The U.S. Treasury Department, recognizing that crises honor no borders, has gone a long way toward helping its neighbor with a monumental problem.

The department announced it has banned Americans from conducting business with six Mexican companies that have served as fronts for a powerful drug cartel, according to investigations.

The firms include a dairy and day-care center involved in the operations of Ismael Zambada Garcia, a drug kingpin based in the northwestern state of Sinaloa, the Associated Press reported.

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Re: "Troopers seized record amount of drugs in '06," Friday news story.

Why is this news? Next year, they will seize an even larger amount. The following year, another record. This will continue until the U.S. abandons its ill-conceived war on drugs and starts treating drug use as a public health, not a criminal, issue.

Did it do any good? Did it cause enough of a supply shortage to drive up the price? Any impact? Not really. They wasted their time, effort and safety chasing the jack-a-lope of a drug-free America.

If you think the war on drugs will succeed, you do not understand how capitalism works or believe in a free society.

Lee Franke, Frisco

[end]

At first, the methamphetamine Kimberly Garner smoked kept her awake for five, six, sometimes seven days.

Eventually her body built a tolerance to the drug, and she added Ecstasy to her daily meth high. The meth made her teeth hurt, so she took Xanax to knock herself out.

She felt like a zombie.

"I couldn't remember my name," said Garner, 23, of Fort Worth. "My body couldn't function."

Garner was lucky: She survived a potentially lethal combination of drugs and is now in treatment. But the number of people dying from mixed-drug overdoses in Tarrant County is steadily rising, from 17 in 2004 to 41 in 2006, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.

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The Texas Legislature approved a $3 billion bond proposal to establish a Cancer Research and Prevention Institute, a laudable endeavor, but failed to enact two measures that would have improved Texans' health care while saving money.

SB 308, sponsored by Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, would have allowed local health authorities to set up programs that exchange used syringes for sterile ones. Such programs drastically reduce the spread of hepatitis, HIV and other blood-borne diseases. The cost of treating a single HIV case can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Millions of taxpayer dollars could have been saved.

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CORPUS CHRISTI -- It isn't difficult for King High School student Drew Crocker to avoid smoking and underage drinking. He knows that cigarettes contain carcinogens and that alcohol is considered a gateway drug.

The 17-year-old Junior ROTC officer said the decision to stay drug- and tobacco-free is also a matter of duty.

"I want to be a positive example," Drew said, adding that his role in ROTC motivates him to make responsible decisions.

Drew was one of three teens from the Corpus Christi Youth Advisory Council who met with more than 75 youth service providers and city leaders Friday at the Community Connections forum to discuss youth issues and what community leaders can do to help.

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Dallas: Ex-Wife Gets Jail For Fake Passport; Drug Testimony Cut

A federal judge sentenced a 37-year-old former Dallas police officer to two years' probation after he pleaded guilty to helping his former wife obtain a fraudulent passport.

U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade also sentenced Moraima Carrette Martinez, a native of Mexico who was in the U.S. illegally, to 20 months in prison during a joint hearing Wednesday with her former husband, Jose Luis Cabrera, who recently filed for divorce.

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MINERAL WELLS -- If you have to be behind bars, the "pre-parole transfer unit" here is about as good as it gets.

The 2,100 inmates wear street clothes instead of uniforms; live in air-conditioned dormitories instead of hot, cramped cells; and have access to telephones where they can make collect calls to friends and family, instead of relying on the U.S. Postal Service.

But tension has been building for months behind the razor wire.

That's because the Mineral Wells unit is a "pre-parole transfer facility" in name only -- a remnant of an ambitious program launched a quarter-century ago aimed at relieving prison overcrowding and reducing repeat offenders.

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Program Requires Intensive Counseling And Treatment Instead Of Long Probation Terms

The Williamson County DWI/Drug Court is run more like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting than a courtroom.

Offenders approach the judge as in a normal court proceeding, but instead of charges, a progress report is read.

The judge offers words of encouragement or disappointment.

"You've done very well this past week; have a piece of candy," Judge Tim Wright told one offender last week.

The man, who was in the court program because of a second Driving While Intoxicated offense, grabbed a piece of candy and almost skipped back to his seat.

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REGARDING WILLIAM MARTIN'S thoughtful April column "The Damage Done," needle exchanges have been proven to reduce the spread of HIV without increasing drug use. They also serve as a bridge to drug treatment for an especially hard-to-reach population. Drug users are not the only beneficiaries. U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimated in 2002 that 57 percent of AIDS cases among women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the U.S. were linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. In the interest of containing the HIV epidemic, let's hope the Texas Legislature acknowledges the drug war's tremendous collateral damage sooner rather than later.

Robert Sharpe

Common Sense For Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.

[end]

Early Releases, Other Steps May Show New Lockups Not Needed

AUSTIN - A bill that permits early release for certain prison inmates and gives those on parole a chance to shorten their terms passed the Senate on Sunday, but it may not make it to a House vote today before the Legislature adjourns. The bill, crafted by Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, and Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, aims to reduce prison populations and keep the state from having to build new lockups.

