dode or doda, an opium-derived drug popular in Canada’s South-Asian community, is easily available and can be bought cheaply by anyone—including minors—in many retail stores. “Anybody could walk in any day of the week and purchase it no matter how old they are, and then they take it just like any other type of drug,” he said. “It's been a very big problem and it's a growing problem.”The drug, also known as “poor man’s heroin,” is popular among taxi drivers, construction workers, and truck drivers who say it gives them energy and helps them stay awake for long stretches.But it can also impair one’s ability, and Bains believes it could be the cause of any number of work-related accidents.“They drive taxis, they drive trucks, they go on construction sites or whatever else they're doing. They put themselves and the people around them in quite an unsafe situation.”Although doda produces a quick high followed by feelings of relaxation and calm, it can also cause loss of concentration, slurred speech, drowsiness, impotence, constipation, and mood swings, according to police. And as with other derivatives of the poppy plant, it is addictive.
“It is no different than opium—it is highly addictive,” says Bains. “Because it has lower concentrations of [opium] it takes more time to get hooked, but once you're on you're on it.” Imported from countries such as Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India where it has been used for decades, doda appeared in Canada only within the last 10 or 15 years, largely in Indo-Canadian communities.“It started out originally in back east in the Toronto area and started to spread quickly to the west,” Bains said.Made from ground poppy pods, doda comes in the form of a greyish powder and is usually prepared as a tea. The drug can also be used as a kind of meat seasoning, and doda users most commonly obtain the powder from South Asian meat shops.
Dr. David Mowat, Medical Officer of Health for Ontario’s Peel region, said he has been hearing of increasingly more cases of doda addiction from physicians who specialize in addiction. “They say they're seeing a lot of people who are having problems with this drug—problems with work, sleeping, withdrawal symptoms, and family problems," he told CTV News.“There's a concern that people don't really know what they are consuming. People don't know that this is a morphine derivative.” Doda is illegal in Canada and anyone found selling or using it can be charged, with penalties ranging from fines to jail. However, because it can contain very small amounts of opium, the legality in some cases remains unclear.A letter Bains received from the office of B.C.’s solicitor-general said that some samples of doda seized in the Toronto area “did not contain enough opium to rate a positive test. Consequently, some of the seized product did not merit the laying of charges on the seller.”On March 15, Peel Regional Police raided three addresses in Brampton, Mississauga, and Toronto, seizing more than 1,200 kilos of doda worth about $2.5 million.Doda seizures have also taken place in Calgary and Edmonton. The first large-scale seizure of the drug in B.C. occurred in Surrey last November when Surrey RCMP confiscated hundreds of kilos of poppy pods and finished product along with crushing and grinding equipment.The seized product has been forwarded to a Health Canada lab to confirm the presence of drugs that are prohibited under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
“I think police all across Canada are much more aware of this, the communities are much more aware of this, and they're starting to treat this issue seriously and they're starting to pay attention that this is no different than any other drug,” says Bains.NDP MLA for Surrey-Newton, Bains has been working to raise awareness of the prevalence of the drug in response to concerns raised by his constituents. A big part of his motivation, he says, is the fear doda will end up finding its way into schools.“I think what they need to do is treat this substance just like any other illegal drug and act accordingly for the sale, for the possession, and the importation of this. That's how you can nip it in the bud—no pun intended.”
Oscar Arriola Marquez has pleaded not guilty to charges that include money laundering and conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. Authorities say Arriola Marquez used a remote ranch in Peyton, Colo., to help ship 440 pounds of cocaine a week for distribution to Chicago and New York City. Arriola Marquez was in federal court Tuesday in Denver for a detention hearing. A tentative trial date has been set for May.He faces 10 year to life in prison if convicted. He was arrested in Mexico in 2006 and extradited to Colorado this month.
Canadian researchers have discovered the genes responsible for crucial steps in the manufacture of morphine by poppies, raising the possibility of plants that produce medically-useful codine but cannot be used for heroin.
