Wednesday, February 2, 2005

When a family member won't be helped Over at The American Street, Kevin Haydon poses a difficult question about how someone opposed to the drug war is supposed to deal with a family member who has willfully let his addiction damage those around him. A spirited discussion in comments there includes my response (#16). 10:41:13 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

SOTU on Drugs I missed it. He must have mentioned it when I ran to the bathroom for a minute. You know, the State of the Union... the part where he talked about cutting all those wasteful drug war programs to reduce the deficit? Damn, I really wanted to hear that part. Did he mention my name? After I made the suggestion, I halfway thought that I might be invited to sit in the balcony next to Jenna or something, so I could be pointed out for making such a sensible suggestion to eliminate expensive, counterproductive, and wasteful government programs. But I understand that the seating there is limited. Hope they replay it. Did he get a standing ovation for that part? 10:14:32 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Attorneys General go after the DEA The Attorneys General of Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and West Virginia (30 of them) wrote a very unhappy letter to director Karen Tandy, complaining about how the DEA is dealing with pain medication and concerned that the DEA is "infringing on the legitimate practice of medicine or exerting a chilling effect on the willingness of physicians to treat patients who are in pain." Read all about it, including the actual text of the letter, at The Agitator. 8:48:14 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

More on Cheryl Noel ______, who says she is a friend of the Noel family, wrote to say how appalled she was at most of the news coverage of the Cheryl Noel tragedy. She has written a letter to the Dundalk Eagle (the one paper I found that provided some balanced coverage) to thank them and to also add some details. I don't know if the Eagle will publish it, but regardless, I thought it would be good to share it here. Letter removed at the request of the author. I have not independently verified the statements in _______'s letter, but I have no particular reason to doubt her, and if true, they paint a very disturbing picture. Given these statements, along with what's been reported so far, I would hope that someone in Baltimore county is doing some further investigation, and yet as far as I can tell there's been no press mention at all since the Dunkalk Eagle story. I welcome hearing from others who knew Cheryl and her family, or who have additional information about any investigation. Update The person who wrote this letter originally gave me permission to print it and then later asked me to remove it and I am following their wishes. I don't know what that means and still welcome anyone who has more details on the Cheryl Noel story. 8:36:56 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []