NEW CHIEF DA BACKS DRUG BILL

GUNTERSVILLE - As newly elected president of the Alabama District
Attorneys Association, Marshall County District Attorney Steve
Marshall said he will help promote legislation making it a felony for
pregnant women to take illegal drugs.

Marshall said a bill was introduced last year by state Rep. Jeff
McLaughlin, D-Guntersville, but failed to become law. He said
McLaughlin will reintroduce the bill, which calls for any woman who
gives birth to a child who tests positive for an illegal drug to be
charged with child abuse.

"There are a number of children already testing positive for
controlled substances," Marshall said Wednesday. The legislation, if
enacted, would help reduce that number, he said.