BUTLER, Mo. -- Perhaps it's the courthouse square, with its cobblestone streets and old-fashioned storefronts, that makes this western Missouri town seem so hospitable. Maybe it's the shrieks of children chasing each other on their bicycles on a sun-splashed afternoon in early autumn. Or maybe it's the way strangers call out, telling you not to use the pay phone that will take your money. Use the one at the laundry, they tell you. In those and a dozen other ways, this community 65 miles south of Kansas City, with its single traffic light, seems a remnant of a simpler time. You half expect to see Sheriff Andy Taylor, Opie and Aunt Bee coming out of the Farm Bureau office. [continues 2026 words]
A program for halting suspected drug-running planes in Peru has been indefinitely grounded by a recently released Senate report. The evidence demands this and more. The deaths of Veronica Bowers and her 7-month-old daughter last April revealed tragic flaws in the joint U.S.-Peru interdiction effort. This latest information adds to the argument for ending the program for good. The report from the Select Senate Committee on Intelligence offers new and even more disturbing evidence about the death of Mrs. Bowers and her daughter, Charity. Mrs. Bowers, her husband, Jim, and their two children worked for the Pennsylvania-based Association of Baptists for World Evangelism and drew much of their support from Calvary Church in Fruitport. Mrs. Bowers and Charity were killed when Peruvian and American officials mistook their association-owned plane for one of the area's drug-running flights. [continues 376 words]
Wheaton -- The users of illegal drugs (especially cocaine and heroin) right now must be worried that, because the products they are consuming are illegal, there is no way for them to be sure that it has not been spiked with anthrax or other terrorist weapons. I would also suspect that many of them are distressed to think that a portion of the money they are spending on drugs is finding its way into the coffers of Osama bin Laden and his ilk. [continues 313 words]
EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- Drug smugglers are getting back to business -- and drug seizures are up sharply -- after a lull prompted by the stepped-up security along the U.S-Mexican border that followed the terrorist attacks. Investigators with the Customs Service and Border Patrol believe smugglers are trying to push more drugs across the border to make up lost profits, and are getting caught by the tighter security. Before Sept. 11, most vehicles were waved through border checkpoints. Now, since border officials went to the highest level of alert, nearly every vehicle gets looked over. Inspections include an examination of the trunk and the engine compartment, In the two weeks immediately following the terrorist attacks, drug seizures along the 1,962-mile U.S.-Mexico border fell 80 percent compared with the same period last year. But the trend has since reversed. [end]
More than any other time in our nation's history, now is the time to make changes, -- to burn bridges, make new starts and, above all, put an end to some of our governments more closed-minded and hypocritical laws. A good place to start perhaps would be the legalization of drugs. In the Midwest, farmers grow marijuana (illegally mind you) to keep themselves afloat and have been doing so for many years already. Farmers must grow marijuana to make up the money they lose due to various natural disasters over the years and the lack of federal help in recouping their losses. Farmers turn to marijuana because it is easy to grow and is obviously very profitable. [continues 408 words]
Cannabis joints were mailed to every TD and senator in the State yesterday by a West of Ireland man leading a campaign for the legalisation of the drug. The idea landed Mr Luke "Ming" Flanagan (29) in Garda custody, however, and last night a Garda spokesman confirmed he had been released without charge and a file would go to the DPP. Ming, who had designated yesterday National Legalise Cannabis Day, travelled to Dublin from his home in Castlerea, Co Roscommon, to mark the event by presenting the Minister with special responsibility for drugs, Mr Eoin Ryan, with a cannabis plant. [continues 381 words]
Primary, middle and high school students will be required to receive anti-drug education for more than two hours every semester starting in 2003, the Prime Minister's Office announced yesterday. As part of an initiative aimed at combating juvenile drug abuse, the government also decided to set up a task force involving related agencies, including the National Intelligence Service, officials said. The decision was made during an interagency meeting presided over by Prime Minister Lee Han-dong. Participants agreed to work out further details and put measures in place next month, the officials said. [continues 170 words]
Thank you for publishing "Time To Repeal Drug Prohibition" on Nov 1. Mr Hess' piece clearly describes why and how drug prohibition is hurting nations all over the globe. Most of this so-called "War on Drugs" is headed by my own federal government here in the United States, and as an American citizen I am ashamed of the actions of my leaders. I hope that Japan has the foresight and independence to try its own approaches to the issue of drug abuse, rather than blindly following the lead of the U.S. government. Adam Wiggins Director, Neoteric http://www.neoteric.nu [end]
Survey Finds Drug Use Starting As Early As Grade 7 A recent drug-use survey involving 5,000 students in southern Ontario has found solvent and soft drug use showing up as early as Grade 7 - two grades earlier than was the case in a previous survey in 1997. Results of such a survey in Northern Ontario communities would likely find numbers even more upsetting, says one of three professionals involved in a made-in-Sudbury program for students recovering from substance abuse. [continues 216 words]
Police Think Drug Was Smuggled In From Mexico To Be Sold Here Officers working together in three area counties have dismantled what they say is one of the largest cocaine-smuggling rings in the area, authorities announced Monday. And they say the bust began with a Rock Hill hairstylist. Eight people are charged in connection with the operation, which police said moved cocaine from Mexico to York and Lancaster counties, as well as Union County, N.C. Police said Monday that they confiscated cocaine valued at $110,000, two vehicles, several other drugs and $6,500 cash. [continues 320 words]
DENTON - A felony drug charge against former Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin was dismissed Monday after prosecutors said an officer conducted a search without a warrant. State District Judge Lee Gabriel honored a state request dismissing the felony charge of possessing less than a gram of cocaine. Irvin was indicted in June, about 10 months after he and a woman were arrested at a Dallas apartment where law officers said they found marijuana and ecstasy pills. He has denied that the drugs were his. No charges were filed involving marijuana and ecstasy pills. [continues 365 words]
