Thank you to The Eagle for the Sunday editorial pointing out the dangerous folly of sending paramilitary units to do such routine police work as serving arrest warrants for non-violent charges. Thousands of SWAT raids are carried out every year. When innocent people are shot or killed by mistake the practice is scrutinized briefly. Few in-depth studies of the long term effects have been made. At the very least, routine use of SWAT raids cause the police to look at the general public as the enemy, not people they should protect and serve -- and the public to look on police as unhelpful and frightening. If Washington County Sheriff Sgt. Investigator Adam Sowders' tragic death serves a purpose, it will be to cause other sheriff's departments to reassess the way they do their jobs. Dallas [end]
There is no question that the events near Snook in the early morning hours of Dec. 19 were tragic. What is equally clear is that 31-year-old Burleson County Sheriff Sgt. Investigator Adam Sowders didn't have to die. There was no need for the "no-knock" search warrant that law enforcement officials served on Henry "Hank" Magee that terrible morning. Deputies were acting on a report from a jailed informant that Magee was growing marijuana plants inside his home off County Road 278. Further, the believed, Magee might have had possession of stolen weapons. [continues 522 words]
Though performance-enhancing drug scandals have hogged sports headlines for the past decade, administrators, athletic directors and college coaches have shifted their focus to street drugs. "We've talked with coaches, and they have a new worst nightmare," said Andrea Wickerham, vice president for the National Center for Drug Free Sport. "That is their pain almost on a daily basis." On Feb. 15, four TCU football players were charged with selling marijuana. After hearing of drug use on the team from a recruit, coach Gary Patterson called for a surprise drug test of the whole team on Feb. 1. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that five players failed the test. Another 11 players had trace amounts within the margin of error, and 86 players passed the test. Marijuana was the only drug detected. [continues 1967 words]
The war on drugs is a futile undertaking that is causing more harm than good, a speaker said at a drug forum in Bryan on Wednesday night. Russ Jones, a former police officer from San Jose, Calif., spoke before a small but influential crowd at First United Methodist Church and advocated decriminalizing drugs as a way to decrease crime and fight social problems in the United States. Only about 20 people attended the forum, to the chagrin of some of the attendees, but the group included Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk, District Attorney Bill Turner and Bryan Police Department Assistant Chiefs David Slanker and Wayland Rawls. The event was organized by former 272nd District Court Judge John Delaney. [continues 433 words]
WASHINGTON - Methamphetamine use is rare in most of the United States, not the raging epidemic described by politicians and the news media, says a study by an advocacy group. Meth is a dangerous drug but among the least commonly used, The Sentencing Project policy analyst Ryan King wrote in a report issued Wednesday. Rates of use have been stable since 1999, and meth use by teenagers has dropped, King said. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy did not immediately comment on the report. [end]
DETROIT - Larry, a 53-year-old heroin addict, has two cardinal rules: Never shoot up alone, and shoot up only one person at a time. If one overdoses, "you need someone there to bring you back," he said. Larry, who asked that his last name not be used, recited his rules after hearing that a mixture of heroin and a powerful painkiller has been killing users who believe they are taking heroin alone. Officials from Philadelphia to Chicago have reported deaths from fentanyl, which is considered 80 times more powerful than morphine. The Detroit area seems to be the hub of the problem, with more than 100 confirmed cases since last fall and as many as 41 possible deaths in the past eight days. Officials from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating, and Detroit community organizations are scrambling to get the word out to users. [continues 387 words]
A lifelong Robertson County resident believed responsible for one of the largest illegal drug operations that local investigators say they have ever busted could now face federal charges, an investigator with the District Attorney's Office said Friday. [Name redacted], 44, was arrested Wednesday - less than a week after investigators seized more than 1,000 "high-quality" marijuana plants, 22.6 pounds of dried marijuana and meth-cooking material at a rural property east of Hearne owned by his family (Eagle, May 3). [continues 405 words]
QUETTA, Pakistan - Ragged men with sickly yellowed faces tread through trash and wastewater to the junkie slum in Quetta's main drain - a pit of filth and disease where heroin from nearby Afghanistan sells like candy. They call it home, this scene from hell in the southwestern Pakistan city of Quetta. For a dollar they can smoke away their troubles. If they die, the pushers will pay other addicts to dump the bodies by the road. Tentacles of the booming narcotics trade reach from Afghanistan, 2 1/2 hours' drive away, into Quetta's back streets where the drug is smoked or injected, and into the pockets of corrupt officials and police. [continues 415 words]
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - The phone roused Terry Clark from sleep. "Flagstaff Police Department," a voice announced, asking to speak with Mr. Clark. Terry nudged Dave and handed over the receiver. "My son's truck?" she heard her husband say. "Gentry?" Gentry was the oldest of their three children. Had he been in a wreck? Terry crawled from bed and headed for the front door to see if her son's Toyota pickup was in the drive. She stepped out onto the porch, then stopped dead in her tracks. [continues 1225 words]
The Brazos Valley Narcotics Task Force may receive less funding next year because of budget cuts being made at the federal level, but officials say that won't stop what they do. Sheriff Chris Kirk said the task force normally receives federal funding through the Texas governor's office totaling more than $800,000. But there is talk that the amount could be slashed by up to 30 percent, he said. "[The governor's office has] made it clear that there is a possibility that we will see a reduction," Kirk said in a recent interview. "I am very hopeful that they will fund us at similar levels we have seen in the past." [continues 376 words]
Brazos Valley law enforcement agents gathered Tuesday to honor two of their peers for putting their lives on the line to fight drugs. Robert Wilson, a detective with the College Station Police Department, and Vince Angele, an officer with the Hearne Police Department, were presented with the Enrique Camarena Award during a luncheon hosted by the Brazos Valley Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse. The award honors the memory of Camarena, an agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration who was kidnapped, taken to Mexico and killed in 1986 while investigating a multibillion-dollar drug pipeline. [continues 347 words]
Bookmark: For Journey for Justice Protest news items: http://www.mapinc.org/journey.htm Cited: Journey for Justice: http://www.JourneyForJustice.org/ Common Sense for Drug Policy: http://www.csdp.org/ A handful of demonstrators from across the nation gathered Sunday afternoon for a vigil at the Federal Prison Camp in Bryan to protest the mass incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders. Kay Lee of Florida, founder of the group Journey for Justice, and others paced in a grassy area across from the prison in black-and-white striped prison costumes while passing out various marijuana literature. [continues 561 words]
