When Rocky Mountain Community Radio reporter Bente Birkeland began tracking legal marijuana's impacts on Colorado teenagers earlier this year, she discovered key data wasn't available. "The state does not require schools to report marijuana incidents separately," Birkeland says. "Alcohol and tobacco are in separate categories. But marijuana shouldn't be lumped in with cocaine or pharmaceuticals. It's a tough story to report." Birkeland personally talked to more than a dozen school districts and came away with the impression that most officials don't want to discuss drugs in schools with reporters. [continues 712 words]
Beijing Turns Blind Eye to Chemists Whose Drugs Mimic Banned Substances At midnight in a Shanghai laboratory, a Chinese chemist who called himself Terry was eager to close the deal. In the lab itself, a bright yellow liquid whirred around in a flask, an intense smell of fumes leaving a bitter aftertaste. "Let's just be quick," he shouted. "Tell me what you want, how much you want, then we can talk about price, we can talk about shipment." "Terry" is not the only rogue Shanghai chemist looking to make a living from the surging global trade in "legal highs". China has long been the workshop of the world, for everything from iPhones to Christmas tree lights. So it was only a matter of time, perhaps, before it filled the same role for drugs, churning out huge quantities of the synthesised products for recreational use in clubs and streets across the western world. [continues 1069 words]
Federal authorities are cracking down on new designer drugs like N-Bomb, also known as "Legal LSD," hoping legislation aimed at making the synthetic hallucinogen illegal to possess in the Bay State will prevent more teen overdose deaths. "There's no such thing as a safe synthetic drug. One dose can kill you," DEA spokesman Anthony Pettigrew said of N-Bomb, a synthetic drug gaining popularity among teens that can appear in a variety of forms. "Anytime someone uses any synthetic drug, including N-Bomb, they're playing Russian roulette." [continues 445 words]
He Said Drug Squad Stayed Within the Law. Michael Spicer, one of six Philadelphia police narcotics officers charged in a federal corruption case, testified in his defense Friday. And with his career and his freedom in question, he sought to set a few things straight. He never saw anyone on his squad plant drugs, he said. Nobody stole anything, either. And most important, Spicer stressed, nobody ever tried to throw anyone off a balcony. "I don't think I even went out on that balcony. That never happened," he said, rejecting an allegation that in 2010 he threatened to toss a drug suspect from his Old City apartment's third-floor terrace. "That's a complete lie." [continues 632 words]
A sharp rise in visits to emergency rooms and calls to poison control centers nationwide has some health officials fearing that more potent and dangerous variations of a popular drug known as spice have reached the nation's streets, resulting in several deaths. In the first three weeks of April, state poison control centers received about 1,000 reports of adverse reactions to spice - the street name for a family of synthetic substances that mimic the effects of marijuana - more than doubling the total from January through March, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. [continues 944 words]
A sharp rise in visits to emergency rooms and calls to poison control centers nationwide has health officials fearing that more potent and dangerous variations of a popular drug known as spice have reached the nation's streets. In the first three weeks of April, state poison control centers received about 1,000 reports of adverse reactions to spice - the street name for a family of synthetic substances that mimic the effects of marijuana - more than doubling the total from January through March, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. [continues 258 words]
BRITAIN'S brightest teenagers are among those most at risk of mental illness caused by smoking a potent form of cannabis, a leading expert has warned. Professor Sir Robin Murray said it tended to be 'clever and sociable' youngsters who were damaged by using the super-strong strain of the drug, known as skunk. Sir Robin, the foremost authority in Britain on the effects of smoking cannabis, led a landmark study with colleagues at the Institute of Psychiatry which found that regularly smoking skunk triples the risk of psychosis, as revealed last week by The Mail on Sunday. [continues 627 words]
