Last year, the UNC Honor Court charged 18 people with Honor Code violations for possession of marijuana. According to the FBI, 37,000 people are in jail for the same thing. Is it worth it? We doubt it. Even from a strictly economic point of view, keeping a relatively innocuous drug like marijuana illegal is a dumb move. While we recognize the government's desire to protect people from themselves, the risks of marijuana are not worth the costs of prevention. In 2000, marijuana prohibition cost N.C. taxpayers nearly 96 million dollars. The federal government spent 2.6 billion in 2002 alone. [continues 239 words]
Despite tough laws, untold tax dollars and law enforcement's best efforts, drug use in Western North Carolina continues to increase. Drugs take a toll on all of society, soaking up resources that might otherwise be used to advance any number of causes. But nowhere do they do more harm than to the neighborhoods drug dealers turn into marketplaces. Poor communities are especially vulnerable to the scourge that drives out business, makes people afraid to be in their own yards and causes many to become the victims of robbery and worse crimes. [continues 582 words]
Unusual Combination Helps Police Shut Down Neighborhood Dealers HIGH POINT - For three months, police investigated more than 20 dealers operating in this city's West End neighborhood, where crack cocaine was openly sold on the street and in houses. They made dozens of undercover buys and videotaped many other drug purchases. They also did something unusual: They determined the "influentials" in the dealers' lives -- mothers, grandmothers, mentors -- and cultivated relationships with them. Then, when police felt they had ironclad legal cases, they did something even more striking: They refrained from arresting most of the suspected dealers. In a counterintuitive approach, police here are trying to shut down entire drug markets, in part by giving nonviolent suspected drug dealers a second chance. Their strategy combines the "soft" pressure from families and community with the "hard" threat of aggressive, ready-to-go criminal cases. While critics say the strategy is too lenient, it has met with early success and is being tried by other communities afflicted with overt drug markets and the violence they breed. [continues 496 words]
Two men traveling south on Interstate 85 southwest of Lexington Tuesday told Davidson County sheriff's deputies that the $88,000 in cash they had hidden in their car was to buy a house in Atlanta. Officers with the sheriff office's Interstate Criminal Enforcement unit didn't believe the story after a drug-sniffing dog found a strong odor of narcotics inside the car. No drugs were found, and the two men weren't charged with a crime, but officers did keep the money, citing a federal drug assets seizure and forfeiture law. [continues 253 words]
Dear Editor, As a Christian cannabis activist and cyclist, I enjoyed reading about Ken Locke's ventures across America ("Glenville Resident Continues Push For Medical Marijuana Legalization," Sept. 20). Not only has God made cannabis (kaneh bosm/marijuana), but He told us so on literally the very first page of the Bible; see Genesis 1:11-12 and 29-30. Further, many people believe cannabis is the tree of life, and the very last page of the Bible indicates the leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations; see Revelation 22. Cannabis should be accepted as a blessing that heals - not sinfully persecuted, prohibited and exterminated. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
Novel Police Tactic Puts Drug Markets Out Of Business Confronted by the Evidence, Dealers in High Point, N.C., Succumb to Pressure Some Dubbed It Hug-a-Thug HIGH POINT, N.C. -- For over three months, police investigated more than 20 dealers operating in this city's West End neighborhood, where crack cocaine was openly sold on the street and in houses. Police made dozens of undercover buys and videotaped many other drug purchases. They also did something unusual: they determined the "influentials" in the dealers' lives -- mothers, grandmothers, mentors -- and cultivated relationships with them. When police felt they had amassed ironclad legal cases, they did something even more striking: they refrained from arresting most of the suspected dealers. [continues 3044 words]
After having an educational career at Caldwell Community College for 16 years and been named vice president of human resources in the medical field, it's not unusual that Dr. John Crosby turned towards fighting drug use in Cherokee County. As the new director of the Cherokee County Drug Coalition, he plans to combat illegal substance abuse on all county levels. "We can break the cycle of drug use with kids and adults," said Crosby. Beginning with a county wide school survey, Crosby plans to use this method as a means of collecting data on substance use from parents, teachers and students. [continues 142 words]
