DrugWarRant reports that a settlement has been reached in the disgusting Goose Creek high school drug raid fiasco. The students will split a $1.2 million settlement, stemming from a racially suspect "random" drug search of the school with guns drawn and police dogs to terrorize search the students. The video of the raid pretty much speaks for itself.
A UN report says programs to help farmers in developing countries grow legal crops as a substitute for illegal drugs do not work well enough. Crop substitution programs, carried out mainly in Asia and Latin America to replace drug plantation -- particularly opium poppies and coca leaves -- are largely ineffective. Also highlighted in the report is the increasing presence of illegal online pharmacies. It identified the United States and some countries in Europe as the major markets for the illegal Internet pharmaceuticals.
Here's something you don't see every day -- an undercover sting operation has netted over $300,000 worth of opium in Naples, Florida. Three men were arrested after a confidential informant and an undercover investigator set up the drug buy in a Fort Myers hotel room. The agents were acting on a tip from the DEA's office in Boise, Idaho of all places. No wonder fark has a special tag just for stories about Florida.
For those in the Vancouver area that are interested, the Vacouver Museum has an exhibit on until March 2004 entitled "Opium: The Heavenly Demon". Co-curated by Barbara Hodgson (author of Opium: A Portrait of the Heavenly Demon), the exhibit "traces opium from ancient cultures to the shores of North America, revealing on the way, both the miraculous and devastating effects of opium and its derivatives". For more information, visit the Vancouver Museum web site.
Customs officers at Vancouver International Airport have seized more opium in the past five weeks than they did in all of 2002. Police say the busts indicate a growing demand for the drug in British Columbia.
Continue reading "Opium seizures on the rise in... Canada?" »
A Toys R Us television commercial, which features the company's mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe, inhaling helium from a balloon, has drawn the ire of anti-drug campaigners who say the ad sends a "dangerous message to children."
Continue reading "Latest WoD Casualty: Geoffrey the Giraffe" »
Australian poppy growers are facing a drop in income of as much as $20 million next season after Tasmanian Alkaloids yesterday announced a 50 per cent cut in the crop.
Continue reading "Tasmanian Alkaloids Announces 50% Crop Cut" »
U.S. anti-drug officials Thursday rejected American lawmakers' claims that they are doing little to eradicate Colombia's opium crops. In 2000, pilots sprayed about 22,700 acres of opium. That figure fell to about 3,950 acres last year. U.S. officials hope to spray about 12,350 acres this year.
Some Afghan farmers this year are not planting poppies -- they say they fear jail because of a new government ban on poppy growing. Their fear could be a first sign that Afghans outside the capital, Kabul, are following the writ of law recently laid down by Prime Minister Hamid Karzai.
Continue reading "Rural Afghan Farmers Starting to Obey Poppy Ban" »
An Australian judge was "shocked" yesterday at how a man was able to grow 230 opium poppies at home from seeds bought from the herbs section of a supermarket. In his sentencing remarks, Judge Duggan said he was surprised that the man had been able to "plant an illegal crop so simply".
Continue reading "Australian Gets 2 Years For Growing Spice-Rack Poppies" »
Four days after Russian forces used anesthetic gas to end a hostage standoff by Chechen rebels, Russia's top health official identified the main component of the gas blamed for the deaths of 117 hostages -- an opiate-based narcotic 100 times more powerful than morphine.
Laos, part of the notorious Golden Triangle opium-producing region, plans to reduce poppy growing areas by 5,600 hectares or 40 percent over the coming year.
Continue reading "Laos to Cut Opium Area By Forty Percent" »
With two weeks to go until annual cultivation is due to begin again in the eastern Nangarhar province, the local governor says he will only stop farmers if the central government orders him to. Despite a ban on opium production by President Hamid Karzai's government, it is estimated that Afghanistan's poppy crops will yield nearly 3,000 tonnes this year.
Afghanistan has reclaimed the top spot as a world producer of opium, and, despite optimistic signs, it will take several years to erase poppy production, the head of the United Nations drug control agency said yesterday.
Continue reading "Afghanistan Back on Top in Opium Production" »
In an unmarked basement room at the University of Calgary, researchers are growing Opium Poppies in an attempt to isolate the opium poppy's enzyme-encoded genes, understand the 18 or so metabolic stages from beginning to codeine and then on to morphine -- and then alter that process.
Ernie Coombs, who played the much-loved Canadian television character Mr. Dressup, has died in Toronto after suffering from a stroke. I know this is totally unrelated to the site, but this guy was my childhood hero, and this is very upsetting news for me. He was 73, and will be missed -- he was a true Canadian Icon.
The Puritan spirit is still strong in the United States. In the minds of many Americans, the approval of drug use, of any kind, means that we have to acknowledge that people use drugs, and many Americans would rather ignore this fact. Following this logic, abstinence is the only alternative. This, of course, is the motto of the expensive and ineffective war on drugs.