Portman Introduces Bipartisan Measure in Senate. If a federal law supported by an Ohio legislator is passed, Butler County's prosecutor says it may soon be easier to prosecute makers and dealers of synthetic drugs. U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, introduced in January the Protecting Our Kids from Dangerous Synthetic Drugs Act. The bill - sponsored by nine other senators - would provide law enforcement the tools needed prosecute the manufacturers and dealers of synthetic drugs. [continues 581 words]
Measure inspired by Cedar Rapids couple, local ordinance CEDAR RAPIDS - The city's action against the sale of synthetic drugs - which tackled the substances from a consumer fraud-and-protection approach rather than trying to keep pace with their ever-changing chemical make up - came just too late for Jerrald Meek. After struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder and a two-year addiction to synthetic marijuana, the Army veteran took his life in his parent's Cedar Rapids home, on Aug. 26, 2014. [continues 1830 words]
Following an eviction from its clubhouse at the former Kodiak Bar in downtown Anchorage, the Alaska Cannabis Club is moving forward with plans to open a medical marijuana dispensary on Feb. 24, the day recreational marijuana becomes legalized in Alaska. Come Feb. 24, "this is the place to get your weed," said club owner Charlo Greene, whose legal name is Charlene Egbe. Greene gained notoriety after quitting her job as a reporter on-air and revealing herself as the owner of the cannabis club. [continues 769 words]
Mainstream Pot Guide Not Afraid to Get Down in Weeds DENVER - Jake Browne sauntered into his neighborhood marijuana shop recently and asked the "budtender" for a look at his wares. The lanky attendant spread half a dozen Mason jars across the counter, each holding a fat, fragrant bud of cannabis. "Mmmm," Browne purred as he opened a jar of Jack Flash. "Smells like drain cleaner and urine. Sounds unappetizing, but it's actually great." He sniffed another. "You get a nice Grape Skunk off of that," he said. "You can smell the sandalwood and cardamom spice notes." [continues 668 words]
A Denver Post Blog Is the First Mainstream Media Site Devoted to the World of Legal Pot. DENVER - Jake Browne sauntered into his neighborhood marijuana shop recently and asked the "budtender" for a look at his wares. The lanky attendant spread half a dozen Mason jars across the counter, each holding a fat, fragrant bud of cannabis. "Mmmm," Browne purred as he opened a jar of Jack Flash. "Smells like drain cleaner and urine. Sounds unappetizing, but it's actually great." He sniffed another. "You get a nice Grape Skunk off of that," he said. "You can smell the sandalwood and cardamom spice notes." [continues 750 words]
Side effects include increased heart rate, sweating, increased blood pressure, hallucination and violent behavior. But unlike a television commercial that warns of the results of taking medication, this one comes without an official government warning label because it's uncontrolled and unregulated. It's sold on the streets, in stores and through the Internet, both wholesale and retail. It may seem harmless enough, with brand names like K2, spice and potpourri, or marketing that passes it off as herbal incense. Some brands are a little more telling with names like "Geeked Up," "AK 47," "Avalanche" and "Psycho." [continues 1628 words]
After reading Bill Orr's letter twice ("Legal marijuana will only bring more criminal activity," Oct. 4), I read it for a third time ... and yet still came up scratching the proverbial head. As he conflated several different conspiracy memes/nonsensical numbers - -- the U.S. market "just increased their profit by 1000 percent," "Ten million illegals will help" via "well-organized and funded youth that have been crossing our southern border" while aided by "well-paid American officials at all levels to help them set this up" -- he managed to make the world net daily site trump even the Fox News Channel being a genuinely well-informed outlet. Incredible. [continues 170 words]
'BUZZED' A PRIMER ON ABUSED DRUGS Just perusing the table of contents in "Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs From Alcohol to Ecstasy" is a sharp reminder of the huge role drugs play in American culture. Twelve hefty chapters present the pharmacopeia in nonjudgmental alphabetical order - alcohol, caffeine, ecstasy, hallucinogens, herbal drugs, inhalants, marijuana, nicotine, opiates, sedatives, steroids, stimulants - each followed by a lively list of slang and street names. The authors, Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder and Wilkie Wilson, all professors at Duke University, first published this compendium in 1998. Updated through the years with such listings as Rohypnol and Red Bull, a synthetic marijuana called Spice, designer stimulants called bath salts, e-cigarettes and ginkgo biloba, it comes in at nearly 400 pages. [continues 68 words]
