What do Tom Cruise, the Fox News Channel, Rush Limbaugh and Keene State College's own Chuck Weed have in common? Not much, unless you ask Keith Olbermann, political pundit for MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, who, on every show, counts down the top three worst people in the world. Weed, who is also a New Hampshire state representative, recently had the distinct honor of holding the nightly title of "one of the worst persons in the world" for his proposed House Bill 92, legislation for the decriminalization of marijuana in the Granite State. [continues 215 words]
FREEPORT - The addiction begins innocently enough. A little brown bottle filled with a prescription medication for some kind of pain is dispensed by the pharmacy and stapled neatly inside a small, white bag. Some patients take the medication until the pain is gone and that's it. For others, that one little bottle can lead to more bottles, in what becomes a never-ending cycle of pill-popping and doctor shopping. Michael N. Martin, 40, of Orangeville, knows all about doctor shopping. He did that, he said, after back pain became so intense he felt a greater and greater need to use more and more medication. Martin, a paramedic, fell off a roof and injured his back in 1996. Surgeries came in 1997, 2000 and 2003. Another herniated disc after that resulted in doctors' recommendations for even more surgery. [continues 1154 words]
Detention Deputy Lena Reeves of the Polk County Sheriff's Office appears to have abused prescription drugs and manipulated the people around her to support her addiction. She lost her job, her standing in the community and her dignity. "Jelly Belly" Rush Limbaugh, on the other hand, abused prescription drugs and manipulated the people around him. He, however, gets to stay on the air, collect a big fat paycheck and continue to spew hatred. Maj. Dale Tray, head of the Sheriff's Security Division, acknowledged a breakdown of command in the Reeves matter, recognized the "buck stops here" and resigned his position in disgrace. [continues 140 words]
Willie Nelson's marijuana charges drive home the point of how ridiculous the war on drugs has become (Peach Buzz, Living, Sept. 20). "Zero tolerance," "mandatory minimum" and "the largest prison population in the history of all civilization" become little more than political catchphrases when they apply to family. Even hard-core conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh (opiate abuse), Jeb Bush (daughter - -- stimulants abuse) and Randy "Duke" Cunningham (son -- marijuana import) become reasonably soft on crime when their families' values are audited. It is high time that we ask ourselves why we build countless prisons to house zero-threat citizens. Ted Pettus Atlanta [end]
In his Sept. 4 letter to the editor, "Forgotten topic," Russell Hebert called attention to this nation's so-called war on drugs. Unquestionably, we are losing this war. Hebert called attention to crime, deaths and the drain on law-enforcement resources. What he did not mention is that the abuse of alcohol causes more crime and death than the abuse of illegal drugs. When I served as one of the non-addicted members of the board of the Greater Indianapolis Council on Alcoholism, my eyes were opened to the sobering fact that alcohol is legally available at just about every convenience, drug and grocery store in America. [continues 140 words]
Bridgeport Mayor John M. Fabrizi: admitted cocaine use; sought drug treatment on his own; so far, no criminal charges. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy: addiction to prescription medicines; sentenced to drug treatment for driving under the influence of prescription drugs. Rush Limbaugh: painkiller addiction; granted leniency for prescription-drug fraud in exchange for undergoing treatment for drug addiction; possession of Viagra under someone else's name may change this sentence. Reviewing these cases, one might be led to believe that the norm is for non-violent drug abusers to receive drug treatment instead of incarceration. This is not the case. America's "war on drugs" policies have led to a massive increase in the number of non-violent drug offenders in our prisons. In 1986, 8.6 percent of state prisoners were incarcerated for drug offenses. In 2002, 21.4 percent were, although there was no increase in the rates of illicit drug use. In absolute numbers, over 200,000 more people are in state prison for drug offenses today than in the mid-1980s. [continues 220 words]
The criminal justice system continues to treat Rush Limbaugh with the fairness that he claims the system denies him. Last week, the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office correctly concluded that Mr. Limbaugh broke no law by having 29 Viagra pills that were for him but had been prescribed in someone else's name. That decision spares the talk-show host any problems related to his earlier deal with the state attorney's office on a doctor-shopping charge for prescription pain relievers. In both cases, prosecutors stuck to the law and acted professionally. [continues 173 words]
