The state is asking taxpayers to fork over an additional $97 million to keep convicted felons in treatment, out of trouble or behind bars. A 38 percent jump from two years ago in the Department of Correction's budget is one of the largest proposed budget increases heading into the 2007 legislative session. Part of the reason is because of a $27 million shortfall in the 2007 fiscal year. There are 609 more offenders in the corrections system than was budgeted for, said corrections Spokesman Bob Anez. [continues 778 words]
Regarding Roger Clawson's thoughtful Dec. 14 column, the drug war is in large part a war on marijuana, by far the most popular illicit drug. The University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future Study reports that lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European country, yet America is one of the few Western countries that uses its criminal justice system to punish citizens who prefer marijuana to martinis. The short-term health effects of marijuana are inconsequential compared to the long-term effects of criminal records. Unfortunately, marijuana represents the counterculture to many Americans. [continues 133 words]
It is unfathomable that the country is bonkers over 3,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since 2003, while ignoring an insane drug crusade at home that directly murders more than 30,000 (overdoses) every year. If all deaths caused by prohibition are added up, there are more than 100,000 fatalities (HIV, hepatitis C, etc.) every year. Drug prohibition is responsible for these needless deaths because history clearly shows that unintentional opiate overdose deaths were extremely rare before drugs were outlawed. Most drug-related deaths before the Harrison Narcotic Act were suicides. Nowadays, Drug Czar John Walters tells us there are more than 30,000 accidental drug deaths every year. Since the fighting began in Iraq more than 300,000 American citizens have been murdered by a lunatic drug crusade. [continues 240 words]
The bad news is: The War in Iraq has gone south along with U.S. credibility worldwide. The worse news is: The president seems intent on staying the course. The worst news is: The War in Iraq is going whiz-bang marvelous compared to a much older conflict here at home - The War on Drugs. Seven presidents have stayed the course in this campaign. As a result, more than 2.5 million inmates in U.S. jails and prisons are eating our lunch, not to mention our education budget, funds desperately needed to upgrade highways and bridges, and money that could be used in the search for cancer cures or a vaccine for AIDs. [continues 460 words]
HELENA - Montana could save millions of dollars a year by moving some convicted felons, including lower-level sex offenders, out of prisons and into treatment programs that have proved successful, a panel of experts told lawmakers. The suggestion was among those offered during a meeting Thursday of the Corrections Advisory Council, which is looking to reduce prison overcrowding in the state. Shawn Abbott, who runs a treatment program in Great Falls for sex offenders, said many people behind bars are young men who had sex with girlfriends who were underage at the time. [continues 432 words]
Yet another survey has confirmed that children and youth are listening when parents talk to them about drugs. The Montana Prevention Needs Assessment, a survey conducted every two years since 1998 through the state Department of Public Health and Human Services, found that hearing anti-drug messages from parents makes a positive difference in keeping kids away from drugs. But the survey also indicates that anti-drug message must be clear and strong. If youth perceive that parents think alcohol, tobacco and other drugs are "very wrong," they are highly unlikely to use. But any equivocating by the parent can render the message ineffective. [continues 280 words]
A ballot measure recommending Missoula County law enforcement officials make adult marijuana offenses their lowest priority passed Tuesday night. The measure, dubbed Initiative 2, won the support of 22,502 Missoula voters, or 53 percent. Opponents of the initiative totaled 19,565, or 46 percent, and included some of Missoula County's top law enforcement officials. The initiative will make marijuana crimes the single lowest priority for Missoula County authorities, but won't include marijuana sales or drug use by minors as low-priority offenses. In no way will Tuesday's passage of Initiative 2 legalize the drug, according to Angela Goodhope, a spokeswoman with Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy, the group that proposed the measure and landed it on the ballot. [continues 200 words]
Mike McMeekin and Don Mormon faced off in a campaign for Missoula County Sheriff four years ago. A lot has changed since then, Sheriff McMeekin said, outlining the challenges for the next term, and he said he expects that the office will change just as much in the next four years. Some things haven't changed so much, Morman countered. Just as when he ran against McMeekin last time, there are still serious morale problems in the sheriff's office. With deputies leaving, the department is short-handed, and just four deputies cover the entire county, he said. And with inadequate staffing, the jail is at risk for a major incident. [continues 1445 words]