A SPRINKLING of spice. Random thoughts about the drug spice and the crackdown in Manchester. Manchester doesn't have a spice problem, it has a drug problem. Speak to people in Bronstein Park, and it becomes clear that spice is just one patch in the tapestry of this city's drug culture. Christo Shaw, 28, said users prefer spice because it might mean a clean drug test. "We were always getting in trouble for smoking weed," said Shaw, who is on probation and must submit to drug tests. A stay-at-home mom, Shaw said she stopped smoking spice because of last week's dozens of overdoses. [continues 745 words]
A new field test kit adopted by the Gainesville-Alachua County Drug Task Force provides officers with some power in the fight against the synthetic drug known as "spice," and a proposed city ordinance up for discussion could create an outright ban on the drug. A field test kit that the city-county drug task force deployed about a month ago can test for eight compounds found in the synthetic drug known on the street as synthetic marijuana or spice. The disposable device is similar to field kits used by officers to test for drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and heroin, but the chemical makeup of the synthetic drug is trickier. [continues 437 words]
A year after manufacturing lab raid, synthetic marijuana products still sold over-the-counter Synthetic marijuana, also known as "spice," can be easier to get than cigarettes in Harford County, and while police last year broke up what they say was a significant distribution ring, the intoxicant remains a problem locally and is being treated by local law enforcement the same as other illicit drugs. "It's still out there. We've seen a lot of people's lives affected by it," Capt. Lee Dunbar of the Harford County Sheriff's office said in a recent interview. Dunbar also is head of the Harford County Task Force. [continues 990 words]
MANCHESTER - City officials have shut down three convenience stores that allegedly sold the synthetic marijuana "spice" connected to at least 34 overdoses in the last few days. Han's Food Mart, 353 Maple St., Union Street Market, 621 Union St. and TN Convenience, 90 Bridge St., sold a brand called "Smacked" that city officials said is linked to the overdoses, according to Mayor Ted Gatsas. The city closed the stores and revoked the businesses' licenses "for conducting business activities which endanger the public health, welfare, and safety of local residents," Gatsas said in a written statement. [continues 392 words]
Dear Stoner: WHERE CAN I FIND SPICE? - synthetic weed - in Denver or Lakewood? I can't use the real stuff and can't find the stuff I used to buy anymore anywhere. Raul, from the potline Dear Raul: Think of the sketchiest neighborhood in Denver. Now find the nearest corner store not chain-owned in said neighborhood. That's our best guess as to where to find Spice - but frankly, we have no clue. Never tried the stuff ourselves and don't really have the desire to. Did you know synthetic cannabinoids were first made for testing on rats and weren't ever meant for human consumption? Yeah. Rats. In a way, people smoking it are still lab rats, and we have no way of knowing what the hell that stuff will do to you in the long term or even the short term. Batches of it show up from time to time in states across the U.S., making people sick enough to require medical treatment - including 221 people in Colorado last year, at least fifteen people at a homeless shelter in Austin, and 29 people in Gainesville, Florida, just last week. And who can forget the infamous face-eating incident in Miami in 2012? We certainly didn't. [continues 276 words]
Report Says Synthetics Caused 30 Deaths in the First Six Months of 2013. While deaths due to overdoses of prescription drugs continue to decline in Florida, law enforcement officials are trying to control the use of dangerous substances being disguised as other products and sold over the counter - synthetic drugs commonly known as bath salts. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi Thursday issued a report by Florida's medical examiners that shows drugs present in the bodies of people who died of overdoses. Such reports are issued regularly, but for the first time deaths caused by synthetic drugs are included. [continues 668 words]
