CHARLESTON -- "Pocket parolees," inmates left behind prison bars for various reasons after ordered released, potentially could cost West Virginia more than $2 million annually, lawmakers learned Monday.

Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein acknowledged, when quizzed Monday by Sen. Shirley Love, D-Fayette, that a major problem has been the failure to provide the parole board with a home plan when an inmate becomes eligible for discharge.

Rubenstein said a new policy has been imposed mandating that inmates come equipped with a home plan before a parole board considers releasing them.

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Zero tolerance is part of the problem. Illegal drug users are often reluctant to seek medical attention in the event of an overdose for fear of being charged with a crime. Attempting to save the life of a friend could result in a murder charge. Overzealous drug war enforcement results in easily preventable deaths.

Rehabilitation also is confounded. I think it's safe to say that turnout at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings would be rather low if alcoholism were a crime pursued with zero tolerance zeal. Eliminating the penalties associated with illicit drug use would encourage the type of honest discussion necessary to facilitate rehabilitation and save lives.

Robert Sharpe Policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC

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An effort to hold dealers accountable when the illicit drugs they peddle contributes to a death was on display this week in a Cabell County case.

Michelle Georgette Byars appeared in federal court this week, accused of distributing heroin leading to death. A grand jury charged her with the crime in connection with the death of her ex-husband, Patrick L. Byars, who died Sept. 23, 2007.

Patrick Byars' death was among 12 deaths in Cabell County that authorities have linked to heroin since April 2007. Ten of the deaths had occurred in a few-month period starting last September.

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha County school board members will seek public comment before voting on a tougher drug policy that would apply to nearly all school system employees and include random testing.

"We want to be careful to do this one like we do every other one," said board member Pete Thaw. "If we fall, let's fall on merits, not technicalities."

The board had unanimously passed a weaker version of the drug-testing policy earlier this year.

It calls for all school system job candidates to be subject to pre-employment testing and all employees to be subject to tests for cause, when substances turn up missing, when fitness is an issue and when those on leave return to duty.

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Huntington officials and West Virginia State Police continue to investigate.

HUNTINGTON -- Huntington Police say the HPD Drug Unit, DEA, and West Virginia State Police were conducting a drug investigation in the 3100 block of Fifth Avenue Friday. During the investigation officers stopped a 2008 Chevy Trail Blazer driven by Christopher Lee Ratliff of Scott Depot.

Police were trying to detain Ratliff when he swallowed a baggy containing suspected heroine. Ratliff immediately suffered medical distress. Upon arrival, EMS rendered aid and transported Ratliff to St. Mary's Hospital. Ratliff died a short time after his arrival.

The body will be taken to the State Medical Examiner's Office. The autopsy will include toxicology testing.

Officials are continuing to investigate.

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HUNTINGTON -- A Scott Depot man died Friday night after ingesting what was suspected to be heroin during a traffic stop.

Christopher Lee Ratliff, 32, died at St. Mary's Medical Center Friday night, after he swallowed the substance while Huntington Police were in the process of arresting him, according to a release from the Huntington Police Department.

Investigators with the HPD Drug Unit, Drug Enforcement Administration and the West Virginia State Police were conducting a drug investigation in the 3100 block of 5th Avenue when they stopped a 2008 Chevy Trail Blazer occupied by Ratliff. Officers were attempting to detain him when he ingested a package of suspected heroin and immediately suffered medical distress.

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POINT PLEASANT - During the summer months, many gardeners are usually out tending to their gardens of vegetables or flowers.

The same probably can be said about another type of crop, but this one is considered illegal - marijuana.

Last week, members of the Mason County Sheriff's Department went out looking for marijuana in different areas of the county. Most of the concentration was in the Bend Area, Sheriff Scott Simms said.

"We were targeting the smaller groves," Simms said. "These plants are the ones that get back into the communities and to our children."

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WHEELING - If you have concerns about dilapidated buildings or drug houses in East Wheeling, members of the Holy Ground Taskforce for Hopeful City want you to help identify these properties.

"We want people to come to this meeting to tell us what buildings they believe to be drug houses so we can get the police to investigate those places, and get the buildings torn down," said taskforce member Melvin Williams.

Taskforce members want East Wheeling residents to express their concerns about problem buildings during an open house event at the Church of God and Saints in Christ at 12th and Byron streets from 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday.

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PRINCETON - When members of two Princeton neighborhoods became convinced this spring that drug dealers were living and working next door, they called the Southern Regional Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force.

For weeks, officers with the undercover unit and other Mercer County law enforcement agencies kept their eyes on the Old Beckley Road and Lower Bell Street houses in question, stopping motorists as they left and tracing potential drug-trafficking patterns. In early April, they arrested two suspects accused of a variety of drug and weapons charges.

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HUNTINGTON -- Milton Creagh found out in 1993 that telling kids to say no to drugs wasn't enough.

That year, national studies showed that 77 percent of illegal drugs were used by people in the workforce, and three-quarters of those people worked full-time. What that means, Creagh told students, parents and community members during four talks Friday throughout Cabell County, is that the adults are the problem.

"Some of the kids I met today (at Cabell Midland, Huntington High and Huntington Middle) have the biggest drug problems, and they've never touched the stuff," Creagh said during his final message given at City Hall on Friday night. "It's their mommy and daddy getting high."

