WHEELING - An HIV epidemic in southeastern Indiana is forcing the governor of that state to introduce a needle exchange program, something one local advocate believes could help decrease rates of the disease everywhere. The hike in HIV cases in Indiana is being linked to intravenous drug users sharing needles. Locally, residents across the Ohio Valley are battling heroin addiction, and their neighbors are often left cleaning up the mess - including picking up used needles left behind on playgrounds, in parks and on roadways. [continues 502 words]
Illegal drugs have become a deadly merry-go-round in West Virginia. Just when the authorities believe they are making a dent in one form of abuse, another one comes around to take its place. Sometimes the cycle repeats itself. Police and prosecutors seem to be having some success in cracking down on methamphetamine labs, synthetic drugs and prescription pill abuse. But some say that has resulted in more trafficking in heroin. Price seems to be a factor. In part because arrests of prescription painkiller pushers have made the law of supply and demand kick in, the pills have become more expensive in some places. Heroin actually is cheaper. [continues 311 words]
Already this year, 160 methamphetamine "labs" have been found in Harrison County, Sheriff Joe Myers reported this week. That amounts to more than one illegal drug manufacturing operation for every 100 people who live in the county. And for every meth lab law enforcement officers find, there may be four to 10 others escaping detection, Myers added. As a description of a problem that ought to worry the public, the word "epidemic" probably is overused. Not in this situation. Illegal drugs have become an epidemic in Ohio. [continues 290 words]
Illegal drugs from the murderous Mexican cartels already can be found throughout the United States. But now, authorities across the nation say, the cartels have sent their operatives to several U.S. cities, including Columbus. That is not acceptable. Home-grown drug gangs are bad enough, using violence frequently to settle their squabbles. But the Mexican cartels are on another, much more brutal level of violence. U.S. authorities, including those in Ohio, should make it a top priority to send the cartel operatives packing. The illegal drug crisis is bad enough without their presence. [end]
WHEELING - Drug dogs soon may be walking the halls of Ohio County Schools - but not before the school system looks into the matter extensively. During a work session held by the Ohio County Board of Education on Monday, Superintendent Lawrence Miller announced the school system is in the information-gathering stage of developing a policy that would permit drug dogs to search schools. "I thought today's meeting was an excellent opportunity for colleagues, board members and the general public to interact on this very important subject," Miller said. "One of our roles as educators is to do everything we possibly can to protect our children on a daily basis. I will work through the policy, and then we will be ready to move and that will be with cooperation with the justice system as well as local law enforcement." [continues 510 words]
GLEN DALE -- Methamphetamine labs are easy to set up and can be portable, which leads to many being located in neighborhoods, said Douglas Sturm, an expert on those who make the drug. The chemicals used to make the product also can be extremely toxic and explosive, which puts the surrounding community in danger, he added. Sturm, an officer with the Parkersburg Violent Crime and Narcotics Task Force, presented a program at John Marshall High School on the dangers of methamphetamine labs not only to the people involved with the production of the drugs but also for the members of the community who happen to be close to the lab's location. [continues 363 words]