Jillian Hagel and Peter Facchini, of the University of Calgary, report in Nature Chemical Biology that they have identified the enzymes responsible for two of the three chemical steps that convert the amino acid tyrosine to morphine. They also identified the genes that produce these enzymes.
“The enzymes encoded by these two genes have eluded plant biochemists for a half-century,” says Facchini (press release). “In finding not only the enzymes but also the genes, we've made a major step forward. It’s equivalent in finding a gene involved in cancer or other genetic disorders.”
Shutting down the production of morphine at the right point could mean that plants produced only codine – a widely used painkiller – and not morphine, which is used to make heroin. As Facchini and Hagel note in their paper, cultivation of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum L.) is the sole commercial source for codine and derivatives such as oxycodone.
A poppy which could produce codine but not heroin would be useful in places like Afghanistan, where production for illicit use is prevalent and attempts to encourage cultivation for medical purposes are often stymied by concerns about heroin production
The 25-year-old Cats star, who played in the team's 2007 premiership-winning side, was charged along with five other men in a police operation in Geelong last month.
He allegedly told police at the time that he bought one gram of cocaine for $500 from a nightclub bouncer for a friend visiting from Darwin.If convicted of trafficking, Stokes faces a lifetime ban from football under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, to which the AFL is a signatory.There is no allegation that Stokes took the cocaine himself, police said.Stokes was charged after raids on several Geelong homes in which police seized more than $3,000 in cash and drugs worth an estimated value of $50,000.Stokes' name came up in telephone intercepts during the operation, detectives said at the time.He will appear for a committal mention hearing, along with co-accused Wassam Solieman, 34, of Hamlyn Heights, in the Geelong Magistrates' Court.
Stokes began playing for Geelong in 2006. He has played 71 games and kicked 108 goals.The club has announced a range of in-house penalties for Stokes.It has suspended him until round eight of the AFL season, fined him $5,000 and demanded he finds full-time work until round four of the season.
Natalie Mejia, a member of pop group Girlicious, was arrested in a Los Angeles suburb on Tuesday night after police reportedly found more than a dozen plastic bags of cocaine in her Gucci purse. KTLA reports that Mejia was stopped by police for speeding. After searching the car, police arrested and booked the singer on suspicion of possessing cocaine for sale. According to jail records, she spent the night in jail and was released on $30,000 bail.Her driver, Peter Asencio, was also arrested, and it was later discovered that Asencio was driving with a suspended license.
Mejia is scheduled to appear in court on April 15.Girlicious was founded by Pussycat Dolls creator Robin Antin, who featured the group on the CW's reality competition 'Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.' Their songs include 'Stupid S***' and 'Baby Doll,' both released from their 2008 self-titled album.
Lawyers for Michael Douglas' son Cameron urged a judge to hand their client bail on Thursday by insisting he was pushed into a life of drugs because of his father's fame.Cameron Douglas was arrested August 2009 following a drugs raid on his room at the Hotel Gansevoort in New York City.He was initially put under house arrest at his mother's Manhattan address after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of heroin.
However, the 31 year old was thrown back behind bars after he allegedly asked girlfriend Kelly Sott to smuggle heroin to him in an electric toothbrush.And during a request for bail on Thursday, the 31 year old's defense lawyers claimed Douglas' troubles stemmed from his "difficult upbringing" with his Oscar-winning father.Defense attorney Dan Gitner said, "(Douglas') serious heroin addiction (stems from) notoriety that is not due to any acts of his own but by dint of birth and a difficult upbringing."While fellow defense lawyer Nicholas DeFeis added, "He didn't benefit from his celebrity. He was hurt by it in a variety of ways, including ways in this case."At an earlier hearing on February 11, the star's psychiatrist Dr. Robert Millman made similar claims, describing how Douglas' privileged background made him "reckless."
He told the court, "He has been sort of a reckless person since he was really young, endangering himself constantly.
