Actor Sam Shepard was arrested early on Saturday in central Illinois and charged with speeding and drunken driving, police said.Shepard, 65, told police in Normal, Illinois, he was passing through town and stopped at a tavern before heading to his hotel.His blood alcohol was twice the legal limit and he was going 16 mph over the 30 mph speed limit while passing through town, the Bloomington, Illinois, Pantagraph reported.He told police he was traveling to his home in Kentucky, according to the newspaper.His long-time partner is actress Jessica Lange, with whom he has two children.Shepard received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of test pilot Chuck Yeager in the film "The Right Stuff." He also appeared in "The Notebook," "Blackhawk Down" and other films. His plays include "Buried Child," for which he won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for drama, "True West" and "A Lie of the Mind."
publicist says Tara Reid has checked herself into rehab. Jack Ketsoyan said Friday that the "American Pie" star went to the Promises Treatment Center. He did not specify what she was being treated for or when she entered the facility.
"We appreciate your respect to her and her family's privacy at this time," he said in a statement.Reid, 33, earned a reputation as a drunken partier after famously being photographed on a red carpet with her breast exposed, apparently unaware that the strap of her dress had fallen off.Her film credits include "Van Wilder" and "The Big Lebowski." She also hosted the short-lived, half-hour show "Taradise" on E!
Mexican outlaws knew they'd reached a special level of notoriety when countrymen penned ballads bragging of their exploits.Now, they get MySpace pages.A new breed of crime fan is turning to the Web to humanize drug capos and glorify their deeds.
MySpace is home to the most extravagant tributes, but lower-profile pages have also been created on the rival Facebook. In most cases, profiles are written as though the drug boss himself is the profile creator.Facebook officials said they don't allow profiles that endorse criminal activity, but see pages as forums for discussion.MySpace declined to comment. Tributes posted there include music, photos, videos and messages support, even wishes for a happy holiday season.There are also blunt threats, as well as advertisements for Texas criminal-defense attorneys.
Often straightforward language offers a Sopranos-like look at gangsters who are a blend of Al Capone and Robin Hood.They are despised by many Mexicans, but also respected by some for defying authority and climbing out of poverty.
Joaquin Guzman, the alleged leader of the Sinaloa Cartel — the most powerful syndicate in Mexico — notes the Drug Enforcement Administration is on his trail, but that he is keeping a positive attitude.
Known as "El Chapo," which means shorty, Guzman also says he is a Capricorn, a proud parent and that his sexual orientation is straight. His interests include going for walks, reading the Bible, sharing a meal with loyal friends and killing.Another page notes how much he pays the people around him, how he is always on the move and constantly changing cell phones to avoid detection.Although some of the information matches his FBI wanted poster, it is highly unlikely Guzman, who is perhaps the most hunted man in Mexico, established the page.Experts contend pages are more likely concocted by a Web-savvy younger generation, perhaps teenagers, trying to gain entrance into the lowest echelons of the gangs."Some Mexicans, especially poor, young Mexican men actually admire the wealth, machismo and success of these capos — dead or alive or in jail — no matter how bloody their hands may be," said Bruce Bagley, chairman of the Department of International Studies at the University of Miami."Money, power, violence and mayhem always attracts attention," Bagley said. "These guys are lauding the Robin Hood image; it is in a way what norteño music did in a previous era: it creates an aura around them."
Guzman's reputed cartel rival, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, who was handed over to the United States by Mexico nearly two years ago and faces a coming trial in Houston, also has a few MySpace pages in his honor."Hi, I am Osiel Cardenas Guillen, head of the Gulf Cartel of Mexico," reads an introduction. "Before I was a mechanic and also was a policeman, but, well, things change," it continues.Another profile notes that he likes ranchera music, watches the news to keep up with what is happening with his cartel, and that he hopes to one day kill Guzman and meet former Mexican President Vicente Fox.Being Cardenas' Web friend might be sticky as he is also known by a nickname that translates as friend killer.DEA spokesman David Ausiello said the agency has taken notice of online tributes and monitors the Web."It is difficult to find out who is putting this information on the Internet," he said. "Are they people with intimate knowledge of the organizations or people who are just interested and watching from afar?"Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said after the Houston Chronicle pointed out the drug boss profiles to him that the company would look into some and would likely disable any that are fake."If the users want to create a page or a group that celebrates these individuals, that would probably be allowed as long as the pages didn't show or promote drug use or violence," he said.An 18-year-old from California is among several people who posting messages on the sites."What a drag dude," he writes in a message in Spanish to Cardenas. "Hold on, you'll be out soon."
Ottawa police officer who stole crack cocaine is fighting to get his job back--and his lawyer says the case raises an important issue around the responsibility of police to accommodate officers who suffer from the "disability of drug addiction."
Lawyer Kenneth Jull, who is representing former con-stable Kevin Hall, has formally filed notice of motion for leave to appeal a recent court ruling that struck down the officer's attempt to be reinstated.
