Pakistani beheaded for heroin trafficking

 

A Pakistani man convicted of trafficking in heroin was beheaded Monday in eastern Saudi Arabia, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. Annunci Google Sustainability Degrees Ph.D. and M.S. programs. Education for a Sustainable World! www.rit.edu/gis/ Costa Rica Solar Affordable Grid Tied Solar Systems Solar Costs Less Than Utility! www.poderco.com Salman Khan Taj Mohamma was executed in the city of Dammam, bringing to five the number of people put to death in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the year. Saudi Arabia came under fire in October when the United Nations called on the Kingdom to better respect international standards that provide safeguards to ensure protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty. The UN said it was "deeply distressed" after eight Bangladeshi migrant workers found guilty of a 2007 murder were beheaded in public in the capital, Riyadh. Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, the United States and Yemen are the countries that executive the highest numbers of people, according to human rights group Amnesty International. Iraq may enter the fray with dozens of recent executions.

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Bad heroin may be making the rounds in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside

 

Bad heroin may be making the rounds in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside as residents report an uptick in heroin overdoses. Lorraine Grieves of Vancouver Coastal Health sent a message to staff on Friday, warning of "numerous reports of heroin overdoses over the past few days." Two people overdosed inside, and one outside, of buildings run by the Port-land Hotel Society late last week, executive director Mark Townsend said. "We'll know in the next few days whether this is a real spike or an isolated thing," Townsend said on Sunday. "I'm worried it may be the beginning of something." Russell Maynard of Insite, Vancouver's supervised injection site, said overdoses have been on the rise since November 2011. The facility typically sees 20 overdoses per month; that has increased to roughly 30 in recent months, he said. Four people overdosed at Insite over the weekend, Maynard said. None were fatal. That number is typical for "cheque week," when the lowest-income demo-graphic gets a cash infusion, Maynard said. "People are able to use more and as a result, Insite, and the emergency rooms in Vancouver, see more ODs from about Wednesday to Sunday."

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Canada has joined Colombia as a leading exporter of synthetic or designer drugs, flooding the global market on an almost unprecedented scale,

Canada has joined Colombia as a leading exporter of synthetic or designer drugs, flooding the global market on an almost unprecedented scale, police say.
The RCMP have seized tonnes of illicit synthetic drugs that include Ecstasy and methamphetamine being shipped abroad after being “cooked” in make-shift labs in apartments, homes and businesses in the GTA.
Police are now seizing more chemicals and synthetic drugs, which they say is favoured by young people, at Canadian border checks rather than the traditional cocaine, heroin or hashish that officers call drugs of “a last generation.”
Most of the Ecstasy (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), meth or ketamine, a hallucinogenic used in “drug cocktails,” are smuggled from Canada by trucks, air cargo, human couriers or courier services to a network of traffickers.
The U.S., Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan are the world-wide targets of these highly organised criminal syndicates, the Mounties said.
Two Japanese students were arrested at Vancouver International Airport in 2009 after 47,000 Ecstasy pills with the “Chanel” logo were seized from their luggage. And, in November that year 400,000 tablets and 45 kgs of pot were seized in Michigan as it was being transferred from a small Canadian aircraft to a vehicle.
The RCMP is working to stamp out the problem and have created a Chemical Diversion Unit (CDU) to target “rogue chemical brokers” who import and sell chemicals to organized crime cells to “bake” synthetic drugs for export.
The force also created a Synthetic Drug Operations (SDO) whose members target clandestine drug labs in the GTA that are operated by crime cells and traffickers.
“We execute search warrants once we locate a clandestine lab,” said SDO Sgt. Doug Culver. “These labs are dangerous with toxic chemicals and our members are specially trained to handle them.”
His officers use hazardous material suits to enter a suspicious lab to ensure it is safe from corrosive chemicals before uniformed officers can enter.
Police said an Ecstasy tablet, that usually features a harmless-looking logo, is sold for up to $15 each at Toronto nightclubs and the potency can last for about 10 hours. The tablets used to sell on the street for about $40 each two years ago.
Supt. Rick Penney, who is in charge of an RCMP-GTA Drug Squad, said tonnes of chemicals and synthetic drugs are being seized by his officers.
“We are talking tonnes and not kilograms,” Penney said. “This is becoming a matter of routine for us and it concerns me.”
Penney said Canadian-made Ecstasy and meth are popular in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the U.S. and some European countries.
“Canada is a player on the global market,” he said. “We see a lot of synthetic chemicals passing through the Canadian border or going out of province.”
He said some of the chemicals are purchased by criminals on the Internet from suppliers in China or India.
“The majority of the drugs we seize in Ontario are for export,” Penney said. “This is a global problem and Canada is a big player.”
The drug officers said Canada exports as much Ecstasy and chemical drugs as Colombia ships out cocaine.
Police said synthetic drugs are the choice of young people because it is cheap, with a pill being made for 50-cents and sold for up to $15; lasts a long time; can be easily hidden and a tablet appears relatively harmless with a “cute” imprinted logo.
Sgt. Brent Hill, of the Chemical Diversion Unit, said rogue brokers use fake names, companies or addresses to import the chemicals into Canada. Some use the name of legitimate companies and give fake delivery addresses, he said.
He said the imported chemicals are resold by rogue brokers at exorbitant profits to organized crime groups originating from China, Vietnam and India, including criminal bike gangs in Canada. The chemicals are “cooked” into synthetic drugs.
The CDU monitors more than 100 chemicals entering the country. Some are for legitimate industrial uses ranging from industrial cleaners to pharmaceutical products. Others are strictly for “baking” drugs.
Hill shows a make-shift laboratory that was seized in a 2007 Scarborough bust in which three people were arrested. Officers seized two million units of Ecstasy and bags of chemicals at a residence on Pipers Green Ave., in the Brimley Rd. and Finch Ave. E. area.
Jian Yao Quan, 24, and Yan Shi, 46, both of Scarborough, and Wan Shun Ling, 55, of Brooklyn, New York, were convicted of drug-related offences and will be sentenced on Feb. 14.
A warrant has been issued for Wei Quan Ma, 43, of Toronto, who’s believed to have fled to China.
During that raid, police found a 22-litre round-bottom heating mantle filled with chemicals being baked as vapors flowed through a hose taped at the top of the container to a large can filled with cat litter, that helps to absorb toxic gases to avoid leaving smells behind, police said.
Hill said the mixture leaves a cloud of corrosive chemical hanging over the area that is harmful to people and is the reason why officers wear haz-mat suits to enter drug houses.
“These labs pose a serious threat to the safety of the public and emergency first responders such as police, fire and ambulance workers,” Hill said. “Most chemicals in a clandestine drug lab are highly toxic, corrosive, explosive or flammable “
He said some unsafe labs can cause a fire or explosion that can lead to environmental pollution.
Police said its common to find an Ecstasy pill containing a combination of controlled substances including methamphetamine or other controlled or non-regulated psychoactive substances. Some doses can be lethal and kill users.
Officers point to the deaths of five B.C. young people since last August from Ecstasy laced PMMA, the same lethal chemical linked to deaths in the Calgary area. There have been about 18 Ecstasy-related deaths in B.C. in two years.
“Some of these drugs are dangerous cocktails,” Hill said. “Crime groups are putting more addictive chemicals in some of the mixtures to get kids coming back for more.
“These brokers are aggressively targeting the legitimate chemical industry. They continue to expand in a highly-lucrative market selling legal chemicals, regulated precursors and non-regulated psychoactive substances.”
Officers said some unscrupulous brokers establish fake front companies, or claim to be legitimate companies to import chemicals into Canada. They fill out paperwork required by the Canada Border Services Agency but usually provide false information, police said.
“The acquisition of chemicals is the choke point,” Hill said. “We are fully engaged with the legitimate Canadian chemical industry and monitor suspicious chemical transactions.”
He said its a crime under Bill C-475 to possess, produce, sell or import “anything” if the person involved knows it will be used to produce methamphetamine or Ecstasy.
“Crime groups with links to south-east Asia continue to dominate chemical-brokering operations,” the Mounties said. “There are criminal enterprises including individual operators and semi-legitimate companies that are brokering or procuring chemicals for synthetic drug production.”
Police said some chemical shipments imported into Canada for industrial use are stolen by crime gangs to produce drugs.
“Global demand for Ecstasy remains high,” Hill said. “Ecstasy continues to be the most sought-after and widely available controlled synthetic drug in the Canadian illicit market.”DISCLAIMER: Text may be subject to copyright.This blog does not claim copyright to any such text. Copyright remains with the original copyright holder

