Staff reporter Colin Hickey interviewed Carroll Cummings, an East Vassalboro resident, who is a medical marijuana patient. Cummings said he uses marijuana to provide relief from torticollis, a condition that causes involuntary and painful contractions of the neck muscles. He said he has been hounded for his marijuana use despite his careful attention to stay within the dictates of Maine's Medical Marijuana Law. Maine is one of nine states with such a law. (2) How did police treat you during those searches? [continues 434 words]
The United States Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a position long held by the Maine Medical Association: That physicians cannot be punished for recommending some of their patients use marijuana. Maine is one of nine states that have legalized marijuana for medicinal purposes and one of eight affected by the court's decision Tuesday. "This case, if ever there was a case, ought to make physicians feel absolutely comfortable in speaking candidly with patients about medical marijuana," said Daniel Abrahamson, director of legal affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. "Whether the doctors are in Maine or whether they're in California, they should have the First Amendment right to speak candidly with patients about medical marijuana." [continues 436 words]
Do candy cigarettes or tequila-flavored lollipops influence children's decisions later on in life? Police and health officials say they do, but some local stores say there is no reason to pull the products off the shelves. Kittery resident Priscilla Guy said she was outraged when she walked into the local 7-Eleven and saw tequila-flavored lollipops that include a real worm. What she found more outrageous was that the candy was accessible to children. The lollipops do not contain alcohol. [continues 1423 words]
According to local newspaper accounts, after a long and no doubt costly undercover investigation, nine police officers from four separate agencies arrested Boothbay Harbor resident Glen Willey for trafficking in schedule W drugs. I do not know Willey. Should he be guilty of violence, aggression, or coercion against his neighbors then I hope he faces a long and unpleasant stay in prison. If, however, his only "crime" is being entrapped for selling a product to a willing adult buyer, then it is clear that Glen Willey is not a criminal. [continues 640 words]
AUGUSTA, Maine -- Two years ago, corrections officials were planning the construction of a women's prison in Windham that was supposed to meet the state's needs through 2010. When the facility opened its doors last summer, all 70 beds were filled by the end of the first day. The dramatic increase in the number of prisoners has confounded Maine officials, who say that while the crimes rate has dropped, the inmate population has nearly doubled in the past two years. ''We have found these statistics to be very perplexing,'' said Denise Lord, associate commissioner of the Department of Corrections. ''We think there are a number of anecdotal explanations for these figures, but we have not yet been able to identify a single determining factor.'' [continues 380 words]
ELLSWORTH--The drug death of a 20-year-old Bangor man arrested in Ellsworth Saturday has rekindled the sheriff's campaign for more aggressive enforcement. Robert C. Dembek, 20, of Bangor died mid-morning Monday at Eastern Maine Medical Center. Dembek's story began around 2:30 p.m. Saturday when an off-duty Belfast police officer notified Ellsworth police of a person driving erratically into Ellsworth from the Bucksport area, according to Hancock County Sheriff Bill Clark. The erratic driver was Dembek and he was stopped by Ellsworth Police Officer Chad Wilmot. [continues 922 words]
STARKS - Despite low attendance and the lack of a permit, the pro-marijuana rock concert Freedom Festival went forward last weekend. While the number of concert goers was down, neighbors still complained that loud music kept them up Friday night and in some cases Saturday night as well. And while recent concerts also organized by Donald Christen have drawn fewer ticket holders than hoped, the Madison concert promoter plans two more shows this summer and fall. Christen, who faces $8,700 in costs associated with a long legal fight against the town as well as a court order prohibiting him from promoting mass gatherings, is going forward with Hempstock and Harvest Fest in August and October respectively. [continues 411 words]
A state-sponsored advertising campaign to improve methadone's public image is drawing fire from police who object to the state's advocacy of the drug and say the ads benefit for-profit clinics. The state Office of Substance Abuse launched a six-week, $24,000 radio ad campaign intended to show the benefits methadone offers to addicts in recovery and alleviate the stigma associated with daily methadone treatments. The effort comes after the opiate substitute was linked to a third of Portland's record 28 overdose deaths last year. [continues 1300 words]
