Huntsman: He Hopes The Shocking Spots Would Help Deter Use In Utah

A youthful blonde approaches a circle of teenagers at an outdoor party and asks, "What about me?" "You want meth, kid? Here's your meth," says a man emerging from the shadows with a glass pipe. The camera cuts to two lecherous-looking men, a squealing baby and a close-up of the blonde with sunken eyes and oozing scabs as the voice-over says, "And here's your meth dealer, your meth boyfriends, your meth baby, and don't forget, your meth face." Ads like this have invaded prime-time television, covered billboards and saturated radio shows in Montana as part of the Montana Meth Project, a shock-and-awe style campaign graphically depicting the ugly underbelly of methamphetamine use. And Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. wants to blitz Utah with a similar ad campaign, though some in Utah's drug treatment and prevention community are skeptical about Montana's meth-fighting methods. "We will be working on a meth initiative," Huntsman promised. "This is becoming an epidemic that must be addressed communitywide." The Montana project is funded by tech billionaire Thomas Siebel, who has personally overseen the creation of the ads meant to stop teens from trying meth by terrifying them. Huntsman and Siebel hobnobbed at a recent Western Governors Association meeting and afterward Siebel accepted an invitation to come to Utah. He is expected to arrive at the end of the month, in an attempt to persuade the governor's meth task force that his prevention campaign is worth adopting. But members of the task force say the ads target the wrong population and unrealistically portray all meth addicts as twitchy, pock-marked junkies who will do anything for their next fix. "There are some who think they're a little hard-hitting for Utah. My kids didn't. They watched them, and it got their attention," said Patrick Fleming, a task force member and Salt Lake County substance abuse director. "But kids are so literal.

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In and Out of Courts: The Lieutenant Was Fired for Using Peyote In Religious Ceremonies

Since firing police Lt. Terry Begay in 2003 for using peyote as part of a Native American religious ceremony, the Salt Lake City Police Department has mounted a vigorous fight to prevent her from returning to work.

But this week, the city and the Utah Council on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) agreed to enter into settlement negotiations later this summer that will be presided over by a mediator.

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WEST POINT -- Now that she's clean and sober, one of the things that amazes Angie Barfuss is the amount of effort she used to put into her meth use. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning NewsAngie Barfuss, who recently finished her drug treatment program, sits with one of her daughters, Sydney, in West Point.

"Drug addiction is like a job -- it takes all your time," the 33-year-old mother of four says now. "You have to make the call, get the money, get the hook-up, drive to get it and do the drug." She's also stunned at how deluded she was. She didn't even see what her two-year bout of methamphetamine addiction was doing to every aspect of her life. She could be malnourished and haggard, but thought she looked slim and pretty. She was a frenzied whirl of activity and truly believed all her divorced-mom "multi-tasking" was helping her children. "I thought I was Supermom," she said. "For two years, I was probably incoherent, but I thought I was a good mom." She was wrong.

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When it comes to people who break the law by doing illegal drugs, the solution often is to lock them up. But a decade ago, 3rd District Judge Dennis Fuchs heard a presentation about a different approach: drug court. Dennis Fuchs Fuchs didn't invent it -- that honor goes to former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno when she worked as Dade County's top prosecutor in Miami, Fla. However, Fuchs was the first Utah judge to embrace the idea and he has conducted drug court ever since.

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The drug war is its own drug. You start with a little, and pretty soon you just need more, and more, until it has consumed your life.

Unable to stem the demand for illegal drugs, and unwilling to fully fund workable alternatives such as treatment and drug courts, lawmakers around the country have become addicted to applying criminal justice solutions to a public health problem.

The result has been similar to the individual who is disappointed to find that casual use of a softish drug hasn't solved all of his problems so, instead of getting clean, he moves on to larger amounts and/or harder drugs.

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Overdoses: Courts Have Been Busy With Cases In Which Friends Abandoned Dying Companions

WEST JORDAN - Utah law has no specific statute that requires rendering assistance to someone in distress.

But Michael and Georgia Martinez - whose son died of a heroin overdose in the basement of a friend - believe there should be.

"If you see someone dying of an overdose, or anything, you should have to help, or at least call 911," Michael Martinez said Wednesday.

His wife Georgia has collected 600 signatures in support of such a law, and the couple hopes to find a lawmaker to sponsor it in time for next year's Legislature.

