Source: Al Gore's Son Had 140 Vicodin Pills

[babsbunny]

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20047643,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines


FRIDAY JULY 20, 2007 06:00 PM EDT

By Ken Lee

Al Gore III


Al Gore's son was charged with felony drug-possession charges and lesser offenses related to his July 4 speeding stop, authorities said Friday. And a law enforcement source tells PEOPLE that Gore had 140 Vicodin pills and "dozens" of other prescription drugs.

If convicted on all charges, Albert Gore III faces up to three years and eight months in prison. But state law makes him eligible for a drug diversion program instead of incarceration, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.

His arraignment is set for Aug. 1 in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Gore, 24, was pulled over south of Los Angeles in a blue Toyota Prius around 2:15 a.m. July 4 for allegedly driving more than 100 mph.

[Colobo]

1. Not good at all for Gore III.

[proud patriot]

2. Dang prius was going over 100 MPH

:wow:

[Unreconstructed Lib]

5. Doesn't that break the record for the Prius?

I read, somewhere, that Toyota claims the top speed for a Prius is 96 mph.

[Psephos]

7. You mean for mph or for number of Vicodins found inside one? n/t

[proud patriot]

15. That's what I was thinking

:)

[Maq]

18. maybe he was doing SPEED like the truckers

piss poor joke, as I don't even know what speed is. laugh anyway.

Toyota could increase the top speed of a Prius if they will issue some pills. suggestion......

[KoKo]

11. This is from "People Magazine" Time-Warner." You wanna believe this?

Like who might be counting the pills...like were the pills really there ....like maybe the kid needs help but if he was a Repug Kid...it would be covered up. :shrug:

We might not know the "truth" of it...from this reporting.

[Colobo]

13. Jeb Bush's daughter wasn't "covered up"

[KoKo]

19. Who is talking about Jeb Bush's Daughter.. This happened to Gore July 4th and article

doesn't really give any new info...

All the article gives is the hearing date and some person who says they "counted the pills in the car." Notice...he wasn't accused of "driving under the influence" or "reckless driving" except for his speed..and how many cops stop cars and accuse drivers of going way over speed limit just to give a ticket. :shrug:

Note article dated July 20th when his son was arrested July 4th. Story didn't get enough "play" over holiday so "People Rag/Mag" had to repost it to make sure the Wingers pick up on it. But, there's no knew info...except some cop says he "counted the number of pills in the car."

FRIDAY JULY 20, 2007 06:00 PM EDT

[Uncle Joe]

41. This reminds me

of the house story, KoKo. Al Gore bought a large, older home in Nashville years ago and has been in the process of updating it and making it more energy efficient. His movie "An Inconvenient Truth" came out last year, The Gannett Corp. owned Tennessean waited until two days after A.I.T. won two Academy Awards, only to come out with their half ass researched front page story that Al Gore's energy bill is higher than the average American's as if this were breaking news! They just couldn't stand the thought of him having good P.R. for any length of time. The corporate media used the same tactics during the run up to the selection of 2000, whenever Al started to pull ahead of Bush.

[libodem]

3. Rehab

before death from an OD or a car wreck. That guy wasn't thinking. This may save his life. Maybe put him on a new track. Good luck.

[razors edge]

He won't serve a day.

The Just Us system will see to it.

[melody]

10. Are you joking? This is Al Gore's son. They probably would like to give him the death penalty

Gore is not one of the Just Us people any longer.

[razors edge]

16. Are you joking?

The hypocrisy level has already pegged and broken off the needle on the old bullshit meter. The courts will use this as a way to show how fair and balanced they are.

The last thing they would do is give Al and Tipper prime time whining about their biased corruption.

[melody]

36. I couldn't disagree with you more for all kinds of reasons

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

[razors edge]

37. OK,

I guess time will tell.

[AndyTiedye]

12. The Diversion Program Is Available to All

as long as it is simple possesion and 1st or 2nd offence.

Proposition 36.

[razors edge]

35. Does prop 36 include

any mention of reckless endangerment in the attempted evasion of an officer of the law preforming his duty? That would seem to be a slight disqualifier in most leniency cases to me.

