A national organization that has raised $8 million over two years to fight substance abuse is urging West Virginia legislators to pass two laws designed to reduce drug overdose deaths. Shatterproof, a nonprofit headquartered in Connecticut, supports a "Good Samaritan" law that would give immunity to people who call 911 to report a drug overdose. Another measure would expand the availability of a life-saving medicine called naloxone, which reverses the effects or heroin and prescription painkillers. West Virginia has the highest drug overdose death rate in the United States. [continues 565 words]
Most Americans realize that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco - yet booze and cigarettes are lucrative legal products, while pot-puffers face jail. This contradiction makes no sense. The New York Times, America's flagship newspaper, finally has launched an all-out crusade for legalization of marijuana. It declared: "It took 13 years for the United States to come to its senses and end Prohibition, 13 years in which people kept drinking, otherwise law-abiding citizens became criminals and crime syndicates arose and flourished. It has been more than 40 years since Congress passed the current ban on marijuana, inflicting great harm on society just to prohibit a substance far less dangerous than alcohol." [continues 315 words]
CVS Pharmacy sales of a cold medication that's also used to manufacture illegal methamphetamine have doubled over the past year in West Virginia, according to a Charleston Gazette analysis of sales data released last week. CVS stores are now West Virginia's No. 1 seller of pseudoephedrine, a key meth-making ingredient sold under brand names such as Sudafed and Allegra-D. "CVS stores are really crowding the top of the list," said Mike Goff, a state Board of Pharmacy administrator and former State Police meth lab investigator. [continues 1002 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The time has come to legalize marijuana for those that can benefit from it. I am 72 years old and have never touched marijuana or any of the other illegal junk drugs peddled on our streets. But, I have difficulty understanding the opposition to legalizing medical marijuana. If a doctor says it is a substance that will help out many in pain, it should be treated like any other prescription medication. As we are finding out every day many of the prescription and nonprescription drugs now approved for use are more deadly and addictive than that claimed for marijuana. [continues 162 words]
Once again, legislators are pondering whether to legalize medicinal marijuana to relieve pain, nausea and other miseries of sick West Virginians. We hope this humane effort finally passes, simply because it's merciful. Further, it could provide additional state revenue. Gradually, Americans are becoming tolerant of pot, which is no more harmful than beer or whisky, which are legal -- and is much less harmful than tobacco, also legal. Back in 1969, a whopping 84 percent of Americans opposed legalization of pot. But this year, a Pew survey found that 52 percent now want marijuana to be legal. The same poll found that three-fourths think police efforts to exterminate pot cost more than they're worth. [continues 413 words]
Supporters Argue Financial, Medical Benefits of Halting Prohibition CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Legislation to legalize marijuana use, especially for medical purposes, is being discussed again in West Virginia. Today, sale of medical marijuana is legal in 18 states and Washington, D.C. Today, 30 percent of Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form. On Nov. 6, popular votes in Colorado and Washington state legalized the recreational use of marijuana. Supporters of marijuana legislation in West Virginia back various reform laws they say could offer people medical help, create new state tax revenues, cut prison costs and enhance an industry already booming underground. [continues 1085 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Fighting the epidemic of prescription drug abuse is the top priority for both candidates running for sheriff in Putnam County. They told Gazette editors Monday that's what most crimes can be traced back to. Steve Deweese, a Republican, and Bud Lett, a Democrat, would increase the size of the county's drug task force, which has three officers. "I'd draw from some local departments inside the county and build back the task force like it was when I was supervisor," said Lett, a former federal Drug Enforcement Administration officer and State Police trooper who is now chief of the Kenova Police Department. "We had six men, at one time." [continues 417 words]
Editor: Regarding your June 25 editorial, the drug war is largely a war on marijuana smokers. In 2010, there were 853,839 marijuana arrests in the United States, almost 90 percent for simple possession. At a time when state and local governments are laying off police, firefighters and teachers, this country continues to spend enormous public resources criminalizing Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis. The end result of this ongoing culture war is not lower rates of use. The United States has higher rates of marijuana use than the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. Decriminalization is a long overdue step in the right direction. Taxing and regulating marijuana would render the drug war obsolete. As long as organized crime controls distribution, marijuana consumers will come into contact with sellers of hard drugs like methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. This "gateway" is a direct result of marijuana prohibition. Robert Sharpe Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C. [end]
