Former Saline County Prosecutor Dan Harmon was convicted in June 1997 of one count of racketeering, three counts of conspiring to commit extortion and one count of conspiring to possess and distribute marijuana.

He was recently released after eight years in federal prison and will live in a halfway house for several months.

The racketeering charge alleged that Harmon used his 7th Judicial District prosecuting attorney's office - his jurisdiction included Saline, Grant and Hot Spring counties - as an illegal crime organization to obtain money and drugs.

[continues 384 words]

Funds for the South Central Arkansas Drug Task Force were earmarked in the Fiscal Year 2006 Science, State, Justice, Commerce Appropriations Conference Report, U.S. Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., announced this week.

That $110,000 in funding is part of a spending bill approved last week by the U.S. House and expected to pass the Senate later this week.

"I am pleased to have secured this funding for our growing law enforcement needs throughout the state and am grateful to both Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor for their assistance," Ross said in a statement.

[continues 180 words]

The week of October 24-28 was devoted to living the drug-free life at Tuckerman High School. Students had fun every day promoting a quite serious subject: the drug problem in our culture and how to make it better by encouraging others to choose to be "drug-free." Each day had a theme, and there were drawings for prizes, also. The drug-free armband had to be worn at all times in order to compete.

Monday was the "kick-off" contest to see how many targets students could hit with a kick ball. Winners of the contest were Ashton Calhoun, Sam Porter, and Derek King. Prize drawing winners were Crystopher Jones, Matthew Emery & Chris Clark.

[continues 238 words]

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - A motel manager had the right to call police when he discovered that a suspicious guest who paid cash in advance for a room had ingredients for making methamphetamine, a jury said.

The Benton County Circuit Court rejected Daniel T. Burch's claim that David Trapp violated his privacy when he entered his room at the Comfort Inn in Bentonville. Burch, 25, of Springdale, is serving a 10-year sentence for manufacturing meth and possessing it with the intent to deliver.

[continues 274 words]

Asa Hutchinson, former DEA director and current candidate for Arkansas governor, is on the right track when he says the law that takes away financial aid from college students with drug convictions should be scaled back ("Don't withhold student loans for past drug offenses, former DEA Director says" -- Oct. 22).

But while the partial reform he proposes would help some students with past convictions, it would leave behind tens of thousands of others who get convicted while in college. Blocking access to education to people who have been in trouble with drugs is a bad idea, regardless of when convictions occur. Pulling students out of school won't do anything to keep them away from drugs; instead, it causes more drug abuse.

[continues 69 words]

Students at Mountain Home and Norfork high schools are celebrating Red Ribbon Week this week.

During the week, said Mountain Home Counselor Orene Traylor, the school will take a visible stand against drugs and show a personal commitment for a drug-free lifestyle. Any student who comes by the counselor's office during the week will receive a Red Ribbon pen.

The schedule of events is as follows:

Today -- The theme is "Turn your back on drugs." Students and teachers will wear their clothes backwards.

[continues 158 words]

Students Encouraged To Participate In Variety Of Events To Encourage Drug-Free Lifestyles

Schools throughout the Arkansas River Valley are encouraging students to choose drug-free lifestyles this week as they celebrate Red Ribbon Week, seven days coordinated throughout the country by the National Family Partnership.

According to information from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Web site, National Red Ribbon week serves as a tribute to Special Agent Enrique Camarena, who was kidnapped and brutally tortured and murdered by drug traffickers in Mexico.

[continues 454 words]

Stoners and squares alike packed the Alltel Ballroom Thursday night as the heads battled the feds in a debate over the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana, with as many as 600 people in attendance, according to Matt Heath, the University Programs Cultures and Concepts Committee chairman.

Bob Stutman, who had been one of America's top drug busters, represented the side of the Feds, arguing against the decriminalization and legalization of marijuana. Steve Hager, former Editor of High Times magazine, represented the heads and called for an immediate end to the United States' war on pot.

[continues 744 words]

A marijuana eradication attempt Wednesday was a real barnburner for members of the Cleburne County Sheriff's Department, Van Buren County Sheriff's Department, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, and Greers Ferry Police Department.

After several hours of searching, officers found several marijuana plants in a barn and the home at 4110 Libby Road (Hwy 337). A helicopter search crew of two officers located the plants in the open barn during a flyover of the property.

The crew landed the chopper next to the barn in an attempt to find a resident of the home. During the attempted contact of a resident, someone lit the barn on fire, burning most everything inside. The chopper, a $100,000 machine, was sitting next to the barn and was nearly burned before the pilot could retreat.

[continues 290 words]

A 16-year-old boy is caught stealing compact music discs from neighborhood vehicles.

A 14-year-old girl repeatedly ditches school to meet with her 18-year-old boyfriend.

Police raid a meth lab and remove three toddlers from the home.

According to Circuit Court Judge Gary Isbell, 90 percent of children like these who come before him in the District Juvenile Division are there because of their parents' failures.

"The simple answer is you can't be friends to your children. You have to be a parent," Isbell said.

[continues 873 words]

Dealers And Users Trade Artifacts Among Themselves, Suspect Says

SEARCY, Ark. - The time-consuming and methodical motion of searching for arrowheads on farmland and in riverbeds seems to appeal to methamphetamine addicts, a sheriff says.

