MONMOUTH - Area law enforcement agencies will receive some financial assistance to assist their efforts in the ongoing battle against methamphetamine and other street drugs. Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Thursday that $5.3 million will be given to 30 narcotic enforcement and prosecution units in 66 counties across the state. The funding is from the federal government to help combat the production, distribution and use of methamphetamine, which is also known as crank or crystal meth on the streets. The federal anti-drug abuse act is the law that provides the money to police agencies. [continues 410 words]
Researchers Aim Syringes At Smoking, Obesity, Drugs Vaccines, the most potent medical weapon ever devised to vanquish deadly germs, are now being called on to do something totally different and culturally revolutionary--inoculate people against bad habits like overeating, cigarette smoking and drug use. Whether this new era of vaccine research can actually subdue many of the poor lifestyle choices that are today's biggest threats to health--causing obesity, cancer, heart disease and other problems--has yet to be proved. [continues 1290 words]
Six law enforcement agencies serving Kane, DuPage and Will counties are among 28 agencies that will share in $5.3 million in federal funding earmarked to fight the production, distribution and use of methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who announced the funding last week, also said a new database developed by the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority will help plug gaps in the national information network tracking the rampant methamphetamine problem. Funding from the federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act and the Justice Assistance Grant will help 28 state law enforcement agencies in 66 Illinois counties, according to a statement from Blagojevich's office. [continues 167 words]
Methamphetamine poses a very serious threat to the health and well-being of area children. Wherever meth is being made or used, there are children who are being harmed by meth makers, meth users, or the chemicals needed for or produced in the production of methamphetamine. To address this problem, a workshop entitled "The Effects of Methamphetamine on Children" will be held on Thursday, November 2, at New Hope Church, 2210 North Raney in Effingham. The workshop is sponsored by the Helping Services Committee of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Family Violence Coordinating Council. [continues 149 words]
Ametra Carrol used to walk the streets of Rock Island, day and night, looking for her next hit of crack cocaine. Those "10 years of hell" included some drug rehabilitation, and a relapse, with the final straw coming exactly seven years ago this month -- when she nearly died in a hospital bed, the 53-year-old Rock Island woman said Wednesday. She prayed to God that if he let her live, she never would touch drugs again and would turn herself into a community leader. [continues 557 words]
110 Arrests Linked to 9 City Officers in Robbery Probe Top Cook County prosecutors have ordered their staff to drop any case that nine special operations officers had a significant role in handling, which could nullify the arrests of 110 people charged in gun, drug, burglary and violence cases, according to a memo circulated in the Cook County state's attorney's office earlier this month. In addition to cases handled by four Chicago police officers charged with robberies and kidnappings, the memo also directs prosecutors to drop cases handled by five other officers in the special operations unit. [continues 698 words]
CHICAGO -- Top Cook County prosecutors have ordered their staff to drop any case that nine special-operations police officers had a significant role in handling, which could nullify the arrests of 110 people charged in gun, drug, burglary and violence cases, according to a memo circulated this month in the Cook County state's attorney's office. Four of the Chicago police officers have been charged with robberies and kidnappings. Prosecutors have alleged they falsely arrested many people. [continues 253 words]
As a retired New Jersey state trooper and 12-year undercover narcotics officer, I never like hearing about yet another bunch of cops corrupted by the drug war. Each case is just another sad example of the increase in police and public official corruption that is directly stimulated by a policy of drug prohibition. The fact that corruption of law enforcement officials is so extensive is a direct result of this failed policy steadily escalated at the federal and state levels since 1970. [continues 170 words]