Missoula Students Are Changing Their Own Behavior for the Better, According to a Statewide Survey of Lifestyle Choices and Risks. "Missoula has continually reported higher use rates than the rest of the state that have held steady despite multiple prevention efforts," said Jori Frakie, head f the Missoula Forum for Children and Youth. "Finally, we have turned the corner." The Montana Prevention Needs Assessment takes place every two years. It surveys eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders on their opinions about risky behavior, such as how many of their peers smoke, drink or use drugs. It also looks at "protective factors" such as whether families have clear rules about substance abuse, whether stores have procedures preventing the sale of tobacco or alcohol to minors and how involved students are in their school, church or other community organizations. [continues 549 words]
The nation's drug czar came to Great Falls last week to honor Montana's fight against methamphetamine. Naturally, he singled out Montana Meth Project guru Tom Siebel. This time, though, Siebel had to share the stage. In fact, he led the accolades to his co-star. "Thanks, Conrad Burns," the moneyed anti-meth crusader said, launching into an anecdote about how Montana's three-term Republican U.S. senator had invited him to testify before a congressional committee on the dangers of the drug. [continues 1698 words]
It appears that Sen. Burns has made his opponent's case regarding the Patriot Act with his statement that only terrorists, suspected terrorists, and affiliates of the mafia and drug kings have lost any rights. I've heard the "if you haven't done anything, you have nothing to fear" argument before, and those using that argument forget that civil rights exist to protect the innocent. A false accusation can come in many forms, including physical similarity to a suspect, false witness or setup, same last name, identity theft, or just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Our civil rights are our defense against prosecution for crimes we did not commit. [continues 122 words]
A ballot initiative that aims to make marijuana crimes the single lowest priority for Missoula County authorities - pegged below even jaywalking on the hierarchy of enforcement - has met heavy opposition from adversaries who argue the drug would become more available to young people. But proponents of the measure, dubbed Initiative 2, have accrued an authoritative advocate who recently showed his support in Missoula. Norm Stamper's credentials are impressive. A 34-year veteran police officer with a Ph.D. in behavioral psychology, Stamper served as chief of the Seattle Police Department from 1994 until 2000, and made international headlines during the WTO-related demonstrations, which he says weren't his proudest moments. [continues 1183 words]
Stroke victims might one day receive relief from a startling source: methamphetamine. The addictive drug that ruins lives in horrible ways actually protected neurons when injected after strokes into the brains of rats and gerbils in a Missoula laboratory. "I didn't believe it at first," Dave Poulsen said Friday. "We thought that, based on the literature, it was going to make the effect of stroke worse. We were kind of surprised." Poulsen, a University of Montana research assistant professor, will be in Atlanta on Wednesday to present the findings of a team of researchers from UM, St. Patrick Hospital and Montana State University at the Society for Neuroscience's annual conference. [continues 554 words]
KALISPELL - They come across in small airplanes and on foot, astride horses and atop snowmobiles. They hike and float and ski and dog sled their way out of Canada and across Montana's northern border, often smuggling drugs or people. Sometimes they are caught. Sometimes not. "What we do is one of the toughest jobs in the world," said Lonnie Moore, information officer for the Spokane Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. "I believe we catch most of them, but we're not naive enough to think it's 100 percent. There's always room to improve." [continues 1747 words]
Marijuana offenses by adults could become Missoula County law enforcement's lowest priority if a recently filed ballot proposal proves successful. Should voters approve, the initiative crafted by Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy (CRCP) would direct Missoula County officials--including the Sheriff's Department and County Attorney's Office--to put marijuana-related investigations, citations, arrests, seizures and prosecutions at the bottom of their to-do list, in favor of investing more time and resources into more serious crimes. Nothing about marijuana's criminal status would be changed, and the initiative wouldn't preclude marijuana arrests; rather, the measure would simply direct law enforcement to prioritize other crimes like robbery, murder, rape, assault and drunken driving. Marijuana offenses involving minors, driving under the influence or distribution near schools would not be de-prioritized. [continues 886 words]
An initiative that aims to make marijuana offenses the single lowest priority for Missoula County law enforcement has qualified for a spot on the November ballot, according to proponents of the measure. Dubbed Initiative 2, the measure was proposed by Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy, and, thanks in part to months of aggressive signature gathering, has won the support of more than 20,000 registered voters in Missoula County. The measure required just 11,723 signatures to place on the ballot. [continues 357 words]
