Local People Want To Learn More About Methamphetamines. Methamphetamine production and abuse are not things that happen "someplace else." They are occurring right here in Clarksville-Montgomery County, and this matter must be addressed by all levels of society. It's encouraging, then, to see that a group of local Christians is confronting meth head-on with an educational workshop on Saturday. The workshop will be at Hilldale United Methodist Church and led by Cumberland City Police Officer James Crow, who is certified as a meth lab technician through the Drug Enforcement Administration and is a member of the Clandestine Lab Response Team. [continues 206 words]
Chilliwack's Largest-Known Illegal Nursery Was Ripped Apart By Chilliwack RCMP This Week. Police pulled 3,967 marijuana plants from two barns in the 48700 block of McConnell Road Wednesday. It was the largest bust since 6,708 plants were pulled from an old chicken farm on Bailey Road last November. "This was a very sophisticated operation. It was professionally done from electrical wiring all the way through," Cpl. Sean Sullivan said Thursday. Even with 10 officers on site, the bust took longer than a standard two-hour residential operation. [continues 127 words]
Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh says he wants a special Drug Treatment Court established in Winnipeg as an alternative to jail for addicts. "It would focus on those who have addictions that are fuelling their crimes," Mackintosh said yesterday. "We see this as an important part of a comprehensive drug strategy." The province has applied to Ottawa to get the program going in Manitoba. Toronto and Vancouver have Drug Treatment Court, Mackintosh said. The justice minister said he's expecting a response from the feds in a matter of weeks. [continues 72 words]
Crown Fails In Bid To Hike 8-Year Sentence THE Manitoba Court of Appeal has refused the Crown's request to "raise the bar" on cocaine sentences by upholding an eight-year prison term given to the largest dealer ever caught by Winnipeg police. Prosecutor Paul Jensen was seeking a 12-year sentence for James Jenner, saying the province's highest court should set a new benchmark for this type of crime. Jenner was caught in April 2002 carrying 17 kilograms of cocaine. [continues 324 words]
I have been more than a casual observer of the federal government's attempts to curb drug abuse throughout the past two decades. If I have learned anything from my time as a consultant to the U.S. Justice Department, it is that drug abuse is a community problem and ongoing grass-roots efforts at the local level are critical to bringing about change. The outpouring of community concern about opiate abuse that I have seen on the North Shore in the past few months has given me great cause for optimism. It has also given me a fierce desire to change the culture that permits and ignores the tragedy of drug abuse in our schools and communities. I want to see the promise of this moment realized. [continues 831 words]
The Area's Methadone Treatment Center Has Seen More People Hooked On Prescribed Pain Medicine. Lee is a Peninsula woman in her 40s who once thought Vicodin would help her handle her pain - until she found out she just couldn't get enough of the drug. She's one of an increasing number of local residents now taking methadone for addiction to prescription pain medicine. She requested that her last name not be used to protect her privacy. About three years ago, Lee's marriage was falling apart. Her father was dying of cancer, and she had to face his suffering daily while she helped care for him. [continues 1065 words]
Kwajalein Morgan Couldn't Stay Off Drugs. Her husband left her for doing them. She quit a good job so that she could do more. She just couldn't stop tootin' cocaine and drinking beer. "I wanted to be clean, but I couldn't," said Morgan, 45, of Macon. "It's hard." Feb. 27, 1997, Morgan said, she got busted for holding drugs for someone else. She spent five years in prison and stayed clean for another two and a half years after that. [continues 612 words]
Two alleged members of a burgeoning Winnipeg street gang are accused of handing out free samples of crack cocaine in a Fort Rouge neighbourhood in order to hook new customers. Winnipeg police were alerted to the alleged enterprising operation on Tuesday, when two adults reported they were approached by two men handing out pieces of crack in the 500 block of Hay Street, just east of Osborne Street. "Their intent was to hand it out to get new customers, get them hooked and then they're on the hook for more crack," said Sgt. David Black of the Winnipeg police organized crime unit. [continues 362 words]
Commission Slams Robot-Cam Project Montreal police have failed to justify the use of surveillance cameras to curb drug deals on St. Denis St., the Quebec Access to Information Commission says. The commission yesterday slammed the Robot-Cam surveillance - a pilot project in effect from May 1 to Aug. 31, 2004 - as ill-conceived and poorly executed. But police say the surveillance cameras could be powered up again this summer, if needed. "In our opinion, they gave results," assistant police director Yves Charette said yesterday. [continues 163 words]
Prospective Client Calls Police, Pair Charged AN attempt by two alleged drug dealers to woo new customers by handing out free samples of crack cocaine near a high school quickly backfired when one of the would-be clients called police, officers said yesterday. Det. Sgt. Dave Black said Tuesday afternoon's apparent stunt is a sign of how competitive the city's drug trade has become. "It was unique," he said. "I think they're becoming more bold. The market is becoming quite competitive. "It's obviously a huge concern when you get individuals targeting areas around schools." [continues 382 words]
Pop a pill and get really smart That's the promise of ampakines, a class of drugs that started out a decade ago as potential treatments for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. Turns out, ampakines increase memory, attention, and mental acuity - at least in lab monkeys. Now Darpa has invested more than $5 million in the hope that the drugs may replace current stimulants used by humans, namely pilots and soldiers. Military trials are in the works. Big Pharma, meanwhile, is testing to see whether ampakines can treat mild cognitive impairment. The drugs are power boosters for brain signals, enhancing and prolonging synaptic currents by modifying the chemistry of cell receptors, in effect making you smarter, for longer. Just think, someday kids might need to be drug-tested before taking the SAT. [end]
Our position is: Congress should not penalize a student's first drug-use conviction by denying federal financial aid. Count on young people to sometimes do stupid things. Yet one bad choice shouldn't keep them from attending college. But that's been the unfortunate result of a provision in the Higher Education Act that denies federal college aid to applicants who have been convicted of a drug offense. Since the rule took effect in 2000, it has disqualified more than 160,000 students from receiving federal grants, loans or work assistance. The number is higher when you factor in those who skipped the drug question on financial aid forms, which automatically makes them ineligible for aid. [continues 190 words]
If Lt. Carl Gottardi's opinion ("Reform group criticizes state's marijuana fight, Mar. 18) about whether to re-legalize cannabis (marijuana) depends on whether marijuana is a gateway to other stronger drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin, then it is time to change the laws. The gateway theory has been discredited by nearly every recent study. Re-legalizing and regulating cannabis separates it from sales that occur next to those hard drugs. Surely the sheriff's office has confiscated enough cannabis to see it is a plant, not a drug. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
