VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) - California inmates are dying of drug overdoses at nearly triple the national rate and it's unclear whether the tough steps state officials took this year to stop illicit drugs from getting into prisons are having any effect, though they are prompting criticism from civil rights advocates. The Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is spending $8 million this year on drug-detecting scanners and a new breed of drug-sniffing dogs while also employing strip searches on visitors suspected of carrying drugs. [continues 844 words]
A question hung in the air at the Cannabis World Congress and Business Exposition at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan on Thursday: How do you show off your wares in a place where actually using them would be illegal? The sales pitches were carefully honed. "These are for tobacco only," Raj Tiwary, a vice president for the vaping accessory maker Ultimate Vapor Source, said repeatedly, while demonstrating a line of pipes and pens. "Tobacco and dry herbs." Nearby, a set of self-watering pots housed several thriving tomato plants - "the pots work well for all kinds of plants," Marc Lippman, the co-owner of Aqua Camel, emphasized - and a $2,000 vacuum sealing machine showed off its power by endlessly reinflating and resealing a pouch stuffed with spinach. One row over, Vaughn Fitzgerald, a representative of Desiccare, illustrated his company's packaging system for preserving organic matter. [continues 661 words]
On June 3, 2015, correctional officers in the medium security unit at Dorchester Penitentiary intercepted an inmate who was attempting to bring contraband into the institution. This seizure is the result of the combined efforts of correctional officers and security intelligence officers. The contraband seized includes 14.65 grams of Marijuana, 3.02 grams of tobacco and about 1.25 gram of hash oil. The total institutional value of this seizure is estimated at $1,890.00. The police have been notified and the institution is investigating. [continues 179 words]
NSW has decided that the best way to deal with the current ice problem is to have a media campaign. Last Friday the NSW Bar Association hosted a conference with the single theme of a debate on the association's position paper titled "Drug Law Reform". Those who attended weren't the bleeding heart type. They included eminent health educator Professor David Penington, Associate Professor Nick Lintzeris from the NSW Ministry of Health, Professor Ian Webster from the University of NSW, senior members of the legal fraternity, Dr Alex Wodak from St Vincent's Hospital Sydney and former NSW Police Superintendent Frank Hansen. [continues 681 words]
CAMBRIDGE - Just a few weeks ago, about 30 people met at the amphitheatre behind Galt Collegiate Institute. The event was called "Taking Back Our Rivers." It was just after the event planner was walking his dogs, as many people do along the river, came upon discarded hypodermic needles and other discarded paraphernalia and trash. Eleven bags of trash and 20 needles were collected, 11 of which were found in a drug den bellow the CPR bridge. It is not just dogs we have to worry about. We have families walking together. We have children running along the path, as kids can, full of excitement. We have people wearing flip flops and sandals. [continues 442 words]
On Sunday, May 24, a hero of my misspent youth, Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, will be 77 years old. Coincidentally, on the same day, my dog Otis will turn 12, about 77 in dog years. And I have a story that connects them both. Scenario 1: Otis is a wheaten terrier, emphasis on terrier. In his youth, he was a championship-calibre Frisbee dog. He was also a decent fielder in baseball - which is to say, when my boys and I would play pitch 'n' hit in the field, he'd eagerly wait for a hit ball to get by, race to get it and happily bring it back to the pitcher (me). A TTC employee once watched us and said, "You guys suck, but I'd sign the dog." [continues 675 words]
On the Occasion of and His Dog Birthday, Our Own Wishes a Couple of Old Dogs Good Tidings On Sunday, May 24, a hero of my misspent youth, Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, will be 77 years old. Coincidentally, on the same day, my dog Otis will turn 12, about 77 in dog years. And I have a story that connects them both. Scenario 1: Otis is a wheaten terrier, emphasis on terrier. In his youth, he was a championship-calibre Frisbee dog. He was also a decent fielder in baseball - which is to say, when my boys and I would play pitch 'n' hit in the field, he'd eagerly wait for a hit ball to get by, race to get it and happily bring it back to the pitcher (me). A TTC employee once watched us and said, "You guys suck, but I'd sign the dog." [continues 468 words]
