THE Riverland and northern suburbs are havens for illegal drug users and dealers, figures show. The latest Office of Crime Statistics and Research figures show these council areas have recorded a steady increase in drug offences over the past six years and a surge in drug dealing offences between 2009-10. In Berri and Barmera District Council, the number of detected illegal drug sales skyrocketed from four in 2009 to 145 offences in 12 months. Police reported 186 drug-related offences in the area during that time. In Port Adelaide and Enfield Council, illegal drug sales leapt from 74 to 138 among 522 drug-related offences reported in the area during 2009-10. Playford Council, which takes in about 70,000 residents in the far northern suburbs, recorded 90 illegal drug-selling offences during 2009-10, up from 48 the year before, among 421 drug-related offences. Several other council areas recorded jumps of more than 50 per cent in the selling or the trading of illegal drugs since 2006. Police Assistant Commissioner Grant Stevens said increased drug detections came from strong policing. The OCSAR data tracks all crimes known to police from 2006 to 2010. The SA Police 2010-11 annual report also showed drug crime jumped 10.6 … Continue reading →

EVANSVILLE Taking a more aggressive approach against retailers selling synthetic drugs might be the best way for the state to tackle the growing problems posed by the dangerous drugs, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said Tuesday. Zoeller and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan convened a summit of law enforcement officials, prosecutors and legislators from both states in Evansville to exchange ideas about combating what they said is the rising threat from small-batch methamphetamine making and the use of synthetic drugs. A growing number of teenagers and young adults are using synthetic drugs, which are substances laced with chemicals designed to mimic the effects of marijuana, cocaine and meth but which often have serious health effects. Buyers don't know what chemicals and amounts of them are in the products. Because they were for sale out on the countertop, kids thought they were safe. These are nothing to mess around with, Madigan said. They are horribly dangerous. They account for numerous suicides and deaths across the country. The drugs are packaged with catchy names and in ways that allude to them being smoked and inhaled even though the packages typically say they aren't intended for human consumption. They are often sold at … Continue reading →

The school volunteer and PTA president allegedly targeted by parents who planted drugs in her car said she thought she was the victim of a joke when police came to question her. "I thought I was on a joke show, like someone was playing a joke on me," Kelli Peters told KTLA. Authorities say that an Irvine couple planted drugs in the volunteer's car because they were displeased with her supervision of their son, a student at Plaza Vista Elementary School in Irvine. "They tried to make me look like the worst person you could be when youre involved with a school," Peters told KTLA. "I just don't understand it." The parents arrested in the case Kent and Jill Easter, both 38 and both attorneys had previously sued Peters twice in 2010, though both cases were later dismissed, according to Orange County court records. When announcing the Easters had been arrested on felony charges Tuesday, the Orange County district attorney's office said the couple devised a plan to get the volunteer arrested. Prosecutors say Kent Easter drove to the volunteers home shortly after midnight on Feb. 16, 2011, and put a bag of prescription pain medication and marijuana, along with … Continue reading →

LOS ANGELES, June 20 (UPI) -- A California couple are accused of planting drugs on a school volunteer who served as the PTA president at their son's school, prosecutors said. Kelli Peters told KTLA-TV, Los Angeles, she thought it was a joke when police said they found marijuana last year in her unlocked car. Peters is a volunteer at Plaza Visa Elementary School in Irvine. Kent and Jill Easter, both 38-year-old attorneys from Irvine, were arrested Tuesday and face felony charges in the case, Orange County prosecutors said. The couple sued Peters twice in 2010 but both cases were dismissed, Orange County court records show, the Los Angeles Times reported. Prosecutors say Jill Easter was unhappy with the way her son was supervised by Peters. Prosecutors allege Kent Easter drove to the volunteer's home and placed a bag of Vicodin, Percocet, marijuana and a used marijuana pipe behind the driver's seat of her unlocked vehicle. He is accused of intentionally leaving the drugs in plain sight in a conspicuous location, where it would be easily visible from outside the vehicle. He then allegedly called police and told the dispatcher he was a concerned parent who had witnessed an erratic driver … Continue reading →