| Rockland schools for substance abuse counselors merge
Two Rockland schools that train students to become credentialed alcohol and substance abuse counselors have merged. The CASAC School of the Rockland Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Dependence and the Addiction Counselors Training Program of Rockland County will now operate as the Rockland Chemical Dependency Studies Institute out of the new Haverstraw Center in Haverstraw. "We've had two competing agencies that are now bringing together the finest leaders and instructors in the field under one roof," said Debbie Maidman, operations manager of the new school. "They are coming together with the same mission, the same focus." Accredited counselors who graduate from the school work in outpatient and inpatient treatment centers, the criminal justice system, schools, department of social services and department of transportation evaluations, rehab and halfway houses.
Woman pleads guilty to purse thefts
A 23-year-old woman pleaded guilty in Circuit Court yesterday to stealing purses at churches in Makiki and Manoa earlier this year. Kellyn Cabral pleaded guilty to second-degree robbery, two counts of second-degree burglary and second-degree theft in connection with incidents at Makiki Christian Church, St. Pius X Church and St. Francis School. She faces up to 10 years in prison. Circuit Judge Richard Pollack granted Cabral supervised release on the condition that she heads directly to the Salvation Army Addiction Treatment Services from Oahu Community Correctional Center for drug treatment. ATS is a residential program in Nuuanu where Cabral is required to undergo drug treatment for a minimum of nine months. She needs the help that ATS can provide for her, said her attorney, Myles Breiner, outside the courtroom.
Sanjay Dutt: Some hits, many misses
Mumbai, July 31 (IANS) The many trials and tribulations in the life of Sanjay Dutt, who was sentenced to six years' rigorous imprisonment in the 1993 Mumbai bombings case: 1959: Sanjay is born to Sunil and Nargis Dutt. 1964: Leaves for Lawrence School, Sanawar, in Himachal Pradesh. 1981: Mother Nargis Dutt dies after long battle with cancer soon after his debut release 'Rocky'. 1982: Second release 'Vidhaata' hits the screens amid talk of Sanjay's drug addiction. 1986: Sanjay's first big hit 'Naam', released after his return from a drug rehabilitation centre in Texas, US. 1987: Marries actress Richa Sharma. 1989: Daughter Trishala is born. 1990: Blockbuster 'Thanedar' with Madhuri Dixit.
Cocaine in Charleston | Shock and Aww, Not Again: Charleston's white-collar coke scene back in the spotlight
"Sarah," a former white-collar worker at a major Peninsula employer, recalls stopping by an after-hours party not long ago to sober up. Collapsing on a large coach with some friends and acquaintances, she looked around and saw just how prevalent cocaine was in the Charleston party scene. "Each person on the sofa had their own bag of coke," she says. In June, local millionaire developer and recently-elected State Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was indicted on charges that he distributed cocaine to his friends. It would be tragic if it wasn't so darn familiar. Ravenel's story mirrors a cocaine bust involving three Charleston attorneys in 2004 that was bizarrely linked to accusations of cocaine use by Charleston professionals more than 15 years earlier. Coke in Charleston isn't exclusively a white-collar problem, but they're the more elusive users, says Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis.
Suspicion surrounds needle-exchange program
TOO BAD New Jersey had to fall under the spell of needles as a remedy for the spread of AIDS. I applaud state officials who held out to the last for not caving in to the mistaken belief that giving out clean needles is doing addicts a favor. The argument persists that sterile needles lower the chance of addicts contracting AIDS from sharing needles contaminated with the virus from someone else's blood. But so many other problems go unaddressed. If the state is spending money on the problems of addicts, psychological counseling and many other services would give them a better sense of their own value and also make them part of society. That's the wiser course of action. Needles do just the opposite, prolonging their alienation and their status as outcasts and dope fiends.
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