CANTON - At the conclusion of an otherwise calm meeting of the Canton Board of Aldermen, a law enforcement trio entered the meeting room Tuesday. The trio included Waynesville Police K9 Teddy, Haywood County Sheriff's Office K9 Rex and the Waynesville Police Department's new bomb-sniffing dog, Levi. The dogs, with official badges attached to their collars, strained at their leashes and yelped in anticipation upon entering the Colonial Theater annex, where the meeting was held. During the surprise visit, Teddy and Rex demonstrated their talent at sniffing out drugs. Teddy discovered a container of cocaine in a box marked "lost and found," and Rex found a sandwich bag full of marijuana hidden under a metal stand. [continues 382 words]
Haywood County school officials, law enforcement officers and K9 units from Haywood and surrounding counties conducted a scheduled lockdown at the three public high schools March 3. The brief search for drugs resulted in long-term suspensions of four students and one arrest. Three students at Pisgah High were suspended and a substance was detected at Tuscola High that later resulted in one student being suspended. A Pisgah student also was charged for possession of marijuana. Eleven K9 unit dogs searched the three campuses simultaneously and discovered marijuana or drug paraphernalia at two of the schools, said Associate Superintendent Bill Nolte. [continues 453 words]
It is very interesting that police services bordering Toronto are now detecting marijuana grow houses at record rates. The courts have allowed police in Durham and Peel regions -- who have helicopters equipped with F.L.I.R. (Forward Looking Infra Red) to utilize their equipment to identify places of interest with unusually high heat readings. I guess it won't be much longer before the grow houses will be the exclusive problem of the city of Toronto. Toronto city council doesn't seem interested in providing a police helicopter for their community. The cost to the community will be staggering. Paul Manning Whitby (One more reason to support a cop chopper for Toronto) [end]
President Clinton has delivered a $1.3 billion aid package to fight drugs in Colombia. The drug flow didn't stop when President George Bush made a similar trip 10 years ago. Colombian leaders say it won't stop this time either, that the drug flow from Colombia or elsewhere will persist as long as buyers exist and profit can be made, and that answers lie in the United States, not Colombia. If so, why is this administration giving a billion dollars worth of military hardware to a country that doesn't want it, for a purpose that won't work? Why is the administration providing this huge business bonanza to our munitions industry? P. Manning, Santa Barbara [end]
Sir - The profits from a cannabis-growing operation are going to end up in the hands of the Crown. Why is it that these profits are not being put back into the system to help those that have become addicted through these people's profit-making actions? There is a need for more rehab centres to cope with New Zealand's growing drug population. The queue for the methadone programme in Christchurch is six months, but in reality is longer. For any parent with a child waiting for treatment it is like a death sentence on them and everyone else that surrounds the child with the addiction. [continues 57 words]