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Recession causes 2,000 heart attack deaths

 

Since 2002 the number of people dying from heart attacks in England has dropped by half, the study conducted by Oxford University found. But within that, regional data revealed there was a 'blip' in London that corresponded to the financial crash in 2008 and continued through 2009. Heart attack deaths have dropped due to better prevention of heart attacks in the first place with fewer people smoking and improvements in diet through lower consumption of saturated fat. The treatment of people who do suffer a heart attack has also improved leading to fewer deaths with faster ambulance response times, new procedures to clear blocked arteries and wider use of drugs such as statins and aspirin. The research published in the British Medical Journal showed around 80,000 lives have been saved between 2002 and 2008 as deaths from heart attacks declined.

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Venezuela on Tuesday deported three suspected drug smugglers wanted in the United States, Canada and Colombia

 

Venezuela on Tuesday deported three suspected drug smugglers wanted in the United States, Canada and Colombia, touting the moves as proof the government of President Hugo Chavez is making strides in fighting trafficking. Those deported include Luc Letourneau, a Canadian wanted in his homeland on drug trafficking charges, Oscar Martinez Hernandez, an American wanted in Puerto Rico on charges including cocaine and heroin smuggling, and Colombian Adalberto Bernal Arboleda.Arboleda, known by his nickname “El Cali,” faces drug smuggling charges in Colombia and the United States. Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami trumpeted the deportations as evidence Venezuela is cracking down on drug trafficking. Venezuela is a major hub for gangs that smuggle Colombian cocaine to the United States and Europe, and U.S. officials have accused Chavez’s government of being lax in anti-drug efforts. Last year, President Barack Obama’s administration classified Venezuela as a country that has “failed demonstrably” to effectively fight drug trafficking. El Aissami dismissed that accusation, accusing U.S. officials of “defaming” Venezuela’s counter-drug efforts. Letourneau, 53, was captured in May on Margarita Island, a popular tourist destination. At the time of his arrest, Letourneau was planning to smuggle 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of cocaine into Canada, El Aissami said. Hernandez, a 44-year-old man who was nabbed by police on Jan. 4 in the western city of Maracaibo, faces numerous criminal charges ranging from drug trafficking to illegal possession of firearms and explosives. Arboleda was captured in the town of Mariara, in central Carabobo state, on Jan. 11. U.S.-Venezuelan counter-drug cooperation has been sharply scaled back since 2005, when Chavez suspended cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and accused it of being a front for espionage.

