In common lore, cocaine in powder form is for celebrities and elites, in rock form it's for the inner-city poor while homemade crystal methamphetamine is the narcotic of choice for the pickup truck crowd.

Based on arrest patterns here during the year, there's more than a little truth to the lore.

Meth is insidious. There are no multinational meth cartels. There are only recipes - chemical processes, sometimes explosive, to refine the drug in almost any kitchen. Addiction is immediate, strong and destructive. Meth-heads will do anything to get the drug, which means most robberies and burglaries can be traced to this poison.

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U.S. District Judge Dan Jordan has ruled that Mayor Frank Melton can't use the term "crack house" during his upcoming federal civil rights trial in describing alleged illegal drug activity at the duplex on Ridgeway Street that has been the center of his legal woes for more than two years.

That ruling leads one to wonder just how Melton should refer to the former residence in mounting his defense. What should he call it? A fixer-upper? The House on Pooh Corner? Little House on the Prairie?

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It can truthfully be said that the cost of drug abuse in terms of wrecked lives and misery cannot be calculated. This type of damage is both tragic and irreparable.

But dollars and cents costs are also borne by a community - sometimes needlessly.

Consider that Vicksburg has only one gated residential area with 24-hour security and key-card access. It's not for the super-rich. It's Waltersville estates, an apartment complex on North Washington Street owned and operated by the Vicksburg Housing Authority.

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The killings in Jackson so far this year were fueled by drugs, arguments or revenge. Others were robberies gone bad, and a few were the result of domestic. Sometimes the victims knew their attackers. Sometimes they didn't. In most cases, both victim and suspect were of the same race.

Jackson's 73 homicides have happened in every corner of the city, from outside nightclubs to shady motels and vacant buildings. Some victims also were discovered in their own homes or cars.

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Dealing a blow to years of work and recent gains in youth drug prevention, Massachusetts has joined a growing, but still short, list of states to decriminalize marijuana possession.

At least that is the intention of some 65 percent of voters checking "Yes" on a ballot initiative that makes possession of an ounce or less of marijuana a civil offense (punishable by a ticket) as opposed to a criminal one. And this on the same day that the same voters approved a ban on greyhound racing.

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Mayor Frank Melton will enter a courtroom this week for the third time in two years to face criminal charges arising from his cowboy crime-fighting style.

This time, he'll face the federal government and charges that could land him in prison for up to 25 years.

While Melton's reputation for unorthodox behavior goes back to his days as a television commentator, as mayor he sounded an early warning in his July 4, 2005, inaugural address.

"We will deal with crime in a way you have never seen before," he said.

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Standing before a class of fifth graders Tuesday at Central School, Detective Sgt. Zate McGee told students what they could expect for the next several weeks. "We're going to talk a lot about drugs and alcohol and abuse of those things," McGee said. Over the next 10 weeks, she will be visiting four fifth grade classrooms at Central to teach the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program, commonly known as D.A.R.E..

"This semester, I have 264 students at Central," McGee said. Next semester, D.A.R.E. will come to Oak Hill Academy and other fifth grade classes at Central.

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KUDOS TO the Hattiesburg Police Department, which has had several high-profile drug busts in the last several months. The latest was Wednesday, when police stopped two men - from Georgia and Texas - for a traffic violation and ended up finding 37 kilograms of powered cocaine, valued at more than $1.5 million.

Not bad for a day's work.

It came on top of a drug bust at a local man's home, also Wednesday, where more than $50,000 in drug money and weapons were found.

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I've never been much of a Frank Melton fan. Back in the days when he was the blunt-speaking broadcaster from Jackson on the chicken dinner circuit, he was too much of a showboat for my taste.

I never really bought into his shtick. He would forever arrive late at an event where he was the featured speaker, mesmerize the audience with his bashing of saggy-pantsed, earring-wearing black males and those who coddle them, then blow right back out. I always thought he had way too high an opinion of himself.

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Feds Prosecuting a Crime He Was Acquitted Of, Mayor Says

A day after being indicted by a federal grand jury, Jackson Mayor Frank Melton belittled the charges as lacking heft despite their heavyweight appearance.

After more than a year of investigating Melton, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Melton and his police bodyguards Marcus Wright and Michael Recio had been charged with two civil rights violations and a gun charge as a result of their role in wrecking a duplex on Ridgeway Street in west Jackson.

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For metro-Jackson residents, last week's indictment of Mayor Frank Melton and his two police bodyguards seems like deja vu.

After all, Jackson's first-term mayor spent eight months successfully fighting a criminal indictment for his role in damaging a reputed drug house the night of Aug. 26, 2006. That fight ended in an April 2007 trial and not-guilty verdicts for Melton and Jackson police Detectives Marcus Wright and Michael Recio, his bodyguards.