The notice says that Mr. Hall's case calls for "important judicial interpretation" regarding the duty of a police force to accommodate officers who suffer from the "disability of drug addiction."
The notice states that "judicial consideration and interpretation of the duty to accommodate is a matter of significance in the areas of employment law, labour relations and human rights throughout the province and the country."
Mr. Hall, 45, has been suspended with pay since December, 2005.He was ordered dismissed in December, 2006, following a police disciplinary hearing. He admitted to taking crack cocaine from motorists he stopped as well as from the evidence locker.
After his dismissal was ordered, Mr. Hall filed an appeal with the Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services, which upheld the original ruling a year ago.
The officer then filed an appeal with the divisional court, which handles appeals of decisions made by administrative hearings and tribunals.The divisional court ruled on Dec. 10 that the tribunal's decision was reasonable.During an interview this week, Mr. Jull said people might have had a different opinion toward the officer if he had been addicted to alcohol."If you're dealing with something like cocaine or marijuana or anything that's illegal, you've got to be careful, I say, to not let the punishment paradigm transcend the rehabilitative paradigm of getting the guy back," he said.
Drugs counsellor turned to crime and carried out six armed raids in two months.The High Court in Glasgow was told Paul Campbell, 32, terrified staff at five bookmakers and a store during his crimewave in the city.Campbell, a former heroin addict who had rebuilt his life to become a drugs counsellor, first struck in Ladbrokes in Sauchiehall Street on July 6.He threatened staff with what appeared to be a handgun and made off with £460.In August, Campbell struck four times at William Hill Bookmakers in Byres Road, Kelvingrove Street, Cathcart Road and St Enoch Square.
On each occasion he brandished what appeared to be a gun and demanded cash.His final robbery was at Farmfoods in Byres Road, Glasgow, on September 3 when he threatened staff with a knife and escaped with £200.The court heard at four of the raids Campbell left behind items from which forensic experts were able to obtain his DNA.
Simon Collins, prosecuting, said: "Over the course of two months the accused carried out six very similar robberies."The total amount taken by the accused was £2770. None of the money was recovered."At the time of the offences the accused was unemployed and in receipt of benefits."Campbell, of Cleveland Street, Charing Cross, admitted carrying out five armed raids on bookmakers by presenting a handgun or imitation handgun to staff.He also pleaded guilty to presenting a knife at a member of staff in Farmfoods and robbing her.His lawyer Tony Graham told the court: "Mr Campbell is a reformed heroin addict who became a drugs counsellor."Judge Lord Brailsford deferred sentence on Campbell until January 19 at the High Court in Paisley.He called for a background report and an assessment of the danger Campbell poses to the public.
Crack cocaine use hastens HIV disease progression, investigators report in the January 1st 2009 edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. The research, which was conducted amongst drug users in Miami, found that crack cocaine users had poorer adherence to antiretroviral. But this was only a partial explanation as the investigators found that crack cocaine users who were had taking anti-HIV drugs experienced more rapid falls in their CD4 cell count and increases in their viral load."
Most well-known for co-penning Pulp Fiction with Quentin Tarantino and directing an adaptation of The Rules of Attraction, Avary has been slammed with gross vehicular manslaughter and two felony counts of causing bodily injury while intoxicated for the Ventura County drunk driving crash that killed one passenger and severely injured Avary’s wife in January.
Drug overdose deaths on Teesside are caused by "lethal cocktails", an investigation has found. In 2007, 18 people died from drug abuse - many of whom were in treatment programmes - and Cleveland Police ordered an investigation. It found that Teesside did not have a worse problem than other areas but more needed to be done to help victims. Experts recommended better education on the dangers of taking mixtures of drugs or "cocktails", even small quantities. They also recommended addicts who dropped out of treatment be more rigorously followed up. The report found that those most at risk of becoming drug addicts were white, single, jobless men aged between 30 and 40, and living alone. The inquiry was carried out by police and health professionals. Professor Peter Kelly, executive director for public health on Teesside, said: "Every drug-related death is a tragedy for all involved. "This work highlights the risks associated with substance abuse and makes recommendations to improve the already very good local services further."
Prompted by a surge in heroin use on Long Island, county legislators have proposed laws to notify school districts and other groups about arrests for heroin possession and sales.The Nassau-Suffolk County School Boards Association opposed the initial drafts of the legislation, arguing that they overstepped the counties’ authority to impose legislation on school districts and put too much burden and liability on the schools.The Suffolk bill has been revised as a result and would now result in monthly notification on a Web site while also mapping where heroin arrests take place. But in Nassau, Legislator David L. Mejias of Farmingdale is pushing ahead with his bill, which would immediately notify school districts and selected other groups of heroin-related arrests.The bills — to be called the Natalie Ciappa Law in Nassau and Natalie’s Law in Suffolk — were named after an 18-year-old Massapequa resident who died of a heroin overdose in June at a party in Seaford. The Nassau Legislature will vote on its measure Dec. 15; the Suffolk Legislature, on Dec. 18.
