Under recently enacted legislation, nonviolent, drug- or alcohol-addicted criminals can reduce their minimum prison stays if they participate in prison treatment programs.

The Recidivism Risk Reduction Incentive program was enacted Nov. 24, giving county judges a new sentencing tool to help drug-addicted offenders kick the habits that lead them to commit crimes.

Eric Herman, 23, a serial burglar whose heroin addiction fueled his desire to invade numerous homes in eastern Montgomery County, has become the first criminal in the county to be sentenced under the new program.

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Bucks County is one step closer to expanding a program developed in Middletown to offer low-cost drug test kits to parents.

Marge Hanna, executive director of the Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission, told commissioners on Dec. 17 that her agency will work with community partners to figure out how it could be sold to parents.

Officials have yet to decide which agency will distribute the equipment, but the program will mimic one started in Middletown a few years ago. They'll be available in locations throughout the county at a low cost and include an educational brochure and parent guide, said Diane Rosati, associate director of the commission.

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In reference to the Dec. 21 front-page story, "Cocaine threat growing":

What percentage of America's drug problem is due to prohibiting the relatively safe, socially acceptable, God-given plant cannabis (marijuana)?

Cannabis hasn't killed anyone in more than 5,000 years of documented use, yet it is classified as a Schedule I substance along with heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances.

How many youths and adults try cannabis and realize it's not nearly as harmful as taught in DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)-type government environments? Then they think other substances must not be so bad either, only to become addicted to deadly drugs.

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(Regarding "Cocaine threat growing; Heroin also major problem here, authorities say," The Tribune-Democrat, Dec. 21:)

During my 18 years of police service, I learned that the use of alcohol was the No. 1 cause of police calls. With all due respect to my colleague, (Somerset County Drug Task Force coordinator) Detective Jason Hunter, the use of heroin never generated a police call for service. He was probably referring to the need for heroin addicts to steal, because instead of paying a dollar per day for heroin, addicts need a hundred times that.

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TUNKHANNOCK TWP. - Scott Ramey nearly lost everything nine months ago when he was convicted of driving under the influence.

As Mr. Ramey celebrates Christmas with his family, he said he is grateful for a Sullivan/Wyoming county drug court program that helped him avoid incarceration and turn his life around.

"Ever since I've been doing the program, I haven't even picked up a drink," said Mr. Ramey, 33, who is married and has four children. "If the program wasn't available, I wouldn't be here."

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Timothy Hallam's letter to the editor regarding the tragically unnecessary death of FBI agent Samuel Hicks while apprehending an alleged drug dealer contained this admonition: "Don't sell drugs and the FBI, ATF, state police, local police, etc., won't be knocking on your door" ("Drug raid logic," Dec. 2).

Sounds good until one pauses to look at "wrong-house raids" and the lies and criminality exhibited by police in some of these instances.

What about the seeming sloppiness in police operations and the perhaps unwarranted reliance on "informants," who well might have axes of their own to grind? Then there is the "militarization" of police and that "us against them" mentality that's sometimes seen.

I know little about the raid on the Korbe house. However, there have been enough wrong-house raids to raise questions in any but the most closed of minds -- questions that might well apply here, too.

Alan Schultz

McCandless

[end]

The danger of no-knock SWAT-style raids mostly due to the so-called war on drugs ("Refute 'PTA Mom' Case," Dec. 16) is a national problem with mind-boggling statistics showing police and innocent citizens, including children, being harmed and killed with regularity in as little as 11 seconds.

Citizens must act to stop no-knock raids, knowing that many of them have been at the wrong address and totally innocent citizens have been killed.

The law enforcement community must share the blame for the death of FBI Special Agent Sam Hicks because they know there is a better and safer way to apprehend a suspect rather than force entry into citizens' homes -- especially with children present.

Stan White

Dillon, Colo.

[end]

Regarding the Dec. 17 Randy Bish editorial cartoon of Christina Korbe: Given the content of the released "jailhouse" recordings of Korbe threatening to kill others, including her mother-in-law, it's clear she is far wide of the definition of a "good mother."

The FBI, however, is at fault for being strategically lax in attempting to make an arrest of a known armed and dangerous suspect with full knowledge there were two young children in the house.

I'm uncertain of what "right" might come from these two wrongs, where one life was lost and several others were destroyed, but it bears close scrutiny of both sides.

I'd define that ... as tragedy.

Jack Gordon

Sewickley

[end]

Congressman Dent will send this letter to the President today, requesting clemency for the two Border Patrol Agents convicted of shooting a drug smuggler in the line of duty:

Dear Mr. President:

I am writing to ask that you conduct a thorough review of the case against Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean and seriously consider exercising your power of executive clemency to pardon them. These agents were acting in fulfillment of their duty and responsibility to protect our borders and enforce the law, and they have been unjustly punished for their actions.

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As we hope you read on our front page today, a new report from the National Drug Intelligence Center in Johnstown shows that cocaine and heroin continue to pose threats across our region - from northern Cambria County to Johnstown to Somerset and the turnpike.

Parents should take particular note of this report.

Johnstown police Chief Craig Foust says his department sees more cocaine than other drugs.

