FOUNTAIN SPRINGS -- The North Schuylkill student drug testing policy was implemented Saturday as 22 of the 400 students in grades 7 through 12 attending the winter formal dance were tested based on randomly selected ticket numbers. "All tests were negative," Principal Sharon Snyder said Monday. As the students entered the building, their ticket numbers were called and those on the preselected random list were taken to another area in the school for testing. A swab of the cheek taken by staff of Saint Catherine Medical Center Fountain Springs took only a few moments and the students were then able to rejoin their friends on the dance floor. Snyder said the tests were divided equally between high school and junior high students. [continues 292 words]
AMHERST - It looks like the Extravaganja festival held on the common in the spring could turn into a real bummer for its organizers. The town wants the UMass Cannabis Reform Coalition to pay for a police detail to watch over the festival, which seeks to promote awareness about marijuana laws. And that's not sitting well with members of the coalition, and last night more than two dozen members crowded the Select Board meeting to fight the measure. Officials had told the group recently they would have to pay for two police officers to cover a full day of activity at the April event. Town Manager Laurence R. Shaffer said officials have discussed at length charging when a private group reserves the common for an event that would require a police presence. [continues 266 words]
Washington, D.C. - Congressman Pete Visclosky announced that legislation signed into law by the President includes $800,000 for anti-drug programs in Northwest Indiana. As part of his efforts to fight and prevent crime in Northwest Indiana, Visclosky secured the funding for Indiana National Guard's Drug Demand Reduction Program, which will provide support to several drug-prevention programs for area students in Northwest Indiana. "The Drug Demand Reduction Program offers educational programs to prevent Northwest Indiana students from using drugs, which is a critical first step in reducing drug use and crime in our area," said Visclosky. "This funding is a much-needed investment in our community, our children, and our quality of life." [continues 179 words]
San Francisco is considering opening a room where drug addicts can inject themselves with heroin, cocaine and other drugs under the supervision of nurses. Few ideas can be considered more foolish than this one. Drug use is illegal. Governments should do nothing to encourage or even tolerate it. Yet this is the ultimate example of a mixed message, where drug use is condemned at the same time it is tolerated. It is, in effect, giving up the effort to fight the insidious and awful damage drugs do to people by giving them a place to do it. [continues 71 words]
A collision of conflicting desires caused the crisis our county government faces in paying for Schuylkill County's prison. The public wants drug dealers off the street. The public wants drunk drivers off the road. The public wants longer sentences. However, the public also wants to cut costs. It seems the county government, for several years now, has not budgeted enough money for the prison, at least according to the warden and the county's budget analyst. It is sort of like a private household that ignores the rising cost of energy and keeps budgeting the same amount of money each year to heat its domicile. Then, when the oil bills or electric bills come in, the money has to be gotten from someplace else. [continues 352 words]
Remember the big push in Connecticut last spring to legalize medical marijuana as the first step toward decriminalizing pot possession and use? Remember how supporters claimed, as they always do, that marijuana is a harmless drug, as if a substance that affects the mind and changes perceptions and emotions can be regarded as benign? Well, new data from Australian Institute for Criminology's Drug Use Monitoring program finds "cannabis continues to be the most commonly detected drug" among criminals. Nationwide, 55 percent of men and 53 percent of women tested positive for pot after their arrest in 2006. Forty-seven percent admitted to illicit drug use before committing at least one of the offenses for which they were charged, and 46 percent were found to be drug dependent, with marijuana in most cases serving as their gateway to addiction. [continues 186 words]
The Schuylkill County district attorney will hire a third full-time prosecutor and Pottsville police will have the ability to give officers overtime in the war on drugs thanks to a $449,993 federal grant, city and county officials said Monday. Schuylkill Community Education Council "This is a substantial grant," said District Attorney James P. Goodman, "and it will go a long way in helping local law enforcement." The COPS 2007 Methamphetamine Initiative grant is targeting communities facing significant meth problems. This year, the federal government awarded 117 law enforcement agencies across the nation a total of $43.6 million through the program. And the only other grant this year was awarded to a law enforcement agency in the state, a $377,965 grant to state police, according to the Department of Justice Web site. [continues 1059 words]
