The Tribune's Aug. 18 article about substance abuse court programs left out some key information: * Defendants participate voluntarily after a careful explanation of all their options. * Recidivism is much less with SAC programs than with citations/fines. * Many, many participants in SAC programs have expressed gratitude to me and to my staff for becoming "clean and sober" and for "getting their lives back." * Costs paid by defendants for random drug tests, evaluations, treatment, etc., are subtracted from their court-ordered fines. * The article did not include all the mitigating circumstances in two cases it covered. People are entitled to their own opinions , but give them enough facts to build an informed opinion, not one skewed for some reason. Janice Auger, Mayor Taylorsville [end]
OGDEN -- A judge threw out a manslaughter charge Wednesday against a man accused of fueling an acquaintance's drug overdose. "The victim really caused his own death," 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones said. "The victim was the intervening factor. The defendant only provided the drug." The prosecution told the judge they would appeal his dismissal of the manslaughter charge against Harold Eugene Harmon, 55, in the death last year of Cheyenne Gordon, 33, from an overdose of methadone. Harmon is still charged with first-degree felony distribution, which carries a heavier penalty than the manslaughter charge would have. A status conference was set for Aug. 10. [continues 310 words]
The headline for Pat Reavy's piece on heroin amongst Utah youth, "Heroin hits Utah's young" (July 18), had it backward. Heroin can't "hit" anything. The headline should have read: "Utah's young hit heroin." Such youth want to get high; they want to rebel. Long ago I was one myself. The only real answer, politically unpalatable as it is, is to scrap the drug war and return to regulated distribution to addicts as we had in the 19th century. Young people will not be turned-on by waiting in line at a government clinic somewhere for drugs. Eau Claire, WI [end]
Teens Die As Use Spreads Among The Middle Class A drug with a long, ugly history in the United States seems to be making a comeback in Utah. But this time, heroin isn't just affecting the stereotypical junkie -- a homeless person with no teeth and needle marks all over his arms. Instead, it's becoming a drug of choice for the teenage boy or girl next door who excels in school and appears to come from a stable home. "It's an epidemic with what we've seen -- young, middle-to upper-class kids," said Taylorsville Police Sgt. Keith Stephens. "Salt Lake has turned into a mecca of cheap, low-grade heroin." [continues 1368 words]
"This county isn't without its share of criminal activity," Judge Randall N. Skanchy of Third District Court told chamber members Wednesday. "I know it all too well." Judge Skanchy estimates around 80 percent of criminal activity relates back to drugs and alcohol abuse & that's why he's such an advocate of drug court. The intensive drug treatment program has a much higher success rate than traditional programs. And that success could go a long way toward preventing crime. "If we could eliminate drugs and alcohol as catalysts for crime it would help tremendously," Skanchy said. [continues 1032 words]
Starting Younger: Many Kids Begin With OxyContin, Then Move To The Real Thing - And Real Consequences By the time the police officers arrived at the door to his Sandy home, Michael Martinez already had an idea why they were there. Martinez had gotten a funny feeling when, earlier, he had heard on the news that an 18-year-old man had been found dead in Draper. The officers who knocked on his door confirmed his thoughts. The dead 18-year-old was his son, Zachary, who died around midnight March 10. He had been taken in a pickup to a park at the end of Steep Mountain Drive in Draper and dumped. [continues 1055 words]
Your July 7 editorial was right on target. While local governments are struggling with a methamphetamine epidemic, the Office of National Drug Control Policy is spending millions on a "reefer madness revisited" ad campaign. This reflects a truly bizarre sense of priorities. Local law enforcement is where the rubber meets the road. And it's not marijuana that concerns them, but rather meth. Meanwhile, an out-of-touch federal government continues to be obsessed with marijuana. The tax dollars wasted on the federal agency's misleading anti-marijuana campaign would be better spent on treatment for methamphetamine addicts. Robert Sharpe MPA policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy [end]
I'm writing about your thoughtful editorial: "Make meth a higher priority" (July 5). I have never seen heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine. However, I was offered free samples of these dangerous drugs on several occasions by my marijuana suppliers when I was a user of marijuana more than 15 years ago. Fortunately, I turned down all offers of free samples of other drugs. Unfortunately, many others do not - thus the gateway effect. If we legalize, regulate, control and tax the sale and production of marijuana we will close the gateway to drugs like meth. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
Only Arkansas Matches Utah's 100% Increase In a six-part series, the Deseret Morning News examined how methamphetamine addiction and meth-related crime is burdening Utah courts, prisons and social services and devastating families. Methamphetamine-related arrests in Utah doubled the past year - the highest rate of increase in the nation, according to a new report. A National Association of Counties survey of 500 law enforcement agencies showed Utah and Arkansas as the only states where meth-related arrests went up 100 percent over the past 12 months. [continues 583 words]
