WASHINGTON - The name of the hottest party drug among teen-agers is 29 letters long: methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA. Users know it by a sexier name: Ecstasy. They say it induces euphoria and happiness and gives them the energy to dance and enjoy themselves during all-night parties called raves. Many young people consider the club drug harmless. But drug researchers and lawmakers say Ecstasy is dangerous, pointing to increasing scientific evidence showing the drug has long-term debilitating effects on users' health, including death among those who overdose. [continues 898 words]
Clemson arrests out of character. For the second time since April Clemson coach Tommy Bowden has dismissed promising football players from his team following felony arrests. Akil Desmond Smith and Travis Zachery, arrested recently on drug charges, were from good homes and stable backgrounds. So were three players arrested in April. Yet Smith, a star offensive lineman, and Zachery, among the best running backs in Clemson history, have both been arrested on drug-dealing charges. Defensive linemen Paul White, Marcus Lewis and Tyrone Dickerson are now serving jail terms for a string of burglaries committed in Clemson dormitories. [continues 129 words]
The man accused of selling urine kits to defraud drug tests took the stand Thursday and said he knew undercover law enforcement agents were buying from him in an attempt to make an arrest. Kenneth Curtis, owner of Privacy Protection Services, maintains he is fighting the whole urinalysis system by showing it can be faked. This is the first time the state law that passed in 1999 is being heard in criminal court. During the second day of testimony in Circuit Court in Greenville, many jurors openly laughed and giggled as the prosecution and defense battled over the fate of Curtis, who faces a maximum of eight years in prison if convicted. [continues 386 words]
A Greenville judge has ordered the trial of a man accused of selling urine to help people pass drug tests to start Wednesday, making it the first time the law banning such sales will be heard in criminal court. Kenneth Curtis, owner of Privacy Protection Services, formerly of Marietta, faces charges that his company is against the law, according to prosecutors. Curtis maintains he sells the urine kits because he does not believe in random drug testing because it violates people's rights. It is legal to sell urine in South Carolina but illegal to defraud a drug screening test. [continues 382 words]
A search among crates of oranges, lemons and limes bore fruit Friday when Greenville County sheriff's deputies came across 46 packages on a pallet in the trailer of an 18-wheeler. Inside the packages, deputies found 550 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $1.25 million, according to Sgt. John Nantz, Sheriff's Office spokesman. It's the most deputies have ever recovered from inside one vehicle, he said. Nantz said the bust went down this way: Deputies were patrolling Interstate 85 at about 1:30 a.m. when they pulled the northbound tractor-trailer over because one of its headlights was out. While questioning the driver and passenger of the rig, deputies became suspicious. [continues 158 words]
COLUMBIA - Two former state prison guards who pleaded guilty in May to conspiring to smuggle drugs to inmates were sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday by a federal judge. The prison terms are the stiffest yet for any guards charged in the FBI's ongoing investigation into drug smuggling at Allendale Correctional Institution. The prison's former warden, Geri Miro, told U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie Monday the drug case had created a "scar" that would take years to heal at the maximum-security prison. [continues 296 words]
POWDERSVILLE - Behind the fun and games of national Red Ribbon Week, there was a message that may have deterred Anderson County students from illegal drug use during the past few years, according to northern Anderson School District 1 officials. Drugs became scarce in District 1 four years ago when locker-sniffing drug dogs began regular patrols and school resource police officers began teaching an anti-drug curriculum, district spokeswoman Joanne Avery said. "It's working," Avery said. "We're not seeing it in the schools." [continues 270 words]
A nonprofit organization is trying to secure a building on the Westside for a 50-bed center that would provide interim care for people who have completed a detoxification program. Project Hope Drugs, Alcohol & HIV/AIDs program, a grass-roots effort, "is already in position with a board of directors, counselors and volunteers," said Dorothy Gage, the organization's executive director and founder. "We need a building to house our program." The group also needs money to pay for the building, materials and an estimated 75 paid employees who would offer 24-hour care, said Rose Griffin, Hope's treasurer. [continues 300 words]
