Synthetic drugs being marketed under names such as "White Dove bath salts" and "Mister Nice Guy potpourri" may not have been the cause of death in any cases yet in Grundy County, but they have contributed to the loss of life. "My concern is it may not be the immediate cause of death, but it can be the cause of the incident ending up in death," Grundy County Coroner John Callahan said. Being under the influence of a substance causes delayed reactions and bad decision making. [continues 933 words]
James Gierach of Palos Park was in Morris last week. Even though he ran for governor once, his name is still not going to be recognized by most people. The fact that he was willing to run a hopeless race against the popular Jim Edgar in 1994, shows he is willing to tilt at windmills. Edgar won re-election in 1994, defeating his main opponent, Dawn Clark Netsch, and carrying all but one county in Illinois. Whether anyone thinks Gierach is still tilting at windmills will depend on their view of drugs and whether they should be legalized. [continues 367 words]
"Once They Get That First Hit, They're Going To Chase It Forever." WILMINGTON - It's called "chasing the dragon." "Once they get that first hit, they're going to chase it forever," noted local Deputy Police Chief Michael Boyle. "And then they'll try even more. Maybe start out with snorting it, then go to shooting it to get more of a high. "That's why they go to different levels and different drugs. They're chasing that dragon - they're going after that feeling ... again and again." [continues 938 words]
Former Addicts Share Stories Of Addiction, Recovery EDITOR'S NOTE - "Brooke Rose" is an assumed name for a local former heroin addict. Her name was changed to preserve her privacy and safety. Brooke Rose. 17. Straight hair, messy up top. Painted nails. Soft spoken. Likes bowling, shopping and cars. She's just a teenage girl, but her face shows age beyond 17. Maybe 22 or 23. Her life is structured. She lives minute to minute. She stays busy. No time for free time. No time for phone calls from estranged friends or ex-boyfriends. [continues 1500 words]
WILMINGTON - Local police chief, Lt. Wally Evans, believes the community should face head-on its serious problem with illicit drugs. "You can either lay it out and attack it, or hide your head in the sand and let it build," he said Wednesday. "It's in every step of society. So, if a community is going to say it doesn't have a problem it does have a problem." The drive to do something about the growing problem of illicit drugs in the community, including crack cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl-laced heroin, began when Deputy Chief Michael Boyle came out of management to work the streets again, and found a drug problem existed in the school system. [continues 470 words]
Just a little grain of fentanyl ... or two ... or three ... will do it. The small amount of fentanyl it takes to kill a person can be likened to a grain of salt, noted Dr. Ben Johnston, emergency room physician at Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers. "Imagine one grain of salt and three grains of salt being the difference between life and death," he said Tuesday, during a news conference by Grundy County Coroner John Callahan in the wake of two heroin-related deaths this past week. [continues 827 words]
Drug Czar Addresses Educators, Law Enforcers JOLIET -- Admitting the problem is the biggest issue America has in the war on illicit drugs, noted national drug czar John Walters. "The biggest enemy we have here is cynicism," said Walter, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, in speaking before a select group of law enforcement officials and educators in the 11th Congressional District. "We know we need to control both supply and demand of drugs. Prevention is the key." [continues 999 words]
No Changes to Policy Expected, Officials Say As the school year comes to a close, so too does the first year of federally funded mandatory drug testing in Antioch-Lake Villa High School District 117. District 117 has built what many educators believe is the most stringent testing program in Lake County. It uses hair samples to make sure students participating in extracurricular activities and those seeking parking permits are drug-free. District officials say results from the first year are favorable -- with only 11 of 1,271 students testing positive -- but they aren't as optimistic about the tests being a remedy. [continues 1197 words]
SPRINGFIELD - A deeply divided Illinois Supreme Court gave police broad authority Thursday to use drug-sniffing dogs to inspect cars during routine traffic stops, a move critics call an erosion of personal liberty. The Illinois attorney general's office, however, applauded the ruling for giving police more freedom to use "an invaluable tool." The court's 4-3 majority found that a dog sniffing the exterior of a car does not constitute an unreasonable search. "A dog sniff will not reveal the contents of diaries or love letters; it will not reveal the individual's choice of reading materials, whether religious, political or pornographic; it will not reveal sexual orientation or marital infidelity," Justice Rita Garman wrote. [continues 442 words]