A new national report says methamphetamine-related arrests in Utah doubled last year. It's a highly troubling distinction considering that Utah and Arkansas were the only two states where meth-related arrests went up 100 percent over the past 12 months, according to a National Association of Counties survey. Methamphetamine use hit epidemic proportions seven years ago and remains a No. 1 problem for Utah law enforcers. It's a particularly vexing problem because it is so highly addictive, readily available and cheap. Abusers will sacrifice every worthwhile aspect of their lives to get high, whether it's their children, their relationships, their health, their financial security or their self-respect. When they decide to enter treatment, it can take years to get clean, if ever. [continues 319 words]
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah was just one of two states where methamphetamine-related arrests doubled last year, according to a new report. Arkansas was the other state the National Association of Counties survey of 500 law enforcement agencies identified as having meth-related arrests go up 100 percent over the past 12 months. Sgt. Ryan Atack, head of the Salt Lake City police narcotics squad, said meth use hit epidemic proportions in Utah seven years ago. "I don't know that it's gotten any worse," he said. "It's still our No. 1 problem." [continues 260 words]
Called a danger to community: Witnesses testify James "Flaming Eagle" had threatened them for cooperating in an investigation A federal magistrate said Tuesday that a Utah County man who promotes the use of peyote in American Indian religious ceremonies is a danger to the community and ordered him held until his trial on drug charges. But U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba allowed Linda Mooney, 51, wife and co-defendant of James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney, to be released from jail pending the trial. The two were arrested Thursday after a federal grand jury indicted them on charges of illegal possession and distribution of the hallucinogenic cactuses. [continues 364 words]
Indictment: He is accused of posing as an American Indian to obtain peyote A Utah County man, who won a state court ruling that says all members of the Native American Church regardless of their race can use peyote in religious ceremonies, has been indicted on federal charges of illegal possession and distribution of the hallucinogenic cactus. A grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday accuses James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney, 61, of Benjamin, founder of the Oklevueha Earthwalks Native American Church, of misrepresenting himself as an American Indian in a conspiracy to get peyote. [continues 464 words]
SPANISH FORK -- Medicine man James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney and his wife, Linda, were arrested Thursday by Drug Enforcement Agency officials. DEA agents originally attempted last week to arrest the Mooneys at their home in Benjamin, but were unable to take them into custody because they were out of town visiting relatives. The Mooneys and Nicholas Stark, of Ogden, were indicted June 15 by a grand jury. Those indictments were unsealed Thursday, according to a statement by Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney in Salt Lake City. [continues 450 words]
Local medicine man James Warren "Flaming Eagle" Mooney was out walking his dog Thursday morning when agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration approached him with an arrest warrant. James Mooney and his wife, Linda, were arrested near their Spanish Fork home on 16 combined drug charges involving possession and distribution of peyote. Each of the charges carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Nicholas Stark, an Ogden man with ties to Oklevueha EarthWalks Native America Church, which the Mooneys founded in 1997, was also named in the federal indictment. In the indictment, which was filed June 15 but sealed until Thursday morning, Stark was charged for distribution and possession of peyote and for possession of coca leaves. [continues 620 words]
James and Linda Mooney, the Spanish Fork couple arrested on a combined 16 federal felony drug charges for using peyote in religious ceremonies, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges Friday in Salt Lake City. Federal prosecutors told U.S. Magistrate Judge Sam Alba that the Mooneys should be held without bail until the case is resolved. Citing the complexity of the case and the need for more information before deciding if the Mooneys should be held without bail, Alba set a detention hearing for Tuesday. [continues 583 words]
Founded Church: The Two Claim It Is Their Right To Use The Drug In Their Religious Ceremonies A Utah County man and his wife who insist it is their First Amendment right to smoke peyote during Native American religious ceremonies pleaded not guilty Friday to federal drug counts. U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba set a hearing for Tuesday to determine if Benjamin residents James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney, 61, and Linda Mooney, 51, should remain in custody until their trial. "It may be months down the road before this matter is resolved," Alba said. [continues 365 words]
Kirk Muse got an arrow splitting bulls-eye in his May 23 letter. It is commendable, helping youth resist cannabis, drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, sex and coffee until they are older and responsible for themselves, but caging adults for using cannabis is the wrong way to do it. The federal government can start by telling the truth about cannabis and how Holland's relaxed laws have dramatically lowered the rates of drug use along with the plant cannabis. The government would like citizens to think cannabis is a chemical weapon of mass destruction; in reality cannabis has been medically documented for more than 5,000 years, still without a single fatality. Can that be said about any other substance on earth? That's safety, on a biblical scale. Instead of allowing cannabis to be exterminated by a disobedient Christian government, we should thank Christ God Our Father, The Ecologician, for cannabis and accept his blessings. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