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The New Face of Drug Abuse

 

It never ceases to amaze me how much suffering can stem from things that were actually intended to be helpful. Case in point would be the latest drug epidemic that has seized our country, and more so our state.  Surprisingly, it doesn’t involve heroin, crystal meth or any of the many other illicit, designer drugs out there, although each certainly brings plenty of heartache and loss. Rather, the crisis that now challenges us involves the abuse of prescription painkillers. What many of us have had in our medicine cabinets at one time or another is now responsible for tearing apart the lives of thousands of individuals and families.    Let’s begin by wrapping our heads around some astonishing numbers. New York has seen a rapid escalation for these painkiller prescriptions, more than 22 million of them written in 2010, a 36 percent increase since 2007. Worse still, scripts for oxycodone, a widely-used narcotic, rose by a whopping 82 percent.  As a Newsday editorial so deftly pointed out, “Life hasn't gotten 82 percent more painful in three years.”  Nationally, the number of overdose deaths from these drugs is now greater than those of heroin and cocaine combined and before we mistakenly characterize this as a young people problem, middle-aged adults have the highest rates of painkiller overdose.  The non-medical use costs insurers about $72.5 billion per year and those costs inevitably work their way down to each of us.      What these numbers clearly indicate is addiction, lots of it, and the result has been a nationwide crime wave of pharmacy robberies with addicts going after pills, not money. Unfortunately, Long Island is at the center of this storm with two robberies that ended in the shooting deaths of six people.  So how do we fairly combat drugs that must also be available to those who legitimately need them? There are numerous ideas, everything from bulletproof pharmacy counters to long-term, mandatory addiction training for doctors and pharmacists. Many are potential tools that must be considered. I happen to support the much discussed statewide “real time” system for tracking the dispensation of narcotic painkillers. The participation of both doctors and pharmacists looks to be the best way to prevent addicts from "doctor shopping" to get multiple prescriptions. In my office I’ve focused on the startling reality that these opioids are often crushed so they can be snorted or injected for a high. However, there are “tamper-resistant” formulas that are impossible to break down or whose effect is negated when crushed. I believe they offer a sensible way of removing the lure of the drug while keeping its medicinal value intact for those who need it.  Currently, if a doctor prescribes this tamper-resistant version, pharmacies must substitute it with the cheaper, crushable, generic with no questions asked. The bill I have introduced (S6062) prevents the substitution without the prior, written consent of the prescribing physician unless the generic is also “tamper-resistant.” While I was originally concerned that this might give an unfair advantage to some pharmaceuticals, the fact is these formulas are clearly necessary and will inevitably spur development of cheaper tamper resistant generics. Patients can of course still request a generic from their doctors, but that would hopefully prompt a discussion about the doctor’s decision to write a “tamper-resistant” prescription. In that light, this legislation promotes the exchange between patient, pharmacist and doctor, possibly making it the first-step to addiction recognition and recovery. It prevents an addict from skirting a doctor’s decision and gives the discretion to a professional who can recognize signs of addiction– the doctor. This bill has the support of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, New York Osteopathic Medical Society, and the Center for Lawful Access and Abuse Deterrence.

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Facebook, Twitter addict? Too much Internet may alter your brain

 

This is your brain. This is your brain on Facebook, Twitter, or Match.com. A recent Chinese study found that the brains of people addicted to the Internet may see similar changes to the brains of those addicted to alcohol or drugs. Yahoo News reported that brain scans were conducted of 35 men and women aged between 14 and 21, and 17 of them were identified with Internet addiction disorder. Brain scans of those classified as addicted showed disruptions in the part of the brain that contains nerve fibers, and changes in the brain areas that are used in emotions, decision-making, and self-control. Some of the questions people needed to ask themselves to determine whether they were addicted were, according to the BBC: Do you feel the need to use the Internet with increasing amounts of time in order to achieve satisfaction? Do you use the Internet as an escape from feelings of helplessness, guilt, anxiety and depression? Have you put a relationship, job, or career opportunity at risk because of the Internet? Have you lied to people to hide the amount of time you spend on the Internet? According to safetyweb.com, an Internet monitoring service for parents, teenagers and young adults are the age groups that are more likely to be addicted to the Internet, and they are more likely to neglect work or school than older addicted adults. The Executive director of an Internet addiction recovery center known as restart says overexposure to the Internet can cause these symptoms in anyone’s brain. Hilarie Cash said to technewsworld.com, "We do a combination of psychotherapy and helping these people figure out the skills they need to function in the world. The road to recovery could include plenty of hiking and backpacking to get them both physically fit and reconnected to the world."

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Thousands of children are being "needlessly dumped in prison" because of Britain's failing youth justice system

 

Thousands of children are being "needlessly dumped in prison" because of Britain's failing youth justice system, a think-tank has warned. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) said courts and prisons were being used to "parent children" and were expected to sweep up problem youngsters inadequately dealt with by other departments, such as social services. In a new report, the group called for a radical overhaul in the way the Government deals with young offenders. It said there needed to be a drastic cut in the 5,000 children a year currently given custodial sentences, arguing the imprisonment of youths between the age of 10 and 17 should be limited to the "critical few" guilty of the most serious or violent crimes. The CSJ said too many children are being taken before the youth courts for trivial reasons. The report cited one example where a child who had thrown a bowl of Sugar Puffs at his care worker, jumped out of the window, then climbed back in, was held in a police cell over a weekend on suspicion of assault and attempted burglary. The independent think-tank, set up in 2004 by Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, urged a return to a "common-sense" approach to minor incidents with parents and teachers using their judgment to deal with them at a home or school level. It also criticised the widespread use of short sentences for young offenders, arguing they undermine justice and disrupt attempts to educate and rehabilitate them. Gavin Poole, executive director of the CSJ, said: "Many young people fall into the system unnecessarily and do not receive the help they need to free themselves from it. Custody is sometimes neither a protective nor a productive place for children, and community orders can be equally ineffective. Moreover, despite years of good intentions, many young people leaving custody are still not being provided with the basic support they need for rehabilitation." Among a series of recommendations, the CSJ said there should be no sentences shorter than six months and an emphasis should be placed on non-custodial punishments where underlying behavioural problems can be tackled more effectively. The group also said measures to prevent lawbreaking by young people should be the primary responsibility of child welfare services rather than the youth justice system. It added local services needed to work together to ensure that young people and their families receive the help they need early.