GREAT FALLS - The president of the national Parent Teachers Association plans to attend Montana's annual PTA convention, the state association announced. The Montana PTA is scheduled to hold its 91st annual meeting Sept. 15-17 in Missoula. The attendance of President Anna Weselak is "kind of a coup for us," said Beth Verlanic, state PTA president. The state organization counts nearly 8,000 members. This year, presenters tackle methamphetamine in Montana, how to be an involved parent and other issues, according to a news release. [end]
When the doors swing at the Malta city pool, swimmers see the face of methamphetamine. Using mismatched house-paint from a local hardware store, Kristen Engebretson, 18, spent 25 hours over two days to paint two halves of a girl's face -- one beautiful and happy, the other gaunt and gloomy. "I thought it'd be so much fun to work on a project where you can get a message out to someone," she said. "It was really cool to see the community putting that much effort into deterring meth." [continues 700 words]
Why The Montana Meth Project Isn't All It's Cranked Up To Be Never has a so-called picture of success sported such a gruesome mug. It was one year ago this September that the Montana Meth Project launched its efforts to transform the face of methamphetamine's impact on the youth of this state. All at once, images of young faux junkies and their nightmarish trappings became omnipresent on Montana's billboards and airwaves and in print media as the $5.5 million campaign, bankrolled by billionaire Tom Siebel, rocketed into place as the state's largest advertiser. The citizens and the media of Montana have responded, by and large, with gusto for the high-profile effort. Most recently, more than 650 teens encouraged by $300,000 in prize money are holding their breath for the Aug. 9 results of the Paint the State contest, for which they created public art incorporating the campaign's "Not Even Once" slogan. Ghastly images and draconian messages--"Curiosity killed the kid," for instance--have turned up in the form of painted barns and cows, emaciated sculptures and crashed cars throughout our communities. [continues 4736 words]
MISSOULA - A man charged in the fatal overdose of a Missoula woman was sentenced Monday to 11 years in prison, the U.S. attorney's office said in a news release. Eric Jacobson, 25, of Missoula pleaded guilty in January to distribution of a controlled substance causing death. Jessica Lawhorn died in March 2005 after she and a friend split one pill of the painkiller Oxycontin that they had bought from Jacobson. Adrienne Lecoure told investigators that she and Lawhorn, 19, drank a bottle of wine earlier that evening. After talking, the two women fell asleep, and Lecoure found Lawhorn unconscious the next day, court records said. Lawhorn was later pronounced dead in a hospital. In addition to prison time, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Jacobson to 10 years on supervised release. [end]
At age 19, Steve's teeth were already chipping and falling out. By the time he landed in the Shelby prison, he had the blood pressure of a 78-year-old man. He'll take Prilosec to ease stomach pains for the rest of his life. "I was in the meth explosion," the 26-year-old said. "We didn't know what it would do to you back then." A hit of methamphetamine puts battery acid, farm fertilizer and Drano into a user's body. What the billboards show -- tooth decay and skin sores -- doesn't touch on what meth does to your insides. [continues 1314 words]
Thanks for recognizing Wisconsin congressman David Obey for sticking up for medical marijuana patients in a recent debate in your column, "Here's how Democrats can win in November" (July 20). Unfortunately, according to the roll call, there are only 18 Republicans who, as you noted of Rep. Obey, speak like true Republicans on this issue. It was interesting to hear one of them, amendment cosponsor Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), a former aide to President Reagan, share how not only did fellow Reagan aide Lyn Nofziger's daughter utilize cannabis fighting the cancer that eventually took her life, but that Nofziger himself used it to help manage his final illness. [continues 77 words]
I'm writing about David Crisp's: "Here's how Democrats can win in November" (July 20). It seems to me that Democrats should make a major issue of the federal medical marijuana ban. Polls show that the vast majority of voters favor the legalization of marijuana for medical use. The Hinchey-Rohrabacher Bill would have prevented the Department of Justice from using tax dollars to prosecute medical-marijuana patients in states where medical marijuana is legal. The bill failed because only 18 Republican from the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the bill. It seems like a major inconsistency for so-called conservative Republicans to say that they oppose "nanny state" policies, yet support our drug criminalization policies. [continues 92 words]
In a speech in Billings in April, New York Times columnist David Brooks said that Republicans are on a "suicide watch" and had all but conceded that they would lose control of the U.S. House this year. "I think they know they've strayed," he said, "and they're going to pay for it." But the consensus among Democrats, he said, was that they couldn't believe they would win. And there does seem to be a certain fatalism among Democrats. Even with an unpopular president, an increasingly unpopular war, rising gasoline prices and an economy that has left middle-income wages stagnant, a common sentiment among Democrats appears to be: How will we blow it this time? [continues 1037 words]
