Winston-Salem Police Use Letter Campaign To Warn Store Owners In the war on drugs, Winston-Salem police say, local law against the sale of rose stems in thin glass tubes is not a weapon they need. At yesterday's meeting of the City Council public-safety committee, police presented their study of Greensboro's ordinance against "drug-stems," the apparent novelty items that police say are used as makeshift crack pipes. At some convenience stores, $3 can buy a 4-inch-long glass tube with a plastic rose in it. [continues 289 words]
There has been a decline in the number of confiscated illegal drugs in Durham Public schools, according to the Annual Report on School Crime and Violence for the Public Schools of North Carolina. During the 2005-2006 school year, there were only 69 reported instances of possession of controlled substances, down from 102 in the 2004-2005 school year and 109 in 2003-2004. "We have been very aggressive in seeking out any kind of illegal drugs on campus, [which] has started to take effect as a preventative measure," said John Colclough, principal of Northern High School. [continues 374 words]
Dear Editor, "No financial aid for drug offenders" [Nov. 9], reveals the big picture for citizens to see, since the government's war on drugs primarily targets cannabis users. Do students lose financial aid if caught with alcohol? Focusing on the plant cannabis has allowed America's meth problem to get out of control. Further discrimination exists because students convicted of murder or rape, are still eligible for financial aid in school. Government's attempts to persecute, prohibit and exterminate cannabis (kaneh bosm/marijuana) is ludicrous to begin with since Christ God Our Father indicates that He created the seed-bearing plants, saying they are all good, on literally the first page (see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30). The only biblical restriction placed on cannabis is the it is to be accepted with thankfulness (see 1 Timothy 4:1-5). This provision of the Higher Education Act is bad law and should be amended or terminated. Truthfully, Stan White [end]
A sheriff's deputy's actions in the June 28 shooting of a drug trafficking suspect were justified, Rockingham County District Attorney Belinda Foster says. The suspect, Lamond Duncan, died in the shooting after authorities entered his home. In a statement released Monday, Foster said the "case represents a very dangerous scenario to law enforcement officers, given the suspect's record of violence and the type of weapons he possessed." According to a State Bureau of Investigation report reviewed by Foster, those weapons included a XM-15 semiautomatic assault rifle loaded with a 30-round magazine and an additional 30-round magazine found near Duncan, as well as a loaded semiautomatic handgun. [continues 261 words]
No Financial Aid for Drug Offenders Smoke pot? If so, your federal financial aid is in jeopardy. The Higher Education Act Aid Elimination Penalty, signed by former President Bill Clinton and passed into law in 1998, requires students to reveal drug convictions to the government when applying for federal aid. The drug conviction question was added to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid for the 2000-01 school year. "oeThe question encompasses everything from a single marijuana cigarette up to heroin trafficking," Tom J. Angell, campaigns director of Students for a Sensible Drug Policy in Washington, D.C., said. [continues 388 words]
STATESVILLE - A former Salisbury Police officer will not serve prison time for his part in a conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, methamphetamine and cocaine. Gold Hill's Ryan Wagoner, who was 29 at the time of his arrest, was sentenced Monday in federal court to three years probation. In February 2005, local agencies working with the U.S Attorney's Office arrested nine people in connection with a drug ring. The arrest stemmed from a 2004 probe by the State Bureau of Investigations. [continues 541 words]
Weeklong Event Stresses Parental Involvement MINERAL SPRINGS - So much is said and done throughout our country to address the issue of alcohol and drug use by children. We may mistakenly believe that because we live outside of a large city, we are immune to the drug-use epidemic affecting our youth. Unfortunately, this terrible problem may potentially affect any one of our family members. It is comforting to know, however, that Union County Public Schools does its share to protect our children. Last month, from Oct. 23 through Oct. 31, all the schools in our county participated in a prevention message program titled Red Ribbon Week. [continues 479 words]
