The recent trend to legalize marijuana (aka "pot," "weed," and maybe other names with which I, as a non-user, am unfamiliar) has aroused much furor. Even some in law enforcement and medicine now question the wisdom of continuing policies that seem only to have exacerbated a problem arising mainly from propaganda-induced hysteria (e.g., "Reefer Madness" and its progeny). So, let's sort out the main issues. Addiction: Marijuana is described as an addictive drug, despite that most users exhibit no clear signs of dependence. Many puff a joint now and then, but have been known to put it aside for months at a time. Still, some individuals are unusually susceptible to addiction; as with those prone to alcoholism, even minimal exposure triggers dependence. [continues 369 words]
Lawmakers Move to Block Pot Legalization Plan Even If It Passes. State lawmakers are taking steps to block groups from installing private property rights in the Ohio Constitution - much like the casino owners did and the advocates for legalizing marijuana want to do this fall - and legal experts are predicting that the move will invite legal challenges. The Ohio House is expected to vote as early as next week and the Senate soon after on a resolution to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. If Ohio voters approve the amendment,it would block the marijuana legalization plan that is expected to also be on the ballot - even if voters say yes to legal marijuana,according to the resolution. [continues 813 words]
The argument over legalizing marijuana in Ohio has two parts. One is over legalization itself. The other argument, if Ohio legalizes, is how to regulate growing and selling. The General Assembly almost certainly won't legalize marijuana, maybe not even for medical use. So the likeliest way to legalize marijuana, if voters want to, is through a statewide ballot issue proposed by petition. One such ballot issue, backed by an outfit named ResponsibleOhio, appears likely to reach November's ballot. The amendment would limit (legal) marijuana production to 10 Ohio sites listed in the ballot issue. One site each would be in Greater Cleveland's Hudson and Lorain; in Stark County's Alliance; in Franklin County's Jackson Township and Licking County's Pataskala; in the Miami Valley's Moraine and Middletown; in Toledo; and in suburban Cincinnati's Anderson and Union townships. [continues 488 words]
1700 Drug-Exposed Infants Born in Ohio in 2013 As Heroin Scourge Drives Ninefold Increase Since '04 The youngest heroin addicts aren't even born yet. Still in the womb, they are exposed to opiates by expectant mothers with drug habits sometimes so insatiable and all-consuming the pregnancy goes undetected for months. And, fueled by opioid use by pregnant women, more of these young addicts are born every day. Nearly 1,700 drugexposed infants were born in Ohio in 2013, a nearly ninefold increase from 2004, according to the Ohio Department of Health. [continues 2310 words]
Bill would entitle bearer to apply for license to grow pot. A Toledo pro-marijuana group is giving away a $100 bill to celebrate winning approval from the Ohio Ballot Board, the group's chairman said Thursday. And not just any $100 bill. A $100 bill with one of 30 special serial numbers that will entitle the bearer to apply for a license to commercially grow marijuana. Ed Howard of Toledo, chairman of the organization Better for Ohio, said the Willy Wonka-sounding plan is designed to make sure that more people can grow pot in Ohio than would be allowed under the leading marijuana-legalization plan being promoted by ResponsibleOhio. [continues 329 words]
As Likely Vote Nears in Ohio, Support Comes From Unlikely Places. COLUMBUS - No matter what happens to a proposed constitutional amendment to make marijuana legal in Ohio, polls show a growing acceptance for legalization in this country - including a majority who think recreational use of marijuana should be legal. And the support is coming from unlikely corners. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters is a law-and-order Republican who has spent most of his career putting away bad guys in Ohio's third-largest county. But Deters, who announced last week that he'll head up a 10-person task force to look at the impact of legalization, is rethinking whether going after marijuana users is worth the public expense. [continues 1815 words]
Ohio Lawmaker Calls Ballot Initiative Bad Public Policy. State lawmakers are discussing political strategies to blunt ResponsibleOhio as the campaign gets closer to putting a constitutional amendment before voters this fall to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational uses. On Monday, state Rep. Mike Curtin, D-Marble Cliff, called on fellow lawmakers to urge voters to defeat the ResponsibleOhio proposal on the grounds that it's bad public policy to carve commercial interests into the state constitution. "My sense is we need to start educating the public on this sooner rather than later because the supporters of this amendment are going to have a ton of money to spend and the opposition side will not. So I think we need to start now to outline what this is really all about," said Curtin, the former editor and associate publisher of the Columbus Dispatch. [continues 383 words]
