WAXHAW, N.C. - The family of a 13-year-old student kicked out of school for handing a friend a bag of oregano is considering a lawsuit if he's not immediately allowed back to school. At the end of January, the eighth-grader at Cuthbertson Middle School handed a classmate a baggie of oregano and told him it was marijuana. The school immediately handed down a 10-day suspension. When that suspension ended the school added an additional 45-day suspension to be served at a special alternative school. [continues 465 words]
Is the "poor, white man's crack" poised for a comeback? When a new law took effect in 2006 restricting sales of pseudoephedrine, the common cold medicine used to make methamphetamine, meth lab seizures declined in North Carolina by about 40 percent. Those statistics haven't changed much since. "We are holding steady at this point," said state Attorney General Roy Cooper, who described the methamphetamine problem as an "epidemic" in early 2004. "Obviously North Carolina continues to grow in population, and any lab is one meth lab too many." [continues 1394 words]
When a seizure strikes, Joshua Cook typically hits the ground. His hands clench spastically into fists. His torso contorts. His body shakes uncontrollably for several minutes. The condition first struck the 25-year-old National Guard veteran while he was serving in Iraq three years ago. After receiving a medical discharge, he was prescribed a slew of drugs that either made him sick, caused headaches or simply didn't prevent his convulsions. Then he tried a notorious herbal remedy that's more widely known as a recreational escape. [continues 1079 words]
Prescription painkillers made her retch. Muscle relaxants ravaged her liver. So Jean Marlowe put down her pills and rolled a joint. "I tried marijuana, and in five minutes, my stomach stopped shaking for the first time in five years," said Marlowe, who has used marijuana as medicine since a doctor recommended the drug in 1990. "It really does work." The founder and executive director of the North Carolina Cannabis Patients' Network, Marlowe is asking state lawmakers to pass a bill legalizing medical marijuana use. The bill is currently in the House of Representatives' Health Committee, and two of Gaston County's three House delegates who serve on the committee have indicated they would likely vote against it. [continues 1303 words]
In December 2001, one doctor in one obscure little Cleveland County town hit the big time, publicity-wise, when the federal Drug Enforcement Administration focused its "war on drugs" lens on his tiny office in Grover. Dr. Joseph Talley had long been the subject of controversy, the target of inquiries from state medical board members and one of the most sought-after prescribers of pain-killing narcotics not only in the region, but across the country. Talley said his following flocked to him for help they could get nowhere else. Skeptical authorities said they came to get powerful drugs, such as Oxycontin, he dispensed too freely. [continues 364 words]
Gastonia's homeless say they see the dying from unintentional drug overdoses up close. "Out here on the street, it's very easy to give up on life," said 43-year-old Dorothy Olsby. "People have gave up. People feel nobody's going to reach out to help them." Olsby and her companion, Harry Hollis, 38, say they've been together for about three months, living on the streets all that time. Sometimes they can find a car or abandoned building to sleep in. Other times they revert to an area known by both police and the homeless as "The Hole," an open field that separates East Davis Avenue from the railroad tracks, just off Franklin Boulevard. Dozens of beer, whiskey and wine bottles litter the makeshift shelter, just down the block from the Greyhound bus station. [continues 280 words]
Gaston County ranked near the top in the number and rate of deaths from unintentional drug overdoses, according to a new state study. Gaston had the third largest number of accidental drug-related deaths from 1997 to 2001. Sixty people in Gaston died of unintentional overdoses during those five years. That's a rate of 6.36, based on number of such deaths per 100,000 population. Gaston ranked fifth in its rate, behind counties with much smaller populations. The Injury and Violence Prevention Unit of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services conducted the study. [continues 527 words]
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - In Nevada, they love gambling and tolerate prostitution. Now they are talking about legalizing pot. A measure on the ballot Nov. 5 would make Nevada the first state to allow adults to possess marijuana - up to 3 ounces, enough for maybe 100 joints. People over 21 would be allowed to smoke it in their homes but not in cars or public places. Pot would be sold in state-licensed smoke shops and taxed like cigarettes. "This initiative will allow the police to spend more time going after murderers, rapists and other violent criminals," said Billy Rogers, leader of the group that is pushing the measure. [continues 485 words]
You can understand the impulse to want to eliminate red tape and get the job done. But a New York Times story detailing a closer-than-ever working relationship between the U.S. military and the FBI in the effort to hunt down suspected al-Qaida operatives in Pakistan raises some red flags. The traditionally independent military and civilian law enforcement agencies are cooperating in Pakistan even more than in the drug war, where the lines of authority previously have been blurred. The experiment in cooperation in Pakistan is seen as a possible model for similar anti-terrorist activities in the Philippines, Yemen and elsewhere. [continues 128 words]
GASTONIA - The state taketh away and the state giveth. At a time when the state budget crunch has led to cutting judicial programs and laying off court personnel, Gaston County has a new prosecutor who'll specialize in drug cases. District Attorney Mike Lands said Gaston received a $77,569 grant from the Governor's Crime Commission. "Our goals will be to increase the timely prosecution of drug cases," Lands said. "We want to concentrate and locate drug offenders who could be considered habitual felons. We want to identify first-time offenders and steer them toward punishment with treatment." [continues 156 words]
