Drug

Orb's path to the finish line in the second leg of the Triple Crown remains uncrowded. Normandy Invasion, the fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby, dropped from contention for Saturday's 138th running of the Preakness on Sunday. Trainer Chad Brown and owner Rick Porter decided to stick with their original plan and point the horse toward prestigous races for 3-year-olds later in the summer. That leaves Orb, the colt co-owned by Baltimore County resident Stuart Janney III and Ogden Mills "Dinny" Pipps' stable, with only seven confirmed challengers at this point.

In 1988, I became extremely ill. I had many tests, saw many doctors and was given various medicines. Some caused allergic reactions. Through it all, I remained sick — and actually became worse. Eventually, I was diagnosed with autoimmune hepatitis, a very rare disorder. Much of the information I read said I had about 10 years to live. Making matters worse, I was soon diagnosed with another autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA). My treatment options for RA were severely limited because of my autoimmune hepatitis, as most of the RA drugs would filter through the liver and could initiate another attack.

A cabal of corrupt corrections officers and members of the Black Guerrilla Family gang enjoyed nearly free rein inside the Baltimore City Detention Center, federal authorities allege, smuggling drugs and cellphones into the jail and having sexual relationships that left four guards pregnant. An indictment unsealed Tuesday names 25 people - including 13 women working as corrections officers - who face racketeering and drug charges. Twenty of the accused also face money-laundering charges.

A federal grand jury indicted 18 alleged gang members on racketeering charges, including a detainee at a state-managed detention center, news that could draw more scrutiny to Maryland's beleaguered correctional system. Federal officials say the members of the Bloods, most of them operating out of Howard County, broke into houses, stole money and other items, and sold drugs, including oxycodone, ecstasy and marijuana. Eighteen Bloods members were charged with racketeering, and three others not in the gang were charged with selling drugs, federal officials said.

To the dismay of prosecutors, a man considered to be one of the worst drug lords in Baltimore history was freed yesterday of what had been a 22-year sentence for a gun crime and vowed as he walked away from the city's federal courthouse to dedicate his life to serving God. Melvin "Little Melvin" Williams, 61, served nearly four years on a handgun possession conviction before his attorney successfully argued that Williams did not meet the technical requirements...

When Antonio Malone needed $15,000 to pay off the assailants who stormed his West Baltimore rowhouse and demanded money and heroin, a gang leader told him exactly where to go. Police say he was sent to a 12 t h floor apartment at The Redwood, the home of Felicia "Snoop" Pearson. The building on South Eutaw Street, within walking distance of the Inner Harbor and featuring a large ninth-floor deck and a 'round-the-clock fitness center, seems appropriate for an actress on the much-acclaimed HBO series "The Wire.

Basketball star Carmelo Anthony might have provided celebrity appeal in Stop Snitching, a witness-intimidation DVD for sale on the streets of Baltimore. But the character at the focus of the profanity-laced production has his own type of fame, one intertwined with West Baltimore's drug rings, their violence and law enforcement's efforts to crush them. He is Tyree Stewart, the man prosecutors say once ran a $50 million marijuana ring, now in prison under the U.S. Marshal's custody. His story gives a glimpse into the city's world of drugs, violence, prosecution and street culture.

The motto of the Helping Up Mission is "serving the broken men of Baltimore. " Each night, about 50 to 60 men walk through the shelter's doors on East Baltimore Street at Exeter Street in Jonestown. There are bunk beds available, as well as a meal, medical treatment and laundry facilities. But that is only part of the story. Most new arrivals are battling alcohol and drug addictions. They can stay longer if they commit to turning their lives around and getting sober. Many do. The Helping Up Mission houses an additional 350 men in its long-term program.

Two brothers admitted in federal court yesterday that they imported more than 100 kilograms of cocaine and heroin from both coasts, sold the drugs to dealers on the streets of Northwest Baltimore and hid their proceeds by investing in nightclubs, suburban real estate and high-performance cars. The hearing in U.S. District Court in Baltimore gave federal prosecutors close to a clean sweep in the widespread racketeering case. Twelve of the 13 indicted defendants - several of whom appeared to live the quiet suburban life of minivans, cul-de-sac basketball courts and backyard barbecues - have pleaded guilty to helping operate a decade-old drug organization that trafficked large amounts of drugs in the city's Park Heights neighborhood.

Drug-coated stents, the coil-like metal devices that prop open blocked arteries, appear to be superior to older bare-metal stents for treating heart attacks, according to a new study. The finding is the first randomized trial showing a clear benefit with drug-coated stents in an emergency setting, although some doctors already have been using the revolutionary devices to treat heart attacks. "Our study extends previous knowledge showing that ... drug-eluting stents are more effective and probably are as safe as bare-metal stents," said lead author Marco Valgimigli, chairman of cardiology at the University of Ferrara, Cardiovascular Institute in Ferrara, Italy.

