If North Carolina and American citizens honestly want to "address the root problems contributing to prescription drug abuse" and hard drug addiction rates in the future (Editorial: Pitt fights overdose deaths, May 5, 2014) end cannabis (marijuana) prohibition. An important reason to end cannabis prohibition that doesn't get mentioned is because it increases hard-drug addiction rates. It puts citizens who choose to use the relatively safe plant into contact with people who often also sell hard drugs. Further, government claims heroin is no worse than cannabis and methamphetamine and cocaine is less harmful by insisting cannabis is a Schedule I substance alongside heroin, while methamphetamine and cocaine are only Schedule II substances. [continues 51 words]
Regarding your May 5 editorial commending the Pitt County Sheriff'=C2=80=C2 =99s Office for being the first law enforcement agency in North Carolina to equip its officers with the overdose prevention drug Narcan: Nasal administration of the Narcan reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. This harm-reduction approach to a growing prescription drug abuse problem will save lives. The drug war is part of the problem. Illegal drug users are reluctant to seek medical attention in the event of an overdose for fear of being charged with a crime. Attempting to save the life of a friend could result in a murder charge. Overzealous drug war enforcement results in easily preventable deaths. [continues 125 words]
The Pitt County Sheriff's Office is to be commended for leading North Carolina law enforcement agencies in becoming the first to equip its officers with a drug that can save the life of someone overdosing on opioids. Sheriff Neil Elks announced last week that his deputies will begin carrying Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of an overdose of several opioid painkillers. Greenville Police Chief Hassan Aden said his department will soon begin carrying the drug as well. The number of deaths from overdoses in the United States involving prescription opioids more than quadrupled between 1999 and 2010, according to an April 23 article in the New England Journal of Medicine. [continues 231 words]
Any unexpected death is a devastating blow, but losing a loved one to an accidental drug overdose carries a unique burden - stigma, whispers, shame and the loss of support from friends and neighbors. I lost my son Michael to a drug overdose in 2012. Michael was a vibrant, well educated, working professional. He was in recovery from substance abuse and proud of where he was in his life, but as with most people who struggle with drug addiction, he relapsed. My life has never been the same since. [continues 226 words]
The police operations in high crime areas as stated in the Sept. 2 Daily Reflector is a great effort in trying to reduce crime. However, until there are stricter rules in housing and the mentality of those who prey on others for their drug habits and financial needs have been changed, they will only leave one neighborhood and go to another to destroy. The majority of the people in those neighborhoods are decent, law-abiding citizens who want safety for their families, but there are always bad seeds who seem to germinate and spread their foul behavior. [continues 88 words]
I sit here today totally disabled. You ask why? I have a disease called Transverse Myelitis. It has left me with numbness and tingling in both legs, an awkward gait and the inability to stand for any length of time without additional pain. I currently take more medications than I can afford on disability income. I do not qualify for Medicaid. After my last visit with my neurologist at Duke, he mentioned that "pot" had shown promise as a way of helping with pain, stiffness and muscle spasms in my legs. I have not tried it because currently in North Carolina it is illegal. I do not drink -- never have, never will because of all of the damage it has done to families over the years. [continues 105 words]
A conviction and sentence of 6-8 months in jail brought to a close the trial of Michelle Pollard on Wednesday. The former lieutenant with the Pitt County Sheriff's Office was found guilty of obstructing justice and a willful failure to discharge her duties for tipping off a suspected drug dealer about a narcotics investigation. Superior Court Judge William R. Pittman said he intended the sentence to confirm the public trust in the conduct of all law officers, trust tarnished by the actions of their former colleague. Pollard's penalty should do that, and send a powerful message that all are subjected to the rule of law, especially those charged with its enforcement. [continues 307 words]
The trial and conviction of a former Pitt County sheriff's deputy this week shed light on how a drug investigation turned into an internal probe at the sheriff's office. Former Lt. Michelle Pollard, 40, was sentenced in Pitt County Superior Court to six to eight months in prison after being found guilty of obstruction of justice and willful failure to discharge her duties. The following timeline outlines events in order as presented by courtroom testimony. August 2005 The prosecution's chief witness against Pollard, Gina Wooten, bears a child with sheriff's deputy Shannon Stewart. Their relationship is short-lived, but they remain connected through the child. [continues 1015 words]
A former Pitt County sheriff's deputy was led from court in handcuffs Wednesday after she was found guilty on charges that she interfered with a drug investigation. Michelle Pollard was sentenced in Pitt County Superior Court to six to eight months in jail, beginning immediately, after a jury found her guilty of felony obstructing justice and a misdemeanor count of willful failure to discharge duties. The sentence was the maximum for those charges and a first-time offender. The former lieutenant cried quietly when the judge denied her bond during the appeal process. [continues 1223 words]
National mellowing on medical marijuana is a welcome sea change in attitude. On Oct. 19, the Justice Department issued a new medical marijuana policy, which states that patients who comply with state law should not face federal prosecution. Finally, an enlightened decision that respects suffering individuals as well as states' rights. These patients are not criminals and the Obama administration has made it clear that they shouldn't be treated as such. (Congressman Sam Farr's Truth in Trials Act would bring federal law in line with this understanding). [continues 145 words]
The medical efficacy of marijuana has been repeatedly established over the last 30 years with numerous reports and studies done by governmental, medical and scholarly organizations. Marijuana is a naturally occurring substance that is far safer than many of the legal alternatives, having fewer side effects, less addiction potential and no realistically achievable toxicity level. It is known to relieve the debilitating nausea, appetite loss and pain associated with the treatments given to HIV, cancer and Hepatitis C sufferers, thus enabling them to have increased nutrition, quality of life and the will to live and continue their treatment. While a doctor can prescribe cocaine and morphine, terminally ill patients who find marijuana helps them are forced to get their medication off the streets and risk incarceration. There are numerous medical organizations and national periodicals that publicly back the use of medical marijuana. Thirteen states have already made its use legal. The information is out there. Do your research, inform yourself. Please stop wasting our taxes sending sick people to jail. Alex Gunter Greenville [end]