Although the color pink has become the new power color, red was the most popular color last week. Schools across the Twin Counties celebrated Red Ribbon Week to encourage students and the community to stay drug free. Students and faculty wore red during the week along with red ribbons to remember Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who died investigating a major drug cartel in Mexico. "We learned not to do drugs," said Baskerville Elementary School fifth-grader Deja Tillery, 10. "Drugs are bad for you. You can die from them." [continues 419 words]
Caldwell Sheriff's Race Community Policing Emphasis Versus Intense Focus on Drugs Sheriff Gary Clark's administration began under a cloud four years ago, when he won election to his first term, and it continues in this year's election. But the controversies, including a 2002 vote-buying scandal led by a few renegade supporters and two current investigations by the state Board of Elections, don't worry the Republican as he prepares to face Democrat Terry Harris at the polls. [continues 695 words]
Drugs are wreaking havoc on our society. Families are being destroyed, crime is on the rise and more and more teens are trying alcohol or some form of illicit drug at an earlier age. It's not meant to be a gloom and doom statement, only a fact that we need to wrap our minds around, opening our eyes to the realities of the world we live in and hopefully forcing us to realize the need to take action. Now. Take a look at our newspaper, or any other newspaper in the state, and you will find within its pages dozens upon dozens of crimes and arrests that can be tied, directly or indirectly, to drug abuse. [continues 457 words]
Davidson County Sheriff's Office deputies found more than $540,000 in cash hidden in a car traveling south on Interstate 85 Monday. This is the third-largest cash seizure from a traffic stop in the county since 2004. The driver, who was identified only as a New York resident, told officers he was driving a friend's car and was unaware of the cash and the hidden compartment, according to a sheriff's office report. Around 11:45 a.m. deputies with the Interstate Criminal Enforcement Unit stopped the full-sized Mercury sedan for a routine traffic violation. While interviewing the driver, officers said they became suspicious and brought in a K-9 unit to search the car. After further investigation, deputies found a hidden compartment in the rear area under the car where the cash was hidden. [continues 296 words]
Fewer students were caught with controlled substances last year than the year before DURHAM - Fewer illegal drugs showed up at Durham's schools last year than in the previous year, a decrease of nearly one-third, according to a report released by state officials this week. In 69 instances last year, Durham students were caught with controlled substances, down from 102 incidents the year before, the report shows. Controlled substances include narcotics such as marijuana and unauthorized prescription drugs. The decline follows a national trend, said Tina Ingram, security director for Durham's schools. [continues 261 words]
When it comes to fighting Pender County's war on drugs, the two candidates for county sheriff agree to disagree. Incumbent Carson Smith and his challenger Doyle Christopher both view the county's growing drug problem as one of its major issues, but their stance on how to deal with the problem is where the agreement ends. Smith places an emphasis on taking down the drug trafficker instead of making the street dealers his main focus. "Taking down these street level guys, that's easy," Smith said. "We can go out every night and arrest the dealers, but the next day there will be someone else out there replacing the guy in jail. You've got to attack the source to solve the problem." [continues 454 words]
Nearly $50,000 in cash was seized by Sampson County Sheriff's authorities during a traffic stop on Interstate 40 Thursday, according to a press release from the Sheriff's Office. The money has been turned over to federal authorities and charges may be forthcoming against the driver, authorities said. According to information from sheriff's authorities, the stop was made at about 2:30 p.m. on a black Cadillac traveling on I-40. Members of the sheriff's Highway Enforcement Awareness Team conducted the investigative stop and a K-9 unit responded and the vehicle received a positive alert for the presence of narcotics, reports state. [continues 233 words]
