GRAND ISLAND -- Drug arrests have risen in central Nebraska, and police are crediting good work from a multi-unit task force. Seventy-seven people were arrested in a 24-county area in 1999. That number grew to 119 in 2000, and had nearly doubled to 147 last year. Police at all levels of law enforcement began working together in Hall, Adams and Buffalo counties in 1991 to better coordinate efforts as part of the Tri-City Drug Task Force. Grand Island, Hastings and Kearney police are part of the task force, which covers 24 counties, as are the three counties' sheriff departments, the State Patrol, the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the U.S. attorney's office and the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. [continues 109 words]
If you give a clean syringe to a drug addict, are you helping the person or are you hurting them? Many states have been trying a method called a Needle Exchange Program (NEP), which has been successful in over 100 cities. Drug addicts bring in dirty needles and exchange them for clean syringes instead of sharing with each other. The program destroys the used needles in a safe manner. NEPs do not condone drug use. The stated mission of these programs is primarily to stop the spread of AIDS and help identify and educate drug users. [continues 668 words]
The Love Drug has plenty to hate about it. But first you have to know something. "I have recently had parents of young adults in their 20s come in. They were wondering about (Ecstasy)," said Wendy McCarty, project director at the Central Nebraska Council on Alcoholism. "One woman's daughter had been telling her that Ecstasy was, 'Really OK, Mom. It just makes you feel good. It doesn't hurt you.'" What you should know is that Ecstasy, known on the street as the Love Drug, Rolls, E, the Hug Drug and XTC and in the lab as methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, has drawn the attention of McCarty and others partly because it kills brain cells like April melts snow -- and partly because of marketing. [continues 659 words]
They're Fundamental Rights District judges have thrown out a couple of moderately-high-profile drug cases in our area recently because the suspects' constitutional rights were violated. Many find this irritating and grumble about how inconvenient these so-called rights make the job of prosecuting criminals. Perhaps they are inconvenient for some, but they are also in large part the underpinning of our entire society. On Feb. 19, Judge John Murphy dismissed a case against a Missouri couple because they were searched without probable cause. That case was particularly disappointing since the original arrest came as the result of an intrepid resident who suspected something was up, confirmed his suspicion and called police. [continues 254 words]
To the Editor: Legalize drugs? This is for Roger Sharpe, Steve Evans and anyone else who believes that any drug like marijuana or meth should be made legal. It is not prohibition of these drugs that ruined peoples lives; it was their abuse of them. You are right about one thing: It is the families responsibility to teach their children right from wrong. I wonder what you are, will be or have taught yours? Steve Alfred, Mitchell [end]
To the Editor: Re: Meth, Jan. 27 "The drug is made up of stuff that can be purchased at stores, a nasty concoction - including such things as lye, engine starter and anhydrous ammonia -that the drug dealers "cook" to produce the drug." So what? Lye, engine starter and anhydrous ammonia are legal substances, as is rat poison, but, more to the point, what business is it of the cops if I decide to poison myself? "It's a drug that can be dangerous and ultimately deadly, which should be obvious from the fact that anything made up of drain cleaner, among other things, is not the best for one's insides." [continues 164 words]
Use Of Notorious Club Drug Increasing, Survey Says The Partnership for a Drug-Free America survey shows that teen-age drug use remained steady with one exception. Ecstasy use jumped by 20 percent over last year and 71 percent since 1999. There seems to be an impression that ecstasy is harmless. That's why a the anti-drug group also unveiled Monday, in addition to its survey findings, an ad campaign to warn parents, educators and teens about the dangers of popping the drug. [continues 418 words]
To the Editor: Thanks to Robert Sharpe (2/1/02) for a realistic view on the drug problem facing both NE and our nation. Our noble attempt at eliminating alcohol (a dangerous and addictive drug that kills over 100,000 Americans a year) was a miserable failure. Over 30 years of marijuana prohibition has done nothing but fill our prisons, ruin thousands of lives, and cost billions of dollars. It seems our governments efforts at dictating morality (the job of family and Church) are as effective as police efforts at drug education and prevention (the job of families and schools). Authorities admit at best they are intercepting only 10 percent of illegal drugs. Would we continue to support an education program that produces a 10 percent literacy rate when proven models are available at less cost and a much higher success rate? [continues 159 words]