Greenville County sheriff's deputies responding to complaints of a suspicious vehicle in the Tigerville area stumbled upon a pile of methamphetamine waste behind a trailer off of State 414. Sgt. John Nantz, Sheriff's Office spokesman, said deputies busted the second largest meth lab ever discovered in the Carolinas at 326C Stringer Road Monday afternoon. The information was not released until this morning because of a request by the Drug Enforcement Agency that information not be released until today. The agency was part of a task force that worked through the night to clean up the area, Nantz said. [continues 109 words]
CLINTON - Laurens County Coroner Nick Nichols said he has ruled the cause of Marlon X. Dendy's cause of death to be agitated delirium with collapse due to a cocaine overdose. Dendy, 27, of Route 3 Box 573, Clinton, who had just arrived home on leave from the Army, broke into a home on Centennial Street Aug. 18, according to Police Chief Carroll Barker. An elderly woman was in the home at the time with her son, Barker said. The pair startled the intruder and he jumped out of a first-floor window, collapsing in the front yard, Barker said. [continues 78 words]
State reports fewer inmates for first time in 30 years. Lawmakers should pursue policies that make such reductions a goal. South Carolina's prison population broke a three-decade chain of growth this year. And though the decline could be a statistical anomaly, this still is noteworthy if only for the inherent symbolism and perspective it provides on inmate growth. The inmate population in South Carolina has swelled an astonishing 827 percent since 1970. Then, this state housed 2,537 inmates. Last year, the state incarcerated nearly 21,000 at $15,142 annually per inmate. Despite a $33.6 million cut in funding, next year the state will spend roughly $351 million on prisons. [continues 378 words]
The article entitled "Citizenship plan gains support" in your July 31 edition would have been more appropriately entitled "Business lobbyists pull wool over S.C.'s eyes." I couldn't help thinking the fallacious arguments in the article supporting the proposed amnesty, which Mr. Bush is considering (with encouragement from President Fox of Mexico), that would magically make illegal immigrants into "legal" residents are much like what we hear from drug users who promote drug legalization: ¡ Large numbers of illegal workers are already here in South Carolina. (Many people already smoke pot and abuse drugs.) [continues 144 words]
Roger Owens, president of Save Our Sons, was right on target in his July 26 article calling for an in-depth study of the startling difference in white and minority incarceration rates. In Greenville County, minority men make up about 10 percent of the general population, but 58 percent of our prison population (1997 figures from South Carolina Commission for Minority Affairs). If we understood and addressed the problems indicated by this statistic, we would provide needed services, save a lot of broken lives and reduce tax dollars spent on prisons. [continues 163 words]
It's not too early for the county to begin exploring what steps to take to avert overcrowding. A rising number of arrests is routinely pushing the county's jail population beyond the facility's capacity - a dangerous trend which invites a return to the serious security flaws federal officials found in a scathing report of jail conditions three years ago. Inevitably, the county will be forced to add more jail space unless it can find alternatives to incarceration. The Greenville County Council should begin exploring possible expansion plans soon to deal with escalating arrests. Until an expansion plan is on the table, county officials should continue to invest in alternatives to incarceration to help alleviate what is now a budding overcrowding problem. Additionally, inmates awaiting trail are still languishing behind bars for far too long - despite the recent good news that the judicial circuit that includes Greenville is now current in its caseload after four years of backlogs. [continues 305 words]
With the opening of school less than one week away, a group of local police officers are helping students end the summer on a high note. The Liberty Police Department and the Pickens County Sheriff's Office have both hosted summer camps, with the aim of having fun and teaching kids to say no to drugs. However, the two agencies have taken two different approaches to reach young people. While the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has been discontinued by the Sheriff's Office, the annual camp continues to offer summer fun, sports and adventure without the DARE element. [continues 385 words]
