Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2003
Source: Star-News (NC)
Copyright: 2003 Wilmington Morning Star
Author: Todd Volkstorf, Staff Writer
N.C. COCAINE CHARGES STILL PROSECUTED AS FELONIES
For now, simple cocaine charges still will be prosecuted as felonies in North Carolina, despite a recent Court of Appeals ruling that the same charges are also misdemeanors.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a stay on the ruling in response to a request by State Attorney General Roy Cooper that the decision not be allowed to become law.
"For the safety of our communities, it is important that possession of cocaine remain a felony," Mr. Cooper said via e-mail. "I am pleased that the court issued this stay so that prosecutors and law enforcement can continue their fight against drugs while the case is being decided."
The Appeals Court ruling comes from the Forsyth County case, State v. Norman Jones. In it, Mr. Jones pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to sell and deliver cocaine, which then classified him as a habitual felon.
Mr. Jones then appealed and won. The court ruled that state statutes conflict on whether simple possession of cocaine is a felony or misdemeanor.
"The practical effect of the ruling is everyone we've convicted could argue that they were guilty of a misdemeanor because the statute is ambiguous," said Jon David, New Hanover County assistant district attorney.
"That's why the Supreme Court acted so quick," he said.
District Attorney John Carriker said felony cocaine charges have been successfully prosecuted since they were upgraded from misdemeanors.
Since the law was changed, the three judges on the Court of Appeals are the only people who believe the charge of cocaine possession is a misdemeanor, Mr. Carriker said.
It's a felony, he added, and it will be prosecuted as one.
It's remains to be seen how the Supreme Court will decide to interpret the ruling, which could affect thousands of cases across the state.
The state legislature might have to rewrite the law, removing the ambiguity. Or the Supreme Court could strike down the appellate court's ruling.
Mr. David questioned how people could be punished under a statute that isn't clearly written.
Pubdate: Wed, 19 Nov 2003
Source: Knoxville News-Sentinel (TN)
Copyright: 2003 The Knoxville News-Sentinel Co
Author: J.J. Stambaugh
SALE OF COLD REMEDIES CLOSELY MONITORED
Many Stores Now Limit Quantities Customers Can Buy
The front line in the government's war against methamphetamine is being drawn at cash registers across East Tennessee.
Because so many of the components needed to make the drug are available from almost any grocery or department store, law enforcement officials have asked retailers to keep track of what's being purchased and in what amount.
They are asking stores to limit sales of over-the-counter cold tablets containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, the primary ingredients used in meth.
"Knoxville's a large metropolitan area, it has a lot of small towns surrounding it, it has a large shopping base," said U.S. Attorney Russ Dedrick, who oversees federal criminal prosecutions in the Eastern District of Tennessee.
"The precursor agents ( to meth ) are readily available in the metro region. Also, Knoxville is surrounded by rural counties, and ( meth users ) come in to town and get the components. They buy them off the shelf or steal them, then take those back and set up laboratories to manufacture meth."
In addition to cold medicines, addicts seek out a variety of chemicals like alcohol, iodine and anhydrous ammonia to help produce meth.
Thefts of items used in making meth have increased over the past few months, and the Knoxville Police Department has been investigating a series of incidents in which people were siphoning anhydrous ammonia from an industrial-size tank into small containers.
Retailers across the region are being sent posters and informational pamphlets explaining the ingredients used in making meth and asking for their cooperation in curing sales.
So far, the tactic seems to be working, officials say.
"We're getting good cooperation," said Anderson County Sheriff Bill White. "Some of these merchants didn't know what to be on the lookout for, and some are unaware that there is so much meth production."
A new policy went into effect last month at area Target stores, for instance, that limits how much cold medicine can be sold, according to one store manager. If a customer tries to buy more than three boxes, the cash register prompts the cashier and the sale is terminated.
While most businesses are scrupulous and would never knowingly sell meth-related items to addicts or producers, the federal government successfully prosecuted a Coffee County storeowner in 2001 who sold meth precursors to the wrong people.
According to federal records, Harry Javaherpour, former owner of the Par 4 Market in Manchester, was convicted of conspiracy to manufacture meth and two counts of distributing pseudoephedrine.
