To the editor: This letter is regarding the story about the father who spoke out on drug abuse by children. I was touched at the parent's response to his child's death. The issue of drugs and addiction is an issue for all the locals to be concerned with. Dealing with drug addicts at any level has cost our society as a whole too much and needs to have some final closure for all to get some peace. We who live here in Jefferson County, and who live as well in Steubenville, need to remember alcohol is a drug too, so we show in society it's cool to drink or party. The drug issue is kept quiet, too, but how long do we have to see the loss either in tax abuse with welfare, with drug addicts using their benefits to buy drugs? We here in Steubenville just close our eyes to our neighbors who do it - we allow them to use benefits for good to be used for bad, but does our social system of governing help? [continues 76 words]
WELLSBURG - Members of Brooke High School's chapter of West Virginia National Youth Leadership Initiative on Monday attempted to tell their peers about the dangers of marijuana use in various ways, but it was a personal account from one of the group's members that illicited the most attention. The group is comprised of several students who have undergone training through conferences and web-based seminars held by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's National Youth Leadership Initiative to use various media to share with their peers information about the harmful effects of drug use. [continues 597 words]
I've written several columns in the past few years about my dismay at the number of drug abuse arrests I see in the City Police log book. Well, I'm here to tell you that things haven't gotten any better as the economy has deteriorated. In fact, things are taking a noticeable turn for the worse. Recent examples in the Gem City include foolhardy addicts brazenly breaking into drug stores to steal cough medicine for codeine; stories of those looking for drugs traveling to Toronto; addicts pulled over on typical traffic stops and police finding hard drugs, including heroin, in the vehicle; a makeshift meth lab right outside the city; and child abuse directly related to parents who are drug users. [continues 538 words]
There is a fantasy world and then there is the real world. Supporters of Issue 1, the proposed constitutional amendment changing how courts treat drug users, live in the fantasy world. In the real world, citizens are expected to follow the law. Smoking marijuana or crack cocaine, snorting cocaine or shooting heroin is against the law. The debate on marijuana use is easier to accept but it is still a criminal act until the law changes. Issue 1, if approved, will mandate the state to create a Substance Abuse Treatment Fund and spend $247 million over the next seven years. The issue also will require judges order treatment programs instead of prison or jail time for first-or second-time offenders charged with illegal possession or use of a drug or for nonviolent charges resulting from drug abuse or addiction. [continues 498 words]
Now More Than Ever, Drug Task Force Agencies And Specialized Police Forces Are Needed In Smaller Cities And Communities Across America. A recent study by the Federal Bureau of Investigation shows drug- related arrests have increased nearly 10 percent in rural areas, while arrests declined by 11 percent in bigger cities. Some rural police authorities are speaking out, saying drug dealers are moving their operations from the big cities. Basically, it's much easier to sell drugs in the rural communities because of a lack of money and manpower. [continues 370 words]
The reinstatement of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program in Steubenville's schools is a positive and highly valuable addition to our grade schools. The program was cut for lack of personnel a few years ago. The cut deprived children in the most formative years of information that could have the greatest effect on their early development - the ability to recognize the threat that substance abuse will have on their lives in years to come. The D.A.R.E. program targets children during their most formative years, which also are their most vulnerable years. [continues 394 words]
The Supreme Court has told families to police their own when it comes to drug abuse. That is the basic underlying message we find in a ruling that upholds the federal government rules that allow an entire family to be bounced out of public housing if any member of the family is caught up in a drug case. We cannot think of any defense that should have allowed for overturning the law and applaud the common sense approach by the justices. The basic premise behind the law is that the taxpayers do not want to be stuck in the funding of drug houses. [continues 578 words]
The ugly specter of "zero tolerance" has again raised its head. And as has been the case with other zero-tolerance issues, the concept of a "one-strike" drug policy for public housing has taken common sense out of the equation of rules enforcement. A California case involving four senior citizens who were tossed out of public housing under a zero-tolerance drug law has reached the Supreme Court. The rules enacted in 1988 say if a family member is caught with drugs, the whole family can be evicted. [continues 506 words]
Should we have the reasonable right to expect matters that occur in our homes to remain private matters? That is the issue the Supreme Court must take up as it considers the case of the use of the thermal imaging device and its use by the police. The justices heard arguments Tuesday in the case of an Oregon man convicted of growing marijuana in his home. The man contends the use of a thermal imaging device that picked up the heat signature of the lamps used for indoor marijuana cultivation was an illegal search. [continues 375 words]