It wasn't bombs this time, but drugs that police dogs were sniffing out at Morris Com-munity High School Friday afternoon. Despite having had two bomb threats in the past two weeks, school administrators went forward with plans to have a team of drug-sniffing dogs search the school. "There are so many requests to do this that we're lucky to get them here," Associate Principal Tom Talarico said. "The timing wasn't the best, but it really shouldn't have disrupted anyone." [continues 348 words]
A Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 board member on Monday said officials and the community should reconsider whether students should be forced to submit to random drug tests. While he didn't come out as a proponent of drug testing, board member Dennis Ryan said he wants residents to tell administrators and the board if they believe illegal drugs are a problem in the district. He also wants to know if people favor random drug tests. "I don't know how I'd vote," Ryan said during an early-evening program and personnel committee meeting at Libertyville High. "I want to hear all their input." [continues 189 words]
Lake County law enforcement took out a huge broom Thursday and swept up a number of accused drug dealers. Operation Spring Cleaning launched just after 5:30 a.m., as 153 officers from 24 agencies hit the streets with several goals. Police were seeking to serve 100 outstanding arrest warrants for drug violations. In addition, several search warrants resulted in arrests in new cases, and parolees were checked for possible violations. Sheriff Gary Del Re and Mark Rasmussen, director of the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group, said the activities were part of similar efforts across the country to draw attention to the need for more federal funding for regional task forces such as MEG. [continues 380 words]
A Barrington High School junior who was suspended from the varsity baseball team for possession of marijuana is fighting in the courts to get back on the field. The 16-year-old boy and his parents filed a lawsuit in Cook County court Wednesday seeking to force Barrington Area School District 220 to end his baseball suspension after two school-level appeals failed. The lawsuit also says the student did not own the marijuana Barrington police say he admitted possessing the drug April 14 in a wooded area near Bakers Lake. [continues 294 words]
Say Money Necessary To Continue Drug Fight Cuts proposed in federal money to help fight methamphetamine will make it more difficult to punch a hole in the drug-cycle system, Grundy County State's Attorney Sheldon Sobol said. "The fact of the matter is, we've got a real drug problem, not only in Grundy County, but in this country," he said Monday, during a press conference in Morris in which Congress was urged to reinstate funds to fight methamphetamine producers and dealers. [continues 628 words]
Receives President's Award From State Group Sgt. Jeff Cole, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer for the Grundy County Sheriff's Department, has received a state award. At the recent state meeting in Moline, Sgt. Cole received the Illinois DARE Officers Association (IDOA) President's award. Kim Frasier of Algonquin, the outgoing president of the IDOA, chose Sgt. Cole for the honor. The Grundy County Sheriff's Department has had a DARE program since 1989, serving the schools in the county outside of Morris and Coal City. In December of 1991, Sgt. Cole was named the department's full-time DARE officer. After completing training, he taught his first DARE class in the spring of 1992. [continues 376 words]
Partial Award To Be At Least $200,000 More than five years ago, 18-year-old Sara Aeschlimann of Naperville died of an overdose on Mother's Day after taking what she thought was a popular club drug. Her friend, Garrett Harth, who was convicted of supplying the drugs, is serving out the remaining days of his prison sentence. Jan and Robert Aeschlimann sued Harth and his parents because it was in their home that Sara fell ill. She died hours later in a hospital. [continues 501 words]
Although some media reports have been unclear, two things stand out about Monday's Supreme Court decision on the medical marijuana case, Gonzales v. Raich. First, the court did not strike down any state medical marijuana laws or take away any of the protections these laws provide to patients. It did, however, leave those patients vulnerable to federal prosecution. Second, the court explicitly recognized that "marijuana does have valid therapeutic purposes," and went out of its way to note that Congress can change federal law to address this reality. [continues 74 words]