WASHINGTON - "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." The same might be said of Supreme Court justices. Take, for example, Gonzales vs. Raich, the Supreme Court's medicinal marijuana case. The commerce clause in Article One of the Constitution could hardly be more clear in limiting federal power to commerce "among the several States," not within a state. [continues 753 words]
Man's Best Friend Becomes An Integral Part Of Local Police Work CEDAR CITY - Man's best friend is a police officer's partner, protector and effective tool of investigation. It also saves taxpayers money, said K-9 law enforcement handlers Del Schlosser of the Iron County Sheriff's Office and Jason Thomas of the Cedar City Police Department. Both officers train their Belgian Malanois a minimum of eight hours a week. They use the inside of the old hospital on Alta Mira Drive to train their canines to locate illegal drugs. Methamphetamine, cocaine, heroine and marijuana are packaged in air-tight containers to maintain the integrity of their odors. [continues 448 words]
I'm responding to Joseph A. Califano Jr.'s not-so-thoughtful column: "The Right Drug To Target: Cutting Marijuana Use". Because marijuana is illegal, it is sold by criminals who often sell other drugs and offer free samples of the other drugs to their marijuana customers. Thus the gateway effect. If we end the criminalization of marijuana, we will close the gateway to hard drugs. When I was a user of marijuana, which is more than 15 years ago, I was only interested in marijuana and no other illegal drugs. (Like the vast majority of marijuana users). However, I was often offered free samples of other, much more dangerous drugs by my marijuana suppliers. Fortunately, I turned down all offers of free samples of other drugs. Unfortunately, many others do not. Thus, the gateway effect. If we end the criminalization of marijuana for adults, we will close the gateway to hard drugs. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
When Spanish explorers first stepped onto America's soil, several tribes in northern Mexico had already used peyote for a dozen generations. Today, peyote grows chiefly in northern Mexico and south Texas. The plant is a small, woolly cactus shaped like a button and is traditionally consumed either in tea made from dried buttons or by swallowing the buttons. Along with causing its user to become violently ill, peyote eventually results in a feeling of intense well-being and produces a number of other psychological effects, including hallucinations and richly colored visions. [continues 681 words]
A nightmarish childhood experience moved James Warren "Flaming Eagle" Mooney to take up one of the oldest jobs in North American history. Once charged with a dozen felonies for giving peyote to 'non-Native Americans' in religious ceremonies, Mooney's legal battle culminated in a landmark court ruling that protected him from prosecution in Utah courts. But Mooney's legal troubles are not over. The latest swords to hang over him are a brewing federal criminal case and a bill that could change Utah's drug law to forbid peyote use by non-American Indians. [continues 4173 words]
'Super Labs' In Mexico Supply Most Of The Drug These Days After a three-day stay in Las Vegas, "Linda" was hung over and wanted to go home. In her rush to get back to Utah, she kept the car at 80 mph and didn't notice the Utah Highway Patrol trooper as she sped past Cedar City. He pulled her over. The trooper approached the window and asked for her driver license and the car's registration, then returned to his patrol car. [continues 1153 words]
WASHINGTON -- The increased potency of today's marijuana and the greater knowledge we have of the dangers of using marijuana justify the increased attention that law enforcement is giving to illegal possession of the drug. But the disappointing reality is that a nearly 30 percent increase in marijuana arrests does not translate into a comparable reduction in use of the drug. Something more is needed. Rudolph Giuliani's success in slashing New York City's crime rate by, among other things, going after low-level street crimes such as smoking and selling small amounts of marijuana inspired many other mayors to follow suit. When President Bush announced in 2002 a goal of reducing illegal drug use by 10 percent in two years and 25 percent in five years, he knew he had to focus on cutting marijuana use. Eliminating all other illegal drug use combined would not even get him close to his highly touted objective. [continues 835 words]
The following editorial appeared in Thursday's Miami Herald: It was all too predictable that some members of Congress would respond to the menace of immigrant gangs in the United States with headline-grabbing legislation that does little to cure the problem but looks good in a campaign ad. We refer to the so-called "Gangbusters" legislation, HR 1279, approved Wednesday in the House of Representatives, that will almost surely increase prison populations and the cost of crime-fighting without reducing gang-related crimes. [continues 300 words]
Regarding your April 20 editorial, Utah is not the only state grappling with overcrowded prisons. Throughout the nation, states facing budget shortfalls are pursuing alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. A study conducted by the RAND Corporation found that every additional dollar invested in substance abuse treatment saves taxpayers $7.48 in societal costs. There is far more at stake than tax dollars. The drug war is not the promoter of family values that some would have us believe. Children of inmates are at risk of educational failure, joblessness, addiction and delinquency. [continues 118 words]