"What we deal with is primarily crack," he said.

Detective Jason Hunter of the Somerset County Drug Task Force said: "Heroin is our No. 1 problem."

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Drug Policy Network Executive Director Ethan Nadelmann is correct to advocate for the end of our "War on Drugs," which has resulted in nothing but a mountain of deaths, a litany of diseases and the fortification of organized crime ("It's time to end drug prohibition," Dec. 14).

I share his hope that President-elect Obama will allow debate on this issue to flourish and result in a re-examination of the legitimacy of these laws that dictate what one can do with his or her own body -- as thoroughly an anti-American notion as abdridging freedom of speech.

Amesh A. Adalja

Butler

[end]

As a retired police officer who worked the trenches of the drug war spanning three decades, I heartily agree with Ethan Nadelmann's call to end all drug prohibition.

A world without drug dealers and their violence means my colleagues will have more time for the deadly DUI, child molesters and other public-safety threats.

Moreover, the state via its police department cannot stop personal stupidity. It is past time for the police to again focus on public safety. Your personal safety is an issue for family and friends.

Howard J. Wooldridge

The writer is an education specialist with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP.cc).

[end]

Cocaine poses the "leading drug threat in the United States," far outpacing heroin, a new federal report shows.

In fact, the document prepared by Johnstown-based National Drug Intelligence Center ranks heroin fourth on a list of nationwide concerns -- behind methamphetamine and marijuana.

But the report also notes that heroin continues to cause acute problems in the Northeastern U.S., where there are "strong and lucrative markets" for the drug.

Pennsylvania, including Cambria and Somerset counties, is no exception.

"Heroin is our No. 1 problem," said Detective Jason Hunter, Somerset County Drug Task Force coordinator.

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When Robert Korbe was arrested during a countywide drug sweep on Nov. 19, the list of charges facing the 39-year-old Indiana Township man was impressive.

Korbe, after all, is something of a one-man crime wave with a mug that resembles human brick Ben Grimm from the old Fantastic Four comic books. Korbe proved as tough as his looks when he brawled with 10 or so police officers from several departments in the middle of Main Street in Sharpsburg after leading them on a high-speed chase in May.

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Supporters Say Tyrone Officer Greg Ray Being Harassed By Ongoing Drug Allegations

TYRONE - Supporters of a Tyrone Borough police officer caught up in an internal investigation spoke out Monday night against what they say are coercive tactics and harassment by private investigators hired by officials on a ''witch hunt.''

Christy Ray, wife of 18-year police force veteran Greg Ray, scolded Borough Council for the investigation of her husband - one she said has been going on for more than a year and is a repeat of a fruitless investigation 10 years ago into allegations Ray sold drugs from his police cruiser.

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Friends and relatives of Christina Korbe say she thinks of nothing but her children while she sits in jail on charges of killing an FBI agent and grieves for his family.

But her words, taped during jailhouse phone calls and played during her federal detention hearing Monday, paint a different picture.

Korbe, 40, of Indiana Township threatened to kill two people during calls and confessed to using cocaine. She joked with a relative about appearing on "Oprah" one day to talk about her ordeal. She told a cousin she is regarded as a hero and celebrity in the Allegheny County Jail.

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Clinic In Plains Twp. Friend To Heroin Addicts

PLAINS TWP. - Christy, 23, is a single, working mother raising a 3-year-old daughter.

Maria, 35, is married, balancing a full-time job and a family.

Both are recovering heroin addicts who are undergoing treatment at the region's only methadone clinic in Plains Township.

And both have remained off drugs since they've been put on methadone - a synthetic drug used to block withdrawal and eliminate opiate prescription painkiller and heroin dependency.

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Decline in addicts seeking agency help attributed to methadone clinic opening.

WILKES-BARRE - Quietly in 2004 the shift began.

Back then the number of people seeking treatment from the Luzerne-Wyoming Counties Drug and Alcohol Program claimed heroin was their drug of choice.

In its latest data for the fiscal year 2007-08 heroin dropped down a notch and program administrator Mike Donahue zeroed in on the reason - - the opening of the methadone treatment clinic in April 2004.

"It reduced the number of heroin addicts who were going in for multiple treatments," he said.

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On Dec. 5 America celebrated the 75th anniversary of that blessed day in 1933 when Utah became the 36th and deciding state to ratify the 21st Amendment, thereby repealing the 18th Amendment and ending the nation's disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition.

Let's hope that along with the honorary cocktail parties, however, "Repeal Day" also served as a day for Americans to reflect on why our forebears rejoiced at the relegalization of a powerful drug long associated with bountiful pleasure and pain -- and consider the lessons for our time.

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Given the shame they harbor about their lifestyle and the fear of being arrested if they talk, it's no surprise that drug addicts and prostitutes are often the targets of sexual predators.

"In general, this is a vulnerable population; perpetrators of sexual assault pick victims who won't tell," said Jill Morris, communications director for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape.

Rapists often pick those under the influence of drugs, Morris said, because they may not have "the best reasoning abilities to protect themselves and they, like prostitutes, are also more likely afraid to contact police because of the fear of legal repercussions for their own activities."

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