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CORPUS CHRISTI -- Philipe Rodriguez, 16, spent much of last year getting high.

On the days he made it to school, he would smoke marijuana before school, at lunch and after school, sometimes smoking as many as five times a day.

He gave up on most of his goals and turned to violent behavior. That landed him in juvenile detention, which led to his recovery and his current role as a mentor to kids struggling with some of the same issues he faced.

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Stiff Penalties Await Drug Dealers Who Add Flavor To Drugs

A package of childrens flavored drink mix is not usually considered drug paraphernalia. But a disturbing new trend by meth makers to ‘flavor the drug is creating more and more scenarios where police digging through the remnants of methamphetamine labs are finding powdered drink mixes among the anhyrdrous ammonia and other chemicals.

Its called ‘candy meth or ‘strawberry quick and it has been described as resembling rock candy or Pop Rocks. Law enforcement authorties say cooks are adding flavor to methamphetamine to make the drug appeal to children.

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Re: "Our drug war -- Question: Cheese -- a new heroin hybrid drug -- has received a lot of media attention lately. Do you think that the drug problem in our schools is underestimated or blown out of proportion by parents and other adults? If you think drugs are a bigger problem than adults realize, who do you think needs to do more in your community's fight against drugs?" Saturday Metro.

Tina Turnbow, I read where you want to "randomly drug test my kids." I have two teenage boys 15 and 16. I would never consider doing that to them. Why, you ask?

There are two things we have in our household: communication and trust. Children, especially teenagers, generally react very negatively to threats. By using the method you prescribe, you could be setting yourself up for a big rebellion.

McKinney

[end]

When a convoy of SUVs and vehicles carrying more than 50 gunmen descended on the small Mexican mining town of Cananea in northwestern Mexico last week, it must have seemed like something out of a post-apocalyptic "Road Warrior" movie in which law and order vanish.

But this was no fictional film; it was a brazen attack by a small army of drug cartel thugs who invaded the town of about 30,000, and killed five police officers and two residents. A posse of soldiers and police subsequently pursued the gunmen into the surrounding desert mountain country and killed 16, making the Cananea incident the bloodiest conflict of the law and order campaign being waged by Mexican President Felipe Calderon on the drug armies.

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AUSTIN -- A bill that aims to reduce the number of uninsured by helping low-income families pay for private health coverage through their employers was tentatively passed by the House today.

Public Health Chairman Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple, said 200,000 families could eventually receive the coverage through a trust fund. The state is seeking a federal waiver that could bring in $1 billion to set up the fund.

"We will be able to supply family coverage for the first time in Texas," said Delisi.

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By R.A. DYER Star-Telegram Staff Writer The Texas House voted to allow the state to create the first ever needle-exchange program for intravenous drug users -- but only as a pilot project around San Antonio. The provision was added to a broad Medicaid bill, Senate Bill 10, which was sponsored in the House by Rep. Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple.

Rep. Ruth McClendon, D-San Antonio, at first tried to add an amendment to the bill that would create a statewide needle-exchange program. But she limited her amendment to Bexar County, where San Antonio is, when it appeared that she did not have support in the House for the broader program.

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AUSTIN -- A bill creating a needle-exchange program for drug users appears dead this session.

House Public Health Chairwoman Dianne White Delisi, R-Temple, said Wednesday that she won't bring the Senate-passed bill to a vote.

"I have not been persuaded that the public health benefits outweigh the concerns of many members, myself included, of providing needles for those that are using illegal drugs," she said.

Texas is the only state in the country that does not allow a needle-exchange program for drug users.

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Texas Is the Only State Not to Allow Syringe Swaps

A Senate-approved proposal to allow syringe exchange programs in Texas appears to be dead in a House committee.

The bill seeks to reduce infections of diseases such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C by providing clean syringes to drug addicts in exchange for dirty ones. Texas is the only state in which needle exchange programs are not allowed, according to the bill's author, Sen. Bob. Deuell, R-Greenville.

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HENDERSON -- Questions of integrity surround the Rusk County Sheriff's Office as multiple investigations progress, leaving prosecutors to wonder if any past cases were compromised.

"Anytime you have questions of integrity surrounding officers, whose testimonies are key in a case, you have the potential for a problem," Rusk County District Attorney Michael Jimerson said.

He added that his staff is currently reviewing cases handled by three former sheriff's deputies under scrutiny for allegedly violating a suspect's rights.

Tyler FBI Supervisory Senior Resident Agent Pete Galbraith confirmed his agency's involvement in the case.

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A bill creating a needle exchange program for Texas drug users appears dead this legislative session because a leading House member said she won't bring the Senate-passed bill to a vote.

Texas is the only state in the country that does not allow a needle exchange program for drug users. The legislation would allow health departments to start needle programs.

Sen. Bob Deuell, a Greenville Republican and a family physician, said he introduced the Senate bill to save lives and money. He said he once believed providing sterile needles and syringes encourages drug addicts but said he changed his mind after viewing medical data.

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