Despite More Busts, Work Increasing For Brown County Drug Task Force Two parcels confiscated from an Aberdeen residence last summer contained more methamphetamine than Brian Locke of the Brown County Sheriff's Department has seen since the county's Drug Task Force was formed nearly six years ago. On June 8, law enforcers confiscated more than two and a half pounds of meth from an Aberdeen home, one of the biggest drug busts in the city's history. The amount of meth confiscated in most busts is measured in grams, said Mark McNeary, Brown County state's attorney. There are 28 grams in an ounce and a bust yielding more than an ounce is significant, McNeary said. Two pounds isn't just a big amount for Aberdeen, it's a big amount period, he said. [continues 971 words]
Once again, kids have astounded us with their ingenuity. It seems they are now able to thwart the law and go online to purchase cigarettes. The federal government is asking the U.S. Postal Service to discontinue delivering boxes of cigarettes to minors. So, what's up with kids these days? It seems that there are daily crises reported: childhood obesity at near-epidemic proportions, binge-drinking, date-rape drugs, the list could go on and on. "It's tougher to raise kids than it used to be," observed the parent of two teenagers. "They have challenges we didn't have when we were growing up. Drugs, sex, Internet dangers. They're constantly on the run. If it's not soccer and dance lessons, it's school sporting events. They're hardly ever home." [continues 683 words]
Benefits, Side Effects of Drug on Society Debated South Dakota would join 11 other states that allow some medical patients to smoke marijuana to ease their pain and other medical problems if voters approve Initiated Measure 4 on Nov. 7. Diseases and conditions that would be covered include: cancer, glaucoma, HIV, AIDS, severe or chronic pain, severe nausea, seizures, severe or persistent muscle spasms and multiple sclerosis. The state Department of Health also could approve other medical conditions. Though some states permit medical marijuana, residents still can be prosecuted in federal court. [continues 421 words]
The Aberdeen school board wants to know if parents are interested in starting random testing of Central High School students for drugs in their bodies. The tests would be random only among those students whose parents have enrolled their kids in the program. It would also allow for discretionary testing whereby parents would call Central and request that their child be tested on a particular day. The Sioux Falls school district has participated in these programs of Prairie View Prevention Services of Sioux Falls for a number of years, said Darcy Jensen of Prairie View. About a third of Sioux Falls high school students are part of the random/discretionary testing, she said. [continues 362 words]
Proposals Include Medical Marijuana Use, Airplane Limits PIERRE - South Dakota voters this fall will decide the fate of ballot measures that seek to boost the tax on cigarettes, allow marijuana for medical purposes, prohibit an early starting date for school and limit the use of state airplanes, a state official announced Thursday. Secretary of State Chris Nelson had announced in May that sufficient petition signatures had been filed to put the tobacco tax and school starting date measures on the November ballot. [continues 415 words]
NEW YORK - Oklahoma, Mississippi and the Mountain states have set the pace in increasing the imprisonment of women, while several Northeastern states are curtailing the practice, according to a new report detailing sharp regional differences in the handling of female offenders. The report, to be released Sunday by the New York-based Women's Prison Association, is touted as the most comprehensive state-by-state breakdown of the huge increase in incarceration of women over the past 30 years. Overall, the number of female state inmates serving sentences of more than a year grew by 757 percent between 1977 and 2004, nearly twice the 388 percent increase for men, the report said. [continues 705 words]
Can Change Wiring In Head ST. LOUIS - Teenagers who drink, smoke and use drugs can derail their brain development and set themselves up for lifelong addiction. And parents who strictly monitor their teens' behavior are one of the most influential forces preventing kids from using drugs and alcohol. Now that might not sound like news to you, but truth is, until recently most of what science has known about addiction in teenagers has been extrapolated from research in adults. Now, new brain-imaging studies have shown that the teenage brain is a rapidly changing organ and doesn't work the way an adult brain does. Researchers now believe that drugs and alcohol can disrupt that massive renovation of the brain during adolescence, making it more vulnerable to drugs and easier for teens to get addicted. [continues 785 words]