Nassau’s bill would require law enforcement officials to notify the school district, synagogues, churches, PTAs, civic and community organizations in an area where any arrest for possession or sale of heroin takes place. If a student is arrested for possession or sale in a different town from his or her own, both the home school district and the district where the arrest is made would be notified.
Suffolk County introduced a similar measure, sponsored by Legislator Wayne R. Horsley of Babylon.After the bills were introduced, the school boards association voiced concerns and eventually met with Suffolk legislators. Among other things, the association asked that notification be made quarterly by the counties’ police commissioners.Lorraine Deller, the executive director of the association, said, “We are concerned that the proposals immunized from liability any official, employee or agency of the county and their police departments, but made no effort to provide immunization of liability for schools.”She also pushed for notification beyond only school districts, as the bills initially required. Both were amended to do that.
The Suffolk legislation was also amended to make notification monthly and on a county Web site. But Mr. Mejias said he had the support of educational groups that include superintendents and PTAs and that while he had altered the bill to broaden those who would receive the information, he would not amend it further.
Mr. Mejias said he was “shocked and dismayed” that the school boards association “would rather not know vital information that could save children’s lives.”“Parents expect their kids to experiment with alcohol, but never with heroin,” he said. “We want schools and parents to know if there is someone in the community who is involved or has been arrested so they can be on the lookout.”
Lawrence W. Mulvey, the Nassau police commissioner, said he supports the legislation. “In my experience, the schools have been in denial over how serious the heroin problem is,” he said. “Parents are in the dark, and it’s going on right before their eyes.”November this year, there were 198 arrests for heroin sale or possession in Nassau, up from 152 in all of 2007, the county police said. In Suffolk, there were 766 heroin-related arrests through November this year, up from 597 in all of 2007, the police said. Doreen and Victor Ciappa, Natalie’s parents, have publicly supported the legislation, which they say could help prevent tragedies similar to their daughter’s.“Natalie was everybody’s dream child,” Mrs. Ciappa said. “She was in the honor society, a cheerleader and sang the national anthem at school events. We knew that she went to parties, and I was concerned that she was experimenting with pills and cocaine, but I never once considered heroin. If I had known, I believe that things would have been different. Heroin took away her life.”
BC health officials are warning of contaminated cocaine which has led to serious illness in at least 10 Vancouver Island and Lower Mainland cases.The patients suffered from bone marrow suppression and an abnormally low number of a type of white blood cell, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Healthy Living and Sport said.
Health authorities began seeing the cases a few months ago, with the most recent one reported this month, the spokeswoman said.Provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said the people who came down with the conditions used powdered cocaine believed to be from the same batch sold in the province."The drug that is contaminating the cocaine is something called levamisole, … which suppresses the white cell count and makes them vulnerable to infections," Kendall said.
He said levamisole is an antibiotic used to rid animals of worms.People who used powdered cocaine and became ill should see a doctor or street nurse, he said.
Symptoms include persistent fever and chills, swollen glands, sores in the mouth or around the anus, skin infections and pneumonia.
Death of a 25-year-old Puerto Rican woman inside a New Hampshire motel room nine days ago has sparked several arrests, including that of a fugitive living in Lawrence who allegedly used the woman and her twin sister as "drug mules" to smuggle cocaine from the Dominican Republic.On Nov. 27, police in Salem, N.H., received a 911 call from the Park View Inn, a local motel. Inside a room there, police found Mally Cruz-Rodriguez dead. Her twin sister, Nelly, was also in the room, but police said she was not forthcoming about the circumstances of her sister's condition.But from the moment they entered the room, authorities suspected Mally Cruz-Rodriguez was a victim of drug intoxication."Due to the evidence in the room, the situation, and the fact that the women had just come into the country the night prior from the Dominican Republic, the medical staff that responded knew that [drug intoxication] was a definite possibility," Captain Shawn Patten of the Salem Police Department said yesterday by phone.Patten would not disclose what type of evidence was found in the room.Preliminary autopsy results later revealed that Cruz-Rodriguez probably died of acute cocaine intoxication after ingesting a significant quantity of the drug wrapped in rubber bags, Patten said. She and her sister, both of Puerto Rico, had flown from the Dominican Republic to Miami and then to Logan Airport. From Logan, they headed to Salem.The surviving sister was questioned but not held by authorities. Once police determined the cause of her sister's death, they "went on a very active search" for Nelly Cruz-Rodriguez, believing that she had also ingested cocaine. Police found her at a local mall, and determined that she had ingested cocaine wrapped in rubber bags. The sister was rushed to a hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to remove the drugs.Investigators were led to Angel Baez-Gil, 48, as the man who allegedly enlisted the twins as drug mules. Salem police notified the Lawrence Police Department, and Baez-Gil was picked up three days ago on a fugitive warrant. Baez-Gil used aliases, was a fugitive wanted in Wisconsin on cocaine trafficking charges, and was living in the country illegally, Patten said.