To the Editor: The hazardous methamphetamine labs mentioned in your Jan. 27 editorial are reminiscent of the deadly exploding liquor stills that sprung up throughout the nation during alcohol prohibition. Meth is the latest dangerous drug to be making headlines, but it won't be the last until policymakers acknowledge the drug war's inherent failure. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do push highly profitable, addictive drugs like meth. Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a cost-effective alternative to the $50 billion drug war. There is a big difference between condoning marijuana use and protecting children from drugs. Decriminalization acknowledges the social reality of marijuana use and frees users from the stigma of life-shattering criminal records. What's really needed is a regulated market with enforceable age controls. Right now kids have an easier time buying pot than beer. [continues 85 words]
Marijuana has been Lincoln's preferred drug for more than a quarter century, but a methamphetamine boom confined mostly to the last five years may eventually dethrone it, according to police. The Lincoln Police Narcotics Unit released its 2001 arrest statistics this week, and they echoed what Police Chief Tom Casady said earlier this month: Meth use is skyrocketing. The total number of people police arrested for possession or distribution of each drug was unavailable. Those figures would take months to compile, authorities said, so they offered the drug unit's numbers as a snapshot. [continues 462 words]
The use of methamphetamine and the theft of its ingredients are becoming more and more frequent in the Panhandle, according to local law enforcement. Most recently, Kevin Hendricks of Scottsbluff reached a plea agreement based upon the distribution of meth. Albert Vernon Dillon of Mitchell has been handed a federal indictment for possession of a firearm by a known drug dealer among other drug charges relating to the sale of meth. The Western Intelligence and Narcotics Group (WING) Task Force investigated a total of five clandestine narcotic producing labs in the Panhandle in 2001. [continues 851 words]
Retailers And Farmers Can Lend Police A Hand In Combating Its Production Methamphetamine is a growing problem in the Midwest, and the Panhandle and eastern Wyoming are no exception. A front-page article in today's Star-Herald details the problem and what can be done to combat its production. The drug is made up of stuff that can be purchased at stores, a nasty concoction - including such things as lye, engine starter and anhydrous ammonia - that the drug dealers "cook" to produce the drug. [continues 415 words]
While Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady and Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner had the attention of three governing boards, they wanted to drive home a point: Methamphetamine use should be a major concern for the residents of Lincoln and Lancaster County. Violent crime, including several recent homicides, have been intertwined with meth use, the two told members of the County Board, City Council and Lincoln Board of Education at a joint meeting Friday morning. The rapid increase in thefts from automobiles, with a loss of more than $2 million last year, is linked with the drug. Forgeries - up 33 percent - and frauds - - up 21 percent - are linked. [continues 514 words]
Most of the 60 million grandparents in the United States do not realize the important role they play in influencing their grandchildren's lives -- especially when it comes to drugs. According to AARP, grandparents cite drugs, alcohol, and sex as the most difficult topics to discuss with their grandkids. Grandparents are looking for guidance on how to talk to their grandkids about difficult topics. In fact, according to a recent AARP survey, 54 percent of grandparents would find information about discussing drugs somewhat or very useful. Here are a few strategies for grandparents to keep their grandkids drug free: [continues 289 words]
For the past five years, Dawson County road signs marking County Road 420 have disappeared from intersections north of Cozad. They won't disappear any more, the Dawson County Board of Commissioners decided Tuesday. The board agreed not to put them up again. | There are nine signs on intersections north of Cozad that mark Road 420, Dawson County Commissioner John Knapple said. About 175 of the signs have been stolen since they first went up in 1996, according to the Dawson County Roads Department. It has cost the county about $12,400 to replace them. [continues 347 words]
Our beautiful city has much productive commerce, yet I am loath to understand why we have commercial ventures that promote the illegal use of drugs. In the area of 27th and Randolph, a second commercial venture displays the finest glass-blown items, cartoon character bongs and water pipes used for smoking marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine. Arrays of weapons including knives and party bongs are dynamically displayed. It would be instructive for our city leaders to visit this interesting commercial venture. I question whether this type of commerce fits into the values of this community and what norm promotes the use of these items. Yes, illegal drug use exists. While not outlining the risk factors accompanying access to these items, especially for youths, this is not my community value. My hope is that all residents take a field trip to visit these commercial ventures and that you will take time to think about how such commerce promotes a positive place to live and prosper. Kate Speck, Lincoln [end]