Colorado State Sen. Ken Gordon would like to turn a vicious cycle into a virtuous one by reducing the severity of penalties for possession of small amounts of cocaine or heroin and spending the savings on treatment.
Continue reading "Colorado Senator Urges Treatment over Jail" »
Police shut down Britain's first Dutch-style marijuana cafe on Saturday just minutes after it had opened for the first time. Officers closed down "The Dutch Experience" cafe in Stockport, northern England, and arrested a 44-year-old man on suspicion of possessing cannabis with intent to supply a controlled drug, a Greater Manchester police spokeswoman said. Although they didn't reveal the identity of the man arrested, considering cafe founder Colin Davies is also 44, it doesn't look like it'll be too hard to guess...
Continue reading "Police shut down Britain's first cannabis cafe" »
Peru plans to urge Secretary of State Colin Powell to resume the U.S.-backed antidrug flights suspended after the Peruvian air force mistakenly shot down an American missionary plane this spring.
What kind of periodicals and books would you expect to litter the library shelves and bathroom stalls at the Drug Enforcement Administration? Apparently to keep a finger on the pulse ( or, more likely, thrust a thumb in the eye ) of the drug culture, the DEA regularly forks over taxpayer money for High Times -- multiple copies according to a report obtained pursuant to a Freedom of Information request, filed by the guys at the Smoking Gun. There was, interestingly enough, no mention of why it's fine for the DEA to subscribe to High Times, while simply owning a magazine that looked like High Times was used as pretext to search a woman's car in Davidson, N.C., last year....
Today, the day of Tom Crosslin's funeral, alt-media news sources are reacting to the Rainbow Farm standoff that resulted in the murder of two drug-reform advocates by FBI agents. In this montage from the Media Awareness Project, find out what the mainstream media isn't saying about victims of the War on Drugs.
Continue reading "Alternative Media Reacts to Rainbow Farm Murders" »
The U.S. Justice Department will investigate the shootings of two drug-reform advocates murdered by police last week during a standoff at Rainbow Farm, a popular Michigan campground that hosted such festivals as Hemp Fest.
Three Tasmanian racehorses have been disqualified because their food was contaminated -- with opium poppies. The first incident of its type in 10 years, this type of accidental doping is being blamed on Tasmania's multi-million dollar pharmaceutical poppy industry.
President Andres Pastrana, one of Washington's closest allies in the global war on drugs, called Thursday for a review of that struggle, saying it has produced few victories.
The drug scene in India is alive and kicking. While the lust for a high fuels the demand for drugs, greed for big bucks drives the supply. The impact on the world's second-most populous nation is multi-dimensional.
A California Drug Manufacturer announced the results today for the second phase of clinical trials for Chronogesic, a "continuous infusion subcutaneous implant" for the treatment of chronic pain.
Continue reading "Drug Implant Offers Hope for Chronic Pain" »
Well, it looks like the end may be nigh for legal Salvia in the United States, now that CNN has reported that the DEA is currently reviewing it to "see if it should be controlled". It's unclear at this point if it will end up being regulated because of the ongoing DEA information gathering, or as a result of all the stupid kids who will hear about salvia on places like CNN and end up doing something stupid.
To some people, OxyContin is a "miracle drug." To others, it is "a major threat to public health." What's the solution? Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth has one solution: Ban it.
The US Gov't, as part of its $1.3 billion campaign to destroy the livelyhoods of poor Columbian farmers, awarded a $20 Million contract to Ayres Corp. of Albany, GA, to expand its fleet of crop-spraying planes. There's just one small snag -- Ayres declared bankruptcy and has shut down its assembly line.
Continue reading "US Awards $20 M Spray-Plane Contract to Bankrupt Company" »
Drug arrests in China rose 15.4 percent in the first half of the year and seizures of opium more than doubled, the official news agency said Sunday on the eve of a major anti-drug meeting with its heroin-producing neighbors.
Continue reading "China Reports Increase in Opium Seizures" »
While Colombia grows only 2 percent of the world's opium poppies, its heroin accounts for 66 percent of all U.S. seizures, according to the DEA. And with Afghanistan's Islamic Taliban rulers outlawing poppies in a country that produced 70 percent of the world's heroin last year, Colombian traffickers may be tempted to fill the gap. After pumping $1.3 billion in U.S. aid into a Colombian counter-narcotics offensive largely targeted on cocaine, U.S. officials are now paying increasing attention to a drug once considered almost outdated.
Continue reading "US Worried about Opium Crops in Columbia" »
Critics concerned about the impact of Channel One -- the company that put television sets in schools and broadcasts commercials for unhealthful drinks and snacks along with news programming -- have something new to worry about. Captive-audience children in thousands of schools across the nation aren't just being exposed to a couple of minutes of commercials along with their "three Rs." It turns out they are also getting a super-sized serving of government propaganda.