Editor: Kudos to The Charleston Gazette, for recognizing that the criminalization of marijuana is a failed and destructive public policy that needs amending ("Pot: Almost legal," June 25). According to the federal government's own surveys, over 100 million Americans have consumed cannabis despite the drug's prohibition, and one in 10 use it regularly. Criminalization hasn't dissuaded anyone from consuming marijuana or reduced its availability. But it has ruined the lives and careers of millions of people who chose to use a substance that is objectively safer than alcohol. [continues 78 words]
Editor: Regarding your thoughtful editorial: "Pot: Almost legal" (June 25), I agree that marijuana use should not be a criminal act. While reducing the penalties to an infraction is preferred to having it a felony or misdemeanor, I believe the real long-term answer is full legalization. Only fully legal products can be regulated by any government agency. Only fully legal products can be controlled by any government agency. And only fully legal products can be taxed by any government agency. Only full legalization takes the distribution of marijuana out of the hands of criminal gangs. Kirk Muse Mesa, Ariz. [end]
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a potential Democratic candidate for president in 2016, wants to reduce penalties for simple marijuana possession. Long ago, New York's Legislature decreed that private possession of less than 25 grams of pot is a mere "violation" -- less than a misdemeanor -- subject to just a ticket and fine. Like a parking ticket, it creates no criminal record. However, police stop-and-frisk tactics used chiefly against black and Hispanic youths force them to empty their pockets, displaying bags of pot in public view, which raises the offense to misdemeanor level. [continues 302 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It is possible that the hospital doctors and nurses who care for you in the future will be tobacco free but stoned, if things get any more squirrelly. Let us put aside parsing legal terms and requirements contained within various federal and state laws and regulations, including the Americans with Disability Act and analyze the situation from a common sense perspective. From a medical standpoint, with a few rare exceptions, almost all physicians would advise their patients and employers that smoking tobacco and marijuana has negative health and safety consequences for the smoker and those in the smoker's close proximity. From a public policy perspective, "Drug Free Workplace" and "Clean Air" statutes and ordinances have supported this advice for several decades. [continues 467 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- State lawmakers will once again debate a bill designed to curb methamphetamine production in West Virginia. The legislation -- called the Larry Border Act after the late delegate from Wood County -- would require a prescription for cold and allergy medicines containing pseudoephedrine. The drug is a key meth-making ingredient. Sen. Dan Foster, D-Kanawha, introduced the bill Thursday. "What we're trying to do is eliminate the meth labs," Foster said during a press conference. "There's the toxic issue. [Meth labs] affect our children. They're like bombs." [continues 514 words]
Nearly a century ago, America's historic attempt to ban alcohol was a monumental failure. Prohibition turned millions of Americans into criminals because they visited illegal "speakeasies" for drinks or bought furtive bottles from bootleggers. It created the Mafia as smuggler gangs fought each other over lucrative hooch-hauling. It filled prisons with harmless offenders. It corrupted police and courts as enforcers took payoffs to ignore the booze traffic. Prohibition finally was abandoned as a wasteful mistake. Today, the "war on drugs" fills the same role that Prohibition did. Billions of taxpayer dollars are wasted on undercover police work and overcrowded prisons jammed with petty, pathetic users. Many American families are hurt as youths are jailed, their futures wrecked. The endless crackdown achieves little, because the narcotics flow doesn't diminish. [continues 265 words]
Appalachia is being ravaged by a flood from shady Florida "pill mills" that shell out painkillers to addicts and drug dealers, no questions asked. As our "Pillage" series pointed out, West Virginia leads America in overdose deaths. Police invest vast time and energy prosecuting "pillbillies" and their suppliers. Florida's legislature passed a tough monitoring law to catch illicit clinics -- but Florida's controversial Tea Party governor, Republican Rick Scott, says he will scuttle the project. Scott claims it's an "invasion of privacy" to keep tabs on stooges buying carloads of pills. [continues 352 words]
