Announcer: Law And Disorder continues. Once again, Chris Cuomo. Chris Cuomo reporting: What would you say if I told you the answer to the drug problem could be right under your nose? Actually it could be in your mouth. Forget about more police or more laws, the way to defeat the epidemic of heroine and cocaine: easier access to marijuana. That's right. Allow people to walk to the corner store, buy some pot and smoke it up. Crazy you say? Well, reserve judgement until you see the results in Holland, where they believe that tolerating marijuana use is an antidote to harder drugs. So take a look and decide for yourself. Does the answer to the drug problem lie in a country where cannabis is cool? [continues 2323 words]
Marshall, Mo. - A tractor-trailer driver charged with five counts of involuntary manslaughter in a fatal crash did not have drugs in his system after all, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said Thursday. A drug technician's report from Fitzgibbon Hospital in Marshall incorrectly indicated traces of amphetamines, marijuana and barbiturates in 44-year-old John Kendrix's system, the patrol said. Kendrix's truck crossed the Interstate 70 median Sunday about 65 miles east of Kansas City and struck a pickup nearly head on, killing Debra Sprouse, 45, of Lee's Summit and her two children, Ashley Sprouse, 14, and Zachary Corn, 8; Ashley Curl, 15, of Overland Park, Kan.; and Scott Schrier, 45, of Lee's Summit. [continues 163 words]
'Operation Green Clover' Results In 55 Drug Arrests Federal law enforcement officials announced Thursday the breakup of three major Ecstasy rings responsible for providing drugs to partying teens and military cadets in Colorado over the past year. Drug enforcement agents, military investigators, Denver police and a host of other agencies joined forces for "Operation Green Clover," a yearlong investigation that culminated with the recent arrests of 55 people, most of them in Colorado. Three defendants -- John D. Sposit of Lakewood and Megan M. Schey and Shawn Sweeney, both of Fort Collins -- were charged with distributing the Ecstasy pill that led to the death of Brittney Chambers in February. She was the Superior teen who died six days after ingesting the pill on her 16th birthday and falling into a coma. [continues 548 words]
DUNLAP, Tenn. -- Members of the Southeast Tennessee Methamphetamine Task Force introduced their latest tool to expedite rural methamphetamine investigations here Thursday -- a modified clandestine-lab response truck. The four-door Ford F-350 crew cab with a modified utility bed includes "everything needed for an on-site meth-amphetamine investigation" and can be used by any of the 18 Southeast Tennessee counties serviced by the task force, said Sgt. Tommy Farmer with the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office narcotics unit. "This vehicle can aid local law enforcement with everything needed to get ready for a prosecution," Mr. Farmer said. The truck, based at the U.S. National Guard Armory in Dunlap, was funded with a $860,000 federal grant through Rep. Zach Wamp's office and the Department of Justice, Mr. Farmer said. [continues 225 words]
CONCORD, N.H. - A Windham man has become the latest target in a series of federal drug forfeiture cases in southern New Hampshire. Prosecutors this week filed a sealed complaint against Timothy Bishop, attaching his home and several other properties, vehicles and assets. No criminal charges have been filed against Bishop. He has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment Thursday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jean Weld said she could not comment on the case but said, "all this stuff should be public within a matter of weeks." [continues 327 words]
About 200 area social workers took a close look at an unfamiliar world Thursday when they came face-to-face with two of Tennessee's growing problems: methamphetamine and the latest drug-induced youth culture called "raves." Cpl. Rebecca Agee, with the Tennessee National Guard's Counterdrug Division, presented the three-hour training session at the West Tennessee Agricultural Research Center off Airways Boulevard. The session was part of an ongoing educational forum for members of the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare to help social workers better deal with "at risk" members of the community. [continues 495 words]
In response to "Will the world condemn U.S. war on drugs?" (Aug. 25 Viewpoint): Neal Peirce complains that "Poor black city neighborhoods - not calm white suburbs - are the scene of massive street sweeps, buy and bust operations." Isn't this because such neighborhoods are where most of the activity is? If we were to shift focus to the suburbs, law-abiding citizens in the inner city would suffer. Richard Cox Charlotte [end]
BLACK ROCK DESERT, NEVADA For most of the year, Austin Richards pulls down a six-figure salary as an engineer in Santa Barbara, California. But during the week leading up to Labor Day, he's Dr. MegaVolt, whose high-voltage pyrotechnics are a top draw at the 16th-annual Burning Man counterculture festival in the northern Nevada desert. Richards is among 24,000 techies, artists, spiritualists and old hippies from at least 40 states and 12 countries expected to attend the gathering this week. [continues 384 words]