A miniscule percentage of America's population of 300 million lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina, so therefore it's not really a national problem. Forest fires don't happen in New York City, so the federal government shouldn't be terribly concerned about them. That is the kind of faulty reasoning used in a conclusion of a report released earlier this month by the Sentencing Project, an organization that promotes alternatives to prison. The report stated that national scope of methamphetamine abuse has been exaggerated by the media and government officials. [continues 439 words]
Last week's Question of the Week asked whether police should have to announce themselves before bursting into a person's home. A large majority said they should. The question stems from a recent U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 ruling that police don't have to knock, a decision that rolled back earlier rulings protective of homeowners. Among 586 votes in this unscientific poll, 485 readers said police should be required to announce themselves, while 101 said they shouldn't have to. [continues 222 words]
HELENA -- Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath is taking exception to a report by The Sentencing Project, which said the prevalence of methamphetamine use in the United States has been overstated. "I think these people have their heads in the sand," McGrath said Thursday. The Sentencing Project is a Washington, D.C.-based not-for-profit group that supports alternatives to prison terms for convicted drug users and other criminals. The report, issued Wednesday, cited statistics compiled by the government in 2004 that show 0.2 percent of people had used meth in the past month, compared with 0.8 percent who said they had used cocaine within the past month. [continues 345 words]
HELENA -- Some 85 percent of the inmates in the Montana women's prison are there, at least in part, because of methamphetamine. At a Missoula drug treatment center, 90 percent of the women who enter the program are dealing with a meth problem and nationwide, 50,000 people under the age of 21 have died from substance abuse since Sept. 2001, officials report. Montana needs to do something about these statistics, Gov. Judy Martz said Wednesday during a conference on the state's methamphetamine problem. [continues 466 words]
Montana's Not Immune From Drug Problems From the gaunt cheeks to the oozing needle tracks on their arms, former Los Angeles police officer Ron Clem knew the faces of methamphetamine addicts when he saw them. And the fact he couldn't erase those images from his mind after retiring from the police force played a pivotal role in his decision to move his family to the Kalispell area in a bid to shield his children from the war on drugs in which he battled for so many years. [continues 639 words]
MISSOULA -- A former Montana State Prison guard was sentenced Friday to three years and one month in prison for trying to smuggle marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine into the prison. District Judge Donald Molloy also ordered Michael Short, 50, of Anaconda, to forfeit $4,500 in cash, his pickup truck and two guns. Short pleaded guilty to attempted possession with intent to distribute marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine, and to being a drug user in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors said they learned from a confidential informant that Short had been smuggling contraband, such as tobacco, into the prison and that he intended to start smuggling illegal drugs into the facility. [continues 129 words]
The owner of a now-defunct Missoula pipe shop was sentenced Friday in U.S District Court for distribution of drug paraphernalia. David Sil, 61, will spend the next two years on probation, including a six-month stint of home confinement. In March, a Missoula jury convicted Sil on the federal charge following a two-day trial. But Sil's penalty could have been much worse. Based on federal sentencing guidelines, he might have spent one full year in a federal penitentiary. [continues 717 words]
Amanda Dunnington has six teeth left. Not long ago, the 25-year-old was homeless, sleeping in basements with spiders and digging in garbage bins food. Her son and daughter were taken away from her. Bruises from plunging needles into her legs and chest covered her body. Methamphetamine does that to people. "If I would have had any idea ... I never would have dreamed of doing it," she said. "It gets to the point where you think you have to have it to stay alive. You feel like you're dying." [continues 1595 words]
A $4.5m Campaign Has Certainly Raised Awareness, but Critics Say The Hysteria Is Ill-Judged Travelling through the big sky country of Montana in the north-western US it is hard to believe that anything could be awry. Piebald ponies graze in their pastures, deer munch grass by the side of the road, and people are few and far between. But a series of billboards are disfiguring the views of the Rockies. [continues 1208 words]