Police, Coroner Discuss Effects Of Use With Students WILMINGTON --Wilmington High School students walked into Wednesday's assembly to find a gurney in the center of the gym with a blue body bag on it. City police officers, Will County Sheriff's police and Coroner Pat O'Neil were there to make students aware of the consequences of heroin use. The body bag was used to illustrate scenerios law enforcement has gone through with underage deaths because of heroin and similar drugs. [continues 305 words]
It is likely Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf were not feted with tea and Twinkies when they dined with President Bush at the White House on Wednesday. Tea and Twinkies were on the menu when Musharraf visited Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" earlier in the week, but there were far fewer laughs at the White House when Karzai and Musharraf met face-to-face after publicly squabbling about the lack of security along the Afghan-Pakistan border. [continues 366 words]
If you haven't yet heard, a new hallucinogenic drug called salvia divinorum has found its way onto the NIU campus. Whether this is a good thing or not, it's completely legal in Illinois for anyone 18 or older. According to the University of Maryland's substance abuse research site, salvia is a hallucinogenic plant that is native to Mexico. In August 2002, researchers discovered that this drug had hallucinogenic qualities, and that by oral ingestion it would have psychoactive effects. According to this Website, some of these effects include feelings of floatation, spinning and hallucinations. [continues 607 words]
A generation ago--OK, almost two--one of the most entertaining late-night diversions was an over-the-top anti-drug film called "Reefer Madness." Who could forget the tragedies visited upon young Bill and Jimmy when they accept an invitation to the apartment shared by Mae and Jack, the co-habiting pot sellers? Meant to discourage marijuana use--it was titled "Tell Your Children" when produced in 1936--the film became a cult classic among college students in the 1970s. Usually, the audience was stoned. [continues 441 words]
What will you be doing at 4:20 p.m. on the weekend of Oct. 7-8? For a fun time, head to Madison, Wis., for the 36th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival. The Harvest Festival has many offerings to inhale, including a party atmosphere for revelers who come just to have a good time and enjoy the free concerts. Other festival participants, who consider themselves more politically active, will enjoy lectures by pro-cannabis activists and political leaders who support drug policy reform. [continues 769 words]
This year, Peoria has 11 homicides and counting. A Sept. 18 headline reads, "Drive-by shooting wounds 2 boys." How many people will be killed and how many families will be ruined before the government gives up on Prohibition, Part II? The drug war spawns crime and gives money to gangs and terrorists who harm our country and wreak havoc in our streets. The local and national governments will just say we need to get tougher. How long have we heard that? Do we really think it will work? Drugs are bad - all of them, cigarettes and alcohol, too - but the effects of prohibition are worse. [continues 124 words]
James E. Gierach's Sept. 13 op-ed was right on target. The institutional corruption engendered by the drug war stretches from coast to coast and reaches the highest levels. The high-profile Los Angeles Police Department Rampart scandal involved anti-drug officers selling drugs and framing gang members. A former commander of U.S. anti-drug operations in Colombia was found guilty of laundering the profits of his wife's heroin smuggling operation. Entire countries have been destabilized by the corrupting influence of the illegal drug trade. Like alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, the drug war is causing tremendous societal harm, while failing miserably at preventing use. [continues 122 words]
Kudos to the Daily Southtown for publishing James Gierach's excellent op-ed, "Cops, like kids, lured by drug-war profits" (Sept. 13). As Gierach so aptly points out our war on (some) drugs has failed. And it has failed because it so glaringly follows the pattern of our first Prohibition. Prohibition I (alcohol) provided Al Capone the opportunity to go from being merely a punk to a rich and powerful man. The costs of Prohibition II are exponentially greater than our early 20th century attempt because the corruption it creates is global. [continues 78 words]
Four cops from the elite Chicago special operations section are charged with robbing, beating, kidnapping and intimidating suspected drug dealers. According to published reports, as many as nine cops are suspected of abusing their police power in the latest episode of drug-war corruption. Part of the drug-war strategy is to take the ill-gotten goods from the drug dealers -- take their real estate, their fancy ccars, boats, airplanes and cash. Seize and forfeit, seize and forfeit -- that's the drug-war way. Half the confiscated loot goes to the arresting agency and half to the feds. [continues 381 words]