The current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine features a research letter describing a "study" of "partisan" drug information web sites and the accuracy of the information they contain. "Partisan", to the authors, apparently means only those favoring drug reform. Government and other drug-war sites apparently were considered "objective". Apart from the obvious bias of the 'study', the information they present is often inaccurate, taken out of context, or questionable at best.
To find out what you can do, click on the link below.
Continue reading "Speak Out: NEJM Attacks "Partisan" Drug Sites" »
Heroin trials of the sort called for by the Australian National Crime Authority have been going on in Switzerland since 1994. As a result of the Swiss program, Heroin deaths more than halved between 1992 and 1998. The Swiss model has been adopted in The Netherlands and is being considered in Greece.
The maker of OxyContin says that it has come up with blueprints for a ``smart pill'' that would be tougher to abuse. The new painkiller, which has yet to be named and would not be available for at least three years, would destroy its own narcotic ingredients if crushed into a powder and snorted or injected.
Odorless and apparently only slightly toxic, you can buy it for your back yard at any large supermarket. So why is its use kicking up such a stink in Colombia?
Forum member Rock found this interesting tidbit off the wire: The opium yield in communist Laos, a major world producer of the illicit drug, has dropped by an estimated 30 percent this year.
In a story that should have been front page news, A State Department inquiry has concluded that Peru and the United States share responsibility for the mistaken shootdown of a civilian aircraft carrying American missionaries, as part of the US Governments ongoing inquisition against drugs.
Continue reading "Report: US and Peru To Blame For Dead Missionary" »
When one country stops, another is always out there waiting in the shadows to pick up the slack. With the recent ban on Opium Poppy Cultivation in Afghanistan considered a "success", Lebanon has stepped up to fill the gap.
Faced with a serious heroin problem in the 1990s, Australia considered a daring new approach -- prescribing heroin to addicts who had failed to kick their habits with other forms of treatment. The idea had shown promise in clinical trials in Switzerland, reducing drug-related crime and slowing the spread of AIDS and hepatitis. But when the United States got wind of Australia's plans, it was not at all happy.
Continue reading "US Drug Policy Ignores International Borders" »
This US News article explores the detrimental effects that the OxyContin Media-Made Drug Scare is having on legitimate pain patients. Pain care in the USA is already characterized by widespread undertreatment and stigma, and the worry is that doctors, pharmacies, and insurance companies will overreact–to avoid addicting patients or to avoid prosecution, or both.
OxyContin abuse and the recent closing of a Myrtle Beach pain management clinic have made doctors more cautious about prescribing the potent painkiller. Stories about OxyContin abuse also have led to concern among legitimate patients taking the drug. Many doctors who treat pain say they've had patients express fear that the drug will harm them and have asked to be taken off the drug.
Continue reading "Abuse-Fear Hysteria Victimizes Pain Patients" »
In Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Switzerland it is practically impossible to get arrested for buying or using "soft drugs." In the Netherlands, users may buy up to five grams of cannabis or hashish for private use at 1,500 licensed "coffee shops," and they are opening two drive-through outlets in the border town of Venlo to cater to German purchasers. Even in Canada, Conservative leader and former Prime Minister Joe Clark is openly calling for the decriminalization of cannabis. But that is still far short of what Sir David Ramsbotham, the outgoing chief inspector of prisons, suggested last Sunday in Britain.
Continue reading "Legalization: The Drug War's Best Weapon" »
In the US, the Bush administration's counternarcotics strategy for Latin America is expected to come under sustained attack from members on both sides of the House, anxious about the United States deepening involvement in a war some deem "unwinnable."
Continue reading "Drug war strategy faces heavy opposition" »
A top U.N. anti-drug official called Yesterday for international monitoring of a U.S.-backed aerial eradication campaign against drug crops and rejected claims that the program is not harming peasant farmers.
Continue reading "U.N. criticizes drug crops spraying in Columbia" »
In a massive operation involving the Middle Peninsula Drug Task Force, state police, helicopters, undercover officers, and the National Guard -- Drug agents raided a Virginia man's home yesterday to discover a massive Tomato Growing operation. Good work boys!
President Bush is planning to escalate the US war against drugs from South America with new legislation that its critics say will allow him to deploy a 'private army' of former US servicemen across the region.
Continue reading "Dubya to raise "Private Army" in Drug War" »
The governor ov Vermont says his state will stop paying for OxyContin for welfare recipients because of the prescription painkiller's growing link to crime and addiction. According to the article, Oxycontin has been attributed to 100 deaths across the USA since 1998. 100 deaths in three years -- I wonder how that compares to the noumber of people who die each year from acetaminophen-induced liver failure? Or alcohol? Or cigarettes?
Portugal has forced back the frontiers of drug liberalisation in Europe with a law which, at a stroke, decriminalises the use of all previously banned narcotics, from cannabis to crack cocaine. The new law, which came into effect on 1 July, takes a socially conservative country with traditional Catholic values far ahead of much of northern Europe, including Britain, in treating drug abuse as a social and health problem rather than a criminal one.