Disparate incarceration rates between majority and minority males have been in the news for several years. Minorities, especially African Americans, are imprisoned at much higher rates than their presence in the population. A report of the most recent census numbers bears this out, as 68 percent of this state's inmates are African Americans. Many persons simply write off the discrepancies, ascribing them to higher arrest rates among African Americans and do not bother to think beyond that point. Such a conclusion is simplistic, surface and inaccurate. Unfortunately, it is reinforced by published reports. [continues 579 words]
Drug War Locks Up More Blacks Blacks account for 27 percent of South Carolina's population, yet comprise more than 68 percent of its prison inmates, according to figures released by the U.S. Census. Many factors - cultural, social and economic - can be cited as contributors to such a high concentration of black males in prison. In terms of policy, the one thing that deserves the most review is this nation's war on drugs. By extension, the war on drugs is also South Carolina's battle. Here, blacks have suffered the heaviest casualties because of law enforcement strategies that have been successful at locking up heavily minority street-level dealers, mandatory minimum sentencing, disparities between penalties for crack and powder cocaine and a traditional disregard for treatment over incarceration for nonviolent, small-time drug offenders. [continues 120 words]
In the parking lot outside of a Greenville nightclub Friday night, it was a battle of wills from the beginning. There were the law enforcement officers who, with their 57 uniformed and undercover deputies, a drug-sniffing dog and a looming helicopter, were out to curb the drug use they say is associated with all-night dance parties, otherwise known as raves. Then there were the kids, many not much older than 18, dressed in bright colors and loose pants who say their desire and right to dance were being trampled on by misconceptions and an overzealous police operation. By the time the sun started to rise early Saturday morning outside of The Tomb on Cedar Lane Road, about 50 people were arrested for offenses such as disorderly conduct and ticketed for having a headlight out, according to Greenville County Sheriff Capt. Bruce Cannon. [continues 875 words]
Good for the member of the Greenville County Council who wants to ban all-ages raves. No 13-year old has any business at a rave. Good for those who want to stop illegal drug use anytime in any place by anyone. However, the rave on White Horse Road wasn't all ages. It was 17 and up. I know because I went. I'm 28. I don't use drugs. Most of the people I saw at the rave weren't on drugs. [continues 128 words]
We all need to support our country's renewed efforts to halt illegal drug use, traffic, manufacturing and distribution. We must continue to vigorously apprehend, prosecute and penalize the people involved. However there are opportunities to do much more to educate our people at all ages and levels on the physiological, emotional and economic impacts of illegal drug use. We need to especially target our young people and their parents. The efforts should start at early ages. Once children reach their teens and high school, it's too late. This can be done through schools, churches and law enforcement agencies; with the help of medical professionals and the media. There should be mandatory classes on the dreadful impacts of the illegal use of drugs. Pictorials and graphics should be used to gain lasting impressions. [continues 102 words]
Possible county crackdown on all-night dance parties could be fought with laws already on the books. County Council's concern about an increasing number of rave parties in Greenville is understandable and well-placed. But creating an ordinance that seeks to ban the all-night parties could be legally messy and perhaps unnecessary. If local law enforcement can make a credible case that cracking down on the sale and use of the designer drugs associated with raves is impossible through existing law, then the council should toughen the rules which govern this sort of entertainment. [continues 408 words]
I was greatly disheartened when I read the article about passing restrictive laws on raves on the front page of the Metro section on July 1st. Councilman Joe Dill seems to be under the impression that these so-called raves are nothing more than drug-infested orgies. They are in fact simply dances or concerts, whichever you prefer, where people go to dance, listen to music, socialize and just have fun. Whether or not people choose to do drugs is an individual choice, and the choice of some individuals should not be used to punish the whole group. [continues 127 words]