Here we go again, the latest installment of "As the Pundit Panics." While it may be true that Viagra isn't real high on the taboo list of things that Rush Limbaugh isn't supposed to have, in his deal to stay out of jail (read: threw money at it), he promised that he wouldn't have any prescriptions that weren't meant for him. As you may or may not recall, Mr. Limbaugh was at the center of a doctorshopping scandal, admitting that he was addicted to pain killers. As I recall from a radio broadcast some time back, he said, all these people who are addicts, who go commit crimes to get their fix, should be shipped off to an island where they won't be any bother to the public. [continues 80 words]
Rush Limbaugh's detention by border control officials for possession of Viagra without a prescription in his name has crossed over into the absurd [The Reliable Source, June 27]. Tens of millions of Americans take pharmaceutical drugs, sometimes many of them. Some people like to put all their medications in one container or a pillbox, or to keep the original prescription container at home so it doesn't get lost. When the amount is small enough to indicate it is almost certainly for personal use, it seems ludicrous for Customs officials or anyone else to hassle people about it. [continues 55 words]
I feel bad for the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office. The way things are going, it might make good sense to create a prosecutorial unit called the Right-Wing Pundit Office of Aggravated Mopery. Things used to be simpler before national scolds like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh moved here and began exhibiting their boundless hubris and flexible personal virtues in our midst. It's so much easier for prosecutors to deal with the real business of the day: street crime committed by people with dead-end lives, little education and rotten futures. [continues 496 words]
Outta' my mind on a Monday moanin': It is never good to bash your head; however, if you are going to bash your head, better to have a helmet on it. Football, hockey, lacrosse and baseball players know it. Race car drivers and bicyclists know it. Motorcyclists know it. I don't need to go into all the arguments for and against a law making cyclists do what's best for them and for the rest of us. (We went through this already regarding seat belts in cars.) [continues 464 words]
I know a lot about drugs and the drug war, both personally and professionally. Drugs have had a positive and a detrimental impact on my life. I have laughed, played and found inspiration while intoxicated. I have also struggled, fought and cried because of my addiction to drugs. I have spent the last six years working for an organization that is working to reform drug laws. I have read thousands of newspapers articles, had thousands of conversations and spent thousands of days thinking about drugs. What follows are the top 10 (plus one) things I have learned from my immersion with drugs and the drug war. [continues 978 words]
Chronic pain management is officially part of the war on drugs. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Justice Department have had such bad results with controlling the illegal importation and use of heroin and cocaine that both departments have turned their focus on pain-management clinics to get some "success" stories. With a growing population of people suffering from severe chronic pain, prescribing strong opiates such as Oxycontin, have risen. Oxycontin, a Schedule II drug, gives up to 12 hours of time released pain control. [continues 415 words]
Before I began this column, I typed six key words into an online search engine: Patrick Kennedy, Rush Limbaugh, substance abuse. I was amazed when less than a quarter of a second later, up popped the first dozen of some 238,000 articles! It was gratifying to see that so many people made the same connection I did. Two high profile guys sharing the limelight because of their obvious substance abuse problems. What I didn't expect was that the discussion remained largely political. [continues 896 words]
With the arrival of spring, I am reminded of impending high school graduations and the hope for our youth to grow and blossom into responsible adults. Many of these impending graduates will be going off to college with a hope of getting the education and training necessary to prosper. However, over 2,800 students in Wisconsin alone have been denied one of their best opportunities at the good life, due to youthful indiscretion and a drug offense on their permanent record. In our great society drug offenders are jailed and excluded from federal student financial aid programs. [continues 153 words]
Now that he has been arrested, you would think that the harmless little fuzz ball Rush Limbaugh would have some compassion for the hundreds of suspects that have just been released from military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. These suspects have been held without any charges or trials. Like Limbaugh, these illegally detained suspects had proclaimed their innocence, but they have had their lives in limbo for more than four years, imprisoned without rights, while a military tribunal determined their fate. [continues 96 words]