Of the 1.5 million people in U.S. federal prisons, 59.6 percent are drug offenders, according to the Department of Justice. Is this overwhelming majority because drug trafficking is extremely high in this country, or is it because our government over-criminalizes drug offenders? This question has fueled the debate over the war on drugs for years. However, some of the people who promote the decriminalization of drugs are those that you would least expect: law enforcement professionals. Former policemen, DEA agents, prison wardens and FBI agents have formed the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). This non-partisan group advocates the regulation of illegal narcotics at the same level as tobacco and alcohol. [continues 580 words]
To The Editor: There is no way Rick Davis, who is running for Henderson County sheriff, will get my vote! Rick Davis wants to take away the DARE camp and dance from our kids. DARE is for the children and to teach our children about drug resistance. My son was in the fifth grade last year and he looked forward to every DARE dance. He was also chosen to go to the DARE camp. In his own words "it was awesome." [continues 94 words]
Sampson County deputies hit the lottery Thursday, seizing $47,580 in U.S. cash hidden in a black Cadillac. No one's been charged with any crime but the Sampson Sheriff's Office has confiscated the large amount of cash, suspecting it was used for drug deals. The money was found after a traffic stop by the Highway Enforcement Awareness Team on Interstate 40 near Faison. A K-9 "alerted" there may have been drugs in the vehicle, which allowed deputies to perform a non-consensual search. [continues 277 words]
Robert Sharpe's Oct. 24 letter, "Drugs cause corruption" was erroneously titled and misleading because drugs don't cause corruption, but rather the war on drugs is responsible. As the original prohibition of alcohol exposed, it wasn't alcohol but rather the prohibition of alcohol that caused crime. Example, for 10 years after repeal of the original prohibition, murder rates went down. The original prohibition was bad, the sequel is much worse. Dillon, Colo. [end]
ASHEVILLE - When Carl Mumpower returned from the Vietnam War in the early 1970s, he said he felt out of place and better equipped to deal with the uncertainties of combat than the stability of home. Advertisement He anticipates drug dealers transitioning from their illegal trade to honest jobs would face the same situation in a proposed program called "Job Won." The program, presented Tuesday at a meeting of the Asheville-Buncombe Drug Commission, aims to help people move out of selling illegal drugs and into a job. [continues 229 words]
The Coalition for a Safe and Drug-Free Clay County are hard at work with the local school system combating drug and alcohol abuse, as well as with local businesses to bring awareness to the issue of alcohol and drug abuse. Working with local restaurants last month, the Coalition encouraged parents to eat dinner with their children to bring awareness of the important role parents play in keeping children drug and alcohol free. Parents were encouraged to spend time with their children over a meal and given a brochure full of information on how they can work to strengthen family values and help their children make good choices. And at local schools this week, the Coalition is partnering with Students Against Destructive Decisions to promote Red Ribbon Week. Students in Clay County are joining with students in Towns County to combat drugs and alcohol as part of Red Ribbon Week. [continues 513 words]
The case of the Durham Sheriff's deputy charged with cocaine trafficking is not an isolated incident. 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. [continues 134 words]
To The Editor: It has come to my attention that the DARE program is being cut back this year. I guess what is going on in the news with all the schools doesn't mean much to our program. The Sheriff's Department picked a fine time to leave the kids with nothing much to do. I understand the classes will remain, but the extras -- camps and dances -- have been cut. Let me guess. Our funding is not there, or we don't have the volunteers. [continues 78 words]
Clutching a large white check for their share of $1.2 million seized from drug dealers, Goldsboro Police Chief Tim Bell and Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders vowed to continue their fight to eliminate drugs. Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge John Emerson presented checks to Bell and Winders for $260,937.63. The checks were handed out on the second floor of City Hall at 11:30 a.m. Friday. The checks distributed represented the departments share of money seized from drug traffickers, Emerson said. The money was seized in several states including Georgia and North Carolina and was part of an investigation conducted by the DEA and the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad, Emerson added. "Drug traffickers sell their drugs here and then the money is brought back across the country into Mexico," Emerson said. "If we don't get the drugs and they've already sold the drugs then we are trying to intercept that money coming back, so they can't use that money to buy more drugs and bring it back to the states." [continues 380 words]