SURF CITY - The Surf City Town Council could crack down on drug paraphernalia sold in beach shops next week, depending on the outcome of a public hearing on the issue. A number of tourists and residents have complained to the Surf City Police Department during the summer that the glass pipes, bongs, grinders, screens and various other related items sold in beach shops are not appropriate. "A lot of tourists come down here with their kids and see all of these bong pipes and obvious gadgets for ingesting narcotics and drugs and they get upset about it," said Surf City Police Chief Michael Halstead. "They ask us why we can't take it out of there, but we don't have an ordinance or a state law against it." [continues 646 words]
Caldwell County was in the national spotlight for a day in August when the White House Drug Czar attended a roundtable discussion in the county on the methamphetamine problem in western North Carolina. Most everyone at the table agreed that treatment is a key to winning the fight, and treatment is available in Caldwell County. Christopher Prewitt said health care professionals launched "The Matrix Model" methamphetamine treatment program in Caldwell County in April, and Prewitt said the model has a good success rate. [continues 705 words]
Regarding "Pitt drug court program sees first graduates" in the Sept. 10 Reflector, the Pitt County Drug Treatment Court is definitely a step in the right direction, 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. [continues 105 words]
The Sept. 6 News & Record described the overturn by the Court of Appeals of a conviction for cocaine possession because of "unreasonable search and seizure." The Court of Appeals objected to the police including in their search the shining of a flashlight into the underwear of a suspect where they found a hidden bottle of crack cocaine. Really? Does that mean that anyone suspected of trafficking can hide their stash in their underwear and escape arrest? Lots of criminals must be gleeful at this news. What are the police expected to do? The court's message seems to be to hide your contraband in your underwear and get a free pass. Edwin L. Bryan Greensboro [end]
Alcohol is the No. 1 substance abuse concern on Appalachian State University's campus, followed by marijuana abuse, local experts say. Alcohol - The No. 1 Concern The addiction most prevalent in college is alcohol because of "college drinking games and it is socially acceptable," David Mclemore, Blue Ridge Addiction Recovery Network group counselor and staff member, said. Dale Kirkley, Appalachian's alcohol and drug coordinator, said the perception that high-risk drinking is the norm in college is wrong. However, alcohol abuse far overshadows all other drug abuse combined, Kirkley said. [continues 406 words]
ACLU Helps the Fight With the Students for Sensible Drug Policy Students for Sensible Drug Policy are working to overturn the HEA Aid Elimination Penalty, a law that states students convicted of drug offenses automatically lose their financial aid. "We have been working to overturn this policy since it was passed in 1998," Tom Angell, campaigns director for SSDP, said. In February, SSDP and the American Civil Liberties Union were able to force congress to scale back the policy. It was changed so students who were convicted of the crime in college would lose their aid, but if convicted before college, students would still be eligible to receive aid. [continues 541 words]
County Sheriff Ed Brown Said He Believes Drugs Are Just As Bad As Terrorism. Starting in February, his department waged an undercover war on drugs in Onslow County. Brown told the Onslow County Board of Commissioners on Monday that there have been nearly 500 warrants issued for illegal drug deals throughout the county since that time. "Drug dealers and terrorists are one in the same," he said. One of the department's major targets has been the Paradise Landing bar in Sneads Ferry. Brown told the commissioners that out of 146 warrants for selling drugs in Sneads Ferry during the operation, 116 of them were associated with the bar. [continues 109 words]
Regarding Public Editor Ted Vaden's Sept. 10 column "A conservative Locke on the paper?" no worries about The N&O seemingly leaning to the right. There are examples in every issue. Case in point: The Sept. 14 article "Control of Afghanistan slips." Of all the material available on the wire, the N&O decides to print a Cox News Service article citing [in part] experts from a European (French) think tank opining that the United States has lost control in Afghanistan. [continues 89 words]
Two articles in your Aug. 27 paper touted renewed efforts by North Carolina law enforcement to reduce drug-related crime and violence. Those efforts will be rewarded with a short-term illusion of improvement. The criminal justice system, however, is not the place where our society can come to terms with the existence of drugs. Many people try drugs. Only a few ever abuse them. If, tomorrow, all drugs became legal and available, I doubt anyone reading this letter would jump up, shouting in joy, "Finally, I can try heroin!" Nope. [continues 113 words]
DURHAM -- When Northern High School Principal John Colclough heard that a national survey showed teen drug use was down, he was -- not surprisingly -- pleased. And he "hoped with all his heart" it was true. "It's certainly encouraging," Colclough said. "I am hoping that it is, in fact, a trend." Colclough was referring to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a study performed annually by the Research Triangle Park-based RTI for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. [continues 452 words]
