In an effort to stem the tide of teens committing crimes, Kane County has started the state's fourth juvenile drug court. The alternative to incarceration is similar to programs in Cook and Will counties and the city of Peoria. So far, eight of the 15 slots in the pilot program have been filled by teens ranging in age from 14 to 17. The teens agree to undergo random drug tests several times a week, intensive counseling and job training in exchange for avoiding jail time. [continues 421 words]
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children born to mothers who used cocaine heavily during pregnancy do not seem to have lower IQ scores than their peers, although they may have problems with specific skills, according to a report released Tuesday. Placing these so-called "crack babies" in foster care or adoptive homes, however, seems to compensate for some of those problems, the study findings suggest. During the cocaine epidemic in the US in the late 1980s and early 1990s, many experts predicted that children exposed to cocaine in the womb would suffer lasting developmental impairment. [continues 441 words]
Legislation Would Stiffen Penalties For Those Convicted Of Offenses Associated With Drug [ SBI agents found chemicals used to make methamphetamine in and around this house in Deep Gap that burned in January 2003. Journal File Photo] On a Sunday night in January 2003, the Deep Gap Volunteer Fire Department responded to the report of a fire in its corner of Watauga County. Darien South, a firefighter in the department, hasn't been the same since. His eyesight is impaired, he has problems with short-term memory, and he has lost half of his lung capacity. [continues 521 words]
RALEIGH - Makers of methamphetamine would spend more time in prison and face stiffer penalties when children are endangered under a bill that a Senate judiciary committee approved Tuesday. Production of the illicit drug has increased in recent years, especially in the western part of the state. Attorney General Roy Cooper and others in law enforcement have pushed for tougher penalties for those who make it, saying punishment remains minimal. Under existing law, conviction for manufacturing methamphetamine is on par with growing a single marijuana plant, said Sheriff Mark Shook of Watauga County, where meth labs are particularly abundant. [continues 520 words]
SANFORD - A drug dog is now on duty at Lee County High School. Fresh off a three-month training course, Buvi, an 18-month-old Belgian Malinois, began sniffing for pills, marijuana and cocaine in cars and lockers at the school May 1. He has learned to track missing students and may eventually be able to look for weapons as well, said his handler, school resource officer David Prevatte. While many school officers use dogs occasionally, Buvi's permanent assignment in the school system is unusual, said William Lassiter, school safety specialist for the N.C. Department of Justice. He trains school resource officers across the state and said he doesn't know of any other such arrangement. [continues 641 words]
Thousands With Chronic Pain Receive Inadequate Treatment, Despite New Drugs And Technology. We Need To Take Another Look At How We Think About It. Pain sure has a big future. The question is: Can we give it less of one? In the United States, which has (so we're told) "the world's greatest health-care system," we're not all that good at managing pain. This, one of the quietest scandals in the Western world, cannot moan its name. Thousands with chronic, intractable pain receive inadequate treatment. That includes 40 percent of those with moderate to severe pain, 40 percent of all cancer patients, and 75 percent of surgical patients. That includes the 26 million people between 20 and 64 with chronic back pain, and the one in six of us who suffers from arthritis. Add burn victims, trauma patients, all those for whom healing hurts. [continues 1470 words]
In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Department of Homeland Security has nearly doubled the staff at the Port of Blaine. Marijuana smugglers, however, still are finding ways to sneak "B.C. Bud" across the border into Washington, said Mark Rech, resident agent in charge at the Drug Enforcement Administration office in Blaine. "(B.C. Bud) is being smuggled down from B.C. to every major city along I-5," said Chris, a Bellingham resident and marijuana user who requested anonymity for legal reasons. "The big smugglers bring pounds and pounds of it to larger cities like Seattle and Tacoma, and then it gets distributed to smaller cities like Bellingham." [continues 879 words]
