Yetter, Deborah 1/1/1997 - 31/12/2024
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1US KY: Allow Medical Marijuana For Terminally Ill, Lawmaker SaysWed, 21 Jun 2017
Source:Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:06/21/2017

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Saying its time has come, state Sen. Morgan McGarvey on Wednesday called on the legislature to consider legalizing medical marijuana to relieve pain and suffering of terminally ill people.

"It's 2017," McGarvey, a Louisville Democrat, told members of the joint House-Senate Health and Welfare Committee. "I think it's time we had a conversation about medical marijuana without snickering."

Members of the committee took no action on legislation McGarvey is proposing for the 2018 legislative session but no one spoke against the proposal and some committee members spoke in favor of the measure that went nowhere in the past two legislative sessions.

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2US KY: 10 Members Of Motorcycle Club Charged With Drug ConspiracySat, 10 Dec 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/10/2005

Federal Agents Think Meth Was Smuggled From Mexico

Ten members of the Iron Horsemen motorcycle club -- nine from Kentucky - -- face charges of conspiring to traffic in methamphetamine that federal agents believe was smuggled from Mexico. The 10 men, who were indicted Tuesday, may have distributed hundreds of pounds of the illegal stimulant valued at millions of dollars in the past two years, according to U.S. Attorney David Huber.

Tony King, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Louisville, said yesterday that such cases may become more common as small meth labs disappear because of laws limiting access to meth ingredients. Large quantities of the illegal stimulant manufactured in Mexico and the Southwest are being brought into Kentucky, King said. "That's the big battle we're going to be fighting right now -- the return to smuggling," he said. "We are seeing a dramatic decrease in 'tweaker labs,' the mom and pop ones."

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3US KY: Legislators Pass Meth Bill That Also Limits Internet DrugsWed, 09 Mar 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:03/09/2005

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- The General Assembly passed a bill last night to regulate Internet drug sales and restrict purchases of a key ingredient in making methamphetamine.

Senate Bill 63 -- which is aimed at curbing the spread of meth in Kentucky and requiring that people who buy drugs over the Internet have prescriptions for them -- passed the House 84-0.

The Senate later voted 33-0 for the bill, sending it to Gov. Ernie Fletcher, who plans to sign it, press secretary Jeanne Lausche said.

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4US KY: Bill Could 'Devastate' InvestigatingSat, 05 Mar 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:03/05/2005

House Change Targets State-Federal Joint Forces

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Tracking fugitives, busting meth labs, uncovering child pornography on the Internet, investigating corruption and white collar crime. These are among the tasks that federal agents and state police work on almost every day, Kentucky's top FBI agent and other federal officials told state lawmakers yesterday.

But that could end under a bill the House passed yesterday. Senate Bill 45, which would reorganize the Justice Cabinet, also would block state police and other state justice employees from joining federal investigations, a provision that was added over the objections of state and federal authorities.

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5US KY: Meth Lab Bill Nears Final PassageThu, 03 Mar 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:03/03/2005

Measure Also Goes After Internet Drugs

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A bill aimed at curbing Kentucky's growing methamphetamine problem and regulating prescription drugs sold over the Internet moved closer to becoming law yesterday.

Senate Bill 63 passed the House 97-0 and is expected to pass the Senate and receive Gov. Ernie Fletcher's signature.

Originally two bills, the combination represents Kentucky's broadest drug-control bill in recent years, supporters said.

"This may be, in my opinion, the most important bill we pass this session," said House Minority Leader Jeff Hoover, R-Jamestown.

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6US KY: Proposed Changes Stall Meth LegislationTue, 01 Mar 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:03/02/2005

Sales Of Certain Cold, Allergy Pills At Issue

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A bill aimed at curbing methamphetamine stalled in the House yesterday over two proposed amendments that backers say would gut the legislation.

The delay prompted a rash of lobbying from sheriffs and police who say amendments to Senate Bill 63 would allow meth manufacturers to get more of the certain cold and allergy medications they need to make the illegal drug.

Lt. Gov. Steve Pence said he is frustrated by the sudden appearance of the amendments.

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7US KY: Bill Targets Meth, Online Drug SalesThu, 24 Feb 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:02/25/2005

House Committee Approves Measure

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- A bill aimed at curbing methamphetamine's spread in Kentucky was combined yesterday with legislation to regulate sales of prescriptions on the Internet, and then was approved by a House committee.

Despite opposition by the Kentucky Retail Federation to parts of the meth bill, backers of both measures said they supported joining them into a single bill and believe it stands a good chance of passing.

"This will close two very big loopholes" in the fight against drugs, said Attorney General Greg Stumbo, who has pushed for regulation of Internet pharmacies.

