A Life Turned Around

Good news from Buffalo, New York, where a young woman accused of smuggling Ecstasy has turned her life around:

U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara gave a huge break Wednesday to a 21-year-old drug defendant from Youngstown.

It almost certainly could not have happened before last week's landmark Supreme Court decision giving federal judges freedom from sentencing guidelines.

Jamie Lynn Chilberg, a college student who joined a drug treatment program and turned her life around after a September 2003 smuggling arrest, is among the first people in the nation to benefit from the Supreme Court's Jan. 12 ruling.

Instead of the two-year minimum sentence the guidelines suggested, Arcara sentenced Chilberg to "time spent" -- the one day she already served in jail after the arrest. She will also spend three years on supervised release and will be required to speak at local high schools three times each year.

"For the life of me, I can't see how any period of incarceration could benefit this young woman," Arcara said. "In many ways, I find what she has done to be remarkable."

Arcara noted that before the Supreme Court decision, he would have been mandated to send Chilberg to prison for 24 to 30 months.

Smiling and wiping away tears, Chilberg left the courtroom thanking Arcara and the Supreme Court for giving her a second chance.

"I think this decision could benefit a lot of people in my situation, all over the country," she said. "It gave the judge an opportunity to consider other alternatives to putting me in prison for two years." ...

Chilberg was 19 on Sept. 18, 2003, when Department of Homeland Security inspectors at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls found 954 MDMA pills -- better known as Ecstasy -- in her car.

Chilberg, then a heavy user of alcohol, cocaine and other drugs, was acting as a "mule," delivering the Ecstasy for drug traffickers, defense attorney Herbert L. Greenman said. Defense attorneys have complained for years that federal sentencing guidelines were too harsh on people who were caught delivering drugs.

Under a plea deal reached last year, Chilberg was required to cooperate in a continuing investigation. Greenman said she has also obtained a full-time waitressing job and has worked hard in studies at Niagara County Community College. She also stopped using drugs and entered a voluntary drug treatment program, he said.

"She's never blamed anyone but herself for what happened, and she's determined to put drugs behind her," Greenman said.

Despite catching a break from the judge, Chilberg now has a felony conviction on her record for importing drugs from Canada.

Chilberg sobbed as she told Arcara of the pain that her legal difficulties and drug problems caused for her family. Outside the courtroom, she told a reporter that she hopes to get a four-year college degree and go into business or law.

"I was wrong," she said. "I'm trying to be the best person I can be."

Meth High Leads Two to Death

A tragic story out of Iowa, where a young couple froze to death while high on meth. They called 911 but were unable to relay their whereabouts to the police because their state of mind was so addled by the drug. Police subsequently arrested a mother and son in connection to the death. They possibly supplied the young couple with the drug.

Read the tragic story in the Iowa World Herald here. Here's an excerpt:

Sometime the night of Jan. 5 as Janelle Hornickel and Michael Wamsley made call after call to 911, a Sarpy County sheriff's deputy discovered footprints in the snow.

The footprints were near the gate to the old Lyman-Richey gravel pit in western Sarpy County.

The deputy followed the tracks, which were filling with snow, onto the gravel pit property until they disappeared near a frozen pond, said Sarpy County Chief Deputy Jeff Davis.

The deputy walked a quarter of a mile around a machine shed on the property and around a trailer. But he found no sign of the couple, who authorities said Friday were under the influence of methamphetamine when they froze to death in the snow.

Alabama Man Faces E-Murder Charge

All too often, I share articles about murder charges coming from designer drug use. This one is particularly upsetting -- a 50 year old man who is charged with killing a 16 year old boy:

A Hoover man indicted on a manslaughter charge 16 months ago after a 16-year-old Hoover boy died of a drug overdose in his home is scheduled to go to trial in March, court records show.

Timothy Terrell, 50, is scheduled to have a jury trial in Jefferson County Bessemer Division Circuit Judge Teresa Petelos' courtroom on March 28.

Police say Terrell failed to provide or seek medical attention for 16-year-old Zachary Casciaro when the boy overdosed on drugs while spending the night with Terrell's 15-year-old son in March 2003.

Authorities say the boy got sick when he accidentally took a lethal combination of Ecstasy, cocaine, alcohol and other drugs. Terrell's son called Hoover police at 5:26 a.m., but police say Terrell was aware several hours earlier that Casciaro had ingested drugs and was in distress.

