"MadDogDave" wrote in message
news:c3dhc2g=.44d703ac51ea9ef5e3d16c8d9499ca9d@106 5097390.cotse.net...
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Rush Limbaugh
in pill probe
By TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, October 2nd, 2003

Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly
buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring.

You'd have to be stoned to spew the fabrications he spins.

I think the guy would do the world a favor by ODing.

He and Bill Bennett. What a pair.

MadDogDave wrote:
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Rush Limbaugh
in pill probe
By TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, October 2nd, 2003

Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly
buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring.

The moralizing motormouth was turned in by his former housekeeper - who
says she was Limbaugh's pill supplier for four years.

Wilma Cline, 42, says Limbaugh was hooked on the potent prescription
drugs OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone - and went through detox twice.

"There were times when I worried," Cline told the National Enquirer,
which broke the story in an edition being published today. "All these
pills are enough to kill an elephant - never mind a man."

Cline could not be reached for further comment yesterday, but her
lawyer, Ed Shohat of Miami, said his client "stands behind the story."

The Daily News independently confirmed that Limbaugh is under investigation.

His lawyers, Jerry Fox and Dan Zachary, refused to comment on the
accusations and said any "medical information" about him was private and
not newsworthy.

They said Limbaugh - who has a top-rated syndicated radio show but
resigned early today from a weekly ESPN football segment amid criticism
of racial comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb
- was traveling and had no comment.

The Palm Beach County state attorney's office, which is running the
probe, said it could not confirm or deny the allegations.

Scoring in parking lot

Cline told the Enquirer she went to prosecutors with information about
Limbaugh and others after four years of drug deals that included
clandestine handoffs in a Denny's parking lot.

She said she wore a wire during her last two deliveries to the
conservative commentator and gave the tapes to authorities.

She also gave the Enquirer a ledger documenting how many pills she
claimed to have bought for him - 4,350 in one 47-day period - and
E-mails she claimed Limbaugh sent her.

In one missive, Limbaugh pushed Cline to get more "little blues" - code
for OxyContin, the powerful narcotic nicknamed hillbilly heroin, she said.

"You know how this stuff works ... the more you get used to, the more it
takes," the May 2002 E-mail reads. "But I will try and cut down to help
out."

The account Cline gave the Enquirer is that she became Limbaugh's drug
connection in 1998, nine months after taking a housekeeping job at his
Palm Beach mansion.

It started after her husband, David, hurt himself in a fall, and
Limbaugh asked how he was.

"He asked me casually, 'Is he getting any pain medication?' I said, 'Yes
- he's had surgery, and the doctor gave him hydro-codone 750,'" Cline
said. "To my astonishment, he said, 'Can you spare a couple of them?'"

Husband's pills

Cline said she gave Limbaugh 10 pills the next day and agreed to give
him 30 of her husband's pills each month. When the doctor stopped
renewing the prescription in early 1999, Limbaugh allegedly went ballistic.

"His tone was nasty and bullying. He said, 'I don't care how or what you
do, but you'd better - better! - get me some more,'" Cline said.

The housekeeper said she found a new supplier and arranged to hide
Limbaugh's stashes under his mattress so his wife, Marta, wouldn't find
them.

After several months, Limbaugh told her he was going to New York for
detox and didn't need any more pills, Cline said.

But a month later, he said his left ear was hurting and asked her for
hydrocodone, followed by an order for OxyContin.

Limbaugh, 52, suffered from autoimmune ear disease, a condition that
left him deaf and had to be corrected with cochlear implant surgery two
years ago.

Cline said she continued to make deliveries to Limbaugh even after she
quit as his housekeeper in July 2001 - but he became increasingly
paranoid, even patting her down for recording devices, she said.

In June 2002, Limbaugh told her he was going to New York for detox a
second time.

After he returned, "I went to talk to him, and he cried a little bit,"
she said. "He told me that if it ever got out, he would be ruined."

She claimed that a lawyer for Limbaugh gave her a payoff - $80,000 he
owed her, plus another $120,000 - and asked her to destroy the computer
that contained the E-mail records.

Soon after, Cline and her husband retained Shohat and contacted prosecutors.

Feeling no pain

The drugs Rush Limbaugh is accused of abusing are legal only with a
doctor's prescription. All are habit-forming.

- Hydrocodone

Anti-cough agent and painkiller similar to morphine. Side effects
include anxiety, poor mental performance, emotional dependence,
drowsiness, mood changes, difficulty breathing and itchiness.

- Lorcet

Brand name for the combination of Tylenol and hydrocodone, prescribed
for moderate to severe pain. Side effects include dry mouth, nausea,
vomiting, decreased appetite, dizziness, tiredness, muscle twitches,
sweating and itching.

- OxyContin

Potent time-release medication for relief of moderate to severe pain,
known as hillbilly heroin because of black-market popularity in some
rural areas. Side effects include drowsiness, dizziness, sweating,
muscle twitches and decreased sex drive. A large dose can be fatal.



What? Another neocon convict? How sweet it is.

--
* * *
email sent to will *never* get to me.

jps wrote:
"MadDogDave" wrote in message
news:c3dhc2g=.44d703ac51ea9ef5e3d16c8d9499ca9d@106 5097390.cotse.net...
New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Rush Limbaugh
in pill probe
By TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, October 2nd, 2003

Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly
buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring.

You'd have to be stoned to spew the fabrications he spins.

I think the guy would do the world a favor by ODing.

He and Bill Bennett. What a pair.



Rush's drug troubles are absolutely delicious. Couldn't happen to a more
worthy piece of krap.

--
* * *
email sent to will *never* get to me.

Harry Krause wrote in message
What? Another neocon convict? How sweet it is.

Funny thing is, they will condone this, somehow, with spin, because
he's a good goose stepping conservative. But, they wouldn't possibly,
ever, never, think of legalizing pot, because it's too dangerous, and
evil.