Sure, let’s treat prisoners decently, but honey buns?

when one eats junk food and sits on their butt all day they are going to gain weight. Furthermore I take issue with some of what is being touted as fact in other letters.

"GeorgeK is correct in saying that Xanax (Zanex) is legally available by prescription. However - It’s listed by the FDA as a Schedule IV Controlled Substance, because it has a very high potential for addiction. The caveats for Xanax include not being used in combination with other psychoactive drugs, like alcohol or marijuana. Therefore, Xanax is also popular with those who enjoy recreational self-medication & is often cited as being among the more frequently abused prescription meds."

There is a BIG difference between addiction and dependence. As one can read below schedule 4 drugs are classified that way due to a potential for abuse, and a chance it may lead to dependence. It is also widely known in the mental health field that much "self-medication" is done for just that-to self medicate because there is some type of disorder, for example anxiety.

Schedule IV drugs
(A) The drug or other substance has a low potential for abuse relative to the drugs or other substances in schedule III.
(B) The drug

Kerry, I have a new nickname for you, I will forever think of you as honeybuns when I look at your beautiful picture.

Your right, you should not be gaining weight in jail or suing the jail because it hurt your eyes to watch the 50 inch plasma TV.

I can see right through your article, you really don't care about some guy gaining weight, your concerned more about a young widow and her family, parents without a son, grandparents without a grandson and the list goes on. Every murder in this country effects at least 25 people. You don't shoot people at your door unless you are involved in criminal activity, so even though a defense lawyer can paint a pretty picture, the young man eating honeybuns in jail and gaining weight was a criminal who became a murderer.

Gee Kerry,
you must be so proud of this piece...

"Frederick insisted that the only illegal drug he used was marijuana. He said his overeating is stress-related, yet conceded that stress on the night of the shooting caused him to vomit several times."
This writer is implying stress should effect us the same regerdless of the situation. Ryan upon learning he killed a cop acted accordingly. Ryan contemplating the end of his freedom, locked in a tiny cell 23 hours a day, bored eating starchy hi carb state food and comissary candy gained wieght as one would expect. I lost a lot of respect for the pilot for printing this article its truly assanine. After reading Kerry Doughrty's other articles I see she's just a fool but the pilot I believe is printing this garbage for shock value. Shame. With the importance of this case for the people and police, It should not be reported in such an inept fashion. The special prosecutor has done enough to hurt the trust of the people w/out the medias help.

Don't the police have something better to do then worry about some guy growing a few plants in his garage?

I would feel safer if more people where smoking pot and drinking less. They wouldn’t get off the couch.

How is pot different from Xanax or Valium besides the fact you can grow it yourself.
And probably safer than anything the FDA approves now

Did Mr. Fredrick have health insurance and the money to pay for medication?
What would happen if he didn't smoke pot??
What would happen if people didn't have Xanax or Valium?

What would happen if the government focused on the real criminals Wall Street and pharmaceutical executives?

Defense
Could this be a direct result of our National Health insurance or lack of, crisis?

Beats the weight argument..Don't insult us this was a terrible horrible consequence of a system that doesn't work or provide everyone with the same medical treatment care needed

An article states facts...who, what, when, where, how....

A designated column allows the writer to add opinion, wit, sarcasm, etc.

My statements were not intended to make myself appear or feel "smart" but might help some readers/posters in understanding Dougherty's leeway.

A little edification never hurt anyone.

naaaa..

FEELING smart and BEING smart are two different things.

Now, THAT's splittin' hairs for ya. (wink)

Just to let the Prosecution know and anyone else that believes anything in this article. I have known Ryan for about 17 years and he has always been the little guy. He was always active with gardens and yard work. So maybe being in a jail cell 23 hours a day and eating pastries would cause you to gain weight! This case has gone really bad and shows they don't have no case at all when they have to bring up his weight. See you soon Ryan

I guess Kery never learned that some depressed people eat, and eat while others don't eat at all. It's different from person to person. He had access to "honey buns", Kerry. I find the article in bad taste.