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Paul Simon's music takes meandering spiritual journey

 

Paul Simon says there's always been a spiritual dimension to his music. But the overt religious references in his most recent album, So Beautiful or So What, surprised even him. There are songs about God, angels, creation, pilgrimage, prayer and the afterlife. . Simon says he has many questions about God and explores them through his music. Enlarge By Todd Plitt, for USA TODAY Paul Simon performs at Ground Zero during a 10th anniversary ceremony of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Simon says he has many questions about God and explores them through his music. Ads by Google 1st Dual Core Mini-ITX VIA EPIA-M900 wi Nano X2 CPU, DDR3 up to 8GB, 2 SATA, 8 USB2.0, 4 www.viaembedded.com Simon says the religious themes were not intentional — he does not describe himself as religious. But in an interview with the PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, he said the spiritual realm fascinates him. "I think it's a part of my thoughts on a fairly regular basis," he said. "I think of it more as spiritual feeling. It's something that I recognize in myself and that I enjoy, and I don't quite understand it." BLOG: Is heaven Simon's stunning infinity? REVIEW: 'So Beautiful' sums up Simon's latest STORY: 'So Beautiful' is beautifully familiar Simon may not understand it, but he's been writing and singing a lot about it, and that has generated attention. One Irish blogger suggested So Beautiful or So What could be the best Christian album of 2011. Sojourners' Cathleen Falsani, an evangelical who writes frequently about religion and pop culture, called it "one of the most memorable collections of spiritual musical musings" in recent memory. "It's a stunningly beautiful … album, and he's a great surprise to me and frankly a huge blessing," Falsani said. During a career that has spanned half a century, Simon has received numerous awards, including 12 Grammys. His first Grammy came in 1968 for best contemporary vocal duo, along with his musical partner Art Garfunkel. Their 1970 Grammy-winning song Bridge Over Troubled Water was influenced by gospel music. Simon comes from a Jewish background. "I was raised to a degree enough to be bar mitzvahed and have that much Jewish education, although I had no interest. None," he said. Now at 70, he said he has many questions about God. In his song, The Afterlife, he speculates about what happens after death. He imagines waiting in line, like at the Department of Motor Vehicles. As the chorus goes: "You got to fill out a form first and then you wait in the line." But there's a serious aspect as well, as the song continues: "Face-to-face in the vastness of space/ Your words disappear/And you feel like you're swimming in an ocean of love/ And the current is strong." "By the time you get up to speak to God, and you actually get there, there's no question that you could possibly have that could have any relevance," Simon explained. One of the most unusual songs on the album, Getting Ready for Christmas Day, includes excerpts of a sermon preached in 1941 by prominent African-American pastor J.M. Gates. Simon heard the sermon on a set of old recordings and said he was drawn to the rhythms of Gates' "call and response" style of preaching. The song Love and Hard Times begins with the line: "God and His only son paid a courtesy call on Earth one Sunday morning." According to Simon, "To begin with a sentence that is the foundation of Christianity, I said: This is going to be interesting. Now what am I going to say about a subject that I certainly didn't study?" The song ends with a love story, which he says is really about his wife, and a repetition of the line, "Thank God I found you." "When you're looking to be thankful at the highest level, you need a specific and that specific is God. And that's what that song is about," he said. Simon said the beauty of life and of the earth often leads him to thoughts about God. "How was all of this created? If the answer to that question is God created everything, there was a creator, than I say, Great! What a great job," he said. But he said he won't be troubled if it turns out there is no God. "Oh fine, so there's another answer. I don't know the answer," he said. Either way, he added, "I'm just a speck of dust here for a nanosecond, and I'm very grateful." Simon has sought input on his questions from some religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama. He once spent hours talking with British evangelical theologian John Stott, who died last year. Simon said Stott made a big impression on him. "I left there feeling that I had a greater understanding of where belief comes from when it doesn't have an agenda," he said. Many of Simon's songs raise universal questions about things like destiny and the meaning of life. "Quite often, people read or hear things in my songs that I think are more true than what I wrote," he said. Falsani calls Simon a "God-chronicler by accident." "He looks at the world and kind of wonders what the heck is going on, like many of us do. He asks good questions and seems to have his finger on the heartbeat spiritually of a culture," she said. Simon said he's gratified — and somewhat mystified — that some people have told him they believe God has spoken to them through his music. "Is it a profound truth? I don't know," he said. "I feel I'm like a vessel, and it passed through me, and I was the editor, and I'm glad."

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DRUGS lord who enjoyed a jet-set lifestyle was last night starting an 11-and-a-half-year jail sentence.

