Swirko, Cindy 1/1/1997 - 31/12/2024
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1 US FL: Fla. Faces Campaign For Medical MarijuanaSun, 14 Jul 2013
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:215 Added:07/17/2013

Oxycodone didn't work. Neither did hydrocodone nor any of the other narcotics sold to stop pain.

So an area woman did what many others do. She smoked marijuana to ease the pain she felt deep in her bones caused by treatment for breast cancer.

"I have a high tolerance for pain ... and I hated taking pills," the woman said. "But when I laid down to go to bed and my body started hurting and I couldn't sleep ... taking four or five tokes took the edge off so I could get to sleep."

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2 US FL: Gainesville Was Once Well-Known For Its MarijuanaSun, 14 Jul 2013
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:81 Added:07/14/2013

Flashback to the 1970s.

Gainesville Green was the primo high, putting that cheap Mexican and Jamaican weed to shame.

Pot wasn't just for long-haired hippies -- farmers grew it to make some extra cash.

The annual Hempfest events in downtown Gainesville drew thousands, many of whom scrambled for joints in the doobie toss.

Subterranean Circus off West University Avenue was the top head shop and a compound of houses off Southwest Fourth Street was called Fort Ganga.

Given Gainesville's history with marijuana, it should be no surprise that a novel proposal to dock funding for the Sheriff's Office for each arrest for a small amount of pot should sprout here.

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3 US FL: ACLU Finds Wide Racial Disparity In Area MarijuanaSat, 08 Jun 2013
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:104 Added:06/10/2013

Law enforcement officers in Alachua County arrest more than six times as many black defendants as white defendants on marijuana charges, although research shows use of the drug is about as common among blacks as whites.

The racial disparity in marijuana arrests in Alachua County is among the highest in the state and above the national average, according to an analysis by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The data indicate that blacks in Alachua County are 6.6 times more likely to be arrested for marijuana than whites, ranking the county fourth in Florida among counties with high racial disparities.

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4 US FL: Hemp Fest Returns Supporters Encouraged AboutSun, 06 Nov 2011
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:75 Added:11/08/2011

The Event Returns After an 11-Year Absence, and a Few Hundred Show Up to Watch.

The revival of Gainesville's Hemp Fest - a celebration of the many uses of the hemp plant - may have attracted a smaller crowd Saturday than in the past, but organizers believe they are closer than ever to their goal of at least limited legalization of marijuana.

Hemp Fest was held at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza in downtown Gainesville on Saturday after an 11-year absence, drawing a modest crowd for music, speeches and booths of vendors and organizations.

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5 US FL: Sheriff: Report On Jail FlawedSat, 16 Jul 2005
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:92 Added:07/16/2005

A report on a study of the culture of the Alachua County jail contains erroneous and incomplete observations and information, Sheriff Steve Oelrich said in a written reply to the County Commission.

A key finding of the study was that some detention officers choose certain inmates to enforce rules on other inmates. The enforcers got special privileges in return.

Oelrich told The Sun Friday that most of the findings in the report were nitpicking.

Oelrich said the study was the waste of money that he had predicted it would be.

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6 US FL: Panel Looks to Reduce Jail PopulationWed, 01 Jun 2005
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:73 Added:06/01/2005

Recommendations to reduce the Alachua County jail population will be developed by a panel of criminal justice officials in an effort to avert a costly jail expansion.

The Public Safety Coordinating Council was asked by the County Commission on Thursday to review the types of cases for which inmates are jailed, how they were ordered to the lockup and other data to figure out how more inmates can be weeded out without jeopardizing public safety.

"The problem has been around for some time but we haven't quite gotten our arms around this gorilla yet," Commissioner Rodney Long said. "Building a new jail at $12 million is not something this community wants."

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7 US FL: Meth Making Headway Into AreaMon, 01 Jul 2002
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:137 Added:07/01/2002

Gainesville for years has been one of Florida's primary drug marketplaces.

Ecstasy, GHB, Oxy, Rohypnol, Ketamine - all have a following here.

But one drug has been slow to sweep in, until now.

Methamphetamine.

The home-cooked stimulant that speeds the nervous system into hyperdrive has long been a problem in the Southwest and has also found a following in the Midwest.