DURHAM -- The former sheriff's deputy fired for his alleged involvement in a wide array of illegal activities at a local Durham nightclub may have been involved in more serious crimes than the ones for which he already stands accused, Durham County Sheriff's officials said Wednesday. Sheriff's investigators are looking for information that may connect former deputy Mike Owens to both human trafficking and murder for hire, according to Capt. Paul Martin of the Sheriff's Office. Owens and six Hispanic males were arrested Saturday in a raid of the 2825 North Roxboro Road nightclub La Zona. During the raid, approximately 5 ounces of cocaine were seized by investigators. [continues 593 words]
Dear Editor, After 92 straight years of failure, it is amazing that the Topsail Voice still thinks there is some virtue in a lunatic drug crusade. Rather than making communities more "family friendly," the drug war exposes children to a dangerous criminal black market that functions in the shadows of Surf City Banning drug paraphernalia is merely a panicked extension of hypocritical drug war thinking that has made drug crimes and overdoses commonplace where they never existed before. No one was robbing, whoring and murdering to get drugs when addicts could buy all of the heroin, morphine, cocaine and anything else they wanted cheaply and legally at the corner pharmacy. A legal heroin habit cost less than tobacco addiction (25c per week) and "drug crime" was unknown. The term drug crime is an invention of prohibitionists trying to cover the effects of their failed drug policy. [continues 214 words]
Iredell Agency Will Use County's Share To Hire Counselors For Youths Iredell County has received part of a state grant to help youth with substance abuse problems who are in trouble with the law break their addictions and criminal habits. The grant means judges and juvenile court counselors now have the option of assigning juveniles offenders to a substance-abuse treatment program developed by the federal government and tailored to juvenile offenders. Research shows that substance-abuse programs designed for specific types of users are more effective, said David Swann, CEO of Crossroads Behavioral Healthcare. [continues 246 words]
ASHEVILLE -- Their first appearance of the campaign in the same room gave Sheriff Bobby Medford the chance to respond to challenger Van Duncan's plan for a reorganization of the Buncombe County Sheriff's Department. Medford said at a Leadership Asheville forum today he once contemplated a version of Duncan's plan to get more deputies on patrol by installing 12-hour shifts but abandoned it out of concern that it would put officers at risk. "At eight hours," the Republican sheriff said after the forum, "attention span goes down, alertness. You wreck more cars, have more officers injured." [continues 185 words]
When a drug user or dealer gets busted by narcotics agents, most everyone knows what'll happen to him. He'll get handcuffed, taken to the magistrate, taken to the jail and end up sitting in a cell waiting for court or a bond release. But what happens to the dealer's drugs? How does that bag of crack cocaine found in a car or home get to the court house for trial or to the landfill to be destroyed? What happens to all the marijuana plants discovered in the county during flyovers? [continues 902 words]
The Two Candidates for Sheriff in Henderson County Have Different Views on How They Would Treat a Drug Resistance Program If They Are Elected. DARE, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, teaches fifth grade students the dangers of smoking, alcohol and drugs. Some parents say they have heard Rick Davis plans to scrap the program if elected, but the Republican nominee says the claim is false. He said Tuesday that the DARE curriculum would be kept 100 percent intact. "The curriculum should be expanded," Davis said. [continues 403 words]
DURHAM -- A Durham sheriff's deputy fired after being charged with selling cocaine at his bar was involved in a counterfeit money scheme, according to legal documents that allege hit men, prostitutes, drug dealers and people involved in human trafficking frequented the now-closed establishment. A search warrant issued Oct. 13 by a Durham Superior Court judge gave permission to the Sheriff's Office to search Michael Owens, the owner of La Zona nightclub at 2825 North Roxboro Road, and six Hispanic males who were targets of an undercover operation. [continues 1342 words]