One member of the Greenville County Council says he will urge his colleagues to consider an ordinance discouraging or altogether prohibiting the all-night psychedelic dance parties known as raves. The comments by Councilman Joe Dill came after 70 people were arrested last weekend on drug and disorderly conduct charges at a Westside rave staged at the Carolina Metroplex on White Horse Road. "This is outrageous," said Dill, who says he'll bring the subject of raves up for discussion when the County Council reconvenes from its summer break in August. "These things could turn into a major problem if we don't deal with it. We don't need this in Greenville County, and I will definitely do everything I can to make sure it doesn't catch on here." [continues 927 words]
Greenville sheriff's deputies arrested more than 70 people on various drugs and disorderly conduct charges at what they described as a rave party over the weekend, according to reports released this morning. Sgt. John Nantz, Sheriff's Office spokesman, said more than 50 deputies were involved with the operation at the Carolina Metroplex at 2600 Whitehorse Road. Most of those arrested were adults, Nantz said. The majority of the drug charges involved possession of the chemical Ecstasy, he said. Ecstasy produces an enhanced sense of pleasure and self-confidence, as well as psychedelic effects. As an amphetamine, it also increases energy levels. [end]
After reading a recent article in you paper, it really bothered me that people think that bringing biblical classes into schools won't help our children. Is having a good job all that matters? What about the morals of our children? When we were allowed to have religion in our schools, we had less crime and fewer problems with drugs because it was taught that these things were wrong. Our kids are not taught right from wrong anymore. Anything goes. So I say to the school that is offering the classes, may God bless you. Sandy Fowler Greer [end]
TRAVELERS REST - It's been two years since Travelers Rest enforced its random drug testing law for city employees. But City Council members now want that to be done on a regular basis. They also have asked Travelers Rest City Administrator Cliff Gaddy to draft an amendment to the ordinance so it includes alcohol and targets appropriate employees. The ordinance, as it is now, focuses primarily on firefighters and police officers in the Public Safety Department. Travelers Rest Police Chief Tim Christy suggested it be expanded to include emergency dispatchers and all employees who operate a vehicle. [continues 285 words]
When his first young, comatose patient was wheeled into Greenville Memorial Hospital's emergency room about two years ago, Dr. Paul Fraley wasn't sure what he was dealing with. "The first time I saw GHB, I had to look it up," the Greenville Hospital System doctor said. "Now I'm seeing it all the time." In fact, Fraley, who's treated as many as four GHB-overdose patients in one night, was discussing the drug with a visitor Thursday night when the latest patient to overdose on the club drug appeared in the ER. [continues 1064 words]
The idea of a higher high was enticing. So, after drinking a few beers at a Greenville nightclub on Halloween night, Joseph "Cannon" Outz accepted a soda-bottle cap full of "home brew" from a friend and downed it with orange juice. An hour after drinking what he would later discover was Blue Nitro, the 21-year-old Berea resident collapsed into a seizure and began choking on his own vomit. He survived only after paramedics were able to restore his breathing. [continues 1471 words]
A state senator from Greenville County said he plans to push legislation to randomly test teachers for illegal drugs and to require more stringent background checks on all public school workers. Critics say such tests would be an insult to the teaching profession and wouldn't accomplish much. "Some glaring inequities exist right now, and some are inexcusable," said Republican Sen. Mike Fair of Greenville, who plans to sponsor the legislation in January when the General Assembly reconvenes. "We need to reach beyond the state's borders when we conduct background checks on all employees, not just teachers. [continues 473 words]
For the thousands of Greenville County residents who need treatment for drug or alcohol addiction, the past six months have brought a disturbing trend. In October, the Greenville Hospital System closed the inpatient part of its addiction treatment program, blaming declining reimbursements from the federal Medicare and Medicaid programs. Last month, Charter Behavioral Health Systems one of the nation's biggest operators of treatment centers, which runs a 66-bed hospital in Greer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors, citing cutbacks by insurers on treatment payments. [continues 811 words]