Substance abuse prevention will become a full-time job in Maine Township High School District 207 next school year. The district is shelling out more than $260,000 for three new hires who will focus solely on discouraging and addressing teen drinking and drug use. The "student assistance program directors," one for each high school, will start July 1. Their appointments were approved by the board this week. Like other school systems, District 207 in recent years has made curbing drinking and drug use a priority through things like "24/7" policies that hold students accountable for their behavior all day, every day, and increased communication with parents. Such efforts have been credited by the Illinois Department of Human Services for an overall decline in teen drug abuse statewide. [continues 535 words]
As school officials searched her mother's car, passing students yelled "Ashley got busted" and "Put her in cuffs." For Ashley Toro, a senior at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, it was humiliating and infuriating. The only drug the Hoffman Estates girl uses is the albuterol in her inhaler, which was prescribed eight months ago when she was diagnosed with asthma. School officials already knew about the inhaler from a letter her mother wrote when she started carrying it. [continues 1060 words]
There are all kinds of ways that you can avoid becoming the victim of a violent crime. For example, don't borrow money from a loan shark. Don't pick up a prostitute. Don't walk through a bad neighborhood draped in diamond jewelry. Don't stiff a bookmaker. Don't leave the keys in your car. Don't get mixed up with people who sell drugs. But don't take my word for it. If David Steeves could, he'd tell you himself. [continues 791 words]
One of the most-recognizable names in Illinois for keeping drug offenders out of jail is facing his own trial. On Wednesday, the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board leveled a 20-count complaint against Kane County Judge James Doyle, accusing him of violating the constitutional rights of defendants by engaging in intimidation, violating privacy laws, denying legal counsel and showing bias in his decisions. The charges stem from a months-long investigation by the board of five judges and two citizens into complaints from attorneys, a probation officer and drug court participants. [continues 814 words]
More tests were needed to show an Algonquin man had drugs in his system when he drove his car into oncoming traffic, killing a mother and her unborn son, a forensics expert said Thursday. And despite the results, they wouldn't tell if Brandon Carone was high on cocaine at the time of the March 7, 2003, crash, said David Stafford, the former director of the University of Tennessee's pathology and toxicology department. "It says this individual has been exposed to cocaine sometime in the past, but you don't know when," Stafford told a Kane County judge. [continues 351 words]
Narcotics agents used unreliable information from a chronic drug user to help bring charges against a Huntley family accused of running a clandestine methamphetamine lab out of their home, the family's attorney claims in court papers filed Friday. Because of that, the lawyer for Kenneth S., Janice A., Nicholas R. and Eric M. Larsen says, a judge should throw out the search warrant agents used to raid the family's residence in October and discover what authorities claim is evidence of a drug making and selling operation. [continues 338 words]
Natalie Toomey's heard it all before. Don't drink. Don't smoke. Steer clear of trouble. And just say no. Yet when confronted Friday with former gang members, the realities of teen pregnancy and pitfalls of drug use, such cliched cautions gained new meaning. "It kind of gives you a reality check," the 17-year-old Elgin High School junior said. "When you're reminded of the effects and you see what's happening to people your age, you see things in a whole different light." [continues 317 words]
Increased heroin use by suburban young adults is helping create giant profits for Osama bin Laden, one of the world's largest dealers of the drug, federal officials say. Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk of Highland Park said he'll lead a five-man delegation next week to Afghanistan as part of an effort to reduce heroin flow into this country. Bin Laden's al-Qaida operatives sell Afghan heroin, he said. Afghanistan produces about 75 percent of the world's heroin, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. [continues 394 words]