It was not a banner day for the free speech rights of students. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a high school principal in Juneau, Alaska, did not violate the free speech rights of a student when she suspended him for unfurling a 14-foot banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" as the Olympic torch parade passed by the school on its way to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City. Whenever the nation's highest court hears a case that could ultimately restrict free speech, the nation should cross its fingers. [continues 288 words]
Police Say Port Henry Man Had Meth Lab In His Home PORT HENRY -- A Port Henry man accused of running a meth lab out of his home was in Moriah Town Court for a felony hearing Monday. John R. Boyle, 33, of 6 Second Lane Building 2, Port Henry has been in the Essex County Jail since his arrest by State Police earlier this month. Boyle was a substance-abuse counselor at the Moriah State Shock Incarceration Facility in Mineville when State Police raided his home. [continues 457 words]
Thirty-Six People From Franklin County Accused Of Illegally Buying Or Selling Prescription Drugs. MALONE -- Three dozen people, half of whom received public assistance, were arrested Tuesday for selling or buying prescription drugs paid for by Franklin County taxpayers. District Attorney Derek Champagne said five to seven of them were making a living selling prescription drugs they had allegedly obtained by either: Exaggerating symptoms at a doctor's office. Faking injuries in automobile accidents. Coaching each other before doctor visits to ensure they got more-potent prescriptions. [continues 182 words]
AMHERST - Thousands came to the town's common where the UMass Cannabis Reform Coalition yesterday held its 16th annual Extravaganja - a protest of current marijuana laws with a rally featuring live music, political speakers and vendors. Jonathan Werner, 21, a junior at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and current president of the coalition, said that the group urges relaxation of marijuana laws. "We want to decriminalize marijuana in Massachusetts and we want to raise awareness of our legalization effort," he said, adding that he believes the penalties people get for smoking marijuana are unfair. [continues 349 words]
Many thanks to The Republican for your excellent editorial, "Marijuana as medicine a decision for doctors" (March 22). In the editorial you pose the question: "Is her doctor undermining this nation's war on drugs by prescribing marijuana to her?"" I submit that the question should be: "Is this nation's war on drugs undermining her doctor by denying marijuana to her?" By denying the efficacy of cannabis as medicine our federal government perpetrates a fraud. Cannabis is one of humanity's oldest - and undeniably safest - medicines, appearing in the Chinese pharmacopeia 5,000 years ago. [continues 172 words]
LAKE PLACID -- Close to 4,000 people spent two nights reveling in music at snoe.down last weekend. Venue hosts at the Olympic Regional Development Authority found the crowd to be generally peaceful and fun-loving, said spokesman Sandy Caligiore. "I think they were here for the music and the company of each other. I found them to be polite." Police officials found other things. "They were very politely saying please and thank you, but they are bringing drugs into our community," Lake Placid Police Chief Scott Monroe said Monday. [continues 528 words]
Whenever the nation's highest court hears a case that could ultimately restrict free speech, the nation should hold its breath. Here's the case heard this week by the Supreme Court: In 2002, Joseph Frederick and his fellow students at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska were allowed to leave school grounds to watch the Olympic torch as it was paraded through the city. Frederick and some friends unfurled a 14-foot banner on a public sidewalk across the street from the school. The message on the banner read, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." [continues 282 words]
Angel Raich, a California mother of two, has an inoperable brain tumor and other serious ailments so painful that she needs drugs every two or three hours. Her doctor prescribed nearly three dozen drugs before he found a drug that actually relieves her pain and stimulates her appetite - the only medicine that is keeping her alive. It's marijuana. Is her doctor undermining this nation's war on drugs by prescribing marijuana to her? That's a ridiculous question. A three-judge appeals panel ruled last week, however, that Raich is not immune from federal prosecution if she uses the drug. [continues 246 words]
What a long, strange trip it's been for Lyle E. Craker, a professor at the University of Massachusetts who wants to grow marijuana for medical research. An administrative law judge recommended on Monday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration allow Craker to grow high-grade marijuana on the Amherst campus. Here again is a brief history of Craker's frustrating efforts to study marijuana, beginning in June 2001 when he applied to the DEA for a permit: The DEA said first that it had lost his application. [continues 265 words]
AGAWAM - If friends try to get you to drink or smoke, they are not real friends, Angelina Pietroniro said. Pietroniro was one of the four essay contest winners who read their compositions to an enthusiastic crowd in the Middle School auditorium at the DARE graduation on Friday. DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Parents were invited, and each of the fifth-graders got a certificate and T-shirt and shook hands with Mayor Richard A. Cohen; state Rep. Rosemary Sandlin, D-Agawam; Police Chief Robert D. Campbell and Assistant School Superintendent William Sapelli. [continues 258 words]