White County Sheriff Pat Garrett said that after more than 100 search warrants, he has come to expect arrowheads, many thousands of years old, when he storms the home of suspected meth makers.

"I noticed it when I first started. It just seemed there were always Indian arrowheads, and I couldn't figure it out," Sheriff Garrett said.

[continues 339 words]

AMAGON, Ark. - Arkansas' new law limiting access to the legal cold medicine ingredients of methamphetamine has worked in some respects, but not in others, state authorities say.

Methamphetamine-possession cases have increased in the state, even though the new law has sharply reduced the number of meth labs authorities are finding here.

The key, they say, is the law has given pharmacies nearly total control over the distribution of previously over-the-counter cold medicines and effectively cut off the supply chain for Arkansas' meth producers. But, at the same time, meth users and dealers have developed new sources for the drugs among gangs, particularly those based in Mexico.

[continues 380 words]

Circuit Court Judge Mary Ann Gunn addressed the difference that drug court has made in people's lives during a meeting of the Washington County Women's Club meeting Tuesday.

The drug court has an 85 percent retention rate, Gunn said. Those who wish to participate in the program, she said, must be committed. "It's a privilege to be in drug court," she said. "They have to change their life style. If they complete the program, I will drop the charges."

[continues 336 words]

SEARCY, Ark. - The time consuming and methodical motion of searching for arrowheads on farmland and in river beds seems to appeal to methamphetamine addicts, a sheriff says.

White County Sheriff Pat Garrett says after more than 100 search warrants, he has come to expect arrowheads, many thousands of years old, when he storms the home of suspected meth makers.

"I noticed it when I first started. It just seemed there were always Indian arrowheads and I couldn't figure it out," Garrett said.

[continues 332 words]

I'm writing about Louise Tempelmeier's thoughtful letter: "Marijuana operation was serious overkill" published Aug. 4.

Instead of wasting taxpayer money by sending 50 law enforcement personnel members to dig up 78 marijuana plants, why don't we just tax marijuana? It seems to me that non-marijuana users would be very much in favor of taxing a product that they don't use.

Around here, taxing other people's vices is very popular. If marijuana were regulated, taxed and sold in licensed business establishments like tobacco products, countless millions, if not billions, of dollars would flow into our nation's tax coffers.

[continues 102 words]

TRUMANN -- Police officers' efforts in going after drug dealers and users have paid off for Poinsett County, according to the Trumann police chief.

Sitting in his office Monday, Chief Larry Blagg said his department, along with county and state law enforcement, has worked on a series of drug interdiction programs in recent months that saturate an entire area and place the community's drug offenders on notice.

Last Thursday, with little or no advance warning, the department went to work on drug interdiction for a period of 8 to 9 hours. Officers were joined by members of the 2nd Judicial Drug Task Force and the Poinsett County Sheriff's Department

[continues 303 words]

BENTONVILLE -- Ronnie Lee Smith may be one of the last people in Benton County to be required to serve 70 percent of his prison sentence for committing methamphetamine-related offenses.

In July, a jury found Smith guilty of possession of drug paraphernalia with the intent to manufacture, a class B felony punishable with five to 20 years in prison. The jury recommended that Smith serve 15 years. He would be required to serve 70 percent of the sentence before he is eligible for parole. "He (Smith) will be one of the last people sentenced under the 70 percent law," Deputy Prosecutor Drew Ledbetter said. "There will be a few more, but he's one of the last major ones."

[continues 343 words]

Troop J Officers Are Recognized By DEA For Work In War On Drugs

CLARKSVILLE - Whether they find a small bag of marijuana in the front seat or several hundred pounds of the drug stashed in the trunk, the Arkansas State Police Highway Patrol Troopers at the Troop J Headquarters in Clarksville take each case seriously and do what they can to keep narcotics off the state's highways and interstates. Last week, four of Troop J's troopers were recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration in a special ceremony for their work involving the seizure of illegal drugs in the six-county area (Pope, Johnson, Yell, Conway, Perry, and Van Buren counties). They are Sgt. Keith Eremea, Cpl. Harry Smith, Trooper First Class (TFC) Roby Rhoads, and TFC George Summerlin.

[continues 433 words]

BENTON COUNTY -- A member of the Arkansas Realtors Association hopes a legislative committee will set some standards that will protect property owners when it comes to the issue of who pays to clean up houses where controlled substances have been manufactured. "The Arkansas Realtors Association is the conscience for property rights on this committee," said Larry Kelly, a member of the association's Legislative Committee and a Bentonville Realtor.

Kelly and Arkansas Realtors Association President Sharla Lau of Fort Smith will represent the association in the state General Assembly's Manufactured Drug Inspection and Cleanup Study Committee. The committee was formed under Act 1996, which was introduced in the 2005 regular session by State Sen. Shane Broadway (D-Bryant).

[continues 184 words]

Attorney General Speaks To Police At State Convention

Incarceration of methamphetamine users is central to beating Arkansas' drug problem, Attorney General Mike Beebe said Thursday.

Beebe's comments followed his speech to the Arkansas Municipal Police Association's convention held in Searcy, during which Beebe said Arkansas was making headway in the ongoing struggle with methamphetamine.

Beebe, who is a candidate for governor in 2006, said that since a law restricting the availability of cold medications used to cook meth went in effect this spring, the number of meth labs in Arkansas has decreased by half.

[continues 81 words]