Legalization Backers: Police Can Focus More on Serious Crime. but Sheriff Says Plan Won't Curb Violence. Supporters of a controversial plan to legalize marijuana in Ohio say one of the benefits to the public is that law enforcement could focus more on serious crime. But Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer scoffs at the notion of marijuana legalization as a crime-fighting tool. "You will still have a black market and that is where most of our violence comes from," said Plummer, arguing that the proposed constitutional amendment would do nothing to stop the smuggling and sale of unregulated and non-taxed marijuana. "The home invasions, the drug robberies, the rip-offs, the homicides - the majority of them are related to the drug trade." [continues 894 words]
Chamber Members Go to Columbus to Talk Over the Issues. COLUMBUS - There's increasing talk in business circles about the prospect of marijuana legalization in Ohio - particularly among employers wondering how they'll handle a larger pool of potential and current employees who could be under the influence. Even pot legalization proponents admit there's no precise way to measure degrees of marijuana intoxication, unlike other drugs such as alcohol. In states with a large manufacturing base, the employer's problem could boil down to who is fit to operate potentially dangerous production machinery and related equipment. [continues 354 words]
Daughter Suffers From Seizures Daily. Couple Can't Wait for Ohio Voters to Decide Issue. LIBERTY TWP.- Three-year-old Addyson doesn't understand why her favorite toys, books and everything she knows as home is packed away in boxes. "When she has a seizure, we try to explain to her that 'this is why we're moving, we're going to get help for you and these are going to go away,' "said Heather Benton of her red-headed toddler who suffers hundreds of seizures a day from myoclonic epilepsy. [continues 1129 words]
Law School Course Focuses on Policy, Marijuana Reform. Professor Douglas Berman teaches a class about marijuana, so he has heard the jokes. He even allows a little pot humor in the classroom. But he isn't especially fond of the nickname his class has picked up: Weed 101. "It's a lot more than that," Berman said about his class at Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Flippant attitudes toward the marijuana debate are in part what inspired him to start teaching "Marijuana Law, Policy and Reform," which aims to cut through claims on both sides of the marijuana debate. [continues 720 words]
Readers continue weighing in on the issue of legalizing marijuana. Writes Berle A. Chandler: "I believe it would be a travesty to legalize the use of marijuana in Ohio. ... Today's marijuana contains some 10 to 20 times the strength of HTC as it did 40 years ago. ... As Colorado is beginning to experience the hard way, it is not bringing in the revenue they expected and the unintended consequences, like a minor getting a hold of a potlaced brownie that nearly killed her, is very disturbing. Further, once we send a message of legality to the young population who we depend on for skilled labor, it is quite probable that we will see a drop in the quality and safety of products produced by 'zombie pot heads' in the work force. Those that cite alcohol as being legal should know that it is a leading cause of accidents and death." [end]
Editor's note: A group called ResponsibleOhio is proposing a state constitutional amendment that would legalize marijuana and allow 10 Ohio sites owned and operated by investor groups to grow it. ResponsibleOhio is pushing to get their measure on the November ballot. Today, we hear from ResponsibleOhio as well as from Drug Free Action Alliance, an Ohio nonprofit whose mission is to help prevent substance abuse. We also hear from some of our readers about legalizing marijuana. - Connie Post ResponsibleOhio: A common-sense approach to ending marijuana prohibition [continues 2404 words]
It's hard to change people's mind when they have been given misinformation as a truth: Marijuana is such a topic. In the 1930s, government and private interest groups wanted to make marijuana appear to be a menace to society. Law enforcement had lost many jobs with the repeal of prohibition. Private interest saw that it posed a threat to the cotton and lumber industries because the plant used for textile and paper would last longer, was stronger and relatively easy to grow. [continues 108 words]