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Questions linger over Putnam County Schools' new, costly, controversial and relatively rare policy to test middle and high school students for drugs by swabbing their saliva. Some wonder if saliva tests are as effective as urine tests, which school board members had originally planned to implement but nixed in favor of the less-intrusive saliva swab. Experts, though, say saliva tests are just as foolproof as urine tests, if administered correctly. "Lab-based oral fluid testing has been proven to be as good as urine testing for all the drugs," said Dr. Todd Simo, director of medical services for the drug-testing agency HireRight. "The positive rates between the two are almost exactly identical." [continues 1008 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In Tuesday's U.S. election, several attempts to legalize marijuana fell short. By a margin of 3.8 million to 3.3 million, California voters declined to approve pot possession for recreational use. Arizona, Oregon and South Dakota rejected medical marijuana, but two Massachusetts districts gave tentative approval. Regardless, it seems clear that public support is fading for America's police blitz that throws hundreds of thousands of young people into cells for smoking the wrong plant. [continues 377 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The state Supreme Court has suspended the law license of a Jackson County lawyer, the state bar's Office of Disciplinary Counsel announced. Jessica A. Sullivan, of Jackson County, was suspended by a court order on Sept. 9, according to the news release. Sullivan was arrested in July and charged with delivery of a controlled substance, possession of precursors with intent to manufacture methamphetamine, and conspiracy to commit a felony, the order states. The court instructed Chief Jackson Circuit Judge Thomas C. Evans III to appoint another attorney to handle Sullivan's cases. Sullivan had previously been indicted by a Jackson County grand jury on drug-related charges in July 2009, October 2009, and June 2010, according to the order. [end]
Soon, State Police helicopters will swoop over West Virginia hilltops, spotting lush marijuana patches. The tall plants, worth millions in the underground dope business, will be chopped down and burned. Other clusters missed by troopers will be harvested secretly and funneled into the illicit trade. There's another option: Pot-growing could be legalized and licensed by the state, creating legitimate jobs and a flood of state revenue. Gradually, efforts to decriminalize dope keep expanding -- especially in Latin America, where tens of thousands of people are killed in battling over control of the billion-dollar drug flow into the United States. More than 28,000 have died in Mexican violence. [continues 327 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Since President Richard Nixon launched the "war on drugs" four decades ago, U.S. taxpayers have poured $1 trillion into the crusade that is largely a flop. Narcotics are more rampant in America now than ever. Numerous drug murders and robberies happen daily. U.S. prisons and jails are bursting with 2.5 million inmates, mostly drug-related. America has the world's worst lockup rate, wrecking millions of families at horrible public cost. A recent roadside survey found that one-sixth of drivers tested positive for dope. Prescription pills are a rising menace. [continues 345 words]
Becky Jordon Says The Kanawha County School System Doesn't Need A Prescription Drug-Related Death. CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Becky Jordon says the Kanawha County school system doesn't need a prescription drug-related death. Jordon, the school board president, is willing to allow drug dogs into county schools to sniff out students for prescription pills. "We want the drugs out of the school," she said. "We don't need a fatality." Students have grown wise to the tactics of teachers and principals, and hide prescription drugs in their pants, underpants and shoes, Jordon said. [continues 852 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Charleston woman agreed in Kanawha Circuit Court Monday to a judge's suggestion that she have her fallopian tubes tied as part of her probation. Jessica Michelle Butterworth, 21, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute marijuana on March 23. At her sentencing hearing, Judge L.D. Egnor suspended a one-to five-year prison sentence in favor of five years of probation. Egnor, a retired Cabell County Circuit judge who has been hearing cases while Judge Paul Zakaib Jr. recovers from an illness, said he had made arrangements for Butterworth to have the sterilizing procedure free of charge. [continues 630 words]
Editor: In your editorial, "Cages: Reduce Incarceration," [Jan. 6] you missed an important reason why America abuses its prison system. The United States overzealously cages humans because the prison industry and its unions and lobbyists have worked hard to create a financial gravy train for their own interests, regardless of how it affects the country. While America is in dire need of credible drug law reform, the prison industry spends huge sums to perpetuate the problem at the cost of America's wellbeing. Grotesque conflicts of interest occur when America has private prisons operating for profit. Stan White Dillon, Colo. [end]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - For people grappling with substance abuse, basic health care can be fraught with worry: over-the-counter cough medicine can have relapse-triggering amounts of alcohol, and visits to the dentist are hazardous if they include narcotic painkillers. A new outpatient clinic at the University of Charleston, likely the first of its kind in the state, hopes to make those anxious decisions easier when it opens later this month. The vision for the free clinic is a one-stop information center for patients and practitioners, where issues like medication side effects and appropriate pain treatment for recovering addicts can be addressed. [continues 699 words]