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Maximum Penalty For Abandoning Victim

WEST JORDAN - While most other mothers were telling their daughters, "Just say no," Macall Petersen and her mom were using drugs together, her attorney said at a sentencing hearing Tuesday. And while another teen might have called 911 to save a best friend from overdosing, Macall Petersen let Amelia Sorich die last summer and then dumped the body in the hills above Bountiful. Third District Judge Royal Hansen said Petersen's troubled upbringing was "no excuse" for injecting Sorich with a fatal mixture of heroin and cocaine and then doing nothing when she passed out. "You abandoned your friend and failed to assist her in the hour of her greatest need. Friends don't do what you did to Amelia Sorich," Hansen said, handing down the maximum possible sentence of zero to six years in prison. Hansen recommended the 18-year-old Draper teen complete a prison drug treatment program, obtain her high school diploma and have no contact with her mother. "That has not been a good thing in your life," the judge said. Hansen went well beyond the recommendations of the defense and prosecution, which asked for a year in jail, probation and drug treatment. The parents of the victim said they hope the stiff sentence will allow them to move on. "It feels good to know [Petersen] will have to think about this for a long time," Kathryn Sorich told news reporters. Sorich had told the judge her 18-year-old daughter was bright, talented and always ready to help a friend in need. She said Amelia took a special interest in Petersen, even inviting the girl to stay with them after she absconded from a drug treatment program. "But the one time [Amelia] needed someone to take action on her behalf, where were you?" Sorich asked, glaring at Petersen. "What were you thinking?" Sorich said her only daughter's death has left her bereft and contemplating suicide. "I have nothing.

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School, Church Zones Misused To Beef Up Sentences, They Say

Carol Tafoya was a small-time Cedar City drug dealer.

The 63-year-old woman had six clients - three married couples - to whom she sold methamphetamine so she could support her own daily habit of snorting lines.

When one of her customers decided to become a confidential informant and wear a hidden wire, police busted Tafoya in February 2004 on three counts of possession and distribution of a controlled substance for selling $50 and $100 bags of meth - in a "drug-free zone."

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A former Salt Lake City police lieutenant, who happens to be Native American, says she was fired after her superiors found out she and her husband used the hallucinogenic plant peyote in religious ceremonies. Now, attorneys for Salt Lake City have agreed to enter into settlement negotiations and seek to have the suit dismissed outside of court.

During a hearing in U.S. District court Wednesday, attorney Erik Strindberg said after months of discussion, Salt Lake City has agreed to enter into supervised mediation with his client, Terry Begay. Begay claims she is seeking compensation for religious and racial discrimination by Salt Lake City. According to her suit, she was hired as a police officer by the Salt Lake Police Department in 1986. Begay and her husband are both practicing members of the Native American Church. Begay says she is a member of the Cherokee Chippewa Tribe of Oklahoma and her husband is a member of the Shoshone Tribe of Nevada. As part of their religious beliefs, Begay acknowledges that she uses peyote in some of the sacraments at the Native American Church. According to the suit, Begay also noted that she and her husband had peyote in their possession and maintained the peyote according to their religion's standard practices. In August 2002 the Salt Lake City police received an anonymous letter alleging that Begay was using and providing peyote to others in Native American ceremonies. In January 2003, the department opened a formal investigation into the allegations and Begay admitted to using peyote as part of her religious belief.

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On Tuesday, 3rd District Judge Royal Hansen imposed the maximum sentence on Macall Aubrey Petersen in the overdose death of 18-year-old Amelia Sorich. Petersen, 19, earlier admitted injecting Sorich with drugs, causing a deadly overdose and then hiding the body.

Petersen will spend a year in jail for class A misdemeanor negligent homicide and zero-to-five years in prison for third-degree felony desecration of a human body. She also was ordered to undergo drug treatment and to have no contact with her mother, who was described in court as a longtime drug addict who did drugs with her daughter.

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Teens Failed To Call '1 -- Then Dumped Friend's Body

WEST JORDAN -- Two teenagers who dumped the body of their friend near the Point of the Mountain after he fatally overdosed on drugs were sentenced to jail and juvenile detention Wednesday. Zachary Tyler Martinez Zachary Tyler Martinez, 18, died of a drug overdose March 11, 2005. Rather than call for help when Martinez appeared to be in trouble or even after he died, the teens dumped his body at the Salt Lake County Hang-Gliding Park. Wednesday, two boys, now aged 17 and 18, were sentenced in juvenile court for their roles in the crime.

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Just six years after Utah was near the top in the nation for the number of meth lab raids per capita, such seizures in Utah have plummeted. Ravell Call, Deseret Morning NewsCold and allergy medicines such as Sudafed, which has ingredients that can be used to make meth, are kept behind the counter at Jolley's Corner Pharmacy in Salt Lake City. The number of illicit methamphetamine-producing operations shut down in Utah last year dropped by 84 percent from 1999's total.

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Kathleen Parker ignored the basics in her May 5 on-line column blasting Dr. James Dobson for his stand against massive taxpayer spending for The Global Fund. The Global Fund controversy is over how billions of dollars will be misused in the fight against global AIDS. The truth is that President Bush has adopted the Ugandan strategy of A (abstinence), B (be faithful) and C (condoms) to lower HIV rates as the U.S. strategy. Look at the research: Between 1990 and 2002, the prevalence rate of HIV in Uganda in major urban areas plummeted from 31 percent to 6.5 percent. The ABC model is the only strategy that has effectively combated AIDS in a general population. Another truth: Once U.S. money leaves our government's hands, taxpayers must expect absolutely no accountability for how their money is spent. The Fund has and will continue to finance the efforts of liberals, such as George Soros, to legalize prostitution, legalize drug use and sponsor Advertisementhuge dancing condoms that "educate" small children. Soros' organizations have already been awarded more than $80 million by the Fund. Enough! Dr. Dobson strongly supports the fight against AIDS, but when American money is being hijacked to fund the destructive agenda of radical liberals to legalize prostitution and drug use, you better believe he'll speak up.