"The evidence presented at trial showed that Mr. Javaherpour sold large qualities of pseudoephedrine knowing that the pseudoephedrine would be used to manufacture methamphetamine," records state. "The evidence also showed that Mr. Javaherpour sold ... to methamphetamine addicts other items used to make the drug, including matches and Heet gas line antifreeze."
Retailers who knowingly sell pseudoephedrine or other precursors can face hefty fines, the forfeiture of all monies they earned from the transactions and lengthy prison sentences, authorities said.
Javaherpour, for instance, was sentenced to more than 12AEx92 years in federal prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. He also forfeited more than $204,000 in proceeds from the sale of his business, which was seized.
Other efforts to curb meth sales included a bill rejected by the Tennessee Legislature in June that would have made it a misdemeanor crime to sell more than three packages of cold tablets in one transaction. The bill failed because of disagreements over a provision that would have allowed local governments to set more restrictive limits.
Pubdate: Tue, 18 Nov 2003
Source: China View (China)
Copyright: 2003 Xinhua News
NEW ZEALAND ATHLETES URGED TO REFRAIN FROM CANNABIS
WELLINGTON, Nov. 18 ( Xinhuanet ) -- New Zealand's sports drug agency is urging its athletes to refrain from a casual toke of cannabis. New Zealand's prospective Athens Olympic athletes are this week receiving a comprehensive list of do's and don'ts created by the World Anti-Doping Agency's ( WADA ) list of banned substances announced in September, according to The Dominion Post here Tuesday.
Cannabis, a new entry to WADA's list, is second on the list sent out by Dr. Dale Speedy to all prospective members of the New Zealand Olympic team. New Zealand Sports Drug Agency Chief Executive Graeme Steel admitted cannabis was an issue.
"It's more difficult to change habits, in some cases of a lifetime. Long-term users have to realize that it could still be in their blood in January," Steel was quoted as saying.
But he said the banning of corticosteroids, rather than cannabis, was the biggest issue.
Corticosteroids include creams and ointments used to treat skinconditions such as rashes, eczema, and psoriasis, ear and eye drops, and asthma inhalers. Steel said that it had effectively created a "minefield" as badas the one that had existed with the cold remedy pseudoephedrine, which will be removed from the list.
Pubdate: Tue, 18 Nov 2003
Source: Gulf News (UAE)
Author: Bassam Za'za', Staff Reporter
DEALERS GET DEATH FOR TRAFFICKING CANNABIS
The Dubai Supreme Court has handed death sentence to two of six drug smugglers who set fire to a boat containing two tonnes of cannabis as an Anti Narcotics Squad approached them off the Dubai coast.
The rest of the gang got life imprisonment followed by deportation. The six Iranian smugglers attempted to bring the contraband from Iran to Dubai last November.
The Supreme Court upheld the primary verdict which found Taher M.S., 34, and Shani R.J., 54, guilty of possessing, smuggling and trafficking drugs, as well as arson and endangering life.
Life sentences were given to Rashid L.M., 30, Safar W.Z., 37, Omar H.A., 26, Shah B.A., 31, for involvement in the crimes. But they were acquitted of arson and endangering lives during the raid.
The six smugglers were heard to have had more than 800kg of cannabis on board their boat.
They had been caught following a tip-off from an informer on November 18, as per which which one of the dealers had a huge amount of drugs on board an Iranian ship somewhere along the Dubai coast. The gang had approached the informer in the hope that he would help them sell the drugs.
Anti-narcotics officers assigned a secret agent to pose as a drug dealer and negotiate a price. A second agent was asked to act as the buyer's son and receive the drugs on the coast.
The deal was to buy more than 920kg at Dh4,500 a kg, amounting to around Dh4.1 million. Another Dh265,000 would be paid to the sailors for transferring the load.
The police gave the buyer Dh3million as part of the deal while the rest was to be paid later. On the day of delivery, the drug-laden ship met off Dubai coast with an unmarked ship carrying undercover Anti-Narcotics officers.
