The Tennessee tax authorities slapped a young concertgoer with $11,506 in taxes and penalties when he was caught with marijuana-laced Rice Krispie Treats. North Carolina collected $11 million in taxes last year on illegal drugs and moonshine. And in Alabama, the rare drug user who chooses to pay state taxes on a stash is issued a sticker to place on the package that declares, "Say no to marijuana." Strange as it may seem to levy a tax on a commodity that no one is supposed to have, 29 states have passed laws that impose taxes on illegal drugs and controlled substances, and on Tuesday, Gov. Eliot Spitzer proposed that New York become the 30th. [continues 721 words]
Lowell Psychiatrist Faces Fraud Charges [A] Lowell psychiatrist traded prescription drugs for sexual favors, lived with a patient who was a known heroin user, and may have prescribed narcotics to feed the habits of dozens of drug addicts, authorities said yesterday. Dr. Michael Louis Mavroidis, 53, pleaded not guilty yesterday to a single charge of prescribing drugs without a legitimate medical purpose. He was arrested Wednesday and barred from practicing medicine after authorities accused him of coercing a patient into performing sexual acts in return for Xanax and other medications. Mavroidis denied any wrongdoing. [continues 517 words]
5-Fold Risk Seen For Baby Boomers. Their children rebelled and became stockbrokers. The pharmaceutical industry views them as a massive market for drugs to fight hair loss and impotence. Now, age is bringing baby boomers yet another indignity: Smoking a joint may increase the chance of a heart attack, especially in someone already at risk, according to a study by Boston researchers published today in the journal Circulation. For the first hour after smoking marijuana, a period longer than some highs, a person's risk of a heart attack is five times greater than usual, the study declared, adding marijuana use to a growing list of pleasures that may trigger heart attacks, including sex and big meals. [continues 480 words]
From Condoms For Teens To Needles For Addicts, Doctors Try To Lead A Divided Public WORCESTER - Jessie was blond and pretty at 23, except for the pus-filled abscesses that dotted her arms. She told the doctor she was shooting 20 bags of heroin a day. She was also sharing needles and prostituting herself to buy drugs - in other words, practically courting the HIV virus. Dr. Erik Garcia didn't order her to quit. He didn't lecture, didn't tell her she was killing herself. Instead, he took Jessie's arm and showed her one of the first things he learned in medical school: How to inject drugs without infecting the skin and causing an abscess. [continues 1397 words]
At Issue Are "Sting" Techniques. Aid For Drug Programs Could Be Lost. Officials in Delaware and Schuylkill Counties are up in arms over federal regulations that could cost Pennsylvania $26 million in antidrug funding if it misses an August deadline to cut down on cigarette sales to minors. Two issues gall the officials, they say. First, their human services departments, which provide drug treatment and prevention programs, could be penalized for what they consider a law-enforcement-agency failure. Second, the state Department of Health has asked counties to use teenagers to try to buy cigarettes in "sting" operations, an enforcement tool that the two counties are refusing to use. [continues 475 words]
UPPER MACUNGIE -- Two Texas men are being held in Lehigh County Prison after state police found $40 million to $50 million worth of cocaine in their flatbed trailer truck. Police said the driver was pulled over for failing to signal a lane change. Authorities were uncertain whether Saturday's bust was the largest drug haul ever seized by the Fogelsville barracks of the state police in Lehigh County, but they called the amount "significant." Police said the cocaine did not appear to be bound for the Lehigh Valley. They would not speculate on where it was headed or where it came from, saying only that they were continuing to investigate. [continues 159 words]
Police yesterday were trying to trace the source of a heroinlike drug that killed two Roxborough men over the weekend, investigators said. Joseph Brown, 41, of the 300 block of Dupont Street, and Joseph Alvin, 48, of the 6000 block of Ridge Avenue, were found Saturday afternoon, each in his own home, Detective Sgt. Winton Singletary said. The men died after taking a drug they believed was heroin, Singletary said. The powdery substance came in packets decorated with a picture of a clock, its face stamped with the words "Full Time." [continues 377 words]