WILBRAHAM - The Board of Selectmen has given permission to Police Chief Allen M. Stratton to fill the position of DARE officer for the town's elementary and middle schools. The position has been vacant since DARE officer Dennis J. LaPlante went out on sick leave. He retired in October. Town Administrator William J. Fogarty told Stratton Tuesday he must check with the town accountant to determine when the funds for the position are available. The funding for the position is included in the budget for the current fiscal year, Stratton said. [continues 161 words]
The 12-year old sitting next to your son may be the 1 of 10 middle schoolers who already has tried alcohol. By 10th grade, half of 15-year-olds have experimented with alcohol and may be encouraging your child to use it, too. Our roads are unsafe, with an estimated 3 million youths aged 12 to 20 driving under the influence of alcohol each year. Drugs are another problem. Of the adults who used marijuana for several years, a few said they started before turning 12, and more than half report using marijuana for the first time between the ages of 12 to 17, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the lead Federal agency for improving the quality and availability of substance abuse prevention, addiction treatment, and mental health services in the Unites States. [continues 391 words]
I'm writing in response to a recent letter to the editor in support of the DARE substance abuse prevention program. It is obvious that he had a positive experience with the Wilbraham DARE program. While DARE apparently worked for the writer, it is important to know if DARE is equally beneficial for all, or even many, young people. For earlier versions of the curriculum, evaluation results showed no statistically meaningful impact of DARE, (see "Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General"). [continues 222 words]
SPRINGFIELD - The Phoenix Houses of New England will receive $1.1 million in grant money to provide mobile treatment services to juvenile offenders and their families in the Hampden County Juvenile Drug Court. The grant, awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration during the next three years, will strengthen the partnership between Phoenix House and the Juvenile Drug Court. "It is difficult for many working parents to be as involved in their child's treatment as they need to be," Susan O'Connor, lead case coordinator for the Hampden County Drug Court, said. "This model treatment program brings the treatment to them, and addresses the needs of the adolescent and the family, both individually and as a unit." [continues 154 words]
In reading your recent news article on concerns regarding disposal of hypodermic needles, an obvious solution came to mind. When the Bottle Bill was passed, it required those who sold beverages in containers that were covered by the bill, to accept the returned bottles and cans. Also those who sell oil must, by law, accept the oil that was replaced by the oil they sold. Doesn't it make sense to require those who sell hypodermic needles to also have an approved receptacle in their store for the return of used hypodermic needles? Doctors and hospitals have medical waste collected. This could be easily done with or without a deposit and may require an amendment to the law. Hopefully now, that needles can be purchased legally and inexpensively, we can save the taxpayers money by doing away with the needle exchange program. Donald J. Flannery Wilbraham [end]
Imagine The Following Tv Commercial: A close-up shot of an egg. A narrator says, "This is your tax money." Then the egg rolls onto the floor, smashing open. The narrator continues: "And this is your tax money working to keep kids off drugs." It might bring to mind a famous anti-drug spot. "This is your brain," a voice said as an egg was shown on screen. "And this is your brain on drugs," he continued ominously as the egg was seen frying in a sizzling skillet. [continues 316 words]
The most enlightening speech at the United Nations this week, I'm sorry to say, was the one by Evo Morales of Bolivia. I don't mean it was a good or even a coherent speech. That would be too much to expect from the world leaders' annual gasathon. The rhetorical bar is extremely low. Morales, like his friend Hugo Chavez, spent much of his time ranting about a new world order based on the economic policies that have worked such wonders in Cuba. [continues 690 words]
When Gov. W. Mitt Romney vetoed a bill this summer to allow the sale of needles without a prescription, a spokesman explained why the governor was opposed to the legislation. "Legalizing needles is like giving matches to an arsonist," said Eric Fehrnstrom. The Legislature overrode the governor's veto, and on Sept. 18, Massachusetts became the 48th state in the nation allowing over-the-counter sales of hypodermic needles. The legislation still has its critics who say it will encourage illegal drug use, but public health officials say it is the single most important prevention legislation in this state in the past decade. [continues 262 words]
Thanks to columnist John Tierney for an intelligent article on the "Coca Wars" ("Put the coca back in Coca-Cola," The Republican, Sept. 26. ), Many are unfamiliar with benign coca leaf. They think it is a strong intoxicant. It is not. It has been said, "coca leaf is to cocaine, as rye bread is to rye whiskey." But the "powers that be" will never decriminalize it, or the other fairly innocuous - nay even therapeutic - devil's weed: ganja, kif, herb, bhang, charas, majum, grass, Kannabis, marijuana. [continues 52 words]