Baez-Gil waived extradition to New Hampshire and was arraigned yesterday on charges of conspiracy possession with intent to distribute cocaine. He was held without bail and on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer.Nelly Cruz-Rodriguez was also arraigned yesterday and charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Escolastico Suero, 45, of Lawrence, was arrested on the same charges in connection with the case. The suspects were each held on $100,000 cash bail.Patten said he is not certain about the size and reach of the drug operation, but he said there will probably be additional arrests in the case. Prosecutors will also consider whether to issue homicide charges against any of the defendants.Last Thursday, in an unrelated case, police in Salem arrested three Lawrence men on charges of distributing, selling, and possession of crack cocaine, after authorities conducted a drug sting at a hotel in Salem.
Rap star DMX is in hot water again, after skipping a court hearing where he was to face drug charges. His attornies claim that DMX is currently in rehab.Rapper DMX has another warrant out for his arrest - the third one this year - after he failed to show up in court on Friday (December 5).The troubled star was due to appear in Maricopa County court to face 13 felonies, including animal cruelty, identity theft and drug possession, however, his attorney revealed DMX is in an undisclosed rehabilitation facility as the reason for his no-show.Charles Kozelka told MTV News that his client had been “in and out” of several rehab facilities recently, but Judge Michael Kemp wouldn’t accept this as a reason, raising his bond to $120,000 cash.
Swiss voters passed the plan with support from 68 percent of voters, as part of a series of national referendums on illegal drug policy. Swiss voters recently rejected another referendum to decriminalize cannabis, despite widespread police tolerance for moderate use of the drug.The program, which began in Zurich more than a decade ago, is described by The New York Times as “the world’s most comprehensive legalized heroin program.” It allows about 1,300 addicts to visit specialized clinics at 23 government-approved centers across the country to inject legally the drug up to twice a day, as a last resort. The clinics also provide treatment for other medical or mental health issues.Supporters say that the program, which began in Zurich more than a decade ago, has been effective in booting addicts out of the country’s infamous “needle parks” and lowering drug-related crime. But opponents, such as the United States and the UN narcotics board, say that it aids drug abusers, and sends the wrong message to youth. Switzerland’s heroin program is now being emulated by governments around the world, while some have already been involved in similar efforts, but on a smaller scale. Australia and Canada have started their own programs, and the Netherlands in 2006 began a small program with 15 treatment centers that serve about 600 patients.Some countries are giving Swiss-style heroin injection programs a trial run, such as Belgium, Germany, Spain and Canada, which embarked on a three-year pilot project endorsed by the Canadian Institutes of Health. Britain has allowed licensed doctors to prescribe heroin since the 1920s, and Denmark approved a two-year trial of prescription heroin last February.
Although more countries seem to be giving legalized heroin treatment the green light, global drug laws are not necessarily becoming more relaxed.The 63-percent bloc of Swiss citizens who voted against decriminalizing marijuana and growing the plant for personal use may have learned a lesson from Britain’s attempt at loosening legal punishment for using cannabis last year, which largely backfired as marijuana use increased, drug-related crime rose despite a drop in marijuana arrests, and research suggested serious psychological effects. Recent research suggests that long-term marijuana use may be more harmful than previously thought, according to the BBC.
Additionally, more countries have been moving toward limiting what is now a widely legal drug: tobacco. Earlier this year, India became the latest country, joining Turkey, the Netherlands, France and the UK in passing laws to limit smoking in public places.In an unexpected turn of events, the Netherlands’ decision to ban smoking tobacco at its iconic cafes over the summer may have had the surprising effect of forcing customers to resort to smoking pure cannabis, which is not regulated by the new law.
Meth, which can be taken in pills, snorted or injected, is cheaper than cocaine or heroin and has a long-lasting high. But the drug is highly addictive and is very difficult to treat.Meth use in Mexico has quadrupled in six years, according to a survey by the health ministry. The study, to be released in the coming weeks, shows 0.5 percent of the Mexican population has tried meth, more than double the 0.2 percent of the U.S. population who have used it.One 23-year-old who gave her name as Violeta started using hard drugs like crack-cocaine as a teenager working in a Mexico City strip club. She tried meth for the first time when dozens of pills were passed around on a tray at a party.She once stopped breathing after a bad hit of the drug, which accelerates the heart rate."The last thing I remember is having a great time dancing. Then I woke up in the hospital. Apparently I was convulsing in the bathroom," she said.As U.S. authorities cracked down in recent years on the sale of the drug's ingredients, busting "mom and pop" labs in blue collar garages and bathrooms, Mexican gangs that already smuggled huge quantities of cocaine and marijuana into the United States moved in to meet the demand for meth.
They are now churning out tons of meth in "super labs".The trade is a part of a bitter fight in Mexico which has pitted rival drug gangs against each other and the security forces. The conflict has worsened this year with a record number of murders.
