New Focus on A Teen Murder Case that Changed Georgia Law

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Jonathan Miller was 15-years-old when he hit 13-year-old Josh Belluardo on the back of the head and that action ended up changing Georgia law. Belluardo died from the blow and Miller was sentenced to life in prison. Miller’s case got national attention because the incident occurred just weeks after the Columbine shootings in 1999. The Atlanta Journal Constitution profiles his case with some remarkable statements from Miller who says he didn’t mean to kill anybody and he shouldn’t have been tried as an adult. He’s now 27-years-old and up for parole in two years. Shortly before Miller’s trial, the state passed stricter laws on teens committing violent crimes, saying teenagers charged with murder should be tried as adults.

Miley Cyrus Bong Video Sparks New Debate About Salvia Drug

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Interest in the hallucinogenic drug salvia exploded this weekend when a video of teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus using salvia hit the Internet Friday. Salvia divinorum is a member of the sage family and users smoke it like a cigarette, chew it, or smoke it in a pipe or bong. It’s legal for adults in the state of California, where Cyrus was videoed inhaling it through a bong. The video comes from TMZ.com. Sales of the substance have tripled since the video went public, according to Fox News.

O.C.G.A. ß 16-13-72 (2010): Dangerous Drugs

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OFFICIAL CODE OF GEORGIA ANNOTATED

Copyright 2010 by The State of Georgia

All rights reserved. *** Current Through the 2010 Regular Session ***

*** Annotations Current Through September 24, 2010 ***

TITLE 16.  CRIMES AND OFFENSES

CHAPTER 13.  CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES

ARTICLE 3.  DANGEROUS DRUGS

Go to the Georgia Code Archive Directory

O.C.G.A. ß 16-13-72  (2010)

ß 16-13-72.  Sale, distribution, or possession of dangerous drugs

Except as provided for in this article, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association to sell, give away, barter, exchange, distribute, or possess in this state any dangerous drug, except under the following conditions:

(1) A drug manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or supplier holding a license or registration issued in accordance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and authorizing the holder to possess dangerous drugs may possess dangerous drugs within this state but may not distribute, sell, exchange, give away, or by any other means supply dangerous drugs without a permit issued by the State Board of Pharmacy. Any drug manufacturer, wholesaler, distributor, or supplier holding a permit issued by the State Board of Pharmacy may sell, give away, exchange, or distribute dangerous drugs within this state, but only to a pharmacy, pharmacist, a practitioner of the healing arts, and educational institutions licensed by the state, or to a drug wholesaler, distributor, or supplier, and only if such distribution is made in the normal course of employment;

(2) A pharmacy may possess dangerous drugs, but the same shall not be sold, given away, bartered, exchanged, or distributed except by a licensed pharmacist in accordance with this article;

(3) A pharmacist may possess dangerous drugs but may sell, give away, barter, exchange, or distribute the same only when he compounds or dispenses the same upon the prescription of a practitioner of the healing arts. No such prescription shall be refilled except upon the authorization of the practitioner who prescribed it;

(4) A practitioner of the healing arts may possess dangerous drugs and may sell, give away, barter, exchange, or distribute the same in accordance with Code Section 16-13-74;

(4.1) A physician in conformity with Code Section 43-34-23 may delegate to a nurse or a physician assistant the authority to possess vaccines and such other drugs as specified by the physician for adverse reactions to those vaccines, and a nurse or physician assistant may possess such drugs pursuant to that delegation; provided, however, that nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to restrict any authority of nurses or physician assistants existing under other provisions of law;

(4.2) A registered professional nurse licensed under Article 1 of Chapter 26 of Title 43 who is employed or engaged by a licensed home health agency may possess sterile saline, sterile water, and diluted heparin for use as intravenous maintenance for use in a home health setting, and such nurse may administer such items to patients of the home health agency upon the order of a licensed physician. The State Board of Pharmacy shall be authorized to adopt regulations governing the storage, quantity, use, and administration of such items; provided, however, nothing in this paragraph or in such regulations shall be construed to restrict any authority of nurses existing under other provisions of law;

(4.3) Possession, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of Salvia divinorum or Salvia divinorum A strictly for aesthetic, landscaping, or decorative purposes;

(5) A manufacturer's sales representative may distribute a dangerous drug as a complimentary sample only upon the written request of a practitioner.