Growing Facility One of 10 Linked to Ballot Initiative. MIDDLETOWN - A day after Moraine was removed from the list of potential sites for a 100,000square-foot indoor marijuana growing facility, Middletown city officials said they are still exploring all options to stop one from going there, too. City officials were taken by surprise when ResponsibleOhio announced that Middletown would be one of 10 sites across Ohio for proposed indoor marijuana growing facilities. ResponsibleOhio is the group backing a constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use in Ohio. [continues 481 words]
Portman Introduces Bipartisan Measure in Senate. If a federal law supported by an Ohio legislator is passed, Butler County's prosecutor says it may soon be easier to prosecute makers and dealers of synthetic drugs. U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced in January the Protecting Our Kids from Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act. The bill - sponsored by nine other senators - would provide law enforcement the tools needed prosecute the manufacturers and dealers of synthetic drugs. [continues 581 words]
Middletown Grow Site, Hamilton Ban on Sales Debated. City officials and residents say building an indoor facility to grow pot in Middletown would hurt economic development and the community's image. Forty acres of land along Yankee Road near Todhunter Road would be home to one of 10 indoor marijuana growing facilities if Ohio voters approve a constitutional amendment in November to legalize pot for recreational and medicinal uses. ResponsibleOhio released a 24-page summary of the ballot language Monday that identifies where each of the 10 grow sites will be. [continues 470 words]
Legalizing pot in Ohio would have consequences. The first consequence is that it makes people unemployable: People submitting positive drug screens will not be hired and could be fired, because their coworkers have a right to a safe working environment. A safe environment is legally defined by federal law as a workplace that is drug free. Consequently, the employers who refuse to monitor safety and remove those employees impaired by the presence of drugs risk liability: the loss of their business, investment, reputation in the community, and possible criminal indictment. [continues 142 words]
Butler County Lawmaker Backing Extract for Seizures. COLUMBUS - A state lawmaker from Butler County is behind a proposed bill that would allow a specific strain of medical marijuana to be used by some Ohio hospitals to develop treatments for seizures. Ohio Reps. Wes Retherford, R-Hamilton, and John M. Rogers, D-Mentor-On-The-Lake, are the primary sponsors of House Bill 33, which would allow Ohio physicians to prescribe a specific oil infused with cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive chemical in cannabis and low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that produces a high in users. Seizure patients could then legally possess this extract and participate in clinical trials. [continues 502 words]
Initiative Aims to Put Legalized Marijuana Issue on Ohio Ballot. Columbus - Former and current COLUMBUS pro-athletes, real estate developers, a fashion designer and a sports agent are among the investors backing a campaign to ask voters this fall to legalize marijuana in Ohio for personal and medicinal use. ResponsibleOhio, which is campaigning for a constitutional amendment, on Friday disclosed the following partial list of its financial backers: Oscar Robertson, former basketball player for the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Cincinnati Royals. [continues 399 words]
Ohio AG DeWine Calls Push to Legalize Pot in Ohio 'Stupid Idea.' COLUMBUS - Four Republican statewide leaders came out strongly against legalizing marijuana in Ohio and they took shots at a proposed constitutional amendment that would name just 10 growing sites for legal pot. Attorney General Mike DeWine called it a "stupid idea" and Treasurer Josh Mandel said while it might lead to increased Girl Scout cookie sales, it's a bad idea. "I don't know if I've ever seen a worse idea," said Secretary of State Jon Husted. "If it makes it to the ballot, I would vigorously ask the voters defeat it because I think it would be awful for Ohio." [continues 271 words]
If Ballot Issue Passes, State Would Go From Ban to Full Legalization. COLUMBUS - An ambitious plan backed by deep-pocketed financiers and experienced political operatives aims to cut a new path to legalizing marijuana - and it is drawing opposition even before ResponsibleOhio has publicly released all its details. If voters approve ResponsibleOhio's ballot issue in November, Ohio could become the first state in the country to go from a complete ban to full legalization, skipping the typical step of first authorizing medical marijuana. Efforts are underway to do the same in Missouri. [continues 1187 words]