 

 Darlington man Paul Brett was at the head of a well organised empire that tried to flood the area with more than £1m of cocaine. The gang was disrupted after an 18-month undercover operation – the biggest in Durham Police history – culminated in raids last year. Brett, 25, was jailed along with five others from Darlington, Teesside and Merseyside. Detective Chief Superintendent Jane Spraggon said afterwards: “This operation proves no one is untouchable.” Brett’s right-hand man, Mark Dee, 25, was jailed for seven years, while fellow Darlington organiser David Pierce, 41, was jailed for five years. Teesside Crown Court heard that they fixed up deals in Liverpool and arranged for couriers to travel across the Pennines and bring back drugs. In Ronald Bennett’s house in Liverpool, police found an industrial blender, cocaine and a 20-tonne hydraulic press. Market trader Bennett, 57, was the “packager” who Judge Tony Briggs said was crucial to the success of the gang. He was jailed for eight years. Lance Kennedy, 24, from Birkenhead, and Craig Costello, 29, from Middlesbrough, were each jailed for 15 months for money laundering. The pair were caught with nearly £20,000 after police watched Brett hand over a holdall at a McDonald’s car park in Darlington. Brett, a one-time fitness instructor who had never worked during the surveillance and had no bank accounts in the UK, made regular trips abroad. He was pictured in a newspaper flanked by two glamour girls at the opening of a Dubai nightclub and stayed at £800-a-night hotels in Thailand. Dee, a joiner, was said to have been paid only £1,500 for arranging deals. Bennett’s barrister said his client was the one who got his hands the dirtiest. Lawyers for charity fundraiser Kennedy and offshore worker Costello said they were unaware the money was from drug-dealing. Brett, of Yiewsley Drive, Darlington, admitted a fraud charge and converting criminal property and conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Richard Littler, in mitigation, said he deserved credit for being the first to plead guilty, forcing the others to do so. Bennett, of Fairfax Road, Liverpool, and Dee, of Honeywood Gardens, Darlington, also pleaded guilty to being part of the conspiracy. Pierce, a former amateur boxer and shop-fitter, of Kilmarnock Road, Darlington, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. Tom Mitchell, in mitigation, said: “He falls to the bottom of whatever he finds himself involved with.” Kennedy, of Livingstone Street, Birkenhead, and father-of-three Costello, of St Cuthbert Avenue, Marton, Middlesbrough, admitted conspiracy to transfer criminal property.

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Bacon, deli meat may raise pancreatic cancer risk

Bacon or sausage? You might want to rethink that decision. Consuming processed meat regularly may increase a person’s risk of developing pancreatic cancer, though the risk is still low, says a new study. A meta-analysis of 11 studies involving 6,643 people with pancreatic cancer suggests an elevated risk of the disease when consuming processed meat such as bacon, cold cuts and sausages. In the study, men who ate red meat also showed an elevated risk of the disease, while women did not. The authors believe this is because men generally consume more red meat than women. For every 50 grams a person adds of processed meat to their diet, the risk of pancreatic cancer increased by 19 per cent, according to the study. "When results from all studies were combined, an increase of 50 grams per day of processed meat consumption was associated with a statistically significant 19 per cent increased risk of pancreatic cancer," the authors wrote. For the study, 120 grams was deemed a serving of red meat per day, while 50 grams represented a serving of processed meat. A typical hot dog is about 45 grams. "Processed meats are usually preserved with nitrite and may also contain N-nitroso compounds," write the authors. They say these compounds can also be formed in the stomach from nitrites and from compounds found in animal products and are potent carcinogens that have been shown to induce pancreatic cancer in animals. The study was conducted by Swedish researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and published Thursday online in the British Journal of Cancer.

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Thornton Heath man in South American jail after being caught with £20k of coke

 

A young man has been jailed in South America for attempting to traffic drugs just three weeks after sneaking out of his Thornton Heath home without telling his mother. Former Stanley Technical School pupil, Nishit Patel, 21, left his home in Attlee Close, in secret on Christmas Day before flying 4,500 miles to Guyana. The next time his mum, part-time Tesco worker Amita, heard from him was on January 3 phoning from a Guyanese jail after being caught boarding a plane with 29 pellets of cocaine worth more than £20,000 inside him. On Monday, January 9, he was sentenced to four years in jail after he admitted drug trafficking. He was also fined $30,000 Guyanese dollars, about £95. Mrs Patel, 46, said she last saw her son, who changed his name to Nikesh after being teased at school, after lunch on Christmas Day. She said: “I came home and he had bags packed. I asked if he was leaving and he said no. I never know where he is going, he tells me nothing. “I didn’t even know where Guyana was. I asked why did you do it, and he said for the money.” On December 31 Guyana’s Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) at Cheddi Jagan International Airport saw Patel acting suspiciously and arrested him. Dennis Mahase a senior supervisor with CANU said Patel, who has spent his whole life in Croydon, missed his earlier flight home and was picked up by officials while he waited. He said: “When the officials began questioning him he complained about feeling unwell. After further question he admitted swallowing the pellets.” Taken to Woodlands Hospital in Georgetown, the country’s capital, Patel, was x-rayed and the pellets, containing 352 grams of the drug with a street value of around £20,000, were found. Mr Mahase added: “He admitted to us he had done this before in November and got away with it.” Mrs Patel said Nishit went off the rails after his grandparents and father died in quick succession four years ago. She said: “He was such a good boy. Very caring. It changed him. A son listens to his father but to his mother, not so much. It was very hard.” The family will now fight to have him extradited to the UK. She said: “I want to be able to see him. I know he has done wrong but he is my son. I have no idea what a jail out there is like.” A foreign office spokesman said: “We can confirm the arrest of a British national on December 31 in Guyana. “We are providing consular assistance.”

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Breast implant scandal: taxpayers face £100 million bill

 

Harley Medical Group (HMG), responsible for one in three operations using the French-made implants, said it would go out of business if made to meet the full cost of removal. HMG's position makes it more likely the other two main players, Transform Cosmetic Surgery and The Hospital Group, will also ignore pleas for private clinics to pay for surgery. Should they follow HMG's lead, the bill to taxpayers could feasibly top £100 million as the NHS will be forced to perform the corrective surgery.The big three firms are likely to have performed around two thirds of enlargement operations using faulty implants in Britain. There are around 40,000 women in the UK who have been fitted with the controversial implants and operations to remove them cost around £3,000. Mel Braham, chairman of HMG, claimed the Government had the "moral responsibility" to pay for removal operations, as the regulator meant to ensure the safety of medical devices had failed in its duty.

