When Joann Auclair found a stash of pot in her teenage son's bedroom, she immediately wanted to know where it came from. She didn't expect her son to say that drugs are always available for sale at Alvirne High School. Marijuana and illegal prescriptions are especially easy to get, Auclair said the teenager confessed. Alarmed by the news, Auclair said she sat down with a guidance counselor to find out if the Hudson police drug dog could be used to search the school. The counselor told her the idea had been discussed, but administrators and the school board wouldn't have it, she said. [continues 575 words]
EIGHT years ago, Lathrop Police Services with the support and funding from City Council, implemented the D.A.R.E. program. D.A.R.E. goes beyond traditional drug abuse and violence prevention programs. It gives kids the skills needed to recognize problems, identify and respond with safe and wise choices, then evaluate their response, to resist the subtle and overt pressures that cause them to experiment with drugs or become involved in violent activities. D.A.R.E. America estimates this year 36 million school children around the world --26 million in the United States --will benefit from Drug Abuse Resistance Education, The program was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and has proven so successful it is now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation's school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world. [continues 344 words]
Grade Five students at Sacred Heart Academy in Marystown are ready to 'just say no!' Students celebrated the completion of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's 'Drug Abuse Resistance Education' program, or DARE, with a graduation at the school June 19. It was the first time two classes participated in the program - previous years had been limited to just one. Cst. Nicole Wilmott of the Burin Peninsula District RCMP, who has instructed the program at Sacred Heart for the past three years, described it as an effective method of empowering youth with the knowledge to make informed decisions when confronted with difficult situations. [continues 182 words]
As a Colorado Christian citizen who voted to allow sick citizens to use cannabis - marijuana - legally, Pete Guither's letter ("Wanted approval of medical-marijuana," YourViews, July 4) caught my attention. One reason the Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church, Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, Union for Reform Judaism, Progressive National Baptist Convention and the Unitarian Universalist Association actively support the use of medical marijuana, along with 70 percent of Americans, is because God indicated he created all the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good on literally the very 1st page of the Bible - see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Women who have eating disorders often abuse amphetamines, cocaine and other illicit drugs, new research indicates. "Drug abuse in women with eating disorders is an area of clinical concern and should be monitored routinely throughout the treatment process," advise clinicians who report their findings in the International Journal of Eating Disorders. They interviewed 136 women with anorexia nervosa and 110 with bulimia nervosa who were assessed for a drug use disorder every 6 to 12 months for about 9 years. A total of 42 (17 per cent) patients had a history of illicit drug use, Dr David B. Herzog of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and colleagues report. [continues 169 words]
CANBERRA - The introduction of tough laws to control guns and knives appears to be failing to keep lethal weapons out of the hands of Australian criminals. An Australian Institute of Criminology study of interviews with more than 2300 prisoners also found that drug users were more likely to carry - and use - weapons than other offenders. But it said that while weapons were used in robberies to fund drug habits, their main use was by traffickers and dealers to protect drug shipments, intimidate customers or competitors, collect debts, punish informers and eliminate rivals. [continues 473 words]
Some Say Trend Is A Risk To Women In Arkansas, lawmakers are considering making it a crime for a pregnant woman to take a drag off a cigarette. In Utah, a woman is serving 18 months' probation for child endangerment after she refused to undergo a Caesarean section to save her twins, one of whom died. In Wisconsin and South Dakota, authorities can take pregnant women into custody for abusing alcohol or drugs. And July 1 in Alabama, Brody's Law took effect. It enables prosecutors to level two charges against anyone who attacks a pregnant woman and harms her fetus. [continues 331 words]
Today's Topic: Legal Rights In Arkansas, lawmakers are considering making it a crime for a pregnant woman to take a drag off a cigarette. In Utah, a woman serves 18 months' probation for child endangerment after refusing to undergo a Caesarean section to save her twins, one of whom died. In Wisconsin and South Dakota, authorities can haul pregnant women into custody for abusing alcohol or drugs. And July 1 in Alabama, Brody's Law took effect. It enables prosecutors to level two charges against anyone who attacks a pregnant woman and harms her fetus. [continues 693 words]
The American Civil Liberties Union, Drug Policy Alliance and Americans for Safe Access moved Friday to be allowed to intervene in a state lawsuit brought by three California counties seeking to overturn Proposition 215, the alliance said Friday in a release. Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act -- which allows medical use of marijuana upon a doctor's recommendation -- was passed by California voters in 1996. In the lawsuit, the counties of San Diego, San Bernardino and Merced sued the state and others, claiming that federal laws prohibiting marijuana use preempt state laws such as Proposition 215. The suit cites the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause and a 1961 U.S. treaty with 150 other nations outlawing marijuana. [continues 332 words]
I need to ask some questions relating to the Statesman Journal's June 29 editorial, "Meth plague is overblown? If only that were true here." Not providing comparisons gives little dimension to the scope of the meth problem. How do mid-Willamette meth statistics compare to alcohol-fueled domestic abuse? Alcohol intoxication medical interventions? What are HIV and hepatitis rates for intravenous injection? Problems with heart conditions brought about by stress, obesity and cigarette smoking? Traffic injuries? There is no doubt that methamphetamine use does create a problem in public health. The doubts lie in our approach to drug related issues. [continues 117 words]
An 11-year-old boy delivered a plea no child should ever have to utter. "Please stop the madness. I saw stuff I never saw in my life. Guns, crack, weed. [I'm] not trying to tell on anyone but please help my neighborhood." He and the other 22 students who attended a forum spurred by Jacksonville's escalating murder rate asked that their names and schools not be revealed. They, not forum organizers with the Otis Smith Kids Foundation, decided television cameras could not show any child's face or tennis shoes because neighborhood drug dealers would be able to identify them. [continues 406 words]
