Topic: DRUGS - on May 20, 2016 at 12:57:00 PM CEST
Police and Prison Guard Groups Fight Marijuana Legalization in California
Opposition to the marijuana legalization initiative, slated to go before voters in November, has been organized by John Lovell, a longtime Sacramento lobbyist for police chiefs and prison guard supervisors. Lovell’s Coalition for Responsible Drug Policies, a committee he created to defeat the pot initiative, raised $60,000 during the first three months of the year, according to a disclosure filed earlier this month.
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Topic: DRUGS - on May 18, 2016 at 10:44:00 AM CEST
Employers Struggle To Find Workers Who Can Pass A Drug Test
Jackie Calmes writes in the NYT that all over the country, employers say they see a disturbing downside of tighter labor markets as they try to rebuild from the worst recession since the Depression: the struggle to find workers who can pass a pre-employment drug test. The hurdle partly stems from the growing ubiquity of drug testing, at corporations with big human resources departments, in industries like trucking where testing is mandated by federal law for safety reasons, and increasingly at smaller companies. But data suggests employers' difficulties also reflect an increase in the use of drugs, especially marijuana -- employers' main gripe -- and also heroin and other opioid drugs much in the news. Data on the scope of the problem is sketchy because figures on job applicants who test positive for drugs miss the many people who simply skip tests they cannot pass. But Quest Diagnostics, which has compiled employer-testing data since 1988, documented a 10% increase in one year in the percentage of American workers who tested positive for illicit drugs -- up to 4.7 percent in 2014 from 4.3 percent in 2013.
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Topic: DRUGS - on May 18, 2016 at 10:41:00 AM CEST
Drugs and the Meaning of Life
Everything we do is for the purpose of altering consciousness. We form friendships so that we can feel certain emotions, like love, and avoid others, like loneliness. We eat specific foods to enjoy their fleeting presence on our tongues. We read for the pleasure of thinking another person’s thoughts. Every waking moment—and even in our dreams—we struggle to direct the flow of sensation, emotion, and cognition toward states of consciousness that we value.
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Topic: DRUGS - on May 17, 2016 at 4:17:00 PM CEST
Magic-mushroom drug lifts depression in first human trial
A hallucinogenic drug derived from magic mushrooms could be useful in treating depression, the first safety study of this approach has concluded. Researchers from Imperial College London gave 12 people psilocybin, the active component in magic mushrooms. All had been clinically depressed for a significant amount of time — on average 17.8 years. None of the patients had responded to standard medications, such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs), or had electroconvulsive therapy.
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Topic: DRUGS - on May 8, 2016 at 11:07:00 AM CEST
Why America Can't Quit the Drug War
After 45 years, more than $1 trillion wasted, and the creation of the world's largest prison system, America still lacks the political will to change its failed drug policy.
I n March, the commander in chief of the War on Drugs stood in front of a crowd of policymakers, advocates and recovering addicts to declare that America has been doing it wrong. Speaking at the National Prescription Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit in Atlanta – focused on an overdose epidemic now killing some 30,000 Americans a year – President Barack Obama declared, "For too long we have viewed the problem of drug abuse ... through the lens of the criminal justice system," creating grave costs: "We end up with jails full of folks who can't function when they get out. We end up with people's lives being shattered."
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Topic: DRUGS - on May 6, 2016 at 10:05:00 AM CEST
To Protect Marijuana from Monsanto Patenting, Company Begins Mapping Cannabis Genome
A pioneering biotechnology startup has launched an online interactive guide that maps the genetic evolution of the cannabis genome, allowing for specific strains of marijuana that are already in the public domain a form of protection from patenting by large biotech firms such as Monsanto. After two years of collecting samples, sequencing the plant’s DNA and developing the software to allow for a 3-D visualization of the collected data, the company was ready to unveil their long-awaited project.
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Topic: DRUGS - on May 2, 2016 at 12:46:00 PM CEST
In Schaufenster 50 Cannabispflanzen zum Verkauf angeboten
Zeugin verständigte die Polizei, der 27-Jährige wird angezeigt. f – In Henndorf im Salzburger Flachgau hat ein 27-Jähriger in einem Schaufenster 50 Cannabispflanzen zum Verkauf angeboten. Der Mann hängte einen Zettel in die Auslage, auf dem er pro Pflanze 25 Euro verlangte. Eine Passantin informierte am Sonntagabend die Polizei, die den Mieter ausforschte. Die Pflanzen wurden sichergestellt und der Mann angezeigt.
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Topic: DRUGS - on April 22, 2016 at 1:18:00 PM CEST
Mexiko will Hanf liberalisieren
Präsident Peña Nieto: "Tausende Leben hängen davon ab"
Mexiko-Stadt: Die mexikanische Regierung will das Betäubungsmittelgesetz liberalisieren. Er werde eine Initiative im Kongress einbringen, die die medizinische Nutzung von Marihuana erlaubt und die straffreie Menge für den Eigengebrauch erhöht, kündigte Präsident Enrique Peña Nieto am Donnerstag an. Zuvor hatte es in Mexiko eine Reihe öffentlicher Debatten über den Umgang mit Marihuana gegeben.
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Topic: DRUGS - on April 17, 2016 at 10:46:00 AM CEST
Drogeriekette: dm nimmt Hanfpulver wegen THC-Gehalt aus Regalen
Die Drogeriekette dm nimmt ein Hanfproteinpulver aus dem Handel. Das Produkt der Firma Veganz könnte wegen des THC-Gehalts schädlich für Kleinkinder sein, hieß es.
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Topic: DRUGS - on April 17, 2016 at 9:31:00 AM CEST
Heilsames High: Marihuana als Medizin
Chronische Schmerzen, Übelkeit oder kein Appetit: Hanf ist seit Jahrtausenden als Heilpflanze in Verwendung. Hanf, den kennt man als Mehl oder Öl, als Seil aus seinen Fasern, als Textil oder Dämmstoff und, natürlich, vor allem unter seinem wissenschaftlichen Namen – Cannabis – als Droge. Dem Rauschmittel werden verschiedenste Effekte nachgesagt: Entspannend soll es wirken, den Appetit anregen, manche werden euphorisch oder albern nach dem Konsum, andere müssen sich übergeben. Das weiß man – vom Hörensagen oder durch Selbsttests.
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Topic: DRUGS - on April 9, 2016 at 10:54:00 PM CEST
Wiener betrieb Drogenversandhandel im Internet
Unter dem Synonym „ShanSa“ hat ein 31-jähriger Wiener einen internationalen Drogenversandhandel im Internet betrieben. Im „Darknet“, einem verschlüsselten und anonymisierten Teil des Internets, bot er die Drogen an.
<a href="wien.orf.at"target="_blank"> orf.at
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Topic: DRUGS - on March 12, 2016 at 12:39:00 AM CET
Bauern bewerben sich um Hanfanbau
Schwerkranke sollen bald leichter an medizinisches Cannabis kommen. Manche Landwirte wittern schon eine neue Einnahmequelle.
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