RAPID CITY, S.D. - Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., talked with law enforcement officials and other leaders in Rapid City Monday on ways to get a handle on the making of methamphetamine. Herseth said a big issue is finding ways to hamper access to meth ingredients. The goal is to regulate the ingredients so it becomes harder for the people who would make and sell the drug, she said. The U.S. House is scheduled to debate a bill this fall on contamination associated with the cleanup of seized meth labs, Herseth said. Officials told her that more than half of the drug cases in the area involve meth. Herseth also has held meth forums in Sioux Falls and Watertown. [end]
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Apartment manager Hollie Jones is finding out firsthand the cost of methamphetamine use in South Dakota. She's paying $8,500 out of a reserve fund to clean up after a methamphetamine lab was discovered in one of the apartments. The tenant, Jeremy West, 25, had passed the apartment's credit and criminal background checks but was arrested along with two others last week for making meth. "I just thought he was a dumb kid that needed a mom and needed someone to mother him a little bit. It turns out he was probably spending most of his money on dope," she said. [continues 590 words]
PIERRE, S.D. - Robert Newland said he is preparing a ballot initiative for South Dakota voters on whether marijuana use should be allowed for medical purposes. A bill to legalize medical marijuana died 11-1 in a House committee during this year's legislative session. In Montana last November, voters approved the Medical Marijuana Act, which protects registered patients and their caregivers from local and state prosecution. "When I saw that Montana did it, I decided to start a campaign in South Dakota," said Newland, of Hermosa. "There is no question we can get the signatures in fairly short order. The fact is, medical use has never failed on an initiative." [continues 232 words]
A majority of lawmakers in Pierre favor reducing the penalties for students caught with drugs. We agree. The current penalty, which bans students from sports and other extracurricular activities for one year, is counterproductive and could lead the student in question into further trouble. The Criminal Code Revision Commission, according to The Associated Press, has recommended reducing that one-year suspension to 60 days - if the student completes counseling or treatment. While drugs in the hands of students are a huge concern - and something that should not be taken lightly - getting the student treatment and counselling is the most important part of the solution. Barring that student from extracurricular activities is just handing him or her more free time to get into trouble. And bear in mind that sports are the antidote to unhealthy living. [continues 458 words]
Judge Gives Man Probation, Jail Time, Treatment An Aberdeen man and former Northern State University athlete avoided state prison time Wednesday for a drug-related charge. Eric L. Dockter, 19, was sentenced on a felony count of conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Circuit Court Judge Jack Von Wald sentenced Dockter to 60 days in county jail and three years probation. Von Wald also ordered him to complete a chemical dependency evaluation and adhere to its terms. That could involve in-patient treatment. Dockter must also pay a fine of $1,063 and make restitution of $1,000. [continues 477 words]
Police Bring Back D.A.R.E. After Two-Year Absence After a two-year absence, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program is making a comeback in Aberdeen elementary schools. D.A.R.E. replaces CounterAct, which was taught for two years by police to Hub City public and private school students. Like CounterAct, D.A.R.E. is a national program that teaches students how to recognize and resist the pressures of drug and alcohol abuse. "It was a collective decision within the department," Aberdeen Police Officer Brad Erhardt said. "The idea was brought forth by (Police Chief Don Lanpher Jr.), but the decision was made together." [continues 268 words]
Before you even got near the gymnasium, you could hear the screams. Students at Simmons Middle School were taking part in some pretty heated scooter races last week, and judging by the volume level, it was clear they were having fun. According to Kristi Spitzer, that was precisely the point of a week of fun-filled events that also included pumpkin bowling. "What we're trying to get across to kids is they can have fun doing . . . things" that don't involve drugs or alcohol, said Spitzer, who is a prevention resource specialist at Aberdeen's two public middle schools through Prairie View Prevention Services, Inc. "The ultimate high sometimes is having fun with friends." [continues 240 words]
A number of activities are taking place in Aberdeen schools this week as part of Red Ribbon Week. The week honors the memory of Drug Enforcement Administration special agent "Kiki" Camarena, who was murdered by drug traffickers in 1985. According to a release, this week's activities are organized by school drug and alcohol prevention counselors "as a way for students and the community to take a visible stand against drugs and to help students make a personal commitment to a drug-free lifestyle through the symbol of the red ribbon. Students in Aberdeen will be sporting red ribbons during this week, showing their desire to remain drug-free." [continues 163 words]