Ecstasy Claims Young Father

A young father in Ireland died after taking Ecstasy. From the Irish Independent:

THE family of a young Dundalk man who died after taking nine ecstasy tablets last night warned of the dangers of taking the drug.

Peter Duffy, of Cedarwood Park, Dundalk, warned that anyone taking the drug could suffer the same tragic fate as his son Gavin (18), who died last April.

He told the Louth County Coroner's court yesterday that his son's death was all the more tragic as the otherwise fit and healthy young man had become a father just prior to his death.

Louth County Coroner Ronan Maguire said the level of the drug MDMA found in Gavin's body - nine micrograms per millilitre of blood - was the highest ever recorded in Ireland.

Drug Driving Deaths Soar

In Ireland, 14 percent of people who died last year in car crashes were on drugs. From the Belfast Telegraph:

Shocking new figures revealed today show that 12 motorists killed in Northern Ireland last year had consumed drugs - leading to warnings over the new scourge of drug driving.

The number of drug drivers is soaring; a total of 136 offenders were detected in 2004, up 82 from 2003.

A sample of 86 motorists or motorcyclists killed on our roads last year showed that 12 had consumed drugs.

Tests detected a range of drugs including cannabis, Ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, glue and amphetamines.

New Study on Designer Drug Use

A new study published in the Brown University Digest of Addiction Theory and Application studies designer drug use, abuse and negative side effects. Kathleen A. Parks and colleagues from State University of New York at Buffalo surveyed a sample of 50 club drug users who were recruited through various means. Some experpts from the news release:

Despite the fact that few users reported being "hooked," the average DAST score suggests that a majority of this sample would meet criteria for drug abuse or dependence. In addition, subjects reported a significant number of negative consequences associated with Ecstasy use.

Positive consequences of club drug use were reported by 10% or more of subjects in regard to Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine, methamphetamine, and LSD. Feeling good and social benefits were reported as positive consequences of all five of these drugs. Subjects reported increased energy as a positive consequence of using Ecstasy, methamphetamine, and LSD. Stress relief and escape were positive consequences for Ecstasy and ketamine use. Gaining insight or great open-mindedness was reported for LSD use.

Ecstasy was the primary drug for which negative consequences were reported. Most frequent negative physical effects reported by 50% to 75% of users included profuse sweating, hot and cold flashes, tingling or numbness, and blurred vision. The most frequent negative psychological symptoms were trouble sleeping (reported by 75% of users); 20% to 46% of users also reported hallucination, depression, confusion, anxiety, irritability, paranoia, and loss of sex urge at least some of the time. Among negative life consequences reported were having trouble maintaining usual daily activities (40%) and experiencing financial and work troubles (20%).

Subjects reported few problems with aggression following club drug use. A small group of subjects reported getting into verbal arguments sometimes (14%) or half the time (2%) following Ecstasy use; 14% reported they had ever been involved in physical aggression, and 2% reported being involved in sexual aggression after taking Ecstasy.

Ecstasy Use Up in Japan?

I've always felt that when the amount of a drug confiscated in drug increases dramatically, it's a sign that use of the drug is increasing just as dramatically. As demand rises, drug manufacturers ship more to the country, and cops make more busts.

Based on this theory, Ecstasy use in Japan must be surging. This from the Kyodo News Service:

Customs houses across Japan confiscated 1,358 kilograms of illegal drugs and stimulants in 2004, up 23 percent from the previous year and topping the 1 ton level for the second straight year, the Finance Ministry said Friday.

Confiscation of tablet drugs, such as MDMA, better known as ecstasy, reached an all-time high of 429,000 tablets, up 11 percent from the previous record high marked in 2003, the ministry said.

"Coma in a Bottle" Sweeps UK

The British publication The People did a shocking and wonderful expose on GHB-cousin GBL and the people who use it.

Shocking? How about being able to call up a company and a couple days later receive in the mail enough GBL to drug 4,000 women -- and it's perfectly legal!

Expose? The article gives the names of the companies and their owners.

Worse, the results:

DRUG-ASSISTED rape is one of Britain's fastest growing crimes with an estimated 30 women a week reporting their drinks have been spiked.

One victim support group, the London-based Roofie Foundation, has had more than 6,000 rape victims, many of them MEN, calling its helpline. Spokesman Graham Rhodes, who helped get GHB outlawed, now wants GBL banned. He said: "The spread of GBL has changed this year.

