We all know heroin use is an epidemic in our area. But what are our local leaders and institutions doing or not doing to fight it? This year the Enquirer will be focusing on accountability and solutions to the region's heroin problems. WASHINGTON - Shawn Ryan needs Congress to lift the federal cap on the number of heroin addicts he can treat, so he and other Cincinnati-area physicians don't have to turn away patients desperate to stop using. Charmaine McGuffey needs funding for a medical detox unit, so she and other officials at the Hamilton County Jail don't have to rely on flu medicine for inmates in severe withdrawal. [continues 949 words]
WASHINGTON - The Senate gave final approval Thursday to broad anti- methamphetamine provisions that will impose tight curbs on the sale of popular cold remedies used to make the highly addictive narcotic. The long-stalled crackdown on cold medicine sales - initially opposed by retail and drug lobbyists - passed after months of intense negotiations with those industries over the scope of the new restrictions. The measure, part of legislation reauthorizing the Patriot Act, has already passed the House. The president is expected to sign it into law. [continues 571 words]
Senators Expected To Release New Bill WASHINGTON -- On a bitterly cold February morning, a half dozen lobbyists filed into U.S. Sen. Jim Talent's conference room for a tense, 90-minute meeting with one of the Missouri lawmaker's top aides. The lobbyists represented an array of powerful business interests, from deep-pocketed drug companies to retail giants such as Wal-Mart and Target to the nation's convenience store industry. They were there to talk about a bill Talent, a Missouri Republican, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, had introduced three weeks earlier proposing sharp new curbs on the sale of popular cold medicines containing a key ingredient used to make methamphetamine. [continues 1774 words]
WASHINGTON - If there's one man Republican campaign strategists are worried about as the presidential campaign gets under way - aside from Democratic contender John Kerry - it is George Soros. A 73-year-old Hungarian-born billionaire, Soros is more financial wizard and self-styled philosopher than political tactician. He made a fortune as a financial speculator and has given much of it away on initiatives designed to cultivate democratic institutions in Eastern Europe and elsewhere. But this year, Soros has a new project: defeating President George W. Bush. [continues 1517 words]
WASHINGTON - After getting a firsthand look at anti-drug efforts in Colombia, Sen. Dick Durbin said he will support a $1.6 billion aid package to help wipe out the massive coca fields that cover that South American country and feed America's cocaine addicts. "This is front and center," said Durbin, D-Ill., in explaining why he made a two-day visit over the weekend to Colombia, which was sponsored by a Senate committee. One other senator, Jack Reed, D-R.I., also made the trip. [continues 343 words]
