Enforce Federal Drug-Conviction Law As It Was Initially Intended This academic year, nearly 44,000 college students will be denied federal financial aid because of a drug conviction in their background. Many will properly bear the financial penalty for having violated drug laws. But for others, the hit will be far more punitive than lawmakers envisioned. People who commit drug offenses before going on to higher education were not intended to be targeted. The law, passed in 1998, was designed to get university students who broke drug laws while receiving federal aid. The law seemingly could be amended to clarify its intent, but it hasn't been. Despite the efforts of its author, Indiana Republican Rep. Mark Souder, to force the Department of Education to bring its enforcement efforts into line with its intent, the measure continues to act like a buzz saw, cutting down the opportunities of thousands of students. [continues 72 words]
BEAUFORT -- A former State Law Enforcement Division chemist will create Beaufort County's first drug lab and help whittle down a backlog of about 300 drug-related cases. The Sheriff's Office hired Renita Berry on Nov. 26 to run the drug lab and analyze cases for the Beaufort County General Sessions Court, including some that Sheriff P.J. Tanner has said date back to 1997. Tanner expects the new lab to be operational by Christmas. The county drug case backlog is the result of an overburdened SLED crime lab in Columbia, he said. Having the drug lab will allow the Sheriff's Office to move drug cases to the Solicitor's Office in 30 days or less, he said. [continues 256 words]
To The Packet: Statistics cited by an ex-convict speaking to a school group on Hilton Head Island (Nov. 17 Island Packet) don't ring true. The total death rate from all causes for teens is 71 per 100,000 -- so it is impossible that 7 per hundred could die from "drugs or some kind of gang activity." His statistic about the percentage of teens who wind up in prison is similarly suspect. If 15 per hundred serve prison time at some point in their lives, that would mean that more than 42 million people should be incarcerated. The total U.S. prison population is estimated, however, at 6 million and only 3,915 teens are in state or federal prison, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. [continues 54 words]
BEAUFORT -- A program that has been a cornerstone of drug education for Lowcountry youth for more than a decade probably will be cut next year because of concerns about the effectiveness of the program, says Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner. Tanner said he intends to cut the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program because of the lack of results. Tanner said his office doesn't have a way to track the success of the program. "I haven't seen any evidence that it's working or that it's not working," Tanner said. "I don't have any statistical information about it." [continues 385 words]
Every 24 hours a teen-ager is killed because of a crime related to drugs, violence and gangs, an ex-convict told about 300 Hilton Head Middle School students Friday. "Out of 100 kids born, 15 of them will go to prison, and seven will die from drugs or some kind of gang activity," said 52-year-old Dale "Mad Dog" Messmer, a native of Wichita, Kan. Messmer said since getting off parole five years ago, he's visited 150 schools and spoken to 800,000 young people. [continues 318 words]
Proposed Team To Tackle Drugs Breaks Down Barriers A countywide drug task force is a good idea. The plan to combine resources from the municipal police departments and the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office can help each do a better job. It can be especially helpful for Bluffton, where growth is stretching a small police department very thin. Bluffton established a one-officer drug task force six months ago, and one result is a sharp increase in the number of drug arrests made. [continues 232 words]
BLUFFTON -- By collaborating with other police departments in the county, Bluffton hopes to combat a growing drug problem that is a result of increased population, said police Chief John Brown. Brown met last week with Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner and the police chiefs of Port Royal, Beaufort and Yemassee to discuss forming a countywide drug task force. Coordinating efforts will allow law enforcement agencies to be more effective, Brown said. Dealers often live in one jurisdiction but sell drugs in another, or may move if police begin surveillance or making drug busts, said Tanner, who is heading the effort. [continues 556 words]
A routine drug and weapons search at Hilton Head High School on Thursday alarmed some parents who heard reports of a lockdown but were unable to get through to the school by telephone. The high school was locked down for two hours Thursday morning while Beaufort County Sheriff's Office deputies searched the building for drugs and weapons with the help of three drug-sniffing dogs, said Principal Helen Ryan. The search, which is conducted twice a year, was done at the request of Ryan, said Debbie Szpanka, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office. No drugs were found. [continues 253 words]
To The Packet: According to The Packet's Aug. 10 article, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent living on Hilton Head Island has had 14-year-olds tell him that drugs such as heroin, cocaine, Ecstasy, marijuana and methamphetamine are readily available on the island. So much for protecting the children from drugs. One has to wonder if these same 14-year-olds would be able to walk into a liquor store and purchase alcohol or tobacco. Drug policies modeled after our disastrous experiment with alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers do not ID for age, but they do push trendy, profitable "club drugs," regardless of the dangers posed. [continues 151 words]
Hilton Head Island's children are well-versed in the culture and climate of illegal drugs. That was the message islander Larry McElynn brought to the Hilton Head Island Rotary Club's luncheon Thursday at the Port Royal Clubhouse. But McElynn, retired head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's Philadelphia Division, also offered some help. "I'm hoping that in the next three to five years, we can start a corporate alliance for drug education," McElynn told the group. [continues 446 words]
He had a promising future ahead of him. He had served four years in the Air Force, received five full college scholarships and become a college athlete with a 3.0 grade-point average. But the successful athlete instead found himself in prison serving 20 years for distribution of crack. "I did everything they told me not to do, and then it all went down the drain," he said. This convicted criminal, who asked to not be identified, is one of 20 inmates serving time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Estill who are involved in an intervention program aimed at deterring adolescents from making choices that could lead them to jail. [continues 556 words]