DURHAM -- When Kimberly Wallace felt badly about abandoning her husband and two children for crack cocaine, she'd seek solace in another high. When she felt ashamed at her inability to kick the habit, she did the same thing. "In addiction, you feel you should be able to stop on your own," she said. "I was afraid to ask anybody for help for fear of what they would think of me." After 10 years in and out of prison, the 30-year-old Wallace gradually is turning her life into a success story. She has only three months left in a two-year-recovery program at Durham-based TROSA (Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers). [continues 911 words]
MAXTON -- The men moved quietly through the evening, guns drawn, down a darkened path toward the rear of Alex Locklear's home. As they positioned themselves, an unmarked Robeson County patrol car sped into the driveway, blue lights flashing. State and federal prosecutors say this was no authorized drug raid. They say former Deputy Vincent Sinclair and four other men went to Locklear's home on the evening of March 14, 2004, with a single purpose -- to rob the place and terrorize its occupants. [continues 1748 words]
PEMBROKE - At least one Robeson grower won't have to worry about harvesting his crop. Sheriff's investigators did it for him this week when they cut down about 70 marijuana plants in the Pembroke/Maxton area. Now they would like to help the grower reap what he sowed. Drug agents submitted photographs of the marijuana to The Robesonian and hope someone might call with a tip that could lead to an arrest. Drug agents working with an eye in the sky - a state Highway Patrol helicopter - spotted the marijuana plants in a field Tuesday. Sheriff's Lt. Charlie Revels said the plants were in an area between Pembroke and Maxton, but would not say more because the investigation is ongoing. [continues 72 words]
Assistant DA Cross-Designated To Go After Drug Offenders Big-time drug dealers in New Hanover and Pender counties could be looking at stiffer prison sentences in the near future, now that the District Attorney's Office has a special prosecutor working out of the federal courthouse. The practice is already a success in the 13th Prosecutorial District that includes Brunswick, Columbus and Bladen counties. Assistant District Attorney Tim Severo, who previously prosecuted drug cases in New Hanover County Superior Court, has already been sworn in and cross-designated as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. [continues 1014 words]
Both say that two West Texas agents facing jail time got a raw deal from government Congress is filled with polar opposites. When it comes to politics, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-5th and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., are about as close to opposites as one might find. Foxx, 63, is a staunch conservative. When it comes to immigration, she favors border security first. As far as she is concerned, that's the only place to start, and she does not entertain other alternatives. Feinstein, 73, is a liberal Democrat. She supports a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. She has been outspoken in support of a bill passed by the Senate earlier this year that does that, a plan Foxx calls "amnesty." [continues 327 words]
Americans have gotten used to the sometimes otherworldly decisions that come out of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which has a reputation as a leftwing hothouse. Yet we can't recall a decision that the 9th Circuit has recently made that comes close to the lunacy expressed by the 8th Circuit in the Midwest. In essence, the court ruled last month that anyone driving with large quantities of cash must be assumed to be guilty of something, and that the government can take that cash from its owner. No evidence of wrongdoing need be found for the police to take the money and run. [continues 433 words]
Americans have gotten used to the sometimes otherworldly decisions that come out of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California, which has a reputation as a left-wing hothouse. Yet we can't recall a decision that the 9th Circuit has recently made that comes close to the lunacy expressed by the 8th Circuit in the Midwest.In essence, the court ruled last month that anyone driving with large quantities of cash must be assumed to be guilty of something, and that the government can take that cash from its owner. No evidence of wrongdoing need be found for the police to take the money and run. [continues 613 words]
SHELBY - Students in Cleveland County have slightly increased their drug use from 2000 to this year, according to a Student Drug Use Survey released Wednesday morning by the Cleveland County Health Department. Self-reported use of alcohol and inhalants among sixth-graders increased, as did marijuana use for high school freshmen. Decreases for students in grades six, nine and 12 were noted for use of cigarettes, psychedelics, barbiturates, heroin and steroids between 2000 and 2006. The largest decrease was in cigarette use, which declined from 45 percent in 2000 to 38.7 percent in 2006. For alcohol use, there was a slight decrease from 2000 to 2003, from 38.3 percent to 36.9 percent, and then an increase in 2006 to 41 percent. [continues 217 words]