Children Who Really Need Our Help

This blog is about protecting our children. Over at my husband's blog, Cheat Seeking Missiles, he's been blogging about some children who need so much more protection than they're receiving: the girls, and to a lesser extent boys, who are sold into sexual slavery.

This was the subject Oprah dedicated her show to yesterday, with guest Ricky Martin -- you know, Living the Vida Loca. He stopped singing a couple years ago to dedicate himself to saving these kids, and has saved 150 so far. He's hoping to build 600 shelters in some of the most impacted countries, and in tsunami-hit countries as well.

His foundation, People for Children, has a Web site that is very rich in information about the extent and heartbreak of this most tragic human condition, provided by the US State Department. Click on the "Information" link, then on "Trafficking in Person Report by Country" link and just check out a few of the countries listed. You'll be horrified.

For example, here's what's going on in Cambodia:

Cambodia is a source and destination country for persons trafficked for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Cambodian men, women, and children who cross into Thailand, often as illegal migrants, are forced into labor or prostitution by traffickers. Cambodian children are trafficked into Vietnam and forced to work as street beggars. Vietnamese women and girls are trafficked into Cambodia for prostitution. Cambodian women and children are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation.

In Cuba kids are forced to become part of a diabolical sex-tourist business:

Cuba is a country of internal trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labor. Minors are victimized in sexual exploitation connected to the state-run tourism industry. Despite occasional measures by the Government of Cuba to crack down on prostitution, state-controlled tourism establishments and independent operators facilitate and even encourage the sexual exploitation of minors by foreign tourists.

And the problem is even prevalent even in Europe:

France is a destination country for victims, primarily women, trafficked from Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union for the purposes of prostitution and domestic servitude. French police estimate that 90of the 15,000 prostitutes working in France are trafficking victims, and that 3,000 to 8,000 children are forced into prostitution and labor, including begging.

But that's just three. Dozens of countries are listed. There's also the opportunity to make donations.

Huge Ecstasy Bust Drops US Supply

The DEA announced late last week that its massive Operation Candy Box bust has dropped the availability of Ecstasy in the US by 15%. As supplies dwindle, so do deaths. In Jacksonville FL, there were four Ecstasy deaths in the three months before Operation Candy Box and none in the six months after.

The bust took down Ze Wai Wong -- alleged to be the leader of an international Ecstasy (MDMA) ring that supplied 15 % of the U.S. ecstasy market, who has been extradited from Canada to the US to face drug trafficking and conspiracy charges that could net him 40 years in prison. Ze Wai Wong was arrested in Canada on March 31, 2004, along with more than 130 defendants in 16 cities across the United States, as part of an investigation dubbed Operation Candy Box.

The DEA has been tracking the Ecstasy market since Wong's arrest and found, in addition to the drop in Jacksonville Ecstasy-related deaths:

• Nationwide, the average price of a tablet of MDMA increased 8 per cent, reversing a three year MDMA declining price trend where the average price of a MDMA tablet had decreased 65%.
• Following Operation Candy Box, the nationwide average purity of a tablet of MDMA decreased 10.8 % to the lowest purity level measured since 1996.
• The seizure of $8.9 million in U.S. currency prevented the additional distribution of 17-34 million MDMA tablets.
• In Miami, the price for DEA undercover purchases of MDMA immediately increased 110 % from an average of $5.52 per MDMA tablet prior to Operation Candy Box to $11.62 per tablet the month following the Operation. When DEA measured price again, six months after Operation Candy Box, the MDMA tablet price increase remained high ($10.69) reflecting an overall sustained MDMA price increase of 93 %.
• In New Orleans, the price for DEA undercover purchases of MDMA increased 66 % from an average of $10.50 per MDMA pill prior to the culmination of Operation Candy Box, to $17.50 one month following the Operation.
• In Los Angeles, the price for DEA undercover purchases of MDMA increased 147 % from an average of $7.04 per MDMA pill prior to the conclusion of Operation Candy Box, to $17.41 in the two months following the Operation.
• In Houston, there were 48 seized exhibits of MDMA during the three month period preceding the takedown of Operation Candy Box, and only 9 seized MDMA exhibits during the three months following Operation Candy Box – an 81 % decrease in MDMA seizures.

Read the DEA news release here.