Stokes, Chandler Campaign to Become Davie Sheriff For the two candidates competing to become the sheriff of Davie County, the major issue facing county law enforcement is the increasing problem of illegal drugs. "The drug problem in Davie County is being ignored," said Andy Stokes, the Republican candidate. He beat long-time sheriff Allen Whitaker in May during the Republican primaries. Stokes will face Danny Chandler, the Democratic candidate, on Nov. 7. Chandler also wants to tackle the drug problems. "A lot of your crimes come from drugs," he said. [continues 671 words]
After three separate fatal shootings in one week outside reported illegal liquor houses in Charlotte, three law enforcement agencies are joining forces to tackle the problem of such underground businesses. Liquor houses aren't new and aren't easy to eliminate. Law enforcement agencies nationwide have been fighting what are sometimes known as speak-easies since at least the days of Prohibition. The homes sell booze without permits, and often become a den for other vices, with drugs and sex for sale. [continues 1233 words]
It is always disappointing when law enforcment officers are charged with breaking the law. The citizens they have pledged to protect and serve see such violations as a betrayal. If police officers and deputies don't obey and respect the law, why should anyone else? Over the summer, Durham residents felt the sting of such a betrayal when two off-duty police officers were charged with assaulting a cook outside of a Raleigh sports bar. It was a major embarrassment for the Police Department, which Police Chief Steve Chalmers correctly took seriously. After investigating the charges, Chalmers found good reason to send officers Gary Powell and Scott Tanner packing. [continues 277 words]
DURHAM -- Sheriff Worth Hill fired three deputies Monday he said had forfeited his and the public's trust after being caught up in an investigation of drug-dealing and other illegal activities at a North Roxboro Street nightclub. Hill announced the terminations of deputies Michael P. Owens, William K. Dodson and Bradley W. King during an afternoon news conference. The dismissal of Owens had been expected, as he's been charged with trafficking in cocaine, conspiracy and maintaining a building to keep and sell drugs. He's the owner of the targeted nightclub, La Zona, 2825 N. Roxboro Road. [continues 805 words]
DURHAM -- Two more Durham County Sheriff's Office deputies have been suspended after a Friday evening narcotics raid on a North Roxboro Street nightclub that produced cocaine-trafficking and conspiracy charges against one of their colleagues. Sheriff Worth Hill said deputies Brad King and Keith Dotson were ordered home from off-duty jobs Friday night and suspended as the investigation continued. One of them was working security at the club, La Zona, at 2825 N. Roxboro Road, when Friday's raid occurred. [continues 617 words]
Many Of Them Say Drinking, Drugs, Sex Common; They Cite Peer Pressure, Desire To Fit In A federal survey recently revealed that Mecklenburg County teenagers - -- more often than teens nationwide -- engage in risky behavior, such as drugs, drinking and sex. But if their parents were dismayed by the findings, many southern Mecklenburg teens said they weren't surprised. More than a dozen students from Pineville to Mint Hill said last week that sex, drugs and alcohol, permeate many teenage lives. [continues 896 words]
The first lady of North Carolina helped kick off the High Country's Red Ribbon Celebration. Mary Easley, wife of Gov. Mike Easley, attended the celebration's kick-off breakfast Tuesday in Boone, along with Mrs. North Carolina Globe, Christina Welch. Hosted by Appalachian State University and the Alcohol/Drug Council of Watauga County, the breakfast is intended to complement National Red Ribbon Week. The week is celebrated from Oct. 22 through 28 and is now in its 19th year as "the largest alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention campaign observed nationally," a press release reads. [continues 863 words]
The communities of Topsail Island and those who market the area tout the island as being a family friendly place to live and visit. Last week Surf City took another step in promoting the family friendly atmosphere by creating an ordinance that makes it illegal to sell drug paraphernalia such as bongs and crack pipes within city limits. Before the ban, drug paraphernalia commonly used to smoke illegal drugs could be found in several area gift stores. When questioned about the items, shop owners said they would pull them from the shelves. The new law ensures that everyone abides by the plan. [continues 147 words]