A half-dozen times in the past year, fertilizer thieves have risked their eyesight, lungs and lives by illegally tapping into the highly unstable contents of one of the Walton Co-op's approximately 40 anhydrous ammonia tanks. Andre Hoyt, branch manager of the co-op, and Reed Priess, his boss at the co-op's Greenwood headquarters, assume the towable "torpedo tanks" farmers use to inject super-cooled fertilizer into the soil were hit as recently as two weeks ago by manufacturers of methamphetamine. [continues 482 words]
Groups Seek Strategy To Deal With Drug Abuse With a recent rise in the number of methamphetamine-related crimes in rural areas, 3rd District U.S. Rep. Tom Osborne said, there's hardly a person in Nebraska who's not touched by the problem. So the Osborne-organized Summit to Combat Methamphetamine, which was on Monday morning in Grand Island, brought together members of more than 20 organizations to help organize a strategy for dealing with the problem. "Over the years, I've become more and more alarmed on the issue of methamphetamine," Osborne said. "Statistics say that, for every one person addicted to methamphetamine, there are 63 crimes committed. It has a huge consequence for other people, not just those addicted." [continues 398 words]
The Nebraska Supreme Court was asked Tuesday to clarify how far police officers can go in asking to enter a home without a search warrant. The high court heard the case of William D. Tucker of Lincoln, who said he gave police permission to "look around" his apartment and then watched them find drugs after opening drawers and cupboards. Tucker was sentenced to 15 months to 30 months in prison after police found marijuana, amphetamine, cocaine and drug paraphernalia inside his apartment in 1998. [continues 349 words]
Washington - The high esteem in which former Rep. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas is held by his colleagues was demonstrated by the 98-1 Senate vote confirming him last month as the newdirector of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Even more telling was the fact that Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee and an ardent opponent of the impeachment of President Clinton, appeared at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing to praise Hutchinson, who had been one of the Republican House managers presenting the case against Clinton to the full Senate. [continues 687 words]
Officers Will Use It While Dismantling Meth Labs A van described as a "new weapon to add to the arsenal" in the war against methamphetamine in Central Nebraska made its debut appearance in Grand Island Wednesday. The van that will be stationed in Hall County was not in town. Rather, its near-identical twin from Omaha appeared for a press conference while the Central Nebraska van was being outfitted with its last few supplies. Hall County Sheriff Jerry Watson made introductory remarks, noting that the van is another weapon to fight drugs. He said the van is used both to shut down drug labs and collect evidence. [continues 696 words]
I would like to personally thank the officers that spent four weeks of their summer with the kids who attended the summer DARE camp. It's a great program and our girls came home sharing things they talked about or learned. I think the Grand Island Police Department needs a great big hand for the time and research they put into this program. I hope to see it continue in the future. J. Olsufka [end]
I am writing this letter in regard to the two who have written to the paper about illegal narcotics regulations being confusing. No regulations are confusing when it comes to marijuana, meth, crack, any of it. No prescription drug is at anytime authorized, unless a doctor of medicine fills out a prescription to a pharmacy for any drug to be dispensed to the person, who it's prescribed as a reason for taking it. People need to stop and realize that illegal narcotics not only hurt one person but destroy families, hurt taxpayers and do any other kind of harm possible. [continues 128 words]
Older adults are often overlooked when it comes to addressing the misuse and abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Even when adult children suspect that a parent is drinking a bit too much, the attitude tends to be either "Why bother to change things now?" or "A little alcohol won't hurt, and it may make the days a little kinder for mom or dad." Denying or dismissing this problem is an unfortunate response to an otherwise treatable problem. "The truth is alcohol and other drug abuse among older people leads to great physical and emotional deterioration and deprives them of the chance to enjoy their later years," said Carol Colleran, director of Older Adult Services at Hanley-Hazelden Center at St. Mary's in West Palm Beach, Fla. [continues 437 words]