"Hillbilly Heroin" a Big Killer in Canada

The Toronto Sun reports on "A new drug on the block," Ocycodone:

HILLBILLY heroin is part of a new trend in drug use .... Oxycodone -- known as "hillbilly heroin" because it's cheap and easy to obtain -- was responsible for 27 deaths in Toronto in 2002, up from seven a year earlier, Dr. Joyce Bernstein of Toronto Public Health said yesterday during the release of the Drug Use in Toronto 2004 study.

Reports of increased use of the narcotic pain reliever available by prescription have been noted across North America in the last five years, said Bernstein, the chairman of the Research Group on Drug Use, a collection of municipal and provincial healthcare agencies.

Users often take megadose pills designed to be released into the bloodstream over time and grind them up, resulting in an instant hit.

"Reports of individuals who chew these pills or dissolve them in order to release the full dosage all at once are very alarming and very likely leading to the high number of deaths," Bernstein said.

Jail for Drug Rapist

Drug-facilitated rape continues to grow, leaving more victims all over the world. In my film, I tell the story of Sara, who died after a creep gave her four Ecstasy pills in order to rape here. From England:

Jail for 'evil' rapist who drugged youths

A man found guilty of raping a youth and supplying illegal drugs was jailed for 12 years on Monday. Gary Harris, 38, was told by a judge at Truro Crown Court on Monday he had created a "honeypot", encouraging youngsters to his home to take substantial quantities of drugs, watch pornography and indulge in amusements like video games and computers.

At the end of a 12-day trial last month Harris, known by youths in his home town of Gunnislake as the 'Greasy Gringo', was convicted by a jury of seven offences of supplying the class A drug Ecstasy and eight of supplying cannabis to youngsters who visited his home, Zion Cottages.

He was further convicted of raping one youth and of two charges alleging he permitted use of drugs in his ... cottage.

Meth Leading to HIV

The Los Angeles Times ran a page one story recently on gays, meth and HIV. Disturbing stuff.

Health officials and AIDS activists nationwide are alarmed at the increasing correlation between new HIV diagnoses and methamphetamine use among gay men. The drug's ability to heighten arousal and erase inhibitions is proving a deadly combination — leading to sexual behavior that increases the chances of infection with HIV and syphilis.

Methamphetamine has been in the gay party mix on the West Coast since at least the mid-1990s. But, more recently, the trend has pushed east, galvanizing health officials and gay activists in Houston, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and New York.

Oh, These Horrible "First 5" Ads!

I'm a little off-subject tonight (well, not really), but I have a real problem with politicians, feminists and ad agency "creatives" that try to make stay-at-home moms feel unworthy.

I've been flipping since my daughter and I saw several "First 5" pro-preschool ads from the California Children & Families Commission. The ads, funded by a 50-cent-a-pack tax on cigarettes, are supposed to do something good for children, but by encouraging pre-school, they're doing anything but. Pre-school can be a better alternative than being left and ignored, but these ads aren't about that -- they're about pre-school being the best choice for your kids!

The worst ad of all is one in which two cops tell the viewer that unless their kids go to preschool, they're probably going to end up in the back of a patrol car. Here's the State of California telling kids and parents that the state's programs are better than family! That unless we subscribe to their idea of child-rearing, our kids will end up in jail!

All the ads hurt my daughter's feelings, but the cop one was the worst. "I felt like I wasn't good enough for anything, for school or college -- like I wouldn't be able to do anything," she told me.

This from a girl who entered kindergarten reading at a third-grade level, and now they're telling her that she's not as good as preschoolers? She was proud of what she learned at "Mommy School," and so was I. What do these people at "First 5" think they're doing by attacking stay-at-home kids and their stay-at-home parents?

And why is First 5 urging parents to send their toddlers to preschool while the Office of Drug Control Policy says that parents are the anti-drug? I've been working for three years to get parents more involved with their children -- that's why I made Voice of the Victims: True Stories of Ecstasy & Ketamine -- and nearly everyone else in drug education feels the same way: Parental involvement is key.

And it starts as early as preschool ... even earlier, at birth, at conception!! At when you start thinking about having kids!!

I'm not alone. Here's a few pertinent paragraphs from an opinion piece that ran this weekend in the Fresno Bee. Click through, and be sure to read the whole thing.

Preschool is not a magic pill for all little children

By Kristin L. Sullivan

I was recently asked a question about preschool and whether I thought children are better off as a result of it. The question was sparked by the most current stream of First Five of California commercials, whose slogans include:

"Preschool, the benefits are impressive."