The Student Union hosted "The Great Debate: Heads vs. Feds" on Oct. 11 in Pugh Auditorium, to explore the various facets of the enduring American debate about the merits of marijuana's legalization. The debate featured experts Steven Hager, former editor of High Times magazine, and creator of the Cannabis Cup and the Counterculture Hall of Fame against Robert M. Stutman, a 25-year veteran in the U. S. Drug Enforcement Administration who has launched approximately 5,000 investigations leading to more than 15, 000 drug arrests. [continues 440 words]
RALEIGH -- Two former Robeson County deputies pleaded guilty Thursday to getting paid with taxpayers' money to help landscape an elected official's yard and to raise campaign money for him during a golf tournament. U.S. Assistant District Attorney Wes Camden declined to identify the elected official in court. Robeson County District Attorney Johnson Britt has said previously that investigators substantiated allegations that deputies once helped former Sheriff Glenn Maynor move into a new home and landscaped his yard. On Thursday, former deputies Paul Pittman and Billy Hunt pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States between September 2002 and September 2003. Pittman, who is 40, resigned from the Sheriff's Office this month. [continues 525 words]
The Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad said a spike in the number of marijuana plants found in Wayne County could trigger an increase in the number of people who use creative ways to raise them. The drug squad recently confiscated 50 to 75 marijuana plants from suspects who were growing the plants indoors. While that is a relatively low number, Lt. Tom Effler, the drug squad's co-commander, said he expects the number to rise given the increase in outdoor marijuana plants found by the drug squad. [continues 273 words]
PITTSBORO -- A man who led Chatham sheriff's deputies on a police chase and then died shortly after they tasered and handcuffed him in July died of cocaine poisoning, according to the N.C. Medical Examiner's office. Toxicology tests showed a very high concentration of cocaine in the body of Shannon Lane Johnson, 37, of 939 Edwards Hill Church Road, Siler City, the autopsy report said. "Death is due to cocaine poisoning," the report states. Law enforcement officers first encountered Johnson acting erratically in the traffic circle around the courthouse in the center of Pittsboro on Sunday about 5 a.m. on July 23. On the "narrative summary of circumstances surrounding death," Marion Griffin, a physician in Randolph County, wrote that Johnson "was stopping cars telling people he was the devil and otherwise appearing wild and probably dangerous." [continues 315 words]
The leadership of N.C. State University Students for Sensible Drug Policy would like to clear up a few issues regarding the complaints of the Native American Student Association (NASA). While we understand that the complaints of NASA have merit, we feel that the manner in which they approached the situation was unprofessional and unfair to us. We truly were interested in a dialogue with NASA and any others who had complaints, so that they could explain their problems with what we were doing; we simply were not given the opportunity. We are sorry that NASA does not sympathize with our mission, as we do not advocate drug use but rather seek to inform people of the very harmful effects the drug war has on our country, especially minority citizens. In the U.S., an estimated 9.9 million drug users are white (72 percent of users) while only 2 million (15 percent) are black and yet African Americans constitute over 42 percent of those in federal prison on drug charges. Once convicted of a felony, white defendants received prison sentences 33 percent of the time compared to African American defendants who received prison sentences 51 percent of the time. The United States has the highest prison population rate in the entire world. Approximately 686 out of every 100,000 people are incarcerated in the U.S. Drug offenses constitute the largest group of federal inmates at 55 percent, at a cost of nearly 3 billion dollars according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Add to that number the approximately 12 billion dollars spent enforcing and prosecuting drug offenders each year, and the amount of tax dollars we spend on the drug war is astronomical! So we meant no harm when we decided to use a teepee on the Brickyard. We were trying to spend as much money as we could helping Habitat for Humanity, and at the same time be able to raise awareness that after spending in excess of a trillion dollars over the course of the past four decades, drug use has not decreased in the past 15 years yet we keep spending and spending. It seems to us that we are fighting a losing war, costing the taxpayers billions of dollars each year, and ruining tens of thousands of lives, and we don't feel as if that message is out of line in any way. ? Matt Potter Junior, Political Science [end]