Shamefully, America is the world's largest stockade, with more than 2 million Americans locked in prison and jail cells. Per capita, this nation confines six times more of its citizens than Canada does, eight times more than France does, and 12 times more than Japan does. Shamefully, America is the world's largest stockade, with more than 2 million Americans locked in prison and jail cells. Per capita, this nation confines six times more of its citizens than Canada does, eight times more than France does, and 12 times more than Japan does. [continues 447 words]
Lawyers for Metro 911 filed a motion in federal court Tuesday to intervene in a case over random drug testing of school employees, saying that an unsuccessful outcome could limit the emergency operation center's own policy that allows random drug tests. Kanawha Commission President Kent Carper knows there are differences between the existing Metro 911 policy and the Kanawha County schools policy, which is on hold until a legal battle works through the courts. "Each agency ...has different policies. But ours isn't proposed. Ours is in effect right this minute," Carper said. "At the end of the day, the final ruling will affect our policy." [continues 213 words]
Schools' Policy, Similar To County's, Blocked By Judge CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Officials at the Kanawha County courthouse may suspend random drug testing pending the outcome of a federal court challenge. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin issued a temporary injunction to stop the Kanawha County school board from conducting random drug tests of teachers and other school employees. Lawyers for the state's two teachers unions and representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union are challenging the drug testing policy, saying it violates the Fourth Amendment's prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. [continues 281 words]
Kanawha Board Presented Weak Case, Judge Says Kanawha County teachers and other school employees will not be randomly tested for drugs beginning later this week, a federal judge ruled Monday. CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Kanawha County teachers and other school employees will not be randomly tested for drugs beginning later this week, a federal judge ruled Monday. Chief U.S. District Judge Joseph R. Goodwin said lawyers for the Kanawha school board did not provide any evidence to show the county school system has a pervasive drug problem or give a strong reason why he should override school employees' civil liberties. [continues 771 words]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Fayette County school board members voted unanimously Monday to support the Kanawha County Board of Education in its bid to randomly drug test teachers and other employees. Fayette board members want to be known as friends of the Kanawha school board in its upcoming federal court case, according to a letter signed by Fayette school board President David Arritt. He addressed the letter to Kanawha school board President Becky Jordon. Kanawha school board member Pete Thaw discussed the letter at a meeting Thursday night. [continues 312 words]
Members of the Kanawha County Commission voted to support the county school board's drug testing policy even though the decision might land them in court. County Commissioners Kent Carper, Dave Hardy and Hoppy Shores also voted to investigate expanding their own drug testing policy to include more county employees. The action came at a regular meeting of the County Commission on Thursday. Members of the American Federation of Teachers have challenged the school board's widespread drug testing policy in court. County officials decided to back the school board because they fear, if the school board's policy is found unconstitutional, it will radically affect the county's policy, as well. [continues 432 words]
With this policy, the Kanawha County school board is declaring a warrant against every employee in the county school system as having probable cause for drug use. In the heart of the state born out of a war fought for state and civil rights, the Kanawha County Board of Education ironically seeks to strip its employees of fundamental rights afforded in the West Virginia Constitution: "The rights of the citizens to be secure in their houses, persons, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. No warrant shall issue except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, or the person or thing to be seized." (Article 3, section 6) [continues 548 words]
Kanawha County school officials can expect heated opposition on several fronts as they again consider whether to test employees for drugs. Local teachers unions and the state American Civil Liberties Union have fought the Board of Education's efforts to pass a drug policy. Opponents quote legal arguments, stating why they believe courts would strike down random testing and other types of "suspicion-less" inquiry. "Fine. Let's go at it," board member Pete Thaw said Tuesday. He has strongly supported random testing, saying educators charged with possessing cocaine, marijuana and other illicit drugs should not be around children. [continues 529 words]