Last year, Mexican police found $206 million. a world record drug cash haul, in the mansion of Chinese-born "meth king" Zhenli Ye Gon. He made his fortune importing meth's ingredients from Asia.In Mexico City's historical center, meth labs are hidden in the basements of normal-looking houses. Dealers take the drug, sometimes banana flavored, to schools to sell.Addicts shooting up in the dry ravines in the shadow of the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana were the first wave of meth users. Many were deported immigrants who got their first taste of the drug in the United States.
"It's really easy to find. First they give it to you for free but later you have to buy it," said one slight 10-year-old who called himself Gilberto at a drug treatment center in Tijuana, just across the border from San Diego.
Seven people in Alberta have developed a form of immune system suppression after consuming cocaine laced with a chemical compound, public health officials said Friday.The individuals developed agranulocytosis, a condition that makes the immune system incapable of fighting off infections.It makes common infections become serious, even fatal, quite quickly."We are advising anyone who develops a fever or other signs of infection and has used cocaine to seek medical attention quickly," Dr. Gerry Predy, Alberta's Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health, said in a news release."Any skin abscess or lung infection that develops rapidly should also be treated immediately."Officials have linked the cases to cocaine laced with levamisole, a chemical compound developed to treat intestinal worms in humans and animals.The cases were reported in Edmonton, Red Deer, and in undisclosed locations in southern and northern Alberta.Doctors in Alberta have been advised they should test and treat patients for this condition if they complain of a fever or other signs of infection after using cocaine.
Voters in Switzerland go to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to make a controversial heroin prescription programme a permanent, nationwide health policy
The Swiss government supports the idea but opponents say it encourages drug addiction, and sends the wrong message to young people.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s Switzerland had one of the highest rates of heroin addiction in Europe.Open drug scenes in cities such as Zurich, Basel and Bern were common, with addicts injecting and dealers selling publicly in the streets and parks.Users often shared needles, leading to a sharp rise in HIV infection rates, and in the spread of Hepatitis.In an attempt to reduce the spread of such diseases, if nothing else, the Swiss health department began introducing needle exchanges, followed by clean injection rooms where addicts could take heroin in a safe environment, supervised by a nurse.For many health professionals, the next logical step was to start prescribing heroin to those addicts, many of them already ill, who really did not seem able to get off drugs.
I would never, never, put my children into a heroin prescription programme. What kind of freedom is that? I'd rather they were dead
In 1998 Switzerland introduced an experimental 10-year heroin prescription programme. Today around 1,300 patients across the country are on the programme.
Dr Christoph Buerki says his clinic in Bern serves 210 such patients."Their average age is 40 now, and they have an average of 13 years of heroin addiction before they enter this programme. Basically we are aiming at a group of people where everything else has failed," he says.Dr Buerki's patients have to have tried abstinence treatments at least twice before being eligible for heroin prescription.
The majority have also tried and failed to stay on a methadone maintenance programme. Methadone in fact remains the more common maintenance treatment in Switzerland, with over 16,000 patients.Dr Christoph Buerki says his patients have some chance of a normal life
Jan, 33, is one of the clinic's first patients on a Thursday morning. He has been an addict since he was 20, and for the last eight years he has been on the heroin prescription programme."At first I didn't want to come here," he says, as he rolls up his trouser leg to make the injection."I thought this was just the lowest of the low but, well, I am an addict. And I've got a job now, and two sons, so I live a pretty normal life."My kids just know that Dad is sick and has to take medicine every day, that's all."And Dr Buerki shares the view that long term addicts like Jan are actually ill, and need to be treated as such."These are patients with a chronic, relapsing disease that might go with them for the rest of their lives," he says.
But opponents of heroin prescription, like Sabine Geissbuhler of the association Parents Against Drugs, say that attitude is exactly what is wrong."When heroin prescription was first introduced, it was touted as a 'treatment'," she says."But treatment means the goal should be people get off drugs eventually - they stop being addicts - and that's just not happening.""It's an outrage," she continues, "that the state should give addicts heroin - it's poison. You don't give people poison to make them better.""It would be more shocking if we just let them die," counters Maria Chiara Saraceni, a drugs policy expert with the Swiss federal health department.
Heroin was very 'in'... But now people who take heroin have the image of losers, of junkies."It's the government's responsibility to help everyone, and not to judge them."If this is what they need to live a more stable life, and to get off the streets, then that is what we should offer."But Ms Geissbuhler is not convinced.
"That's not a life," she insists. "I have four children, and I would never, never, put them into a heroin prescription programme. What kind of freedom is that? I'd rather they were dead."But whether a life is worth living or not can be a very personal, subjective thing.Jan, who leaves the clinic every day to go to work, then returns in the evening for a second injection before picking up his son from nursery, views his life as normal, and even contented."I'm just like everyone else," he insists. I get up in the morning, I go to work, I do my job responsibly, I go home to my family in the evening. And at the weekend I'm the Dad my kids want me to be."But the fact remains that Jan may well be on heroin for the rest of his life.
