Community Health Gives Counseling, Medical Aid To Young Substance Users When Victoria Barnhill saw the dilated pupils in her daughter's eyes one night last summer, she knew the moment of truth had arrived. For months, Barnhill had been trying to get 14-year-old Brittany Burns to face up to her use of drugs and alcohol. On this night, Brittany confessed: She had sneaked off to a friend's house and taken numerous cold pills to "get a buzz." Another friend had downed even more -- 15 pills -- and then became incoherent. [continues 1004 words]
Medicinal marijuana is illegal in Ohio, but some still use it to ease nausea, pain. For one 37-year-old Akron man who is HIV-positive, a daily regimen of 22 pills can be tough to swallow. The pills sap his appetite and often make him feel like vomiting, he says. But he has found an effective -- and illegal -- antidote that works wonders. The man, who asked not to be identified, smokes a marijuana joint about once a day -- roughly $50 worth per week -- to ease his nausea and keep his appetite strong. [continues 1149 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With cocaine use waning, authorities waged the war on drugs this year with strategies tailored to the regional battlegrounds: marijuana in the Appalachian states, methamphetamine in the Rocky Mountains, cocaine in South Florida. ``There is no longer any one drug that consumes America as cocaine did in the 1980s,'' said Barry McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. ``We need to be ready to defend against emerging threats of a wide variety by region, as well as increasingly sophisticated changes in the operations of drug traffickers,'' he said. [continues 401 words]
Medicinal marijuana is illegal in Ohio, but some still use it to ease nausea, pain. For one 37-year-old Akron man who is HIV-positive, a daily regimen of 22 pills can be tough to swallow. The pills sap his appetite and often make him feel like vomiting, he says. But he has found an effective -- and illegal -- antidote that works wonders. The man, who asked not to be identified, smokes a marijuana joint about once a day -- roughly $50 worth per week -- to ease his nausea and keep his appetite strong. [continues 1171 words]
Bad-Luck Passenger Convicted In Medina County Leaving a disabled vehicle on the highway is a sure way to get the attention of a state trooper. And that attention cost 21-year-old Cathlean Robinson of Cleveland 10 years in prison yesterday. Robinson was a passenger in a van that ran out of gas on Interstate 71 in Harrisville Township in southwestern Medina County. She was charged with possession of crack cocaine after a State Highway Patrol trooper discovered 122 grams of the drug in her purse. [continues 346 words]
Police Need Specific Reason To Stop, Search Drivers WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court called a halt yesterday to narcotics roadblocks, ruling that police may not routinely stop all motorists in the hope of finding a few drug criminals. In a 6-3 opinion, the court stressed that the Fourth Amendment forbids police from searching individuals without a specific reason to believe that they did something wrong. While police have broad authority to stop motorists for traffic violations, they do not have the general authority to stop cars ``to detect evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing,'' wrote Justice Sandra Day O'Connor for the court. [continues 456 words]
CLEVELAND (AP) -- An appeals court ruling against a police search could give a drug suspect a chance to escape a life prison term. Prosecutors on Monday awaited a decision on whether to appeal the ruling that would allow Walter Lewis, 32, of Cleveland, to get a new trial without facing as evidence the discovery of crack cocaine worth more than $100,000. Lewis was arrested in 1996 and, as a three-time offender, got a mandatory life sentence on a federal drug conviction after 1 pound of cocaine was found in his bedroom. [continues 271 words]
Justices to hear administration's bid to prevent group from providing pot to the seriously ill WASHINGTON: The Supreme Court entered the debate over medical marijuana yesterday, agreeing to decide whether the drug can be provided to patients out of ``medical necessity'' even though federal law makes its distribution a crime. The justices said they will hear the Clinton administration's effort to bar a California group from providing the drug to seriously ill patients for pain and nausea relief. A lower court decision allowing the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to distribute the drug ``threatens the government's ability to enforce the federal drug laws,'' government lawyers said. [continues 400 words]
LIMA, Ohio (AP) -- Drug charges will not be brought against a Beaverdam man who was found to have marijuana in his possession when a sheriff's deputy entered his home by mistake. An Allen County deputy was responding to an emergency call at another address on Sept. 22 when he mistakenly entered the home of Kevin Fleming, 46. While there, he found marijuana and rolling papers. Fleming, who was asleep at the time, was awakened by the deputy at gunpoint. The deputy said he saw an empty holster near Fleming and didn't know where the gun was. [continues 139 words]
COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- A member of a prominent Gallatin County family pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of distributing marijuana and methamphetamines. Aundis Davis, 65, of Glencoe, whose brother is former Gallatin County Judge-Executive Clarence Davis, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on two counts of marijuana distribution, two counts of methamphetamine distribution and one count of intimidation of a witness. He pleaded not guilty Friday at his arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Gregory Wehrman of Covington. [continues 117 words]
