384 words]
In many respects, Michael Lagana is a typical 17-year-old. A junior at Dundalk High School in Maryland, he carries a full load of courses, loves playing football, and works after school selling newspaper subscriptions. He began smoking marijuana at 14. At 16, he was smoking three fat marijuana cigarettes a day or drinking a couple of 40-ounce bottles of malt liquor. Donna Lagana, Michael's mother, began to worry last June when she discovered some marijuana among Michael's things. He assured her then that it was "not a problem." [continues 1127 words]
LEESVILLE - Testimony resumed Monday in a wrongful-death suit centered on the murder of a 19-year-old narcotics informant. The lawsuit was filed in 30th Judicial District Court by Althea Wellman on behalf of her 5-year-old grandson, Jared Lamont Samuel. The 1998 suit claims Johnny M. Evans Sr. leaked confidential narcotics information to his son, Johnny Evans Jr., and Eric L. Pickens. This in turn led to the murder of 19-year-old narcotics informant Earnest Lee Prater Jr., father of Samuel, according to the suit. [continues 785 words]
My best friend and co-author George McMahon is one of only six patients in the entire United States who receives medical marijuana from the federal government. He has smoked 10 joints a day for 12 years to treat the pain, spasms and nausea associated with a rare genetic condition called Nail Patella Syndrome. Prior to being admitted to the federal marijuana program, George had been through 19 major surgeries and was taking 17 pharmaceutical substances on a daily basis. Since smoking the federal marijuana, he has not had one surgery or hospitalization, and he has stopped taking all pharmaceuticals. Cannabis literally saved his life. George's story will be chronicled in our book, The Green Path: A Journey to Uncle Sam's Marijuana Garden due for release this May. Thanks again for speaking out on behalf of sick and dying people. - --Christopher Largen [end]
Michael Rick just had the best Christmas of his life. Not only did the 42-year-old see snow in Indiana while visiting his first wife, but he also practiced the most-important skill he learned since undergoing treatment for substance abuse at one of Louisiana's few long-term care programs. He made amends with his ex-wife, a single mother, for exposing her to his selfish life of alcohol and painkillers. To prove he's changed, Rick bought his ex-wife's daughter a computer. [continues 651 words]
Marchers Say Tactics Excessive, Frightening FARMERVILLE -- About 100 neighbors marched through downtown Saturday to protest an FBI raid on a family of alleged drug dealers, saying the raid was excessive and scared the whole neighborhood. They say the allegations against the Nation family weren't true. Ten members of the family were arrested on counts of distributing crack cocaine and conspiring to do so. "I see these people every day. They could have arrested them any time and any day. They are not violent. They're just normal people," organizer Sheila Lewis said. [continues 271 words]
I am a sixth-grader at St. Catherine of Siena. I have just graduated from DARE. My officer, Capt. Lloyd Dupuy, made DARE fun and interesting. I think DARE is a great drug and alcohol prevention program. But, I think we should have different levels of it. First we should have it in third grade, then again in sixth grade and then in the second year of high school. The main problem is the high school kids, not the grammar school kids. You are more likely to do drugs and alcohol in high school. [continues 60 words]
Richard Burgess Posted on December 20, 2002 LAFAYETTE - A former Abbeville police officer was sentenced Thursday to 17 years and six months in prison for his role in what prosecutors said was one of the largest crack cocaine rings in Acadiana. Calvin J. Broussard Sr., 49, who was a 17-year veteran of the police department when arrested, provided protection for the drug ring and passed along inside information on police activity to drug dealers to help them avoid getting caught, according to federal prosecutors. [continues 312 words]
LAFAYETTE - A federal judge sentenced a former Abbeville police officer Thursday to 171/2 years in prison for his role in a drug-trafficking ring, and she changed her mind in a related case and allowed a co-defendant to go free. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty sentenced former Officer Calvin Broussard Sr., 49, to the maximum 210-month sentence required by federal guidelines. The minimum was 168 months. "I found the crime you engaged in and the betrayal you made to your position, to the community and to the state to be extremely, extremely heinous," Judge Doherty told Broussard. [continues 526 words]
