Albert Gore III pleaded guilty to four drug-related charges in an Orange County court on Monday, and opted to enter a drug rehab program to avoid prison time. Appearing with his lawyer before Judge Jacob H. Jager, Gore indicated to the court that he would enter an intensive 90-day residential center. "This is what anyone coming off the street would be eligible for," said Orange County District Attorney spokeswoman Susan Kang-Schroeder. "Gore didn't get any more or any less than anyone else." [continues 163 words]
At least 306 policemen in Metro Manila underwent a surprise drug test at Camp Crame yesterday as officials launched a renewed crackdown on lawmen involved in illegal drugs. Deputy Director General Edgar B.Aglipay, commander of the Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force of the Philippine National Police, said policemen who would test positive for substance abuse will be immediately relieved from their duties and subjected to investigation. Aglipay, along with National Capital Region Police Office chief Director Ricardo F. de Leon and NCRPO deputy director Chief Supt. Rodolfo A. Tor supervised the drug testing which started at 6 a.m. [continues 364 words]
Mattie White Claims a Rogue Cop Accused Her Kids of Crimes They Didn't Commit Mattie White never planned on becoming an activist. Being black in Tulia, Texas (pop. 5,033), wasn't always easy, but she saw the dusty crossroads halfway between Amarillo and Lubbock as a haven from big-city dangers. "I like Tulia," says the 51-year-old grandmother. "You don't have to worry about drive-by shootings and people breaking into your house." But White's view of her hometown would change forever on July 23, 1999, when local sheriff's deputies arrested 46 people - all but six of them African-American -- as alleged drug dealers. Although the only evidence came from a single white undercover officer with a checkered past and, critics charge, a penchant for lying, four of White's six children, her brother, a niece, two nephews, two cousins and a son-in-law were caught up in the dragnet, making her the person with the most jailed relatives in town. "I guess I was in shock," she says. "I never did cry." [continues 928 words]
After Battling Addiction Himself, Jim Stillwell Helps Lead A Return To Treatment--Rather Than Prison--As Our Best Weapon In The Never-Ending War On Drugs Seated in a Los Angeles courtroom, Jakata Arrant fidgets nervously as a judge reads through her case file. Admittedly there is a lot to read. A former runaway, Arrant, 24, has been arrested three times for drugs, most recently in late 1999 for felony possession of cocaine. She acknowledges she has spent roughly half her life desperately addicted--so much so, she says, that on the day of her last release from a state prison, "I was at my dealer's within an hour." [continues 1912 words]
A Presidential Pardon In A Drug Case Helps Right A Wrong For Dorothy Gaines I'm gonna need a hug," says Cozy Brown as an old friend walks through the door of his Prichard, Ala., soul-food restaurant. Dorothy Gaines hasn't been by in years--so long, in fact, that she doesn't recognize Brown's new dining room, with its enormous Last Supper mural, or the roaring interstate nearby. But then, after the ordeal Gaines has been through, even the most commonplace things seem jarringly unfamiliar. "My daughter handed me a cell phone the other day," Gaines tells Brown with a smile, "and I said, 'What's that, a big candy bar?'" [continues 1302 words]
Jessica Zigler, Klamath Falls, Ore. [end]
Ann Zatsick, Commerne, Mich. [end]
Greg Goldmakher, Dallas [end]
Thomas Dray, San Diego [end]
Outrageous! This story is the latest example that the war on drugs is in reality a war against individual liberty and the Constitution. The idea of forced drug testing in our public schools is disturbing enough, but the fact that parents have no veto power over this program is downright anti-American. Larry Tannahill's courage to stand up for what is right is no easy task in a climate that vilifies anyone who dares to "just say no." Jessica Zigler, Klamath Falls, Ore. [continues 111 words]
I was outraged to read that a parent filed suit over a drug testing policy. I never gut into trouble and was a straight-A student from elementary through high School, but that didn't stop me from experimenting with drugs, which led to a five-year battle with addiction and an even longer time to get my life back on track. I wish my school had had a drug testing policy. I might have been spared a lot of heartache. [continues 77 words]
Bookmark: MAP's shortcut to The Lockney Policy items: http://www.mapinc.org/lockney.htm When The Local School Tried to Make His Son Take a Drug Test, Larry Tanahill Filed Suit A farming community of some 2,300 in the Texas Panhandle, Lockney might seem at first glance far removed from the drug problems facing larger cities. So Larry Tannahill was surprised last January when his son Brady, 12, came home with the news that the town's schools would be requiring every student from sixth grade up to submit to routine urine tests. What disturbed Tannahill, 36, was the presumption of guilt: Parents were warned that if they didn't sign a form consenting to the exams, their children would be treated as if they had tested positive and punished with in-school suspension and a temporary ban from extracurricular activities. "It's not right," says Tannahill. "It's going against everything they're teaching these kids about government." [continues 651 words]
When Pot's Prescribed, The High Way Leads To The Compassion Flower Inn At the Compassion Flower Inn in Santa Cruz., Calif., there are smokers--and there are smokers. Cigarette smokers are banished to the front porch. Smokers, on the other hand, may feel they've died and gone to pot. Cannabis-themed tiles adorn the sidewalk outside. Curtains, linens and towels are made of hemp. And... say, what is that funny smell, anyway. The five-bedroom bed-and-breakfast, just a stoner's throw from the beach, exists as a safe--and perfectly legal--haven for people who smoke marijuana for medical reasons. "Motel 6 guests probably smoke it quietly in their rooms," says Andrea Tischler, 57, who with her partner, Maria Mallek-Tischler, 46, opened the inn in a restored Victorian in April. "This is more out of the closet." [continues 125 words]
I wanted to express my support for Whitney Houston. That a person can still be arrested or detained for a half ounce of pot in this day and age is a tremendous misallocation of criminal justice resources. Fact is, anyone who believes pot should be illegal yet drinks or condones the legality of alcohol is a hypocrite. Smoke up, Whitney! Ben Schafer, New York City [end]
Sept. 24 will mark Hugh Downs's final appearance on ABC's 20/20. On it, he tells the co-anchor Barbara Walters that marijuana should be legalized. "I poked at [saying it] a little bit in years past," says Downs, who is particularly interested in the medical benefits of the drug. "But the roof fell in so hard that I decided to back off." [end]
