State Narcotics Bureau Director Dies

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Employees of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs are in shock after the death of their director.<br/><br/>Lonnie Wright, who was director of the agency for the past

Friday, April 28th 2006, 6:08 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Employees of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs are in shock after the death of their director.

Lonnie Wright, who was director of the agency for the past three years, suffered a massive heart attack around 4:30 Thursday afternoon and died at Midwest City Regional Medical Center.

Bureau spokesman Mark Woodward says the 51-year-old Wright had gone home early from work not feeling well, and had the heart attack at home.

Wright started working for the agency in 1977 after graduating from the University of Oklahoma. Woodward says Wright played on the 1974-75 OU football team that won a national championship.

He says Wright was instrumental in drafting legislation that restricts access to over-the-counter medication containing pseudoephedrine, a drug used to make methamphetamine.

Woodward says Wright also helped other states draft similar legislation.

Governor Brad Henry, who signed the law Wright helped draft, says Wright's dedication and work made Oklahoma a safer place.

Wright is survived by his wife, Rita; daughter Rachel, a brother and his mother.