Some Smaller Stores Will Stop Selling Cold Medications Rather Than Keep Track Of The Sales OLYMPIA - Cold and allergy sufferers may have trouble finding the medicine they seek at the corner market next year. Starting Jan. 1, some owners of minimarkets in the state are expected to stop selling popular medications such as Sudafed, Actifed and Claritin because a new state law requires them to log each sale and obtain the signature of every buyer. "When you have a cold or an allergy attack, don't turn to your convenience store for any relief. The Legislature has put an end to that," said T.K. Bentler, executive director of the Washington Association of Neighborhood Stores. [continues 565 words]
Family Support Workers deal with all kinds of situations and issues. Drug issues — methamphetamine in particular — are of special interest to them because their safety and the safety of the children they help can be jeopardized. With so many meth families nowadays, it can be really dangerous for our employees and the children," said Lori Cheshier, administrator of Pathfinder Support Services in Fremont. "It seems like every case we get is related to drugs of some sort." That's why the 24 Family Support Workers of Pathfinder Support Services who work in Fremont, Columbus and the surrounding areas were taught about methamphetamine this week. Pathfinder Services has a contract with Child Protective Services to supervise visits. [continues 510 words]
ASHEVILLE -- The top law officer in North Carolina says that federal legislation pending in Congress could help the state combat the sale and use of methamphetamine, an illegal drug that has taken hold in rural America. A proposal in Congress that would limit sales of cold medicines used to make the drug stalled Thursday after House and Senate negotiators couldn't iron out differences. A similar version could still be passed next week. "I think ... Congress could provide a great preventive measure for the East Coast," Attorney General Roy Cooper said. [continues 132 words]
Plan From Restaurateur Draws Little Local Fire When he heard about a restaurateur's idea to open a drug and alcohol treatment center at the Daniel Webster Farm, Floyd Sargent thought it would generate controversy around Franklin. But eating breakfast and chatting with the other regulars at Mr. D's on Main Street every morning, he has yet to hear a negative word. "I haven't heard any myself, and I get around quite a bit," said Sargent, a member of Franklin's planning board who owns a property maintenance business. "I was a little surprised." [continues 1352 words]
Evidence Nixed Locally May Stand In Federal Court MONMOUTH - Two Monmouth men allegedly caught with methamphetamine in their car are free from jail on the local charges but face similar charges in federal court. Warren County State's Attorney Chip Algren said Friday Judge Greg McClintock has suppressed evidence of the meth found during a search June 21 by Monmouth's drug dog of a car occupied by Jeremiah Griffin, 25, 715 S. Sixth St., and Jason Mettler, 24, 6 McEwen Court. After the evidence was suppressed, attorneys for Mettler and Griffin filed motions to have their bond reduced pending a pretrail conference Nov. 30. [continues 566 words]
Complaints Are Growing About Drug Dealing, Prostitution And Other Crime Near Interstate 95 In Godwin GODWIN - Drugs and crime fester in the shadows of Wade's new athletic park and Godwin's recent beautification efforts. Residents in the towns on Cumberland County's northeastern tip have worked hard and long to make their communities better places to live. Drug problems undermine those efforts. This month, in a mobile home along a country road between Godwin and Wade, sheriff's deputies stumbled onto what lawmen believe are two of the largest methamphetamine labs ever found in North Carolina. Last month, Godwin Mayor Deborah Tew said, a young pregnant woman was kidnapped at gunpoint from Harnett County, taken to a home about a half mile from hers and repeatedly raped. In Wade, people can stand outside the Poor Boy's store and point across the street at what they suspect are two drug houses. [continues 2082 words]
Luis Mangual, 31, of Lowell, said he was 15 when he turned to drugs. "I grew up in Lowell in a rough neighborhood. Drugs were around - heroin, cocaine," he recalled. A life marred by violence and addiction changed when he encountered Mark Hemenway's prison ministry in 2003 while serving a two-year sentence at the Middlesex House of Correction in Billerica for breaking and entering, car theft and receiving stolen property. Since his release earlier this year, Mangual has been meeting Sunday evenings with Hemenway at a busy Dunkin' Donuts in Lowell. [continues 665 words]
