Heroin: From Shore to Shore, Maryland’s Black Plague of Death

DENTON, MD. — Heroin, the home wrecker, the heart-stopper, the black ice. For some, the final door to hell.

Maryland officials are scrambling statewide to find a way to reduce heroin use and the crescendo of overdose deaths linked to heroin and to that of a new/old synthetic drug called Molly, which killed two young people at a traveling dope show held last weekend at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Md.

One particularly dangerous version of the toxic drug is a fentanyl-laced heroin.

Heroin was once the province of junkies in the inner city — desperate and degraded, shooting up in alleys and tenements of major cities.

THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY now on newsstands from Glen Burnie to Ocean City

The monthly print edition of THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY can now be found on newsstands all over Maryland. Reaching far beyond the Southern Maryland region, look for THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY in major stores in Prince Georges County, Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Queen Anne County, Talbot County, Worcester and Wicomico on Maryland’s Eastern Shore as well as in Delaware. The print edition will soon be distributed in Northern Neck Virginia as well. Advertisers may reach Larry Jarboe at 240-298-5253 or Ken Rossignol at 301-535-8624.

Maryland’s DUI cops put a dent in death machines of impaired drivers

Since the targeted enforcement program was launched last May, SPIDRE teams have made 6,384 traffic stops resulting in 1,052 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests and 211 criminal arrests. Funded by the Maryland Department of Transportation’s Highway Safety Office, SPIDRE focuses on reducing alcohol related crashes in Maryland by targeting areas across the state with high crash rates involving impaired drivers.

Are your sheds and outbuildings locked? Police report more thefts by drug-crazed heathens in St. Mary’s County

Your lawnmower, riding tractor, roto-tiller or boat motor might be just fine the way you have them arranged in your boathouses, sheds or carports but to druggies, they are a ticket to tonight’s paradise for a cheap dose of crack or heroin. Some thieves take your items to pawn shops or scrap metal dealers.

Here are a few more recent reports from police of those who have become victims of burglars and thieves and in many cases the items were left in unlocked structures.

NEWS 4 I-Team: candidates missing campaign signs might want to volunteer for fines

The I-Team’s review of Maryland State Highway Administration records found government work crews had removed more than 1,600 unlawfully placed road signs in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties over a recent four-month span. Crews pulled 450 more from state roads in Frederick, Howard and Carroll counties. Those signs include a large number of campaign advertisements, according to a state spokesman.

Once removed by crews, the campaign signs are deposited in storage areas at state garages. News4 I-Team cameras captured images of hundreds of signs piled near a salt dome at the state garage in Upper Marlboro. Advertisements for local and state candidates, including candidates from both parties, were among those retrieved.