This letter is in response to The Republican news article titled: "Wilbraham's DARE under board scrutiny." (Sept. 19). I have been a resident of Wilbraham since I was born. I attended Minnechaug Regional High School and graduated in 2000. During the course of my education at the elementary and high school levels, I was exposed to various Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programs and classroom education. Dennis LaPlante was my DARE officer. Through his teachings, lectures, and classroom exercises, I began to develop a friendship with him and viewed him as a role-model. [continues 201 words]
PLATTSBURGH -- Prescription medication abuse and addiction is in the North Country, is it is across the nation. "We have known for several years that prescription medication abuse has become more prevalent," said New York State Bureau of Criminal Investigation Capt. Robert LaFountain, who began to notice the growing trend of prescription drug abuse in the 1980s. "We know there is a black market for prescription medication and we have seen an increase in drug overdoses in the last years." According to LaFountain, pain-relieving medications are in a higher demand and have led to an increase in overdoses and drug-related fatalities in the area, frequently involving the dangerous pain reliever fentanyl. [continues 680 words]
This is in response to the article "Wilbraham's DARE under board scrutiny." (The Republican, Sept. 19.) It's smart business to educate our kids about the risks of using drugs. But that message is best delivered by qualified health care professionals and counselors, not by uniformed police officers and DARE. Ten- and 11-year-old kids will pretty much do whatever a cop tells them, including the recitation of anti-drug mantras. Such cooperation makes parents smile, but ignores that most kids of that age are not able to ask the tough questions to a police officer. [continues 177 words]
When 16-year Correction Officer Michael D. Bradish was arrested and charged with drug trafficking in Bare Hill Correctional Facility last week, speculation immediately roiled up as to whether officers entering prisons for work ought routinely to be searched for contraband. As insulting as some officers might regard the idea, it isn't a bad one at all. Of the thousands of correction officers at work in the one federal and 10 state correctional facilities in our three-county area, only a rare few make news for violating the trust the public has invested in them. When one does stray, it does make news, of course: Their professional charge is to enhance law and order; when they do just the opposite, it is as newsworthy as a doctor cheating Medicaid or a teacher abusing a student. [continues 327 words]
WILBRAHAM - The Board of Selectmen will decide in January whether to replace the Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer in the elementary and middle schools. Police Officer Dennis LaPlante, who has been on sick leave, anticipates retiring in January. Selectman Patrick Brady said studies have shown there is no statistical difference in drug use depending on whether students have had a DARE program or not. School Superintendent Paul C. Gagliarducci said it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of a DARE program. [continues 208 words]
Pharmacist Tracey Cole of Louis & Clark Pharmacy in Holyoke said yesterday she understands the public health sentiment supporting the selling of $5 bags of 10 hypodermic needles to people who use them, including intravenous drugs users. But she said she is concerned about how and where people will discard the syringes. So far the state has designated fire and police stations and other municipal buildings as discard sites and directed pharmacists to hand out literature to patrons detailing the proper way to discard a needle. [continues 522 words]
BOSTON - Hypodermic syringes are scheduled to be for sale without a prescription on Monday in Massachusetts under a controversial new law that passed over the objections of Gov. W. Mitt Romney. Donna E. Rheaume, spokeswoman for the state Department of Public Health, said the law allows pharmacies to sell the syringes without a prescription, but pharmacies are not required to participate in the law. She said the law goes into effect on Monday. Rheaume said the state Department of Public Health is developing an educational pamphlet for distribution to people who buy needles without a prescription. Rheaume said the pamphlets would be available at drug stores on Monday. [continues 240 words]
PROSPECT -- A four-legged soldier in the war against drugs will make the rounds at Woodland High School this fall. The Region 16 Board of Education approved a plan Wednesday to allow state police to bring a drug-sniffing dog into the high school, which serves students from Beacon Falls and Prospect. High school Principal Arnold Frank is in the process of drafting a letter that would be sent home to parents in September or October, informing them of the new policy. [continues 279 words]
LAKE PLACID -- A Wilmington woman has been charged with selling fentanyl, a prescription drug that turned up in the bloodstream of a man who died of a drug overdose. Jonathan Bathmaier, 28, was found dead in his AuSable Forks home on the night of May 17. An autopsy showed he died of an accidental, mixed-drug overdose. Fentanyl was part of the drug cocktail. State Police arrested Jennifer M. Pabins, 26, of Wilmington on Monday and charged her with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. [continues 263 words]
