Topic: DRUGS - on November 19, 2006 at 5:59:00 PM CET
The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition - Economists against prohibition
An Open Letter to the President, Congress, Governors, and State Legislatures
We, the undersigned, call your attention to the attached report by Professor Jeffrey A. Miron, The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. The report shows that marijuana legalization -- replacing prohibition with a system of taxation and regulation -- would save $7.7 billion per year in state and federal expenditures on prohibition enforcement and produce tax revenues of at least $2.4 billion annually if marijuana were taxed like most consumer goods. If, however, marijuana were taxed similarly to alcohol or tobacco, it might generate as much as $6.2 billion annually.
Milton Friedman: interviewed on America's Drug Forum
World Prison Population List [.pdf]
The History of the Non-Medical Use of Drugs in the United States
The Top 10 Things I Know About Drugs
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 17, 2006 at 12:53:00 PM CET
Life in Prison for Smoking Marijuana
My name is Tyrone Brown, better known as T Baby to some. At age 17 I was sentenced to an aggravated life sentence in prison for smoking marijuana while on probation.
Now I know that may sound absurd and hard to believe because it sounded the same to me also when Judge Keith Dean in Dallas, Texas handed down his order more than 14 years ago. I soon realized that just like the marijuana smoke I consumed, my life was also to be consumed by these years behind bars.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 15, 2006 at 6:21:00 PM CET
Guarded Hope for Dope Reform
Democrats control Congress, a socialist is in the Senate and the president's approval ratings are in the tank. So it's no surprise that advocates of drug reform are looking forward to a new day -- sort of.
Consider this: A bill that would allow sick people to use marijuana might actually pass the House. Of course, it's probably dead on arrival in the Senate, and President Bush would almost certainly stamp it with an override-proof veto.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 14, 2006 at 4:26:00 PM CET
DEA Warns Over-The-Counter Drug Is Like Acid
Federal drug agents are warning parents about an herb that young people are using to get high. Some users say smoking Salvia Divinorum is a lot like taking acid.
Several states have passed laws against the plant; however, in Colorado anyone who is at least 18 years old can buy it over-the-counter.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 14, 2006 at 2:09:00 PM CET
Scientists design simple dipstick test for cocaine, other drugs
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a simple “dipstick” test for detecting cocaine and other drugs in saliva, urine or blood serum. The test is based upon DNA-gold nanoparticle technology, and can be packaged in user-friendly kits similar to those used for home pregnancy tests.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 13, 2006 at 4:36:00 PM CET
Medical marijuana law leave patients, police in a fog
In her spacious suburban home, Robin DeBow cleans countertops until they gleam, vacuums the carpets to plush perfection and then turns toward her most pressing chore -- tending the large pot plant budding in her sunny front room.
It's a job DeBow has fought for years to perform. Though not a marijuana user herself, the 44-year-old Lewis County woman has been authorized to provide the potent herb to her son, Chris Chastain, a 27-year-old paraplegic.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 12, 2006 at 12:33:00 PM CET
Drug may have created acid that ate German banknotes
A mystery substance that caused some euro banknotes in Germany to fall to pieces may be linked to the party drug crystal speed, Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday, quoting regional police. Users of crystal speed inhale it through the nose using rolled-up banknotes and chemists think impurities such as sulphates, mingled with sweat, could have created an acid that ate away at the notes, the magazine quoted police as saying.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 10, 2006 at 9:13:00 AM CET
Italian police 'bust drug cartel'
Police in Italy say they have broken a major drug-trafficking ring - their second operation in two days. Fifty people were arrested in co-ordinated raids in several cities in central Italy, police say.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 10, 2006 at 9:10:00 AM CET
Pothead Hopes Up in Smoke
While the rise of the Democrats might be good news for American druggies, Election Day 2006 also brought some bad news. Statewide measures to legalize small amounts of marijuana failed in Colorado (40% to 60%) and Nevada (44% to 56%).
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 9, 2006 at 11:05:00 AM CET
More and more pot users getting their marijuana delivered to their door
In a city where you can get just about anything delivered to your door - groceries, dry cleaning, Chinese food - pot smokers are increasingly ordering takeout marijuana from drug rings that operate with remarkable corporate-style attention to customer satisfaction.
An untold number of otherwise law-abiding professionals in New York are having their pot delivered to their homes instead of visiting drug dens or hanging out on street corners.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 8, 2006 at 11:41:00 AM CET
Burger King sued over marijuana in police officers' burgers
Two US police officers have sued Burger King Corp., alleging personal injury, negligence, battery and violation of fair practices after they were served hamburgers that had been sprinkled with marijuana.
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Topic: DRUGS - on November 4, 2006 at 3:52:00 PM CET
Officer Claims Wife Put Pot in Meatballs
A detective suspended after testing positive for drugs says his wife served him meatballs spiked with marijuana because she wanted to keep him out of harm's way by forcing him into retirement.
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