But with several recent arrests in the Gainesville area, including two in the past month, law enforcement officials say methamphetamine - commonly called meth - is on the upswing in a big way here.

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8 US FL: Police Frustrated By Ecstasy DeathsFri, 21 Jun 2002
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:83 Added:06/22/2002

Gainesville for years has been an epicenter in the use of Ecstasy. Now, in the endless search for new highs, area drug users are experimenting with different combinations.

And they are dying from them, said police and University of Florida drug experts.

Data released by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement show a trend of increasing deaths from Ecstasy use.

Ecstasy users also appear to be taking odd and dangerous combinations of drugs, said Bruce Goldberger, UF associate professor and forensic toxicologist.

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9 US FL: First Lady Tours At-Risk Youth AcademyWed, 06 Feb 2002
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:73 Added:02/06/2002

CAMP BLANDING - Just outside a group shower room in a cement block barrack, Florida first lady Columba Bush listened Tuesday as teen-ager Amanda Phillips told her how she is now making her mother proud by turning her life around.

Phillips, 16, was a 10th-grade dropout who was flirting with alcohol and heading nowhere. Now she is in a military-style education and career program that has caught Bush's attention.

And after touring the Florida Youth Challenge Academy at Camp Blanding, Bush said her daughter's recent troubles with drugs have heightened her sense of urgency to help children such as Phillips and to promote drug treatment programs.

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10 US FL: Officials Crack Down On Area ProstitutionMon, 03 Dec 2001
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:168 Added:12/04/2001

Another Public Uprising Over Prostitution, Another Police Sting.

But the usual complement of cops and news media on recent roundups has included some new observers - officers with Alachua County Court Services.

"We are trying to get them involved on the front end so that they can perhaps, from a probationary standpoint, make (a fair) recommendation to the judge," said GPD Capt. Tony Jones. "Maybe the judge will at least put some prescription in to help the prostitutes not turn around and engage in the same activity as soon as they are released."

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11 US FL: Drug bust uncovers a record $132,980Thu, 11 Jan 2001
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:70 Added:01/12/2001

A Tuesday afternoon traffic stop yielded drugs, weapons and $132,980 in cash, the largest money seizure ever by the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies arrested two men from Virginia and one from Georgia on various drug and weapons charges.

The incident happened about 5:05 p.m. on Interstate 75 when deputies Jeremy Eckdahl and Josh Mead pulled over the driver of a 1996 Range Rover for swerving between lanes.

Sheriff's Lt. Mike Thompson said the deputies smelled marijuana coming from the car when they questioned the men. Thompson said the suspects gave deputies permission to search the car.

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12 US FL: Forum To Set Stage For Anti-drug GroupWed, 11 Oct 2000
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:Florida Lines:71 Added:10/11/2000

Tinker Cooper relives her son's drug overdose death day after day, even watching details about it in a video.

She will relive it again Thursday night in a forum at the Corner Drugstore in Gainesville to help Gainesville residents form a chapter of Families Against Drugs.

The meeting is open to the public, and its aim is to raise awareness among families about drug use and places where help is available.

"I try to get out to the parents what the drugs look like, the paraphernalia, the lingo," Cooper said. "If parents saw a Vick's inhaler on the kid's dresser, they would think the kid had a stuffy nose. They would never put that together with the drug ecstasy. If their kids were talking about going rolling that night, the parents would probably think they are talking about Rollerblading. Parents don't understand the lingo of today's drugs."

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13 US: Burglars Prowl For Pet DrugsWed, 16 Feb 2000
Source:Gainesville Sun, The (FL) Author:Swirko, Cindy Area:United States Lines:95 Added:02/16/2000

As if veterinarians don't have enough to worry about in taking care of sick cats and dogs, they now have to figure out ways to outsmart burglars seeking ketamine.

Ketamine hydrochloride is primarily used legally as an animal anesthetic. Its illegal use has become associated with the druggy rave culture of all-night dance parties.

Attempted burglaries occurred at Aalatash Animal Hospital on S. Main Street on Dec. 17 and Feb. 11. It was burglarized Jan. 16 with ketamine taken, Gainesville Police Officer Keith Kameg said.

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