From: [s--ff--d] at [ux1.cso.uiuc.edu] (Gale)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: Article:  Kevin Elders surrenders
Date: 31 Dec 1993 00:06:33 GMT

Here's a transcript of an article from clari.news.law.drugs  ... might help
settle some debates.
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	LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (UPI) -- The son of U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn
Elders surrendered Monday to face a charge that he sold an eighth of an
ounce of cocaine to an undercover detective for $275, police said.
	Police issued the warrant for Kevin Maurice Elders, 28, last
Wednesday, two weeks after his mother -- the nation's top health official
-- suggested the government study legalization of drugs as a way to
reduce crime.
	Kevin Elders, accompanied by his lawyer, surrendered at 8:30 a.m. to
narcotics officers in Little Rock. He was released after posting a $2,
500 bond, Lt. Charles Holladay said. He will enter a plea at an
arraignment Feb. 22.
	``On July 29, 1993, members of the narcotics division working in an
undercover capacity along with a reliable confidential informant met Mr.
Elders in Boyle Park in Little Rock,'' Holladay said.
	``Mr. Elders sold one-eighth ounce of cocaine valued at $275'' to the
undercover officers, he said.
	A conviction would carry a sentence of 40 years to life in prison,
Holladay said. Elders has no prior police record, he said.
	The surgeon general's spokesman was not immediately available for
comment on the incident.
	A spokesman for Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala
said the secretary had no comment on the report about Elders' son. The
surgeon general falls under the authority of the Health and Human
Services Department.
	In an interivew last week with The New York Times, Kevin Elders said
he believed the warrant could ``possibly'' be retaliation for his
mother's comments on the possible legalization of drugs.
	Holladay said Monday that Elders was ``grasping for a straw'' when he
made the comment to the Times.
	``At the time this happened, narcotics detectives were not even aware
of who he was. Besides, whether he is the son of the surgeon general or
an everyday citizen, the fact is he sold an eighth of an ounce of
cocaine for $275,'' Holladay said.
	Kevin Elders said he learned of the arrest warrant when his mother
called him Friday from Washington, and he said he told her he was
innocent of any drug charges.

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Gale
**These aren't the opinions of CCSO**