Police Enter House Day After Owner Dies CANTON: When Canton police raided a northeast section home to search for drugs Oct. 30, they said they had no idea the homeowner had died the night before. Members of Janet Coney's extended family doubt the claim and believe they are owed a formal apology -- and possibly more -- for the officers' actions, which, the family charges, included pointing guns at children and adults, and shouting at them without immediately identifying themselves. Police officials said yesterday that the family has yet to file an Internal Affairs complaint. One officer said he was told that a complaint is being prepared by the family and Canton attorney Steven Lo Dico. Lo Dico didn't return calls for comment. [continues 488 words]
Rent subsidy is denied after son's drug arrest three miles from home Erma George believes that people should be held responsible for stopping illegal activities in their homes. But she draws the line at being able to control the illegal actions of a family member when they do not occur near her home and she is not aware of them. That issue of "family obligations" is the focus of a controversy in which the 48-year-old George has found herself embroiled. [continues 680 words]
Split Decision On Worker Who Admitted Smoking Marijuana. Police Captain's Suspension Reduced In separate split decisions, the Akron Civil Service Commission upheld the city's dismissal of a firefighter who admitted to smoking marijuana and reduced the suspension of a police captain accused of threatening another officer. In both cases, the commission was divided 2-1, with Commissioner James A. Frost arguing for greater leniency for firefighter Jerry Washington and police Capt. Lynn Callahan. Washington, 39, had been a firefighter since 1985. During a random drug test July 27, he tested positive for marijuana, and admitted smoking the drug the previous evening. Fire Chief Charles Gladman fired him rather than referring him to rehabilitation. [continues 259 words]
Police Air-Support Unit Sees Bright Green Drugs Growing Near A School Most law enforcement agencies would think the marijuana growing season is over, but two Stark County sheriff's deputies have the proof that it isn't in Stark, Summit and Portage counties. On a routine maintenance run with their OH6A Cayuse reconnaissance helicopter, Red Horse Aviation partners Herman Valentine and Joe Gild found growing areas near Atwater, Ravenna, Barberton, Norton, Magnolia and Plain Township yesterday. Red Horse is a law enforcement air-support unit based at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. [continues 229 words]
If the CenTac board wanted an independent audit ignoring its critics, the Southern Police Institute has delivered CenTac, Summit County's drug and organized crime task force, has done good work in spite of itself. That's the conclusion of a team from the Southern Police Institute in Louisville, Ky. CenTac cops who have been around, know what they're doing, care about the work and teach newcomers the ropes have mostly offset poor leadership from the CenTac Board of Control. [continues 582 words]
Appeals to 2 officers' firings end differently; race enters question Kenneth Clark and Elmore Williams Jr. were both 19-year veterans of the Akron Police Department. Both tested positive for marijuana after routine drug tests. Both were subject to the same "zero tolerance" drug policy and were fired. Clark, however, was reinstated by Akron's Civil Service Commission last year. But after six years of appeals, a Summit County Common Pleas judge ruled this week that Williams was not entitled to get his job back. [continues 296 words]
What happened to the drug loitering law oversight? News from the streets: Akron police are not failing to make use of the drug loitering law after all. The City Council provided this tool a year ago to combat drug dealing. Police have made four arrests, according to James Laria, clerk of the Akron Municipal Court. Moreover, says Akron Police Chief Michael Matulavich, his officers are not shrinking from applying a law with provisions to which some object. They have used the law as a portal to investigate and charge drug dealers with crimes more serious than loitering, Matulavich has explained in response to council members' criticism. [continues 155 words]
Long-Term Effects Preventable Eight-month-old Solomon gurgled and crawled, supremely unaware that luck may be with him. The Akron infant was exposed to cocaine in the womb, but his future may be much brighter than was once feared for cocaine babies. Gone are the dire predictions of just 10 years ago that they would be doomed to lives of mental retardation and developmental delays, burdening schools, the health care system and society. While drug exposure is hardly a prescription for a healthy baby, many children seem to be emerging from the trauma with few or no problems. Many of the early studies extrapolated from small numbers of very sick babies, experts say, and gave misleading information. [continues 905 words]
Police Have Yet To Make An Arrest Under Year-old Law. Akron Council Members Want To Know Why One year ago this week, the Akron City Council passed the so-called drug loitering law, a get-tough measure that supporters said would give police an important tool to get drug dealers off the streets. A year later, Akron police have yet to make a single arrest under the law, and City Council members want to know why. "It is a kind of a showdown situation, where City Council has passed it and they haven't enforced it," said Council President Marco Sommerville. "It's been a year. It hasn't been enforced. Why hasn't it been enforced?" [continues 1122 words]
The Drug War Expands In The Wrong Direction Andres Pastrana understood the skittishness among many in Washington about investing more than $1 billion to fight drugs and guerrillas in Colombia. Memories of the entanglements in Nicaragua and El Salvador lingered. Wouldn't Colombia, fractured, corrupt and violent, promise worse? The Colombian president set about doing what any determined suitor would in the nation's capital. He launched a lobbying campaign. Dozens of visits to Washington. Trips for representatives and senators to his own country. In the end, he prevailed. The Senate and then the House approved a $1.3 billion package. President Clinton joined the cause long ago. [continues 353 words]