Americans have gotten used to the sometimes otherworldly decisions that come out of the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, which has a reputation as a left-wing hothouse. Yet we can't recall a decision that the 9th Circuit has recently made that comes close to the lunacy expressed by the 8th Circuit in the Midwest. In essence, the court ruled last month that anyone driving with large quantities of cash must be assumed to be guilty of something and that the government can take that cash from its owner. No evidence of wrongdoing need be found for the police to take the money and run. [continues 567 words]
The same day our nation commemorated the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I learned that the state of California had passed—and was now waiting for Governor Schwarzenegger to sign—a new measure legalizing industrial hemp crops. This is very encouraging news. It's just unfortunate no one realizes this is part of the Hurricane Katrina story. With all due respect for those who died or were stranded on their rooftops, if I were in charge of a cable news station, I would have made industrial hemp a main part of my anniversary coverage. [continues 1059 words]
SBI Probes Assault Allegation GARNER - Three undercover drug detectives with the Wake County Sheriff's Office resigned Wednesday following accusations that they assaulted a Garner man last month in a restaurant parking lot. Katie Broda, Kevin Hinton and Christopher Roth all submitted their resignations Wednesday, Sheriff Donnie Harrison said at a news conference. The trio had been on desk duty since Aug. 26, when Robert D. Wise said he was attacked by the detectives after they took issue with his family car being parked in two spots outside an Applebee's restaurant on U.S. 70. [continues 362 words]
Don't get caught with too much cash" might be the warning that comes from a recent circuit court of appeals case. In essence, the 8th Circuit (in the Midwest) ruled last month that anyone driving with large quantities of cash must be assumed to be guilty of something, and that the government can take that cash from its owner. No evidence of wrongdoing need be found for the police to take the money and run. And you thought the weird rulings only came out of California. In 2003, Emiliano Gomez Gonzolez was pulled over by a state trooper in his rental car for speeding along a Nebraska interstate highway. [continues 455 words]
Mr. Lacy Pickens III was a U.S. citizen protected under the Constitution of the United States. Some people want to justify the killing of Mr. Pickens [during a July 6 stop by APD] based on his past history with the judicial system. The Fourth Amendment says: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses ... against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated ... but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. [continues 220 words]
Keep Watch It is staggering to think that millions of dollars of marijuana has been growing in Wayne County, but, unfortunately, probably not all that out of the ordinary. Many rural counties deal with this sort of problem. As criminals become more clever and more diverse, it gets harder and harder to make sure they are stopped before they are able to get drugs into Wayne County's neighborhoods and schools. And there is a cost involved, too. Staking out a field is not a very efficient use of a deputy's time when there are other, more serious threats to public safety and much more dangerous drug dealers to locate, catch and put out of business. [continues 147 words]
Wayne County Sheriff's Office officials have several leads, but the identities of those responsible for growing more than 21,000 marijuana plants seized in recent months remain a mystery. Wayne County Sheriff Carey Winders said Friday no arrests have been made in the cases, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. "We're working on that," Winders said. "It's very hard to find who grows this marijuana. It's mostly Hispanics who set the plots up." A total of 15,284 plants were seized in June during an aerial search conducted by the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, National Guard and the State Bureau of Investigations. The sheriff's search and rescue team, volunteers and the Goldsboro-Wayne County Drug Squad also assisted. [continues 448 words]
Prosecutors Allege Kidnapping, Theft, Drug-Dealer Protection Six men, some of them drug dealers, drove north from Robeson County in southeastern N.C. a couple of years ago to kidnap two Virginia men, prosecutors say. The would-be kidnappers thought the Virginia men had $450,000 in cash hidden inside a black Chevrolet van. At a gas station in Norfolk, Va., prosecutors say, the men jumped out of a red, four-door sedan with badges around their necks and guns in their hands, yelling that they were the police. [continues 1250 words]