Fire-safety classes for kids and the DARE program in Elgin schools may have laudable goals, but whether they're worth the big cost is another question. Elgin City Council members Wednesday night said they want City Manager David Dorgan to conduct a study of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education classes led by police officers and the fire-safety program run by the fire department until it was cut last year to save money. Councilman Tom Sandor, who has been supportive of setting aside $30,000 in the city's 2005 budget to bring back the popular fire-safety classes, said it doesn't seem to make sense that the more costly DARE program still is running when dollars are the issue. He requested the study to see the value of both programs and how they could be paid for. [continues 319 words]
Seriously ill patients across America are celebrating the resignation of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. Under his supervision, the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a cruel and pointless war against patients with cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis and other terrible illnesses who found relief from medical marijuana when conventional medicines failed. It made no difference to Ashcroft that these patients were obeying the laws of their states, or that their use of medical marijuana was with the recommendation and guidance of their physicians. [continues 77 words]
That five teens and young adults have overdosed and died in the Tri-Cities since the start of summer began may signal a renewed start to a deadly trend. That at least four had had brushes with drug court may help save the lives of others. Kane County Judge James Doyle, who created and oversees that drug court, has joined forces with Kane County Coroner Chuck West to study the latest deaths and how local leaders and law enforcement might put up roadblocks for others on paths to destruction. [continues 578 words]
For Alex Beda, deciding to not use drugs was an easy decision to make. The president of Geneva Middle School Student Council likes to play sports and thinks that drugs would get in the way. He's seen people who were high and doesn't want to act like that. And his older brother was in a serious accident caused by a drunken driver. He hit the windshield of his car in the crash. "Every day, he has to look in the mirror and be reminded of somebody else's bad decision," he said. [continues 204 words]
When Nathan McIlvaine of St. Charles got out of the Kane County jail, going on a drug binge seemed unlikely. He was broke, had no car and no place of his own to shoot up. Then a 33-year-old friend came along and offered the 19-year-old solutions to all his problems along with a ride toward Chicago to buy heroin and cocaine. What some would call helping out a friend, McIlvaine's family views as murder. They want the former St. Charles man prosecuted for making McIlvaine's overdose possible in August of 2004. The vehicle for doing that is a sporadically used state law that was revised in January 2002 to give a mandatory, minimum six-year sentence to anyone who delivers a controlled substance that causes death. [continues 1299 words]
If your teenagers are suddenly spending time in West suburban Darien, it may not be for story time at the Indian Prairie Public library. Some residents must have been taken aback in the town that has decreed itself "A Nice Place to Live," upon finding out that Darien might also be looked at as a nice place for marijuana smokers to live it up. Simple marijuana possession in Darien is treated like jaywalking or spitting on the sidewalk. Having a joint or two is "punishable" by a ticket and a fine. [continues 481 words]
Antioch Community High School is looking to put some new teeth into an already tough policy that tests every student athlete for drugs. The Antioch-Lake Villa Area High School District 117 school board is considering upping the ante by using hair instead of urine samples to look for the presence of drugs. The change, while more expensive, would allow officials to detect drug use going back 90 days. Urine tests go back only about a week, officials said. The board plans to discuss the issue Thursday. Superintendent Jay Sabatino said it has based its tough drug policy "on what the community wanted." [continues 510 words]
Fox Valley law enforcement officers rarely arrest methamphetamine users, and even less frequently do they bust meth labs. Yet. "I am sure it is coming," said McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz. "It will be here." Coroners in the suburbs like Lantz already have seen a few deaths from the synthetic drug often used as a cheap substitute for cocaine or ecstasy. Officials fear more deaths, whether from the addiction or the violence it breeds, could be on the way. They also fear the crime, identity theft and mail fraud that often follow the drug trail. [continues 1063 words]
There was only one question from the public for new Schools Superintendent Barbara Erwin at Monday's St. Charles Unit District 303 board meeting and it concerned whether or not the district had a growing drug problem. Erwin's candid reply was that, yes, the district has a drug problem because all communities have a drug problem. "Drugs are not the problem," Erwin said. "Denial is the killer. Some schools are willing to push drugs outside the four walls and then it's a problem for the police." [continues 363 words]