GREENSBORO -- Police have launched an investigation into who copied sensitive internal files and transcripts from highly restricted federal drug cases and fed them to a local weekly newspaper, city leaders said Friday. And the city has launched a Web site (www.greensborocheckyourfacts.org) to dispel what City Manager Mitchell Johnson called "urban legends" about former police Chief David Wray. Wray resigned in January amid allegations that a covert squad targeted black officers for unfair internal investigation. The developments were announced at a City Hall news conference after a recent serialized account of the story by Jerry Bledsoe in the Rhinoceros Times. The City Council asked Johnson to address the public after the weekly paper reported graphic details of a 1997 bachelor party for James Hinson, a high-profile black lieutenant at the center of the scandal. [continues 433 words]
SURF CITY - Beach shops that sell drug paraphernalia will have a week to get the glass bongs, screens, pipes, grinders and other "head shop" items off their shelves in Surf City. Town residents in the town spoke Tuesday night in favor of a new ordinance that was later passed banning the sale of drug paraphernalia. Many said it was a step in the right direction in the war on drugs - especially regarding children. "It is becoming normal to our kids to see this kind of stuff," said Deborah Bell of Parent Corps, a drug prevention group. "I thank you for this ordinance." [continues 434 words]
A Jacksonville attorney charged almost two years ago with selling counterfeit drugs is suing the Jacksonville police officer that arrested him. While the District Attorney's office in June dropped the charges filed against attorney David Best, 57, of New Bridge Street in October 2004, Best claims in his lawsuit that Jacksonville police officer Jason Holland's actions damaged his business. Best "suffered monetary loss in terms of lost income from his business, severe damage to his reputation, expenses incurred as a direct result of the charges, suffered extreme embarrassment and was publicly humiliated and embarrassed," according to the lawsuit filed Sept. 15 by attorney Ralph T. Bryant of Havelock. [continues 401 words]
Letter writer Robert Sharpe's astute comments about the drug court system are laudable (Public Forum, Sept. 15). However, I'd like to add that problems with adequate funding for your drug courts are assured, given the experience we've had here in Florida, where the drug court system was first introduced. The system's fatal flaw is the failure to make any distinction between the use and the abuse of any drug, most notably marijuana. Thus the well-intentioned drug court model is now jammed with thousands of marijuana clients, whose need for drug treatment is no more than an alcohol user's who drinks a six-pack on the weekend or enjoys wine with his meals. [continues 132 words]
NASA Is Calling For The Removal Of Students For Sensible Drug Policy's Shack-a-Thon Teepee The president of the Native American Student Association sent an e-mail to the president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy and a representative of the Multicultural Student Affairs Wednesday to call for the removal of SSDP's teepee in the Brickyard. The teepee was built as a part of Habitat for Humanity's Shack-a-Thon, which began Monday. President of NASA Cory Blankenship said the teepee is both demeaning and offensive to native people and has asked that it be taken down or altered immediately. [continues 495 words]
To The Editor: I just want to thank the editorial board of the DTH for running the September 25 editorial, "Grass is good for the economy." It is nice to see that a publication has the courage and sensibility to run such a controversial - yet necessary - editorial. Ever since the 1930s, this country has had an irrational fear of "reefer madness." Marijuana use - in moderation - poses no extreme threat to the body's well-being and can even improve an individual's mental state. [continues 153 words]
To The Editor: I am very disappointed in the DTH editorial board for supporting the legalization of marijuana without considering its Earth-shattering consequences. Number one, Spongebob Squarepants would become the most highly rated show on TV (not good for anyone). Number two, most of the lecture halls across campus would smell worse than they already do (and be filled with more mindless conversations than they already are). Number three, an unnamed sports team might forget to show up for games on Saturdays (could be a good thing if we play Clemson again). [continues 69 words]
Inside North Carolina