Editor's note: The writer is program officer for the Drug Policy Alliance. This is in response to editorial "Not exactly a revolution" (May 31). The Federal Bureau of Investigation's long-overdue shift in priorities may not be a revolution, but at least the FBI acknowledges that international terrorism poses a far greater societal threat than consensual vices like drug use. While the FBI is trying to make amends, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration is seeking to cash in on America's tragedy. Our government's latest anti-drug campaign seeks to link the war on drugs to the war on terrorism. The drug-terror ad campaign first premiered amidst beer commercials during the Super Bowl. Like the modern-day drug war, alcohol prohibition once financed organized crime. In the case of countries like Afghanistan and Colombia, drug prohibition also finances terrorism. With drug war budgets at risk during a time of shifting national priorities, government bureaucrats are cynically using the drug war's collateral damage to justify more of the same. [continues 143 words]
GASTONIA - A person who slides into the backseat of a police cruiser usually finds the trip leads to one place: jail. But for the community policing unit of the Gastonia Police Department this spring, their patrol cruisers provided a helping hand to the down-and-out. The unit targeted downtown in response to increased crime there last fall. Merchants were concerned about break-ins, trash and vagrants hanging around Main Avenue. The unit intensified patrols downtown and noticed homeless people contributed to much of the activity downtown. [continues 448 words]
The reorganization of the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced this week by FBI Director Robert Mueller hardly lives up to the promise "to fundamentally change the way we do business." Other than shifting 400 agents from drug law enforcement to anti-terrorism units, the reorganization plans amount to superficial patchwork - and just might make the problems posed by the uncontrolled recent growth of dozens of federal law enforcement agencies worse. Consider the implications of the recent flap over memos and requests from FBI field offices in Phoenix and Minneapolis. The Phoenix memo got lost in the bureaucratic paperwork shuffle; hundreds of similar memos hit headquarters every day. The Minneapolis request to issue a warrant to search Zacarias Moussaoui's computer fell victim to bureaucratic timidity and PC fears of being accused of "ethnic profiling." [continues 163 words]
I talked to some friends of mine and guess what? They said that most of the doctors that they went to had signs hanging in their offices that said, in so many words, that if you are a patient of Dr. Talley's, they would not take you on. Is this fair? What if the people that went to Dr. Talley are going through withdrawals? I cannot believe a doctor would not take anyone that has been to Dr. Talley. Not everyone is a drug addict that went to Dr. Talley. Why are these high and mighty doctors doing people like that? It is a shame that you cannot go to a doctor for help. [continues 157 words]
RALEIGH - Dr. Joseph Talley will not be able to practice medicine in North Carolina for at least 12 months. The N.C. Medical Board on Thursday suspended the Grover family doctor's license following an emotion-packed afternoon of testimony by doctors and some of Talley's patients. The ruling means Talley's license will be suspended for at least 12 months. After that time, he can apply to the Medical Board for reinstatement, said Dale Breaden, a spokesman for the Medical Board. [continues 734 words]
The Drug Enforcement Administration returned 30 cartons of patient records to Cleveland County doctor Joseph Talley on Wednesday. "My waiting room is full of boxes," Talley said. "This should help some of my patients get in to see doctors now. We will make copies of records for patients. All they have to do is come by to get them." The federal agency confiscated Talley's patient records on Jan. 28 when serving him with a show cause order that accuses him of overprescribing narcotics and allegedly links him to 23 patient deaths. Talley said the DEA took about 4,000 records. [continues 244 words]
Take a look around your local high school. That cheerleader, the head of the chorus, or that member of the debate club: Isn't it time the kids in after-school activities were drug tested? If this approach sounds crazy, then you should be worried about a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. An Oklahoma school district wants to test all students in competitive extracurricular groups in the name of stamping out drugs. Never mind that such activities attract students who are far less likely to be dopers. Don't dwell on the dehumanizing effects of urine testing of youngsters. Forget the mad-rush mentality to rein in a problem that may not exist. [continues 170 words]
GASTONIA -- Dementrica Doster needs one thing before she can let her 3-year-old daughter play outside her Crescent Lane apartment. "Get all the drug dealers and bad people away from here," said Doster, 18. The apartment buildings occupy a broken up parking lot off Crescent Lane. Boarded up windows greet visitors. Doster may soon get some help. The Crescent Lane area, along with four other West Gastonia neighborhoods, have been named a "Weed and Seed" site by the U.S. Department of Justice. [continues 438 words]
RALEIGH - The N.C. Medical Board ruled Saturday that Dr. Joseph Talley deviated from the acceptable standard of care for a number of his patients. Dr. Walter J. Pories, president of the board, announced the board found the Grover doctor routinely failed to perform adequate physical examinations, failed to perform follow-up physical examinations, failed to inquire during each patient's visit whether the patient received medications from other doctors or other sources, and failed to adequately monitor patient compliance with his prescription drug regimen. [continues 528 words]
RALEIGH - Experts on the treatment of pain spent much of Friday telling the N.C. Medical Board how they felt about the type of care Dr. Joseph Talley provided his patients. Dr. Richard L. Rauck of Winston-Salem, who is the state board's expert witness, told the board he felt Talley's care did not meet acceptable state standards. Talley's expert witness, Dr. Straton Hill of Houston, disagreed. He said Talley had adequate information to make judgments when it came to providing treatment regimens for his patients. [continues 360 words]
