A new national poll shows a clear majority of Americans in favor of legalizing and regulating marijuana – "the strongest support ever recorded," one...
Read full entry »Despite efforts to crack down on Tennessee’s prescription drug abuse epidemic, a new report shows nearly 18 million prescriptions for controlled...
Read full entry »As Tennessee celebrated four years of general crime declines last month, a devil was lost in the details: Drug crimes rose to their second-highest number in 11 years, The Tennessean reports. The story was repeated across the Nashville area, possible fallout from the state’s battle against prescription drugs and methamphetamine. The prescription drug problem could be fueling a growing appetite for heroin, law enforcement officials said.
“It is probably no surprise to law enforcement or anyone who reads the newspaper every day that drug violations are up, especially with the methamphetamine problem the state has been facing and the surge of prescription pills being diverted,” said Kristin Helm of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. The problem is felt in homes as well. As police have dealt with more drug cases, so have rehabilitation centers, which are ushering in a new generation of drug addicts. “That’s exactly what we’re seeing. I see younger and younger kids that are exposed to opioids, typically prescription opioids,” said Dr. Chapman Sledge of the Cumberland Heights Foundation, a drug and alcohol treatment organization. “I think that the prescription opioid problem in our country is epidemic and has got to be addressed. It affects individuals, it affects families, it affects society as a whole.”
Read full entry »Federal and state law-enforcement officials told a congressional panel in Arizona yesterday that efforts to combat drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States must include reducing the demand for illegal drugs in this country, not just more enforcement, the Arizona Republic report. The officials cited examples in which increased collaboration between law-enforcement agencies in the U.S. and Mexico, especially when it comes to sharing intelligence, has been effective in combating international drug organizations that use Arizona as a major corridor to smuggle marijuana, methamphetamine, and heroin into the U.S..
"When I first started, I thought I was going to arrest my way out of the problem," said Elizabeth Kempshall, a former head of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Arizona office who is now executive director of the Arizona High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, a federal program that coordinates drug-control efforts among local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies. Matthew Allen, agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Phoenix, said, "You might find this surprising coming from someone in law enforcement," but addressing the demand for illegal drugs in the U.S. is as important as cracking down on drug-smuggling organizations. "It wouldn't get produced and it wouldn't come here if we didn't use it," Allen said.
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Treating America's narcotics problem as a public health issue could held suppress crime, reports Reuters. An annual drug monitoring report, released by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, also showed a decline in the use of cocaine since 2003, a sign that drug-interdiction efforts and public education campaigns may be curtailing the use of the drug's powder and crack forms. The rate of overall illegal drug use in the U.S. has declined by about 30 percent since 1979.
The report, based on thousands of arrestee interviews and drug tests, showed that on average 71 percent of men arrested in 10 U.S. metropolitan areas last year tested positive for an illegal substance at the time they were taken into custody. The figures ranged from 64 percent of arrests in Atlanta to 81 percent in Sacramento, Calif. Officials said the report supports President Barack Obama's strategy aimed at breaking the cycle of drugs and crime by attacking substance abuse with treatment rather than jail for nonviolent offenders. Federal drug czar Gil Kerlikowske said, "These data confirm that we must address our drug problem as a public health issue, not just a criminal justice issue."
Oklahoma and Tennessee are the latest states requiring drug tests of those applying for welfare benefits. While such proposals are popular in statehouses this year, their legality is still unclear, reports Stateline. “Hard working taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to subsidize drug abuse, and this bill will help to ensure they are not,” said Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin yesterday, signing her state's law.
Lawmakers in at least 28 states this year have proposed drug testing or screening for public assistance applicants or recipients, says the National Conference of State Legislature. So far this year, Utah has passed legislation requiring applicants to complete a written questionnaire screening for drug use while Georgia passed legislation requiring drug tests for all applicants for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, commonly known as welfare. Florida passed the most extensive U.S. welfare drug testing law that included requiring applicants to pay for the test themselves and get reimbursed if they test negative. The law was in effect for four months before it was challenged and it’s now working its way through the courts.
Read full entry »Opiates are the new black, a pharmaceutical phenomenon fed by pill mills and pain, an epic addictive sickness that has become the leading cause of accidental death in Ohio, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The disease threatens to infect JobsOhio, the workplace development initiative of Gov. John Kasich. State Rep. Timothy Derickson says a coal mine owner told him 100 people showed up for a job interview and 90 of them failed the drug test.
"I was shocked to hear the extent of this problem throughout the state," Derickson said. "I didn't hear that 90 percent figure again. What I heard more often was 40 percent to 50 percent." Nancy Shafer, president of Shafer Commercial & Industrial Services, figures about a third of job candidates for her firm flunk the drug test. "I don't know how else we fix this problem," Derickson said, "except to make sure the appropriate agencies have the funds to treat it."
Read full entry »Mexican authorities blamed the Zetas gang for the slaughter of 49 people whose headless, handless bodies were recovered Sunday near a highway that leads from Monterrey, Mexico, to the South Texas border, reports the Houston Chronicle. A message left with the bodies outside the oil refining town of Cadereyta - supposedly signed by the Zetas - claimed credit for the latest in a series of recent atrocities by rival criminal gangs waging a brutal terror campaign against one another. The message's content was not disclosed.
Though the lack of heads or fingerprints obviously will complicate identification of the victims, authorities rushed to assure a beleaguered public that ordinary citizens aren't being targeted. "This is not an attack against the civilian population," said a police spokesman. The corpses of the 43 men and six women were dumped about 2 a.m. The victims were killed elsewhere as many as two days ago. Monterrey and its suburbs, home to some 4 million people, have become a crucial front of the gangland violence that has killed more than 50,000 people since December 2006.