Now that Rush Limbaugh has managed to keep himself out of prison, the punishment he once advocated for drug abusers, let me suggest a new cause for him: speaking out for people who can handle their OxyContin. Like Limbaugh, Richard Paey suffers from back pain, which in his case is so severe that he's confined to a wheelchair. Also like Limbaugh, he was accused of illegally obtaining large quantities of painkillers. Although there was no evidence that either man sold drugs illegally, the authorities in Florida zealously pursued each of them for years. [continues 654 words]
To the Editor: John Tierney ("A Taste of His Own Medicine," column, May 6) hits the nail on the head when he suggests that drug war prosecutions, like those of Rush Limbaugh or Richard Paey, are more for show than for actual enforcement purposes. Unfortunately, these prosecutions also reinforce a medical culture that routinely hardens itself against the anguished pleas of people in serious pain. An Internet study presented at the annual meeting of the American Pain Society last week in San Antonio, Tex., revealed that while 88 percent of those who visit emergency rooms do so because of out-of-control pain, only 15 percent said they received immediate treatment. [continues 76 words]
So I jump in my car, swerve around and have a wreck at 2:45 a.m., stumble around red-eyed, mumbling incoherently. Will the police take me home, like a personal taxi service, tuck me into bed and avoid annoyances such as drug and alcohol testing? Or will they frog-march me to jail to face court dates, fines and prison time for destruction of public property and attempting to use influence to sway an officer of the law in the performance of his duty? [continues 88 words]
To the Editor: Re "A Taste of His Own Medicine," by John Tierney (column, May 6): There are few of us who work with addicts who would applaud the latest legal troubles of Rush Limbaugh. We know that wealth does not confer immunity to addiction. But the case highlights the injustice, waste and failure of a drug "war" based on criminalizing the sick. Given short shrift are the two approaches to drug abuse that have scientific evidence of working: treatment of the sick and prevention in the healthy. Lexington, Mass. The writer is the author of "What's a Parent to Do? Straight Talk About Drugs and Alcohol." [end]
Now that Rush Limbaugh has managed to keep himself out of prison, the punishment he once advocated for drug abusers, let me suggest a new cause for him: speaking out for people who can handle their OxyContin. Like Limbaugh, Richard Paey suffers from back pain, which in his case is so severe that he's confined to a wheelchair. Also like Limbaugh, he was accused of illegally obtaining large quantities of painkillers. Although there was no evidence that either man sold drugs illegally, the authorities in Florida zealously pursued each of them for years. [continues 668 words]
I nearly choked on my coffee when I read April 29 in the Local & State section that the rich get to have their way yet again. I am referring to Rush Limbaugh ["Pundit Reaches Deal on Fraud," page B1]. If you like him or can't stand him, I'm sure that the sentiment is still there. He commits a crime and, after three months of investigation, admits that he broke the law. Now, if you are an ordinary person, such as myself, and are barely getting by, and were to do what Rush has admitted, you'd be in jail for a long time. Not Rush, no, no, no! [continues 141 words]
"What you cannot enforce, do not command." - - Sophocles Psssst. Iraq isn't America's only dysfunctional war. Remember the "war on poverty"? We called a truce because poverty was winning. Aside from a few renegades and numbskulls, we've agreed to a cease fire in place. The latest war news comes from Mexico - which isn't really the enemy but which harbors and cloaks him - and from the circumstances of Rush Limbaugh. Mexico snuck right up on legalizing small quantities of drugs for individuals before President Vicente Fox pulled the plug. [continues 683 words]
About three years ago, Rush Limbaugh confessed he had been addicted to prescription pain pills for years. He was arrested on a felony drug charge of prescription fraud on April 30. However, his attorneys where able to cut a deal with prosecutors that will result in the charge being dropped if Limbaugh completes a drug rehab program and stays drug-free for 18 months. On several occasions, Limbaugh has advocated tougher penalties for drug-users, stating that they should do prison time. His lawyers and the prosecution must not share this tough stance. [continues 117 words]
Regarding "Limbaugh Turns Himself In On Painkiller Charge" (front page, April 29): Rush Limbaugh has reached a pretty favorable plea bargain regarding abuses relating to his prescription drug dependency. He is paying $30,000 - his lawyer says it's to defray the cost of the investigation - - which represents something like two hours' income for the radio host. What do you want to bet that if it had been a Democrat or liberal in exactly the same situation, Rush would be on the radio proclaiming that a bleeding-heart, weak-kneed prosecutor had given a dangerous, immoral criminal a slap on the wrist instead of throwing the slime in prison where he belongs? I'm not saying that would have been the proper punishment for Limbaugh. But you know that's what he would have said. Herb Brant, Coralville, Iowa [end]