It's a kid killer -- a destroyer of grade schoolers and high schoolers foolish enough to toy with the ancient opiate known as heroin. But area police say that, despite the risks, kids convinced of their own immortality continue to be captured by the "creature" some call Skag; Smack; White Boy; Junk or Dead on Arrival. That's why Wilmington police -- alarmed by the surreptitious spread of heroin into the community's youth culture -- are hosting a public meeting 6 p.m. Monday at the Mar Theater to boost awareness and forge a homegrown defense. [continues 356 words]
McLean County's drug court is definitely a step in the right direction (``Drug court's implementation will benefit county,'' OurViews, Sept. 9, page A6), but an arrest should not be a necessary prerequisite for drug treatment. Would alcoholics seek help for their illness if doing so were tantamount to confessing to criminal activity? Likewise, would putting every incorrigible alcoholic behind bars and saddling them with criminal records prove cost-effective? The United States recently earned the dubious distinction of having the highest incarceration rate in the world, with drug offenses accounting for the majority of federal incarcerations. This is big government at its worst. [continues 174 words]
Conviction Fees: Hike Would Pay For Expanded Program JOLIET - Will County Drug Court has successfully graduated many participants back into society since its inception in 1999. The problem in recent years has been funding. For the first three years, a federal grant funded the program, which allows convicted drug addicts and alcohol abusers the option of treatment instead of jail. But the grant ran out in 2001, and the program has been limping along since with smaller grants and local contributions. [continues 343 words]
Screening for the first group of participants in McLean County's drug court program is under way - an important step. Many people have worked for years to start this program. McLean County State's Attorney Bill Yoder made its implementation a priority. Selecting the right participants for such a program is important at any time. But the process takes on critical importance with the first group. This is the time when all eyes will be watching, and it is a time when bugs, if any, have to be worked out. [continues 380 words]
Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis is clearly insecure about the surge in violent crime that has occurred during his term, so he's consulted the conservative playbook to utilize two classic maneuvers: blame "liberal, activist judges" and demonize ghetto kids. Will welfare mothers or music videos be next? What strategies, beyond posturing, will the mayor use to stop the violence? Why prison cells, surveillance cameras and "quality of life" policing, of course. These ideas are sure to secure the votes of privileged Caucasians, if they don't flee the city first. [continues 332 words]
Authorities are expected to arrest four Chicago Police officers today in a corruption investigation that could lead Cook County prosecutors to drop more than 100 criminal cases because they were tainted by the allegedly crooked cops. The officers are members of the department's elite Special Operations Section, a citywide unit that seizes guns and drugs in crime hot spots. All 4 have been sued At least four other officers, including a woman, have been stripped of their power to carry guns and make arrests, sources said. [continues 347 words]
Regarding "DEA's museum exhibit shows dangers of drugs," [metro story, Aug. 11]: The crime factor isn't due to drugs but rather drug prohibition -- the same way there was a crime factor due not to alcohol, but rather alcohol prohibition. As Al Capone's history in Chicago exposes, the original Prohibition was bad; the sequel is worse. Stan White, Dillon, Colo. [end]
With a growing number of weapons, Illinois is beginning to win the war on meth, according to Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Methamphetamine, or meth, is a highly-addictive stimulant that comes in powder form and can be made rather cheaply by anyone with a recipe using ingredients that are readily available at local drug, hardware and farm supply stores. Illinois, and other Midwestern states where farming is a major endeavor, became meth hotbeds over the last decade as the drug's popularity grew. [continues 383 words]