Across the Mountains and Prairies of America, a Generation of Young People Is Falling Victim to Methamphetamine Addiction and State Authorities Are Struggling to Cope. Even when she was stealing money from her nine-year-old niece to fund her habit Sarah Bright was certain she did not have a problem with methamphetamine. When she got up in the middle of the night and paranoically wandered around her garden, convinced that FBI agents were stalking her, she thought she was in control. She did not have a problem with drugs, she told herself. Everything was cool. [continues 3748 words]
A Missoula Group Proposes New Police Priorities Marijuana offenses by adults could become Missoula County law enforcement's lowest priority if a recently filed ballot proposal proves successful. Should voters approve, the initiative crafted by Citizens for Responsible Crime Policy (CRCP) would direct Missoula County officials--including the Sheriff's Department and County Attorney's Office--to put marijuana-related investigations, citations, arrests, seizures and prosecutions at the bottom of their to-do list, in favor of investing more time and resources into more serious crimes. Nothing about marijuana's criminal status would be changed, and the initiative wouldn't preclude marijuana arrests; rather, the measure would simply direct law enforcement to prioritize other crimes like robbery, murder, rape, assault and drunken driving. Marijuana offenses involving minors, driving under the influence or distribution near schools would not be de-prioritized. [continues 885 words]
WASHINGTON -- Federal officials and tribal leaders testified at a congressional hearing Wednesday that the methamphetamine problem in Indian country urgently requires increased funding for prevention and treatment programs and more law enforcement coordination. "The situation can be described in a single word: crisis," said Robert McSwain, deputy director of the federal Indian Health Service, at the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs hearing. Methamphetamine has contributed to the high rate of violent crime in Indian country, devastated native families and strained resources of tribal law enforcement, health and social services programs, said Matthew Mead, the U.S. attorney for the District of Wyoming. [continues 718 words]
The first meeting of Peace for Patients, the state's first medical marijuana support and advocacy group, brought together a handful of patients and would-be patients in Missoula on March 27 in hopes that they might help each other navigate the murky waters of Montana's medical marijuana program, which voters approved in 2004, and now has 189 enrolled patients. Daniel Skaggs, the Montana organizer for Americans for Safe Access and creator of the group, says he wants to build a network to provide patients with information and encouragement. Creating a public front of local support on the part of non-patients, particularly in the face of continued federal raids on patients, is also a goal, he says. [continues 238 words]
Prisons are one of the fastest-growing sectors of Montana government. The Department of Corrections continues to be overwhelmed by increases in the number of convicts flooding the system, particularly those who must be incarcerated because they have failed in repeated attempts at probation and parole. With the DOC asking for an additional, unbudgeted $11.5 million just to maintain operations through June 30, Montanans are again reminded of the vicious cycle of building more cells and directing more state resources toward lawbreakers. The immediate budget crisis prompted the DOC to postpone plans to build a prison of 256 beds that was supposed to include space for 60 inmates with serious mental illnesses and 100 beds for inmates with other serious health problems. The prisons of Montana hold more people with mental illnesses than the state's psychiatric hospitals. [continues 328 words]
HELENA -- The state Department of Corrections needs an extra $11.5 million to make it until July and has temporarily scrapped plans to build a special needs prison for lack of funds, officials announced Thursday. Corrections Director Bill Slaughter asked the interim Legislative Finance Committee Thursday for permission to spend the money out of the agency's pool of funds set aside for next year. He also asked the lawmakers whether they had any ideas on how the department might cut down on costs -- a delicate task in an agency that cannot scrimp on staff at lock-down institutions. [continues 479 words]
For years, officials have estimated 90 percent of the people who go through Flathead District Court are there on methamphetamine-related charges. No one really knows where that figure originated or how accurate it might have been during the peak years of meth-lab raids and arrests around 2000 and 2001. But now, the figure is likely closer to 30 percent. On Thursday, 46 people were scheduled for felony criminal-case hearings. Of them, about 15 had cases that seemed to directly or indirectly involve methamphetamine. [continues 279 words]
An unfolding drug case in Ravalli County looks to stretch and define the Medical Marijuana Act, testing the boundaries of the law and setting precedence. "I think we are treading on new ground," Defense attorney Julian Morales said. In court Thursday, Robert L. Meharg entered innocent pleas to criminal production or manufacturing of dangerous drugs and criminal possession of dangerous drugs, for growing pot for his various medical conditions. Morales asked District Court Judge James Haynes for some direction and guidance about certain provisions in the Medical Marijuana Act. [continues 681 words]