PIERRE, S.D. - A proposal that would have allowed people who smoke pot for medical reasons to at least use a necessity defense in court was snuffed out Friday by officials who are studying all state criminal laws. Switching to the subject of methamphetamines, the panel embraced a proposal that would ease penalties for light use of the drug but increase them for larger quantities. The medicinal marijuana measure was offered by Republican Rep. Tom Hennies, former Rapid City police chief. [continues 423 words]
In a strange effort to protect the American public, the federal government has taken a hard stand against using marijuana for medicinal purposes. Proponents of the use of medical marijuana tell us that pot is effective in alleviating the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and the nausea associated with radiation treatment and AIDS. It does not have to be ingested by smoking, they say, but can be used as a vapor, a tea or in food. "Unhealthy, addictive" screams those federal watchdogs who would try to save us from ourselves. But then, so is morphine and Valium and doctors can legally prescribe those chemicals as needed. Is the motivation to protect American consumers or is it to allow pharmaceutical companies sufficient time to develop a synthetic version of cannabis in pill form? [end]
Eagle Butte Man's Possession Conviction Upheld PIERRE - A paralyzed Eagle Butte man who claims he must smoke marijuana for his health and wants legal immunity for it couldn't sell his argument to the state Supreme Court. The justices unanimously upheld Matthew Ducheneaux's pot possession conviction on Thursday. Ducheneaux's lawyer told the high court last month that a judge should have let his client to use a medical-necessity defense in his trial. Ducheneaux, confined to a wheelchair since a 1985 car crash, said he uses pot to ease chronic muscle spasms that do not respond well to prescription drugs. [continues 305 words]
WASHINGTON - Illegal drug use and cigarette smoking among sixth- through 12-graders increased slightly during the last school year compared with the year before, says a survey released Wednesday. Alcohol use remained at the same level during both academic years. Nearly one-fourth, or 24 percent, of these teenagers reported using illegal drugs at least once in the 2002-2003 school year, compared with to 22 percent in 2001-2002, according to the Pride Survey, which is an independent assessment of adolescent drug use and other behaviors. [continues 236 words]
To the editor - On Feb. 26, the Northeast Council of Governments hosted its monthly NECOG Council meeting. The focus of the meeting this month was drug awareness in our area communities. NECOG would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Sgt. Dale Kotzea, Highway Patrol Trooper Rick Olauson and the drug dog, Katie. Also a thank-you to Kandis Schwab, community coordinator for Methamphetamine Awareness and Prevention Project of South Dakota and Kristi Spitzer, community prevention networker for NADRIC. [continues 97 words]
To the editor - Gov. Mike Rounds isn't doing South Dakota students any favors with his tough-on-some-drugs posturing. These days school-based zero tolerance policies poses a greater threat to youth than drugs. According to the Monitoring the Future Survey, over half of all high school seniors have tried an illicit drug. Denying a majority of the nation's youth an education is not in America's best interest. Most teen-agers outgrow their youthful indiscretions involving drugs. An arrest and criminal record, [continues 156 words]
25 Meth Arrests In Brown County In 2002 A roomful of inquisitive teen-agers met this week to inquire into the use and abuse of methamphetamine. Kandis Schwab, former Aberdeen community coordinator for the Methamphetamine Awareness and Prevention Project of South Dakota, also known as MAPP-SD, addressed the crowd of more than 50 kids in the Brown County Courthouse annex basement. The event was Schwab's last duty as community coordinator for MAPP-SD. She stepped down from the position to take a job helping at risk youths at an Aberdeen treatment center. [continues 524 words]
PIERRE -(AP)- An effort to give students a second chance in sports and other extracurricular activities if caught with marijuana ran into an unexpected wrinkle Wednesday. A spokesman for Gov. Mike Rounds said he is strongly opposed to HB1079, which could cut the current one-year suspension to just 60 school days if students get drug assessments or treatment. School boards would get to decide if students deserve early reinstatement. Only those convicted of marijuana possession or use would be eligible; marijuana sales and other drugs would continue to bring automatic one-year suspensions. [continues 205 words]