BOSTON - Carrying small amounts of marijuana is no longer a crime in Massachusetts, but the state may soon ban the fake stuff. Massachusetts could join at least 43 states that have cracked down on the sale of chemical-laden synthetic marijuana now legally available on the shelves of gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops. Leafy looking products with names like "Spice," "Mojo" and "Black Mamba" are typically made from herbs but laced with acetone and other chemicals that mimic THC, the active drug in marijuana, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. [continues 960 words]
Rehab, drug court gives NN teen new life NEWPORT NEWS -- Spice took over his life in middle school. Nothing else mattered. Being high became the norm. At 12, he picked up his first cigarette. Soon the Newport News teen, now 18, was smoking marijuana, too. "Cigarettes and weed," he said in a single breath, making no distinction. "Weed was just part of life. I smoked weed all the time -- after school, every weekend." Halfway through eighth grade, he moved on to spice, which had the advantage of being cheaper and, at the time, both legally obtainable and undetectable in drug screens. [continues 955 words]
Police Mum on Potential Investigations NEWPORT NEWS -- If you listen to the U.S. Navy, Newport News and Hampton are problem cities for the retail sale of spice. But unlike nearby counties the two cities haven't raided stores that sell spice, which a local prosecutor and a defense attorney both say has everything to do with a state statute that makes convictions tricky. There's one standard for sailors and another one -- a higher one -- for a prosecutor seeking a conviction, said Anton Bell, Hampton's commonwealth's attorney. [continues 614 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday broadened its national crackdown on synthetic drug manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers as federal agents served hundreds of search and arrest warrants in at least 25 states. Agents served warrants at homes, warehouses and smoke shops beginning early morning, DEA spokesman Rusty Payne said. The largest single operation was a statewide effort in Alabama. Agents also were active in 28 other states. The DEA said agents made more than 150 arrests and served about 200 warrants. Federal, state and local authorities seized hundreds of thousands of individual packets of synthetic drugs and hundreds of kilograms of synthetic products used to make the drugs. [continues 230 words]
Agents Conduct the Sweep After More Than 100 Texans Fell Ill From Man-Made Cannabis. A week after more than 100 people in Texas fell ill from synthetic cannabis, the Drug Enforcement Administration has arrested at least 150 people in a 29-state sweep to combat the use of substances that mimic the highs of marijuana, methamphetamine or LSD. Although not always marketed as drugs, products such as K2, Spice, Molly and Purple Wave have come under increasing scrutiny because of their popularity among teenagers and young adults. The DEA considers the synthetics illegal and dangerous, though the industry has tried to skirt the rules and challenge prosecutions by making minor ingredient changes and labeling the goods as "not for human use." [continues 388 words]
The sweeping bust of "spice" dealers in Colorado and across the country Wednesday shows the need for vigilance to keep the dangerous drug off the streets. Colorado, we're glad to say, has continued to refine its laws dealing with this substance, sometimes called "synthetic marijuana." That nickname is deceiving, since spice can be just about any vegetative material sprayed with who-knows-what to provide a high. And that has been part of the problem in busting spice dealers. The evolving recipe has made it tough for law enforcement to know whether the stuff they see for sale at $5 or $10 a packet at a gas station or convenience store is illegal, or perhaps just incense with a provocative name. [continues 70 words]
Law enforcement officers arrested nine suspected members of an international drug ring that marketed a synthetic form of marijuana called Spice, a drug that has been linked to serious illnesses, hallucinations and even death. "Spice is poison and pain deceptively packaged as pleasure," said 18th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler. It is sold in gas stations and corner shops under product names like "Sexy Monkey" and "Crazy Clown." Some packages are labeled "Not for Human Consumption." Beginning at 7 a.m., federal, state and local law enforcement officers from around the country arrested nine people on federal charges originating in Colorado's Federal District Court. Of those, five face related state charges in Denver and Arapahoe counties, authorities said [continues 526 words]