Very few patients on the programme have so far managed to get off the drug for good, and in that sense heroin prescription does not fit with Switzerland's chief goal on drug use, which is abstinence.Doctors like Christoph Buerki accept that their patients will be with them for many years to come. Instead he points to another, unexpected side effect of the programme.The heroin clinic dispels any myth of heroin being glamorous"Heroin was a very 'in' and fashionable thing to do in the 1980s and early 1990s," he explains. "But now people who take heroin have the image of losers, of junkies."I mean look at this place," he says, gesturing to his small, rather run-down clinic, and the lines of patients, most of them middle aged, waiting for injections.
"Nobody thinks this is a good thing - it's not cool to go to a clinic like ours to get heroin twice a day."We've medicalised heroin in Switzerland - it has the image of an ugly illness, and that is why, I think, numbers of new addicts are falling.Very few young people are turning to heroin in Switzerland these days."And that is the argument that may well sway many Swiss voters.Keeping hundreds of people on heroin through old age and right to the ends of their lives is a rather shocking prospect, but polls suggest the Swiss may accept it, if it means their streets are free of illegal drug use, and their young people see heroin not as a glamorous rock star's drug, but as a sad, banal, old people's habit.
David Marks, 47, admitted burgling two homes, stealing two cars and asked for a further 19 burglaries to be taken into consideration. Judge John Lafferty jailed the drug addict for 65 weeks, but suspended the sentence for two years. The judge told Lafferty, who has 42 previous convictions for 92 house break-ins: "You have been given a chance. "If you don't take this chance, you and I will meet again."
Snaresbrook Crown Court heard Marks "relapsed" in April and May this year when he returned to crime. Marks, who offered advice as a "recovering addict" to young and homeless people through the Christian charity, failed to practise what he preached when he found himself sleeping rough. He was arrested on April 17 this year in Barking Road, Plaistow, after police spotted him behind the wheel of the Italian hatchback. Later that month, Marks targeted a four-bedroom terraced house in Portway, Stratford, east London, smashing a front door window, but failing to gain entry as the entranceway was double locked. Marks was tracked using DNA evidence after cutting himself and smearing blood on the inside door of the porch. On May 9, Marks ransacked a home in New North Road, Hainault, Essex. Marks was arrested on June 25 after his fingerprint was found on a plastic bag containing a crowbar in the hallway. Judge Lafferty ordered Marks complete a six-month rehab programme, comply with an 18 months' supervision in the community, and reside in hostel accommodation for the duration of his treatment.
News Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page to face drug charges today in New York court FAYETTEVILLE, N.Y. - Barenaked Ladies frontman Steven Page is set to appear in a New York state court Tuesday to face drug possession charges laid after his July arrest in upstate New York. The 38-year-old singer, his 27-year-old girlfriend Christine Benedicto and her 25-year-old roommate Stephanie Ford were all charged in July after police found cocaine at a Fayetteville apartment.
Asian elephant that spent three years in rehab for heroin addiction in southwest China has been declared unfit to be returned to
the wild, zoo authorities have said.The four-year-old elephant, Xiguang, was captured from the China-Myanmar border in March 2005 by illegal traders who fed him heroin-laced bananas. Five other elephants along with Xiguang were also captured by the smugglers, but the animals were captured by police two months later. Four of them, including Xiguang, were later sent to a wild animal protection centre in the southern Hainan Island. Xiguang was cured of his addiction after a three-year treatment that included methadone injections five times stronger than human doses.
The four elephants were brought back to the Yunnan Wild Life Park last month and will spend the winter at the Xishuangbanna Wild Elephant Valley in Yunnan. "Three years of domestic life and a huge amount of rehabilitation medication has changed the physical situations, odours and habits of Xiguang and the other elephants," said Pan Hua, the park's deputy manager. "They may become the target of attacks by other beasts if they are sent back to the wild. Some are easily irritable now and may hurt humans. They can't go back to the wild anymore," he said. The elephants will stay in the valley and be cared for by zoo keepers. The Asian elephant is the largest land animal in the region, with an estimated 50,000 living in the wild throughout the continent.