No, you're not hallucinating. The Drug Enforcement Administration has scrapped a two-year-old policy that frightened doctors and may have left some patients in needless pain. The policy was supposed to prevent morphine-based painkillers from being abused or sold. It prohibited doctors from prescribing more than a 30 days' supply, even for chronically ill patients. As many doctors and patients argued, banning that common and convenient practice went too far. Some patients were asked to return to their doctors' offices every month - not for medical reasons, but to keep the feds off the doctor's back. [continues 124 words]
The poem has been a permanent fixture on his desk since his law school days 25 years ago in New Orleans. Friday, District Court Judge Joe Blick clutched a framed version of the John Henry Newman verse that has lifted his spirits during hard times, his voice trembling as he read each line to Emmett Lang, a former crack cocaine addict and the first graduate of the Pitt County Drug Treatment Court. As the inspirational words filtered through his ears, Lang's feet were planted in the spot where he'd poured his heart out to Blick and the other members of the drug court team more than 20 times. [continues 1325 words]
Former Deputies Face Drug, Kidnapping, Arson Charges Six men, some of them drug dealers, drove north from Robeson County a couple of years ago to kidnap two Virginia men, prosecutors say. The suspects thought the Virginia men had $450,000 in cash hidden inside a black Chevrolet van. At a gas station in Norfolk, prosecutors say, the men jumped out of a red, four-door sedan with badges around their necks and guns in their hands, yelling that they were the police. [continues 1556 words]
Drug Activity Down SHELBY -- The county's crime rate is up 3 percent for the first eight months of 2006 compared to the same time frame last year, according to the Cleveland County Sheriff's Office. However, reported drug activity -- which many in law enforcement credit as the root of many property and violent crimes -- has fallen 53 percent. Chief Deputy Danny Gordon called drug activity the "primary root of all our crime" and praised what he referred to as an overworked narcotics division and ICE Team for a "commendable job" finding and arresting drug offenders in the county. He said the majority of break-ins, larcenies and violent crimes in the county are drug related, where addicts steal items or rob residents to feed their habit. [continues 112 words]
In response to "Jammed up at the jails" (Sept. 4): A good way to relieve the overcrowding in our jails is to is treat drug abuse as a public health issue. D. Michael McDowell [end]
Children aren't listening to their parents, at least on the subject of drugs, and that's good news. Admitted drug use of baby boomers in their 50s is going up. Drug use among teenagers is going down. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health notes the increase among adults and the decline among teens is sustained. This this the third consecutive year the trends have gone in opposite directions. We remember promises from the hippie years in the 1960s and '70s that their children would be raised on drugs, that drug use is a right. Seems as if that dream is dying, and maybe their kids are smarter than they were. And are. [continues 124 words]
DURHAM -- Durham police and federal law enforcement agencies are working together and getting results, despite the impression created by a recent spike in violent crime, Police Chief Steve Chalmers and a federal prosecutor said Thursday. Over the past six months, cities throughout central North Carolina have seen a sharp rise in the number of armed robberies -- a likely symptom of the street-corner drug trade, said Rob Lang, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of North Carolina. But Durham is ahead of the others in working with federal agencies to break up drug rings, quell the trade in illegal firearms and secure long prison sentences for lawbreakers, Lang told the City Council. [continues 785 words]
Presidents George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both farmed it. The U.S. Navy sailed with it. And today it is used in hundreds of products, from energy bars to auto parts. Hemp is an agricultural product with an enormous potential, especially in North Carolina, where the idea of legalizing it has been floated several times. But hemp is a cousin of marijuana, and no amount of reasoning about the differences in the two has overcome political fears of being associated with dope. The federal government will hear nothing of it, either. [continues 382 words]
DURHAM -- Were it not for the work of the Rev. Melvin Whitley, Operation Pipe Dream might have become just that -- a pipe dream. Whitley's initiative, which is aimed at banishing from Durham convenience stores the glass "love roses" that double as pipes used by addicts to smoke "crack" cocaine, has gotten a lukewarm response from local merchants. More than three weeks after Whitley and fellow activist Bill Anderson besieged convenience stores across the Bull City asking owners to stop selling the so-called love roses, 31 of the 49 stores targeted were still selling the half-inch diameter tubes known to crack addicts as "stems." [continues 582 words]