[Uncle Joe]

42. I haven't read,

they charged him with evading arrest? I have read they charged him with speeding and possession of pot and pills.

[razors edge]

47. Exactly my point.

Do you think that fleeing from police is a lesser offense, given his status? Are such charges against the public at large justified but somehow negated when the offender is rich or famous?

[Uncle Joe]

51. You miss my point

From what I can tell he never fleed the police, he pulled over when they started to chase him.

[razors edge]

52. Then where did

the 100 mph stories come from, and if he was not fleeing but just in a really big hurry, there are still issues.

I'm not watching this story closely enough I'll admit, since I don't see it as a big issue to most people.

:shrug:

[Uncle Joe]

54. Speeding,

has nothing to do with fleeing. I've sped before on the interstate, but I wasn't fleeing from a police officer. From what I recall of the story, it was two or three in the morning, most likely not much traffic on the road, I'm not making excuses for him, but I don't think he should be prosecuted for crimes which he did not commit.

[mitchtv]

30. Calif has a drug diversion plan for first offense

He wasn't charged DUI, I believe. Just Us in Calif is everyone (first timers) I voted for that proposition.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

31. Did you read this part?

"state law makes him eligible for a drug diversion program instead of incarceration, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office"

I despise special treatment for those who have, but in this case it appears the law favors him not serving time.

Having said that, the only thing I hate worse than special treatment for those who have, is putting non-violent drug users in prison.

[razors edge]

33. I don't want to see him go to prison either.

But I have this feeling that if his name was Brown, or Jackson, and he had been caught fleeing the police in a high speed chase with drugs on board while black, we would not be having this conversation. Nor would he be enjoying bail or the mention of a drug diversion plan plan even existing. Isn't a high speed chase with illegal drugs in the vehicle considered to be reckless endangerment, felonious evasion of the law or some such cleverly worded shit that puts you behind bars until sentencing?

Would you feel the same way if Florida had the exact same laws, and in the exact same conditions, they had apprehended Rush Limbaugh with his Oxy-Contin doing 100 miles an hour evading capture?

I don't think that you would be defending Rush with the same veracity, nor would I.

But as long as loopholes remain for the privileged to dance free of these outrages laws, they will continue to be in place and only made worse by those who pretend to protect us by enacting and expanding them for our benefit, when in reality is all a show to get elected as a tough on crime legislator. Edit: as long as they leave an exclusion for themselves or anyone they know from being covered under them.

As long as these laws are imprisoning people without recourse, then all must suffer equally.

Put Gore's boy in a cell directly across from Limbaugh for a year, with all the other first offenders next to them, and let the chips fall where they should have fallen.

I would put them in a cell together, but I think Rush would do something I don't approve of.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

38. I didn't mean it to sound as if you wanted him to go to prison

I can see how what I said could have been taken that way. I assure you that wasn't my intent.

Now as for Rush, yes, I would feel the same way. I'm nothing if not consistent when it comes to my feelings about incarcerating addicts for drug use. I don't think it's the way to deal with the situation. Period. The only exception I make is if they were involved in violent criminal activity. Then they have to do the time for that crime, but I'd still like to see them get real help for the addiction part. Not all people want to stop and change their life, but it's worth it for the lives that can be changed.

The good thing is I feel this should apply to all people no matter their incomes or status.

It's alright if how I feel about this issue annoys you. You won't be the first, you won't even be in the first 100. :)

I also believe that our prisons are clogged with poor and minority drug users that have no business being in there. In many (most?) cases they'd never have to set foot in the doors if they were white or had money/status. If that were the case they'd be sent off to a nice private rehab. Where they recreate and socialize and not even have to utilize the program. A chance that so many poor/minoity people are never offered.

You'd think by now we'd have realized that incarcerating addicts doesn't do a damn thing to fix the problem. That we haven't, for me, is mind boggling and frustrating.

[razors edge]

40. I am in total agreement,

but I see no change in this situation until those who make the rules suffer under them as equals.

Addiction is a bitch. (he types as he lights a cig and opens a beer)

Non violent offenders are choking the jails and costing a fortune, maybe they could replace those missing American farm workers McCain pines for.

[femmocrat]

4. Are they charging him with intent to distribute them?

Or is he claiming they were for his personal use? That is a lot of pills!