"Not violent, just screwing up in every way - car accidents, motorcycle accidents, tattoos. I think a lot of it had to do with who his parents are."
The judge refused to grant bail over fears Douglas would relapse while awaiting his trial in April.
Police have arrested Tarkan, Turkey’s most famous pop music star, in a narcotics raid, Turkey’s semi-official Anatolian Agency reported Friday.
According to Anatolian, Tarkan was detained along with several other individuals who are "important figures from the art and magazine world."
CNN reports that Tarkan rose to international prominence in the late 1990s for singing playful hit songs like "Simarik" (Spoiled). The heartthrob has been described by some as a Turkish Ricky Martin, referring to the Latin pop singer from Puerto Rico who achieved popularity worldwide.
German-born Tarkan, who uses only one name, has also made pop charts around the world. In recent years, it was reported, he has been living in New York City. The arrest was carried out in Istanbul.
Turkey is a key stop on a drug smuggling transit route between Asia and Europe. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, it is a major hub for the trafficking of illegal heroin and opium from Afghanistan en route to European markets.
Drug operations involving Turkish celebrities, including artists and models, are often carried out in Istanbul.
Michael Douglas' son Cameron will be stuck behind bars until he's sentenced for drug charges, after a judge shot down his bid for momentary freedom today in court.
Cameron has been locked up since last year, when his girlfriend smuggled him heroin while he was under house arrest awaiting trial. Douglas has since pled guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and one count of possession of heroin.Today in Federal Court in Manhattan, Cameron asked the judge to let him bail out so he could be transferred to a rehabilitation center.
The judge ruled Cameron was more likely to relapse if he was let out, and denied his bail.Cameron is due back in court on April 14.
The Two and a Half Men actor - who entered an undisclosed treatment centre yesterday - was reportedly admitted for professional help after his drink and Class A drug use escalated.Gossip website Radar Online reported: “Charlie has relapsed into using both booze and cocaine and simply couldn’t put off entering rehab any longer.”The 44-year-old actor - who is currently facing charges following allegations he attacked his spouse Brooke Mueller on Christmas Day - was urged to make the move by friends and family for the sake of their 11-month-old twin sons Bob and Max.
A source told the website: “He loves his children and ultimately that’s what convinced him to get help.”Real estate investor Mueller is also in a rehabilitation centre over substance abuse problems.It has been claimed the couple have had marital problems for months, but remained together because of their mutual love of partying.
A source added: “The one thing they share is that they both love to party.”
When Sheen was first admitted to rehab, it was claimed his stay was purely a “preventative measure”.His spokesperson said: “As a preventative measure, Charlie Sheen has entered a rehabilitation facility.“He will take some time off his series Two and a Half Men. He has asked that his privacy be honoured. No further statements are planned.”
Filming of his show Two and a Half Men will be “temporarily suspended” and CBS - the network who produce the comedy - wish Sheen “nothing but the best as he deals with this personal matter”.This news comes days after it was revealed Sheen had been visited by child protection services last week.The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) dropped by the family home he shares with Mueller to check up on the twins following his December arrest.The actor was arrested over domestic violence allegations, and was charged with a felony and two misdemeanours. He is expected to plead not guilty when he returns to a Colorado court next month.
Lindsay Lohan laid bare the extent of her drug addiction Monday, confessing that she came close to killing herself through a heady mix of alcohol and cocaine.
The bisexual actress, 23, who visited rehab three times and was jailed after being caught with cocaine, revealed she hit rock bottom and risked blowing her entire career via drug abuse.She said her problems got worse when her father Michael, a former drug addict who beat up her mother Dina, started talking about his daughter to the press in 2007."When my father was going public, that's when I hit rock bottom," Lohan told The Sun."I tried to mask my problems with alcohol, cocaine and mind-altering substances. I ran myself down and lost track of who I was."Referring to her May 2007 arrest for DUI (driving under the influence) and possession of cocaine, Lohan said: "I just thank God everyone was okay. But it was scary. I had three drinks, at most. I've been stupid and childish and I wasn't thinking."The former child actress, who starred in The Parent Trap and Mean Girls, was ordered to attend alcohol education classes and insists she is now clean of her addictions."I've made some dreadful mistakes but learned from them - that has probably saved my life," she said."Mind-altering drugs are so dangerous. I'm allowed to drink now but I know my limits. Partying so hard isn't worth it."