On the occasion of Tommy Chong and his dog Otis' birthday, our own Jim Slotek wishes a couple of old dogs good tidings On Sunday, May 24, a hero of my misspent youth, Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, turned 77 years old. Coincidentally, on the same day, my dog Otis turned 12, about 77 in dog years. And I have a story that connects them both. Scenario 1: Otis is a wheaten terrier, emphasis on terrier. In his youth, he was a championship-calibre Frisbee dog. He was also a decent fielder in baseball - which is to say, when my boys and I would play pitch 'n' hit in the field, he'd eagerly wait for a hit ball to get by, race to get it and happily bring it back to the pitcher (me). A TTC employee once watched us and said, "You guys suck, but I'd sign the dog." [continues 672 words]
On the occasion of Tommy Chong and his dog Otis' birthday, our own Jim Slotek wishes a couple of old dogs good tidings On Sunday, May 24, a hero of my misspent youth, Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, will be 77 years old. Coincidentally, on the same day, my dog Otis will turn 12, about 77 in dog years. And I have a story that connects them both. Scenario 1: Otis is a wheaten terrier, emphasis on terrier. In his youth, he was a championship-calibre Frisbee dog. He was also a decent fielder in baseball - which is to say, when my boys and I would play pitch 'n' hit in the field, he'd eagerly wait for a hit ball to get by, race to get it and happily bring it back to the pitcher (me). A TTC employee once watched us and said, "You guys suck, but I'd sign the dog." [continues 671 words]
MIAMI - A hazardous new synthetic drug originating in China is being blamed for 18 recent deaths in a single South Florida county, as police grapple with an inexpensive narcotic that causes exaggerated strength and dangerous paranoid hallucinations. On Thursday, the Fort Lauderdale police killed a man, reportedly high on the man-made street drug, alpha-PVP, known more commonly as flakka, who had held a woman hostage with a knife to her throat. The shooting of Javoris Washington, 29, was the latest in a series of volatile episodes that the police in South Florida have faced with highly aggressive drug users. Law enforcement agencies have had difficulty tamping down a surge in synthetic drugs, which were banned after becoming popular in clubs five years ago only to re-emerge deadlier than ever under new formulations. As soon as legislation catches up with the latest craze, manufacturers design a new drug to take its place, federal and local law enforcement agencies say. [continues 867 words]
On the occasion of and his dog birthday, our own Jim Slotek wishes a couple of old dogs good tidings On Sunday, May 24, a hero of my misspent youth, Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, will be 77 years old. Coincidentally, on the same day, my dog Otis will turn 12, about 77 in dog years. And I have a story that connects them both. Scenario 1: Otis is a Wheaten Terrier, emphasis on terrier. In his youth, he was a championship-calibre Frisbee dog. He was also a decent fielder in baseball - which is to say, when my boys and I would play pitch 'n' hit in the field, he'd eagerly wait for a hit ball to get by, race to get it and happily bring it back to the pitcher (me). A TTC employee once watched us and said, "You guys suck, but I'd sign the dog." [continues 671 words]
On the Occasion of Tommy Chong and His Dog Otis' Birthday, Our Own Jim Slotek Wishes a Couple of Old Dogs Good Tidings On Sunday, May 24, a hero of my misspent youth, Tommy Chong of Cheech & Chong, will be 77 years old. Coincidentally, on the same day, my dog Otis will turn 12, about 77 in dog years. And I have a story that connects them both. Scenario 1: Otis is a wheaten terrier, emphasis on terrier. In his youth, he was a championship-calibre Frisbee dog. He was also a decent fielder in baseball - which is to say, when my boys and I would play pitch 'n' hit in the field, he'd eagerly wait for a hit ball to get by, race to get it and happily bring it back to the pitcher (me). A TTC employee once watched us and said, "You guys suck, but I'd sign the dog." [continues 671 words]