Read full entry »Three years after a jury convicted Houston grandmother Elisa Castillo in a conspiracy to smuggle at least a ton of cocaine on tour buses from Mexico to Houston, the 56-year-old first-time offender is locked up for life without parole, reports the Houston Chronicle. "It is ridiculous," said Castillo, who is a generation older than her cell mates, and is known as "grandma" in prison. "I am no one." She is serving a longer sentence than some of the hemisphere's most notorious crime bosses - men who had multimillion-dollar prices on their heads before their capture.
The drug capos had something to trade: the secrets of criminal organizations. The biggest drug lords have pleaded guilty in exchange for more lenient sentences. "Our criminal justice system is broke; it needs to be completely revamped," declared Terry Nelson, a federal agent for 30 years and a board member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. "They have the power, and if you don't play the game, they'll throw the book at you." Castillo maintains her innocence, saying she was tricked into unknowingly helping transport drugs and money for a big trafficker in Mexico. She refused to plead guilty and went to trial. In 2010, of 1,766 defendants prosecuted for federal drug offenses in the Southern District of Texas 93.2 percent pleaded guilty rather than face trial. Of the defendants who didn't plead not guilty, 10 defendants were acquitted at trial. Also, 82 saw their cases dismissed. The statistics are similar nationwide.
Read full entry »Since the first drug court opened in 1989 in Miami, every state has embraced the popular drug treatment program for nonviolent drug offenders. says Stateline.org. The voluntary programs require that for at least a year, offenders submit to regular drug tests, check in with a judge, and complete court-prescribed treatments. If offenders fail a drug test, miss a court appearance or commit a new crime, they face strict sanctions, which can include jail.
Results show the program has consistently lowered recidivism rates, while returning on investments. It might follow that making the court mandatory would help even more people and reap more benefits for the community. New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie, a former U.S. attorney and board member of a halfway house for recovering addicts, thinks so. In his 2013 budget proposal, Christie asked for an additional $2.5 million investment in the state’s drug court program to reach all eligible offenders, not just the ones who choose it. "Budgets come and go, taxes go up and down; but saving lives, that lasts forever," Christie said. Drug court professionals are encouraged by Christie’s strong endorsement of drug court, but some worry that the untested mandatory requirement could jeopardize the program’s success.
Read full entry »More teens are smoking dope, with nearly 1 in 10 lighting up at least 20 or more times a month, says a new survey of young people reported by the Associated Press. The report by The Partnership at Drugfree.org said abuse of prescription medicine may be easing a bit among young people in grades 9 through 12, but still remains high. Partnership President Steve Pasierb says the mindset among parents is that it's just a little weed or a few pills — no biggie. "Parents are talking about cocaine and heroin, things that scare them," said Pasierb. "Parents are not talking about prescription drugs and marijuana. They can't wink and nod. They need to be stressing the message that this behavior is unhealthy."
Use of harder drugs — cocaine and methamphetamine — has stabilized, the survey showed. Past-month usage of marijuana grew from 19 percent in 2008 to 27 percent last year. Also alarming, says Pasierb, is the percentage of teens smoking pot 20 or more times a month. That rate went from 5 percent in 2008 to 9 percent last year, or about 1.5 million teens toking up that frequently. The marijuana findings track closely with those in a recent University of Michigan study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health. That study also found marijuana use rising among teens the past few years, reversing a long decline in the previous decade.
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U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch is ramping up the drug war in South Boston, bringing in the feds to rescue the opiate-ravaged neighborhood from a worsening...
Read full entry »At a closed meeting during the April 14-15 summit of President Barack Obama and 29 other regional leaders in Colombia, Obama asked the Organization of...
Read full entry »Methadone clinics often are seen as the bad neighbor nobody wants, says the Baltimore Sun. Residents concerned about crime and other quality-of-life issues protest if they even hear word of a methadone clinic, which treats those addicted to heroin and other opiates, is considering moving into the area. Drug-addiction specialists who say methadone is one of the most effective ways to treat opiate dependency are hoping a new study led by a University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty member debunks concerns that the clinics breed crime and drag down neighborhoods.
The study is the first that takes a geographic look at crime around clinics, says the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Previous research examined the link between crime and methadone users. "The concern is that methadone treatment facilities are related to a higher crime rate in the area, but there is no evidence that this is what happens," said Antonello Bonci, scientific director of the institute. "We hope this study will alleviate this concern. I hope people will look at this data and realize it is not a problem." The research, led by Susan Boyd, found that crime doesn't increase because a methadone clinic opens. "I think there is still a very bad perception of methadone clinics," she said. "There are many more people out there who need treatment, but there are not enough slots and clinics available, and part of it is because of the community stereotypes they have about methadone clinics."
Read full entry »A Miami federal judge Thursday slammed Florida Gov. Rick Scott's order requiring random drug testing for tens of thousands of state government employees as "unconstitutional" because his policy failed to specify any "public interests" to justify the invasion of privacy, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Scott said he was disappointed and vowed to appeal the ruling, saying he believes that "drug testing state employees is a common sense means of ensuring a safe, efficient and productive workforce."
But the governor would face a formidable challenge on appeal in the higher courts. U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro declared that Scott's executive order to conduct random drug tests of 85,000 state employees amounted to an "unreasonable" search under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. Her decision was based on U.S. Supreme Court precedents that have cited the Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches, concluding that governments cannot require job applicants to take drug tests absent a "special need," such as safety. Ungaro found that Scott's order was so broadly worded that it failed to meet any drug-testing searches deemed "reasonable" by the U.S. Supreme Court because of "surpassing safety interests," such as mandatory urine tests of railroad workers.
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