[Colobo]

6. It's very probable they try to charge him with distribution given the amount of pills.

[poverlay]

20. I think that's bullshit. My doctor writes an oxy prescription for 120 a month. 140 isn't that

many more. Plus didn't someone say he had some issue such as ADD(example guess) where they always load you up on prescriptions?
I'm just saying that maybe its not as nefarious as they're making it out to be...

[Moloch]

48. Vicodin is a pain medication..

it has nothing to do with ADD.

[KoKo]

21. What happened to Rush Limbaugh over this? Was Gore, jr. dealing at Denny's

and getting his maid to do brown bag deals for him?

[KoKo]

25. Do you believe this report? How do we know the truth of it? n/t

[stillcool]

26. that's not alot of pills...

is it? If I had a script for like one every six hours...that would be like 120 pills for a month? It's not like he had 500 grams of coke, and was a state treasurer or something.

[Unreconstructed Lib]

8. I wonder if he had the stuff in his blood stream.

I haven't followed the story too closely but, if he was high and driving like that, I sincerely hope, for his family's sake and for his own, that he gets some help.

[KoKo]

14. Last I read, they tested him and he was clean....they just found those pills

in the car...and smelled pot when they pulled him over. :shrug: At least that's what I read from articles posted from CA Newspapers posted here on DU.

[Pirate Smile]

17. He wasn't charged with a DUI. He was going 100 but he wasn't

under the influence.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

I wonder what other things will be snooped about this young man. He was speeding and that was all.

yet Republican members of Congress can solicit minors or buy prostitutes and nary a peep.

MKJ

on edit uncovered to snooped.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

28. Dupe.

MKJ

[pinto]

9. Eh. Tabloid news remains the same, just change the names.

Bad move for the kid, though.

[Jillian]

22. He better get off just as easy as Limpo did.

[Peregrine Took]

23. So many times the sons of the successful are messed up. I guess the bar is

so high they feel they can't surpass it and they just give up trying or else their dad's are so hard on them they rebel by becoming law breakers.

I knew the family of a very successful surgeon and the daughters of the family were able to completely skate free of all their many infractions but the sons were held to a much higher, almost unattainable standard and either wouldn't or couldn't meet it so they dropped out and became the family "losers." Very sad, considering the girls were, by their families position, able to marry well and became society doyennes/country club types.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

dupe.

too many open windows. MKJ

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

24. Calling Rush Limbaugh. Weren't you buying from your housekeeper and taking Viagra to the Dominican

Republic under someone else's name?

Oh, that's right, you "carry water" for the right people. MKJ

[FormerDittoHead]

44. Exactly. 100 pills was a few days usage for the pig-man... n/t

[polichick]

27. Lucky he was caught in California nt

[Warren Stupidity]

29. Couple thousand more and he'll be in Limbaugh territory.

So he should be facing similar stiff penalties.

[Feron]

32. Damn.

I hope that this incident will be the catalyst for Gore's son to get sober.

Addiction is a horrible thing and it doesn't discriminate. You can raise your child 'right' and still have that child become an addict.

The Gore family is definitely in my thoughts. I have a family member who is an addict and it is an extremely hard thing to deal with.

[no_hypocrisy]

34. Plea deal.

If he names names -- who sold the pills to him -- he'll get a lesser punishment.

[zulchzulu]

39. All the best to the Gore family to have to go through this zoo cage crap

I hope Al 3 goes through the drug diversion program and fixes up his act. All the best to the Gores.

[1932]

43. I hope he gets the same punishment Rush Limbaugh got.

[Psephos]

45. Me too

Punishing addicts is medieval. And it doesn't even work...which means it's not about correcting dangerous behavior, it's about feeling morally superior to someone who's in a bad place.

Young Gore needs to be clean and sober, not incarcerated.

[AngryAmish]

46. fucking pigs, leave the kid alone

[Vadem]

49. Well, the question is how many Vicodin pills did Rush have...

and still managed to get off with no jail time????? hmmmmmmm????

[MrSlayer]

50. That's quite a bit of dope.

He must have been headed to a rave or something.

[polichick]

53. Anyone know what Al III is up to these days?

Is he out of school? Does he have a job?