In an effort to rid their neighborhoods of drugs, residents of housing projects owned by the Lake Charles Housing Authority have asked that they be deemed Drug Free Zones. The designation would mean people committing drug violations on the properties would face stiffer penalties. The Lake Charles City Council passed a resolution asking the state Legislature to declare those neighborhoods Drug Free Zones at its regular meeting Wednesday. "This was done at the request of residents who want to get drugs out of our neighborhoods," said Jackie Lewis, president of the LCHA resident advisory council. [continues 151 words]
Although a pilot program that could decide the future of DARE continues in the New Orleans area and five other cities, local officials say they are just as concerned about a $1 million cut in state DARE financing. "It put a pretty good hurt on us," said Sgt. Burley McCarter, a DARE officer for St. Charles Parish. This past spring, the Legislature voted to start paying for the DARE program with a 1 cent tobacco tax, according to Judy Whitmire, juvenile program manager for the Louisiana Commission on Law Enforcement. Previously, the state DARE money came from legislature appropriations. [continues 271 words]
Students Who Dare To Be Different In Opelousas Are Being Rewarded For Their Decision. There were 46 students at Opelousas Catholic school who graduated from this semester's Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. They are among 220 who will graduate this week. Newly-named student role model Meredith Richard, a seventh grader, told the graduates the challenge to be drug free will probably come later in life. "The challenge will come as you move into junior high school and then even more so when you move into high school," she told DARE graduates Monday. [continues 383 words]
During its 19 years of existence, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has attempted to steer young students away from drugs and alcohol, even as some critics have accused DARE of actually making drugs more attractive. But the law enforcement officers who participate in DARE are keeping up the good fight, doing what they can to help young students stay drug free. They're testing out a new drug-fighting strategy in the New Orleans area that will feature fewer lectures and include high school students, an age group DARE has traditionally ignored in favor of those in elementary and middle schools. [continues 435 words]
DARE's Effectiveness Has Been Questioned A handful of schools in five New Orleans area parishes could help decide the future of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, a fixture in 80 percent of the country's elementary schools but under attack in recent years. A series of recent studies have branded the popular DARE program as useless with no real impact on student alcohol and drug abuse. In response to that, the University of Akron has embarked on a makeover of DARE, which was started 19 years ago, and brings police officers into classrooms to teach drug prevention to fifth-graders. [continues 704 words]
The core message of letter writer Dailey Berard is certainly worth heeding (Letters to the Editor: Dangers of Marijuana Cannot be Underestimated, Nov. 13). The importance of parental involvement in reducing adolescent drug use cannot be overstated. Unfortunately, Berard risks losing credibility by repeating government misinformation regarding marijuana. To hear it from drug czar John Walters, more Americans are in treatment for marijuana than alcohol and all illegal drugs combined. The drug czar is deliberately misrepresenting government data in an effort to justify the war on some drugs. [continues 460 words]
Editor: I have sat back for a week now and listened and read about all the people wanting the names of children who might or might not have failed a drug test at Hartselle High School and find it absolutely appalling. Appalling in the fact that those children who do fail, have the right as juveniles in this state to anonymity. It really concerns me as to why people are so nosy that they want the student's names entered into the public to chastise these children. [continues 363 words]
The Lake Charles Housing Authority wants its properties declared drug-free zones so stiffer criminal penalties can be imposed on offenders. Housing Authority director Ben Taylor brought the issue up at Tuesday's City Council agenda meeting at City Hall. He asked the council to pass an ordinance declaring authority properties drug-free zones so people arrested there for drug possession or distribution could get stiffer penalties. Taylor said he has already asked the Southwest Louisiana legislative delegation to pass similar legislation in next year's regular session. [continues 325 words]