The sailors started handing over the drugs to the police ship, but one of the accused soon discovered that the bank notes were actually coloured photocopies. Suspecting the deal-makers could be undercover policemen, the dealers set fire to the boat as per the orders of Shani.
However, police squad members jumped onto the Iranian ship to arrest the men. Three smugglers surrendered, while another resisted. The boat's owner tried to escape and after an hour-long chase, police shot him in the leg.
The bid to destroy the evidence backfired on the gang, who nearly died in the blaze and had to be rescued by airborne police teams.
Pubdate: Tue, 18 Nov 2003
Source: West Australian (Australia)
Copyright: 2003 West Australian Newspapers Limited
Author: Jerry Pratley
WORK DRUG TESTS GET GO-AHEAD
A COMPANY'S move to implement a "fitness for duty" policy which involves testing for the presence of drugs irrespective of impairment has been upheld by the WA Industrial Relations Commission.
In a decision handed down yesterday, Senior Commissioner Andrew Beech declared that it was reasonable for Pioneer Construction Materials to conduct urine tests on its employees.
In his decision, Senior Commissioner Beech acknowledged that randomly testing employees for drugs was a controversial issue.
He said the issue could be re-visited in the future.
"Testing for the presence of drugs in an employee's urine does not establish whether or not that employee is impaired in the performance of their work," he said.
"Penalising an employee for having tested positive for the presence of drugs in their urine will always leave open the argument that even though the employee has tested positive for drugs, the employee has not been thereby shown to have been impaired and the penalty is unfair."
The matter arose after the Transport Workers Union opposed urine tests in favour of saliva tests, claiming the latter was less intrusive and a better indicator of impairment.
The TWU also claimed that some over-the-counter drugs, such as codeine, would return a positive result in a urine test.
TWU organiser John Cain told the commission that the union was not opposed to a fitness for duty policy or random drug and alcohol tests.
Mr Cain said Victorian police were trailing saliva tests for motorists suspected of being under the influence of drugs and Pioneer should follow the same route.
Senior Commissioner Beech said his decision was based on a previous WAIRC ruling, existing standards and expert testimony regarding the reliability of the two tests.
Expert witnesses called by Pioneer testified that saliva testing was in its infancy but urine testing was well-established and less likely to produce false readings.
Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA director of employee relations Bruce Williams said the decision was unremarkable.
"It reinforces the principal that the industrial commission has previously endorsed that random drug and alcohol testing is appropriate in the workplace," he said.
UnionsWA secretary Stephanie Mayman said there was currently no accurate test to determine impairment. Ms Mayman said the commission should re-visit the matter when such tests became available.
Pioneer has about 250 employees in WA, the majority of whom operate the company's 139 commercial vehicles.
India: The High Society
Pubdate: Sun, 16 Nov 2003
Source: Times of India, The (India)
Copyright: Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. 2003
Author: Mahendra Jakhar
THE HIGH SOCIETY
The money and power does not give the thrills anymore and there is a need for uninterrupted elation and rapture. The rich socialite has found its answers in the free flowing drugs in their hip and happening parties
Gone are the days of opium, heroine, ganja and Alprax. The hottest craze nowadays is cocaine, ecstacy, acid and hashish ( marijuana ). The business has spiralled to over Rs. 1,000 crore a year where all the substances dealt in are banned and obviously no taxes paid. The clientele is a small close knit high profile ultra rich family of south Delhi that includes many designers, kids from affluent families, models, businessman bored with their monotonous lifestyle and lonely housewives.
The pushers never had it so good with their clients willing to pay five times the market price for a single dose. With this, the shabby, suspicious looking pusher is out and in comes a net savvy executive with designer suits, Queen's English, gelled hair and Gucci shoes. He is zipping around the capital in fast car with a laptop and delivers anything that is forbidden at your doorstep in no time.
Most of these drugs flow freely in the wild parties of the elite. Cocaine is fast becoming an indispensable item at such get-togethers. There are various forms of drugs available like anti-depressant pills that to stimulants like amphetamine which increases the energy level of the user. Many of these pills are smuggled across the border from Myanmar, a big manufacturing base for such drugs.