Multiple Seacoast Communities Linked To Investigation Two suspected dealers have been charged with selling an extremely potent form of synthetic marijuana as part of a major operation that allegedly included sales to undercover agents on the Seacoast. [name' redacted], address unknown, and [name2 redacted], of Lawrence, Mass., are facing federal charges of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. The two are being held without bail after their arrests on March 28 following a three-month investigation by agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration. [continues 1096 words]
Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. acknowledged the use of synthetic drugs is growing among U.S. teenagers, rejecting a suggestion that President Obama's recent comments equating the dangers of marijuana with those of alcohol might lead more young people to experiment with pot. The Drug Enforcement Agency is dealing with a spike in synthetic drugs, commonly labeled as "incense," "spice" or "bath salts," among teenagers primarily because of the misnomer that they're safe, Mr. Holder told an oversight hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. [continues 209 words]
The University of Michigan's 23rd annual survey of alcohol and drug use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders, "Monitoring the Future," provides insight into the changing nature of youth drug use. It reports that teens are "more cautious" about using synthetic drugs. This is good news, but gives many people pause. What about the non-synthetic drugs we always have been concerned about - alcohol, marijuana, cocaine? These continue to be the most widely abused drugs among teens. But in recent years, synthetic drugs, manufactured rather than found in nature, have emerged as powerful, easy to obtain, and sometimes perceived as at least quasi-legal - at least until law enforcement agencies and lawmakers can identify the exact chemical compositions and make them illegal to possess or sell. [continues 693 words]
RACINE -- In 2011, the state prohibited the possession and distribution of synthetic marijuana, often called K2 or Spice. But despite the law, synthetic marijuana is continuing to cause problems in Racine County, sending young people to the hospital for adverse reactions, according to Racine Fire Department officials. On Thursday, an 18-year-old woman was taken to the emergency room at Wheaton Franciscan-All Saints hospital, 3801 Spring St., after she started dry heaving and acting strangely. [continues 145 words]
U.S. teenagers are smoking more marijuana but backing away from other harmful drugs and doing less binge drinking, according to a report from federal health researchers released last month. Easier access to marijuana provided by new state laws allowing the drug for medical treatment may be a factor, according to the report from the National Institutes of Health. The survey found that roughly 6.5 percent of high school seniors are smoking marijuana daily, compared with 6 percent a decade ago and 2.4 percent in 1993, and nearly 23 percent of seniors said they smoked the drug in the last month. [continues 430 words]
High-School Seniors Using Less Synthetic Marijuana, More Real Weed While teens' use of synthetic marijuana is on the decline, their attitudes toward real pot are trending in the opposite direction. Synthetic marijuana-known by such names as K2 and spice-is made of dried plant material sprayed with various chemicals and packaged to look like weed, according to SFGate.com. After being introduced in the U.S. in 2009, an alarming number of emergency-room visits and deaths were tied to use of the drugs. But a report recently released by the National Institutes of Health found that the number of high-school seniors who have tried synthetic marijuana has dropped-from 11 percent of seniors in 2012 to 8 percent in 2013. [continues 55 words]
Teens are shunning synthetic marijuana, such as K2 and Spice, but smoking more of the real thing, a national survey of more than 40,000 students in three grades found. The number of high school seniors who said they used the synthetic drugs dropped sharply from 11 percent in 2012 to 8 percent in 2013, according to the Monitoring the Future survey, released Wednesday. A growing number of teens see the drugs as dangerous. Perceptions of marijuana have slid in the other direction as fewer teens see the drug as harmful and more smoke it. In 2013, 1 in 15 seniors reported using marijuana daily, up from 1 in 50 in 1993, the survey found. [continues 292 words]