Students at one of the world's most prestigious educational institutions, Oxford University in England, have been warned against dealing in heroin.
It was Oxford University's independent student newspaper Cherwell which first reported that an anonymous letter had been sent to authorities at one of Oxford's largest colleges, Christ Church.
The letter had warned the authorities at what is one of 38 colleges and six Permanent Private Halls at Oxford that a "considerable drugs culture" can be found among the students at Christ Church.
According to the Telegraph those students number 426.
And as a consequence of the anonymous letter, junior Censor Ian Watson, described by the Daily Mail as the person "in charge of discipline" at Christ Church, has sent an email to his college's students with the subject line "Urgent warning concerning drugs".
Explaining to the students that "The law applies just as rigorously within college as elsewhere" and that he and his colleagues cannot and will not protect anyone who breaks the law Mr Watson said:
Last week the censors received an anonymous letter alleging the existence in Christ Church of a considerable drugs culture, including the supplying of class A drugs such as heroin. The letter named one individual.
The police, whom the censors consulted in the person of the community liaison officer who deals with the university, have advised that this letter does not in itself constitute usable evidence with which to start an investigation.
All junior members should, however, recall that the use, and especially the supplying, of prohibited drugs constitutes a serious criminal offence
While students interviewed by Cherwell acknowledged that drugs could be found at Christ Church, and one student is quoted by the Daily Mail as saying "On the surface Christ Church appears to be full of hardworking, bookish students. In reality, drug use and supply is widespread", the consensus seems to be that heroin is not being widely used by those attending the college.
With Ian Watson dubbed by one female student "an over-enthusiastic Censor being over-dramatic", another unnamed student opined:
It looks like some nutter coming in, seeing a few people looking rough, and saying they're all smack-heads. It's palpably false - there is no Heroin in Christ Church
However Christ Church has been at the center of a controversy involving the use of heroin on a previous occasion.
In 1986 Olivia Channon, the 22-year-old daughter of the late Paul Channon, Conservative Secretary of State for Transport and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry during the 1980s, died at a party on campus from the effects of the alcohol she had consumed and the heroin she had taken.
The party attended by Ms Channon had taken place in the room of Count Gottfried von Bismarck, who was to eventually die in 2007 at the age of 44 after what the Daily Mail said at the time and the Telegraph said this weekend was "a two-day binge on cocaine and heroin".
health scare which has seen seven people die in Scotland so far with another 14 hospitalised, yet there is no panic in the streets, few headlines and little fearful talk in homes or in offices.The reason for the silence? The victims are all drug addicts, a faceless heroin-injecting underclass, who few care about. In the last month, anthrax-infected heroin has killed four people in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area, two in Tayside and one in the Forth Valley.Although it’s likely that the heroin was infected with anthrax somewhere en route from the poppy fields of Afghanistan, there is no way that police and medics can rule out that the drug was deliberately infected once it arrived in the UK.The big problem facing police and doctors struggling to deal with the anthrax scare is that they just don’t know how, where, when, why or at whose hands the heroin became contaminatedWas it as a result of the heroin accidentally coming into contact with infected farm material while being stored or in transit from the Middle East to Britain? Was it because a middle man unwittingly used a contaminated bulking agent? Was it done maliciously? And if so, by whom? A callous dealer? Someone targeting Glasgow’s junkies? Even the most far-fetched theories can’t be ruled out.
Users are concerned, but not concerned enough to stop using Patricia Tracey
The country’s leading microbiologist, Professor Hugh Pennington, points to the distinct possibility of the anthrax coming into contact with the heroin in the country of origin, yet he also believes that it is possible that the anthrax could have been maliciously added to the heroin inside Britain.
