TAMPA - On the fourth floor of a hivelike, 1970s-vintage lab building on the University of South Florida's medical campus, Thomas Klein has spent 25 years studying marijuana's effects on the immune systems of mice, blowfish and human beings. If anyone should be able to answer the question that has surrounded pot for decades -- How bad is it for you? -- it should be Klein. Klein, 66, a tall, courtly professor of immunology and molecular medicine, can tell you he is very close to solving a few puzzles about the connection between cannabinoids -- the active compounds in marijuana -- and common allergies. But like other researchers in the field, Klein says marijuana's health effects remain a daunting mystery. [continues 1719 words]
Irvin Rosenfeld speaks fluidly and fast, breaking off a conversation to take another call and returning to the first one precisely in mid-sentence, juggling intricate idea strands like the stockbroker he is. You would never take him for a guy who smokes 10 to 12 joints of marijuana a day. Rosenfeld is not anyone's idea of mellow and laid-back. Apart from his day job, he has just written a book, "My Medicine." It is the story of his lifelong endurance of a rare bone condition, his battle for the legal right to control it with marijuana, and his membership in an exclusive club -- with 13 people at its largest, and now four still alive -- of patients who receive regular monthly cannisters of relatively mild weed, grown, rolled and shipped courtesy of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. [continues 1042 words]
Southern Group Stresses Rehab Roman Catholic bishops in Southern states are stepping up their criticism of the nation's prison system, saying the nation should spend less on incarcerating people and more on crime prevention and prisoner rehabilitation. And prison officials need to do more to help inmates with mental illnesses and drug addictions, according to an open letter written by the Bishops' Advisory Committee of the Catholic Committee of the South, based in Martin, Ky. The committee covers 11 states. [continues 337 words]
Native Colombian Is Held In Homeland A local congregation is rallying to support a member who has been imprisoned for more than a month in her native Colombia on a drug-related charge church members say is false. Lucia Lezcano, who has lived in the United States since 1992 and is an American citizen, flew to Bogota and was arrested at the airport, according to Philip Molestina, who is the Hispanic minister at South Louisville Christian Church. Molestina said Lezcano's arrest involved a checking account that Lezcano had used when she lived in Colombia. He said that several months after Lezcano left Colombia in 1992, someone apparently used the account to write a check to a known drug dealer, and she was convicted in absentia and sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison. [continues 314 words]
African-American community activists yesterday applauded the firing of Detective McKenzie Mattingly, while police union officials said the officer deserves a chance to present his case in court. A citizens group that supports police denounced the firing. "It is overwhelmingly sad to see in this age of political correctness, the criminals have been given more rights than those we have chosen to uphold the law and protect our communities," said Bridget Abell, founder of the group Citizens for Fair Treatment of Police. [continues 616 words]
Marijuana crusader Grant Krieger has been arrested and charged again for possessing pot for the purpose of trafficking after a routine traffic stop in Calgary. After officers seized 550 grams of marijuana from Krieger's car together with drug trafficking paraphernalia, the medicinal pot advocate's wife spoke out against the police. Krieger, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, has been waging an ongoing battle with police and through the courts for years, advocating the use of marijuana for medical reasons. In recent years, Krieger was charged with possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, and had a court acquit him, saying he was justified in selling pot to the chronically ill. [continues 94 words]
Three men collapsed unconscious in different bars and nightclubs early yesterday after a dangerous and maybe deadly batch of ecstasy hit the streets. Paramedics and police are warning nightclub revellers and late-night drinkers to beware of buying ecstasy, as the dangerous batch is probably still being trafficked. Paramedics first went to Victoria's Bar at 306 17 Ave. S.W. at 2:07 a.m., where they discovered a 22-year-old man unconscious, suffering a severe reaction to ecstasy. They took him to Rockyview Hospital. [continues 368 words]
City cops have smashed what's thought to be the biggest magic mushroom grow and trafficking operation in Calgary's history. Officers from District 2 backed up by the drug unit raided a home on Prominence Path N.W. yesterday after receiving a tip, where they seized 865 bags of psilocybin, or magic mushrooms. "These mushrooms were growing on a sophisticated rack system inside the master bedroom," said Det. Ryan Dobson. "This was an aggressive operation, and we conservatively estimate the value of the magic mushrooms at $300,000. [continues 91 words]
Calgary cops took part in a series of nationwide marijuana busts yesterday which took nearly $50 million worth of pot off the streets. By the end of "Operation Green Sweep" police forces across Canada had laid 289 charges against 136 suspects. Officers raided two homes in Calgary, including one in Bridlewood, where they seized 372 marijuana plants with a street value of $372,000, Insp. Murray Stooke of the organized crime section said. City cops also recovered $12,500 worth of specialized equipment used to grow marijuana, $695 in cash, and arrested two suspects. [continues 187 words]
Inquiry Hears Of Prescription Abuse EDEN VALLEY RESERVE -- A Mountie slammed the medical profession yesterday for its part in an "astounding" problem of prescription drug abuse that has brought death to this reserve southwest of Calgary. And a fatality inquiry into two reserve members who died of prescription drug overdoses heard from an ambulance driver who said he'd been to 200 such calls here. Claudia Labelle, 26, was found dead in her bed April 19 last year, and Roderick Lefthand died of an overdose Jan. 20. Both deaths are being called prescription drug overdoses. [continues 208 words]
