
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 8, 1994                   TAG: 9404080071
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PEOPLE

Actor Wesley Snipes won't face drug charges after troopers were unable to find fingerprints on a bag of marijuana they thought he had tossed during a 120 mph chase on Florida's Turnpike, the Highway Patrol said on Thursday.

"We don't have anything on him," patrol Lt. Terry Davis said.

Snipes, 31, star of action movies including "Passenger 57" and "Demolition Man," was charged with reckless driving after the chase ended when his motorcycle overturned at the Jupiter exit about 10 p.m. Monday.

Snipes suffered minor injuries when he was thrown from the motorcycle, but he refused treatment by paramedics.

During the 31-mile chase from Port St. Lucie to Jupiter, Trooper Steve Walker saw Snipes throw an object. Police dogs later recovered two dozen baggies of marijuana packaged for personal use near the spot where the object was thought to have been thrown.

But without fingerprints to show that the bags belonged to Snipes, no charges can be filed, Davis said.

Tipper Gore took Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda to task for saying that baseball player Darryl Strawberry's substance abuse is "not a sickness, it's a weakness." She also slammed Jim Miller, U.S. Senate candidate in Virginia, for making an issue of Oliver North's admitted bout of depression 20 years ago.

Said the second lady: "This reminds me of 1954 and the way we treated and discussed mental illness. It is time to end these outdated stereotypes and talk about medical realities."

by CNB