AG Seeks Forfeiture Of Seized Merchandise WATERVILLE -- District Attorney Evert N. Fowle said Friday that police and prosecutors have agreed to seek a court petition for forfeiture of merchandise seized in a raid at a Main Street head shop April 10. Items including smoking pipes, bongs, water pipes, rolling papers and postal scales taken from Pandora's Box will be named in a non-criminal petition to be filed in Kennebec County Superior Court, he said. "A civil petition for forfeiture under state Title 15 will allow us to forfeit drug contraband," Fowle said. "We haven't had many cases like this before." [continues 493 words]
WATERVILLE -- An agreement to order a pipe for smoking marijuana coupled with the proximity of about 250 smoking pipes to the other drug-related items was enough to get a search warrant that led to the raid of Pandora's Box on Main Street in Waterville. The Morning Sentinel obtained a copy of the search warrant Friday. It outlines an undercover trip for Somerset County Detective Tom Rourke on Wednesday to the store. "Detective Rourke stated that he talked to a clerk and told the clerk that he had a pipe that was capable of holding a couple of grams of weed (marijuana) in it," the warrant, written by Waterville police Detective David Caron states. "Detective Rourke told the clerk that the pipe had been taken by the police and he was looking to get another one similar to the one he had." [continues 506 words]
Police Seize Items From Maine Street Shop WATERVILLE — Waterville police raided a Main Street specialty shop Thursday afternoon, seizing smoking pipes, T-shirts, postal scales and stickers advocating marijuana use. Pandora's Box had been open less than two weeks. "We're seizing any and all drug paraphernalia items," Police Chief John E. Morris said from the sidewalk as detectives and uniformed police officers executed a search warrant inside the shop. "We're seizing anything that has to do with drugs — pipes, bongs, signs, T-shirts," Morris said. "Anything made for or advocating the consumption and ingestion of illegal drugs." [continues 655 words]
AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine Senate, voting along party lines, rejected a bill Wednesday that would specify what a "usable amount" of marijuana is in determining levels of punishment for possession. Next comes consideration in the House of Representatives, where most of the few members who have looked closely at the measure thus far have signaled their support. The proposal rejected by the Senate had been backed by a 10-3 majority of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee. As put forth by the committee, the proposal would insert language in existing law to specify a threshold under which possession of marijuana becomes a mere civil infraction rather than a criminal violation. [continues 273 words]
PORTLAND, Maine - Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say. In Florida, methadone-related deaths jumped from 209 in 2000 to 357 in 2001 to 254 in just the first six months of 2002, the latest period for which data are available. There are no national numbers available for methadone deaths. "Out of no place came methadone," said James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. "It now is the fastest-rising killer drug." [continues 146 words]
The Maine Legislative Youth Advisory Council, the first group of its kind in the nation, will recommend today that the state take several steps to improve substance abuse education. The proposals, part of the group's first annual report to the Legislature, include revamping the state's annual survey of teen drug use and replacing DARE, the widely used Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. The report will also urge lawmakers to routinely seek the advice of young people when addressing issues related to teens, drugs and alcohol. The suggestions come as state officials are stepping up efforts to combat underage drinking and reduce fatalities involving young drivers. [continues 684 words]
Once Rare, Heroin Hits Rural Areas Hard PORTLAND, Maine -- A chef, 26, clean and sober for several months, fatally overdosed on heroin sold to her by a close friend here in January 2002. Then a financial adviser, 27, a heroin addict, was found dead from a methadone overdose. Three days later, a heroin user in his forties collapsed after overdosing and died on a step leading into his apartment building. They were only the beginning of a deadly spiral. Last year ended with Portland setting a record for itself, with 28 drug-related deaths, two-thirds of them involving known heroin users. Meanwhile, 80 miles away in the rural community of Farmington, the drug also had made its potent presence felt with three deaths last spring, including two men in their thirties who overdosed together one night. [continues 993 words]
PORTLAND, Maine - Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say. In Florida, methadone-related deaths jumped from 209 in 2000 to 357 in 2001 and 254 in just the first six months of 2002, the latest period for which data are available. "Out of no place came methadone," said James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. "It now is the fastest rising killer drug." [continues 1227 words]