Organized crime gangs will be hitting Calgary harder than ever in the next few years, remaining active in drugs, hookers, fraud and auto theft, warn police. Police Chief Jack Beaton wants Calgarians to know the problems are coming, and police will need support in the operations they launch to combat organized crime. Beaton addressed the upcoming problem in his business plan for 2002-2004, pointing out Calgary's new-found reputation as a major national and global business centre is attracting major criminals. [continues 169 words]
It came as a shock: the news 10 days ago that two American citizens, a 35-year-old missionary woman and her infant daughter, were killed when a Peruvian air force jet shot down their unarmed Cessna seaplane over the Amazon jungle. The woman's husband and 7-year-old son survived, as did the pilot, who was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the leg. They were casualties of the war on drugs. In this instance a U.S. government tracking aircraft, piloted by contract employees of the CIA, notified the Peruvian military that an allegedly suspicious plane was in the area. After hasty consultation, a Peruvian A-37 fighter went up to investigate. Less than an hour later, the jet pilot opened fire on what turned out to be an innocent civilian aircraft. [continues 806 words]
SAN DIEGO--It came as a shock: the news 10 days ago that two American citizens, a 35-year-old missionary woman and her infant daughter, were killed when a Peruvian air force jet shot down their unarmed Cessna seaplane over the Amazon jungle. The woman's husband and 7-year-old son survived, as did the pilot, who was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the leg. They were casualties of the war on drugs. In this instance a U.S. government tracking aircraft, piloted by contract employees of the CIA, notified the Peruvian military that an allegedly suspicious plane was in the area. After hasty consultation, a Peruvian A-37 fighter went up to investigate. Less than an hour later, the jet pilot opened fire on what turned out to be an innocent civilian aircraft. [continues 807 words]
SAN DIEGO--It came as a shock: the news 10 days ago that two American citizens, a 35-year-old missionary woman and her infant daughter, were killed when a Peruvian air force jet shot down their unarmed Cessna seaplane over the Amazon jungle. The woman's husband and 7-year-old son survived, as did the pilot, who was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the leg. They were casualties of the war on drugs. In this instance a U.S. government tracking aircraft, piloted by contract employees of the CIA, notified the Peruvian military that an allegedly suspicious plane was in the area. After hasty consultation, a Peruvian A-37 fighter went up to investigate. Less than an hour later, the jet pilot opened fire on what turned out to be an innocent civilian aircraft. [continues 806 words]
April's Mark Double The Monthly Goal Calgary's pot-busters who vowed to wipe out $1-million worth of marijuana in the city every month have just topped the $2-million mark for April. Members of the city police drug unit Green Team raided a home at 3026 26 Ave. S.E., where they hit a sophisticated marijuana grow. "We seized starter plants, full-grown plants, plants that were cropped out and some in bud," said Det. Gord Renke, head of the Green Team. "We hit this grow just before he was going to take it all to market." [continues 222 words]
Police Unit Sets Quota Of $1m A Month In Pot Busts City police drug-unit pot busters have been ordered to hit a new quota of wiping out $1-million worth of marijuana a month. And the new blitz is already ringing alarm bells among the city's huge army of basement pot growers. Last week alone, city police and RCMP drug busts took $2-million worth of drugs off the streets. "That's $2 million in one day in the city of Calgary," said Det. Gord Renke, who is in charge of the four-man marijuana "green team" within the drug unit. [continues 379 words]
Another Airport Bust Of African Hallucinogen The popularity of the African hallucinogen khat is taking off, Canada Customs officials said following a seizure of the drug at Calgary International Airport. Customs officers stopped a passenger who arrived off an airliner from England yesterday, and discovered 6.4 kg of the drug in two suitcases. "There have been about 60 seizures like this at Pearson International in Toronto, and this could be just the tip of the iceberg here," said Canada Customs spokesman Gordon Luchia, adding yesterday's seizure had an estimated street value of $1,300. [continues 123 words]
Cops fear drug labs could be cooking up trouble on your street Years ago in California, Calgary drug cop Pat Tetley saw the death and destruction wrought by methamphetamine "speed" factories blowing up. He learned first-hand of the agonizing deaths among the amateur methamphetamine chemists whose bodies were ravaged by the toxic chemicals. And in the back of his mind, he had the worrying knowledge that what gripped California's drug scene then usually reached Calgary in the next 10 years. [continues 528 words]
City police are worried the Justice Department's plan to study whether to only ticket pot possession in future may send the wrong message that drugs are OK. At present, marijuana possession means a court appearance and a conviction leads to a criminal record. But Alberta Justice Minister Dave Hancock wants to study the possibility of changing the system so anyone charged with possessing marijuana would be ticketed and not go to court. "I believe there's a danger there this would give the message 'drugs are OK,' " said police spokesman Insp. Harvey Cenaiko. He said people need to realize a conviction for simple marijuana possession leaves them with a criminal record, which could seriously affect their lives. [end]
Mounties Now Know Who Was Last Seen With Asian Kingpin Mounties believe they know who kidnapped and murdered a Calgary Asian drug-gang kingpin -- and their hunt has switched to Edmonton. One of the key players is already locked up on unrelated charges, and the RCMP anticipate charges in the murder will soon be laid. RCMP say their crackdown as they hunt the killers of Tai Duy Duong, 36, has been so intense, it's shut down much of the Asian gang drug trade here. [continues 186 words]