For Rich, Not Students AMERICA'S precious freedom of speech -- a cornerstone of democracy, guaranteed in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights -- took a hit from the U.S. Supreme Court last week. Conservative justices ruled 5-4 that free speech gives big-money interest groups a right to buy last-minute smear ads before an election -- but also ruled 5-4 that free speech doesn't let a high school student hold up a sign with the nonsense message, "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." [continues 287 words]
State Supreme Court justices admonished a Clay County judge for not remaining impartial and neutral in a methamphetamine case, granting defendant Gerald Mark Thompson Jr. a new trial in an opinion last week. The court found that Circuit Judge Richard A. Facemire "abandoned his role of impartiality and neutrality and that his role in both questioning witnesses and making comments to aid the prosecuting attorney in the presentation of the state's case seriously affected the fairness, integrity, and public reputation of the judicial proceedings," Justice Larry Starcher wrote for a unanimous court. [continues 661 words]
If Howard Wooldridge had it his way, all illicit drugs in America would be as legal as tobacco and alcohol. The retired Michigan police detective is traveling across West Virginia this week speaking on behalf of the organization Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. The nation's drug policy is badly in need of reform, Wooldridge said in an interview with the Gazette, and the best reform is to legalize all drugs so their sales are regulated and managed by the government, not criminals, he said. - advertisement [continues 357 words]
Half-Baked Alaska Case Kenneth Starr became an object of derision when he spent nearly $50 million of taxpayer money in a futile attempt to oust former President Bill Clinton for a trivial sex fling that didn't include intercourse. Now the ex-special prosecutor is back in the news. He went before the U.S. Supreme Court last week -- without pay -- to support the expulsion of an Alaska high school student who held up a sign his principal disliked. Here's the case: [continues 440 words]
Employees at Kanawha County's Metro 911 center will be subject to random drug tests under a policy proposed Tuesday. At a Tuesday meeting of the Metro 911 Executive Board, 911 Director Carolyn Karr Charnock got the nod to send the drug testing policy to the board's personnel committee. The committee will write a drug policy that will be up for a vote on March 21. Random drug testing for 911 staff was first proposed last year, Charnock said. "At Metro 911, everybody in there is dealing with emergencies," Charnock said. "We do not currently have random routine testing." [continues 202 words]
Kanawha Educator Acquitted Last Week The former principal of Pratt Elementary, who was acquitted of drug possession charges last week, was returned to his job Tuesday by a slim majority of the Kanawha County Board of Education. David Anderson is expected to return to work at Pratt Elementary School within the next few days, Superintendent Ron Duerring said. He said he plans to meet with Anderson in the next day or two. School board members voted 3-2 to reinstate Anderson, who was charged with cocaine possession in October. Board members Jim Crawford, Becky Jordon and Barbara Welch also approved reimbursing Anderson, with interest, for salary lost since Nov. 8. [continues 336 words]
Drug use by school athletes and other students involved in middle and senior high school activities -- and potential random testing of those students -- could be the focus of a legislative study later this year. Members of the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission have agreed to participate in such a study. They did so after state Sen. Clark Barnes, R-Randolph, introduced legislation to randomly test high school athletes in state championship rounds for performance-enhancing drugs. "The more of us that work together on this, the better solution we're going to come up with," said Mike Hayden, executive director of the SSAC. [continues 450 words]
Kanawha County Proposes Policy A proposed drug testing policy for Kanawha County school employees will include board members and central office workers if it's approved, board members affirmed Thursday. Meanwhile, the former principal whose arrest kick-started discussions about drug testing was found not guilty on misdemeanor drug possession charges in Kanawha County Magistrate Court on Thursday. The Kanawha school board -- and the county's teachers and principals unions -- had been uncertain about administrators' role in the random drug-testing scenario because the policy outlined Thursday did not specifically mention top employees or elected officials. [continues 550 words]
A proposal to open a methadone clinic in Mercer County has led the local Chamber of Commerce to organize a protest caravan headed to Charleston today. California-based CRC Health Group has filed paperwork with the state Health Care Authority seeking approval to start a drug treatment facility using methadone to wean addicts from opium-based drugs like heroin and oxycodone. CRC, the largest for-profit drug treatment provider in the country, reported in its filing with the state that it expects to initially spend $150,000 establishing the facility in Princeton. Thousands of residents, spurred by the Princeton-Mercer County Chamber of Commerce, have signed a petition objecting to the proposal. - advertisement [continues 299 words]
