Drug abuse

...ba href=/drug abuse/a/b,” SSDP Campaigns Director Tom Angell said.

“Kicking kids out of school only increases ba href=/drug abuse/a/b in our country.

It’s senseless, and beyond that, it’s unconstitutional.

It punishes kids for the same thing twice.” According to the complaint, the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits the denial of educational financial assistance to students convicted of a drug offense.

Since drug offenders already receive separate criminal punishment, the lawsuit says, restrictions on financial aid because of the same crime are unconstitutional.

University of Wisconsin junior Nathan Bush, one of three plaintiffs named in the lawsuit, said having his financial aid restricted is unfair.

“I had my day in court and I got my fines and now they’re going to punish me again next year,” Bush, who is ineligible for aid in the next school year, said.

“It shouldn’t be that way.” UW political science professor Donald Downs called the law “overkill” and said it may constitute double jeopardy in a moral sense.

However, he said he does not believe there is a strong constitutional argument to support SSDP’s claims.

Though Downs said the addition of a financial aid penalty to a drug conviction does not necessarily constitute double jeopardy as it is outlined in the Fifth Amendment, he criticized the law in other ways, including its inability to allow for discretion.

The lawsuit offers even more criticism.

According to the complaint, “[w]hile any non-drug offender, from a murderer to...

... Times Leader Jail preferred to drug therapy program !

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29, 2006 email this print this reprint or license this Jail preferred to drug therapy program Most people eligible for treatment turned off by county drug court’s challenges.

By JENNIFER LEARN-ANDES jandes@leader.net The choice seems like a no-brainer: Go to jail or go through a drug treatment program that could turn your life around.

But more often than not, people who are eligible for Luzerne County’s new drug court choose jail.

“Our biggest proble...

... The Derrick Tuesday, March 28, 2006 Top Stories Top Stories Sports News-Herald Clarion-News Good Times Local Classifieds Submit A Classified Ad Contact Information Parents given task of stopping kids from drinking before age 21 By ERIN SCHATTAUER Photo by Jerry Sowden - During a community town hall style meeting on the prevention of underage drinking, Bonnie Summers, Venango County substance abuse program administrator, talks Tuesday evening at Venango Technology Center about the things that parents need to know about alcohol use by children.

Venango County parents were given a task Tuesday: to stop their children them from using alcohol before the age of 21.

Unfortunately, not many of them were there to hear it.

Venango County has an underage drinking problem, and if that battle is going to be won parents need to get involved in their children's lives, stressed a panel of law enforcement and court officials and others.

But only around 50 people turned out at the Venango Technology Center Tuesday to listen to the panel talk about the county's struggle with underage drinking.

Those who stood before the crowd, including District Judge Robert Boyer, District Attorney Marie Veon, school officials, police department representatives and others - reiterated the same message: that children are starting to use alcohol earlier and that the only way to stop them is for parents to get involved.

"It is real.

It is here," Boyer said.

In Venango County, alcohol is the drug that sixth-, e...