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Two-thirds of smokers try to quit in new year

 

Two-thirds of smokers in the UK, approximately six million people, will try and quit the habit in January, but half of them will fail within a week, new research suggests. According to the study, commissioned by Pfizer Limited in support of its Don't Go Cold Turkey disease awareness campaign, one in ten of these attempts will not last beyond 24 hours. Typically, smokers admit to having unsuccessfully attempted to quit three times before, with 51 per cent confident they can kick the habit in the next six months. Some 45 per cent say they attempt to quit by 'going cold turkey' or giving up the immediately and relying on willpower, however only three per cent of these people are found to be smoke free after a year. Nearly a quarter of former smokers recommend that people trying to quit consult a healthcare professional. Dr Sarah Jarvis, BBC medical correspondent and practising GP, said: "Even a brief conversation with their healthcare professional or local stop smoking service can increase [a smoker's] chances of success by up to four times, compared to going 'cold turkey'. "People should consider how they can positively influence their chances of quitting." According to Cancer Research UK, 86 per cent of lung cancer deaths are caused by tobacco smoking.

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there is an area in your brain where you may hold a reservation and that could, in all likelihood, cause you to return to your drinking. I wish that I might reach this place in your consciousness, but alas, I do not have the skill."

Twelve Step people who study A.A.'s Big Book are, of course, familiar with Bill Wilson's medical mentor, Dr. William Duncan Silkworth. Bill called him the benign "little doctor who loved drunks." Silkworth, a psychiatrist, had treated thousands of alcoholics and was director of Towns Hospital in New York where Bill had several times sought help. Though Silkworth had explained the disease of alcoholism to Bill, Bill continued to drink until he met his "sponsor" Ebby Thacher, who had recovered through the spiritual program of the Oxford Group. Ebby had also gone to Calvary Rescue Mission, run by Dr. Sam Shoemaker's Calvary Episcopal Church in New York; and Ebby had there made a decision for Christ. Wilson went there for the same purpose and, according to a conversation the author had with Dr. Shoemaker's widow (Helen Smith Shoemaker), Bill Wilson made a decision for Christ at the Rescue Mission. Bill stayed drunk for a few days and then checked into Towns Hospital and again sought help from Dr. Silkworth. And it was during this stay, that Bill took the life-changing steps of the Oxford Group, had his "hot flash experience," reported it to Dr. Silkworth, and was told by Silkworth that he (Bill) had better hang on to what had happened to him. Silkworth later was asked to write the "Doctor's Opinion" that opens the basic text of the Big Book. Silkworth's picture appears in A.A.'s Pass It On, the biography of Bill's life.

        Shortly before his death, the author spent an hour with Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, friend of A.A., the Rev. Sam Shoemaker, and Bill Wilson. Dr. Peale told me of the conversations he had with Bill Wilson about Bill's conversion. However, until 1997, I had never heard the following account by Peale about Dr. William Duncan Silkworth. It can be found in Norman Vincent Peale, The Positive Power of Jesus Christ (New York: Foundation for Christian Living, 1980), pp. 60-61. It appears under the title "The Wonderful Story of Charles K.":

        Charles, a businessman in Virginia, had become a full-fledged alcoholic; so much so that he had to have help, and fast, for his life was cracking up. He made an appointment with the late Dr. William Duncan Silkworth, one of the nation's greatest experts on alcoholism, who worked in a New York City hospital [the Charles Towns Hospital]. Receiving Charles into his clinic as a patient, the doctor gave him treatment for some days, then called him into his office. "Charles," he said, "I have done everything I can for you. At this moment you are free of your trouble. But there is an area in your brain where you may hold a reservation and that could, in all likelihood, cause you to return to your drinking. I wish that I might reach this place in your consciousness, but alas, I do not have the skill."

        "But, doctor," exclaimed Charles, "you are the most skilled physician in this field. When I came to you it was to the greatest. If you cannot heal me, then who can possibly do so?" The doctor hesitated, then said thoughtfully, "There is another Doctor who can complete this healing, but He is very expensive."

        "That's all right," cried Charles, "I can get the money. I can pay his fees. I cannot go home until I am healed. Who is this doctor and where is he?"

        "Oh, but this Physician is not at all moderate as to expense," persisted Dr. Silkworth. "He wants everything you've got. He wants you, all of you. Then He gives the healing. His price is your entire self." Then he added slowly and impressively, "His name is Jesus Christ and He keeps office in the New Testament and is available whenever you need Him."

        Dr. Peale then describes the healing of Charles through the power of Jesus Christ. 

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Recovering alcoholic Matt Maden: I began drinking at 10 and now I'm facing death at 26

 

Matt Maden, now 26, has been living on borrowed time since he was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis five years ago. Despite his desperate need he has only a 20 per cent chance of getting an organ because of the growing demand. ‘It’s really scary living with the knowledge that the odds are so heavily against you,’ he said. His condition was detected when he spent two weeks in hospital in an alcohol-induced coma – but even then he refused to believe he had a problem. ‘My immediate thought was, “It’s not the drink”,’ he said. The first time Mr Maden got drunk was at 15. ‘I remember waking up the next morning and my first thought was, “When can I do that again”,’ he said. Within a year he went from drinking eight cans of lager in a session to 16 in order to get a buzz. ‘After a couple of years I’d have to have maybe a bottle of spirits to go along with that,’ he added. ‘For a lot of years alcohol gave me  confidence. Little did I know it would actually turn on me and it would start to control me.’ After his health scare Mr Maden left his home in Oxford to check into a rehab clinic in Bournemouth and has not touched a drop since 2007. His physician, Dr Varuna Aluvihare, from King’s College London, believes the binge-drinking culture is behind the increasing number of young people needing liver transplants. ‘Tragically, every year we fail to keep someone like Matt alive,’ he said.

