Drugs

Years after his release from prison, Patrick Dewayne Smith of Alabama spends Sundays with his family in a modest brick church with a white steeple in rural Tennessee. He works two jobs. He goes to ball games to cheer for nieces and nephews he had never met. After serving 13 years for a nonviolent drug conviction, he is trying to rebuild his life.

Police in Mississippi continue investigating the deaths of two students attending Ole Miss. Detectives The stimulant powder known as kratom were reportedly found at the locations of both fatalities. Investigators don't know if kratom contributed to either death, but the incidents have helped to put the drug back in the news. Alabama has listed kratom as a Schedule one controlled substance, the same league as heroin and opioids.

Former Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum has been arrested on drug possession charges in Alabama after police say they pulled him over for erratic driving and found marijuana and meth in his vehicle.

Alabama healthcare providers are spreading the word on the dangers of a controlled substance they say doesn’t get as much attention. They’re referring to an anesthetic known as Ketamine.

The NFL suspended Jacksonville Jaguars left tackle Cam Robinson for the first four games of the regular season for violating league policy on performance-enhancing drugs. A second-round pick from Alabama in 2017, Robinson has started 75 games over six seasons in Jacksonville.

Alabama defensive back Tony Mitchell has been sentenced to three years of probation with a fine and community service after pleading guilty to a drug charge in Florida.

Alabama health officials say patients using inject-able medicines for diabetes are working to lose weight, and that’s creating a drug shortage for diabetics.

A multi-day conference seeking to reduce the stigma around substance abuse disorders takes place across Alabama this week. Today’s Stop Judging: Start Healing’s summit stop is in Mobile.

Alabama’s Central Data Repository says over sixteen thousand Alabama residents were treated for substance abuse in 2021. Close to two thousand of those were in Baldwin County. Limited resources also make recovery even harder in south Alabama. Most of the leaders in local recovery have been there themselves.

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (AP) — Police in a coastal Alabama city are investigating after more than $1 million worth of marijuana and cocaine washed…