The Local Lower Court Judge Said Police Overstepped Their Authority In the Way They Questioned a Woman During a Traffic Stop. JAMES CITY -- The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a local circuit court judge erred last October when he decided to bar prosecutors from using seized drug paraphernalia as evidence in a case against a James City woman. Dorothy Vinetta Briggs, 49, was charged with possession of a controlled substance after James City police stopped her in May for driving the wrong way on a road near Magruder Avenue and Pocahontas Trial. [continues 494 words]
Peter Christ Tells William And Mary Students That "Prohibition Created Al Capone." WILLIAMSBURG -- The federal government's decades-long attempt to prohibit the use and sales of illegal drugs only fuels more crime and societal problems, a retired police captain told students at the College of William and Mary on Thursday night. Peter Christ is a member of Massachusetts-based Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, which advocates the decriminalization of drugs. He addressed about 30 students at Millington Hall, and many were members of a group called Students for a Sensible Drug Policy. [continues 263 words]
The Area's Methadone Treatment Center Has Seen More People Hooked On Prescribed Pain Medicine. Lee is a Peninsula woman in her 40s who once thought Vicodin would help her handle her pain - until she found out she just couldn't get enough of the drug. She's one of an increasing number of local residents now taking methadone for addiction to prescription pain medicine. She requested that her last name not be used to protect her privacy. About three years ago, Lee's marriage was falling apart. Her father was dying of cancer, and she had to face his suffering daily while she helped care for him. [continues 1065 words]
HAMPTON -- Most members of Hampton's first drug court class - who were jailed a week ago because of missed meetings, failed drug tests and forged notes - won't graduate on schedule. The drug court participants were released Tuesday, a day after Circuit Court Judge Christopher Hutton decided to punish most of the 17 classmates who appeared before him in court. Hutton said they'd have to start a phase of the jail alternative treatment program all over again. For many, that will mean spending an additional three to 10 weeks in the program depending on when they entered drug court, said Natale Ward, the program's administrator. [continues 333 words]
Members Sent To Hampton Jail To Reinforce Rules HAMPTON -- The entire first class of the Hampton Drug Court program found themselves behind bars this week on probation violation charges - ranging from failing drug tests to missing meetings. The 17 men and women are part of Hampton's first group to go through the jail alternative drug treatment and support program targeting nonviolent substance abusers. Program administrators decided the group should go to jail Wednesday in an effort to demonstrate that drug court must be taken seriously. [continues 376 words]
Clinic Says Reasons for Decline Are Unclear A year ago, the Hampton Roads Clinic and Support Services Center was overwhelmed by the demand from former heroin addicts wanting methadone treatment, the synthetic opiate that helps former addicts deal with the severe pain and nausea of heroin withdrawal. About 150 people were regular clients at the clinic - the only methadone treatment center on the Peninsula - and more than 50 people were on a waiting list. Since then, the demand for methadone has gone down - dropping 30 percent since 2002, said Stephanie Savage, clinical director at the clinic. [continues 448 words]
Teresa Fletcher leads a rather normal middle-class life. The 52-year-old Hampton woman is married, owns a home and is raising her teen granddaughter. She's disabled and can't work full time. Yet she takes classes at Thomas Nelson Community College and likes to write during her spare time. Life for Fletcher hasn't always been so comfortable. She spent eight years in prison after committing burglaries and scams to support an addiction to cocaine and heroin. When released from prison in 1988, Fletcher found that a Newport News program for ex-offenders, Virginia Cares, was there to help her get a job and put her life back together. [continues 1906 words]
Shortfall Could Shortchange Ex-Offenders Programs aimed at reducing handgun violence and helping ex-offenders and drug addicts are once again struggling to survive. The programs - Pre-release and Post Incarceration Services, Virginia Exile and Drug Court - faced possibly being eliminated last February when Gov. Mark R. Warner requested that agencies cut their budgets because of a $3.8 billion shortfall. Much of the money was restored after program administrators lobbied state legislators to come up with additional funding. But now, with Warner's recent announcement of more cuts to make up for at least a $1.5 billion shortfall, the three programs that all serve Hampton Roads residents are again fighting to stay alive. Warner cut nearly $860 million last month to make up for the shortfall. When he meets legislators in December, he's expected to announce another round of cuts that could reach $1 billion. [continues 750 words]
HAMPTON -- The home-based hallucinogenic drug lab federal agents raided Wednesday on Thames Drive doesn't seem to be a sign of a widespread problem, a federal drug agent said Thursday. "It's extremely unusual," said Dennis Bolum, Resident Agent-in-Charge for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Norfolk. DEA agents raided a lab in a garage attached to a house that was being actively used to make MDMA, also known as Ecstasy. They charged 21-year-old Daniel Frank Warfel with attempting to manufacture MDMA, and they seized glassware, plastic tubes and instructional manuals for making Ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine. [continues 285 words]
Money Was Seized During Area Arrests NORFOLK -- A federal prosecutor distributed $187,000 seized in a Newport News drug raid to several area law-enforcement agencies Wednesday. "It's poetic justice to take what the bad guys made and use it for law enforcement," said Paul J. McNulty, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. McNulty discussed the benefits of fighting crime with money seized from convicted drug dealers Wednesday afternoon at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Norfolk. [continues 237 words]
HAMPTON -- Police seized about 200 pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $200,000, from the home of an Edgemont Drive man Friday, after he was arrested on drug charges. Cpl. Jimmie Wideman, a police spokesman, said police found the large amount of marijuana after the man -- Robert Ronald Mayhew, 55 -- was found with 6 pounds of marijuana in his pickup truck during a traffic stop. Wideman said Mayhew was initially stopped for making an improper lane change near Big Bethel Road. Mayhew was charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. [continues 97 words]