This letter is in response to the letter from Mr. Bill Custer that appeared in the July 21 edition of the Grand Island Independent. In his letter Mr. Custer states that drugs are not a "harmless addiction." Addiction by its very nature is not harmless regardless of the substance. The problem is that our current drug policies don't make the distinction between hard drugs and soft drugs, nor do they distinguish between use and abuse. Drug laws need to say one of three things. 1) That all recreational drugs are fundamentally bad (alcohol tobacco and Viagra, too) and should be banned. 2) That all recreational drugs are not fundamentally bad and should not be regulated. 3) The rational approach would be to say that all drugs should be studied scientifically and regulated according to how addictive or dangerous they are. Our current policies are confusing at best and contradict each other at worst. It seems odd that so many people have difficulty making the distinction between use and abuse with soft drugs such as marijuana, yet they have no problem making that distinction with alcohol even if they do not drink themselves. Jim Barrick Valencia, Calif. [end]
Contrary to Cheryl Bicknase's puritanical views God did create opium, cocaine, marijuana and many other drug plants for man's use. The Bible says so (Genesis, 1: 29) -- "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food." Ms. Bicknase cannot cite a single scripture supporting drug prohibition. Indeed, condemning the drug plants God has made is considered to be blasphemy by the Bible. (Leviticus 24: 16) Nowhere in the Old or New Testament is a ban on drug use to be found because drugs are gifts from God. Redford Givens San Francisco [end]
It is interesting to note how much out-of-state flak Matt Well is receiving from his recommendation that stiffer penalties be given for drug users. It is evident that the people who live the good life in Nebraska don't have a problem with his suggestion. They have already discovered that a life well - -lived has meaning and purpose, and when faced with challenges they refuse to succumb to drugs or alcohol to give them the fleeting illusion of well-being. [continues 401 words]
I am writing this in response to the July 12 letter called "We need harsher penalties for those who do drugs." Mr. Wells seems to have a very close-minded opinion of drugs, and uses this personal opinion to promote harsher laws on drug users. It's depressing to think of all the people who are arrested every day because they decided to smoke a joint, or drop some acid. It's not necessarily good for them, but neither is it any of our business to tell them what to ingest. [continues 201 words]
OMAHA - There is not enough evidence to criminally prosecute three Scottsbluff police officers for alleged brutality, according to a U.S. Department of Justice investigation. In April, the Criminal Civil Rights Division investigated Ramon Villa-Velazquez's claims that the officers mistreated him during an arrest last spring, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Wellman said. The Mexican native had written the department to complain about the incident. The Mexican government joined Hispanic community leaders on July 7 in calling for a criminal investigation. They wanted the U.S. government to determine if there has been a pattern of officers mistreating Hispanics in Scottsbluff, a western Nebraska city of 14,700. [continues 230 words]
I am writing this letter to ask one question to the readers of The Independent. What would possess a person to do drugs? I'm sure that this topic may seem trite, but it is a valid one. There can be no situation so bad as to make someone want to to do drugs or to drink themselves into oblivion. It just doesn't make sense. To feel high -- that isn't a very convincing excuse. To relieve stress -- get a massage. [continues 85 words]
Law enforcement agencies ought to be quicker than they usually are to admit a mistake. They only invite disrespect when they subject an individual to all the inconvenience of a criminal investigation, find no basis for prosecution and then begrudge the targeted person's attempts to make himself whole. It has happened at least twice in recent months in connection with drug surveillance at Eppley Airfield. In each case, officers intercepted an individual who was carrying an unusual amount of cash. They seized the cash and interrogated the person. [continues 502 words]
Jacob A. King Jr. considers himself a law-abiding citizen. He follows the rules. He respects authority. So when drug agents seized $7,221 in cash from the Omaha businessman at Eppley Airfield last year, alleging that the money was connected to drug activity, King was confident that his cash would be returned immediately. "I had done nothing wrong," said the 26-year-old King, who owns a mobile carwash business with his future father-in-law. It would take 10 months and the help of the American Civil Liberties Union before federal officials would return his cash. [continues 969 words]
