Methamphetamine labs, community policing and crowding at the Boone County Jail were among the top issues discussed by the two candidates for Boone County Sheriff at a forum Monday night. While both candidates have similar concerns about these topics, they differed about the extent of change needed in the sheriff's department. Democrat Dwayne Carey, a captain in the sheriff's department who has been endorsed by outgoing Sheriff Ted Boehm, said that the department has performed well and that he doesn't want to make major changes. [continues 447 words]
Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign on Monday unveiled a nationwide plan to fight methamphetamine use and production, which has plagued Missouri since at least 2001, when the state became the national leader in labs seized. The plan, announced by Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, in a nationwide conference call with reporters, calls for $30 million per year in additional spending on law enforcement, education, lab clean-up and measures to prevent common methamphetamine ingredients from falling into the hands of potential "cooks." [continues 205 words]
Proposed Ordinances Will Now Go Before The Public In The Nov. 2 Election. The City Council voted against two proposed ordinances Monday - one regarding medical marijuana and the other lowering penalties for those possessing small amounts of marijuana - but decided unanimously to send the initiatives to a special election on Nov. 2. The vote came after petitions were filed by the Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education. The two petitions were certified by City Clerk Sheela Amin in mid-July. The council was split with a 3-3 vote on whether to dismiss charges against people caught with marijuana if they receive approval for use from their doctor. Mayor Darwin Hindman was not in attendance at Monday's meeting. [continues 591 words]
But A Green Energy Petition Needs More Than 100 Signatures By Sunday. Two initiatives to reduce punishments for misdemeanor marijuana possession took another step toward becoming law last week while a third initiative dealing with the purchase of "green" energy took a step back. The two marijuana initiatives were certified by City Clerk Sheela Amin, but the energy initiative was 138 signatures short. However, it still has a chance to go before the Columbia City Council. Amin said petitioners had 10 days from the time they were informed of the shortage to collect the needed amount of signatures. The deadline is Sunday. [continues 471 words]
Two initiatives seeking to change the way Columbia deals with those who possess small amounts of marijuana were filed Monday with City Clerk Sheela Amin. Members of the Columbia Alliance for Patients and Education collected nearly 5,000 signatures on each of two petitions, though they needed only 2,276 apiece. The members now must wait up to 10 days while Amin tries to verify whether enough of its signatures are valid. In the meantime, they will continue to gather signatures just in case. [continues 418 words]
A Columbia Police Study Finds Evidence Of A Racial Gap. Blacks in Columbia are more than twice as likely to be searched during a traffic stop than whites, according to data compiled by Columbia police and reported to the state attorney general. In 2003, Columbia police conducted 1,777 searches during traffic stops. Whites were searched less than 9 percent of the time; blacks were searched just under 24 percent. Yet, the percentage of total searches in which contraband was found was slightly higher among whites. [continues 814 words]
Some See Problems With The Disparity Of Numbers In Police Stops And Arrests In Columbia. [Sidebar] Police statistics on racial profiling Columbia Police Department: Compared with whites, blacks are 142 percent more likely to be stopped. Compared with whites, blacks are 183 percent more likely to be searched in a traffic stop.Compared with whites, Hispanics are 98 percent more likely to be searched. When compared with whites, blacks are 178 percent more likely to be arrested in a traffic stop.When compared with whites, Hispanics are 26 percent more likely to be arrested. Statewide : Compared with whites, blacks are 40 percent more likely to be stopped. Compared with whites, blacks are 80 percent more likely to be searched in a traffic stop.Compared with whites, Hispanics are 99 percent more likely to be searched. When compared with whites, blacks are 77 percent more likely to be arrested in a traffic stop.When compared with whites, Hispanics are 82 percent more likely to be arrested in a traffic stop. Source: Missouri Attorney General's Office] [continues 541 words]
First Ward Residents Suspect Racial Profiling By Police. The search warrant is a frequently deployed weapon in the Columbia Police Department's war on drugs. Since January 2003, officers have searched 120 residences using a tool that, according to one police commander, is designed to target people who sell narcotics. Yet police rarely find enough evidence during those searches to make the case for drug dealing. Court records say that in 2003, police searched 84 residences and found evidence of drug distribution in 12 of them; six of those cases were eventually reduced to possession charges. Through this April, police have exercised 36 search warrants and have netted seven distribution charges. [continues 1043 words]
NORML is petitioning to get it on the November ballot. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws is back at it - trying to get a new version of the previously defeated Proposition 1 on the November ballot. Proposition 1, which was defeated last April, asked that marijuana be legalized for medical purposes, that fines be reduced to $25 for the possession of 35 grams or less and that those cases be referred to the municipal prosecuting attorney. The new version of the proposition is split into two separate initiatives. [continues 370 words]
Governor Says Toxins From Meth Plants Have Been Removed Safely At A Lower Cost. KANSAS CITY- Missouri's new system of disposing of waste from methamphetamine labs has saved the state millions of dollars and reduced the chances of toxic chemicals from meth production causing environmental problems, Gov. Bob Holden said Wednesday. The Clandestine Drug Lab Collection Station Program, set up by the Department of Public Safety, is available to any public agency in Missouri. Its 20 specially designed facilities, at locations around the state, are stocked with equipment and supplies ranging from chemical test kits to protective clothing. [continues 364 words]
