$4.7b Estimate Exceeds Top 3 Legal Crops By Jennifer Brooks, Staff Writer Tennessee's biggest cash crop isn't cotton or soybeans or corn. It's marijuana. State officials have known this for years and responded with an ever-escalating war on the drug -- patrolling the skies, searching remote mountainsides with heat sensors, sending in the National Guard, burning the crops to the ground and casting a wide net to catch the drug as it moves across the state. Using law enforcement's own records of marijuana seizures, a group dedicated to the legalization of marijuana has released a new report, ranking Tennessee number two in the nation in marijuana cultivation. [continues 364 words]
$4.7b Estimate Exceeds Top 3 Legal Crops Tennessee's biggest cash crop isn't cotton or soybeans or corn. It's marijuana. State officials have known this for years and responded with an ever-escalating war on the drug -- patrolling the skies, searching remote mountainsides with heat sensors, sending in the National Guard, burning the crops to the ground and casting a wide net to catch the drug as it moves across the state. Using law enforcement's own records of marijuana seizures, a group dedicated to the legalization of marijuana has released a new report, ranking Tennessee number two in the nation in marijuana cultivation. [continues 366 words]
High school students don't have much to complain about when it comes to random law enforcement sweeps for drugs and weapons. There's no place on our campuses for these things, and we support efforts by the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department to make sure schools are clean. Law enforcement officers using K-9s searched Blackman and Oakland high schools Monday, asking schools to keep all students in classrooms until the sweep was complete. No illicit items were found at Oakland, but authorities arrested three students at Blackman on drug charges after finding marijuana in their cars. Under the school system's zero-tolerance policy, all three were expelled along with another student whose car had knives in it. [continues 370 words]
As part of on-going efforts to provide safe learning environments in the Rutherford County Schools system, two high schools were scanned today for drugs using specially trained K-9 units. The two schools -- Blackman High and Oakland High -- were selected at random, and similar scans are planned for all other high schools in the county sometime this school year, Director of Schools Harry Gill Jr. said. The operation was part of a joint effort between the Rutherford County Schools system and the Rutherford County Sheriff's Department School Resource Officer program to emphasize the school system's strict anti-drug stance. [continues 183 words]
53-Year-Old 'Sweet Lady' Has Run Crack House For Decade It was justice meted out with a big dose of reluctance. Faced with the prospects of putting a 53-year-old woman behind bars for more than 16 years, Senior U.S. District Judge James H. Jarvis on Monday was clearly troubled. "If you were a big burly man standing out there, this would be so much easier," Jarvis told Jamsey L. Foster. "You're a sweet lady, but I'm going to have to put you in the penitentiary." [continues 300 words]
How should Tallahassee respond to the growing use of methamphetamine? During the crack epidemic of the '80s, New York City chose the zero-tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many offenders as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack, and America's capital had the highest murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously. Simply put, the younger generation saw what crack was doing to older brothers and sisters and decided that crack was bad news. This is not to say nothing can be done about methamphetamine. Access to drug treatment is critical for the current generation of meth users. Diverting resources from prisons and into cost-effective treatment would save both tax dollars and lives. Robert Sharpe Policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy www.csdp.org [end]
It was Thanksgiving eve as I sat in the living room of my son's suburban Atlanta home having a conversation with him as he and his wife's 26-month-old son moved happily about the room. Suddenly, my son asked me, "Did you hear what happened here last night?" No, I replied. What my son told me seemed almost unbelievable: Using a no-knock warrant obtained after claiming they had purchased drugs there earlier in the day, three Atlanta undercover police officers burst into an 88-year-old woman's house before identifying themselves. The officers were met by gunfire from the woman who apparently thought her home was being burglarized. [continues 478 words]
Department of Energy officials are further postponing cleanup work at an Oak Ridge National Laboratory facility on a project already 20 months behind schedule and $10 million over budget. The latest delay at the Molten Salt Reactor is because of suspected drug use and other personnel issues, The Knoxville News Sentinel reports. The cleanup project has been halted since a fluorine leak in May. "It's one of the harder decisions I've had to make," said Steve McCracken, who heads the environmental management program in Oak Ridge. "This thing is costing me money, and I can't seem to get it done. I need to get it done. I would very much like to get it done." [continues 226 words]
JOHNSON CITY - What started out as a small marijuana bust in Johnson County has since led to major recoveries of the drug in both Johnson City and Abingdon, Va. The investigation into possible drug activity started when the Johnson County Sheriff's Department provided information to the 1st Judicial District Drug Task Force that led to the successful execution of a search warrant there. During that investigation, the DTF received information that a 26 year old man would be traveling through Johnson City to conduct marijuana transactions in early October. [continues 194 words]
Superstition and secrecy - those were the guiding forces for decidedly New Age drug peddler Mike West, newly unsealed court records reveal. Mercury and its alignment with the other planets served as the forecast for success in the view of the brother of Market Square entrepreneur Scott West, who has admitted occasionally pushing some marijuana but more often laundering his brother's drug money by investing it in his downtown Knoxville businesses and properties. Secret safes, tunnels and underground rooms provided the veil for a massive, decade-long drug trafficking conspiracy unearthed in January with the arrest of a courier for the West brothers and uncovered with an eyebrow-raising raid on Market Square in July. [continues 903 words]