Drug arrests and vehicle seizures were down at this year's motorcycle rally in Sturgis. The Highway Patrol reported 179 misdemeanor drug arrests and 32 felony drug arrests during the weeklong event. That compares with 307 misdemeanor and felony arrests last year and 363 two years ago. Drunken driving arrests increased by about 40 over last year, but the total - - 154 - was similar to two years ago. A dozen vehicles were seized for drug violations and one because of an altered serial number, the patrol said. In all, authorities issued 977 citations and 1,794 warnings. [end]
Trucker Had Been Pulled Over Near St. Onge For Log Book Check PIERRE - A random stop to check a trucker's log book, unexpectedly resulting in a drug arrest, was not illegal, the state Supreme Court ruled 3-2 Thursday. The decision means evidence found in the truck may be used against driver Scott Rechtenbach, who was stopped Dec. 26, 2000, near St. Onge by state trooper Brian Swets. Swets, a canine officer whose primary job is drug detection, decided that day to instead pull over truckers and make sure their commercial documents were in order. [continues 307 words]
Former School Workers' Sons Used Home PIERRE - Two former employees of the Sioux Falls School District were properly convicted of maintaining a house where drugs were used or sold, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled Thursday. Prosecutors presented sufficient evidence for the jury to find that Richard and Carolyn LaPlante knew their sons were using, keeping or selling drugs from the family's home, the high court said. Evidence about marijuana and guns seized from the house also was properly admitted in the couple's trial, the justices said in a unanimous decision. [continues 264 words]
SIOUX FALLS - Drug-sniffing dogs will not be allowed near students at Wagner while a lawsuit is pending in court, according to an agreement by both sides in the case. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the district for bringing a drug-sniffing dog into the school twice last spring. Graham Boyd, director of the ACLU drug policy litigation project, said the agreement will give parents and kids some relief as the suit continues in federal court. Twenty-two elementary and high school students and their families have joined the lawsuit. [continues 74 words]
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Noelle Bush, the governor's daughter who was accused of prescription drug fraud, has been admitted to a drug treatment program, her lawyer said. Bush, 24, a daughter of Gov. Jeb Bush and niece of President George W. Bush, will spend whatever time is needed in the treatment program before returning to Tallahassee to face the charge, attorney Peter Antonacci said Friday. She waived her right to a speedy trial and probably will be sent to drug court after her release from treatment, said Leon County State Attorney Willie Meggs. [continues 179 words]
A petition is currently circulating in the state to put the issue of whether growing industrial hemp should be legal onto the November 2002 ballot. As the absurdity of the current laws banning hemp become more and more apparent, this debate will arise more frequently until logic - and new laws - prevail.Before I explain myself and any of you accuse me of being a hippy, or worse, let me throw a few facts your way: While it is part of the same family as marijuana, industrial hemp usually contains less than 1 percent of the hallucinogen tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). There is no getting high off it, in other words. But because it does belong to the same family, under a federal law hemp cannot be grown commercially in the United States. [continues 629 words]
Expert On Club Drugs Provides Eye-Opening Facts Pacifiers, lollipops, candy necklaces, light wands. The list goes on. These are no longer merely innocent items. Nowadays they are drug paraphernalia. Trinka Porrata, an expert on club drugs, was a Los Angeles police officer for 25 years, about a third of which was in the narcotics unit. She was in Aberdeen Monday night to speak on the most popular club scene drugs and their effects. "It's easy for us to sit here and listen to someone from the West Coast talk about drugs and we think we don't have it here," said Mark McNeary of the Brown County state's attorney's office. "But it's here and we need to deal with it." [continues 627 words]
LIMA, Peru - The Central Intelligence Agency paid the Peruvian intelligence organization run by fallen spymaster Vladimiro Montesinos $1 million a year for 10 years to fight drug trafficking, despite evidence that Montesinos was also in business with Colombia's big drug cartels, Knight Ridder has learned. Montesinos, 56 and in jail near Lima on corruption charges, is now dragging the CIA into his legal battles, asking Peruvian court officials to interrogate two CIA officers as part of his defense against charges that he helped smuggle guns to guerrillas who allegedly provide protection to big drug cartels. [continues 432 words]
