Saving Lives: Activists Condemn Drugs, But Hope Addicts And Friends Can Bring Down Fatality Rates

It has been 10 years since Jack Plumb's son overdosed on heroin.

But the pain is still searing, bringing tears to Plumb's eyes as he explains how Andrew's "so-called friends" left him to die. They didn't phone for help, but had the presence of mind to scoop up their drugs and personal belongings before fleeing. The scene was so devoid of clues that police first treated Andrew's death as a homicide, said Plumb.

[continues 770 words]

Need medicine with pseudoephedrine? It may take longer if bill limits access.

Top of Utah residents who want to treat a case of the sniffles may soon find themselves part of the war against methamphetamine.

A bill that will be considered in Congress following summer recess would require that cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, a precursor drug to meth, be sold only from behind pharmacy counters.

Mixing and cooking pseudoephedrine with other chemicals creates meth, which authorities say is the leading cause of drug-related arrests in Weber and Morgan counties.

[continues 714 words]

"Harm Reduction": Rep. Souder Says HHS Will Use This Weekend's Conference in SLC to Promote a Light-Handed Fight Against Drugs

SLC Conference: An Indiana Lawmaker Says the Government Is Too Light-Handed, Pointing at the Upcoming Utah Gathering As an Example

The Bush administration is expected later this week to unveil its plan to contain America's methamphetamine epidemic, amid criticism that the president has largely ignored it and favors drug abuse prevention over a legal crackdown.

One target: a national meth conference being held Friday and Saturday in Salt Lake City, which lists U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as a sponsor.

[continues 585 words]

DAVIS COUNTY - Increasing abuse of the prescription drug OxyContin has led to the arrest of a few medical doctors and pharmacists in Davis County and a robbery Friday at Bountiful's Walgreens. An apparent "run" on OxyContin, leading to illegal activities, began in May, Salt Lake City physician Dr. Alexander Theodore was arrested for allegedly running an OxyContin drug ring. Police charged that he had prescribed nearly 74,000 tablets over the previous 12-16 months. Similar busts have been made in Davis County over the past four months.

[continues 551 words]

A two-day conference later this month in Salt Lake City is expected to draw about 900 healthcare workers, law enforcement officials and researchers to explore the growing epidemic of methamphetamine use and its impact on HIV and hepatitis.

Planning for the First National Conference on Methamphetamine, HIV & Hepatitis, set for Aug. 19-20, began as a way to respond to a belief that increased meth use will lead to higher HIV and hepatitis rates, according to Luciano Colonna, executive director of the Harm Reduction Project, which is playing host to the conference.

[continues 551 words]

Dinse Hired In 2000, Has Overseen Several High-Profile Cases

In what he described as a "very difficult decision," Salt Lake City Police Chief Rick Dinse announced Wednesday he planned to retire by early next year.

"I've been toying with the idea for a while," Dinse said. "I've got 40 years in the business. I think it's time to try something different. Retirement is something I've been looking forward to."

Dinse said he informed Mayor Rocky Anderson of his decision last week. He said he wanted to give the mayor ample time to find his replacement and not leave the city with a long-term interim chief.

[continues 1001 words]

Utah Expert Says: "We Know What Needs To Be Done. We Need To Put More Money In Treatment"

When a crime trend hits the major newsweeklies, it's a sign it has either gone mainstream or run its course.

Methamphetamine's march through rural and urban America was dubbed a "new drug crisis" last week in a Newsweek magazine cover story, featuring graphic images of emaciated meth users and the scarred bodies of meth-lab burn victims. The article, which took aim at the Bush administration for largely ignoring the problem, has sparked outrage from columnists and bloggers debunking the so-called "epidemic."

[continues 490 words]

In recent months, the obituary page and police news columns of the Deseret Morning News have documented tragic tales of teens and drug abuse. Since March 11, five teens or young adults are believed to have died of suspected drug overdoses. At least two of the dead were honor students.

The deaths, some of which remain under investigation, point to a troubling trend. Heroin is making a comeback in Utah. This comes while police already struggle to deal with the scourge of methamphetamine and rampant prescription drug abuse.

[continues 348 words]

The Tribune's Aug. 18 article about substance abuse court programs left out some key information: * Defendants participate voluntarily after a careful explanation of all their options. * Recidivism is much less with SAC programs than with citations/fines. * Many, many participants in SAC programs have expressed gratitude to me and to my staff for becoming "clean and sober" and for "getting their lives back." * Costs paid by defendants for random drug tests, evaluations, treatment, etc., are subtracted from their court-ordered fines. * The article did not include all the mitigating circumstances in two cases it covered.

People are entitled to their own opinions , but give them enough facts to build an informed opinion, not one skewed for some reason.

Janice Auger, Mayor

Taylorsville

[end]

OGDEN -- A judge threw out a manslaughter charge Wednesday against a man accused of fueling an acquaintance's drug overdose.

"The victim really caused his own death," 2nd District Judge Ernie Jones said. "The victim was the intervening factor. The defendant only provided the drug."

The prosecution told the judge they would appeal his dismissal of the manslaughter charge against Harold Eugene Harmon, 55, in the death last year of Cheyenne Gordon, 33, from an overdose of methadone.

Harmon is still charged with first-degree felony distribution, which carries a heavier penalty than the manslaughter charge would have. A status conference was set for Aug. 10.