WASHINGTON (AP) - Fewer teens are trying fake marijuana known by such names as K2 and Spice, apparently getting the message that these cheap new drugs are highly dangerous, according to the government's annual survey on drug use. Synthetic marijuana is thought to have appeared in the U.S. in 2009, and soon after came a spike in emergency room visits, even deaths, as the drug caught on among young people. About 8 percent of high school seniors said they've used some type of synthetic marijuana this year, according to the report released Wednesday by the National Institutes of Health. That's a sharp drop from the 11 percent of seniors who'd experimented with fake pot in 2012. [continues 325 words]
Prohibitionists commonly warn that it's dangerous even to discuss legalizing marijuana, whether for medical or general use, because such talk sends "the wrong message" to the youth of America, encouraging them to smoke pot. If so, you might expect that the legalization of marijuana in Colorado and Washington, approved by voters more than a year ago, would have a noticeable impact on marijuana use by teenagers. Yet the latest data from the government-sponsored Monitoring the Future Study, released today, indicate that teenagers observed the momentous events in Colorado and Washington, absorbed the deleterious message supposedly sent by legalization, and continued smoking pot at pretty much the same rates as before. [continues 802 words]
National Survey Shows Fewer View Marijuana As Harmful, Daily Use Up Teens are shunning synthetic marijuana, such as K2 and Spice, but smoking more of the real thing, a national survey of more than 40,000 children in three grades found. The number of high school seniors who said they used the synthetic drugs dropped sharply from 11% in 2012 to 8% in 2013, the Monitoring the Future survey, released today, found. A growing number of teens see the drugs as dangerous. [continues 382 words]
DENVER - Starting early next year, any adult with a craving or curiosity will be able to stroll into a strip mall or downtown shop in Colorado or Washington State and do what has long been forbidden: buy a zip-lock bag of legal marijuana. After landmark votes made marijuana legal for recreational consumption, users in these two states will no longer need doctors' notes or medical reasons to buy the drug. Instead, they will simply show identification to prove they are at least 21, and with the cautious blessing of state and federal officials, they will be able to buy as much as an ounce of marijuana and smoke it in their living rooms. [continues 1391 words]
Thanks to a well-funded effort by ubiquitous trial lawyer John Morgan, Florida voters are likely to get the opportunity to vote for, or against, approving the use of medical marijuana next November. For most supporters, the issue of medical marijuana is a highly emotional issue based on personal beliefs and scientific evidence that is often criticized by the establishment. Meanwhile, opponents say approving marijuana usage for medicinal purposes is a mere foot in the door that will eventually lead to approval of recreational marijuana use. That, they say, will lead to greater use of harder drugs and create more societal ills. [continues 1629 words]
Earlier this year, the General Assembly passed legislation to deal with the serious problem of an emerging class of drugs known as "synthetic cannabinoids." The new law, which went into effect Oct. 1, prohibits the sale and possession of drugs intended to mimic the effects of marijuana, commonly sold under brand names such as "K-2," "Spice," "Voodoo Spice" "Scooby Snax," "Mr. Nice Guy" and "Mystery," to name just a few. Particularly troubling is that the packaging of these products often depict cartoon characters or images that are appealing to young people. Commonly, the packaging label contains language advising that the product is "incense" and "not for human consumption." In the past, however, retailers have sold it to buyers with a wink and a nod. They intimate the product is to be smoked and that it will give the user a high similar to marijuana. [continues 393 words]
Treatment - a Strain of Medical Marijuana Low in THC Has Stopped Seizures in Children With Severe Epilepsy. Every week a tutor comes to April Sintz's home to teach 7-year-old Isaac his letters. Developmentally delayed due to a rare seizure disorder, he is able to grasp the shapes and sounds but soon forgets them. "It's one step forward and two steps back," said Sintz, who hasn't lost hope that Isaac will one day read. Nor has she given up her pursuit of an "herbal" treatment - available only from a medical marijuana dispensary in Colorado - that has worked miracles for some children with severe, intractable forms of epilepsy. [continues 920 words]