Issue: Rush Limbaugh signs a plea deal. Rush Limbaugh is in his comfort zone: full spin mode. Even as the talk radio host is being held responsible for breaking the law by seeking multiple pain pill prescriptions, he used his radio pulpit to claim vindication after 2 1/2 years of fighting The Man. Some vindication. He turned himself in to the Palm Beach County Jail on the felony, and was fingerprinted, photographed and released on $3,000 bail. This, he absurdly insists, is not an "arrest." [continues 300 words]
Rush Limbaugh has reached a pretty favorable plea bargain (his lawyer calls it an "agreement") regarding prescription abuses relating to his drug dependency. He is paying a $30,000 fine (his lawyer calls it a payment to defray the public cost of the investigation) which represents something like two hours' income for the radio host. What do you want to bet that if it had been a Democrat or liberal in exactly the same situation, Rush would be on the radio proclaiming that a bleeding-heart, weak-kneed prosecutor had given a dangerous, immoral criminal a slap on the wrist instead of throwing the slime in prison where he belongs? I'm not saying that would have been the proper punishment for Limbaugh. But that's most likely what he would have said. Herb Brant Coralville [end]
Even in normal times, Rush Limbaugh makes little sense during his radio gasfest. But this week, he tried to fool his audience into thinking that he wasn't arrested. Last Friday, Mr. Limbaugh was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail. He was fingerprinted. His mug shot was taken. He posted bond. His information will be in the national, state and county criminal databases. Yet he claimed on the air that he wasn't arrested and that the outcome would have been the same if he had gone to trial for doctor-shopping to illegally obtain painkillers and won, rather than accept a negotiated settlement on one felony charge. In fact, if he had won at trial, he wouldn't be under court-ordered supervision that requires him to pass a drug test each month for the next 18 months. He wouldn't be paying $30,000 for the public cost of dragging out the investigation. [continues 306 words]
Filmmaker David Adkin Chronicles the Lives of Several Drug Users, Including Scott Mcallister, Who Got Clean Using Methadone, and Ben And Chad, Whose Addictions Led Them to Suicide. the Film Was Screened Yesterday As Part of Mental Health Week, Tony Lofaro Reports. Scott McAllister used to be a panhandler, always begging strangers for money to buy his hard drugs of choice. The 36-year-old man lived that way for years, and he knew he would probably die that way. That is until a friend suggested he go for treatment at a methadone clinic. [continues 497 words]
Now that Rush Limbaugh has managed to keep himself out of prison, the punishment he once advocated for drug abusers, let me suggest a new cause for him: speaking out for people who can handle their OxyContin. Like Limbaugh, Richard Paey suffers from back pain, which in his case is so severe that he's confined to a wheelchair. Also like Limbaugh, he was accused of illegally obtaining large quantities of painkillers. Although there was no evidence that either man sold drugs illegally, the authorities in Florida zealously pursued each of them for years. [continues 669 words]
TABLE OF CONTENTS: * This Just In http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n447.html#sec1 (1) Heroin Mix Leaves Trail Of Deaths (2) The DEA Comes To Montreal To Strategize (3) 'Bong Hits' To Supreme Court? (4) Oped: Puffing Is The Best Medicine * Weekly News in Review http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n447.html#sec2 Drug Policy (5) 400 Support Family of Charles Plinton (6) Angry Cadets Riot Following Drug Search (7) Court Backs Experimental Drugs for Dying Patients (8) Hundreds Turn In Marijuana Users In Boulder [continues 321 words]
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh cannot own a gun and must submit to random drug tests under an agreement filed Monday that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge against the conservative commentator after 18 months if he complies with the terms. Limbaugh said on his radio show that "I have been undergoing random drug tests for two years and seven months. In the agreement, I have not admitted guilt, so that's the news." He added: "Do you think if there was any real evidence, we would have reached a settlement?" [continues 448 words]
Rush Limbaugh signed an agreement with prosecutors Monday and then took to the airwaves to say he felt relieved and vindicated to have an investigation into his use of prescription drugs finally over. For the next 18 months, while he is under state supervision, he can't own a gun, must submit to random drug tests, can't use "intoxicants to excess" and must remain gainfully employed, according to the agreement that ended a 3 1/2-year investigation by Palm Beach County prosecutors. [continues 415 words]
