James and Linda Mooney, the Spanish Fork couple arrested on a combined 16 federal felony drug charges for using peyote in religious ceremonies, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges Friday in Salt Lake City. Federal prosecutors told U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam Alba that the Mooneys should be held without bail until the case is resolved. Citing the complexity of the case and the need for more information before deciding if the Mooneys should be held without bail, Alba set a detention hearing for Tuesday. [continues 583 words]
Methamphetamine lab seizures in Tennessee are down 39 percent from a year ago, with state officials attributing that to a new law designed to make it harder to make the illicit drug. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, there were 82 lab seizures in May compared to 134 during the same period last year. May was the first full month in which the Meth-Free Tennessee Act was in effect. Gov. Phil Bredesen signed the legislation into law in March. The law stiffens the penalties for making meth and requires pharmacies to move cold and sinus products containing pseudoephedrine, behind the counter. [continues 53 words]
HUNTINGTON - Lisa Smith is fed up and said the area's alleged drug offenders are getting out of jail too easily. Smith, 27, of Marshall Avenue said that in addition to letting them commit crimes again, it also places the community at an increased risk and sends the wrong message to her three children. "They went into a house and arrested some people, and not even an hour later they were out," she said of an arrest last month along Artisan Avenue. "It's ridiculous. It's ignorant. [continues 1166 words]
Founded Church: The Two Claim It Is Their Right To Use The Drug In Their Religious Ceremonies A Utah County man and his wife who insist it is their First Amendment right to smoke peyote during Native American religious ceremonies pleaded not guilty Friday to federal drug counts. U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba set a hearing for Tuesday to determine if Benjamin residents James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney, 61, and Linda Mooney, 51, should remain in custody until their trial. "It may be months down the road before this matter is resolved," Alba said. [continues 365 words]
Re: "Drug wars' long shadow," June 19 Page One. This story reads like the St. Valentine's Day massacre: killings involving the illegal trade of a popular substance for intoxication, gang activity and laws that perpetuate needless deaths. The noble intentions behind Prohibition - to save the children - became the reason to eventually put an end to it and regulate the sale of intoxicants to adults. Americans came to the realization that alcohol prohibition, with its inherent criminal activity, was a failure. Our current drug war is no different. Sadly, our leadership has its collective head in the sand and ears turned deaf by the constant banging of drug-war propaganda. [continues 59 words]
Dallas replaces Miami as drugs-cartel central in the United States. When does Dallas get its own television show, like CSI: Miami and CSI: New York, to help stop cartels from moving to Dallas up Interstate 35? Perhaps the FBI could help; but it is investigating local politicians. Or the DEA; but it is bogged down in paperwork. Or border patrol; but it is shorthanded, and this is dirty work. Or the Dallas County Sheriff's Department; but its computer is on the blink, and it's lost track of prisoners. Or the Texas Rangers; but they are policing in Laredo because of the killings in Nuevo Laredo. [continues 60 words]
The common sense expressed in the editorial "Still a wisp of hope" (June 8) is a real breath of fresh air. It's a refreshing 21st- century contrast to the unrelenting stance of President Bush's Office of National Drug Control Policy. By leaving marijuana in Schedule 1 (illegal to prescribe or possess for any reason), the ONDCP and federal drug czar John Walters define all patients who use it as criminals. Further, Walters and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration believe patients who use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation in the 11 states with such legal access should be subject to arrest, prosecution and time in federal prison. [continues 77 words]
A major drug bust at Vancouver International Airport has taken 90,000 doses of heroin worth about $1 million off city streets. "It's a substantial amount," said Sgt. Dave Goddard of the RCMP's Greater Vancouver Drug Section. Six unidentified Vancouver-area men in their 20s are facing charges after Thursday's dramatic airport bust, which shocked some passengers when undercover officers with guns drawn arrested the men and seized nine kilograms of what is suspected to be heroin hidden in two suitcases. [continues 75 words]
UT Southwestern Links Daily Rhythm To Addiction Chemical A key component of the body's daily biological clock may influence the brain's response to drugs of abuse, Dallas scientists and their colleagues have found. The new findings are part of a growing body of evidence suggesting that the body's clock does more than tell you when to sleep and when to wake up. It may, scientists are realizing, cause ups and downs in a variety of brain functions over the course of the day. [continues 456 words]
OTTAWA -- Under fire by critics for providing an overly-restrictive medical marijuana program, Ottawa will unveil new regulations Wednesday designed to ease the onus on physicians and patients. One major change drops the demand that doctors agree in writing that the benefits of marijuana outweigh the risks. Doctors had balked at making such a statement in the absence of marijuana being an approved therapeutic product. [end]
Stearns County's drug court celebrated its three-year anniversary Friday with the graduation of four participants and by hosting a task force that could help expand the drug-court concept statewide. Members of the Minnesota Supreme Court's Chemical Dependency Task Force visited Stearns County, where members heard national speakers on the topic and saw firsthand the effectiveness of drug court. The task force, of which Stearns County Drug Court Judge Paul Widick is a member, will make recommendations to the full Supreme Court in January about what role drug courts should play in Minnesota. [continues 387 words]
- - Drug Addiction, Curable & Preventable, But Not Without Support Clean-shaven, well dressed, good looking and a perfect gentleman to the casual eye. Then the very same person undergoes a sudden transformation; the eyes get a glazed look, the handsome face gets contorted as a sudden hunger takes over. Doesn't it sound like a typical Dr Jeckyll aE" Mr Hyde syndrome? Well, this is how a person gets converted when his body craves for the slow poison aE" drug. The world over, Anti-Drugs Day will be celebrated today. Nepal too is facing a period where it is losing hundreds of its youth to the jaws of this lethal addiction. What is it that drives these promising young people to take the first sniff? What is it that keeps them coming back for more? What is it that people need to be oblivious about by taking drugs? [continues 656 words]
