The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "club drugs" ...
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War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City
The hour-long documentary War Zone: The Destruction of an All-American City takes an unprecedented look at the impact of corruption on the East St. Louis, Illinois area, one of the poorest and most violent communities in America. The program was broadcast twice during prime time; Tuesday night at 8 pm on August 28, and the following Saturday night at 7 pm. This project was the result of an ongoing decade-long probe of government waste, corruption, police misconduct, and violence in East St. Louis and the surrounding villages by investigative reporter Craig Cheatham. Our documentary begins with a detailed look at police misconduct and corruption, how it has contributed to the breakdown of public safety in the East St. Louis area, and why local politicians tolerated such outrageous behavior by their officers. The second part of our documentary focuses on the impact of derelict and vacant housing, the slumlords who own the property and the people who live in some of the worst housing in the metro area. Our investigation also uncovered new connections between politicians and legendary slumlord Ed Sieron, who was business partners with a longtime mayor. In addition, KMOV revealed that of the 500 mostly rundown properties that Sieron owns in East St. Louis, only 13 were cited for code violations. That lack of accountability for the notorious slumlord, empowered him and made the people living in his homes feel powerless. War Zone also exposes the way East St. Louis communities have sold their economy to vice-driven businesses like strip clubs, liquor stores, a casino, and convenience marts that had a long history of selling illegal synthetic drugs. Our investigation found that nearly all of these businesses failed to employ a significant number of East St. Louis residents, even though they received millions of dollars in tax incentives that are paid by East St. Louis residents. At the same time East St. Louis is handing out tax breaks to wealthy out-of-town businessmen, it repeatedly refused to provide the same tax incentives for local residents who wanted to create family friendly businesses that would employ people living in the East St. Louis area.
Tags: government corruption; police misconduct; violence; politicians; community; local business
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Crime Magnets
This investigation used FBI Uniform Crime Report data to show that most of the crime in Tucson occurs in the North side of the city. The violence -- which can be explained by a combination of poverty, prostitution, drug dealing and strip clubs -- is so bad that many people choose to move away rather than work to change the situation. The findings contradict the perception that the predominately Hispanic South side of Tucson, where gang violence is prevalent, is the most dangerous area of the city.
Tags: crime; CAR; UCR data; red-light district; neighborhood associations; police; crime control. statistics
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The Street Fight for Reading's future; Club rocked by violence, drugs typifies city's problem; Growing up according to the code of the streets; Students voices on violence; Two Reading shootings
This set of stories reveals the increasing number of deaths due to shootings in Reading. As the reporters find out, most of these killings are caused due to rampant drug pedalling in the area and very often teenagers are victims of these crimes.
Tags: crime in Reading; crime and drugs; Drugs; shootings; gunfire
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Town Tries to Police the Parents
"Like many other communities, St. Clair Shores, Mich., responded to increasing teen crime by passing a 'parental-responsibility' ordinance. But the first prosecution is raising troubling questions." The Times delves into the case of a father charged with abdicating his parental responsibility. His teenage son was smoking dope and drinking in the house, stealing from neighbors and even the local church. However, a closer look revealed a mild-mannered father who had lost control of his son. Once the son, who at 6' tall towered over his father, began using drugs, he gradually became more violent to the point where he essentially took control of the household. His parents lived in fear of their son, and the father even had to call the police after one incident where the boy gouged his eyes and threatened him with a golf club. Given such circumstances, the article examines whether the father truly deserved punishment by the city for being an irresponsible parent, and looks at the larger issue of whether such 'parental ordinances' can really work at all.
Tags: parent; parental responsibility; ordinances; morality; St. Clair Shores; prosecution; violence
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The suburbs hidden scourge
The Daily Herald examines the quiet infiltration of heroin and "club drugs" into Chicago's western and northwestern suburbs. Their investigation found that heroin and club drugs such as ecstasy and meth were responsible for the deaths of 13 suburban teens and young adults. Parents in many of the communities were unable to spot the drug usage before it was too late; while authorities are unable to stop the flow of drugs into the suburbs because the source of many of the drugs is unknown. The series deals with how teens and young adults by and get hooked on drugs as well as the effect it has on their families. The reporters also look into the efforts being made at stopping the drug influx and how teens are rehabilitated.
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I Want A New Drug
The New Times reports on the growing use of the euphoria inducing drug GHB. It's use as a recreational drug is expanding beyond the rave and club scene. And while it does not have the prominence of cocain, heroin, pot or ecstasy, it has lead to a number of deaths. GHB is especially dangerous when mixed with alcohol or other drugs.
Tags: GHB
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Bad Research Clouds Death Reports
"An analysis by the Orlando Sentinel "found glaring mistakes in research by the Office of Drug Control in its campaign to spotlight the dangers of so-called 'rave' drugs. Its official tally of rave-drug deaths reached 254. But blaming that many deaths on the club scene was grossly misleading. The state's research included dozens of errors." Among those lumped in with state's tally: terminal cancer patients; senior citizens who took painkillers under doctor's supervision; a four-year-old who died from medicine intended to treat a headache. In an effort to combat designer-drugs, "the drug office asked the state Medical Examiners Commission to send reports on every death from 1997 through 1999 that tested positive for any of 20 listed drugs." But a number of drugs found in people were not typical 'rave drugs'.
Tags: drugs; death; Office of Drug Control; rave drugs; National Institute on Drug Abuse; Medical Examiners Commission; medical examiners; Drug Information Center; designer drugs; death report; Rohypnol; MDMA; GHB; club drugs; Florida Office of Drug Control
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A Prayer for Tina Marie
GQ Magazine reports on Tina Marie Cornelius, "who will serve a lifetime in a Texas prison for the unthinkable crime she committed on the night of April 14, 1999." Cornelius kissed her 3 year-old daughter and 2 year-old son, told them she loved them and then threw them off a limestone ridge into a creek below. "Over the course of the next five days, she was dancing for tips with her clothes off, smoking pot at a reggae festival, dining at a yacht club, snorting speed and sleeping with three different men." Through an interview with Cornelius, the article reveals her rampant lifestyle and reports on the aftermath of killing her children- living out her days as inmate number 905058.
Tags: prison; murder; children; prostitution; sexual abuse; drugs
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Justice Denied
After the death of an innocent paperboy in a feud between motorcycle gangs, the deaths of seven others followed to protect the killers. Milwaukee Magazine tracks the developments of this unsolved case from 1974 into the present. This investigation examines a series of unsolved murders, allegedly linked to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, whose "Milwaukee chapter ... gained notoriety during the late 1960s, growing out of the Chicago chapter and establishing a criminal presence as drug traffickers and car thieves." The story describes how a bomb - decorated like a Christmas present and left in the car of the president of a rival motorcycle club - killed an innocent paperboy in 1974. The report details several more "Outlaws murders" in the 1970s and the 1980s. The investigation alleges that the unsolved murders have been acts of retaliation. It reveals that "police say they know the killer," but no one has been prosecuted. The report sheds light on the police investigators' suspicions that "their years of police work were discarded by Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher..."
Tags: police; money and politics; gangs; detectives; drugs; firearms; theft; automobiles; courts; unsolved murder; motorcycle club
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Half an Ounce of Healing
This article examines WAMM, "the first medical marijuana club in the country to be granted non-profit status." WAMM, or the Wo/Man's Alliance for Medical Marijuana, helps to distribute marijuana to the desperately ill. "The club is strict about membership, admitting only the very sick, an d only those with a written recommendation from a doctor."
Tags: WAMM; drugs; marijuana; medical marijuana; illness; health