A Local Mother Says That Her HIV-Positive Son Had Been Half Paralyzed By A Stroke Before He Was Wheeled To The Door Of Orleans Parish Prison And Released Into The Night. Sheriff Charles Foti Contends That Her Son Was Fine When He Left The Prison. The mother lifts up her son's left arm and releases. It flops lifelessly down to the hospital bed. "It's his whole left side," she explains. "He can't use it." Carefully, she folds back a portion of the beige blanket to reveal a thin left leg dotted with sores. "He can move this leg a little," she says, pushing the foot slightly with her hand. "But he can't stand on it." [continues 2976 words]
THIBODAUX -- A local lawyer alleges some Lafourche Parish Drug Court officials may have tried to cover up the illegal activity of a lab technician. Lafourche sheriff's detectives arrested lab technician Glynn Lefay Rhodes Nov. 8 for malfeasance in office after authorities received complaints he reportedly falsified urinalysis drug screenings for at least two offenders in the court's onsite lab. But Margaret Sollars, a lawyer for the Lafourche Indigent Defender Office, said she has been aware of accusations against Rhodes since May, and she believes he might be guilty of altering screening results for certain offenders for up to a year before that. [continues 418 words]
A local lawyer alleges some Lafourche Parish Drug Court officials might have tried to cover up the illegal activity of a lab technician. Lafourche sheriff's detectives arrested lab technician Glynn Lefay Rhodes Nov. 8 for malfeasance in office after authorities received complaints he reportedly falsified urinalysis drug screenings for at least two offenders in the court's on-site lab. But Margaret Sollars, a lawyer for the Indigent Defender Office, said she has been aware of accusations against Rhodes since May, and she believes he might be guilty of altering screening results for certain offenders for up to a year before that. Sollars said over the last year, drug court clients repeatedly told court officials, including drug court administrator and clinical director Cheryl Scharf, of Rhodes' activity. [continues 751 words]
It's been more than a year since a federal grand jury indicted Floralba Arboleda as part of an alleged drug ring in Baton Rouge. She's never set foot in an American courtroom to face the charges. The reason: Arboleda fled the country and remains in her native Colombia. Arboleda, along with Hugo Hernandez who is wanted in an unrelated case, is one of two fugitives wanted in Baton Rouge who have fled to other countries - -- and federal prosecutors are having a tough time getting either extradited. [continues 558 words]
The Infamous Canal Street Brothel Was Born Of Three Generations Of Sexual Abuse And Substance Abuse As much as anything else about that night, Jeanette Maier remembers the aquarium. Gazing at the fish and bubbles and blocking out the things an uncle was doing to her body. He was staying at their home in Galveston, Texas, when he woke her up and, using the name everyone called her, said, "Net, I have something for you." It was a typewriter, an odd gift, but she thought it was the greatest. He wanted something in return, though. He brought her into the room he was using and ordered her to lie down on the bed. [continues 2173 words]
NEW ORLEANS -- A lawyer for one of two U.S. pilots who released a bomb over southern Afghanistan in April, accidentally killing four Canadian soldiers, says the Air Force had pressured the pilots to take amphetamines that may have impaired their judgment during the mission. Majs. Harry Schmidt and William Umbach face a possible court-martial for dropping the laser-guided bomb near Kandahar on April 17. An Air Force investigation determined the pilots "demonstrated poor airmanship" and ignored standard procedure by not making sure there were no allied troops in the area. [continues 302 words]
The article on Louisiana's symbolic medical marijuana law ("The Best Medicine?" Nov. 5) underscored the need for state-level medical marijuana distribution systems free from federal intrusion. Unfortunately, a review of marijuana legislation would open up a Pandora's box most politicians would just as soon avoid. America's marijuana laws are based on culture and xenophobia, not science. An estimated 38 percent of Americans have now smoked pot. Reefer madness myths have long been discredited, forcing the drug war gravy train to spend millions on politicized research. [continues 65 words]
Study urges zero tolerance laws Driving while on drugs -- a problem long overshadowed by its counterpart, drunken driving -- is the target of mounting national attention that is being closely monitored in Louisiana. Federal health surveys show that each year more than 8 million Americans drive within two hours of using marijuana or cocaine, but current law in most states, including Louisiana, makes them difficult to prosecute, said Michael Walsh, who was director of the President's Drug Advisory Council under the first Bush administration. He was a leader in producing two documents released in mid-November, an analysis of states' drugged-driving laws and a consensus opinion on possible solutions from experts. [continues 664 words]
