Officials involved in workplace drug testing got a chilling reminder recently of the hazards of false readings. Clinton administration officials are reviewing tests for marijuana after the acquittal of an Air Force master sergeant court-martialed for allegedly using the drug. A military jury acquitted Master Sgt. Spencer Gaines in December after finding that an over-the-counter health product may have caused him to fail drug tests. Gaines, a weight lifter stationed at Dover AFB, Del., testified that he began using Hemp Liquid Gold in 1996 as a replacement for essential fatty acids. He bought the product at a Washington, D.C. grocery store. [continues 1008 words]
by Susan Byrnes Seattle Times staff reporter Just three weeks after his loss to Mayorelect Paul Schell, Seattle City Councilman Charlie Chong did something his opponents and even some colleagues had said he couldn't do: He teamed up with two other council members to introduce a major piece of legislation and helped pass it. The resolution, cosponsored by Councilwomen Tina Podlodowski and Martha Choe, directs a sweeping revision of the city's drugtesting policy, narrowing the classes of new employees who must undergo the tests. The council passed the resolution yesterday 53. [continues 575 words]
Better police work and longer prison sentences also contributed,a Justice Department report says. At a time when many politicians and lawenforcement officials are saying their innovative police tactics are responsible for the sharp drop in homicide rates over the past five years, a new Justice Department study has found that the most important reason for the decline may be the waning of the crackcocaine epidemic. The Justice Department report, commissioned by Attorney General Janet Reno, acknowledges that improved police work, along with longer prison sentences and improved emergency medical care, have all contributed to the lower homicide rate. But the report suggests that the close link between crack and homicide may be a fundamental dynamic that explains why homicide rates have declined not only in cities such as New York that have instituted aggressive police strategies, but also in Los Angeles, where the police have been demoralized or have not adopted new methods. [continues 363 words]
Yeltsin: Moonshine vodka deadly By RICHARD C. PADDOCK Los Angeles Times KAZBEGI CHECKPOINT, Georgia Truck driver Taimuraz Taimazov heats his spaghetti with a blowtorch. His kitchen table is a plank by the side of the road, and he sleeps in his cab in a long line of trucks parked near the Russian border. For the past five weeks, the trucker has been stuck in this narrow mountain pass in a dispute with his native Russia, but he never lacks for something to drink: He is hauling 30 tons of nearly pure alcohol. [continues 829 words]
Headline:Drug czar's trial a tricky case for Mexico PROBE:'The Mexican government has a tremendous dilemmahow far to take these investigations,'says a political scientist. By SAM DILLONThe New York Times ALMOLOYA DE JUAREZ,MexicoSeveral days a week,Gen. Jesus Gutierrez Rebollo and two of his former aides file into a courtroom on a windswept mountain plateau to hear new testimony in the drug trial unfolding against them. Gutierrez, the highestranking Mexican official ever tried on narcotics charges, sits impassively behind a steel grating, listening as the prosecution's story of his corruption be traffickers is told and retold. Occasionally, he stands erect in khaki prison garb, pushing his spectacles up his nose to address the court. [continues 784 words]
Headline:Study finds killings increase in homes with drug abuse Crime:Those living with abusers or alcoholics are more likely to be murdered than those in drugfree environments. By CHRISTOPHER S.WRENThe New York Times People who do not use illegal drugs but live in households where such drugs are used are 11 times as likely to be killed as those living in drugfree homes,according to a study reported today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Killings were also 70 percent more likely among nondrinkers in households where alcoholism exist, according to the study, which examined the effect of substance abuse on homicides and suicides in three counties encompassing Seattle, Memphis and Cleveland. [continues 460 words]