“In the UK there used to be problem with anthrax-infected imports, particularly wool from areas east of Turkey,” he said. “It is no great surprise that it would be prevalent around the areas in Afghanistan where heroin is processed. You can’t completely rule out maliciousness as theoretically – people would be able to get hold of anthrax in the UK, although you’d need a specialist microbiological knowledge to do so.”Police are investigating the labyrinthine heroin supply chain, hoping that if they identify the source of the infection, they will be able to stop further deaths. Find the supplier, the theory goes, and you find and therefore save the customers. But the shadowy drug routes from Afghanistan to Scotland are difficult to trace and health officials are braced for more anthrax cases.
Some of the main theories about how anthrax spores came to contaminate the heroin, include the possibility that bonemeal, which is sometimes used to cut – ie, bulk up – heroin batches came from diseased animals. Another theory suggests that the equipment used to manufacture the drug was contaminated. Some peasant producers mix raw opium with water and chemicals in an oil barrel before heating the mixture over a large fire. These barrels may have previously been used to carry diseased meat, cattle feed or even manure.Professor Graeme Pearson is a former director general of the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA), the country’s leading crime-fighting unit, and is now with Glasgow University’s Unit for the Study of Serious Organised Crime. He has investigated the heroin production process and says he is surprised infections are so rare.
He said: “I’ve seen videos of heroin production and it’s a horrible and unhygienic process. It’s surprising that this doesn’t happen more often.”Anthrax exists as small, hardy spores that can lay dormant for up to 100 years. If these spores are breathed in, eaten or come into contact with skin, they cause an infection.
Dr Colin Ramsay, consultant eEpidemiologist at Health Protection Scotland, has been following the anthrax infections ever since the first victim was identified.
He said: “The current hypothesis remains that the anthrax cases are linked to contamination of either heroin or a cutting agent.”
While the police and medics remain temporarily at a loss, it may be thought that Scotland’s addicts themselves might be doing something to save themselves from infection. Sadly, that is far from the case.Heroin addicts, experts warn, are too in thrall to their next fix to heed the risks of shooting up with anthrax-infected heroin.Patricia Tracey, from Glasgow Drug Crisis Centre, claimed that it was “unrealistic” to expect addicts to listen to public health warnings. “Users are concerned, but not concerned enough to stop using,” she warned.The recent deaths have exposed the flaws in the Scottish Government’s drugs policy, Jolene Crawford, the head of pressure group Transform Drug Policy Foundation Scotland, claimed.She said: “If it was contaminated beer that was killing these people there would be uproar. But there is no outrage.“It is accepted that some heroin will be lethal because by prohibiting it we gift control to criminals. Were opium and heroin to be legally available via regulated pharmacies and doctors’ surgeries, we would not have to see our children, mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die unnecessarily in this way.”
"The SA Institute for Drug-Free Sport views the admission of guilt of Bulls and Springbok rugby player, Pedrie Wannenburg, to the use and abuse of cocaine, ecstasy and alcohol as a serious substance abuse and addiction issue rather than a performance enhancing issue. "We trust the strategy employed by the Bulls management as one of compassion where they sought to address Pedrie Wannenburg’s drug problem with counselling and empathy. "Mr Wannenburg admitted to the abuse of alcohol, cocaine and ecstasy while partying. Although alcohol is not banned in rugby, cocaine and ecstasy are banned during competition under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) 2010 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods in Sport. "Generally stimulants such as cocaine and ecstasy stay in the body for a few hours before it is completely metabolised and excreted. "Hence, although Pedrie Wannenburg was tested after a rugby match by the Institute for Drug-Free Sport in February and May of 2009, he tested negative for these substances on both occasions. "The selection of Mr Wannenburg for drug testing after these matches was based on a random “blind” selection by the respective team managers. "Many lessons have been learnt during this saga and Drug-Free Sport would like to further encourage sports bodies to work with us in not only combating doping in sport but also in addressing the growing trend of substance abuse and addiction among sports participants.