Two new drug courts in Lancaster County just got a $1 million boost from the federal government. The programs, which try to stop the spiral of drug-related crime by helping addicts quit, began earlier this year. One court deals with adults, and the other manages juvenile cases. On Friday, Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey was notified that the U.S. Justice Department awarded the juvenile program $500,000 and the adult program $493,453. The state probation office administers the juvenile court, and Lancaster County administers the adult court. [continues 300 words]
Troubled young adults in America are using marijuana much more than they did 10 years ago and are staying away from harder drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin, according to a national study released Friday. Marijuana use among those in trouble with the law, ages 18 to 20, in Omaha nearly tripled from 1990 to 1996, according to the study. Marijuana use among that population has held steady around 70 percent since 1996. Researchers are calling the results evidence of an ongoing marijuana epidemic among young adults. [continues 280 words]
A recent Gallup survey indicated that four in five Americans would forfeit freedoms for security. For more than 200 years, our nation has shed much blood securing these freedoms for its citizens. To now say we will forfeit them for temporary and elusive security is a travesty. The current president and attorney general are well on the way to granting these citizens their wish. They have restricted your right to counsel, due process and attorney-client privilege and have gutted the Freedom of Information Act under the guise of national security. The attorney general recently announced new broad powers for federal agents, with emphasis on detection and prevention. These new powers allow spying on citizens and their e-mail if "warranted in light of the seriousness of the crime." [continues 52 words]
Gov. Mike Johanns said his three-pronged attack in the war on drugs put Nebraska in great shape for upcoming battles. Speaking from the Western Governor's Association in Boise, Idaho, Johanns told a press conference Tuesday that this year's new programs will make a significant difference in the war against drugs. Among his proposals passed in the recent Legislature: $3 million over the next two years to fund early childhood development and education. $636,326 over the next two years for eight new State Patrol troopers. [continues 223 words]
One senator's innovation is a door to horror for another. Sen. Gene Tyson of Norfolk said the legalization of the production of industrial hemp could tap potential growth and profit for Nebraska farmers. Sen. Jim Jensen of Omaha said allowing industrial hemp to be grown in Nebraska "is scary, because in fact, kids are going to try this, and eventually try the real stuff and you'll have to call paramedics to revive them." Somewhere in between there could be a resolution to a bill that would open the Nebraska market to the cultivation of industrial hemp - a plant related to, but without the hallucinogenic properties of, marijuana. [continues 477 words]
Villisca, Iowa - A 9-year-old Villisca boy is in protective custody after police arrested him for selling marijuana to three 14-year-olds. The boy, whose name has not been released because of his age, took the marijuana from his father, said Villisca Police Chief Butch Rulla. The father was not charged with drug possession but could face charges after the Iowa Human Services Department holds a hearing on the case next month, Rulla said. "I'm hoping we can get some rehabilitation and turn this kid around," Rulla said. "Nobody's talking about throwing away the key." [continues 363 words]
In an April 16 story ("Bill Puts Nebraska on Hemp's Side"), State Sen. Ed Schrock stated that Legislative Bill 273 "is mainly sending a message to the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)." Actually, this bill to legalize the growing of marijuana hemp in Nebraska is sending an even louder message to our children. LB 273 is telling Nebraska's young people that marijuana is OK. The marijuana that is smoked to get high and the marijuana hemp that would be legalized are the same plant, Cannabis sativa. There is no way the human eye can tell the THC content of any Cannabis sativa plant. [continues 134 words]
Lincoln - State Sen. Ed Schrock wants Nebraska to become a pioneer in the cultivation of industrial hemp. Schrock hopes to lead Nebraska into a small group of states putting pressure on the federal government to allow farmers to grow hemp. Legal to grow until its banning along with marijuana in 1937 and a target in the war on drugs, industrial hemp is a hardy but far less potent relative of marijuana that supporters say would give farmers a profitable alternative to traditional crops. [continues 628 words]
(U-WIRE) LINCOLN, Neb. -- How does one go from New England hick to multi-millionaire in a few years? Just ask George Jung, who did it before in real life and on the big screen in the epic true story "Blow," a sizzling rocket of a motion picture about a rags to riches drug king that thrills, captivates and rips the heart out of an audience. In the movie "Scarface," Al Pacino plays a drug king, too. But before his rise, his boss tells him that in order to survive in the drug business, he must stay low key. He must try not to get it all at once. [continues 575 words]