WESTBROOK, Me. -- When Michelle, a 24-year-old drug addict, was looking for a fix, methadone, with its minimal, slow-action high, was not her first choice. Her preference was heroin, and she described herself as so hooked on it that she would make her 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter "sit in the other room while I shoot up." But recently, Michelle and her husband, Shannon, who spoke on condition that their last name not be used, found they could sometimes get methadone more easily than other drugs. [continues 355 words]
PORTLAND, Me. -- Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say. In Florida, methadone-related deaths jumped from 209 in 2000 to 357 in 2001 to 254 in just the first six months of 2002, the latest period for which data are available. "Out of noplace came methadone," said James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. "It now is the fastest rising killer drug." [continues 1775 words]
A Westbrook methadone clinic denied on Friday that a woman who was convicted of operating under the influence of the heroin substitute was a patient at the clinic when she was arrested last year. Jordan Levasseur was not a patient at CAP Quality Care on May 10, 2002, when she was pulled over on Interstate 95 for driving erratically, said Stephen Cotreau, the clinic's director. Cotreau said Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson's criticism of the clinic was unfounded and misguided. [continues 413 words]
PORTLAND, Me. - When Michelle, a 24-year-old addict, was looking for a fix, methadone, with its slow-action and minimal high, was not her first choice. Her preference was heroin, and she said she was so hooked on it that she had made her 4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter "sit in the other room while I shoot up." But recently, Michelle and her husband, Shannon, who spoke on condition that their last name not be used, found that they could sometimes obtain methadone more easily than other drugs. [continues 334 words]
PORTLAND, Me. - Methadone, a drug long valued for treating heroin addiction and for soothing chronic pain, is increasingly being abused by recreational drug users and is causing an alarming increase in overdoses and deaths, federal and state officials say. In Florida, methadone-related deaths jumped from 209 in 2000 to 357 in 2001 to 254 in just the first six months of 2002, the latest period for which data are available. "Out of noplace came methadone," said James McDonough, director of the Florida Office of Drug Control. "It now is the fastest rising killer drug." [continues 1770 words]
But Ending Drug and Alcohol Abuse Will Be Hard Work The alarming rate of drug related deaths in Maine, as recently reported by state officials and the media, has caused many in our communities to finally step up and take notice. No longer can we deny or ignore that alcohol and drug abuse has woven itself into the fabric of our daily lives. No one is immune to the problem, nor can we isolate it geographically, socially, culturally or economically. Maine's alcohol and drug abuse problem is an ugly reality that we must face head on. While we are not alone in this fight, Maine is one state that is well positioned to take the lead, if we choose to. Our consolidated efforts to this end need to muster the array of resources already in place and seriously invest in those that are inadequate or missing. [continues 351 words]
School Officials Say Teen Was Selling Marijuana FARMINGTON - A Mt. Blue High School student has been expelled for breaking the school's anti-drug policies. School Administrative District 9 directors voted unanimously Tuesday night to expel the male student for possessing and selling marijuana on school grounds. According to the decision, which followed a closed-door session with the boy and his parent, he cannot attend day classes at the school, but can attend classes in the SAD 9 Adult Education program provided he follows the program's rules. [continues 196 words]
Late last month, the Press Herald reported that deaths caused by drug overdoses have reached epidemic proportion ("Drug deaths skyrocket," Dec. 28, 2002). It said that state officials had released a report with dire statistics on deaths from overdoses and vowed to work for policy changes to curtail the dangerous trend. While policy changes are imperative, we believe that they should be part of a comprehensive, coordinated approach. Opiate abuse is a complicated problem that will require a multifaceted solution involving collaboration among diverse professions. [continues 456 words]
The Eastern Maine AIDS Network has been awarded a grant from the Maine Community AIDS Partnership to continue the only syringe exchange-referral prevention program in eastern and northern Maine. The award was granted based on the success of the program last year, according to Denis Cranson, EMAN executive director. Started in 1993, MCAP's mission is to develop resources to support HIV education, prevention and treatment efforts that address current issues and emerging needs in Maine. [end]