"Our top athletes are not immune to the negative influences of recreational drug use.
"We view with alarm the increasing prevalence of drug abuse with drugs such as cocaine, ecstasy and methamphetamine (tik) among young people and athletes.
"The South African Institute for Drug-Free Sport is the custodian of ensuring a drug-free sport environment in the country. Our anti-doping education programs focus on the dangers of drugs and developing decision-making skills among young people and athletes to make the correct choices."
new study published in the journal Science offers new insight into the mechanism behind cocaine’s addictiveness. The research, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), points to an epigenetic mechanism of the brain to explain cocaine's addictive effect. Epigenetics is a fairly new avenue of scientific research which looks at changes to gene expression. Such changes are believed to be triggered by environmental factors, such as diet, drugs and toxins.
In the study, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine gave a group of mice repeated doses of cocaine. Another group receieved saline doses with a final dose of cocaine. The intent was to see how the effects of repeated exposure to cocaine differs from one-time exposure. The researchers found that cocaine alters pleasure circuits in the brain by repressing the G9A enzyme, an important regulator of epigenetic control of gene expression. When the researchers reversed the effect, they were able to block the changes in gene expression and prevent the urge for cocaine.
Researchers hope the discovery may lead to more effective cures for cocaine addiction and perhaps even other substances.
Cocaine was responsible for more than 3 percent of all sudden deaths in a Spanish study signaling that no amount of the recreational drug, however small, is safe.
Researchers performed forensic autopsies on 668 people who died suddenly between November 2003 and June 2006 in Seville. Cocaine was detected in 21 of the corpses, all of which were male age 21 years to 45 years, according to the report published today in the European Heart Journal. Most died from heart attacks or other cardiovascular complications.The results can be extrapolated to other parts of Europe, where cocaine consumption is a growing public health problem, said the researchers led by Joaquin Lucena, who is the head of forensic pathology at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Seville. The number of Europeans abusing cocaine has increased to 12 million in the past two decades, making it the second-most widely used drug after marijuana, the researchers said.“Our findings show that cocaine use causes adverse changes to the heart and arteries that then lead to sudden death,” particularly when combined with smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol, Lucena said. “The combination of cocaine with either or both of these habits can be considered as a lethal cocktail that promotes the development of premature heart disease.”More than half of the cocaine-related deaths occurred during the weekend, suggesting the men were recreational rather than chronic users of the drug, said Richard Lange and David Hillis, from the University of Texas Health Science Center. A wide range of cocaine levels were found in the men’s bodies, indicating it can be dangerous even at low doses.“The notion that recreational cocaine use is ‘safe’ should be dispelled, since even small amounts may have catastrophic consequences, including sudden death,” Lange and Hillis wrote in an editorial that accompanied the study.
Four men - caught by police during an undercover operation transferring £2 million worth of cannabis in an underground garage – have been caged for plotting to supply the drug.Surveillance officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Command watched the handover in Kilburn Park Road, Kilburn, on May 7, last year and seized 600 kg. of cannabis stuffed into 61 boxes.
The four are: Shopkeeper Hamid Charkaoui, 31, of Colville Terrace, Notting Hill, (pic. l.) Delivery driver Fouad Raihani, 34, of Galsworth Court, Bollo Bridge Road, Acton, (pic. 2nd l.) Jobless Paul Mottley, 26, of Salutation Street, Manchester, (pic. 3rd l.) and jobless Dawood Ahmad, 25, of Park Mews, Park Drive, Manchester, (pic. 4th l.). Charkaoui, sentenced to seven-and-a-half years and Raihani, sentenced to five years, were watched unloading the boxes from their van for collection by Mottley, who received five years and Ahmad, sentenced to three-and-a-half years.Officers moved in as the Londoners loaded up the Manchester duo’s van and arrested all four men, seizing the cannabis (pic. r.) stored in heat-sealed clear plastic bags.Police searched six address, including Charkaoui’s uncle’s property in Ebbsfleet Road, Cricklewood, where they found 6 kg of amphetamine, 29 cellophane wrapped packages of cannabis and a money counting machine.The other searches uncovered £11,000 cash, a heat-sealing machine, a roll of heat-seal plastic and 19 rounds of ammunition. On May 19 mini-cab driver El-Hosain Charkaoui, 49, was arrested on his return from Spain and initially denied knowing anything about the drugs at his home in Ebbsfleet Road, but received eighteen months after admitting his role in the plot.
