Senate OKs Plan To Curb 'Doctor-Shopping' For Drugs Legislative supporters of a computerized system to help detect abusers of prescription drugs invoked the memory of Dr. Stephen Gleason, a prominent physician and former top aide to Gov. Tom Vilsack who committed suicide Saturday. The proposed prescription-drug monitoring program is aimed at curbing "doctor-shopping," whereby people get multiple doctors to write prescriptions for the same drugs. "We know of some celebrities that have been doing it, and they were lucky that someone helped them. We know of a friend and a colleague today who wasn't as lucky . . . who took his own life because he wasn't able to deal with his addictions," said Sen. Jack Hatch, a Des Moines Democrat, in urging fellow senators to support House File 722. [continues 235 words]
A system to detect abusers of prescription drugs makes the cut. Catfish and sex offenders had something in common Thursday in the Iowa Legislature -- bills on both went belly-up. In the House, lawmakers cast aside a resolution designating the channel catfish as the state fish of Iowa. They also threw overboard a proposed law setting minimum 25-year prison sentences for certain first-time child sex offenders. Supporters of the anti-crime bill, approved by the Senate despite criticism from county prosecutors, expect it to be revived in some form as lawmakers continue to work on sex offender issues. [continues 665 words]
Vilsack Says More Should Be Done To Improve The Chances Of Minorities In The State. Gov. Tom Vilsack said Monday he was disturbed by the findings of a state task force that studied reasons for the disproportionate imprisonment of African-Americans in Iowa. Vilsack said Iowa must do a better job of improving educational opportunities and living conditions for minorities. "Raising children is the job of parents, not government. But Iowa must do more to help at-risk youth succeed," he said. "If we're going to break this vicious cycle, it's got to start with the young people in our neighborhoods and cities." [continues 520 words]
Republicans In A Senate Committee Vote To Order Hospitalization For Addicts Who Are Pregnant Pregnant women who are hooked on drugs pose a serious health threat to their unborn children. Iowa lawmakers debated a controversial proposal Wednesday to deal with the problem. A Senate committee approved, 7-6, an expansion of the state's civil commitment laws so that hospitalization can be ordered for a pregnant woman whose drug addiction is deemed likely to injure her fetus. "It's one more tool to protect the unborn child," said Sen. John Redwine, a Sioux City physician and the Republican chairman of the Senate Human Resources Committee. [continues 233 words]
Had he been able to vote from the Senate gallery Thursday, Iowa State University senior Brian Dirks said, he would have supported tougher marijuana penalties. Dirks, a forestry major from Le Mars, and six ISU companions watched the Senate debate, then approve a bill that would make it a felony to sell even the smallest quantity of marijuana. Opponents argued that the stricter law could damage the future of a young adult who makes a mistake. But Dirks said offenders should pay the consequences. "I'd be real scared if someone was going to law school or medical school using drugs," he said. [continues 213 words]
Millions in cash and property have been seized by police and sheriffs Samuel Vallejo lost more than his freedom when authorities nabbed him for drug dealing. They also seized four vehicles, $7,000 in cash, a cell phone and pager from a rural Polk County residence. "It'll put him out of business for a while," said Chief Deputy Dennis Anderson of the Polk County Sheriff's Department, which plans to sell the vehicles at a public auction next month. Vallejo, 25, is not alone in feeling the sting of Iowa's forfeiture law. Police and sheriff s departments across the state have used the law to acquire millions of dollars in cash, cars and other property from people involved in drug dealing or other crimes. [continues 975 words]
The House measure would make it easier to convict users of meth and other substances. Prosecution of drug users who drive on Iowa roads would become easier under "drugged driving" legislation approved Wednesday by the House. The bill, sent to Gov. Terry Branstad for his signature also contains other provisions aimed at combatting use of methamphetamine and other illicit drugs. Rep. Jeffrey Lamberti, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said it is very difficult under the state's current drunken-driving law to convict drivers impaired by illegat drugs. [continues 242 words]
The Iowa House voted Tuesday to spend nearly $600,000 on new efforts to combat methamphetamine. Some $350,000 would be spent in the next budget year on programs to educate the public, especially schoolchildren, about the dangers of the highly addictive drug. An additional $236,000 would be allocated to the Iowa Department of Public Safety for undercover drug buys and for a proposed reward fund for informants. The anti-meth provisions were inserted in a health and human rights budget bill, which the House approved on an 88-7 vote and returned to the Senate for more debate. [continues 318 words]
Tougher Penalties, New Law-enforcement Tools Win Approval Iowa lawmakers, alarmed by a methamphetamine crime wave, voted Tuesday to mete out harsher penalties for drug dealers and users. The House gave lopsided approval to proposals that include stiffer penalties for repeat offenders of drug possession laws; enforcement of mandatory minimum sentences for meth dealers; and new law enforcement tools to nab drug-using motorists. Members of the House Republican majority, who assembled the package of proposals, said it would provide the state with more powerful weapons in its war on drugs. [continues 433 words]
The governor is expected to approve a measure allowing random drug and alcohol testing. The Iowa Legislature decided Wednesday to expand the authority of employers to test workers for drug or alcohol use. The House, on a 53-46 vote gave final legislative approval to a bill that would allow random testing of workers and would make other significant changes in Iowa's 11-year-old workplace drug-testing law. The measure, one of Gov. Terry Branstad's long-standing priorities, was sent to the governor for his signature. [continues 495 words]
Crack cocaine can overpower anyone. Even a middle-age nurse. Even a grandmother. Even the mother of one of Iowa's top legislative leaders. Just ask Ron Corbett, speaker of the Iowa House of Representatives. "The allure of drugs is very tempting and anybody can fall, even someone that's older, supposedly educated, professional," Corbett said Thursday. "It just isn't a problem that faces the inner city." Corbett's mother, Mary, a hospital nurse, fell hard for the highly addictive drug. [continues 687 words]