Sam Pfeifle's interview with California medical marijuana patient and provider Valerie Corral ("The right to feel better," Oct. 18) underscored the need for state-level regulatory systems free from federal intrusion. Marijuana prohibition itself should be subjected to a cost-benefit analysis. 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. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. White Americans did not even begin to smoke marijuana until a soon-to-be entrenched government bureaucracy began funding reefer madness propaganda. [continues 121 words]
Thank you for coverage of the medical cannabis issue, ("The right to feel better," Oct. 18). It was discomforting witnessing my 17-year-old dying with cancer, allowed to self-induce morphine every six minutes for pain, denied cannabis use. As government stats indicate, one out of four citizens will confront cancer, which translates to every American family. This issue is crucial. The original prohibition on a national scale was worse than the booze prohibited, and the sequel, now, on an international scale, is worse. Needless to say, civilized society must stop voting for prohibitionist politicians. Do cannabis prohibitionists even comprehend that they're admitting a desire to cage humans, even sick humans, for using a plant? Thank Christ God, Our Father for cannabis. Accept cannabis (known as kaneh bosm, before the King James Version) for what it is as described on literally the very first page of the Bible (Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). Stan White, Dillon, CO [end]
A Cumberland County Grand Jury did the right thing last week when it indicted Scott Darling for manslaughter in the death of his friend. Darling was a narcotics addict in a methadone maintenance program, and shared a take-home dose of his medication with Seth Jordan, who later died of acute methadone poisoning. If the charges are true, by providing a lethal dose of drugs, Darling caused Jordan's death, just as sure as if he had been a drunken driver or a reckless shooter. The authorities have taken the correct position in not just blaming Jordan for the mistake that caused his death. "I hope this sends out a message that you can be held responsible for someone's death in this type of situation," said Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson. "I hope people begin to realize that by providing drugs, they can't wash their hands of it if that person dies." [continues 156 words]
Law enforcement officials in Kennebec and Somerset counties have scored two victories in the unending war on drugs recently. While these interdiction efforts are crucial to the fight against substance abuse, they won't put an end to drug use by themselves. On Sept. 15, Augusta police detectives and agents with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested a Massachusetts couple as part of the largest heroin bust in the city's history. Police confiscated 500 bags of heroin and 19 grams of crack cocaine with a combined street value of more than $19,000. [continues 443 words]
AUGUSTA - Heroin abuse in Maine's capital continues to grow at an alarming rate. After the largest heroin bust in Augusta's history on Sunday, police arrested another man Tuesday afternoon for allegedly selling the highly addictive drug. Police arrested Ed Arbour, 23, at his residence on Bond Street on charges of heroin trafficking and violation of probation. Arbour was the 18th person to be arrested this year in Augusta on heroin-related charges, according to police. Before 2002, said detective Lt. Dennis Passmore, "I don't think we've had 18 heroin arrests in the last 20 years." [continues 468 words]
Several areas of the country have experienced a surge in methadone overdoses much like Portland has seen this year, part of what drug policy officials say is an increasing problem with the illegal use of prescription drugs. Portland has experienced a record 23 suspected overdose deaths this year, nine of which are believed to have been caused by methadone. In all of 2001, there were 16. Officials in Virginia and Florida say they witnessed a similar increase in 2001, and the problem seems to be growing this year. [continues 1582 words]
Methadone poisoning killed six of the eight Portland overdose victims for whom blood tests are complete, providing the strongest evidence yet that the medication has contributed to this year's surge in overdose deaths in Portland. All six had histories of substance abuse. None was a client of the two local clinics that distribute methadone to help quell addicts' craving for heroin, according to data provided by police agencies at the request of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. All six obtained the methadone, at least indirectly, from someone for whom it was prescribed and presumably without the warnings that medical staff dispense. [continues 2095 words]
BANGOR - A for-profit methadone provider whose clinic in the Portland area has come under scrutiny following a rash of fatal drug overdoses is seeking to open a clinic in Bangor. Rhode Island-based Discovery House wants to provide the heroin substitute to as many as 250 patients in what would be Bangor's second methadone treatment facility. Acadia Hospital, the city's first methadone provider, is simultaneously looking to expand its year-old drug treatment program from 150 patients to 300. [continues 255 words]