Radio Host Accepts Tough Restrictions WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. (AP) - Rush Limbaugh declared victory Monday after signing a deal with prosecutors that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge in 18 months if he complies with the terms. Under the deal, Limbaugh cannot own a gun, must submit to random drug tests and must continue treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers. But he did not have to admit guilt, and he continued to proclaim his innocence on his radio show. "From my point of view, the end result will be as if I had gone to court and won, but the matter is concluded much sooner," the conservative commentator, 55, told his listeners. "I have spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars with lawyers over the past 27 months fighting this at every stage." [continues 128 words]
After 18 Months, Charge Against Him Will Be Dismissed WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Rush Limbaugh must submit to random drug tests that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge against the conservative commentator after 18 months if he complies with the terms. Under the agreement filed Monday, he also must continue treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers and he cannot own a gun. The agreement did not call for Limbaugh to admit guilt to the charge that he sought a prescription from a physician in 2003 without revealing that he had received medications from another practitioner within 30 days. He pleaded not guilty Friday. [continues 95 words]
WEST PALM BEACH - Rush Limbaugh declared victory Monday in his long- running fight to clear his name after signing a deal with prosecutors that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge against him in 18 months if he complies with the terms. Under the deal filed Monday, Limbaugh cannot own a gun, must submit to random drug tests and has to continue treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers. But he didn't have to admit guilt and he continued to proclaim his innocence on his radio show. [continues 427 words]
As Part Of An Agreement To Dismiss A Prescription Fraud Charge, Radio Commentator Rush Limbaugh Must Undergo Random Drug Testing WEST PALM BEACH - Rush Limbaugh must submit to random drug tests under an agreement filed Monday that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge against the conservative commentator after 18 months if he complies with the terms. He also must continue treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers, and he cannot own a gun. The agreement did not call for Limbaugh to admit guilt to the charge that he sought a prescription from a physician in 2003 without revealing that he had received medications from another practitioner within 30 days. He pleaded not guilty Friday. [continues 280 words]
Radio Host Doesn't Admit Guilt, But Must Continue Treatment For Addiction. WEST PALM BEACH -- Rush Limbaugh declared victory Monday in his long- running fight to clear his name after signing a deal with prosecutors that will dismiss a prescription fraud charge against him in 18 months if he complies with the terms. Under the deal filed Monday, Limbaugh cannot own a gun, must submit to random drug tests and has to continue treatment for his acknowledged addiction to painkillers. But he didn't have to admit guilt and he continued to proclaim his innocence on his radio show. [continues 544 words]
The sensational headline regarding the Rush Limbaugh deal with Palm Beach County prosecuters was misleading and unfair to Mr. Limbaugh, and was inconsistent with the otherwise excellent article that followed. As a physician, I was shocked when Palm Beach authorities seized Mr. Limbaugh's medical records in violation of numerous federal privacy laws and numerous medical ethical traditions. Mr. Limbaugh's "crime" was getting prescriptions for pain medications from more than one doctor. This is called "doctor shopping," and Florida is one of the few states with a law against it. I believe the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported last year that nobody else in Florida has ever been charged with this crime except Mr. Limbaugh. Witch hunt, anyone? Jerome Aronowitz, M.D., Boca Raton [end]
Shame on the state attorney of Palm Beach County. The decision reached in the Rush Limbaugh case "smells" like a classic case of alternative justice: extremely wealthy figure, high profile defense attorney, plea bargain without admitting guilt. This case should have been adjudicated as it would have been for any "average Joe" facing the same charges. Chuck Ash Boca Raton [end]
Let's raise a toast this morning to a Republican from New York, Erie County Executive Joel Giambra. After a spate of drug-related killings in Buffalo, including the Good Friday murder of a nun who was killed by an addict who wanted her cell phone so he could trade it for crack, Giambra had the courage to state the obvious. The war on drugs isn't working. We ought to talk about legalization, he said. He was immediately ridiculed by other politicians. The folks from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition rallied to his side. Peter Christ, a retired police captain from the nearby town of Tonawanda, appeared with Giambra at a press conference and said that legalization made sense. [continues 555 words]