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8US KY: Panel Oks Bill To Curb MethTue, 08 Feb 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:02/08/2005

Measure Limits Sale Of Key Ingredient

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A bill aimed at curbing the spread of methamphetamine by making it harder to get a key ingredient and toughening prosecutions is on its way to the Senate floor.

Despite objections from representatives of the Kentucky Retail Federation, the Senate Judiciary Committee last night unanimously passed Senate Bill 63, which would restrict the sale of cold and allergy medicine that can be used to make the illegal drug.

The bill also would strengthen a law used to prosecute meth manufacturers, make it illegal to expose children to meth labs and hold meth makers liable for cleaning up the toxic chemical waste they leave behind.

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9US KY: Bill Limits Sale Of Drugs Used To Make MethThu, 03 Feb 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:02/03/2005

Kentucky Measure Also Toughens Existing Law

FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Hoping to curb the spread of methamphetamine in Kentucky, state officials said yesterday that they are filing legislation to restrict sales of cold and allergy medicine that can be used to make the illegal drug. The bill also seeks to strengthen a law used to prosecute meth manufacturers, create a law making it illegal to make meth in the presence of children, and hold meth makers liable for the cost of cleaning up labs.

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10US KY: State To Create 10 Drug-Abuse Treatment CentersTue, 04 Jan 2005
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:01/04/2005

Healing Place Will Serve As A Model

Kentucky plans to spend about $9.5million to create 10 drug- and alcohol-abuse centers around the state, Gov. Ernie Fletcher announced yesterday.

"We do have a substance-abuse problem," Fletcher said at The Healing Place in Louisville, which will serve as the model for a statewide system of recovery centers. "It is in every corner of the commonwealth."

The state hopes to serve up to 1,000 people at a time who have a drug or alcohol problem and are seeking help but have no resources to pay for it.

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11US KY: Series: A Rising Blight (Part 3C)Tue, 28 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/30/2004

Rehabilitation

Resources Scarce, And Need Is Great

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. - After years of meth use, Bobby Hornback finally got help for his addiction - at the Hardin County Jail, where he was finishing eight years for making the drug.

He was fortunate.

Hornback entered one of just two state-funded programs for about 6,000 state inmates serving sentences in county jails. The six-month programs serve just 55 inmates at a time.

"Now I can see myself living sober and doing something with my life instead of wasting away," said Hornback, 29, who graduated from the program Dec. 17 and was granted parole.

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12US KY: Series: A RIsing Blight (Part 3B)Tue, 28 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/30/2004

Treating Addiction

Programs Save States Money

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - By her early 20s, Felecia Peacock was well-acquainted with alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and pills, but meth was her drug of choice for r six years.

"It's euphoric," she said. "You stay up for hours. There's no eating. There's no sleeping."

Despite the drug's powerful grip, Peacock found what two recent local studies underscore: Kentucky's publicly funded system of drug and alcohol treatment is highly effective in helping people beat methamphetamine.

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13US KY: Series: A Rising Blight (Part 3E)Tue, 28 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/30/2004

Money Crunch

Waits For Aid Long; Some Get No Help

Meth is further straining Kentucky and Indiana's underfunded systems for treating drug addicts and alcoholics, according to state officials, treatment advocates and others.

Kentucky addicts face months-long waits to get into public and private treatment centers, including Park Place, a residential center in Bowling Green with a 60-day wait for one of 28 beds.

"It's ridiculous," said Martin Wesley, its executive director.

Nearly 270,000 Kentuckians have a problem with alcohol, illegal drugs or prescription medicine such as the painkiller OxyContin, a recent state survey found.

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14US KY: Series: Treatment Stressed Over PunishmentTue, 28 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/29/2004

Expanding drug courts in Kentucky and Indiana is one way officials hope to better control the spread of meth.

In Kentucky, a pilot drug court project in Jefferson County that began in 1993 has expanded to 69 counties throughout the state and offers judges a chance to offer addicts rehabilitation instead of jail, its advocates said.

"It's helped save my life," said James Jackson, 34, a methamphetamine addict from Clinton County who now is in his fourth month of a one-year term in drug court.

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15US KY: Series: Meth - A Rising Blight (Part 2E)Mon, 27 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/27/2004

Toxic Hazards

Cleanup Costs Sap State Resources

Meth labs pose a significant environmental hazard because they use and generate such toxic chemicals as ammonia, hydrochloric acid, solvents and lye.

Methamphetamine labs create five to six pounds of toxic waste for every pound of drugs produced, according to the University of Kentucky Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service.

Volatile substances used can cause fires and explosions, a particular problem because labs typically are makeshift, set up in apartments, hotel rooms, outbuildings or even in vans or cars.