A recent marijuana bust by Ravalli County officials in the home of a medical marijuana user promises to flesh out Montana's new and relatively untested medical marijuana law. Ravalli officers arrested Bob Meharg at his home near Florence Jan. 11 and confiscated nine marijuana plants and about 2 ounces of marijuana, along with paraphernalia including a pipe and gardening gear. Agents also seized Meharg's car, saying it was used to aid illegal actions, and charged him with three felonies carrying a potential total of 25 years in prison. [continues 279 words]
ROCKY BOY, Mont. - Plagued by methamphetamine addiction, the Chippewa-Cree Indian Tribe has launched a campaign to curb the drug's spread across the tribe's Montana reservation and treat those who become hooked. The tribe's business committee has created a 12-member tribal meth advisory committee. The panel will use a combination of prevention, intervention, treatment and increased law enforcement to curb meth's spread and work to forge alliances with other area tribes and existing anti-meth groups. [continues 278 words]
CASPER - Drug abusers aren't safe parents, experts said Thursday at the Third Wyoming Methamphetamine Conference. About 700 people gathered in Casper on Wednesday and Thursday for the conference. Specialists spoke about treatment, addiction and the drug's effect on children. Dr. Kathryn Wells, a Denver pediatrician who specializes in child-protection issues, said meth users can't maintain a safe home environment for children. She said that's due in part to users' crashing phase, when they sleep for long periods of time as they're coming off the drug. [continues 337 words]
Recent meth prevention meetings as well as the print and broadcast ads represent the hard work of dozens of Montana citizens who have come together to form the Montana Meth Project. They have united to do something about the deadly drug epidemic sweeping our state. Some of those involved in the project have a public service background, but many more come from the private sector, which means they come from the ranks of ordinary Montanans who are, like us, scared to death of what is happening to our kids and want to put a stop to it. [continues 564 words]
As early as next fall, the state Department of Corrections is hoping to become a big player in the treatment of methamphetamine addiction. Not everyone is convinced that is a good thing, but department Director Bill Slaughter sees it as something that needs to be done. The state is asking private contractors to submit proposals by Jan. 10 to build a lockdown meth treatment center, with 80 beds for men and 40 for women. Among those preparing a proposal is David Armstrong, administrator of Alternatives Inc., a prerelease center in downtown Billings. [continues 993 words]
When somebody using methamphetamine decides it's time to get treatment, it's usually not a good idea to wait. "If they can't get in when they want to get in, you've lost them to another round of drug addiction," said Mona Sumner, chief operations officer of the Rimrock Foundation. And getting in is often the hardest part at the Montana Chemical Dependency Center in Butte, the only inpatient treatment program administered by the state of Montana. During the first full week of December, MCDC Program Director Dave Peshek said people at the top of his waiting list would probably get into the center during the third week of January. [continues 1254 words]
Doctors avoid prescribing narcotic painkillers to people who need them because they are afraid of being investigated by the federal government, the head of a Billings pain clinic said Friday. "Many physicians avoid opioids, and that has caused millions of Americans pain," said Dr. John Oakley, medical director of the Northern Rockies Regional Pain Center. "The ability to discern who is an addict and who is not an addict is difficult to do, and treating an addict can be seen as a violation of the law. ... Definitions are sometimes unclear. Definitions can be seen as threatening." [continues 629 words]
The U.S. government indicted the owners of five pipe and tobacco accessory shops in Montana this month, alleging they were distributing illegal drug paraphernalia. In May, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in plainclothes and unmarked cars swept through Missoula, Bozeman, Kalispell, Great Falls and Billings, seizing pipes, cash, clothing items and business records from one store in each city. Other stores selling similar merchandise in Montana were apparently not targeted. Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Van de Wetering would not comment on why the five specific stores were raided and not others. [continues 584 words]
A jury cleared the Butte police of any wrongdoing in a fatal altercation involving their new Tasers after a coroner's inquest Monday in the Butte-Silver Bow courthouse. Eight jurors listened to 11 witnesses and deliberated for half an hour before reaching that verdict. The altercation occurred at 131 Trinity Loop on July 5 around 6 a.m. The late Otis Gene Thrasher, 42, was allegedly high on methamphetamine and threatened his family with a 12-inch butcher knife. Police eventually arrested Thrasher after dousing him with pepper spray and shocking him with a Taser stun gun. Thrasher was only the second person police had Tased after buying Tasers in May. [continues 550 words]
Inside Montana