Sometimes the most well-meaning ideas have far worse ramifications. Take the Supreme Court's decision last week that testing post-partum women for drugs without their consent violates their constitution rights. The case involved a mother's constitutional right to privacy versus the right of her unborn child to health and safety, which was jeopardized through the mother's drug abuse. The ultimate goal of arresting women who tested positive for drugs shortly after giving birth was to get them into drug treatment. The unintended results allegedly were that crack users were choosing not to get prenatal care or deciding to have their babies outside of hospitals, thus depriving their newborns of vital medical services. [continues 204 words]
Washington - The 141 Americans pardoned by former President Clinton as he left office included an Omaha man who police say helped organize one of the first crack cocaine rings between Los Angeles and Nebraska. For Kevin A. Williams, now a youth counselor at a west Omaha group home, Clinton's last-day-in-office pardon provided a surprising end to a legal ordeal that began with a 1990 guilty plea to conspiring to distribute cocaine. Williams, now 33, admits to selling illegal drugs as a teen-ager and keeping company with drug dealers as a young adult. But he denies participating in the cocaine ring that led to his indictment and prison sentence. [continues 1466 words]
U.S. vital interests are at stake in South America's violent drug war, Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel said Thursday. Hagel, who has just returned from a tour of battleground bases in Colombia and Ecuador, said narcotics traffickers are a threat to U.S. national security, as well as American economic and societal interests. "We have a very, very serious problem on our hands," he said in a telephone interview from Washington. "This is at our doorstep. We must help. We've got a big stake here." [continues 280 words]
LINCOLN Drugs were a part of Robert Dickerson's life before he landed in a Nebraska prison, and they remained part of his life during his six years in tan prison drab. Like inmates nationwide, Dickerson found out that prisons are hardly drug-free zones. That goes double in Nebraska. Systemwide, an average of 7 percent of the state's 3,600 inmates tested positive for drugs in random tests conducted in 2000. That was nearly twice the nationwide rate of 3.6 percent in 1999, the last year for which national figures were available. Nebraska inmates ranked in the Top 10 "Dirty Urine" list nationally that year. [continues 1658 words]
Ed Schrock sees nothing wrong with using anhydrous ammonia as fertilizer on his farm near Elm Creek. What bothers him is when the chemical is used to make methamphetamine, an illegal, synthetic drug. That's why the state senator wants to have the common farm fertilizer classified as drug paraphernalia in Nebraska. Schrock has nothing against his agrarian colleagues. He just wants to give prosecutors another tool to use against drug dealers. An increasing number of methamphetamine labs has been uncovered across Nebraska in recent years. [continues 340 words]
LINCOLN - Hemp grew out of the Agriculture Committee Thursday afternoon by a unanimous 7-0 vote. Under the bill, industrial hemp - argued as a nonhallucinogenic cousin of the drug cannabis sativa - would be grown by licensed farmers under supervision of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency and the state Department of Agriculture. Sen. Ed Schrock of Elm Creek introduced LB273 with the hopes of expanding markets for industrial hemp. He said that many other states -- and most other industrial countries, including Canada -- have developed their own markets for hemp, and the United States currently imports some for products ranging from clothes to house-building material. [continues 196 words]
It was bound to happen sooner or later. Nebraska law enforcement officials are turning up more methamphetamine labs after seeing them proliferate in neighboring states for several years. "It's a consensus of all law enforcement that there's a tremendous meth problem in all of our areas," said Nancy Martinez, state program coordinator for the six-state High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Nebraska is included with the Dakotas, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. Martinez said HIDTA, which coordinates federal, state and local officers to respond to hazardous meth labs, has recorded 11 meth labs discoveries in January, exceeding a quarter of the total labs found in 2000. [continues 499 words]
New York - The new president has a great deal on his mind, added to which is the burden, imposed by past legislation and executive order, to conclude the civil war in Colombia. That isn't the statedreason for our intervention in that part of the world. We're all over the place in order to stop the production and export of drugs, notably cocaine. There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of President Andres Pastrana's desire to bear down on the drug trade, but what the government of Colombia is actually worried about is a civil war. Bogota wants to cut off the cash supply enjoyed by the rebels, who, at the moment, dominate an area in the south of Colombia approximately the size of Switzerland. [continues 646 words]
Inside Nebraska