Old Spice cologne once reminded many people of their grandfather. Now, thanks to former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa and a series of humorous television commercials, it probably brings to mind a guy on a horse with great abs. The advertising industry calls this successful rebranding and that's what backers of a campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Ohio are banking on to change the attitude of Ohio voters. The Ohio Rights Group is in the midst of a petition drive to collect nearly 400,000 valid signatures to place the Ohio Cannabis Rights Amendment on the ballot in 2014. [continues 383 words]
Playing 'Cat-And-Mouse' Game With Authorities Trying to Upgrade Screening A quarter to a third of young men drug tested as they passed through the District's criminal justice system had recently used synthetic marijuana, with positive results surprisingly high among those who screened negative for more conventional illegal drugs, according to a report released Wednesday. The study by the Office of National Drug Control Policy highlights the growing popularity of designer drugs in the District and suggests that those under court-ordered monitoring use synthetics as a way to juke the system. [continues 815 words]
Odds are you know someone with an addiction: 2.3 million people over the age of 12 sought substance/ alcohol treatment in 2011, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Add those not seeking or unable to afford treatment and the numbers escalate. Marijuana dependence/ abuse is twice as prevalent as with other drugs: 4.2 million Americans (2011), nearly two-thirds of Arizona's population. Nationally, treatment admissions skyrocketed 21 percent (2000-10), with an average age of 25 and nearly three-quarters male. In Arizona, marijuana treatment has surpassed methamphetamine. [continues 433 words]
Pot Harms Kids, and I Won't Support Legalizers of Either Party A lobby funded by billionaires who are libertarian on social issues subsidizes an extreme tea party movement and takes control of a political party. But this time it's not the Koch brothers dictating the Republican agenda. I'm talking about pro-marijuana billionaires Peter Lewis and George Soros, and a leftwing tea party that smokes its tea. Marijuana money is corrupting the Democratic Party just like oil money has corrupted the Republicans. How powerful is the marijuana lobby? [continues 696 words]
New Zealand is tackling synthetic drugs by regulating them instead of banning them. B.C. health officials are watching the experiment closely, but we should not rush to follow New Zealand down this road. The frustration that drove New Zealand's lawmakers to try a novel solution is familiar around the world. "Party drugs" such as spice, meow-meow and bath salts are manufactured to produce similar effects to marijuana, ecstasy and methamphetamine, and they are becoming increasingly popular among people aged 15 to 20. [continues 551 words]
New Zealand is tackling synthetic drugs by regulating them instead of banning them. B.C. health officials are watching the experiment closely, but we should not rush to follow New Zealand down this road. The frustration that drove New Zealand's lawmakers to try a novel solution is familiar around the world. "Party drugs" such as spice, meow-meow and bath salts are manufactured to produce similar effects to marijuana, ecstasy and methamphetamine, and they are becoming increasingly popular among people aged 15 to 20. [continues 544 words]
Health Officials Here Could Use Results to Push for Similar Reforms B.C. health officials are keeping a close watch on New Zealand as it experiments with a novel drug law that could legalize designer party drugs or so-called "legal highs" in a bid to make them safer for users. The new law, enacted two weeks ago, represents a U-turn from the traditional approach of banning synthetic drugs. Instead, New Zealand will attempt to regulate the substances, allowing their sale if they go through rigorous safety testing similar to that for pharmaceuticals. [continues 582 words]
Experiment to Make "Legal Highs" Safer Could Spur Reforms Here: Health Officials B.C. health officials are keeping a close watch on New Zealand as it experiments with a novel drug law that could legalize designer party drugs or so-called "legal highs" in a bid to make them safer for users. The new law, enacted two weeks ago, represents a U-turn from the traditional approach of banning synthetic drugs. Instead, New Zealand will attempt to regulate the substances, allowing their sale if they go through rigorous safety testing similar to that for pharmaceuticals. [continues 578 words]