Tom Minnery

Focus on the Family

Colorado Springs, Colo.

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Family Behind Schools With Checkered Record Calls In Political Favors, Critics Say

A bill permitting state regulation of boarding schools for troubled teens was quietly smothered in the Utah Capitol this year after the founder of a chain of controversial schools, who is a major Republican donor, lobbied key lawmakers.

Powerful legislators, including House Speaker Marty Stephens, held back the measure until the Legislature's clock ran out at midnight on March 3 - the final day of the session.

Six days later, the bill's biggest opponent, World Wide Association of Specialty Programs and Schools founder Robert Lichfield, presented a $30,000 check to Stephens' campaign for governor.

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The rise and fall of Mexican drug-law reform over recent weeks has been, for drug legalizers, a dizzying high followed by a painfully abrupt crash. U.S. drug authorities laid down their usual bummer: No user is going to get off easy on "their" watch. And thanks to the United States' overwhelming power and influence, their watch extends everywhere.

Mexico isn't the first nation to suffer side effects from America's estimated $30 billion-a-year drug war. A 2003 attempt by former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien to liberalize drug possession laws met with threats from U.S. drug czar John Walters that the tougher resulting border security could hold up U.S.-Canadian trade, and the idea soon went up in smoke. Colombia has been for years the site of what is essentially a damaging and expensive proxy war in the service of the United States' delusion that it can wipe out cocaine production.

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Police on Monday recovered two rare copies of the Book of Mormon believed to have been stolen last fall from a Mormon Institute of Religion. SWAT teams from Murray and Midvale, conducting a routine drug raid, searched a home in the 400 East block of Larchwood Drive (6770 South) in Midvale about 9:30 p.m., according to a Midvale police press release. In addition to finding methamphetamine, officers located an 1840 Nauvoo edition of the Book of Mormon and an 1841 Liverpool edition, valued at $35,000 and $25,000, respectively. The books were believed to have been stolen in late October or early November from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Institute of Religion on the U. campus. Also recovered in Monday's raid were two issues of the Salt Lake Herald newspaper from the late 1800s. It is unknown whether those newspapers had been stolen. Assisting in Monday's raid were narcotics detectives from West Jordan and Taylorsville police departments. So far, Monday's raid appears to be unrelated to last week's recovery in Magna of 11 rare copies of the Book of Mormon believed to have been stolen from the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Memorial Museum in Salt Lake City.

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WEST JORDAN - An 18-year-old Draper woman admitted Thursday to giving her friend a lethal injection of heroin and cocaine last year and then dumping the body in the hills above Bountiful. Macall Petersen pleaded guilty to a class A misdemeanor charge of negligent homicide in connection with the June 25 death of 18-year-old Amelia Sorich. For dumping the body, Petersen pleaded guilty to desecration of a dead human body, a third-degree felony. In exchange for her pleas, three other third-degree felonies - two counts of drug possession and one count of obstructing justice - were dismissed.

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Opiate Addiction: 3-Day Program Allegedly Kicks Cravings Without Withdrawals; Critics Bash The Process

Mike Brown's descent into prescription pain pill addiction began innocently, when he was given Vicodin by a dentist after a root canal.

"In three days I took all 30 pills and got hooked," he said. "I couldn't believe the high. It became a quest to find doctors who would write me prescriptions."

The Salt Lake Valley salesman, then 36, had no history of substance abuse. His use soon began spiraling out of control when his wife died in 2000, eight months after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

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PROVO - Utah County Sheriff Jim Tracy is supporting the actions of a deputy accused of targeting substance-abuse patients for arrest.

Tracy says he has spoken with the deputy criticized late last month for allegedly waiting outside the Utah County Substance Abuse clinic to nab patients with outstanding warrants. He said his officer is not acting out of line.

"I told him he's not to sit there . . . and do what we call direct enforcement," Tracy said. "But if we see something in and around that area, we're not going to turn a blind eye - that's what they pay us for."

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I was reading Ted McDonough's article "Crossing the Line" [March 23, City Weekly], and I have to say, I can't even believe that this is an issue. So people get stiffer fines for selling drugs inside of a drug-free zone, and the drug-free zones are so large that they have nowhere to sell their drugs safely? Boo-hoo.

The easiest way to avoid a large fine for selling drugs in a drug-free zone? Don't sell drugs anywhere! I thought that the point of our judicial system was to discourage people from breaking the law. If that means that they get stiffer fines for selling drugs anywhere within the city limits, too bad.

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