TORRINGTON -- The police department's detective division is on a roll. Investigators say they arrested 58-year-old Simon Veras Thursday evening after finding drugs and cash inside his apartment. Narcotics were packaged in three small bags, ready for sale, Lt. Todd Schaller said on Friday. Police charged Veras with intent to sell freebase cocaine. They found roughly 4 grams of cocaine and nearly $3,000 in cash. The arrest was another in a string of busts made by the department, and the second within the last two weeks. Detectives raided two apartments -- on Prospect Street and Birge Road -- July 13 and found drugs and cash connected with one operation. [continues 196 words]
Seized Vehicle On Display As Warning TORRINGTON -- If dealers pushing heroin and crack cocaine have not noticed a recent barrage of busts in the city, the police chief has a plan to make his anti-drug plans clear. A vehicle seized from a drug raid will be parked in front of the Police Department with a warning for everyone to see, Chief Robert Milano said Saturday. The warning, which will call attention to the former owner, will proclaim what Milano has been saying for months: [continues 460 words]
NORTHAMPTON - A former Chicopee man yesterday admitted he arranged for cocaine to be brought into the Hampshire jail, but his lawyer said he did it to purchase soap and toothpaste. "When a person can't wash appropriately, they need to get money to wash," defense lawyer David Roundtree said. However, a jail official said that basic hygiene supplies are provided to inmates who cannot afford to purchase them. David Barbosa, 31, pleaded guilty in Hampshire Superior Court to delivering drugs to a correctional facility and possession of cocaine with intent to distribute. He admitted he arranged for his wife, Julie Stoi-Barbosa, formerly of Chelsea, to bring a $10 bag of cocaine to the jail and exchange it through a kiss. [continues 267 words]
CARTERVILLE -- One of the most gripping sessions of the Third Annual Methamphetamine Awareness Conference this week was the effects of meth production on children who are exposed. The chemicals used to cook meth, along with the toxic compounds and byproducts resulting from its manufacture produce toxic fumes, vapors and spills. A child living at a meth lab may inhale or swallow toxic substances or inhale the secondhand smoke of adults who are using meth, receive an injection or an accidental skin prick from discarded needles or other drug paraphernalia, absorb methamphetamine and other toxic substances through the skin following contact with contaminated surfaces; clothing, or food, or become ill after directly ingesting chemicals or an intermediate product. Exposure to low levels of some meth ingredients may produce headache, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Exposure to high levels can produce shortness of breath, cough; headache, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. Exposure to low levels of some meth ingredients may produce shortness of breath, coughing, chest pain, dizziness, lack of coordination, eye and tissue irritation, chemical burns, to the skin, eyes, mouth and nose, and death. Corrosive substances may cause injury through inhalation or contact with skin. Solvents can irritate the skin, mucous membranes, and respiratory tract and and affect the affect the central nervous system. Chronic exposure to the chemicals typically used in meth manufacturing may cause cancer, damage to the brain, liver, kidney, spleen, iummunologic system, and may result in birth defects. [continues 383 words]
SPRINGFIELD - Three weekend heroin overdoses and a possible overdose death have triggered a police investigation and prompted a warning to steer clear of the highly addictive substance. Narcotics Bureau Lt. Charles G. Cook said that an autopsy is being conducted on a woman who died on Friday. Police believe she was killed by a heroin overdose. Three non-fatal overdoses, all in the Forest Park section of the city, have police concerned that some heroin being sold in Springfield may be particularly strong. [continues 329 words]
WATERBURY -- Officials promised Wednesday to improve security at the crime-infested William A. Begg public housing apartments in the city's Brooklyn neighborhood. Housing commissioners held a special meeting Wednesday afternoon with tenants to outline their proposals to make the apartments safer. Recently, the daughter of a tenant told the Republican-American that people go to the bathroom in the washing machines, and urinate in hallways and elevators. She said drug dealing was rampant and anyone who wants to get into the building just has to pull on the locked doors and they will pop open. [continues 382 words]
CEDAR RAPIDS -- A purer and more potent form of heroin is spreading across eastern Iowa and leaving a trail of bodies in its path, said state and federal officials. The resurgence of the opiate is to blame for six deaths in Linn County in the last 19 months, and 25 deaths across Iowa's eastern half in the last five years, U.S. Attorney Charles Larson said Thursday. Arrests and convictions are up as well, as more than 20 cases have been filed in the federal Northern District court in Iowa since August, Larson said. [continues 385 words]
Thumbs UP, Thumbs Down As expected, Gov. W. Mitt Romney vetoed a bill yesterday that would allow over-the-counter sale of hypodermic needles. The governor' veto is nonetheless disappointing. Lawmakers appear to have enough votes to override the governor's veto, and they should do so before the end of the formal session on July 31. Massachusetts can save lives, slow the spread of infections and save millions of dollars in health-care costs by making clean needles available without a prescription. [continues 90 words]