CHICAGO - House Speaker Dennis Hastert smiled Friday when asked what Illinois Republicans are looking for in a candidate to replace Jack Ryan in the race for U.S. Senate. "Somebody that can win," Hastert said. "Raise money and win, that's the key." A new name making the rounds a day after state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger declined to run is Andrea Grubb Barthwell, the Bush administration's deputy drug czar who resigned Friday to explore the possibility of a candidacy. Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, meanwhile, has yet to publicly say if he was even interested. [continues 724 words]
For years, adults have told kids they need to say no to drugs and alcohol. The message gets through to some. But others are undaunted by warnings of what the substances could do to their bodies. Too Good for Drugs takes a different tactic. The anti-drug program encourages kids to participate in drug-free activities and focuses on building character. The idea, of course, is that young people will become "too good for drugs." Educators and police officers from Naperville, St. Charles and West Chicago participated in training sessions this week to learn about the program, which will replace the controversial Drug Abuse Resistance Education this fall in many schools. [continues 405 words]
It's official: Too Good for Drugs will be Naperville's new anti-drug initiative next year. Police and educators are preparing to learn about the curriculum at intensive workshops next week. The 10-week program will replace the long-running but controversial Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, which has lost state funding. Naperville City Council last month approved spending $5,000 for materials. Training costs will be funded by a private donor, Naperville police Sgt. Mark Ksiazek said. The program will be introduced to fifth-graders in all Naperville Unit District 203 and private schools, and in the Naperville schools in Indian Prairie Unit District 204. [continues 269 words]
In an effort to stem the tide of teens committing crimes, Kane County has started the state's fourth juvenile drug court. The alternative to incarceration is similar to programs in Cook and Will counties and the city of Peoria. So far, eight of the 15 slots in the pilot program have been filled by teens ranging in age from 14 to 17. The teens agree to undergo random drug tests several times a week, intensive counseling and job training in exchange for avoiding jail time. [continues 421 words]
The Wheeling Police Department started a busy weekend Friday by honoring the 124 fifth-graders at Whitman Elementary School who completed the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. Officer John Abbio was in charge of the DARE program at Whitman. Abbio said the 17-week program, which shows students how to deal with peer pressure and helps build a child's self-esteem, has long-lasting effects. "I had my doubts at first, but I've run into kids that have graduated from the program and years later they still remember everything they learned," Abbio said. [continues 224 words]
Two anti-drug programs under consideration to replace DARE in the St. Charles school district this fall feature research-based approaches that focus on character building and interpersonal skills. A group of health and physical education teachers in the district is evaluating both the Too Good For Drugs and the LifeSkills Training programs. One of the two programs is expected to be implemented on a pilot basis to fifth-graders at a few of the elementary schools within the St. Charles city limits this fall. The remaining schools would continue using the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. [continues 423 words]
Lisle Police This Year Will Begin Reviewing Alternatives to the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program. Officials say they're generally pleased with the long-running anti-drug program, but will start to review other models to supplement or replace DARE. Instructors currently teach the 17-week program to Lisle students in fifth grade. "We're still continuing with it," Deputy Chief James Kosatka said Wednesday. "We haven't made any decisions. We're just exploring our options to see if we can make it even better." [continues 248 words]
The latest battleground where the war against Ecstasy and other club drugs will be waged is college campuses. Local officials say about 10 percent of college students use the drugs, and they expect more to pick up the habit as the drugs become easier to get. "I think that in a few months, we will see more of it," said Michael Cooke, director of the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group. To try to curb use, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has picked nine areas in the state to share $500,000 for campus prevention programs. [continues 552 words]