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16US KY: Series: Meth's Surge Leaves A Trail Of Misery InSun, 26 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/26/2004

Children, States And Environment Pay A Severe Price

A meth epidemic is spreading across Kentucky and Indiana, wrecking thousands of lives and putting the children of addicts at special risk.

Since abuse of the drug began to accelerate here in the late 1990s, meth users have been filling prisons and jails, creating pockets of toxic waste, overwhelming foster homes with relinquished children and burdening drug-treatment programs, The Courier-Journal has found.

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17US KY: Meth Effort Targets Suffering ChildrenThu, 16 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/16/2004

Training Will Help Spot Kids In Need

"I just can't imagine what it must be like for some of these kids," UK President Lee Todd said yesterday. Foster mother Debbie Hughes said she has walked the floor with screaming infants too agitated to sleep after prolonged exposure to methamphetamine.

She spent weeks at the hospital where a foster child she later adopted nearly died of pneumonia, his lungs damaged by the highly addictive stimulant. And some children she has cared for developed skin sores from exposure to the acids and other hazardous chemicals used to make the illegal drug.

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18US KY: Kentucky To Expand Efforts To Help Substance AbusersSat, 11 Dec 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/11/2004

Aid For Homeless May Be Redirected

Kentucky is planning a dramatic expansion of residential recovery programs for people with drug and alcohol problems by using federal tax incentives generally used to build housing for the poor.

The plan is to build up to 12 centers around Kentucky to help as many as 1,000 people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless because of substance abuse.

To finance the centers, the Kentucky Housing Corp. has set aside $2.5million a year in federal tax credits in 2005 and 2006 - part of the state's allocation of about $20million a year in credits used to spur construction of housing for the poor or homeless.

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19US KY: Stumbo Says New KBI Will Focus On Meth InvestigationsFri, 01 Oct 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:10/02/2004

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo said yesterday he is reorganizing his staff to create the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation and plans to focus on slowing methamphetamine use.

Following the announcement, Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who is state justice secretary, accused Stumbo of having a political agenda. He also said the KBI may duplicate the work of agencies such as the Kentucky State Police.

Kentucky Bureau of Investigation Attorney General Greg Stumbo said the new bureau: Will be headed by Commissioner David James, a former Louisville police officer who joined Stumbo's staff in January as chief investigator.

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20US KY: Bill Targets Those Making Meth Near KidsThu, 11 Mar 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:03/13/2004

Measure Clears House Committee Despite Objection

FRANKFORT, Ky. - A bill making it a crime to expose children to the manufacture of methamphetamine cleared a House committee yesterday despite objections that it contains a potential death sentence.

"I do not like expansion of the death penalty," said Rep. Robin Webb, D-Grayson.

Senate Bill 163, which already has passed the Senate, gained approval in the House Judiciary Committee 11-3. Webb did not vote on the measure.

The Senate bill would make it a felony to manufacture methamphetamine around children or expose them to the toxic chemicals used to produce the illegal drug. It contains a possible death sentence if a child is killed, such as in a fire or explosion.

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21US KY: State Shifts Focus On Drug CrimesTue, 20 Jan 2004
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:01/21/2004

Pence Urges Treatment Over Prison

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration wants to put more drug offenders into treatment instead of prison and expand the state's network for treating people with substance-abuse problems.

As part of that goal, the state plans to cut the number of nonviolent offenders behind bars and may defer opening a 1,000-bed prison under construction in Elliott County, said Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who also is Fletcher's justice secretary.

Pence also plans to eliminate by April1 a backlog in testing evidence at state crime laboratories, expand the use of drug courts, and conduct a comprehensive review of the state's drug problems and the resources to combat them.

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22US KY: Pence Determined To Make A Difference In War On DrugsWed, 17 Dec 2003
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/18/2003

One Goal, He Says, Is To Reduce The Backlog At State's Crime Laboratories.

When Steve Pence was inaugurated last week as lieutenant governor, he already had a second job - as secretary of the Justice Cabinet, overseeing prisons, state police and juvenile justice.

Pence said he plans to run the Justice Cabinet the same way he did as U.S. attorney for Kentucky's western district from 2001 until April, when he quit that post to become Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher's running mate.

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23US KY: Stumbo Claims Easy VictoryWed, 05 Nov 2003
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:11/06/2003

He'll Be State's Top Democrat

Democrat and veteran legislator Greg Stumbo won the race for Kentucky attorney general yesterday, easily defeating Republican Jack Wood and independent Gatewood Galbraith.

Stumbo won with about 48 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns last night. He declared victory around 8:15 p.m. in a speech at Jenny Wiley State Resort Park in Prestonsburg, where he had gathered with family and friends to celebrate.