Trends keep changing. Last year it was Alprax ( alprazolam ), a mood enhancer popular in Delhi. The post-mortem of party hopper Natasha Singh, who jumped to death from the roof of a five-star hotel revealed that she had consumed thirty Alprax tablets.
A young model from South Delhi revels that some parties of the rich and famous provide a non-stop supply of choice drugs and this is considered a status symbol for the host. The latest are the weekend parties where drugs are freely available and there could be at least 40-50 of such parties simultaneously happening in South Delhi at various places. Mostly, male and female models are the ones who are invited so that the host can flaunt them and others can drool over their gorgeous bodies.
Price tags shoot high and it is only the elite that can afford these drugs. A gram of cocaine costs anything between Rs. 3,000 - Rs. 5,000; Ecstacy the latest craze and considered a love drug costs Rs. 850 per tablet, acid has gone up to Rs. 2000 per gram while heroine has been left behind for the poor.
Another hi-flyer at such parties revealed that in some parties cocaine laced cakes, pastries and sweets are served. As for women they just have to ask for a `line' to get that snort or shot. Like many, models indulge into drugs to get a momentary high and also to get rid of depression. Last year Delhi police arrested an Afghan drug peddler `Ali' who was supplying drugs to top shot fashion designers, models and rich industrialists. He was caught while supplying cocaine to Neeraj Wadhera, part owner of the Hans Plaza Hotel in Connaught Place.
Sanjay Chug, MD, Psychiatrist, says, "It is mainly the ease with money, boredom and the desire for temporary excitement that leads the elite into getting hooked to drugs. It is also the need to feel as a part of the crowd that makes many turn to the forbidden taste. A prominent victim is also the celebrity kid from unstable families with ease of money that gets drawn towards drugs."
D.L. Kashyap, DCP, Narcotics & Crime prevention cell, says, "Definitely the trend is changing as these drugs have found their way inside posh drawing rooms and are floating in hi society parties. Early this year, we arrested Ranjan Kumar Chaddha and a Nigerian national who were supplying drugs to the people from the upper salary bracket of Delhi.
With their revelations, our department interrogated many of the bigwigs of the capital addicted to drugs and most of them seem like diseased patients who need some care." He added, " Our department is trying to plug the holes through which drugs are coming inside the capital. Our aim is to catch the suppliers and not the addicts. And we want support of the people to try and curb this deadly problem."
Taking drugs is not only about getting a high... it's also about a lot of lows that come with it
Cocaine: Use of cocaine leads to a state of increasing irritability, restlessness, and paranoia. This may result in a full-blown paranoid psychosis, in which the individual experiences auditory hallucinations. The short-term physiological effects of cocaine include constricted blood vessels, dilated pupils, and increased temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. In some cases, sudden death can occur on the first use of cocaine or unexpectedly thereafter.
LSD ( Lysergic Acid Diethylamide )
Effects of LSD depend on the amount taken, the user's personality, mood, expectations, and the surroundings in which the drug is used. Usually, the user feels the first effects of the drug 30 to 90 minutes after taking it. The physical effects include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth and tremors. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations.
MDMA ( Ecstacy )
MDMA causes an amphetamine-like hyperactivity in people. It increases heart rate, blood pressure and can disable the body's ability to regulate its own temperature. Because of its stimulant properties, when it is used in club or dance settings, it can enable users to dance vigorously for extended periods, but can also lead to severe rises in body temperature, what is referred to as hyperthermia, as well as dehydration, hypertension. Usage can lead to heart or kidney fa ilure.
Methamphetamine
A single high dose of the drug has been shown to damage nerve terminals in the dopamine-containing regions of the brain. The large release of dopamine produced by methamphetamine is thought to contribute to the drug's toxic effects on nerve terminals in the brain. High doses can elevate body temperature to dangerous, sometimes lethal levels, as well as cause convulsions.
Heroine: Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions, including fatal overdose, spontaneous abortion and collapsed veins. In addition to the effects of the drug itself, street heroine may have additives that do not readily dissolve and result in clogging the blood vessels leading to vital organs; lungs, liver, kidneys, or brain.
Marijuana
Effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate.
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