drug addiction Archives • Alabama Political Reporter

Sewell announces $2 million in federal funding for the Lovelady Center in Birmingham

The Lovelady Center helps break the cycle of incarceration and poverty for women in the Birmingham region.

April 25, 2023

Gov. Ivey awards grant for state prison drug rehabilitation program

The grant funds for the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment course come from the U.S. Department of Justice.

March 30, 2022

Gov. Ivey awards grants for prison programs

Gov. Kay Ivey has awarded two grants to the Alabama Department of Corrections for programs that provide treatment for drug addiction and increase safety. A $495,456 grant will provide a drug treatment program conducted at seven prisons in the state. The program includes education, counseling and urinalysis testing in order to reduce recidivism rates and … Continued

November 20, 2019

Judge Marks and mass incarceration in the Middle District of Alabama

In 2016, together with former colleague Assistant Federal Public Defender Donnie W. Bethel, I wrote, “[p]eople of all persuasions, political parties, and philosophies have awakened to the terrible toll the crises of overcriminalization and mass incarceration have wrought on America.” Then, a year later, highlighting the “criminalization of addiction,” I wrote about Benny King – one of Bethel’s clients – … Continued

September 5, 2019

Alabama House Judiciary Chairman Jim Hill says a “multi-prong” approach needed on prisons

There is a general belief among lawmakers that Gov. Kay Ivey will call a Special Legislative Session sometime in the fall to address the state’s failed prisons. The real need, as many see, is not just building new facilities but also enacting sweeping justice reforms that impact the front end of the prison system. House … Continued

June 12, 2019

Feds indict owners of alleged Moody pill mill

Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted a Springville couple and a prominent Moody doctor on charges they operated a pill mill in Moody, St. Clair County for four years. U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Bret Hamilton and Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Special Agent in Charge Thomas … Continued

August 31, 2018

Sen. Doug Jones co-sponsors bipartisan legislation to address opioid crisis

Tuesday, U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-Alabama) co-sponsored legislation introduced by Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennesee) and Patty Murray (D-Washington), leaders of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee (HELP), which was composed of 40 different proposals, and is the result of seven bipartisan hearings over several months, and feedback from the public. Jones’ office said … Continued

April 18, 2018

House passes bill to increase penalties for Fentanyl trafficking

Thursday, the House passed legislation to increase the penalties for the distribution of Fentanyl. Senate Bill 39 is sponsored by State Senator Cam Ward, R-Alabaster. Weaver said that the biggest problem is the fetanyl is a synthetic opioid being produced in China and Mexico and other countries and then smuggled in to this country. Fentanyl … Continued

March 23, 2018

AL Earned over $4,000 Last Year From Marijuana Tax, Though Practice May Soon End

By Lee Hedgepeth Alabama Political Reporter Since the late 1980s, when states across the US began cracking down on drug use by any means necessary, Alabama has had the legal power to assess a very unusual tax. Namely, a tax on marijuana and other controlled substances that – yes – are illegal. The law, which … Continued

January 20, 2014