The new indictment stems from the same event, but the charges come from the federal system, making it a whole new ballgame for the three men.

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GULFPORT --The seizure of 500 plants that looked like marijuana in Harrison County in 2003 did not violate the land-user's civil rights, the 5th Court of Appeals has ruled.

The decision upholds a federal judge's dismissal of Marion "Bucky" Waltman's civil lawsuit against former Sheriff George H. Payne Jr. The ruling was filed Thursday.

The crop was kenaf planted as deer food on land leased by the Boarhog Hunting Club. Waltman planted the crop based on research at Mississippi State University. The research concluded that kenaf, used to make paper, could also attract deer and provide larger hunting trophies.

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Gov. Haley Barbour signed a bill into law earlier this year to restore common sense to sentencing in the criminal courts - making some 7,000 inmates eligible for parole by relaxing sentencing guidelines.

Senate Bill 2136 relaxed the state's so-called 85-percent rule, passed in an ill-advised moment in 1994 when the Legislature took the federal government's "get tough on crime" challenge and raised it.

The so-called "Truth in Sentencing" law was the result of a nationwide push for tougher sentencing, and Mississippi lawmakers responded. This newspaper supported the law. Famous last words: It seemed like a good idea at the time.

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Saving Taxpayer Dollars While Offering Effective Treatment, Tough Regimen Remains Goal

While The Clarion-Ledger editors would frown on my leaving a large open space on their editorial pages, I believe that this statement does, in fact, succinctly sum up the case for drug courts.

For those unfamiliar with drug courts, they are special courts given the responsibility to handle cases involving drug-using offenders through comprehensive supervision, drug testing, treatment services and immediate sanctions and incentives. Drug courts rely upon the daily communication and cooperation of judges, court personnel, probation and treatment providers.

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Ten-year-old Claire eagerly raised her hand to answer the officer's question of what makes a good friend. She waited impatiently, trying her best not to squeal for him to point to her. When he finally did she said with confidence, "You can trust them."

Claire was one of 18 students in Dorothy Aldridge's fifth-grade class at Della Davidson Elementary who participated in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program this spring.

The national preventative drug and alcohol program just finished its first year of operation at the new Oxford fourth- and fifth-grade school.

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At their April Meeting, members of the Pontotoc County School Board heard a presentation about drug testing of students, given by Mitchell Keyes and Van Hopkins from ADAPTS, LLC, a Tupelo drug testing firm. They currently conduct drug tests on county bus drivers.

The student testing program consists of random monthly testing for the presence of popular drugs plus prescription medications and other lesser known or less popular abusive substances. A current drug problem among teens is called "skittling" or the use of non-prescription cough suppressants to achieve euphoria. The type of test kit used by ADAPTS can detect all of these substances.

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Hattiesburg Police Department is looking to crack down on drug-related crime with a new unit.

The interdiction unit, which will start to work Saturday, is made up of six police officers and one supervisor, who all already work for HPD. Each officer already has been assigned an accompanying K-9 partner.

Lt. Dale Bounds, the unit's supervisor, said the team will be beneficial to the growing city by taking more narcotics off the streets. Combating narcotic distribution prevents other crimes from occurring, Bounds said, adding that the unit's staff along with its soon-to-arrive new equipment trucks will better help the department combat crime.

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The slogan for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition is "COPS SAY LEGALIZE DRUGS ASK US WHY!" This non-profit organization was founded by Jack Cole, a former New Jersey Detective and is comprised of former police officers and government officials.

The Criminal Justice Department of Jackson State University sponsored an event involving L.E.A.P called Winning the War on Drugs: Prohibition or Legalization, hosted by Department of Criminal Justice Chair, Dr. Thomas Calhoun on Feb. 21 in room 266 of the Dollye M.E. Robinson Liberal Arts Building.

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The approval of a youth drug court in Jackson County is an important step forward in helping young people straighten out their lives.

And, maybe the introduction of a youth drug court is pointing to success in the drug court program for adults. The adult drug court is relatively new. Drug law offenders are given a choice to either go through the traditional court process or enter drug court. Offenders in drug court have a chance to stay out of jail, obtain treatment for their addiction and clear their record. The drug court program is not a free ticket out of jail. Once drug law offenders are in a drug court program, they have to remain clear of drugs or be sent back into the traditional court system.

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PASCAGOULA -- Jackson County youth judges and prosecutors will have another option for handling cases beginning April 1, with the opening of a new youth drug court.

While Jackson County judges hearing cases involving adults have established drug court policies, youth court judges did not have that option.

"It's a very important program for Jackson County," said Youth Court Judge Sharon Sigalas, who said that a number of cases before her are the result of juveniles using drugs.

The youth drug court will cost about $250,000, with most of the funding coming from the state, according to Jackson County Youth Court administrator Cynthia Wilson. She said the court is designed for about 40 juvenile offenders.

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