Drug Overdose

Bathed in colorful lights and swathed in banners, including one featuring Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, the Superdome seems to have been polished to a fine sheen for Sunday's Super Bowl. But underneath the festive atmosphere linger the ghosts of Katrina. "It happens to me all the time, sometimes late at night or when I'm here alone," said Doug Thornton, who manages the Superdome. "I'll walk by one place and I'll remember an image of a person. And it will haunt me. " Super Bowl XLVII will bring happy hordes of fans, celebrities and VIPs to the domed stadium that for one misery-filled week in 2005 was the refuge of last resort for some 30,000 residents seeking shelter from Hurricane Katrina.

In Baltimore City Man in police custody dies of apparent drug overdose A 29-year-old Northwest Baltimore man died in city police custody of a suspected drug overdose early yesterday after being arrested on drug possession charges, authorities said. Daric Bishop of the 5600 block of Woodmont Ave. died at Sinai Hospital about 12:40 a.m. Police said they believe Bishop swallowed drugs during or before his arrest. Bishop was arrested after he swerved a BMW in front of officers trying to pull over a Nissan Pathfinder about 10:15 p.m. Wednesday in the 4800 block of Beaufort Ave., police said.

Baltimore Police have launched a criminal investigation into Friday's in-custody death of a 46-year-old man in East Baltimore, who police initially said was believed to have died from choking on drugs.  Relatives of the man and eyewitnesses have come forward to say the man, identified by family as Anthony Anderson, was assaulted by police. Police confirmed that they have interviewed those witnesses, and say a preliminary autopsy shows that the man did not die from choking on drugs.  However, they the medical examiner has not yet determined whether he died from a drug overdose or some other type of injury.

Just when we all needed a little boost for the holidays, Richard Nixon has come through for us.The Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda, Calif., has just sent out its new catalog.And among the usual array of books, tie tacks, cuff links and porcelain dishes, is the truly bizarre:"Elvis Has Been Spotted -- He's At Nixonland!" the catalog crows.Nixonland?Never mind. This is the age of marketing, and the Nixon Library knows a good thing when it sees it.And so it offers posters, postcards, watches and T-shirts all featuring one of the most unusual photographs in the National Archives:The Oval Office meeting between Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley.

At a rousing interfaith breakfast yesterday, the national leader of the "One Church-One Addict" program and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend called on more Baltimore congregations to "adopt" a drug addict on the road to recovery.The Rev. George Clements, a priest who won a MacArthur Foundation "genius" award for his social activism in Chicago, founded the program in 1994 as part of a White House offensive against drug use. Maryland and his home state of Illinois were the first to have pilot programs in which religious congregations volunteer to help people out of the quicksand of addiction.

A Manchester Town Council committee wants to launch a drug-prevention program and include children in the effort.Borrowing ideas from national and local drug-prevention programs, the Community Projects Committee wants local Boy Scouts, church groups and the Little League to help spread the message, said Councilman Joseph Jordan, a committee member.Although Manchester is small, committee members are concerned about drug problems such as those in larger communities such as Westminster, where a 15-year-old boy died of a drug overdose last month.

CITY DWELLERS and suburbanites often see each other through smudged lenses. Their vision is clouded by preconceived notions of what life is like for people who live in neighborhoods different from their own.Extreme views of the city as drug-infested amalgams of poverty are as wrong as depictions of suburbs as tidy villages without fault.In reality, city and suburb are as alike, in some respects, as they are different. Disregard the differences in housing styles and population densities. Both are populated by ordinary people.

Carrie Fisher is in town for a run of her one-woman show, "Wishful Drinking," at the Hippodrome , and fans will have a couple of chances to chat with her, courtesy of the Baltimore County Public Library. Fisher was born to Hollywood stars Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and played Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies. But her life has been filled with challenges, including depression and addiction. Thursday, February 2nd, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m., she'll discuss her books "Wishful Drinking" and "Shockaholic," at the library's Towson Branch.

A Taneytown mother's statements to police after she led them to the body of her 4-month-old daughter in August can be used against her, a Carroll County judge said yesterday.Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. ruled that because Lisa E. Ruby, 20, was handcuffed did not mean she was under arrest. Her taped confession and other statements made to state police are admissible as evidence at her trial, which is scheduled next month, he said.Burns said state police acted properly -- at first handling Ruby's case as a suspected drug overdose before finding the body of Tabitha Leann Meekins -- during their investigation.

Concerned about three recent drug overdose deaths, including that of a 15-year-old Westminster High School student, a group of Carroll County residents has begun clamoring for stiffer penalties against juvenile drug offenders.The concern has spurred community meetings with state and local police, educators, the state's attorney's office and Junction Inc., a Westminster-based drug abuse treatment and prevention center.Activists who have formed Residents Against Drugs (RAD), a citizen organization that lobbied Wednesday in Annapolis for tougher drug laws, complain that police aren't doing enough to keep drugs out of the county and that, too often, juvenile offenders are given a slap on the wrist and allowed to return to school.