Fewer thefts, arsons and rapes here helped bring Illinois' crime rate down in 2005, but a majority of the state's communities reported a rise in serious crime, according to Illinois State Police data. Law enforcement officials in Illinois reported 473,834 serious crimes in 2005, resulting in a 3.1 percent decline in the state's crime rate, according to information provided by state police that was released Sunday. That's 37.3 crimes per 1,000 people, which is down from 38.3 per 1,000 in 2004. [continues 655 words]
At the time of his death, 17-year-old Joseph Krecker was a recent graduate -- not just from Maine South High School, but from a rehabilitation program aimed at ending his drug addiction. His family was hoping for the best, hoping that he would beat his addiction to heroin, although they knew relapses were almost expected. When Joe did relapse and begin using drugs again in June, he didn't get another chance at recovery; the heroin he took was laced with the deadly drug fentanyl, said Chicago police, killing him not far from where he had purchased the drug. [continues 574 words]
Throughout the past year the state of Illinois has seen a decrease in crime by 3.1 percent, and continues to decline according to recently released 2005 crime statistics by the Illinois State Police. The murder rate declined for the fourth consecutive year and theft was down by the largest margin since 1999. The Illinois state police attribute this decline to the state government's providing of the resources and manpower our law enforcement needs in order for this to happen. [continues 448 words]
"Once They Get That First Hit, They're Going To Chase It Forever." WILMINGTON - It's called "chasing the dragon." "Once they get that first hit, they're going to chase it forever," noted local Deputy Police Chief Michael Boyle. "And then they'll try even more. Maybe start out with snorting it, then go to shooting it to get more of a high. "That's why they go to different levels and different drugs. They're chasing that dragon - they're going after that feeling ... again and again." [continues 938 words]
MORRIS -- The Grundy County coroner's office now will test all heroin-related deaths for fentanyl due to an increase in the combination of the drugs in the county. "Now it's been in the area for sometime, but the coroner's office has not been involved before," said Coroner John Callahan at a press conference Tuesday. "We want people to know the dangers." In a week, there have been two county deaths related to heroin overdoses. Michael McGovern, 19, of Seneca died Saturday morning of a heroin overdose, which is still under investigation by Morris and Seneca police. On Aug. 19, a Morris man, Edward Neikirk, 44, also died of an overdose. [continues 447 words]
WILMINGTON -- This town isn't used to what is happening here. So the war is on. The enemy is heroin and police are trying to sweep it off the streets. They scored a bust Thursday that was preceded recently by a traffic stop netting more of the white stuff. "We are doing what we can," said Police Chief Wally Evans. The problem has escalated in the wake of the death of a 15-year-old boy in recent weeks. A heroin overdose is suspected but has not been confirmed. [continues 531 words]
Former Addicts Share Stories Of Addiction, Recovery EDITOR'S NOTE - "Brooke Rose" is an assumed name for a local former heroin addict. Her name was changed to preserve her privacy and safety. Brooke Rose. 17. Straight hair, messy up top. Painted nails. Soft spoken. Likes bowling, shopping and cars. She's just a teenage girl, but her face shows age beyond 17. Maybe 22 or 23. Her life is structured. She lives minute to minute. She stays busy. No time for free time. No time for phone calls from estranged friends or ex-boyfriends. [continues 1500 words]
WILMINGTON - Local police chief, Lt. Wally Evans, believes the community should face head-on its serious problem with illicit drugs. "You can either lay it out and attack it, or hide your head in the sand and let it build," he said Wednesday. "It's in every step of society. So, if a community is going to say it doesn't have a problem it does have a problem." The drive to do something about the growing problem of illicit drugs in the community, including crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl-laced heroin, began when Deputy Chief Michael Boyle came out of management to work the streets again, and found a drug problem existed in the school system. [continues 470 words]
A man police have identified as a Chicago drug dealer has been charged in connection with the June death of Park Ridge teenager Joseph Krecker. Corey Crump, 35, of the 1700 block of North Austin Avenue, Chicago, has been charged with drug-induced homicide, a class X felony, for allegedly selling Krecker a lethal dose of heroin laced with the synthetic drug fentanyl. If convicted, he could face from six to 30 years in prison, according to the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. [continues 428 words]