SKOWHEGAN The image of a brown-eyed, curly-haired girl is etched in the memory of Lt. Carl Gottardi II. Gottardi, a burly veteran drug investigator at Somerset County Sheriff's Department, was investigating the death of a woman from an overdose earlier this month, when he heard a dull thumping noise. Following the noise through a doorway into a small darkened room, he found the girl sitting on the floor banging her head against the wall, barely eight feet from her mother's body. [continues 1266 words]
Nobody was arrested in Starks last weekend for speaking out in favor of legalizing marijuana. Nobody was prevented from exercising the right of peaceable assembly. This year's Hempstock concert-and-campout festival was in fact a pretty subdued affair. Its organizers managed to remain in compliance of the town's mass gathering ordinance, which requires a permit for events where more than 750 persons gather for six hours or more. Promoters of the festival got help from thousands of rock and pot fans who simply stayed away from this year's celebration. [continues 340 words]
As Hempstock 2002 ended Sunday, about two dozen people faced a date with a judge. And one - a 17-year-old - was seeing a doctor. That youth was treated at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington for an overdose of ecstasy and LSD, said a State Police spokesman. The criminal charges "range from traffic violations to the selling of ecstasy" added the spokesman, Steve McCausland. Hempstock, an annual multi-day celebration of all things marijuana, has been staged for about a decade at Harry Brown's farm, which sits on a dirt road off of Route 43. The event is organized by Maine Vocals, a group advocating legalization of marijuana. [continues 302 words]
Attendance Drops 75%; 1 Teen Hospitalized For Over Dose STARKS - State troopers arrested about two dozen people and one teen- ager was taken to a hospital after taking LSD during the four-day Hempstock festival promoting marijuana legalization. Maine State Police Lt. Dale Lancaster said those arrested face charges ranging from motor vehicle violations to possession of the drug Ecstasy. Troopers served search warrants on three vendors on the grounds of Harry Brown's farm. The three were summonsed on charges of selling drug paraphernalia, Lancaster said after the festival ended Sunday afternoon. [continues 502 words]
STARKS - About two dozen people face court dates following a four-day marijuana festival in this Somerset County town, authorities said. A 17-year-old youth who attended Hempstock was treated at Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington for an overdose of ecstasy and LSD, Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said. The criminal charges range from "traffic violations to the selling of ecstasy" McCausland said. The festival, which began Thursday and ended Sunday, is an annual celebration that has been held for about a decade at a farm off Route 43. [continues 169 words]
Authorities Begin Crackdown On Festival STARKS - Flashing blue lights and a road block greeted visitors to the annual Hempstock festival Thursday as police and prosecutors followed through on a promise of stepped-up enforcement. Visitors were handed flyers warning them not to drive under the influence and a probation officer checked the identity of people passing through at the roadblock on Route 43, a few hundred yards from the dirt road leading to Harry Brown's farm. Hempstock is organized by the Maine Vocals, a group that advocates the legalization of marijuana. [continues 787 words]
It might seem a bit incongruous to expect the organizer of a pro- marijuana festival to live completely within the law. But Don Christen, the founding organizer of Hempstock, could at least pretend that judges and courts matter to him. To start, Christen should stop flouting the court by ignoring an order preventing him from organizing, promoting or holding Hempstock XII, which is scheduled to begin Thursday. Despite that court order, Christen says his four-day festival in Starks will go on. [continues 438 words]
SKOWHEGAN (AP)- Hempstock organizer Don Christen says this month's pro-marijuana festival in Starks will go on, despite a court-imposed ban. Somerset County Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar found Christen and his Maine Vocals group in contempt of court and denied their bid to overturn the town Planning Board's refusal to approve a mass gathering permit for Hempstock XII. Minutes after the judge's ruling Thursday, Christen made it plain he was not giving up. "Oh, we're still going to hold Hempstock," he said. [continues 244 words]
SKOWHEGAN - Increasing numbers of incarcerated women and more widespread use of drugs like heroin and OxyContin are among the factors that have Department of Corrections officials concerned about inmate population projections. A study for the Department of Corrections released earlier this year projects county jail populations will grow relatively slowly at about 11 percent between 2000 and 2010. But officials say several factors, including more probation officers, could change those projections significantly, turning a projected overall surplus of beds in 2010 into a serious deficit. [continues 674 words]