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FAIRMONT -- Undercover officers with the Three Rivers Drug Task Force seized pipes, bowls, water bongs and other items "designed to be used primarily for smoking drugs" from a Fairmont tobacco store on Tuesday, city police said.

In executing a search warrant at the Smoker Friendly Store at 915 Country Club Road, the officers seized "over 75 marijuana bowls or pipes, approximately 18 water bongs, sets of digital scales, screens, rolling papers and other items," Fairmont Police Chief Mark Hayes said.

"No one has been charged at this time, but arrest warrants will be obtained as the investigation continues," the chief said in a statement issued Wednesday.

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30 'Violent Offenders' May Return to Wheeling

WHEELING -- A decision that could result in the release of thousands of convicted crack cocaine dealers has Kevin Gessler and members of the Association of Chiefs of Police seeking the aid of U.S. Attorney Michael B. Mukasey.

Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne, however, said the decision may result in more equitable sentences for drug convictions.

Wheeling police Chief Gessler said Thursday at least three convicted crack dealers from Wheeling have been released. He believes they already may be returning to the area as a result of a decision by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

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William F. Buckley Jr., Nov. 24, 1925, to Feb. 27, 2008, conservative guru.

A perfect example of an aristocrat. He spoke and wrote and no one knew exactly what he was talking about.

Because no one could understand Buckley, the nation of conservatism has been infiltrated by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Neal Boortz, Pat Buchanan and Sean Hannity -- a rogue gallery of conservative advocates who didn't understand Buckley anymore than he understood himself.

The reason I state the above: The fellows mentioned practice nothing but sensational journalism in the name of conservatism, because talk radio -- 3,000 stations -- control the airwaves.

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New Drug Safer For Addiction Treatment

Mental health centers across West Virginia are promoting a new treatment for painkiller addiction.

The treatment program - an alternative to methadone clinics - includes counseling and the use of a relatively new medicine called Suboxone.

"It prevents somebody from getting high when using an opiate drug," said Genise Lalos, director of addiction services with the Prestera Center. "It blocks the high. This is the gold standard for treating opiate addiction."

Last week, Prestera and three other nonprofit behavioral health centers - Seneca Health Services of Summersville, Valley Health of Huntington and West Brook Health Centers of Parkersburg - received a $360,000 grant to promote the new treatment program over the next two years. The organizations serve 40 of West Virginia's 55 counties.

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Keyser, W.Va. - Local merchants have reported that they have received telephone solicitations in the past week by an organization claiming to be collecting funds for programs such as D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) for the Keyser and surrounding areas.

According to Deputy Craig A. Fraley, who is a Mineral County D.A.R.E. instructor, at this time there are no organizations or funds coming into this county for the D.A.R.E. program.

All funding for the D.A.R.E. program comes from the Mineral County Board of Education or the Mineral County Drug Task Force.

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The Kanawha County school board is considering a crackdown on student drug use, including the possibility of more dog patrols in schools and even student drug testing.

"I think it's a bigger problem than it needs to be," member Becky Jordon said. "Our goal needs to be (for drugs to be) nonexistent. The drugs are what bring guns into our schools. I think the board needs to take a stricter stance on this."

Board member Pete Thaw said, "We have a serious drug problem (in our schools)."

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I read with interest the comments of Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a paid adviser to CRC Health Group, which operates a methadone clinic in Huntington, and of CRC CEO Barry Karlin published in The Herald-Dispatch on Feb. 15 urging West Virginia lawmakers to embrace methadone clinics.

The information supplied is not balanced or complete.

Methadone maintenance was described as being a safe and efficacious method for treatment of opioid addiction. McCaffrey stated that methadone programs "... can get many people addicted to maintain sobriety."

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We do not believe that illegal drugs are a major concern in Ohio County public schools -- but even small quantities of them used and/or sold by a handful of students are not acceptable. The school system's "zero tolerance" policy for drugs is wise and, we believe, applauded by most students, parents and the public in general.

Some school officials want to provide one more deterrent for students tempted to take illegal drugs to school. Their idea, particularly at Wheeling Park High School, is to have law enforcement officers go through schools periodically with drug-detecting dogs.

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Law enforcement officials in and near Mansfield, Ohio, are involved in a nightmare -- one that they helped create for more than two dozen innocent people. Some of them have spent time in prison for crimes they did not commit.

In 2005, police enlisted small-time drug dealer Jerrell Bray as an informant. Based in part on his tips, they arrested 26 people, charging them with drug offenses. Bray's testimony was important in convicting some of them, including a Mansfield mother who spent 16 months in prison.

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WHEELING - Drug dogs soon may be walking the halls of Ohio County Schools - but not before the school system looks into the matter extensively.

During a work session held by the Ohio County Board of Education on Monday, Superintendent Lawrence Miller announced the school system is in the information-gathering stage of developing a policy that would permit drug dogs to search schools.

"I thought today's meeting was an excellent opportunity for colleagues, board members and the general public to interact on this very important subject," Miller said. "One of our roles as educators is to do everything we possibly can to protect our children on a daily basis. I will work through the policy, and then we will be ready to move and that will be with cooperation with the justice system as well as local law enforcement."

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