The first recreational marijuana sold legally in Seattle will be put on display at the city's Museum of History and Industry after a woman donated part of her purchase Tuesday. Deb Greene, a 65-year-old retiree, waited all night to be first in line at the Cannabis City store when legal pot sales began in Washington on July 8. Cannabis City also donated items from its opening day, including the receipt of the first purchase. The Seattle museum's curator, Kristin Halunen, put on purple latex gloves to accept the donation of marijuana and other paraphernalia on Tuesday. The museum plans to display the items this fall. [end]
Cottage Industry Rises for Medical, Recreational Uses. (AP) - Move over, pot brownies. The proliferation of marijuana edibles for both medical and recreational purposes is giving rise to a cottage industry of baked goods, candies, infused oils, cookbooks and classes that promises a slow burn as more states legalize the practice and awareness spreads about the best ways to deliver the drug. Edibles and infused products such as snack bars, olive oils and tinctures popular with medical marijuana users have flourished into a gourmet market of chocolate truffles, whoopie pies and hard candies as Colorado and Washington legalized the recreational use of marijuana in the past year. [continues 583 words]
States All Over the Map As They Try to Assess Intoxication. WASHINGTON - Josephine Drum says her daughter was "cheated out of life" when she was killed while driving to work in downtown Seattle in 2012, hit by a man in a Jeep whose blood tested positive for marijuana. "I feel if you smoke marijuana and you have to smoke it, that you should not be able to drive under the influence," said Drum, of Stockton, Calif. "I'm 84 years old. To have lost my daughter is something hard for me to accept." [continues 460 words]
It swallowed people up. By the millions. In the process, it hollowed out communities, broke families, stranded hope. Politicians brayed that they were being "tough on crime" as they imposed long, inflexible sentences for nonviolent drug offenses. But the "war on drugs" didn't hurt drugs at all: Use rose by 2,800 percent (that's not a typo) in the 40 years after it began in 1971. The "war" also made America the biggest jailer on Earth and drained a trillion dollars (still not a typo) from the treasury. [continues 443 words]
We've gotten quite a bit of response to retired Miami University Prof. Richard Erlich's recent guest column about the relaxation of marijuana laws. Here's mail from a reader who asked that his name not be used: "It was nice to hear such a logical and American view on marijuana legalization. There are so many reasons to legalize marijuana, but the most obvious is freedom. Marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol and tobacco so adults should have the freedom to responsibly enjoy it the same as alcohol and tobacco. Common sense would be another great reason to legalize marijuana. We should focus our expensive and limited resources on keeping drugs from kids instead of responsible adults. Marijuana should be taxed and regulated just like alcohol and tobacco. Freeing up our courts and law enforcement to go fight crime that actually has victims and getting tax money from those that are happy to pay it makes a lot of sense to me." [end]
Today we present many of the comments we received this week from our readers about drugs and whether they should be legalized. An addict's view I am rather close to this subject. I am a recovering addict - by the grace of a power stronger than myself - since 1989 and will be the first one to say that the only way to change an addict's behavior is for the addict to want to change. It is not an easy choice, nor an easy road. I still have the thought enter my head every once in a while; it is then that I have to stop and think about everything I have to lose, if I decide to do that first line. [continues 1642 words]
I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the commentary on my article was quite supportive. That is refreshing and encouraging. There was one comment about how doing this would encourage some naive non-users to try out drugs for free in the federally funded drug houses. That may be true. However, if they were willing to do this, they would eventually have tried it on the streets anyway. The main difference would be that drug dealers would heartily encourage them to use it, whereas the people in the federal facility would strip away the "sexiness" of it - by allowing them to observe people who come there and do drugs. I doubt anyone would think that was very sexy. [continues 156 words]
The government's attempts to curb drug addiction have been about as successful as picking off the top of a dandelion to stop its growth. To stop dandelions, everybody knows you have to get at the root of the problem. I'll use cocaine as an example. The root of the problem of cocaine use is not the users. Putting them into jail just causes jail overcrowding, among other things. Getting them treatment would be very helpful. However, it would only put pressure on drug pushers to recruit new users or to get rehabilitated users rehooked. [continues 650 words]
