Drug Abuse

PALISADES PARK, N.J. - A month before his controversial order to honor the late Whitney Houston by flying flags at half-staff, Gov. Christie rejected a bill that would have required the deaths of active New Jersey service members to be reported to local and county leaders to ensure a similar show of respect. Despite unanimous support from Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature, the Republican governor let the measure die by not signing it. That's known as a pocket veto. The bill is of renewed interest because of outrage that followed Christie's order to fly flags in the state at half-staff last Friday, the day before the New Jersey pop star's funeral.

Should flags fly at half-staff to mark the death of Whitney Houston? That question has become the center of the latest Internet-inspired storm cloud to hover over Gov. Christie. Christie announced Tuesday at a news conference that U.S. and New Jersey flags would be lowered for one day - Saturday, the day of Houston's funeral - to honor a New Jerseyan who was "an important part of the cultural fabric of this state. " As word spread via social media, response was fast and often furious.

The story is familiar. Beautiful, talented singer, actor, dancer, and on down the list, succumbs in a tragic likely accident that may have involved drug abuse. Whitney Houston was added to that roll call Saturday. She was 48. Like so many others, she is gone too soon, and yet she will always be with us. Almost from the time the little girl from Newark opened her mouth in song, it was clear she would one day be a star. And why not, given her lineage? Gospel great Cissy Houston was her mother, pop music icon Dionne Warwick her aunt, and the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, her godmother.

On the front lines of the real war on drugs in New Jersey, people are heartened by five words in Gov. Christie's State of the State address. "The disease of drug abuse" was the phrase the governor used in proposing mandatory addiction treatment in cases of nonviolent drug-related offenses. "The governor gets it," says Stephanie Loebs, vice president of treatment services at Seabrook House Inc., a rehabilitation center in Cumberland County that has helped addicts and alcoholics recover for nearly 40 years.

Jamie Moyer may no longer be a Phillie, but he has left a part of himself with this city that will have a positive impact on its youth long after he steps away from baseball. Philadelphia is one of three cities the Moyer Foundation calls home. Created by Moyer and his wife, Karen, the foundation funds programs that help children handle stress, including the Camp Erin program for children mourning the death of a parent or close relative, and the Camp Mariposa program for children with substance abuse in the family.

TRENTON - More than five years after New Jersey passed a law to start tracking prescription drug use, the state will launch a database to monitor use of dangerous drugs with the intent of helping doctors spot abusers more quickly and authorities stop drug dealers. The database, which has been collecting information since Sept. 1, contains more than four million prescriptions. Starting this month, doctors and pharmacies, including mail-order operations, can access detailed patient information on prescriptions for painkillers, steroids, sedatives, and stimulants.

The Rev. Maurice Chase, 92, who for three decades drove to the most desperate neighborhoods in Los Angeles and gave out crisp, new one-dollar bills along with a handshake and a blessing, died Nov. 20 of cancer at his home in Los Angeles. In a Notre Dame hat and a red sweater over his clerical collar, Father Dollar Bill, as he was known, cut a popular figure with the homeless of Skid Row. Hundreds would gather each week to await his arrival, forming a line that sometimes stretched four blocks.

WHEN VINCE FUMO entered a Philadelphia courtroom yesterday for resentencing, he looked every bit the aging con he is. His hair, more white than gray, was disheveled, and he had grown a beard. A facial tic seemed more pronounced than it was two years ago. He wore prison green jumpers with blue sneakers. He had gained 10 pounds since being incarcerated 26 months ago. For much of yesterday's proceedings, Fumo sat at the defense table, his head hung, at times looking almost devoid of hope.

To encourage the safe disposal of prescription drugs and prevent drug abuse, the third National Prescription Drug Take Back will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 29, with more than 380 collection spots throughout Pennsylvania and Delaware. The two previous Take Backs collected more than 309 tons of pills across the country. In addition to prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, supplements, and pet medication can be dropped off. The collections also protect the environment, since the drugs can reach the water supply when they are flushed down the toilet.