Charleston Daily Mail: Short takes, Sept. 29, 2012
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- TODAY is Take Back Drug Day, when citizens are asked to turn in their unused prescription drugs to law enforcement officials.
On April 28, officials collected 276 tons of unused medications across the nation, said U.S. District Attorney Booth Goodwin.
"Even if you do not know someone who has been hurt directly, prescription drug abuse leads to other crime," Goodwin said. "It is the main cause of thefts and burglaries in southern West Virginia.
"Worse than that, our region has recently seen a wave of terrifying home invasions by prescription drug addicts looking for pills or for money to buy pills. The crisis puts everybody at risk."
Unused prescription drugs will be collected from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at many locations, including the Attorney General's Office at the Capitol; the Foodland parking lot in Kanawha City; State Police offices in South Charleston, Huntington, Oak Hill, Logan, Beckley and Winfield; the Sissonville, St. Albans, Chelyan, Hamlin and Spencer detachments of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department; the St. Albans police department; and Milton pre-K school.
People who do not need the pills they have should turn them in for everyone's sake.
***
ACCORDING to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Federal Register added another 1,571 pages of regulations of the private sector last week.
Businesses are expected to know what is in every one of those 1,571 pages of regulations, because violations of new rules could result in penalties.
Take the rules on emissions from paper mills:
"The rule for paper mills is only a minor one, costing $5.9 million in capital costs and $2.1 million in recurring costs," the Daily Caller reported.
Only in Washington is requiring industry to jump through another $8 million hoop considered minor.
Maybe the rule is necessary, but shouldn't Congress make that decision through open debate instead of merely publishing this regulation in some obscure publication most of the 315 million citizens of the United States know nothing about?
Requiring congressional action would be less efficient than merely having bureaucrats spit out rules. But deterring over-regulation was one of the intentions of the framers of the Constitution.
***
AS the baby boom generation rides off into the sunset, they bring with them a new set of problems. With aging, for example, come health issues that can affect driving.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- TODAY is Take Back Drug Day, when citizens are asked to turn in their unused prescription drugs to law enforcement officials.
On April 28, officials collected 276 tons of unused medications across the nation, said U.S. District Attorney Booth Goodwin.
"Even if you do not know someone who has been hurt directly, prescription drug abuse leads to other crime," Goodwin said. "It is the main cause of thefts and burglaries in southern West Virginia.
"Worse than that, our region has recently seen a wave of terrifying home invasions by prescription drug addicts looking for pills or for money to buy pills. The crisis puts everybody at risk."
Unused prescription drugs will be collected from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at many locations, including the Attorney General's Office at the Capitol; the Foodland parking lot in Kanawha City; State Police offices in South Charleston, Huntington, Oak Hill, Logan, Beckley and Winfield; the Sissonville, St. Albans, Chelyan, Hamlin and Spencer detachments of the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department; the St. Albans police department; and Milton pre-K school.
People who do not need the pills they have should turn them in for everyone's sake.
***
ACCORDING to the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Federal Register added another 1,571 pages of regulations of the private sector last week.
Businesses are expected to know what is in every one of those 1,571 pages of regulations, because violations of new rules could result in penalties.
Take the rules on emissions from paper mills:
"The rule for paper mills is only a minor one, costing $5.9 million in capital costs and $2.1 million in recurring costs," the Daily Caller reported.
Only in Washington is requiring industry to jump through another $8 million hoop considered minor.
Maybe the rule is necessary, but shouldn't Congress make that decision through open debate instead of merely publishing this regulation in some obscure publication most of the 315 million citizens of the United States know nothing about?
Requiring congressional action would be less efficient than merely having bureaucrats spit out rules. But deterring over-regulation was one of the intentions of the framers of the Constitution.
***
AS the baby boom generation rides off into the sunset, they bring with them a new set of problems. With aging, for example, come health issues that can affect driving.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration wants all states to take action on elderly drivers.
Is that necessary?
About 60 percent of seniors voluntarily restrict their own driving, avoiding nighttime driving or interstates or bad weather, said David Eby of the University of Michigan's Center for Advancing Safe Transportation.
People don't live to be 100 by taking silly risks.
Rather than impose restrictions by age, health should be the deciding factor. States should work with families and doctors to lift the licenses of those whose health problems make them unsafe at any speed.
***
TRADE is a two-way street and America's snack and cereal manufacturers are working to sell their products in China.
General Mills has a joint venture with Nestle called Cereal Partners Worldwide, which sells breakfast cereals in China. Kellogg sells Frosted Flakes, Special K and Rice Krispies in China.
Pringles, now owned by Kellogg, is sold in more than 140 countries. But Frito-Lay may have the edge, as it offers flavors that appeal to Chinese palates. That includes seafoods that vary by region and such foreign flavors as Italian Ham and Texas Steak.
It is good to see U.S. cereal and snack makers - among the best marketers around - adapt and change to vie for the Chinese market, which is four times as large as the U.S. market.
***
THE U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold West Virginia's congressional districting included a mild rebuke of technological advances.
The court upheld a 1983 decision that said keeping counties whole in a congressional district is a fair rationale for not making each district have exactly the same number of people.
"Despite technological advances, a variance of 0.79 percent results is no more (or less) vote dilution today than in 1983, when this Court said that such a minor harm could be justified by legitimate state objectives," the court ruled.
That is a good call. Technology should help Man, not rule him.
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