attorney for KFAN Radio personality Jeff Dubay said he expects his client to be charged Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court with possessing a small amount of cocaine. Dubay was arrested last Wednesday night after his car was pulled over in Maplewood. Incorrect reports as to what charges he could face appeared on a news website, indicating a connection to methamphetamine. At least one television report also mentioned Dubay in connection with meth."On behalf of Mr. Dubay we're relieved that the formal charges will be brought forward so all the misinformation that was swirling in the press can be clarified and dispelled," said Mark D. Kelly, a St. Paul-based attorney. "I think there was a lot of distress when the allegations regarding methamphetamine and the misinformation on [the] website was posted that this was something that it wasn't. People relied on that to their detriment and to Jeff's detriment."Kelly said Dubay would have no comment Tuesday.The incorrect information linked Dubay to a crime that, according to Kelly, carries with it a presumptive prison sentence and involves six or more grams of something that could include methamphetamine.Dubay was arrested on suspicion of a fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony. Dubay could end up in a pre-trial diversion program, meaning the matter would stand to be dismissed after 12 months without any criminal conviction on his record provided he complies with the conditions the court imposes. Dubay, who has co-hosted the "PA and Dubay show" with Paul Allen on KFAN (1130 AM) since 1998, has not been on the air since his arrest and is currently on a leave from the station. Dubay also does work on Gophers men's hockey games for FSN North but did not appear last weekend. He was off the KFAN airwaves for an extended period this summer.Executives from the Clear Channel-owned station have had no comment about Dubay's job status. Allen did read a statement about his co-host on Monday morning that essentially expressed his support.
If the charges are filed against Dubay, the next step will be for a court date to be set. He likely will appear before a judge in the next few weeks in Ramsey County District Court."We will respond to the charges in due course," Kelly said. "There were multiple media outlet sources that got this story wrong and repeated it incorrectly. It was basically one source and that was somebody who had misread the Minnesota statute with regards what was put on the [Ramsey County] booking website."
Actor Ryan O'Neal faces felony drug possession charges in his arrest last month at his Malibu home, his lawyer said. O'Neal is best known for his roles in the movies "Love Story" and "Paper Moon." the 67-year-old actor and his 23-year-old son Redmond were formally charged Wednesday.They were arrested Sept. 17 for alleged drug possession after sheriff's deputies said they found methamphetamine during a probation visit to the house in a previous drug case involving Redmond.Redmond is said to have been in possession of drugs when investigators arrived while a vial of methamphetamine allegedly was found in Ryan O'Neal's room.Both father and son are facing one count of felony possession of a controlled substance, two misdemeanor counts of possession of drug paraphernalia and one count of illegal possession of pepper spray, Those were not Ryan's drugs, he doesn't use drugs, and has nothing to do with them," the actor's lawyer Mark Werksman told People magazine shortly after his arrest. "It's a dangerous assumption for deputies to have arrested Ryan just because he was in proximity to the drugs. ... I have full confidence that Ryan will be vindicated." O'Neal's attorney didn't offer an explanation as to how the drugs might have ended up in his bedroom as police said, or to whom they may have belonged.
The 23-year-old son of Ryan O'Neal and Farrah Fawcett, who was arrested along with his dad last month on suspicion of methamphetamine possession, was ordered into a two-week treatment program Wednesday after admitting that he had relapsed."You're a stand-up guy to come here and deal with your problem," Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Millington told Redmond, who also checked into rehab in 2004 to treat a heroin addiction. "I want you to stay clean…You better stay clean or the hammer is going to fall."An attorney for the O'Neals didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.No criminal charges have been filed against either Redmond or his dad in connection with their Sept. 17 bust at the elder O'Neal's Malibu home during a routine probation checkup. Officers allegedly found Redmond to be in possession of what looked like meth, as well as a small vial of the stuff in his father's bedroom.
At the time of their arrest, Redmond was about two months into a three-year probation sentence for DUI and possessing heroin and crystal meth.Ryan O'Neal has maintained his innocence in the affair, his lawyer telling reporters that his client would no doubt be vindicated."Those were not Ryan's drugs, he doesn't use drugs, and has nothing to do with them," attorney Mark Werksman said. "It's a dangerous assumption for deputies to have arrested Ryan just because he was in proximity to the drugs."Redmond, meanwhile, characterized the situation as a "major misunderstanding. "Life goes on, you know," he told a pack of paparazzi who followed him home from a market the day after his arrest. "It's all I have for you, really...If I knew more, I'd tell you more."
