Brownwood Meth, Bush's Budget Cuts, & US troops "turning to drugs"
July 2, 2005, 9:05PM
'Meth caucus' defies Bush
By STEVEN BODZIN
Los Angeles TimesWASHINGTON - The Bush administration's effort to shift federal money away from traditional police programs and toward anti-terrorism measures is running into a tough obstacle: the growing "meth caucus" in Congress.
The group, with more than 100 House members, is waging an increasingly effective fight to counter the president's proposed budget cuts and to funnel more money — not less — into domestic law enforcement.
The influence of the group, formally known as the Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine, reflects the political pressures created by the spread of methamphetamine through rural communities in the Midwest, where some police and health agencies are besieged.
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Stressed US troops in Iraq 'turning to drugs'
By Thomas Harding in Baghdad
(Filed: 23/07/2005)
Two years into the occupation of Iraq the menace of drug abuse appears to be afflicting American troops.
Aware of the debilitating effect drugs had on the morale and effectiveness of GIs in the Vietnam War, the authorities are attempting to stifle a repeat in Iraq.
Aside from random urine tests and barrack room searches, commanders have asked their troops to inform on colleagues.
In the past month a soldier has been arrested for selling cocaine and two per cent of the troops from one brigade have been charged with drug and alcohol abuse.
According to US army figures, out of the 4,000 men of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 53 faced alcohol-related charges and 48 were charged with drug offences.
Since the overthrow of Saddam's regime the borders that have been so porous for insurgents have been equally open for heroin and hash smugglers from Afghanistan and Iran providing a cheap market for troops. With colleagues being killed or wounded on a daily basis, some US soldiers have turned to drugs to escape the horrors of fighting insurgents.
In one case, according to Stars and Stripes, the in-house US forces newspaper, Sgt Michael Boudreaux was found with drugs, four bottles of whiskey and 22 videos of Iraqi pornography. He received a seven month confinement, was demoted to private and given a bad conduct discharge.
In another case, Pte Emily Hamilton told a court martial that she used a hashish pipe belonging to a colleague because "it helped me go right to sleep". She was given a year's confinement and a bad conduct discharge.
"Some of these young soldiers just can't handle the stress," said Capt Christopher Krafchek, a military defence lawyer.
The majority of drug-users are in their teens or early 20s, and sometimes get their drugs from local Iraqis while on patrol in Baghdad.
Troops caught in possession of illegal substances are either jailed, demoted or discharged from the forces.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/23/wirq23.xml&sSheet=/portal/2005/07/23/ixportal.html
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Drug suspects make court appearance
SAN ANGELO -- 17 people made their first appearance in a San Angelo courtroom Friday after a drug ring bust in Brownwood. Thursday, 21 people were arrested all of them facing federal charges. Police say five fugitives are still on the loose. Nine agencies, and more than 60 law enforcement officers helped round up the members of the alleged drug ring. Most of those involved are facing a maximum life sentence.
source: http://www.ktxs.com/
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[PDF] Crystal's Comeback
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
Brownwood,. Texas, drug. counselor John S. Sommers sees it. every day. ...
and other lab-made drugs, now and in. the future. One thing is certain, though: ...
www.doitnow.org/pdfs/comeback.pdf - Similar pages
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as it all relates to Brownwood and the saying "All politics are local"...
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