"We are looking forward to the transition that begins tomorrow,'' said Stumbo in the speech telecast on KET. "We will hit the ground running.'' Wood received about 41 percent of the vote and Galbraith about 11 percent.

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24US KY: Galbraith Aims to Enter Attorney General's RaceWed, 02 Jul 2003
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:07/09/2003

Voters seeking another option in the race for Kentucky attorney general appear to have one.

Gatewood Galbraith - Lexington lawyer, marijuana advocate and three-time unsuccessful candidate for governor - filed yesterday to run as an independent candidate and said he expects to have no trouble getting the 5,000 signatures needed to get on the November ballot.

Galbraith, 56, said yesterday he believes he offers a refreshing alternative to the party candidates Democrat Greg Stumbo, who faces various allegations about his personal life, and Republican Jack D. Wood, who was disciplined for misconduct as a former district judge and assistant county attorney.

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25US KY: 44-Kilogram Cocaine Seizure Is Largest Ever In KentuckySat, 22 Mar 2003
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:03/22/2003

Louisville Metro Police have seized 44 kilograms of cocaine -- about 96 pounds -- in what they say is the largest such bust in Kentucky.

The cocaine was found Thursday night at the home of Thomas Johnson, 27, of the 5000 block of Oak Lea Drive after he was arrested about 6:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a store on Dixie Highway where he allegedly sold a half-kilo of cocaine to an informant, police said.

Before this, the largest such cocaine seizure occurred in September when federal agents found 33 kilograms in a car parked in west Louisville. Four men were arrested in that case.

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26US KY: 500 State Prisoners May Go FreeThu, 12 Dec 2002
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:12/13/2002

Patton Orders Plan To Reduce Corrections Costs

Gov. Paul Patton, citing the state's looming budget crisis, yesterday ordered corrections officials to draw up a plan for the early release of as many as 500 inmates to get prison costs under control.

Patton told officials to have a plan ready by late tomorrow for releasing nonviolent offenders who are near the end of their sentences. The state pays counties to house many of them in their jails.

The governor said in an interview that he expects county jails to bear the brunt of the cuts. The state pays jailers about $28 per day to house nonviolent inmates convicted of offenses such as drug crimes or theft.

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27US KY: Ex-prosecutor became Adviser to OxyContin MakerFri, 23 Nov 2001
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:11/23/2001

Famularo's New Role Came Months After He Blamed Drug For Deaths

Nine months ago, Joe Famularo -- then U.S. attorney for Kentucky's Eastern District -- described the narcotic painkiller OxyContin as an "epidemic, like some sort of locust plague rolling through southeastern Kentucky."

But upon leaving the U.S. attorney's job in June, Famularo became an unpaid consultant for Purdue Pharma, the Stamford, Conn.-based pharmaceutical company that has the exclusive right to produce and market OxyContin.

Since then, Famularo has spoken on behalf of Purdue Pharma at a Kentucky meeting of police chiefs and published an op-ed piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader in which he defended the company and its product.

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28US KY: Eastern Kentucky Narcotic SweepThu, 08 Feb 2001
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:02/10/2001

Drug Arrests Show Part Of Epidemic

Doctor Charged Isn't Sole Source Of Painkiller, Authorities Say

Convicted of felony tax fraud in Michigan and ordered to undergo treatment for a gambling problem, Dr. Ali H. Sawaf nonetheless had little trouble getting a medical license in Kentucky in 1998.

Now he sits in the Harlan County Jail, the only health professional so far charged in a sweeping investigation into illegal use of the highly addictive painkiller OxyContin.

More than 200 people have been indicted as part of ongoing federal, state and local investigations into alleged widespread trafficking in the synthetic morphine, which is similar in its effect to heroin. Federal prosecutors say 59 people have died from overdoses in the past 13 months in Eastern Kentucky.

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29US KY: Deadly Abuse Of OxycontinThu, 11 Feb 2001
Source:Courier-Journal, The (KY) Author:Yetter, Deborah Area:Kentucky Lines:Excerpt Added:01/11/2001

Abuse Of Pain Drug Increasingly Common Many States Report Problems Like Kentucky's

Reports of widespread abuse of the painkiller OxyContin in Eastern Kentucky are familiar to officials in other states battling the rapid spread of the drug.

''There is no question -it is absolutely the drug of choice for abusers,'' said Sgt. Kerry Rowland, commander of the Cincinnati police department's pharmaceutical diversion unit. ''It's rampant throughout Ohio.''

Federal officials say abuse of the prescription drug has become a major problem throughout the eastern United States and has led to an increase in thefts, pharmacy robberies and overdose deaths.

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