Detective Inspector Marion Ryan of the Serious and Organised Crime Command said: "This was a significant haul of cannabis that we have successfully removed from circulation. “Today's sentencing is testament to how seriously the criminal justice system takes this class B drug."
A team of Andaulcian scientists, led by Joaquín Lucena at the Legal Medicine Institute in Sevilla, has concluded after studying 2,477 autopsies that 3% of such deaths are caused by cocaine use. The drug can lead to heart attacks and also premature coronary atherosclerosis. Their research showed that of the 668 cases of cardiovascular sudden death, 21 cases showed cocaine use.
El Mundo reports that 7% of the national population uses the drug, most of the users are aged 15 to 34, and experts say users continue to think the drug is harmless.
An article on the subject has been printed in the European Heart Journal which also quotes the research of two top scientists from the University of Texas in the field. It says that cocaine abuse is an increasing and under estimated European public health problem.
prisoner Renae Lawrence has made a fresh confession about her role in heroin smuggling in an effort to prevent the execution of Scott Rush, the youngest of the nine Australians arrested in Bali in 2005.Lawrence's testimony at Rush's final appeal that she made multiple courier runs to Bali will help lawyers argue that his death sentence is unjust under Indonesian law, because lighter sentences were given to other members of the group (pictured).Although Lawrence had made 2 drug runs to Bali before her arrest in 2005, she received a 20-year sentence, the least severe punishment imposed on any of the 9 Australians.19-year-old Rush was making his 1st overseas trip when 3.4 kilograms of heroin was found strapped to his body at Denpasar airport in April 2005.He had no knowledge of the extent of the drug syndicate that recruited him and, after initial denials, confessed his guilt and pleaded for mercy.His death sentence has attracted controversy because Australian Federal Police reneged on a promise to his father, Lee Rush, to stop the then teenager travelling to Bali. Instead, the police steered him into a trap knowing he could face execution under Indonesia's drug laws.Rush and the group's convicted ringleaders, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, are the only members of the group who have been sentenced to death and are awaiting final appeals while on death row in Bali's Kerobokan jail.The other 6, including Lawrence, are serving jail terms.Lawrence told Indonesian police after her arrest in 2005 that she travelled to Bali in October the previous year with Chan and that Sukumaran had strapped the pair with heroin, which they took back to Australia.She also told police of a trip to Bali in December 2004 that was aborted because of difficulty obtaining money to buy the drugs.But during her trial, Lawrence withdrew her police statements and was not questioned at length about them.The Age has learned Lawrence has given a new statement to Rush's lawyers and is prepared to testify if asked to do so by a panel of Supreme Court judges set to consider Rush's appeal, which could begin in early AprilLawrence's drug run in October 2004 and attempted run three months later were confirmed during the trials of three of the syndicate's other drug ''mules'' in Brisbane in December 2008.
Rush was initially sentenced to life imprisonment - but in a shock judgment, the sentence was increased to death on appeal in the Supreme Court in 2006.
In the same court, fellow couriers Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj had life sentences upheld.
The differing appeal sentences were imposed on the basis of the same evidence heard by different judges.
Prosecutors had never asked for the death sentence for Rush. Under Indonesian law there is no automatic requirement for findings in different courts to match, nor for the ruling of a superior court to be followed automatically by a lower court.
But Rush's lawyers can point to sentencing inconsistencies in a motion for reconsideration at the appeal.