Nine people were arrested and 55 kilograms of cocaine seized from a Brentwood home, federal prosecutors said, in what was described as one of the largest cocaine busts ever in middle Tennessee. The bust also led to the seizure of $1.1 million in cash from an organization that was operating as a major pipeline of cocaine from Mexico to Nashville and nearby counties, according to officials from the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee. Five of the individuals arrested are Mexican nationals who were in the country illegally, the federal officials said. The remaining suspects are U.S. citizens. [continues 112 words]
MEMPHIS -- A Drug Enforcement Administration agent has been indicted on charges of tipping off a former high school classmate who was a target in a drug trafficking investigation. Tommie Purifoy II worked out of the agency's Miami field office and turned himself in to authorities there, authorities said Wednesday. He has been suspended without pay. Purifoy is originally from West Memphis, Ark., and was a police officer in Memphis from 2001 to 2004. He was in Memphis on personal business on Aug. 21 and stopped by the local DEA office during a wiretap operation, according to the indictment. [continues 206 words]
Bradley County Schools working with Bradley County Sheriff's Office performed surprise narcotics and contraband sweeps at Walker Valley and Bradley Central high schools Thursday. "I appreciate the partnership that exists between the sheriff's office and the Bradley County School System as we all work together to ensure the health and safety of our students," said Sheriff Tim Gobble. Bob Taylor, director of Bradley County Schools, said eight K-9 officers along with 16 other law enforcement officers from BCSO and Cleveland Police Department were utilized during the searches. [continues 204 words]
Christiana Elementary School's fifth-grader Chase Capley loves the annual Red Ribbon Week -- a time when teachers and staff stress the importance of living a drug-free life. He swears he'll never do drugs. Caplet's classmate, Dominique Wade, said he's well aware of the dangers of drugs. "It can kill you and give you a horrible disease. Drugs are bad for you," he said. It's the message that schools across the nation want to get out to their students. [continues 440 words]
Local residents who consider the right to bear arms a basic freedom will probably be relieved to know a noted criminologist places the responsibility for murder on individuals, not weapons. "It's not just guns. You can't blame it all on firearms," Dr. Jack Levin said Thursday. "There are guns everywhere." He pointed out that in single-victim crimes, even when a semiautomatic weapon is used, the pistol is usually only fired once. He said the problem is there are "handguns in the hands of youngsters who shouldn't have them." [continues 418 words]
To the Editor: Thank you for raising awareness of the Higher Education Act's denial of student loans to youth convicted of drug offenses. ["Drug convictions cost students financial aid," Oct. 5] Instead of empowering at-risk students with a college degree, HEA limits career opportunities and increases the likelihood that those affected will resort to crime. Speaking of crime, convicted rapists and murders are still eligible for federal student loans. Most students outgrow their youthful indiscretions involving illicit drugs. An arrest and criminal record, on the other hand, can be life-shattering. After admitting to smoking pot - but not inhaling, former President Bill Clinton opened himself up to "soft on drugs" criticism. Thousands of Americans have paid the price in the form of shattered lives. More Americans went to prison or jail during the Clinton administration than during any past administration. [continues 105 words]
ROGERSVILLE - The Third Judicial District Attorney General's Office is investigating the possibility of pursuing grand jury indictments against four people whose cocaine and marijuana trafficking charges were dismissed on a technicality last week. Mount Carmel police received an anonymous tip March 8 which had originated in Sullivan County that a man was being held hostage by one of the suspects. As a result of the investigation, police tracked the suspect to 286 W. Ellis Lane, which is about 100 yards outside the Mount Carmel town limits. [continues 613 words]
A federal law preventing college students convicted of drug violation may keep students convicted of past drug violations from receiving financial aid. "About 3 students this school year couldn't get aid because of their drug convictions," said David Chambers, associate director of the Student Aid Office. "It's not fair to single out students who have drug related offense." "Have you ever been convicted of possessing or selling illegal drugs?" is question 31 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid application, the form used by the government to determine eligibility for financial aid. [continues 468 words]
Wife Of Vandy Chancellor Keeps Her Counsel After Journal's Story Forgive Constance Gee if even she chooses to disagree with one or two of Wikipedia's takes on her given name. Constance: a plain, old-fashioned woman who is prim, proper and patient. Forgive her, too, for not finding time in recent days to talk about herself. It was one of those weeks. When invited to sit and chat for the purpose of a "get-to-know-you" profile in the wake of Vanderbilt University's Wall Street Journal-gate, Gee, who along with being on faculty is also married to the school's chancellor, politely declined and explained: "People who know me already know me." [continues 1289 words]
Vanderbilt Reins in Lavish Spending by Star Chancellor As Schools Tighten Oversight, a $6 Million Renovation Draws Trustees' Scrutiny Marijuana at the Mansion NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- At Vanderbilt University, the board is trying to rein in star chancellor E. Gordon Gee, without running him off. Since arriving here in 2000, the 62-year-old Mr. Gee has dramatically boosted the 133-year-old school's academic standing and overseen fund raising of more than $1 billion. Mr. Gee's $1.4 million annual compensation is among the highest for U.S. university leaders. [continues 3054 words]
Inside Tennessee
