I would rather see cannabis made legal than all the problems with heroin. Wake up, people. Marijuana is not killing our kids. Heroin is. Deb Asbury Lafayette [end]
Despite the efforts of area educators, law enforcement and medical personnel, the death toll from drugs continues to climb in Tippecanoe County as area residents succumb in increasing numbers to the suffocating grip of addiction. Accidental drug overdoses killed more people here last year than in any of the previous 20 years, according to the findings of a report compiled by Deputy Coroner Matt Wietbrock. And Coroner Donna Avolt said a preliminary review of this year's deaths suggests the region is on pace to tie 2013's unprecedented high. [continues 1063 words]
It's not uncommon for state Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, to field phone calls and emails from worried parents and grandparents whose children or grandchildren were arrested for possessing marijuana. Their concerns are almost always in the same vein: " 'Senator, my kid made a bad choice. ... He's going to get a felony out of this. It's going to ruin his life forever' for, relatively speaking, a small amount of marijuana," Alting recalled Tuesday. " 'It's going to limit him. ... It's a black eye when he's looking for a job. It's a felony that won't go away.' " [continues 543 words]
When a first-time offender is caught in West Lafayette with a small amount of marijuana, he is given a citation and a court date. Though technically arrested, rarely is the person booked into the Tippecanoe County Jail, police Chief Jason Dombkowski said. Last year, in Tippecanoe County courts, marijuana accounted for only 4 percent of higher-felony drug cases -- 8 out of 156, Prosecutor Pat Harrington noted. "There's this urban street myth that people in the Department of Correction, the only thing they've done is smoked a joint," Harrington said. "It's more fiction than reality. [continues 927 words]
A Lafayette man convicted of cooking methamphetamine in a north-end garage was sentenced Thursday to 62 years in prison. Jurors found [name1 redacted], 33, guilty of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, a Class A felony, and information of illegal drug lab, a Class C felony, following a two-day trial last month in Tippecanoe Superior Court 1. Judge Randy Williams then found [name1 redacted] guilty of being a habitual offender -- a punishment enhancement that accounted for significant number of years to Thursday's sentence. [continues 166 words]
The number of Hoosiers who died from drug overdoses increased 147 percent from 1999 to 2004, a trend driven by the growing abuse of prescription medications, according to a new study. The problem, experts say, has shown no sign of abating and is expected to worsen. "This is the new major drug epidemic for the next generation," said Eric R. Wright, director of the IU Center for Health Policy and one of the authors of the study "Fatal Drug Overdoses: A Growing Concern in Indiana." [continues 1078 words]
Tippecanoe County sheriff's deputy Jon Lendermon and his new dog, Marco, have been on dozens of calls since the Dutch shepherd joined the force in mid-October. Marco, trained in narcotics detection, tracking and apprehension, has been made available to the Lafayette and West Lafayette police departments and even to help search for a robbery suspect in Fountain County. "We've now got a bomb dog and four other canines," Lendermon said of the sheriff's department. "That makes one of us available 24/7." [continues 489 words]
FRANKFORT -- The anti-drug program in this city is off to a steady start. Frankfort Police Sgt. Wes Hickson estimates that parents have bought about 200 of the alcohol and marijuana tests that the department began selling in October. The tests, which are available for $2 each, let parents know in minutes if their son or daughter used alcohol the night before or marijuana days earlier. They are part of the Law Enforcement Against Drugs, or LEAD, program and are intended to give parents a tool to fight substance abuse in their own families without calling the police. [continues 173 words]
Cathy Streifel is board president of SURF Center, a Lafayette-based group that helps people with deadly addictions. She battled alcohol addiction for 20 years and knows the difficulties involved in seeking help and overcoming reliance on a mind-altering substance, be it alcohol or drugs. "Once a person becomes addicted, willpower and rationality go out the window," Streifel said. Signs that a person needs help include sneakiness, lying and overall changes in behavior and appearance. High Costs Julia Chester, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University who currently is conducting research on alcohol and substance abuse, said the cost of addiction to society is about $360 billion each year in medical and other expenses. [continues 99 words]
The increased evidence of heroin's use today is just the latest surge in popularity of a drug that has been around for more than a century. "As one drug goes out of fashion, another one takes its place," said Darren Dunham, assistant director at Home with Hope rehabilitation facility in Lafayette. Heroin, discovered in 1895, is a derivative of morphine, itself a derivative of opium. Opium, which is prepared from the seed of the opium poppy plant, is a narcotic that has been used for several thousand years. [continues 200 words]
It's doubled since October as the drug of choice for addicts in recovery at Home with Hope, a rehabilitation facility in Lafayette. Narcotics investigators say the highly addictive opiate is quickly replacing methamphetamine among hard-core users. And more cases of teens and parents abusing this substance are trickling in to juvenile court. Call it smack, dope or brown sugar -- heroin's availability is on the rise in Tippecanoe County. "It's extremely troubling. ... It's the most physically addictive drug known to man," said Darren Dunham, assistant director of Home with Hope. "If a person is without it, they're compelled to secure more, or they get physically ill." [continues 578 words]
