Drug abuse

OGDEN — Dea Millerberg took the stand this morning to describe Eric Millerberg twice injecting Alexis Rasmussen with methamphetamine on Sept. 11, 2011, and watching the young girl die.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Heroin, a drug most often associated with the gritty back alleys of big cities, is making a surprising surge in suburban, affluent places.

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill to require drug screening for people receiving public assistance has cleared another key hurdle as it makes its way through the Legislature.

House Bill 155, sponsored by Rep. Brad Wilson, R-Kaysville, was approved on the first reading Wednesday by the Senate and has been moved to the body’s third reading calendar for final review.

ST. LOUIS — A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment — a burden so costly that it’s contributing to the closure of some burn units.

So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining raw, unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. But if the person mixing the noxious brew makes the slightest error, such as removing the cap too soon or accidentally perforating the plastic, the concoction can explode, searing flesh and causing permanent disfigurement, blindness or even death.

Local law enforcement agencies saw a disturbing trend in 2011 of out-of-state crews coming into the area to sell illegal drugs, everything from marijuana and methamphetamine to illegal prescriptions, cocaine and heroin.

"This is just following a national trend that has hit here," said Lt. Darin Parke with the Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force.

LAYTON -- Raymond Joseph Emmett is putting his future in God's hands.

He is charged with first-degree felony aggravated robbery, third-degree felony possession of a dangerous weapon and class A misdemeanor burglary of a vehicle.

FARMINGTON — A judge has continued a sentencing hearing so a man who robbed a Walmart can be screened for a drug program.

On Monday, defense attorney Emily Swenson asked 2nd District Court Judge John R. Morris to consider having Adult Probation and Parole screen her client, Trent Allen Longton, for a drug program, either with Northern Utah Community Correctional Center in Ogden or with Davis County Jail.