More Addicts Than Openings Spur Possible Bangor Expansion BANGOR - It's 10:30 a.m. and Scott Farnum already has fielded two calls from people looking to enter his methadone treatment center at Acadia Hospital. But Farnum, the program's director, is still poring over the three requests that landed on his desk the day before, a relatively slow day for the clinic, which receives between five and 10 requests for the treatment every day. "It's clear that, particularly Bangor north, we're vastly underserving people who would need methadone treatment," said Farnum, who has run the center since its controversial opening just over a year ago at the hospital's Stillwater Avenue campus. [continues 837 words]
Thanks to the efforts of medical and law enforcement officials in Washington County, drug abusers are finding it more difficult to obtain OxyContin, the prescription painkiller that has plagued impoverished eastern Maine since shortly after the drug's introduction in 1996. Legislators have toughened smuggling laws to help reduce the flow of narcotics from Canada. Police are cracking down on dealers. Doctors and pharmacists are more careful with prescriptions and wisely are exploring other strategies to combat chronic pain, such as physical therapy, yoga and treatment of underlying depression. [continues 203 words]
I was Mark's substance abuse counselor at Cumberland County Jail. As I made my rounds from unit to unit, holding one-hour sessions with any who chose to attend, I saw Mark walking down the hall toward laundry. He worked there. But what caught my eye was what he had in his hand - all the time. It was a Bible. After one group meeting, I said, "Mark, are you really reading that book?" "Yes," he replied in his soft manner. "I have read it through three times thus far. I'm on my fourth go-round." [continues 660 words]
To the editor: I enjoyed reading Dave Treadwell's column (July 12, "Ten lashes with a wet noodle!") on the bizarre priorities of this country's criminal justice system: a slap on the wrist for corporate executives who steal millions; zero tolerance for marijuana smokers. Based on findings that criminal records are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents, a majority of European Union countries have decriminalized pot. Despite marijuana prohibition and perhaps because of forbidden-fruit appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country. America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. [continues 161 words]
Nearly 50 law enforcement officers, led by the Maine State Police Tactical Team, conducted a surprise raid Saturday afternoon at Fudafest, detaining around 400 festival-goers for two hours while Aaron Fuda's 57 McKay Road property was searched for drugs, guns and evidence of illegal activity. Fudafest organizer Aaron Fuda and several of his friends said Monday that the raid was an extremely frightening event for many people there, and a sizable number of people left the party after the police had gone. [continues 578 words]
Snorting OxyContin gave Chad Seelye of Calais the perfect high. But when he couldn't scrape together $300 for his daily dose of the prescription painkiller, Seelye settled on the next best thing. Heroin, he said, produced the same surge of euphoria and a packet cost him only $25. "Eventually, heroin is what everybody is going to taper to," said Seelye, a 20-year-old recovering addict. "People go for the cheapest drug. They go for the cheapest high." Calais and other Washington County communities were the first places in the country to identify rampant OxyContin abuse. Now, as law enforcement officials and doctors attempt to reduce the illicit supply of the synthetic opiate, authorities report more drug users in this poor, easternmost region of Maine are using and dealing heroin. [continues 1103 words]
Now let me get this straight. A kid caught with some marijuana, in some states, can be tossed into the clink for up to 30 years. A corporate big shot caught cooking the books - or approving cooked books - and proven guilty can get a maximum prison term of 5 years if convicted of mail fraud or wire fraud, charges often used to prosecute corporate crimes. Never mind that it's easier to prove the kid guilty than it is to prove the big shot guilty. Do you think prison overcrowding results from the influx of white collar criminals? [continues 321 words]
Planning Board Hears Discusses Mass Gathering Application STARKS - Planning Board members found plenty to question Wednesday in an application for a mass gathering permit for the Maine Vocals' annual Hempstock festival. Wednesday night, members of the Starks Planning Board reviewed the application for completeness. Board member Gwen Hilton said she was not sure when the board, which meets once a month, would decide on the application. By press time, the board had not finished its review. Only after the board decides the application is substantially complete can it make a decision. [continues 261 words]
Inside Maine