Wow - thanks for splitting hairs with "article" vs. "column". Don't you feel smart now.

GeorgeK is correct in saying that Xanax (Zanex) is legally available by prescription. However - It’s listed by the FDA as a Schedule IV Controlled Substance, because it has a very high potential for addiction. The caveats for Xanax include not being used in combination with other psychoactive drugs, like alcohol or marijuana. Therefore, Xanax is also popular with those who enjoy recreational self-medication & is often cited as being among the more frequently abused prescription meds.

We can all vent our anger & rage at "THE SYSTEM" - Or theorize about who’s conspired with whom - Or who’s been paid-off to say what. But come the end of the day, a young man is DEAD. Another young man is on trial, in front of a Judge & a Jury of his peers, for having pulled the trigger of the gun which caused that death. This Is As It Should Be.

Like it or not . . . The Universe continues to unfold as it should. Period.

"This column was very disappointing. I expected better from the witty Kerry Dougherty..."

Well..... at least you're HALF right..... LOL!!

I actually thought of a word which rhymed with "witty" when I first read her esteemed column.

This column was very disappointing. I expected better from the witty Kerry Dougherty. Why do you suppose he gained weight? Besides the lack of exercise, he also was probably in the depths of depression. I'm sure he will have to live every day with the fact that he killed someone's husband and father, and it is not at all surprising that he would turn to food for comfort. Those comments about his weight gain were really mean spirited and uncalled for. I hope you will not write any more columns about weight gain--stick to your pit bull crusade.

Oh, great.

My wife and I, through careful dieting, have each lost a substantial amount of weight over the last four months.

Applying the prosecutors and Kerry's logic, now I have to worry that some Confidential Informant will notice our weight loss and the police will come crashing through my door looking for a meth lab.

Hey, its no more crazy than the prosecutor's case.

I am usually a fan of Kerry's column, but in this case giving her credit for supporting the prosecutor's public humiliation of Frederick for gaining weight and trying to use weight gain as a tag for heavy drug use is pretty much the same as crediting the KKK for promoting dialogue on race relations.

i wish you would move to jersey, after all, thats where your from isnt it? youre not even a hampton roads local.

I'm not coming to Kerry's defense....oh, no...But I do want to point out that her statements were made in her column, NOT an "article". She has her own column. It's even titled such.

My dad had a similar column in the Pilot back in the 70's. Daddy wrote about feel-good things - things most people might not have been interested in like his family of four daughters, his school Principal wife, running marathons, and his piloting hobby. The difference is, he was always kind.

But his, like Dougherty's, was a column....NOT an article.

As long as she's given this venue, she's going to write. And, in her case, she's going to make people angry.

Let's face it. Kerry's schtick is all about graceless candor.
Rush Limbaugh (ick) does it. Ann Coulter (ick) does it. Bill Mahyer does it. It's what they do. They make statements nobody else dares to make. It's edgy, unpopular, and polically incorrect (pardon the pun). People may think these things but, out of respect for those who are suffering, especially in this case, they don't dare say them.

Kerry invades and bombards boundaries we've established in the niceties of society. She irritates me but fortunately for her, this is America.

And so it is.

Since the readers have pummeled Kerry mercilessly over her opinions about the Ryan Frederick trial. I’ll point out her wrong facts. Kerry says, “…then chased the pot with an anti-anxiety drug” He took the legally prescribed anti-anxiety drug 4 HOURS after the bong hits. Her use of the word “chased” is just to make Frederick look as bad as possible. Kerry says, “The testimony of sketchy witnesses.” The truth is the prosecution is using jailhouse snitches so horrifically worthless that other PROSECUTORS have testified about that for the defense.

If you consume 100 more calories a day than you burn, you will gain 10lbs a year.

I looked up the calories in a honey bun: it's a whopping 400 calories. If he's consuming these with any kind of regularity, and sitting around all day, it really wouldn't be that difficult to gain 60lbs.

And, seriously, I fail to see how this has any bearing whatsoever on his guilt or innocence!!!