WEST PALM BEACH -- Conservative talk show king Rush Limbaugh reported to jail Friday afternoon, charged with the rarely prosecuted crime of doctor-shopping, a felony. Limbaugh, booked and out of jail within an hour, will likely never have to darken the courthouse door or plead guilty to the crime, though. According to an agreement he is expected to sign Monday with the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, Limbaugh will enter a common court diversion program where the charge will be totally dropped after 18 months. [continues 734 words]
Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on a doctor-shopping charge in the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office's long-running investigation into his drug use, and agreed to supervision for 18 months while he continues his rehabilitation. Limbaugh, 55, a Palm Beach resident, his lawyers and prosecutors reached an agreement on the single felony charge, and the conservative radio talk show host surrendered at the Palm Beach County Jail late Friday afternoon. He spent less than an hour in custody and was fingerprinted before being released on $3,000 bail. Some sheriff's deputies greeted him and shook his hand. [continues 703 words]
Experts Say Both Sides Can Declare The Resolution To Drug Case A Win WEST PALM BEACH -- After three years under suspicion, Rush Limbaugh can finally put behind him an investigation that exposed the conservative commentator's own drug problems and thrust him into the spotlight for the very things he derided in others on his radio talk show. None of it affected his ratings for a show that airs weekdays on nearly 600 stations and draws about 20 million listeners a week, Limbaugh spokesman Tony Knight said. [continues 493 words]
Rush Limbaugh was arrested Friday on a doctor-shopping charge in the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office's long-running investigation into his drug use, and agreed to supervision for 18 months while he continues his rehabilitation. Limbaugh, 55, a Palm Beach resident, his lawyers and prosecutors reached an agreement on the single felony charge, and the conservative radio talk show host surrendered at the Palm Beach County Jail late Friday afternoon. He spent less than an hour in custody and was fingerprinted before being released on $3,000 bail. Some sheriff's deputies greeted him and shook his hand. [continues 702 words]
Radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh was booked on drug charges in Florida on Friday, and his lawyer said that Limbaugh had agreed to a deal enabling him to avoid prosecution in the prescription abuse case if he continued treatment for addiction problems and avoided any other run-ins with the law. Limbaugh, a conservative darling and liberal bete noire, was booked, photographed and fingerprinted in Palm Beach, Fla., then shortly thereafter released on a $3,000 bond, according to a posting on the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office website. A spokesman said there would be no further comment. [continues 384 words]
Drug Charge To Be Dropped If Limbaugh Remains In Rehab WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh and prosecutors in the long-running prescription drug case against him reached a deal Friday calling for the only charge against the conservative commentator to be dropped without a guilty plea if he continues treatment. Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities on a warrant filed Friday charging him with fraud to conceal information to obtain prescriptions, said Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County Jail. He and his attorney Roy Black left about an hour later, after Limbaugh was photographed and fingerprinted and he posted $3,000 bail, Barbera said. Prosecutors' three-year investigation of Limbaugh began after he publicly acknowledged being addicted to pain medication and entered a rehabilitation program. They accused Limbaugh of "doctor shopping," or illegally deceiving multiple doctors to receive overlapping prescriptions, after learning that he received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors in six months, at a pharmacy near his Palm Beach mansion. [continues 249 words]
West Palm Beach, Fla. - Rush Limbaugh yesterday reached a settlement with prosecutors in a fraud case involving prescription painkillers, though the conservative radio commentator maintained his innocence. Limbaugh turned himself in to authorities about 4 p.m. on a warrant for fraud to conceal information to obtain a prescription, the first charge in the nearly three-year-old case, said Teri Barbera, a spokeswoman for the state attorney. He was released an hour later on $3,000 bail. Limbaugh's attorney, Roy Black, said his client and prosecutors reached a settlement on a charge of doctor-shopping. [continues 244 words]
TABLE OF CONTENTS: * This Just In http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n446.html#sec1 (1) DEA-Bahamas Drug Efforts Seen As Success (2) Maryland Students Vote To Ease Marijuana Penalties (3) Court Tosses Guru Of Ganja's Conviction (4) Mayor Gets Second Substantial Offer * Weekly News in Review http://www.drugsense.org/dsw/2006/ds06.n446.html#sec2 Drug Policy (5) Supreme Court Rules Addiction Considered Disability (6) Grassley Wants Drug Czar Fired (7) Meth Labs In State Decreasing Drug Getting Stronger [continues 250 words]