According to new government figures, around 12m people in the UK drink hazardously – over the recommended guidelines of two to three units a day for women and three to four units a day for men, the equivalent of two to three small glasses of wine a day. Over 800,000 people (four times the estimate 10 years ago) are hospitalised in the UK annually because of alcohol-related illnesses and accidents, at a cost of £2.7 billion. Around 600,000 underage Britons are estimated to be drinking alcohol recklessly and illegally. Pressure groups, like the Alcohol Health Alliance, blame the government’s liberal drink policies, especially the availability of alcohol 24/7 from many supermarkets. Yet immediate access to alcoholism treatment is available for only five in every hundred alcoholics (one in a hundred in the northeast). And there’s no dedicated budget for alcoholism. Contrast that with the UK’s 300,000 drug users, whose treatment access is virtually 100%, with a budget this year of £600m. This access mismatch, in the view of specialists and GPs, reflects the perception that alcoholism is largely the responsibility of those afflicted. As a result, according to a survey conducted by Mori and a London teaching hospital, a third of Britain’s GPs are encouraging alcoholics to detox by themselves at home without professional help. Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, warns of the dangers of unsupervised detoxes. “It’s hazardous, and things can go badly wrong,” he says. “In any case, detox is just the first step on a long rehab journey requiring professional help.” Colin Drummond, professor of addiction psychiatry at the Maudsley hospital, south London, echoes that warning: “A detoxed person is like a car without wheels; it’s the weeks and months of follow-up counselling and talk therapy that matter. And self-detox is dangerous.” So what are the dangers? There are no hard figures for detox deaths. They melt into the 20,000-plus alcohol-related fatalities in the UK each year: deaths caused by everything from liver failure to road accidents, from brain seizures to suicides. The detox hazards lurk within a set of arcane percentage stats. According to data provided to The Sunday Times Magazine by Professor Drummond, about 20% of patients with high alcohol consumption will have epileptic fits, or seizures, on a detox withdrawal. This proportion is considerably higher in people, like Tom, with many previous detoxes as well as severe alcohol dependence. Of those who have seizures during detox, about 3% progress to a prolonged epileptic state lasting 20 minutes or more. This in turn carries a mortality rate of 20%. About 5% of patients in alcohol withdrawal also develop delirium tremens, which can be fatal in about 35% of cases if untreated. A further claimed danger involves brain damage due to a lack of thiamine, vitamin B1, during detox. “Hence it’s dangerous,” says Professor Drummond, “to expect a severely alcohol-dependent patient to self-administer, or an untrained relative or friend to oversee, withdrawal drugs without medical supervision.”
CNN reporter Richard Quest has returned to the cable news channel after a hiatus stemming from his drug arrest and court-ordered counseling, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based network said on Friday.Quest, known for his boisterous and quirky reporting, returned to CNN International in late June and has been producing general news segments and working on the August edition of "CNN Business Traveler," the show he hosted before his arrest, said Nigel Pritchard, a spokesman for CNN.
"We're very pleased to have him back," Pritchard said.Police stopped Quest, 46, in April for being in New York's Central Park past curfew, and they discovered a bag of methamphetamines on the British reporter.A judge ordered him to undergo six months of counseling in exchange for having the case dismissed.
Locklear, a former star of drama show Melrose Place, was arrested on Sunday (Monday NZ time) after allegedly driving eratically down a Santa Barbara freeway.She was found by police sitting in her car blocking traffic.News agency Associated Press reported the woman who reported Locklear to police was photographer Jill Ishkanian, who sold photos of the star's arrest for US$27,000.a spokesman for Ishkanian said the photographer called police because she felt it was her "civic duty" and feared for Locklear's safety."The fact she witnessed Ms Locklear's erratic driving and reported it to the police did not mean she was disqualified from reporting the story, which she in fact did," the spokesman said.
Santa Barbara County prosecutors are waiting for test results to decide whether to pursue charges against Locklear.
Boy George says the best thing about Narcotics Anonymous meetings is that “you can sit down and not say a word”. That I would love to see. He is impossibly candid, his tumbling words roughened by that gravelly, camp brogue and flurries of laughter: half-nervy, half-playful. Despite all the therapy and self-help he has immersed himself in, he’s as opinionated and indiscreet as ever. Today he’s got advice for Amy Winehouse and George Michael. He claims to have renounced drugs for good. He bellows across a car park for a cigarette lighter. George says he gave up drugs – specifically cocaine – last October, after returning from New York, where he swept the streets in orange overalls as his punishment for wasting police time. He had admitted to falsely reporting a burglary at his Manhattan apartment; when the police arrived prosecutors said they found 13 plastic bags of cocaine. Boy George said they weren’t his and charges of cocaine possession were later dropped. “It was surreal and quite fun,” he says of the street sweeping, apparently now inured to being the centre of media firestorms, although the US authorities continue to deny him a work visa, which means he cannot tour there. “But that’ll be sorted out,” he says airily. He has a new single. He’s just starting a UK tour. “Everything’s great.” Is it? There’s a rather large elephant in the room. George, 47, is due back in court next month in London, charged with falsely imprisoning a 28-year-old man in a flat he lived in temporarily in East London in April 2007. “I will be pleading not guilty, of course,”
Heather Locklear,has been arrested in California for allegedly driving under the influence.The 47-year-old actress is best known for her television roles on "Spin City," "Melrose Place" and "Dynasty." She was arrested for suspicion of DUI and being under the influence of a controlled substance Saturday.
"Around 4:30 p.m., a female witness saw Heather Locklear driving erratically while leaving a parking lot in Montecito," California Highway Patrol spokesman Tom Marshall told People magazine. "The witness said Locklear was revving her engine loudly and backed over a pair of sunglasses several times. ... The witness called 911 because she was concerned for Locklear's safety. When a CHP officer arrived, Locklear was found seated inside her vehicle, which was partially blocking the roadway."Marshall said Locklear was taken to a nearby police station because she seemed "disoriented and impaired.""Alcohol was ruled out as a factor but, based on the officer's observations, we believe Locklear was under the influence of prescription medication," Marshall said.
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