[continues 310 words]

The headline for Pat Reavy's piece on heroin amongst Utah youth, "Heroin hits Utah's young" (July 18), had it backward. Heroin can't "hit" anything. The headline should have read: "Utah's young hit heroin." Such youth want to get high; they want to rebel. Long ago I was one myself.

The only real answer, politically unpalatable as it is, is to scrap the drug war and return to regulated distribution to addicts as we had in the 19th century. Young people will not be turned-on by waiting in line at a government clinic somewhere for drugs.

Eau Claire, WI

[end]

Teens Die As Use Spreads Among The Middle Class

A drug with a long, ugly history in the United States seems to be making a comeback in Utah.

But this time, heroin isn't just affecting the stereotypical junkie -- a homeless person with no teeth and needle marks all over his arms. Instead, it's becoming a drug of choice for the teenage boy or girl next door who excels in school and appears to come from a stable home.

"It's an epidemic with what we've seen -- young, middle-to upper-class kids," said Taylorsville Police Sgt. Keith Stephens. "Salt Lake has turned into a mecca of cheap, low-grade heroin."

[continues 1368 words]

"This county isn't without its share of criminal activity," Judge Randall N. Skanchy of Third District Court told chamber members Wednesday. "I know it all too well."

Judge Skanchy estimates around 80 percent of criminal activity relates back to drugs and alcohol abuse & that's why he's such an advocate of drug court.

The intensive drug treatment program has a much higher success rate than traditional programs. And that success could go a long way toward preventing crime.

"If we could eliminate drugs and alcohol as catalysts for crime it would help tremendously," Skanchy said.

[continues 1032 words]

Starting Younger: Many Kids Begin With OxyContin, Then Move To The Real Thing - And Real Consequences

By the time the police officers arrived at the door to his Sandy home, Michael Martinez already had an idea why they were there.

Martinez had gotten a funny feeling when, earlier, he had heard on the news that an 18-year-old man had been found dead in Draper. The officers who knocked on his door confirmed his thoughts. The dead 18-year-old was his son, Zachary, who died around midnight March 10. He had been taken in a pickup to a park at the end of Steep Mountain Drive in Draper and dumped.

[continues 1055 words]

Your July 7 editorial was right on target.

While local governments are struggling with a methamphetamine epidemic, the Office of National Drug Control Policy is spending millions on a "reefer madness revisited" ad campaign.

This reflects a truly bizarre sense of priorities. Local law enforcement is where the rubber meets the road. And it's not marijuana that concerns them, but rather meth. Meanwhile, an out-of-touch federal government continues to be obsessed with marijuana. The tax dollars wasted on the federal agency's misleading anti-marijuana campaign would be better spent on treatment for methamphetamine addicts.

Robert Sharpe

MPA policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

[end]

I'm writing about your thoughtful editorial: "Make meth a higher priority" (July 5). I have never seen heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine. However, I was offered free samples of these dangerous drugs on several occasions by my marijuana suppliers when I was a user of marijuana more than 15 years ago.

Fortunately, I turned down all offers of free samples of other drugs. Unfortunately, many others do not - thus the gateway effect. If we legalize, regulate, control and tax the sale and production of marijuana we will close the gateway to drugs like meth.

Kirk Muse

Mesa, Ariz.

[end]

Only Arkansas Matches Utah's 100% Increase

In a six-part series, the Deseret Morning News examined how methamphetamine addiction and meth-related crime is burdening Utah courts, prisons and social services and devastating families.

Methamphetamine-related arrests in Utah doubled the past year - the highest rate of increase in the nation, according to a new report.

A National Association of Counties survey of 500 law enforcement agencies showed Utah and Arkansas as the only states where meth-related arrests went up 100 percent over the past 12 months.

[continues 583 words]

A new national report says methamphetamine-related arrests in Utah doubled last year. It's a highly troubling distinction considering that Utah and Arkansas were the only two states where meth-related arrests went up 100 percent over the past 12 months, according to a National Association of Counties survey.

Methamphetamine use hit epidemic proportions seven years ago and remains a No. 1 problem for Utah law enforcers. It's a particularly vexing problem because it is so highly addictive, readily available and cheap. Abusers will sacrifice every worthwhile aspect of their lives to get high, whether it's their children, their relationships, their health, their financial security or their self-respect. When they decide to enter treatment, it can take years to get clean, if ever.

[continues 319 words]

SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah was just one of two states where methamphetamine-related arrests doubled last year, according to a new report.

Arkansas was the other state the National Association of Counties survey of 500 law enforcement agencies identified as having meth-related arrests go up 100 percent over the past 12 months.

Sgt. Ryan Atack, head of the Salt Lake City police narcotics squad, said meth use hit epidemic proportions in Utah seven years ago.

"I don't know that it's gotten any worse," he said. "It's still our No. 1 problem."

[continues 260 words]

Called a danger to community: Witnesses testify James "Flaming Eagle" had threatened them for cooperating in an investigation

A federal magistrate said Tuesday that a Utah County man who promotes the use of peyote in American Indian religious ceremonies is a danger to the community and ordered him held until his trial on drug charges.

But U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba allowed Linda Mooney, 51, wife and co-defendant of James "Flaming Eagle" Mooney, to be released from jail pending the trial. The two were arrested Thursday after a federal grand jury indicted them on charges of illegal possession and distribution of the hallucinogenic cactuses.

[continues 364 words]