Re "CNN doctor's change of heart," Aug. 12: CNN needs to replace Dr. (Sanjay) Gupta with someone with credibility. His sudden epiphany regarding the supposed "safety" of medical marijuana is highly suspect. His apology for misleading the public - also known as lying - - is worthless. If he is willing to lie about one side of this issue, he is willing to lie regarding the other side. No reputable physician can make the claims of "safety" as he did. To add insult to injury, he states, "It doesn't have a high potential for abuse. ..." This alone is a most egregious lie. My son, unbeknownst at the time to us, had entered the world of marijuana and alcohol. To this day - he's almost 39 - this long-known "gateway drug" continues to have complete control over him, having led him into the world of heroin. This has been a nightmare I wouldn't wish upon anyone - even Dr. Gupta. It would be interesting to know just what incentive(s) this man received as a result of his "awakening." In conclusion, perhaps Dr. Gupta needs to experience just one of his children in the grips of addiction for one month. Kim Smith, Ansonia [end]
Request Rejected for Ohio Voters to Decide Legalization. COLUMBUS - Members of Responsible Ohioans for Cannabis are headed back to the drawing board after Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine on Monday rejected the group's preliminary application to ask voters to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio. DeWine said the summary of the End Ohio Cannabis Prohibition Act of 2012, submitted to the Ohio Attorney General's Office earlier this month along with 2,143 signatures, is not a "fair and truthful" representation of what the act would do if it were to become law. DeWine's approval is one of the first steps in the complicated process citizens must go through to present a constitutional amendment to voters. [continues 243 words]
Program Instructed Agents to Alter Investigative Trail. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Details of a Drug Enforcement Administration program that feeds tips to federal agents and then instructs them to alter the investigative trail were published in a manual used by IRS agents for two years. The practice of re-creating the investigative trail is now under review by the Justice Department. Two high-profile Republicans have also raised questions about the procedure. A 350-word entry in the Internal Revenue Manual instructed agents to omit any reference to tips supplied by the DEA's Special Operations Division, especially from affidavits, court proceedings or investigative files. The entry was published and posted online in 2005 and 2006, and was removed in early 2007. The Internal Revenue Service is among two dozen arms of the government working with the SOD, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Security Agency and the Central Intelligence Agency. [continues 435 words]
Agency Funnels Information to Federal Authorities. WASHINGTON (Reuters)- The Justice Department is reviewing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit that passes tips culled from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a large telephone database to field agents, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday. Reuters reported Monday that agents who use such tips are trained to re-create the investigative trail to effectively conceal the DEA unit's involvement from defense lawyers, prosecutors and even judges, a policy many lawyers said could violate a defendant's right to a fair trial. Federal drug agents call the process of changing the true genesis of an arrest "parallel construction," according to a training document. [continues 248 words]
Ohioans Also Favor Weekend Voting, Right to Refuse Unions. We should be able to use marijuana for medicinal purposes, refuse union membership regardless of our workplace and cast our ballot on a weekend before an election. But we don't think pot should be legalized outright, are OK with having guns in locked vehicles parked under the Statehouse or Riffe Center, and are deadlocked on whether abortions should be banned once a fetal heartbeat is detected. All of these issues that were part of a Saperstein Associates poll of more than 1,000 Ohioans might be voted on by the legislature or voters statewide at some point. [continues 620 words]
As the nation's capital prepares to open its first legal medicinal marijuana dispensary and Sen. Rand Paul's call for legalization basks in bipartisan praise, it's time for President Barack Obama to clear the air around his own passive-aggressive position on pot. Four years after his Justice Department announced that the feds will no longer crack down on medicinal marijuana sellers who follow state laws, the president's pot position continues to be dangerously vague and confusing. In California, where voters approved medicinal use back in 1996, the law was so vaguely worded that about 1,000 dispensaries mushroomed up in Los Angeles County alone. Yet busts continued, partly over disputes as to whether the law allowed only nonprofit businesses. [continues 428 words]
