Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Not the strongest anti-drug message I've heard
Remember the brave woman taken hostage by the courthouse murderer who managed to talk her way out of captivity and eventually help direct police to his capture? Well, MSNBC follows up and finds her now plugging her story as a book with a surprising anti-drug twist:
If you really, really liked this -- or even really, really hated it -- there's lots more:
It's still an amazing story of courage under pressure, and I certainly don't mean to criticize her, especially as she has taken hold of this as an opportunity to deal with the problem. I'm just not sure drug-addicted readers will recognize her story as a cautionary anti-drug tale so much as advice to keep a supply of crystal meth on hand while doing your best not to use it.
Ashley Smith, the woman who says she persuaded suspected courthouse gunman Brian Nichols to release her by talking about her faith, discloses in a new book that she gave him methamphetamine during the hostage ordeal.
Smith did not share that detail with authorities at the time. But investigators said she came clean about the drugs when they interviewed her months later. They said they have no plans to charge her with drug possession.
In her book, 'Unlikely Angel,' released Tuesday, Smith says Nichols had her bound on her bed with masking tape and an extension cord. She says he asked for marijuana, but she did not have any, and she dug into her illegal stash of crystal meth instead.
Smith, a 27-year-old widowed mother who gained widespread praise for her level-headedness, says the seven-hour hostage ordeal in March led to the realization that she was a drug addict, and she says she has not used drugs since the night before she was taken captive.