Firsthand heartache told Theresa Blasucci the suburban heroin problem was bad. Her teenage son overdosed on the drug nearly three years ago, plunging the family into addiction's murky waters. They met dozens of other suburban families there. All were treading for their lives. "I saw the problem with my own eyes," the Glendale Heights woman said. "I knew how bad it was." Blasucci, however, did not grasp how far-reaching it was until she read a new Roosevelt University study on local heroin use. [continues 707 words]
Lake Zurich School Leaders Are Taking A Look At Implementing Random Drug Testing In The District In The Near Future. District 95 school board president Jan Putbress said the issue of drug, alcohol and tobacco testing has been simmering on the board's back burner for awhile now. On Wednesday, the district's policy review committee, which comprises board members and administrators, began talking about the issue. "We're planning to target specific issues this year and this is one of them," she said. "This isn't going to be an easy journey, but we shouldn't stick our head in the sand and say we don't have a problem (with drug and alcohol use among students)." [continues 320 words]
The goal, state Rep. Timothy Schmitz said, is not to punish. "To punish is easy. We have prisons," Schmitz said. "Our end game plan is to help our children." If that means mandatory drug testing, "Let's do it," said Schmitz, who represents the 49th District and lives in Batavia. He was one of the speakers at Tuesday's student drug testing summit, sponsored by the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy and held at the Radisson in Schaumburg. Schmitz said he would be willing to co-sponsor legislation to codify the federal standards for drug testing. President Bush has offered to provide $20 million in funding for schools that want to apply drug testing. [continues 538 words]
Amid mixed reaction in the suburbs to the Bush administration's support of mandatory drug testing for students, a gang of hand-picked experts and supporters today are gathering in Schaumburg with hopes of persuading more schools to consider the option. Two Lake County school districts have adopted variations of the program, but others in the suburbs have scorned it as a heavy-handed tactic that doesn't focus on prevention. The White House's message today: It's not to punish, it's to prevent - through deterrence. [continues 283 words]
Mary Parks, a prescription drug addict a decade ago, remembers well how she would replenish her stash. She'd call in fake prescriptions to drug stores. Much of her free time was spent traveling to different pharmacies so no one would notice her habit. Others less savvy, she recalls, would visit several doctors simultaneously, making up ailments that would require pain killers. But they often were thwarted by computer databases in doctors' offices and chain pharmacies that flagged the frequent visits. [continues 1011 words]
Deep rubs and hot packs used to soothe the aches and pains that start in your 30s. In the past decade, a host of new medicines have made ready fixes available in a pill bottle. But the new treatments have a dire drawback: potential addiction. Now doctors are seeing a new type of drug addict: one who didn't start out seeking a high. More than 4 million people nationally are hooked on legal drugs, most falling prey to addiction by trying to ease the normal aches and pains of aging. [continues 832 words]
I hear the candidates talking about college for all; I was wondering if this means they don't support the current laws that refuse financial aid to students caught smoking marijuana. I don't think that should stop anyone from getting an education. Millions of people smoke marijuana, more than anyone thinks - parents, grandparents, bosses, co-workers and anyone in between. I can safely say that for every profession, every race, every group of people, and even someone you know has smoked or still does smoke marijuana. Our government should not punish people who are trying to make better lives for themselves by not giving them the chance to go to school because they have in the past smoked or currently smoke marijuana. [continues 141 words]
A community coalition may have found an anti-drug effort to replace DARE in Naperville schools by next fall. Supporters say the program, Too Good for Drugs, focuses on making healthy choices and building character. It uses "social norms marketing" to stress to students how few of their classmates use drugs and alcohol and encourages youngsters to interact with parents through homework assignments. Representatives from Naperville schools, drug prevention groups and the police have been meeting since November to find an alternative to the long-running but increasingly controversial Drug Abuse Resistance Education program. [continues 398 words]