COVINGTON - "I can do all things through Christ which has strengthened me, and I've been clean for 50 days," said Russell as the participants in the Upward Community Services 4:13 Alcohol and Drug Recovery program sat together in a circle to profess their dedication of overcoming addiction. Their confessions are structured upon the scripture, Philippians 4:13. As classes convene every evening inside the sanctuary of Faith Bible Church in Covington, volunteer instructors like Emily Diamond, Billy Ray Callahan, Yvonne Baham and Lou Gavin work to help others overcome their addictions by teaching support skills like vocational guidance and self esteem. [continues 648 words]
Use of methamphetamine is increasingly popular in south Louisiana. The drug increases the body's metabolism, giving the user more energy, and it produces euphoria. It stays in the body for hours after reaching a peak in two to three hours, with that longevity adding to its popularity, according to law enforcement Web sites. The drug also increases irritability and aggressive behavior. It cause anxiety and dramatic mood changes, tending toward violence. "Long-term meth use can lead to psychosis that mimics paranoid schizophrenia," says Dr. Richard Wise, a treatment center physician, on one Web site. [continues 542 words]
Program Provides Alternative to Jail With applause, picture-taking and cake, St. Charles Parish officials celebrated Wednesday the first three graduates of the parish's drug court, a yearlong program that offers addicts treatment rather than jail time. "We all know this is a sickness rather than a criminal problem," said attorney Vic Bradley, an indigent-defender attorney on the drug court team, after he congratulated the three men. State District Judge Robert Chaisson, who officiated the first year of drug court ending Nov. 7, presented each graduate with a certificate in his courtroom. State District Judge Emile St. Pierre will officiate the court until next November, but because he was out of town, Chaisson sat on the bench this week. [continues 474 words]
As crime levels rose in the 1980s and early 1990s, legislators in Louisiana and elsewhere enacted laws mandating stiff minimum sentences for people convicted of crimes -- and particularly of drug-related offenses. One major consequence of that effort was an increase in the number of people behind bars; state figures show that the prison population rose from 25,260 to 38,000 between 1995 and 2001. Some criminals clearly belong in jail. But people convicted of comparatively minor drug offenses shouldn't face more time than some violent criminals, and users who genuinely want to get off drugs belong in rehab rather than prison. Nevertheless, some laws give judges little flexibility on how offenders should be punished. [continues 321 words]
Sentencing Delayed Until Judge's Trial The sentencing of a Metairie man who has promised to tell federal prosecutors how a "close friend in the law enforcement community" helped him in his drug-smuggling operations and who has ties to suspended state Judge Ronald Bodenheimer has been postponed until after Bodenheimer's trial starts next year. Joe Danny Perez, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge in July, was scheduled to be sentenced this month. But at the request of prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance moved Perez's sentencing to April 16, two weeks after Bodenheimer's trial on separate drug conspiracy charges begins March 31. [continues 631 words]
Thanks for Robert Sharpe's letter (Letters to the Editor, Meth Labs a Result of Failed War on Drugs, Oct. 9). The original prohibition on a national scale was worse than the booze prohibited and the sequel, now, on an international scale is worse. At the very minimum, North America must re-legalize cannabis, especially when you consider the worst side effects of cannabis are police inflicted. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
The Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office is searching for those responsible for an attempted theft early Monday that left a portion of South Lafourche evacuated and the area's main thoroughfares closed to traffic. Spokesmen for the Sheriff's Office and State Police say La. 1 and Bayou Lafourche were reopened to traffic about 10 a.m. Monday after an all-clear from the State Police's Hazardous Materials unit and the state Department of Environmental Quality. At just after 4 a.m., State Police were notified of a possible chemical leak at a local shrimp shed, one that produced a cloud. [continues 537 words]
Inside Louisiana
