(2003-09-0) -- Now that Alabama voters have rejected a $1.2 billion tax hike, the Governor has been placed on methadone therapy for withdrawal symptoms.

Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, had backed the tax increase to make up for a $675 million state budget deficit and to increase funding for state supported schools.

"When the Governor learned that the cash infusion wasn't coming," an aide said, "he doubled over with nausea-like muscle spasms then became feverish. The state treasurer immediately recognized the symptoms and called for the methadone."

Gov. Riley and many in the state legislature have been admitted to a 30-day treatment facility. At the center, the lawmakers will go through a 12-step program. During the first week, they will study the following steps.
-- We admit we are powerless over our spending, and our state has become unmanageable.
-- We believe that a power greater than ourselves, known as the citizens of Alabama, could restore us to sanity.
-- We made a decision to turn our will over to the state constitution as we understood it.