Sponsors say that they want to close a "loophole" in current drug laws. Missourians under the influence of drugs could be arrested for being high if a proposed House bill is passed. Reps. Brian Baker, R-Belton, and Therese Sander, R-Moberly, proposed House Bill No. 983, which would make it a Class A misdemeanor to be under the influence of a controlled substance. Current law prohibits only the possession, purchase, distribution or manufacturing of a controlled substance. Rep. THERESE SANDER, R-Moberly Baker said drug laws contain a "loophole" that prohibits police from charging someone with a drug violation without physical evidence. [continues 392 words]
A House Bill Would Place Medical Drug Use On A State Ballot. JEFFERSON CITY - A bill that would legalize marijuana for medical uses has resurfaced this legislative session after being killed last year. The House Health Care Policy Committee heard testimony Wednesday from people both in favor of and against the bill. After the hearing, bill sponsor Rep. Vicki Walker, D-Kansas City, said she is much more hopeful this year after last year's contentious hearing. According to the bill, the use of marijuana would be restricted to patients suffering from cancer, glaucoma, HIV and AIDS. Walker suggested to the committee that multiple sclerosis be included in that list. [continues 343 words]
The Abandoned Items Were First Thought To Be Part Of A Meth Lab What police and fire investigators said might be the makings of a methamphetamine laboratory inside a Sexton Avenue house were nothing more than old welding equipment, chemistry textbooks and radioactive warning stickers, according to an MU student who rented the house last year. Around 10 a.m. Tuesday morning, police and firefighters arrived at a vacant house at 707 W. Sexton Ave. after two maintenance workers reported finding suspicious materials that could be used for radioactive explosives inside the house. [continues 358 words]
Some Attorneys Say The Columbia Police Are Violating Civil Rights During Narcotics Investigations. "No one should ever open his door to the police." Dan Viets Criminal Defense Attorney. Columbia police don't always need a warrant to enter someone's home. Sometimes, all they need to do is knock. Police call this tactic a "knock-and-talk" investigation, and officers use it to make contact with people they believe are involved in illegal drug activity. According to reports from the narcotics unit, the number of these investigations conducted between 2002 and 2003 doubled from 11 to 22. [continues 935 words]
Jail Overcrowding Creates Costly Problems For Boone County Because the Boone County Jail has faced a steady increase in the number of inmates, it has had to place some inmates in private facilities. In the late 1990s, Boone County law enforcement officials, faced with the rising cost of housing inmates at out-of-county facilities, discussed building a new jail. The problem became acute in 1998, when the county spent more than $650,000 to incarcerate inmates in other jails. By the end of the decade, the average daily population at the Boone County Jail had stabilized at about 200 inmates. Talk of building a new jail waned, and instead the work-release section of the jail was renovated to accommodate more inmates. [continues 1086 words]
Jack Cole will speak at 7 p.m. today in Room 5 of Hulston Hall at the MU School of Law. For details on LEAP, go to www.leap.cc A former undercover narcotics agent thinks U.S. authorities aren't using the right tactics to fight the war on drugs. "This is not a war on drugs - it's a war on people," said Jack Cole, who spent 26 years with the New Jersey State Police and 12 years as an undercover officer. He calls the law enforcement effort a "dismal failure" and is spreading that message across the country. [continues 316 words]
Gov. Bob Holden Launched An Initiative To Stem The Drug's Production And Use Although the 320 seventh-graders scheduled to attend Gov. Bob Holden's speech Tuesday were at home enjoying a snow day, the governor still spoke firmly about a new statewide initiative on methamphetamine education, prevention and treatment. Addressing a small crowd of law enforcement officers and state officials gathered at Lewis and Clark Middle School in Jefferson City, Gov. Holden emphasized the widespread dangers associated with Missouri's methamphetamine problem, including addiction, violent behavior and the environmental hazards related to meth production. [continues 196 words]
Making methamphetamine is much harder now than it was a year ago. As Columbia stores come into compliance with a new state law restricting sales of a key meth ingredient, cookers of the illicit drug are no longer able to easily stockpile the supplies they need. Hy-Vee is the latest store to limit customer access to over-the-counter cold medicines containing pseudoephedrine, one of the main ingredients in meth. Pseudoephedrine is a decongestant found in Sudafed tablets, Dimetapp Extentabs, Drixoral 12-Hour Cold Tablets and dozens of other cold, allergy and sinus remedies. Tablets or capsules containing 30 milligrams or more of pseudoephedrine are now located behind the Hy-Vee pharmacy counter. [continues 564 words]
Two Friends Who Began, Battled and Beat a Meth Addiction Together Now Are Facing the Daunting Task of Staying Clean. Teenage girlfriends share lots of things: clothes, makeup, secrets. Leslie Roettgen and Stacey Norris shared alcohol and drugs. They grew up together in Marshall, a farming community off the Missouri River about an hour's drive west of Columbia. They were 12 when they started drinking alcohol and smoking pot together while their mothers got drunk at a local bar. Norris would ask Roettgen to spend the night, and she'd end up staying for weeks at a time. Sometimes Roettgen's twin sister would come along. It was a way for Roettgen to put distance between herself and a stepfather she says was abusive. [continues 3779 words]
When Leslie Roettgen graduated from residential drug rehab in September - her seventh try at treatment - she had a plan. She would move to Columbia, putting distance between herself and her hometown of Marshall, an hour to the west, and between the meth cooks and users she hung with there. She would buy a car, find a nice little house to rent and have one of her daughters move up to be with her. Never mind that she didn't have any money. She would open a savings account as soon as she got a paycheck or two from Steak 'n' Shake - her first job in years. [continues 2178 words]