The Pitt County Sheriff's Office investigated 46 cases of illicit prescription drug use in 2008. That only scratched the surface of a growing issue, Sheriff Mac Manning said. "That's one detective who is working what amounts to a case a week," Manning said. "And we know there is a much bigger problem." The problem is becoming so commonplace, Manning, with assistance from state Rep. Marian McLawhorn, D-Pitt, is pursuing legislation that would allow North Carolina's 100 sheriffs to access the Controlled Substances Reporting System database that is operated by the state's Department of Health and Human Services. [continues 681 words]
Recently the news has been full of reports of violence in Mexico and some border states, all related to the export of illicit drugs to the United States. As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton noted, this trade is directly related to our insatiable appetite for illicit drugs. Tom Teepen, in his March 28 column "Drug war surging," wrote of the need to move beyond the "war on drugs" strategies promoted that have been in favor for the last 30 years. Unfortunately in his list of options he completely avoids mentioning prevention. Drug use prevention programs have been seriously underfunded, receiving a small fraction of the resources devoted to the problem. Yet prevention is the most cost-effective strategy and when strongly promoted has marked effects. [continues 135 words]
Drug-related violence is rampant in countless regions of the United States. The recent surge in such violence in Texas and Arizona has pressured President Barack Obama to become engaged in systematic and diplomatic efforts to curtail the Mexican-U.S. drug trade. Per The New York Times, "the bloody drug war, which has caused 7,000 deaths in 16 months, has become the principal sore point between the countries." The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives maintains that 90 percent of the guns used by Mexican drug cartels originated in America. In fact, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder contemplated urging the reinstituting of the ban on the sale of assault rifles, often confiscated in drug raids. This position unequivocally would reignite a fight with the controversial National Rifle Association which traditionally misconstrues the Second Amendment as providing for an individual right to bear arms. The Times further asserts that, "an estimated 90 percent of the illegal drugs that enter the United States pass through Mexico." When drug-greedy Americans crave narcotics, the demand creates new markets and strengthens existing ones. Saying no to drugs is as ridiculous as Nancy Reagan looking toward the stars for guidance. [continues 114 words]
The Pitt County Board of Education's support for random drug testing of student athletes has potential for creating more awareness and accountability. But the program could meet cost and sustainability challenges at a time when adequately funding public schools is especially difficult. The drug-testing measure follows a pilot program that started last year at D. H. Conley High School. Principal Michael Lutz has called the program a valuable deterrent that helps students fight off peer pressure. The school board's policy requires that a minimum of one round of random testing be conducted for participants in each school sport with at least 10 percent of athletes being tested. The cost of the program must be borne by the school or student and parent organizations. [continues 242 words]
Administrators at D.H. Conley High School want to extend the school's drug-testing policy through the remainder of the school year. School Principal Michael Lutz told the Pitt County Board of Education on Monday night that the pilot program which randomly tests athletes during their sport's season has been successful and run smoothly since its inception. The school became the first in the district to have a testing policy when it initiated the program in February. "We think it has been a valuable deterrent for our students and helps give them one more method to say no and fight off the peer pressure that is out there," Lutz said. [continues 307 words]
Have you ever thought about what you might do if you were the president? Every now and then, I find myself saying to someone, "If I were the president, I'd ... (do this or that)." And while, admittedly, I really don't want the job -- thanks, just the same - -- I do have a few pet initiatives I'd love to champion for the American people. And somewhere, on that list of must-dos (near the top), as your president, I'd be calling for the legalization of marijuana ... or cannabis, please. [continues 205 words]
On July 2 last summer, incoming D.H. Conley principal Michael Lutz and new athletic director Rob Maloney had a scheduled meeting. It was a chance for the two to get acquainted. It also got serious in a hurry. Lutz remembers plainly the first thing that the Vikings' coach wanted to discuss. "He walked in and had this idea from the start," Lutz said. "He wanted to have a drug testing policy that could be used to help the kids. It was the first thing we talked about." [continues 893 words]
Pitt County received mixed results from a recent survey of high school and middle school students about their use of tobacco, alcohol and narcotics. While progress was made deterring children from smoking, students admitted a greater willingness to engage in other risky and potentially harmful behavior. That fact is cause for concern, but also for optimism. The declining smoking rate indicates that children are listening to messages of deterrence and behaving accordingly. By expanding those efforts to explain the ill effects of alcohol and drugs, Pitt County might be able to make strides in protecting kids from the danger of substance abuse. [continues 371 words]
Obviously David Barret knows little about the consumption of cannabis. If his goal is (as it seems from his Oct. 12 letter, "Fruity cigars help fuel city's drug woes") to eliminate the means available for smoking pot, he better ban carrots, apples, soda in cans, cigarettes (yep, we can empty the tobacco out of those, too), aluminum foil, brass automotive fittings, wine bottles, film canisters and aquarium pump tubing. Of course, then the darn potheads will just cook with their herb. So, Barrett should also seek to ban brownie mix, Tollhouse Cookie ingredients and stuffing mix. Barrett will be a busy man, because the means for the consumption of cannabis are everywhere. Creative minds and idle hands are the pot smoker's workshop. Allan Erickson Drug Policy Forum of Oregon Eugene, Ore. [end]
