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Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal, Florida Says
MIAMI — From “Scarface” to “Miami Vice,” Florida’s drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for Floridians, prescription drugs are increasingly a far more lethal habit.
An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined.
Law enforcement officials said that the shift toward prescription-drug abuse, which began here about eight years ago, showed no sign of letting up and that the state must do more to control it.
“You have health care providers involved, you have doctor shoppers, and then there are crimes like robbing drug shipments,” said Jeff Beasley, a drug intelligence inspector for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which co-sponsored the study. “There is a multitude of ways to get these drugs, and that’s what makes things complicated.”[more] MIAMI — From “Scarface” to “Miami Vice,” Florida’s drug problem has been portrayed as the story of a single narcotic: cocaine. But for... more -
More young people end up in hospital as price of heroin and cocaine falls
The drugs are getting cheaper, so we're taking of it. Economies of scale never tasted so good.
The figures, from the NHS Information Centre, show that 1,241 under-16s were taken to hospital for drug-related illness in 2006-07, up from 868 in 1996-97. The number of 16 to 24-year-olds receiving hospital treatment increased from 8,518 to 9,657, a rise of 13 per cent over the same period. According to the British Crime Survey, published last October, more than three million people in England aged 16 to 59 admitted having used some kind of illegal drug in the previous year. The drugs are getting cheaper, so we're taking of it. Economies of scale never tasted so good. ... more -
Man places casino bet with marijuana
The gentleman was arrested in a Fresno, California casino after he placed a bet with marijuana in a card game. He was arrested, even though he produced a "cannabis club" card purchased on the internet. (via Neatorama) The gentleman was arrested in a Fresno, California casino after he placed a bet with marijuana in a card game. He was arrested, even t... more
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Customs discover 'gay lube oil' shipments are actually steroids
Australian Customs officers have broken a drugs ring where shipments of performance enhancing steroids were disguised as 'gay lube oil,' Pink News reports.
More than 150 bottles of the drugs have been seized in five states in Australia since the beginning of the year.
The authorities stepped in after they became suspicious of the number of orders for the product.
Tests revealed the bottles, posted from Thailand, contained image and performance enhancing drugs including deca durabolin and testosterone.
Several people are expected to face prosecution.
The maximum penalty for smuggling performance enhancing drugs such as those seized is five years' jail or a $110,000 (£52,500) fine.
Slippery customers those drug smugglers, eh? Australian Customs officers have broken a drugs ring where shipments of performance enhancing steroids were disguised as 'gay lub... more -
Tased and confused
Despite claims to the contrary, Tasers can cause death, as in the cases of a Louisiana man who was shot nine times with 50,000 volts in January and a Winnepeg man who died yesterday after police tased him. Since 2003, there have been more than 300 Taser-related deaths in the U.S. and Canada. And last weekend, security tased a pot smoker at a Sammy Hagar concert in Connecticut.
Baron Pikes of Winnfield, Louisiana had an outstanding warrant for a cocaine arrest. When police attempted to apprehend him outside a shopping mall on January 12, the 247-pound African-American man resisted. So they tased him not once, but nine times. It's likely that he was dead after the seventh shot. The officer, Scott Nugent, who is white, was dismissed and may be charged with homicide.
Tasers fire compressed nitrogen in pointed probes, delivering an electrical charge that results in instant loss of muscular control and coordination when they hit the body. The Taser - which stands for Thomas A. Swift Electric Rifle - was invented by Jack Cover in 1974. The company is based in Scottsville, Arizona.
One Internet seller contends that Taser "is non-destructive to nerves, muscles and other body elements. It simply affects them in their natural mode. More importantly, no deaths have ever been directly attributed to the Taser." They sell Tasers from $300-600. Tasers are legal in every state except for Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Only New Jersey bans police from using Tasers.
At the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Connecticut on July 20 , police used electrical force on Raymond Croke, who was allegedly smoking "a green, grassy plant-like substance believed to be mariuana" during the Sammy Hagar show. He was tased and arrested for possession. WTF? Despite claims to the contrary, Tasers can cause death, as in the cases of a Louisiana man who was shot nine times with 50,000 volts i... more -
Jesse Ventura: 'I'll legalize pot'
Former Minnesota governor and WWF wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura has moved to Baja California (ie, Mexico), where he claims to be living off the grid. On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ventura declared: "I'm gonna lead the revolution and become the benevolent dictator of Baja. And when I become the benevolent dictator I'll legalize pot. We will make it the Amsterdam of the West." Viva Ventura!