What if you're doctor smoked marijuana and then performed surgery on you? Not a comforting thought, but it could happen. That is why two Johns Hopkins doctors and patient safety experts say hospitals should make alcohol and drug tests mandatory for physicians. The doctors shared their views in a commentary published online April 29 in The Journal of the American Medical Association. They say doctors should also be tested if a patient dies suddenly or is unexpectedly injured during surgery.

Regarding Dan Rodricks ' commentary on drugs at the city detention center, don't opinion columnists belong on the op-ed page, not in the news section ("Scandal at jail another symptom of war on drugs," April 27)? Mr. Rodricks blames a large share of crime and corruption on the drug war, and he advocates for decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana, cocaine and heroin. That would lead to a world of addicted people roaming the streets and driving cars in a drug-induced haze, with no motivation to work or be productive members of their families or of society.

Anne Arundel County Police say a call to a hotel in the Linthicum Heights area on Monday resulted in the seizure of more than 120 grams of suspected cocaine and other drugs and more than $10,000 cash. The call also resulted in one arrest on drug possession charges, and a warrant issued for a Baltimore man on similar charges. Police said on Monday just after 11:30 a.m., officers went to Sleep Inn in the 6000 block of Belle Grove Road for a report of an unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Synthetic marijuana ranked in the top three substances abused by the nation's high school students in 2012, according to a new report compiled by the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland, College Park . The drug -- herbs treated with chemicals designed to mimic the effects of marijuana -- ranked third next to alcohol and marijuana, which 57 percent and 39 percent of students in grades nine through 12...

A group of alleged Black Guerrilla Family members met last December to discuss a robbery with a confidential source, who, unbeknownst to them, was working with the Drug Enforcement Administration. The price of cocaine in Baltimore City at that moment was "high" at $40,000 per kilogram, agents wrote in court documents, making the proposed robbery "especially lucrative. " "Coke price [is] high and everything, but a better price is free," the source told the group. In a more recent court document, however, that estimate had tumbled by 30 percent.

Let me start with this: If not for the absurd war on drugs — by far, the nation's longest war — we would not have had so many killings on the streets of Baltimore over the years. The United States leads the world in incarceration. Without the war on drugs, thousands of men and women would be home with their families instead of in cellblocks; they might even be employed. There would be less social dysfunction and community upheaval. There would be less crime overall. If not for the war on drugs, now in its fifth decade, we would not have gangsters, like the reputed Black Guerrilla Family leaders Eric Brown and Tavon White.

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, who overcame a troubled childhood and a murder conviction to launch an acting career as a drug-gang assassin on HBO's "The Wire," pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to sell heroin. She was sentenced to seven years in prison, with all of the time suspended except for the five months she has already served while awaiting trial, most of it spent at home, under electronic monitoring. She could be sent back to finish the term if she violates probation over the next three years.

Federal authorities announced Tuesday that they had cracked a large suburban Maryland drug organization, arresting 18 people and charging 15 of them with conspiracy to distribute more than a ton of marijuana. According to a federal grand jury indictment, the drug trafficking organization, primarily based in Anne Arundel County, also dealt in cocaine, prescription drugs, steroids and other drugs. Law enforcement officials said they seized at least 30 cars, 60 pounds of marijuana, $300,000 in cash and 35 guns in the investigation.

A Sinai Hospital cardiologist is launching a clinical trial of a type of coronary artery disease drug not yet tested in humans, building on a history at the Baltimore hospital of research to develop more effective treatments to prevent blood clotting. Dr. Paul Gurbel is studying an intravenous drug for patients undergoing cardiac stenting, when mesh tubes are implanted to widen blocked arteries. The drug, known for now as PZ-128, would be given to patients after stent implantation to prevent platelets from sticking together around the device, potentially leading to heart attack.

Linda Fletcher lives in fear of reliving a nightmare: a son dying from a heroin overdose. Her son Kris Klipner succumbed to the drug in 2007. He was 28. Klipner's half-brother battles the same kind of depression as Kris. He suffers the same heroin addiction Kris did. Kirk Fletcher, 29, is in a methadone program to help him avoid the drug. He says he has his addiction under control. But he understands his mother's fear that it will return - just as his brother's did. Linda Fletcher is hopeful that some relief is on the way. New legislation, pushed by Fletcher and other parents, backed by the state health department and passed unanimously this year by both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly, creates a statewide program allowing family members of addicts to be prescribed and trained in administering Naloxone.