This is part of an ongoing Gazette investigation of methadone, a drug that has the unique ability to kill if you don't take it exactly as directed, and sometimes even if you do. Methadone "can cause death" if not taken exactly as prescribed, the federal Food and Drug Administration is now warning doctors and patients who take the popular painkiller. On Monday, the FDA issued a public health advisory for methadone, titled "Methadone Use for Pain Control May Result in Death." [continues 942 words]
West Virginia Dilemma SENSIBLE people can't understand why part of the population craves illicit drugs -- even risking jail, health damage or job loss. Perhaps dope users are dissatisfied with their lives, and want to flee into narcotic dreamland. Some addicts may be like alcoholics, with body chemistry that makes them susceptible. West Virginia has acquired a high ratio of drug abusers, according to a long report in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The paper quoted Joe Ciccarelli, former FBI chief for the southern half of the state: [continues 498 words]
A Beckley police detective was gunned down in the middle of a downtown street early Tuesday when an undercover drug buy "went sour," a State Police captain said. Two men were arrested several hours later and charged with the murder of Detective Charles "Chuckie" Smith, 29, who died at Raleigh General Hospital a short time after being shot. The incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. on South Fayette Street outside Club Attraction, where Smith had arranged to purchase crack cocaine from the two suspects, according to a criminal complaint filed by State Police Trooper R.A. Daniel. [continues 425 words]
Prescriptions Rising Despite Fatal O.D.s The number of Americans who died of overdoses of the prescription drug methadone rose 213 percent in the four years between 1999 and 2002, according to a new analysis by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Methadone accounts for more than one-third of all deaths from opioid drugs, according to the report in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. The remaining two-thirds were divided among other opioid painkillers and synthetic narcotics, including codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, morphine, hydromorphone, fentanyl and meperidine. [continues 599 words]
West Virginia's death rate from the prescription drug methadone is the nation's highest. Next month, doctors from across the state will attend an education session to learn more about the drug, and how to prescribe it more safely. An investigation published by the Sunday Gazette-Mail in June "led us to include a methadone expert at our conference this year," said Nikki Williams, coordinator of the 10th annual Mountain Retreat Continuing Education Conference. The investigation found that methadone is involved in the deaths of more people nationwide than any other prescription narcotic. Some of those victims took their methadone exactly as their doctors prescribed it for pain, and it killed them anyway. - advertisement [continues 602 words]
A federal agency is developing a plan to deal with an increase in deaths tied to the prescription drug methadone, one month after a Sunday Gazette-Mail series revealed a spike in overdoses nationwide. The U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is coming up with a strategy to deal with the spike in deaths, said spokeswoman Leah Young. The agency plans to work with the White House Drug Czar and the Drug Enforcement Administration to reduce the number of overdose deaths, she said. [continues 924 words]
State troopers will hit the streets Saturday armed with an extra $1 million to aid their ongoing efforts to stop illegal drug trafficking in West Virginia. Gov. Joe Manchin said Friday that the additional funding will bolster efforts that have already seized more than $5.7 million worth of crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and other illegal drugs statewide in the past 18 months. Speaking to reporters at State Police headquarters, Manchin stood behind a table where troopers laid out a half-dozen recently seized guns as well as bags of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. The firearms included an AK-47 assault rifle, while the drugs had an estimated street value of more than $800,000. - advertisement [continues 265 words]
At least 11 more police officers will patrol classrooms and school hallways across the state next year, including one at Stonewall Jackson Middle School. Their salaries and equipment will be paid with more than $360,000 in state money, Prevention Resource officers, local law enforcement officers who work full-time in schools, help counsel students against drug use and bullying. They also help school administrators keep peace in the halls. Already the state has 38 officers in 18 counties, according to April Dickenson, a spokeswoman for the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. She said they've helped prevent 38 violent incidents since 2000, such as bomb threats, potential shootings and explosions. State officials could not provide specifics of any situations. [continues 349 words]
GIVEN the dangers of the drug methadone recently outlined in the Gazette, you would think that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration -- charged with protecting the public health -- could at least require more specific and cautionary labeling on the packages. Not so. While FDA officials say they're working on it, Congress requires the FDA to cooperate with drug companies in deciding how drugs should be labeled. Drug company lawyers can veto any warnings they don't like. The unwary public is just out of luck. [continues 452 words]
