Our local drug dealers would appear to have much in common with Middle East terrorists and cockroaches. No matter how many you get rid of, more and more will take their places. It can get downright frustrating, and we often feel we are fighting a losing battle. But we can't stop fighting, because if we do, the cockroaches, human and otherwise, will win. The largest drug bust in area history, "Operation Crack Down," culminating on May 5, 2000, was a wonderful example of excellent police work and cooperation by the Oneonta Police Department, state police, Delaware County Drug Task Force, Otsego County Sheriff's Department, U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and the state National Guard Counter Drug Task Force. [continues 356 words]
I am writing a response to the article on Thursday, Jan. 17, "Sources: Morris boys smoked pot." The article was shocking due to the fact that marijuana was present during a sporting event. Many rules and regulations have been made for drugs being present with students. The majority of students are found with drugs or alcohol outside of school but not during school hours or sporting events. Drugs and alcohol are distributed in every school, including mine, and I don't think it's fair for the whole team to suffer and not participate in a game. There needs to be a stricter system to make students more aware of the consequences. Principals should be allowed to search students more often to prevent marijuana and other drugs from entering schools. Heather Meeker, Unadilla [end]
Harry Hayslip says the Otsego County Drug Treatment Court helped him turn his life around. You don't hear many ex-cons offer similar praise for prisons. The court, operating in Otsego County for the first time this year, offers non-violent substance abusers a chance to rehabilitate their lives rather than do time. It is a strict program that includes regular drug tests, court visits, probation checks and the stipulation that enrollees must be responsible members of the community - which means holding a steady job and staying out of trouble. [continues 352 words]
The Supreme Court decided last month that a federal law classifying marijuana as illegal includes no exception for medical uses. Such a shortsighted decision is like writing a prescription for Acapulco Gold for people who likely never would have wanted the herb for their ailments. One state after another has been clearing the way for medical marijuana, including Nevada just this week. In addition, voters in Arizona, Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon and Washington have approved ballot initiatives allowing it. In Hawaii, the legislature passed a similar law and the governor signed it last year. [continues 687 words]
ONEONTA - The role of drug treatment courts was the focus of this year's LEAF Council on Alcoholism and Addiction's annual gathering at the Holiday Inn in Oneonta on Friday. Experts spoke about many aspects of the nation's drug problems during the gathering, and workshops on drug treatment, drug testing and community supervision were held for those who work with users of illegal drugs. During the program, it was announced that Leo J. Giovagnoli, 40, of Oneonta has been appointed coordinator of Otsego County's Drug Treatment Court. [continues 737 words]
Two drug-related news stories in Tuesday's Daily Star illustrated that to temper justice with mercy is a good idea as long as that "temper" doesn't get out of hand. That it didn't in Delaware County is to the immense credit of Judge Robert Estes, who just became a hero to me. A 26-year-old woman from Oneonta had gotten busted for selling cocaine to a police informant at a Quickway in Davenport. The woman, Melody L. Johnson, had a partner in the crime -- one Clarence W. Vanier, 31, also from Oneonta. Apparently District Attorney Richard Northrup wanted to see Vanier in prison more than he did Johnson, so he cut a deal. [continues 525 words]
It is interesting that the most commonly used drugs in this country aren't thought of as drugs at all. Take the stimulant caffeine, for example. We take it in coffee, tea, soda and many use it from childhood to grave. It's mostly a safe, friendly drug and we use a lot of it. Nicotine is a very popular drug. About a third of those who use it will have their lives shortened as a result. It is probably without equal in its ability to entice its user into a lifetime of service. [continues 213 words]
A former Tucson police officer sentenced to life in prison without parole on federal drug charges received the maximum sentence, in part, because he betrayed his badge, a prosecutor said yesterday. Richard Wayne Parker, 45, also was fined $16 million Wednesday in U.S. District in Los Angeles for engineering the theft of 650 pounds of cocaine from a California evidence locker. ``He received an aggravated sentence because the court found he had abused the public trust,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Beverly Reid O'Connell said yesterday. [continues 499 words]
Lemon fought off a numerically superior enemy with machine gun and rifle fire from his defensive position until both weapons malfunctioned. He then used hand grenades to fend off the intensified enemy attack launched in his direction. After eliminating all but one of the enemy soldiers in the vicinity, he pursued and disposed of the remaining soldier in hand-to-hand combat. Despite wounds from an exploding grenade, Lemon regained his position, carried a more seriously wounded comrade to an aid station, and, as he returned, was wounded a second time by enemy fire. Disregarding his injuries, he moved to his position through a hail of small arms and grenade fire and was wounded a third time, but his efforts drove the enemy from the position. [continues 138 words]
On April 1, 1970, Specialist 4th Class Peter C. Lemon was serving as an assistant machine gunner with the U.S. Army at Fire Support Base Illingworth in Tay Ninh Province, South Vietnam, when the base came under heavy enemy attack. Lemon fought off a numerically superior enemy with machine gun and rifle fire from his defensive position until both weapons malfunctioned. He then used hand grenades to fend off the intensified enemy attack launched in his direction. After eliminating all but one of the enemy soldiers in the vicinity, he pursued and disposed of the remaining soldier in hand-to-hand combat. [continues 216 words]
The recent study by the Institute of Medicine, the IOM, concluded the following: Marijuana does not have a high potential for abuse and has accepted medical use in the United States, Among recreational drugs, marijuana has a lower potential for abuse than alcohol or tobacco, Pot is not addictive and does not serve as a gateway to hard drug abuse and, Marijuana is especially useful in alleviating a wide range of medical conditions, especially nausea in chemotherapy patients, the wasting syndrome of AIDS patients and muscle spasms for people with multiple sclerosis. [continues 59 words]
Experts generally agree the U.S. drug-addicted population peaked around 1900. After this time, drug and alcohol use declined steadily across all segments of the population. This was due to the increased awareness of the dangers of drug addiction. Following the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, the largest decrease in narcotics use to ever occur happened. When people discovered on the new ingredient labels that some of their favorite nostrums were laced with addictive drugs, their use declined by a third. The typical addict at the time was a middle-aged, middle-class, southern white woman hooked on laudanum. The image of a drug user as vampire had yet to be created. [continues 199 words]