WILMINGTON --"Heroin has taken over as the No. 1 killer drug in Will County," Coroner Pat O'Neil said. Through mid-July, there have been six fatal overdoses in Will County this year. O'Neil said investigators are alarmed at the increase of deaths from fentanyl-laced heroin. "Heroin is cheap and it's easily accessible," police Chief Wally Evans said recently. "It seems to be more of a problem with kids than adults. Not just high-schoolers, we've even found some junior high kids using heroin." State police Capt. Ken Kaupas said the number of area heroin arrests made by troopers has increased recently. [end]
The Grundy County coroner will start screening for homemade fentanyl after two deaths in a week that might be linked to fentanyl-laced heroin. On Saturday morning, Michael McGovern, 19, of Seneca was pronounced dead in Morris Hospital. And on Aug. 19, Edward Niekirk, 44, was found dead in his Morris home by his son. While Coroner John Callahan's office is investigating both deaths and awaiting toxicology reports, he said Wednesday he is "very, very certain these are fentanyl-related deaths." [continues 513 words]
Just a little grain of fentanyl ... or two ... or three ... will do it. The small amount of fentanyl it takes to kill a person can be likened to a grain of salt, noted Dr. Ben Johnston, emergency room physician at Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers. "Imagine one grain of salt and three grains of salt being the difference between life and death," he said Tuesday, during a news conference by Grundy County Coroner John Callahan in the wake of two heroin-related deaths this past week. [continues 827 words]
Illinois didn't set out to be second only to California in the number of people imprisoned for drug offenses. It never had a goal of locking up African Americans for drug offenses at a rate higher than any other state in the nation. And it didn't seek to spend $280 million a year to incarcerate those who break drug laws. Yet that is what happened, according to a new study that argues persuasively that our drug policy puts too much emphasis on incarceration and not enough on drug treatment. [continues 374 words]
Illinois Republican Jerry Weller is one of the most powerful men in Congress when it comes to Latin America. His wife is the most powerful woman in Guatemala's controversial FRG party. JERRY WELLER WAS running for his sixth term as congressman from Illinois' 11th District in July 2004 when he announced that he was engaged to Zury Rios Sosa, an outspoken third-term legislator in Guatemala's congress and the daughter of former dictator General Efrain Rios Montt. "I am thrilled to have found my best friend and soulmate," Weller stated in a press release. "Our love knows no boundaries." In the same release Sosa said, "With Jerry, I am starting an eternal springtime. I admire his character, his commitment to his responsibilities, and his honesty." [continues 3009 words]
As inmates of the Peoria County Jail, we have several observations. To begin, we realize this is a way station for alleged criminals. We do not expect the Hilton. The real problem lies in the rehabilitation of one's self. The only programs available are an Alcoholics Anonymous group and G.E.D. course. There is nothing for high school graduates, no anger management, drug therapy or counseling of any kind. Besides reading, there is not much else to do but play cards and watch "The Price is Right" and "Maury Povich" every day. [continues 127 words]
Nine Federal Indictments; Other Possible Cases In State Hands Federal prosecutors said Wednesday their probe of a "significant" cocaine ring is now complete and that it took about six years of on-and-off investigation to dismantle the organization believed to have delivered millions of dollars' worth of the drug to Springfield-area users. The federal investigation netted nine indictments and a great deal of public interest. Six defendants have already pleaded guilty, including Jerrad A. Pruitt of the 4000 block of Hazelcrest Road on Wednesday. At least six other names have been forwarded to a court- appointed state appellate prosecutor for possible prosecution; no decision yet has been made as to whether charges will be filed against them. [continues 1076 words]
In what's believed to be the first criminal case of its kind in Chicago, a reputed gang member has been charged with drug-induced homicide for allegedly selling a fatal batch of fentanyl-laced heroin to the teen-aged son of a suburban deputy police chief, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. Corey Crump, 35, of Chicago, appeared Thursday before Cook County Criminal Court Judge Raymond Myles, who set bond at $80,000, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Marcy Jensen. Crump was slated for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 12 in Violence Court (Br. 66), she added. [continues 257 words]