MONTICELLO -- The Twin Lakes School Board may make eligible for drug testing hundreds of students between grades seven and 12. If an idea discussed Tuesday is implemented, the school corporation would enter certain students into a pool for random testing. Included would be students who play sports, participate in clubs, drive to school or take drivers' education courses. A community forum on the issue will be held at the school in late February, but no vote on the matter has been scheduled. [continues 299 words]
REYNOLDS -- Halfway through this year, Indiana State Police have investigated or dismantled roughly the same number of methamphetamine labs in White County as they did in all of 2005. But the dramatic rise isn't being attributed to an influx of users or because of easier access to the highly addictive drug's ingredients. "We're really more aggressive than we have been in the past -- we're not waiting until we pull someone over or we get a call that a meth lab exploded," said Trooper Jerry Holeman, the Lafayette district's full-time meth suppression specialist. "And with our meth hot line, people are calling in when they smell strange odors in the middle of the night." [continues 755 words]
About 18 percent of juvenile probationers who attend Tippecanoe County schools failed random drug screens administered by the probation office on April 26. It was the second year in a row that Tippecanoe County probation officers have visited schools to administer drug screen tests shortly after April 20, designated by some as "420 Day." Since the 1970s, 420 has been used as a code word by marijuana connoisseurs for their drug of choice. "This is going to continue. ... It's a nationally recognized thing," Joshua Vander Plaats, a juvenile probation officer who organized the local mass screenings, said of 420 Day. [continues 247 words]
Experts Say Careful Observation, Documentation Can Help Police Nab Offenders Linda Damrow wishes she had a dollar for every time she hears concerned citizens say they don't want to report drug activity in their neighborhoods for fear the drug dealers will "burn my house down." "The only houses I've seen burned down so far have been meth houses," longtime Montgomery County Sheriff Dennis Rice responded. The exchange took place Wednesday during the last of four brown bag forums on methamphetamine hosted by the Mental Health Association. About 40 people listened as Damrow and her husband, Don, talked about efforts to rid their Crawfordsville neighborhood of a "drug house" where children lived and methamphetamine was manufactured about 3 1/2 years ago. [continues 321 words]
Methamphetamine addicts act like no other type of drug addicts George Frantz has encountered in more than 20 years as a drug investigator in western Indiana. And after hearing a pharmacology professor's explanation Wednesday of how meth works on the brain, Frantz has a better understanding of why. "The meth addict is just a totally different person than what I've dealt with," said Frantz, of the Bi-State Drug Task Force. "They're totally consumed." That's because methamphetamine "hijacks the normal reward pathways of the brain," according to Eric Barker, associate professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Purdue University. [continues 367 words]
Starting fluid and antifreeze, purchased in July. Drain cleaner, batteries and coffee filters, bought in bulk. Indiana State Police want retailers and store employees to know that cold medicine and anhydrous ammonia aren't the only ingredients needed to manufacture methamphetamine. "They know cold medicine is kept behind the counter. But some don't understand why they can't keep rock salt or starting fluid on the shelves," said Trooper Larry Mote with the Lafayette post. "Who would buy HEET in the middle of summer? It's a winter product." [continues 505 words]
Both runners and walkers paused for a moment of silence in memory of a residence hall assistant who was shot and killed nine years ago before they began the race held in his honor. Jay Severson, a graduate student and Wiley Hall counselor, was killed by another student in 1996 after he found drugs in the student's room. "Jay was a Christian man, and he was out to help every resident," Wiley Hall residential life manager Denton Sederquist, who organized the event, said. Sederquist was on staff at Wiley when Severson was, and knew Severson well. "He'd give you the shirt off his back." [continues 301 words]
Tax support for faith-based social work is back on the table, as President Bush dangled a promise that religious groups would be allowed to compete for money from a proposed $600 million, three-year drug treatment program. The president has been an outspoken advocate for transferring more of the social work burden to the religious sector whenever possible. So the extended hand at Tuesday's State of the Union address, as controversial as it will be, was no surprise. Without specifics of the Bush plan beyond a couple of lines in Tuesday's speech, civil libertarians and church-sponsored social service agencies still were circumspect for their own reasons. [continues 417 words]
CRAWFORDSVILLE -- Joshua P. Kelsey was a poly-substance addict who had let drugs take control of his life when 14 months ago he caused a fatal automobile crash that killed his younger brother and one of his closest friends. Kelsey, now 19, was driving a minivan on U.S. 136 in eastern Montgomery County with Justin M. Kelsey, 16, and Kaleb C. Wharff, 18, as passengers when he was distracted and veered off the road. He lost control, hit a culvert and the van landed on its side, ejecting the two passengers. [continues 731 words]