Man Whose Pants Were Searched Gets New Trial RALEIGH - A Charlotte man won a new trial Tuesday because a police officer conducted an "intrusive genital inspection" without warning and probable cause to think that drugs were in the man's pants. "A reasonable person would not have expected police to pull his pants away from his body and expose his genitals in a parking lot of an apartment complex," wrote N.C. Court of Appeals Judge Linda McGee, who along with Judge Rick Elmore granted Timothy Stone a new trial. [continues 434 words]
A fourth former Robeson County deputy has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a federal and state investigation called Operation Tarnished Badge. Joey Brian Smith, 35, of Lumberton, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Elizabeth City to conspiring to launder money, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Raleigh. Smith pleaded guilty to misappropriating about $4,000 in federal equitable sharing funds - money seized by law enforcement officers from drug dealers. The money is turned over to the federal government, which redistributes about 80 percent of it to the local departments that seized it. [continues 391 words]
Judges Say Suspect's Consent Didn't Include A Look Inside Trousers RALEIGH - A man convicted of possessing cocaine after a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer found drugs by shining a light down his pants should get a new trial because the search was unreasonable, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday. The ruling in favor of Timothy Stone may serve as a warning to officers to more exactly describe the scope of their searches before they physically examine a suspect. Officers said they spotted and recovered a pill bottle of crack between Stone's groin and testicles. A court sentenced him in March 2005 from roughly 10 1/2 years to 14 years in prison for drug and habitual felon convictions. [continues 454 words]
Available at a convenience store near you, the 4-inch-long rose tubes are an obscure novelty gift for a teenager's significant other or for a child. And with the ends removed and the fake rose inside taken out, the hollow glass tube can be used to smoke rocks of crack cocaine. These "rose tubes," "love roses" or "stems" as they've been coined, can be found behind the counter at many convenience stores. They cost about $2. They are often bought along with a lighter and a scouring pad, used as a filter. Several stores around the county offer the rose tubes for sale. The pipes have been around for a while. And, strictly speaking, they are legal. But since employees are selling them from behind the counter, it gives them the illusion of being black market wares. [continues 373 words]
The clear-headed Government Accountability Office has confirmed what most of us could have guessed: Advertising doesn't deter kids from taking illegal drugs. In fact, according to an independent study, in some cases the ads increase drug use. Similar findings have debunked the popular DARE program, in which law-enforcement officers visit schools. Given the federal government's incredible debts, you might assume that the Bush administration and Congress would be delighted to stop spending money - on top of the $1.2 billion they've squandered on such feel-good ads since 1998. [continues 78 words]
Treatment Beats Punishment for Changing Drug-Abusing Criminals Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in the Washington Post: A preliminary report released by the FBI in June shows an increase in robberies and violent crime in 2005. Inasmuch as drug abuse can facilitate criminal behavior, this is a good time to take a closer look at how the science in substance abuse has started to provide some answers on how to solve these problems. Offender drug use is involved in more than half of all violent crimes and in 60 to 80 percent of child abuse and neglect cases. It is estimated that 70 percent of the people in state prisons and local jails have abused drugs regularly, compared with approximately 9 percent of the general population. [continues 518 words]
A defense lawyer believes it's possible that 10 members of one of the largest drug gangs in Robeson County history will be released from prison as a result of Operation Tarnished Badge. But federal prosecutors aren't acknowledging that any such release could happen. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Moore declined to comment publicly except to say he has never spoken with the defense lawyer, Carlton Mansfield of Lumberton. Moore, head of narcotics for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the South Carolina district, said he is handling post-trial matters involving the state and federal investigation of alleged corruption in the Robeson County Sheriff's Office. [continues 713 words]
This summer I was called to the White House to fulfill an important mission. The president met me on the White House lawn. We greeted each other, and then he said, "Jeff, do you remember all those anti-drug commercials we ran a couple of years ago? Where the kid got stoned and then shot his friend? Or where buying weed was supposed to support terrorism?" "Darn tootin' I remember 'em," I replied. "They were the stupidest thing I've ever seen." [continues 778 words]
Inside North Carolina