WATERBURY -- During his 51 years in the North End, Joseph Perugini has watched while drug dealers claimed many street corners and much of the area's stock of multi-family homes decayed under the watch of absentee landlords. It's a far cry from the relatively quiet blue-collar neighborhood where, decades ago, Perugini fetched groceries from corner stores for his mother and walked to visits with the family doctor. Now, the city is strongly considering construction of a new elementary school in the North End, not far from Perugini's three-family home. And city staff plan to couple the school construction with an ambitious plan to turn around blighted housing properties and shuttered commercial buildings. [continues 381 words]
Thank you for your editorial support for syringe access. ("No harmful side effects if needles become legal," The Republican, June 9). Needle exchange programs have been shown to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug use. They also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for an especially hard to reach population. Unfortunately, such programs give rise to a "not in my backyard" (NIMBY) reaction. An alternative is syringe access regulation. Allowing drug users to purchase clean needles in pharmacies has the added benefit of not costing taxpayers a dime. Unfortunately, tough-on-drugs politicians have built careers on confusing drug prohibition's collateral damage with drugs themselves. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant increase the profitability of trafficking. [continues 118 words]
The United States Food and Drug Administration relies on the nation's top scientists and medical experts to determine whether a drug is safe or harmful. Sometimes, the decision is the result of studies done at public universities, such as the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. On other occasions, it is based on a review by the government's own top scientists. That's mostly how it works. On Thursday, the FDA ruled that there are "no sound scientific studies" to support the medical use of marijuana. This time, the FDA ignored the advice of its own top scientists. In 1999, a review by the Institute of Medicine, a part of the National Academy of Sciences, the nation's most respected scientific advisory agency, concluded that marijuana is "moderately well-suited for particular conditions, such as chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting and AIDS wasting." [continues 234 words]
Cheap Drug Turning Young Lives To Dust Sliding the needle out from the crook of his elbow, Ben snapped off the rubber strap, sending the heroin-spiked blood through his veins. "That's it," he said. Suddenly the shaking and pacing stops and Ben becomes calm. After a moment's pause, Ben, a 20-year-old heroin user from Greenfield who asked that his real name not be used, thought about what he wants people to know most about his addiction. [continues 1460 words]
AGAWAM - Faced with growing concerns about student drug use, school officials have formed a new district-wide support team for students at risk of using drugs, school officials said yesterday. The team, formed by Superintendent of Schools Mary A. Czajkowski, includes administrators, adjustment counselors, parents and Daniel Bonafilia, the high school's new resource officer, Czajkowski said. "The message has to be clear: School is a place for learning, not for drugs," Czajkowski said. The formation of the team, which will meet weekly, comes a month after the publication of statistics gathered in a survey by members of The Mirror, the student newspaper at Agawam High School. [continues 322 words]
SPRINGFIELD - A federal prosecutor yesterday told U.S. District Court Judge Michael A. Ponsor that he and other members of the federal law enforcement community are frustrated with the number of times in the last year Ponsor has given sentences below federal sentencing guidelines. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd E. Newhouse told Ponsor he was making his comments with respect, but frustration, as he asked Ponsor to sentence Lee Henry, 38, of Springfield to 30 years to life for selling heroin and cocaine. Ponsor ultimately sentenced Henry to 12 years for those crimes, committed in 2003, and an additional four years for two other crimes. Newhouse said that since a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year allowed judges more flexibility in sentencing in some cases, "downward departures and deviations in this courtroom have become the norm." He said that there is a reason to keep sentences relatively consistent for the same crimes and not deviate from sentencing guidelines. [continues 487 words]
SPRINGFIELD - Cracking down on the illegal manufacture of the dangerous street drug methamphetamine, better protecting consumers from the devastating financial effects of identity theft, and strengthening registration laws for convicted sex offenders are among the hundreds of new laws that take effect in January, according to State Senator Dale Righter (R-Mattoon). Senate Bill 273 limits the purchase of cold medicines containing the powder form of pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient used to make methamphetamine, and requires individuals to show identification and sign a log when purchasing these medicines. Senate Bill 273 further prohibits anyone younger than 18 from buying medicines that contain pseudoephedrine. [continues 445 words]