Neighborhood Summit Cries Out for Change: Community Gets Blunt About Teen Crime & School Problems

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Low graduation rates and a teen crime spree in Atlanta brought more than 100 community leaders and concerned citizens together for the Strengthening Families and Communities Summit Thursday. “We need to give love and support to these kids and educate them that anything is possible,” said Evelyn Wynn-Dixon, Mayor of Riverdale, Ga. She was part of a town hall meeting and her words became a theme for the day. Pamela Perkins, ICM Coordinator of the Interfaith Children’s Movement, led the School Dropout Prevention workshop, where she and other attendees got candid about the problems.

“This has to start with community support,” Perkins said. “We have got to come together and make a cohesive effort to help these children succeed in school and graduate.”

The Georgia Department of Education reports the state graduation rate at 75.4 percent.

Atlanta Councilwoman Hit By Crime Has New Ideas About Teen Offenders

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Now that she's a crime victim, Atlanta City Councilmember Cleta Winslow has a lot to say about the four teenage boys arrested for breaking into her home  while she was at a crime prevention meeting Saturday. "What's happened is that the pendulum has swung in the wrong direction," Winslow said. "One of the teen's parents said their child was at home all night. But, he wasn't. Some of the problems start at home."

Vote for the Best Teen Video on Underage Drinking

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High schoolers have produced some pretty creative videos about underage drinking and parent responsibilities. They are posted on  SchoolTube.  The Cobb Alcohol Taskforce is sponsoring a Youth PSA Contest and it’s time for you to vote for your favorite one. The video with the highest number of views will win a $300 prize. There will also be a runner up and a third place winner. Some of these teens have pulled out all the stops.

Why Kids End Up In Jail And What They Have In Common

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About 20 percent of kids in jail are there because of a violent crime and about 69 percent of those kids say they knew their victims. In addition, 44 percent of incarcerated youth were under the influence of alcohol or drugs when committing an offense and about 55 percent committed their current offense with someone else. This information comes from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, which released its latest bulletin called Youth Characteristics and Backgrounds that focuses on the characteristics of young people in jail to better understand the reasons why they’ve offended. The Office looked extensively at jailed kids between 10 and 20 years old. Here are some other fascinating facts:

Although boys on average commit more serious offenses like murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery, girls have been arrested more than boys in the past decade. The majority of kids locked up (51 percent) are 16 or 17 years old.

Hundreds of Young People March on Washington

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Hundreds of young people from Virginia and several other states are rallying in Washington, D.C. today to urge President Obama and Congress to pass legislation that protects children in the juvenile justice system. “Children as young as 14 can be tried as adults in Virginia courts, which is counterproductive,” Liane Rozzell, executive director of Families & Allies of Virginia’s Youth, told the Public News Service. The Justice Policy Institute says the majority of kids in juvenile detention are being held for nonviolent offenses and could be managed safely in the community. The protesters are advocating laws that rely less on putting young people behind bars and more on local and community-based programs.

The Community Justice Network for Youth is also hosting a national conference in D.C. today, according to the Center for Media Justice. Today’s events will launch the Network’s “Week of Action,” to push for reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA).

Common Strategies Actually Do Prevent Teenage Drinking

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Changing the environment of teen parties and places where alcohol is sold can go a long way to stop young people from drinking, according to a new study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The study looked at fourteen large public universities in California between 2003 and 2006. After finding that heavy drinking at off-campus parties was a common problem, tough new policies were put in place and enforced at half the universities, while the other schools were monitored for comparison. Universities that really focused on these strategies had the highest degree of success. Here’s what they used:

Nuisance party enforcement operations.

Free Online Course Teaches Ways to Stop Alcohol Sales to Teens

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There’s a new, online training course on how to reduce underage alcohol sales by conducting compliance investigations of alcohol retailers. The course is free and offered by Fox Valley Technical College's Underage Drinking Enforcement Training Center. The course, Conducting Compliance Check Operations, is four hours long and provides rationales for investigating establishments that sell alcohol. If you take the course, you’ll be able to:

Understand issues related to underage drinking and how retailers make alcohol available to teens. Implement step-by-step guidelines for carrying out compliance investigations.