Those were shocking survey results on the front page of a recent Tribune: 80 percent of parents believe that alcohol and marijuana aren't usually available at teen parties. Yet 50 percent of their kids say they attend parties where alcohol, drugs or both are available. In the article, 15-year-old Samantha Tish of Roscoe, Ill., cut to the quick: "Most parents are clueless. They have no idea what goes on at parties ... or how drugs and alcohol are everywhere." [continues 469 words]
Can Peoria pray itself out of its problems? Beats me. But it's worth a shot. I don't mean just blanket pleas like, "God, please don't let Peoria go to hell in a hand cart." I mean specific, targeted prayers for people who need them most. I saw this on Sunday at Riverside Community Church, which took over the Shrine Mosque in 2000. I've popped in only a few times, but it must be a pretty decent place: in just six years weekly attendance has gone from 300 to 1,500. [continues 475 words]
The philosophy of restorative justice has seeped into a number of central Illinois programs through the years. The granddaddy, Woodford County's Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program, shut down last year after operating more than 14 years. Volunteer mediators guided meetings between victims and offenders in juvenile and criminal misdemeanor cases. The cases were referred by Woodford County's probation department. Victims were becoming less willing to participate, and the bank of volunteer mediators was getting harder to replace, says the Rev. Don Littlejohn, a former Eureka College professor who helped found the program. [continues 310 words]
With Educational, Health And Fiscal Woes Weighing On Illinois, Sound Bites Simply Won't Do Voters say they hunger for candor, but it too often gives them indigestion. Consider the response from an Illinoisan briefed on the state's suffocating budgetary crisis - a deficit in the billions that threatens our quality of life and our economic viability - and then was asked whether he would support a politician advocating an income-tax increase as necessary even after severe belt-tightening. "I would respect the candidate right up until I voted," he replied. [continues 503 words]
FREEPORT - Cocaine arrests are increasing in Stephenson County, and officials say children who are raised in drug environments are oftentimes caught up in a cycle of dysfunction that creates serious developmental and socialization problems. Local police said that when they make a crack cocaine arrest and find children in the home, the solution can be to place children with relatives or reliable friends, seen by officials as better alternatives to placing them with strangers. "The Department of Children and Family Services agrees and always prefers such a placement in all cases where they are forced to remove children from a home under any circumstances," Assistant Chief of Police Robert Smith said. [continues 668 words]
Sadly, America's first national prison commission in 30 years failed to tackle, head-on, our lock 'em up culture and to find ways to reduce the number of people behind bars in Illinois and elsewhere. The commission's recent report is little more than a how-to manual to help wardens cope with overcrowded prisons that breed violence, disease and recidivism. What we really need is a road map to drastically shrink Illinois' prison population and, at the same time, save state taxpayers a lot of money. [continues 585 words]
High School Students, Parents Must Agree To Monitoring LACON - The Midland School District in Marshall County has joined the increasing number of area districts to implement random drug testing for high school students competing in athletics and some other activities. The School Board voted 7-0 on Monday night to adopt the policy. Students and their parents will have to agree to random testing by urine samples anytime during the year for the students to participate in sports, cheerleading or scholastic bowl competitions. [continues 444 words]
I'm writing about Diana Roemer's thoughtful story: "Street trends: The grip of crack cocaine" (8-21-06). If tough-on-drugs policies worked, the quixotic goal of a drug-free America would have been reached a long time ago. And if tolerant marijuana policies caused more hard drug use and crime, the Czech Republic would have much higher rates of hard drug use and crime. They do not. The Czech Republic is the only country in the world where adult citizens can legally use, purchase, possess and grow small quantities of marijuana. (In the Netherlands, marijuana is quasi-legal - not officially legal.) [continues 180 words]
Inside Illinois