Check out his latest book, Don't Start the Revolution Without Me! Former Minnesota governor and WWF wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura has moved to Baja California (ie, Mexico), where he cla... more -
History shows illegal drugs are not a recent problem
Illicit substances have been in demand here for at least 350 years; no legal measures have ever made a difference, writes Fintan O'Toole.
EVERY TIME gardaí (Irish Police) make a big drug seizure - and there have been plenty of them recently - they must have mixed feelings.
On the one hand, there is another victory in the "war on drugs". Good police work seems to be getting results. On the other hand, though, everyone - especially gardaí - knows that however many battles are won, the war was lost a long time ago. The reality is that the amount of seizures is largely a function of the amount of drugs being imported; that when one gang is broken, there will always be another hungrier, more vicious one ready to step into the breach; and that for all the millions spent here and the trillions spent worldwide, illegal drugs are cheaper and more ubiquitous than they have ever been.
The real issue is, of course, demand. If people want mind-altering substances, there will be big money in supplying them.
We lose sight of this reality because we have a distorted narrative in our heads.
The story we assume to be true is that, while Irish people always drank alcohol and took enthusiastically to tobacco, illegal drugs are essentially a recent phenomenon.
They came in during and after the 1960s, along with all the other moral and social laxities of that decade. They are an outside influence, a downside to the modernity that we adopted. They cling, therefore, to the surface of Irish culture and can, with enough persistence, be scraped off.
It is weird that we should think this, because there are few western European societies in which the consumption of illegal, mind-altering substances was so open, and so socially acceptable for so long. I doubt that there are many readers who haven't drunk, or been present when others drank, the primary Irish illegal drug of the 19th and 20th centuries.
It is called poteen. How odd that we forget about it, and forget, too, that 400 years of law enforcement failed to stop people making and drinking it.
Poteen became prominent in Irish society after 1661, when excise duty on Irish whiskey was re-introduced. As duty went up and the price of "parliament whiskey" rose, the native Irish responded by making their own alcohol. Originally, this was generally decent malt whiskey. But as time went on, poteen developed in a way that we are familiar with from cocaine or heroin. With a thriving, unregulated trade in which price was the key factor, poteen makers turned to whatever was available - molasses, sugar, treacle, potatoes, rhubarb. The more unscrupulous of them added bite to an adulterated product with meths or paint stripper.
The stuff became dangerous, unreliable and of often poor quality. The authorities came down heavy, sending armed soldiers against the distillers. Illegal distillers were shot, imprisoned, transported. None of it made a blind bit of difference.
Follow link Illicit substances have been in demand here for at least 350 years; no legal measures have ever made a difference, writes Fintan O... more -
Name That Drug
Vox pops that reveal the variety of different attitudes to different drugs as held by different people...
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Indian Country Today: Wisconsin tribes, law enforcement rescue children from drugs...
Wisconsin Native American tribes are working with state and federal law enforcement agencies to removing children from homes where drugs are sold, used and manufactured, according to Indian Country Today newspaper.
The program is sponsored by the Wisconsin Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (WIDEC) and the Native American Drug and Gang Initiative (NADGI), the Wisconsin Attorney General's Office (Department of Justice) and all of Wisconsin's tribes and their tribal police departments in cooperation with many law enforcement agencies including local police and sheriff's departments.
Police are cracking down on Native American and other gangs that bring drugs onto Wisconsin reservations. Wisconsin Native American tribes are working with state and federal law enforcement agencies to removing children from homes where dru... more -
From Average-man to Super Super Man
Novelist Craig Davidson decided to live the life of a fictional character he'd created by going on a 16 week course of steroids.
Aesthetically, the results were obvious, but although his new-found strength and emphatically toned body made him the uberman, he suffered so many side-effects he could have conceivably died.
In the steroids version of Super Size Me, Davidson accounts the many pitfalls and dangers of taking illegal drugs to enhance image and improve physical ability. Just some of the potential side-effects he says are: 'hair loss, gynecomastia (build-up of breast tissue due to increased oestrogen, aka gyno; aka bitch tits), testicular atrophy, cranial and prostate swelling, erratic sex drive, liver impairment, haemorrhoids, impotence, cysts, acne, abscesses, renal failure. Hair loss, gyno and testicular atrophy should be considered absolute rather than potential hazards: you simply cannot expect to alter your body's chemical make-up without your body reacting.'' Novelist Craig Davidson decided to live the life of a fictional character he'd created by going on a 16 week course of steroids. ... more -
Supreme Court muzzles sniffer dogs
Supreme Court muzzles sniffer dogs The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that police cannot use scent-tracking canines for random searches in public places, including schools, parks, malls and bus terminals. Supreme Court muzzles sniffer dogs The Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that police cannot use scent-tracking canines for random se... more
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