Infection rates are set to hit three million, but drug use and unsafe sex - the main causes - are rife. Alecc Luhn talks to those ignored by aid programmes Almost as soon as two HIV-prevention activists set up outside the pharmacy in the outskirts of Moscow with two huge backpacks of supplies, a skinny young man with mussed hair and an impish grin quickly walked up to them. "Do you have any ointment?" he asked, lifting up the leg of his tracksuit trousers to show a mass of red sores. [continues 1229 words]
I'm eating in a McDonald's for the first time in years. I'm here looking for drugs. To enter the Haight Ashbury's most dangerous business, I must run a gauntlet at the door. A quick sidestep is needed to avoid bumping into three unattended young children bounding out into the Saturday evening sunlight, presumably in the throes of a salt-and-fat rush. Inside, the L-shaped dining room is half-empty. A few people stand by the bathrooms; older solitary men nurse cups of coffee and shuffle through newspapers at tables near the service counter. Scanning the menu, I try to remember what Michael Pollan - or was it Eric Schlosser? - said is acceptable to eat here. I opt for small fries, and $1.95 later I'm seated on a plastic stool at a plastic table, ready to observe a hotbed for drug sales and violence in action. [continues 898 words]
Police, Federal Agents Disrupt Pot Education Convention Las Vegas police and federal agents arrested 10 people and seized drugs over the weekend at Hempcon, a marijuana education convention at the Cashman Center. People who were there described seeing police dogs around the event, as well as officers on the roof of the building, apparently looking for people smoking marijuana. The arrests outraged event organizers, and some attendees said they left medical marijuana patients frightened as Nevada's first legal dispensaries prepare to open. [continues 766 words]
Canines work at sniffing out drugs, firearms and ammunition at area penitentiaries A visitor who once tried to smuggle some drugs into an area correctional institution appeared to be drug-free to correctional service officers, but one of the institution's drug-sniffing dogs didn't think so. A search of the individual didn't show any drugs and to the human nose there was no odour of drugs on the person. But as the dog sniffed the visitor, it stopped at his foot and sat down, an indication it had found drugs. [continues 1121 words]
With State Prisons Over Capacity, Some Are Calling for Reversal of Harsh Law Kevin Ott drew his first strike when he was arrested for a small bag of methamphetamine in his pocket in 1993. A year later, authorities caught the self-described country boy from Okemah with marijuana plants growing at his home. That strike got him 15 months in prison. Still in his early 30's, Ott took strike three in 1996 when police found 3 1/2 ounces of meth in his home, enough for prosecutors to charge him with trafficking. His punishment: life without parole. [continues 3439 words]
This is in response to Andrew Merkel's letter Tuesday headlined "Freedoms being taken by our government," specifically regarding Measure A. Contrary to Merkel's assertions, many normal, law-abiding citizens are finally having their freedoms restored, not curtailed. These include: freedom from nuisance (smells, traffic, vicious dogs, shady characters); freedom from fear and danger (armed guards, home invasions, exploding butane honey oil labs); and freedom to enjoy peace and quiet in the country. And guess what - many of us are very grateful that the county government is protecting us from "terrorists," i.e. scofflaw pot-profiteers, who snuck their illegal activities into our communities inside a trojan horse, named "Prop 215." Compared to the last two years, I am already seeing a notable reduction in seasonal vehicular traffic and shady out-of-towners here to make a fast illegal buck. [continues 106 words]
Justices continue on path of strengthening constitutional protections against `unreasonable search and seizure' WASHINGTON-The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Tuesday police can't prolong a routine traffic stop to allow a drug-sniffing dog to search the vehicle unless they have a reasonable suspicion of uncovering contraband. The case is the latest to see the justices reinvigorate constitutional protections against "unreasonable searches and seizures," following recent decisions that rejected warrantless cellphone searches and installation of GPS trackers. Tuesday's ruling tightens the parameters police should follow when using drug-sniffing dogs during a traffic stop, building on a 2005 precedent allowing the drug searches while stressing such procedures become unlawful if a motorist is detained solely to conduct the search. [continues 450 words]