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Money spent on nicotine patches 'goes up in smoke', says survey

 

Those who go cold turkey have just as much chance of quitting the habit long-term, the study published on Monday added. A total of 787 adult smokers trying to quit were followed over five years by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health. One in three relapsed with the numbers spread equally between those going ‘cold turkey’, those using nicotine patches, gums or sprays, and those combining nicotine replacement with counselling. Heavy smokers who used nicotine replacement products without any professional therapy were twice as likely to relapse. Lead author Hillel Alpert said: ‘Some heavily-dependent smokers perceive nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) as a sort of “magic” pill. ‘Upon realising it is not, they find themselves without support in their quitting efforts, doomed to failure.’ But the findings sparked a backlash from the NRT industry, which is worth £150million in Britain and £520million in the US. GlaxoSmithKline, which makes Nicorette gum, said studies show NRT products, combined with support, ‘can double’ smokers’ chances of quitting

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Are you addicted to your smartphone?

 

When Adrian Weldon has a few minutes to spare, he's probably going to use them to text. "I came here to kill time and text," he said, sitting at Lakebottom Park Thursday afternoon. "At least it's not driving and texting." Weldon said he uses his phone mostly for texting, sending quick messages while he's at work and can't call people on the phone, and when he's bored. If you ask him if he's addicted, he says he's not sure. "My girlfriend says I am," he said. If Weldon is addicted to his phone, he's not alone. While addiction to apps or text-ing is not a recognized medical condition, there have been numerous studies produced on whether the technology causes more harm than good. A study by Case Western Reserve School of Medicine found that teens who spend a lot of time on texting or on social media are also more like to use drugs or alcohol and get into fights. Using a smartphone or computer just before bed can lead to sleep loss, according to a study from the National Sleep Foundation. But ignoring your phone can be difficult. A recent article in the New York Times by author and brand consultant Martin Lindstorm claimed the top three most powerful affecting sounds in the world are baby giggles, the Intel chime and a vibrating phone. Weldon confesses to feeling lost without his phone. He never turns it off. "Even when it's charging, it's on," he said. "I left it once Advertisement and went home on my lunch break just to get it." Smartphones also can be habit-forming, according to a study by Helsinki Institute for Information Technology and Intel Labs. Researchers found that smartphone users in the U.S. and in Finland checked their phone repeatedly throughout the day, usually for less than 30 seconds. They observed that the checks are usually triggered by the same things -- a person may always check email while commuting or always check the news when bored. "It's a boredom buster," said Mary Virginia Wehrenberg. She said she typically uses her smartphone truly as a phone, but the apps and texting also poses a great distraction when you're stuck waiting for something. Sharlene Brown said she tries to ration the time she spends on her smartphone. She's a fan of Words with Friends -- a popular Scrabble-like game -- and frequently plays using a dictionary app so she can check to make sure she's using real words. "I don't win as often but I love it." She said it's easy to waste time on her phone, especially on rainy or lazy days. Her kids -- ages 8 and 4 -- like playing games on her phone, too, but she only lets them use it for 15 to 30 minutes a day. "I do limit the time," she said. "Children shouldn't have it all the time." But there are benefits to the apps and texting a smartphone offers. Brown said there are math and word games available for her kids, like Quizard, an app that lets you create your own educational flashcards. "It's interactive. They get an immediate response." Texting also gives her more time with her kids, because she's not always on the phone. "It's an easier way to communicate. You send them a quick text," she said. "You don't want to take away from time with kids."

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Cellphones replace smokes as the addiction of choice

 