New York Yankees baseball legend Mickey Mantle was my boyhood hero. I collected all of his baseball cards and memorized every statistic about his performance. I couldn't wait for my Uncle Tony to finish reading the Sporting News so I could cut out articles about the greatest baseball player of my generation, which I then carefully stored in a shoebox beneath my bed. It wasn't until I was much older that I realized that my boyhood idol was an alcoholic who began drinking at age 20 after the death of his father from Hodgkin's disease. [continues 382 words]
Group Submits Petitions To Legalize Marijuana Kettering Woman Supports Constitutional Amendment DAYTON - A group supporting legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio has taken the first steps to place a Constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot. Supporters turned in 2,143 signatures on petitions containing summary language of the proposed amendment to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who has sent the signatures out to local boards of election to verify. The group needs 1,000 signatures before DeWine will determine if the summary is a fair and truthful statement. After that, it is forwarded for review by the Ohio Ballot Board and to Ohio secretary of State Jon Husted. The group would then need to gather at least 385,245 valid signatures on petitions to place the amendment on the ballot, said Matt McClellan, press secretary for Husted. [continues 413 words]
Kettering Woman Supports Constitutional Amendment. DAYTON - A group supporting legalization of medical marijuana in Ohio has taken the first steps to place a Constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot. Supporters turned in 2,143 signatures on petitions containing summary language of the proposed amendment to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who has sent the signatures out to local boards of election to verify. The group needs 1,000 signatures before DeWine will determine if the summary is a fair and truthful statement. After that, it is forwarded for review by the Ohio Ballot Board and to Ohio secretary of State Jon Husted. The group would then need to gather at least 385,245 valid signatures on petitions to place the amendment on the ballot, said Matt McClellan, press secretary for Husted. [continues 416 words]
Ohio could become the 11th state to outlaw Spice or K2, a synthetic marijuana sold at convenience stores and smoke shops throughout the Miami Valley region. State Rep. Margaret Ruhl, R-Mount Vernon, is one of the lead sponsors of House Bill 544, which would classify Spice and K2 as a Schedule I controlled substance, banning stores from selling it and making it illegal to possess. New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania are considering similar legislation. Ruhl said her bill has bipartisan support, and she is confident it will pass the Legislature next year. [continues 689 words]
DENVER - Inside the green neon sign, which is shaped like a marijuana leaf, is a red cross. The cross serves the fiction that most transactions in the store - which is what it really is - involve medicine. The U.S. Justice Department recently announced that federal laws against marijuana would not be enforced for possession of marijuana that conforms to states' laws. In 2000, Colorado legalized medical marijuana. Since Justice's decision, the average age of the 400 persons a day seeking "prescriptions" at Colorado's multiplying medical marijuana dispensaries has fallen precipitously. Many new customers are college students. [continues 630 words]
A Dayton Man Was Killed In The 2100 Block After A Police Sting Went Wrong. DAYTON - When looking for drug activity in the 2100 block of Edwin C. Moses Boulevard, police pay attention to the little things. It could be a car bearing out-of-county plates in the back of a parking lot, vehicles circling around businesses multiple times, or someone in the front seat looking down, perhaps working up a fix. Buyers often use the pay phone outside of the Econo Lodge or a cell phone to contact a nearby dealer, according to police. [continues 781 words]
SPRINGBORO - Three weeks after being sentenced in two cocaine possession cases, former Springboro City Councilman Michael W. Hemmert will accept a Republican Congressional Medal of Distinction during a two-day celebration in the nation's Capitol culminating in a dinner honoring President George W. Bush. "I will be attending my second President's Dinner on Wed., June 18, 2008. This is considered the 'Event in Washington, DC' each year," Hemmert said in an e-mail press release. On May 27, Hemmert, 53, of Springboro, was granted treatment in lieu of conviction on two sets of charges of possession of cocaine and marijuana and a single count of possession of drug paraphernalia during a hearing in Warren County Common Pleas Court. [continues 351 words]