Investing In Drug Offenders The lock'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key approach to the drug war doesn't work. More than 80 percent of the inmates in the state prison have a drug problem of some kind, and in many cases addiction is why they're there. They either committed a drug offense or some other crime (such as robbery) to feed their drug habit. Of those who have been jailed for a drug-related offense, about half are in for simple possession -- not drug dealing. [continues 603 words]
Bill Frost's column was right on target ["News You Can Lose," Frost Bytes, Feb. 24, City Weekly]. Rather than worry that his past marijuana use may inspire kids to try pot, President George W. Bush might want to consider the effect of the zero tolerance drug war on the very same youth he sought to shield from the truth. According to the Monitoring the Future survey, more than half of all high school seniors have tried an illicit drug. Denying a majority of the nation's youth an education is not in America's best interest. [continues 119 words]
Even after reducing the initial costs of the Drug Offenders Reform Act and tying it to funding for a veterans nursing home in Ogden, the potentially high cost of a program they knew little about remained too daunting for representatives. As late as Wednesday morning and two days after many supporters had pronounced it practically dead, DORA appeared to still have a fighting chance at some funding. The primary reason was an amendment to SB1, which provides $150 million in one-time funding for this fiscal year, by House members who gave $4.5 million Monday to help build the home. [continues 462 words]
Jeffrey Don Ireland's drug conviction - in connection with running a red light in Taylorsville three years ago and killing a 19-year-old woman - has been overturned by the Utah Court of Appeals. Ireland went to prison after pleading guilty to third-degree felony unlawful possession of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor count of driving with a measurable amount of drugs in his system. His blood tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine, but prosecutors offered no evidence as to where he consumed the drugs. [continues 62 words]
Legal Drugs - Deadly Overdoses Up Dramatically Among Utah Residents About three years ago, the state's chief medical examiner noticed an alarming rise in drug-related deaths. People were overdosing on methadone, said Todd Grey. And they weren't addicts using the prescription painkiller to shake heroin. A study released Thursday confirmed his hunch: Prescribed pain relievers - not illegal drugs - were increasingly responsible for Utahns' deaths from drug poisoning after 1999. By 2003, the average Utahn dying of a drug overdose was 25 to 54 years old, was overweight and was using one or more prescription drugs, according to a report released Thursday by the Utah Department of Health and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report "basically validated what we had been screaming about," Grey said. "We knew this was a horrendous problem." [continues 471 words]
In July, Utah federal Judge Paul Cassell said the system of federal sentencing guidelines was unconstitutional. In January, after the Supreme Court agreed with him, Cassell announced that he will continue to be directed by those guidelines in deciding when, and for how long, people will go to prison. He was right both times. So was the Supreme Court. Two decades ago, Congress correctly perceived a problem with the way federal judges were sentencing people to prison. Sentences meted out for similar crimes were too often not at all similar, depending on the jurisdiction, the judge and, it was reasonably feared, the race, wealth or connectedness of the accused. [continues 332 words]
They Are Still Worthwhile Despite Top Court Decision, Cassell Says In what appears an effort to show Congress that federal judges can be trusted with their newfound freedom in sentencing criminal defendants, one Utah jurist said Thursday he intends to continue using federal guidelines "in all but the most unusual cases." U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell issued his opinion in response to a Wednesday U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down the 17-year-old guideline system as unconstitutional and approved their use for advisory purposes only. [continues 599 words]
A day after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled judges are no longer required to follow federal sentencing guidelines, a jurist in Salt Lake City announced he will give "heavy weight" to the standards in determining punishment. At a hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell said he will deviate from the range suggested in the guidelines only in unusual cases. He then sentenced James Joseph Wilson, who had pleaded guilty to a 2003 armed robbery of a credit union, to 15 1/2 years behind bars, the low end of the range. [continues 317 words]
2 Utah County Burglaries Point To Dangerous Trend The apparent drug-related burglaries of two Utah grocery store pharmacies have put other area pharmacists on the alert. During the Christmas holiday, two Utah County grocery store pharmacies, one in Lehi and one in Orem, were robbed of more than $20,000 in prescription narcotics. Painkillers including Oxycontin, morphine, methadone and Lortab were taken from the Albertsons store at 760 E. Main, Lehi. Lehi Police Sgt. Jeff Swenson said it is likely the narcotics were stolen to sell on the street. Just how much the stolen drugs could generate remains unknown while the investigation continues, he said. [continues 688 words]
Inside Utah
