Local Grannie gets pinched buying drugs.

[ArmedProgrammer]

Drink, Snort, Drop, Shoot, Shove up your 4$$ anything you want to... Not the gubbamint's bidness.

Parents - teach your kids not to be a dumb4$$ and leave the stuff alone.

Get behind the wheel of a car while jacked up? (Hence endangering others...) 5 years with a roommate named Bubba! Mandatory. My county is FULL of people with a zilion DUI/DWI/OWI convictions.

That seems like an equitable deal to me...

 

[BloodEclipse]

Can anyone show me proof that the LAW has slowed down the production of METH or merely just made criminals out of people who get colds?
How many people busted for buying too much are true Meth Producers compared to unknowing citizens?
If the law doesn't work than it need to be canned.
How about prosecuting criminals? Oh thats right they have made criminals out of normal people.
What will be the next legal item we will have purchase limits on?
Ammo?

 

[Kirk Freeman]

In the Slone case that I cited supra, the Attorney General (State of Indiana) has filed to have the case transferred to the Indiana Supreme Court.

I will keep everyone posted on whether the Supreme Court decides to hear this matter.

 

[theweakerbrother]

Stand up law enforcement! "But we're just doing our jobs!" Sound familiar?

If the police show up (which they shouldn't because of this BS law), and they find out that the lady isn't cooking up tweaker juice the arrest/prosecution should end there.

Voltaire was right. Common sense is not so common after all.

Was man made for the law or was law made for man? A fine old Biblical question...

 

[XMil]

Wow. The best post on here I have seen in a long time. Excellent and thought out. I'll get you some rep when I get the ability to rep back.

Did everyone miss this?

Thanks, I suspect it is too long to keep many attention spans, and it's not the "party line."

Public Servant, if you took that personally, you're going out of your way to do so. Sorry, but meth is a result of how we handle the issue in this country.

I would really like to solve this problem, I don't like that there is anyone addicted to any drug. It's so obvious that the current "solution" is at best not helping, and in all reality, it's probably making things worse. It's pretty clear the problem can't even be discussed honestly, let alone solved.

 

[mrjarrell]

The current "problem" with meth is a direct result of government interference and the war on some drugs. At one time in the US it was relatively easy to come by amphetamines via prescription. They were handed out easily because they were safe and effective. There was also a small, but thriving underground production of them, too. For the outlaw community. Well, someone in DC got a bug up their butt and proceeded to make it impossible for pharmaceutical companies to produce them. They started banning the precursors. The outlaw chemists switched to other chemicals that were just as good and just as pure. The bug in butt returned and .gov banned the manufacture of them as well. Left with little choice outlaw chemists switched over to meth manufacturing, since it used PSE, which was legal and readily available. Well, the cops, mostly DEA, kept pushing and more precursors were banned until the only one left was PSE. Now it's regulated and a crime to possess very much. All of this banning has resulted in a degradation of the formula for meth and we get the horrible results we do because of it. There was no nasty amphetamine plague. Nor even a meth problem, when the chemicals used were pharmaceuticaly pure. Driving it far underground has resulted in a drug that is far removed from meths origin as a relatively safe amphetamine substitute. If .gov has left the legal amphetamine market alone we'd not have a meth issue today.

 

[jedi]

Vermillion County Sheriff Bob Spence said he also is willing to help Harpold overcome the negative situation.

“If there’s any way we can help her, we will,” Spence said.

Well, there is at least 1 sheriff who hasn't read the book you guys sent out last month. Oh well.

Terre Haute News, Terre Haute, Indiana- TribStar.com - Wabash Valley woman didn’t realize second cold medicine purchase violated drug laws

Hum.. Should we do a letter writing campaign to this sheriff and tell him to READ the book we sent him! And for good measure CC the TribStar.com as well. *sigh*

 

[mrjarrell]

Looks like the prosecutor has a few things to say about the issue. What I take away is that she has no remorse and loves this law.

From Terre Haute News

Your editorial of Sept. 6 contains a substantive error. Ms. [Sally] Harpold did not pay a $300 bond plus a $218 deferral fee. Her deferral fee was deducted from her bond money and then the remainder of her bond money (minus the Clerk’s administrative fee of $30) was returned to her. So, since it appears from your editorial that you are soliciting for someone to reimburse Ms. Harpold the costs for her having violated the law, then you will need to advise whoever that might be that the cost was $248, not $518.

I have read your editorial several times, and I have honestly asked myself whether I treated Ms. Harpold unfairly in the handling of her case, and I still think that this case was prosecuted and resolved in an appropriate manner. Even you begin your analysis with the premise that strict enforcement of the drug laws is necessary so that your county (Vigo) and mine (Vermillion) do not experience the same kind of meth epidemic that we did just a few years ago. Surely it is not necessary to remind you or anyone else of the incredible negative impact that methamphetamine abuse had on the Wabash Valley … the destructive toll of this drug was enormous. The law which was applied in this case has had a great impact on the ability of “meth cookers” to get their primary ingredient, i.e. ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. And, as a result of this law, meth production and meth use has been substantially curtailed in both of our counties as well as all across the State of Indiana. Law enforcement officials, primarily Jon Marvel, the Vigo County Sheriff, fought long and hard for the passage of this law. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, Vigo County had an ordinance in effect regarding the purchase of ephedrine long before the state legislators passed the current law. So I do not know how anyone can analyze this law and not conclude that it is a good law because it has had the desired effect, i.e. a reduction in meth manufacturing and meth use.

The law, of course, does not require that the State show that the purchaser intended to make meth. And, the truth of the matter, is that many of the people who violate the “purchase law” are not meth makers. Oftentimes, they are people on limited income who are simply induced to purchase the product because a $4 box of cold medicine can be resold for $30 to $50 to a meth maker. I am sure that there are a myriad of reasons why people violate the law, but a person’s reason or motive is seldom an element of a crime. Obviously, the reason that Ms. Harpold is upset and presumably the reason that your editorial criticizes my handling of the case is that there was no evidence that Ms. Harpold intended to make meth. However, the law does not require such an intent, and truthfully, the law would be completely ineffective if such an intent were required.

I do agree with you that it would be helpful if there were very noticeable signs posted at each pharmacy which stated the restrictions imposed by the law. However, if you study the history of the many attempts by law enforcement to control the sale of ephedrine (especially the product Sudafed) you will find that the pharmaceutical companies fought long and hard against any restrictions on these products. It is very difficult to get an industry which is in the business of selling a product for a profit to do anything which adversely affects the number of sales.

Lastly, if presented with these same facts again, I would handle the case exactly the same way. Ms. Harpold violated the law, and because she had no prior criminal history, I offered her the most lenient resolution at my disposal which is a pre-trial deferral agreement. I am assuming that she will comply with the terms of that agreement, and at the expiration of the appropriate time period I will dismiss the case against her. And, even though you disagree with my handling of this case, the public should know that our law enforcement officers review the pharmacy records approximately every 45-60 days, and I will continue to prosecute anyone who violates this law.

— Nina J. Alexander

Vermillion County Prosecutor

 

[jedi]

<<INSERT COLORFUL WORDS HERE>>

This just following the law (Nuremberg Defense - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) and looking at the indent of the law is what makes this prosecutor worthless just like Congress. She sees this case as just another money maker for the county. It's sad really.