I was in a movie theatre last week when that new warning cartoon came on urging us not to talk or text. Suddenly I remembered those old no-smoking signs they had outside theatres decades ago - and I realized the transformation is complete. The cellphone has become the cigarette. Everywhere you look, people hold phones instead of cigarettes up to their mouths - exhaling words instead of smoke. Meanwhile, the anti-cell lobby is becoming as visible as the anti-smoking one. How else does the cellphone resemble the cigarette? - First, cigarettes were an ideal way for fidgety people to do something with their hands, whether they were rolling, lighting, twirling, tapping or dragging on them. But the cellphone has just as many rituals to keep fidgeters busy. You check your messages, organize your mail, then reorganize it - along with texting, Skyping, surfing, checking the weather for the 42nd time, or just fondling the keys. Instead of making smoke rings, the cellphone just rings - and while you light up a cigarette, your phone lights up itself. - Physically, phones have shrunk from the size of a brick to the size of - a cigarette pack. Men often carry them in their shirt pockets like they do their smokes. Women dump them in their purse like cigarette packs and spend just as much time looking for them. But at least you can phone your phone in your purse, while you couldn't phone your cigarettes. It won't be long before men start slipping their phones up their T-shirt sleeves, like they did cigarette packs decades ago. - In restaurants you lay your phone right on the table for instant access just like you did your cigarette pack when you were still allowed to smoke in restaurants. Cells are addictive like cigarettes, too - we clutch them needily while walking, driving, eating and even talking to others. I suspect that after sex, many people now reach over to check their messages, or text, instead of grabbing a smoke. - Just like cigarettes, the Big Phone Industry grows by targeting the young with cheap plans aimed at hooking them for life. A three-pack-a-day smoker smoked 60 cigarettes daily. Today's average teenager sends over 100 texts a day, according to recent figures - that's probably as much time texting as smoking. - For decades, cigarettes were an omnipresent movie prop that filled the screen with swirls of smoke - and film characters often smoked as they spilled their intimate secrets to the camera. Today, cigarette smoke is largely gone from the screen but cellphones ring constantly behind many scenes and are often used as props for characters to spill their intimate secrets. If Hamlet were written today, his anguished words spoken to Yorick's skull would probably be replaced by a cellphone soliloquy. - Cigarette pollution aggravates us - but cells create noise pollution that's just as annoying. Instead of second-hand smoke, you get second-hand conversation. In fact, a phone can pollute a room quicker than a cigarette, as in a supermarket line when you hear someone hollering: "They're out of salmon steaks, honey, so I'm getting tilapia, okay? But we need a side dish - look in the pantry to see if we have potatoes!! WHAT? - Honey - I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" Meanwhile, in the next aisle a teenager is anxiously saying: "Like I called him like an hour ago, but like, I don't like think he likes me anymore like I like him, like." - One big difference is that smok-ing definitely causes cancer while studies are inconclusive on cellphones. The science isn't there, though the fear is growing fast. Many people wear headsets for protection just like smokers used cigarette filters. But you don't see as many headsets in Montreal as in Toronto. Quebecers always liked strong, unfiltered cigarettes like Gitanes - and they don't like to filter their phones either. We give babies fake cellphones for their cribs like we used to give them chocolate cigarettes. - Now that cells are more common than cigarettes, anti-cell advocates are as zealous as anti-smokers. There are no-cell sections in many trains, hotels and restaurants, instead of no-cigarette sections. Most flights have banned cells just like they did cigarettes. We will probably live to see cells banned in bars too, so you'll have to phone outside in the cold. How long before we see class actions against Big Phone companies for deliberately addicting our kids to the nicotine of words, with cheap all-you-can-speak plans? How long before the first cellphone noise pollution settlement? How long before there's a cigarette app on your phone that lets you flick a video flame and safely inhale a tobacco-flavoured scent? You will virtually be smoking your cellphone.

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Addiction doesn’t excuse disgraced Bishop Raymond Lahey

 

It was a big win for addicts everywhere. Disgraced Catholic Bishop Raymond Lahey Wednesday talked a court into letting him off with time served for storing 155,000 pornographic images of young boys on his computer and handheld. He just couldn’t help himself. “I have come to recognize that I became addicted to Internet pornography on a very indiscriminate basis,” Lahey, 71, told the nice judge. “This was an addiction powerful enough that, despite my own distaste for it and my own internal convulsions, I could not break it.” Convulsions indeed. Lahey’s massive stash included 63 videos of bondage and torture, replete with rosary beads, crucifixes and monks beating naked boys with paddles. Lahey, whose computer was examined at Ottawa airport after officials noted his repeated trips to Southeast Asia and other countries rife with industrial child porn, was in the grip of the demon “addiction.” But so is everyone now. Addiction is a casual word used to excuse the pleasure forced in this ample age on helpless people by food, sex, work, coffee, gambling, rye and ginger, shopping, cosmetic surgery, Satanism, wheat flour, love, arson, notoriety, paint thinners, exercise, work, cheap thrills, etc. As if these things stood in doorways with a glint in their eye and offered you free samples. Addiction is a profitable, rehab-financing word for “habit.” And, if men like Lahey didn’t have this habit, it wouldn’t be profitable for children to be sodomized on film. This is the prosecutor’s motivation here (hopelessly addicted to protecting children), in case you’re puzzled that Lahey was convicted despite not appearing in the porn himself. No one knows what created Lahey’s attraction to pedophilia, but his “addiction” is his excuse for pure fun. People like this sort of thing, if this is the sort of thing they like. I am always puzzled by the conservative clamour for more consumer choice. We are spoiled for choice. I choose puce-toned nail polish and a mordant view; Lahey chooses Argyle sweater vests and Catholic-themed child torture. Are we both victims of the free market? Blaming the thing itself is not helpful, unless you’re an old bishop in Ottawa — who has been told to stay away from playgrounds, but strangely, not computers — in which case, it’s a brilliant move. I’m addicted, too. Pity me. On Boxing Day, I began watching The Killing, (Forbrydelsen), a Danish TV murder drama that I bought in a DVD box set for my husband (to whom I am addicted, although the addiction literature presumes I have resented him from the start) for Christmas. I spent 20 hours hunched in front of the TV shouting at a certain Det.-Insp. Lund, “Watch out, he’s behind you!” until I became ill from tension and eyestrain. But I didn’t go to the doctor, because what are doctors but addiction enablers? The release of discovering the true killer was addictive. I have now ordered Forbrydelsen from Europe and a backup all-regions DVD player at great expense, but I am hooked on Scandinavian detectives in their unfortunate fisherman’s knits. I blame the producers, Danmarks Radio. It’s not my fault. And it’s not the baby-faced bishop’s fault either. “Disgraced bishop Lahey may face Vatican discipline,” CBC.ca’s inadvertently amusing headline read. The church is famous for its “addiction” to laxity in this field. They have had years since his arrest to deal with an employee who, by chance, oversaw a church sex abuse settlement in his own Antigonish diocese. Lahey’s defence lawyer said the poor man, now being sued , is wearing a scarlet letter, but one of the prosecutors, David Elhadad, said acidly that the victims of child pornography bear “marks that are invisible to the naked eye but are of psychological harm, knowing that their photographed and videotaped sexual encounters are out there for eternity. They are the true victims.” And addicted to it now, no doubt.

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