They are expected to ask the appeal judges to look at all the ''Bali 9'' cases and argue that for the sentences to be uniform, Rush should not be executed.
In 2008, the retiring head of Indonesia's Supreme Court, Bagir Manan, was quoted as saying he expected the apparent injustice of Rush's sentence to be considered at the final appeal.
If final appeals by Rush, Chan and Sukumaran fail, their last option is to seek clemency from President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has shown little mercy to those convicted of narcotics crimes since he took office in 2004.
Rush's lawyers are expected to file his appeal before those of Chan and Sukumaran.
Rush says he was living a teenager's ''party life'' in Brisbane with Czugaj, his schoolmate, when they were offered all-expenses-paid trips to Bali in 2005.
During their eight-day stay in Bali, Chan and Sukumaran demanded they carry packages back to Australia, for which they would be paid $5000 each. They were told their families would be killed if they did not follow
instructions. After they were detained at Denpasar airport, they were escorted to a room where they saw 2 other distressed Australians they had never seen before who had also been caught trying to carry drugs to Sydney. They turned out to be Martin Stephens and the woman whose testimony might now save Rush's life, Renae Lawrence.
Lawrence, then 29, from Newcastle, feared she faced life in jail as she pleaded for mercy at her trial in 2006. Her lawyers were surprised and relieved when she was sentenced to 20 years.
Following controversy over the AFP's role in Rush's arrest, the Rudd Government last month issued guidelines stipulating that police consider a suspect's age, nationality and whether capital punishment is likely when co-operating with foreign countries.
The organisers and financiers of the heroin to be smuggled by the Bali 9 have never been arrested.
It has never been explained how a Thai woman named Cherry Likit Bannakorn twice managed to remain unnoticed as she delivered the heroin to Chan in the middle of a police surveillance operation instigated by the AFP.
Federal MPs on both sides are pushing to pass laws early this year to entrench Australia's opposition to the death penalty.
Mennilli said police were "sick of this booze-till-you-drop culture".
"What is really distressing is the number of underage people congregating in public, in parks and the like, with the sole purpose of drinking themselves into a stupor," he said.In the northeastern state of Queensland, more than 900 people were arrested or issued with warnings by police as thousands of officers took to the streets around the country to enforce the crackdown during the Christmas party season.
In Western Australia about 180 people were arrested, while 123 were arrested in South Australia, 200 detained for drunkenness in the southern state of Victoria and 45 picked up in the national capital Canberra.According to government figures, drink-related injuries kill four Australians under the age of 25 and 70 are hospitalised due to alcohol-linked assaults each week.But despite Australia's booze-addled reputation, other nations including Ireland, Britain and Germany drink more litres per capita, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
August of this year the Mexican government legalized possession of marijuana, cocaine and heroin. The United States has long held that a great percentage of illegal drugs brought into this country are manufactured and smuggled into the United States across our borders. In the United States, possession of any of these drugs is illegal and the penalty can be imprisonment. The Mexican government says that they are losing their battle with the drug cartels in part because of the illegal firearms crossing the border from the United States into Mexico.
The Mexican Government defends their legalization of drugs. "This is not legalization; this is regulating the issue and giving citizens greater legal certainty," said Bernardo Espino del Castillo of the attorney generals office.
Legal certainty is accurate. The citizens and visitors of Mexico are now certain that they will not be arrested for possession of these drugs. They have immunity.
In addition this new law gives the Mexican citizens and visitors from the United States the opportunity to legally try out these drugs and add to the Drug Cartels bank of addicted users. Its now a reality that the desperate migration of Mexicans into the United States might, in part, be an attempt to flee their county that is clearly in the control of the Mexican Drug Cartels.Should we as Americans turn away these refugees (who are infiltrated with drug smugglers) ? Or should we, if we have a choice, wage war in Mexico rather than Afghanistan. To see a real story of the war on drugs in Mexico click here: courtesy of Boston.com
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