COLUMBUS -- State Sen. Tom Roberts wants Ohioans to be able to smoke marijuana legally to ease their pain. Roberts, D-Trotwood, is to unveil details of his proposed Ohio Medical Compassion Act at a press conference here on Wednesday, May 21. "Our laws should reflect the latest in medical research, which has shown that medical cannabis has a variety of benefits for treating pain, nausea and other symptoms related to a wide range of disease," Roberts said in a prepared statement. [continues 190 words]
Addicts Of Prescription Drugs Are Increasingly Turning To Heroin, Which Is Easier To Obtain In Most Cities DAYTON -- Drug users rank Dayton and Columbus as the two Ohio cities where heroin in most available, according to a study done for the state's monitoring network. ToolsPrint this pageE-mail this pageMost popularTop 5 stories Judge: Camera that catches speeders is unconstitutional WSU to get new president in '07 Police: Woman overpowers paramedics, then steals ambulance Wreck rolls truck, spilling grain along U.S. 42 Lighter may have set off Thursday blast RSS headlines available [continues 521 words]
COLUMBUS | Police here, in Dayton and in Mansfield have found a painkiller-laced heroin that has killed addicts in Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia. ToolsPrint this pageE-mail this pageMost popularTop 5 stories Homeowners file suit to force Dayton to build sewer bypass Chemical spill closes Ohio 49 stretch for three hours Friday Elections officials back new Ohio rules Summary of local lawmakers' financial disclosures Lawmakers reveal their income, assets RSS headlines available Fentanyl turned up in six of 10 batches of heroin confiscated by Mansfield police, said police laboratory director Anthony Tambasco. The lab started testing for the drug just before Memorial Day after hearing of numerous recent deaths in Detroit, he said. [continues 447 words]
WASHINGTON - Methamphetamine use is rare in most of the United States, not the raging epidemic described by politicians and the news media, says a study by an advocacy group. Meth is a dangerous drug but among the least commonly used, The Sentencing Project policy analyst Ryan King wrote in a report issued Wednesday. Rates of use have been stable since 1999, and among teenagers meth use has dropped, King said. "The portrayal of methamphetamine in the United States as an epidemic spreading across the country has been grossly overstated," King said. The Sentencing Project is a not-for-profit group that supports alternatives to prison terms for convicted drug users and other criminals. [continues 226 words]
The transdermal patch delivers a concentrated high that can be lethal; 17 have fallen victim this year. DAYTON | The 37-year-old man lay dead on the bathroom floor of his room at hospice, a syringe and torn transdermal patch near his body. The scene from two months ago is one of the 17 fentanyl-related deaths the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab has handled this year. "We have found that people have taken the contents of the patches, which is a very concentrated chunk of drug. It's not supposed to be taken all at once," said Laureen Marinetti, chief toxicologist for the crime lab. [continues 338 words]
Those With Drug Convictions Not Eligible For Aid DAYTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday challenged the constitutionality of a six-year-old federal law that blocks students convicted of a drug offense from obtaining federal student loans. "Closing the campus gates denies these students a crucial chance to get themselves back on track by staying in school," said ACLU attorney Adam Wolf, who called the law "an unfair and irrational barrier to education (that) singles out working-class Americans." The lawsuit was filed in federal court in South Dakota. [continues 187 words]
The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday challenged the constitutionality of a federal law that blocks students convicted of a drug offense from obtaining federal student loans. "Closing the campus gates denies these students a crucial chance to get themselves back on track by staying in school," said ACLU attorney Adam Wolf, who called the law "an unfair and irrational barrier to education (that) singles out working-class Americans." At least one Dayton-area college financial aid administrator supports the ACLU's challenge and wonders why no one challenged the law sooner. Emphasizing she was speaking for herself and not on behalf of the college, Kathy L. Wiesenauer, director of Sinclair Community College's financial aid office, said, "I believe that the current law unfairly singles out a class of individuals who have already paid their debt to society through fines, imprisonment or service to the community." [continues 112 words]