"Preschool makes kids more likely to go to college."

"Preschool gives children a better chance in life."

As an early-childhood professional who has used the data to support the claims of high-quality preschool to secure funding for early care and education projects, I still have to say that my response to the preschool question is, unequivocally, no. ...

I find myself drawn to the most recent spread of Phillip Morris commercials because they speak to me, a loving concerned parent. Their grand slogan: "Talk to your kids, they'll listen."

I find myself thinking that First Five of California could learn something from Phillip Morris. How ironic. Phillip Morris encourages me to talk to my children, and First Five of California tells me I am a failure if I don't send my children to preschool. Something is wrong with this ad campaign.

Something is wrong indeed! There's no guarantee kids will turn out all right, survive the wars of peer pressure, or not be the victims of someone else's stupidy. But being raised in a close, loving environment with parents gives kids a better chance than being dumped off at pre-school!

Bad News from Russia

From the BBC:

"In Russia today there are over 10 million drug addicts, that is people whose lives are wholly dependent upon a dose of drugs. The average age of those addicted to heroin, ecstasy, marijuana and cocaine is going down with every year. Now teenagers of 13-15 are starting to use drugs. Every year over 50 tons of heroin alone goes through Russian territory. Inside the country, the narcotics trade is running at $15 billion," according to figures given in "Drug trafficking" shown in NTVMir's "Top Secret" programme on 14 January.

Drugs Destroy Another Career

A young man practices and works for years to perfect his craft, and finally his dream starts to come true. A two-million-copy-selling record, four Grammy nominations ... and this jail and charges for drug-facilitated rape. It's the story of Ringo Garza of the Los Lonely Boys, as chronicled in this article in the Austin Statesman American. (registration required)

Garza and his two brothers were riding high, until Ringo and his wife Lenora were charged with a couple drug charges ... and drug-facilitated rape charges involving two women they picked up at a night club. Statesman American reporters Patrick Beach and Tony Plohetski pick up the story:

Officer Raymond Gallion had responded to a call from Shannon Medical Center and took initial statements from the women, whom he calls Jane Smith and Ann Smith in his police report. According to the report, both women told Gallion that they had been at Club Hypnotic -- a no-frills spot with bare concrete floors, a couple of well-worn pool tables and an area for tango dancing -- the night before and sat at a table with a group that included Ringo Garza and his wife, Lenora. After a few drinks, about 2 a.m., the Garzas invited the women to their home in the Country Club Lake Estates development in southern San Angelo.

Gallion called police detectives Walker and Jaime Padron, nine-year veterans of the force who were next up in the rotation to catch a case. Both detectives were dispatched to the hospital.

"The minute they told me Ringo Garza was involved, I just thought there could be serious ramifications involved for everybody, including this community," said Vasquez, a native of San Angelo.

"They are hometown heroes, and this community is very proud of their success," he said. "(They) put San Angelo on the map in a positive light."

Vasquez said the detectives interviewed the two women and staffers at Shannon, where rape exams were conducted, for several hours both at the hospital and at police headquarters. They decided that they had enough information to ask a judge for a search warrant, which a magistrate signed at 12:45 a.m. Jan. 6.

The warrants describe what the women told investigators about that night:

Somebody else was buying the drinks that Jane Smith and Ann Smith left unattended at the table. After a couple of hours, they caught a ride to the Garzas' home. A Chevy Tahoe and a vintage Pontiac GTO were in the driveway.

A half-hour after arriving, Jane Smith told police that she grew "extremely tired" and lost consciousness. Jane Smith said she later had a brief period of coherence during which a naked man was lying on top of her, face-to-face. She told investigators that she had consumed the same unspecified amount of alcohol before and had never become ill.

According to the warrant, Ann Smith gave a similar account. She said that after arriving at the Garzas' home, she lost consciousness. When she woke up, she realized she had vomited in a bed. She said she saw Jane Smith lying next to her, undressed from the waist down.

Lenora Garza drove the women back to their car at Club Hypnotic in the Tahoe. At about 5 a.m., Ann Smith called a friend to tell her that she and Jane Smith were too sick to drive. The two women went to the hospital later that day.

Twelve hours and 15 minutes after Lenora Garza dropped them off at the club, about 5:15 p.m., she called Jane Smith's cell phone and "checked on the girls and thanked them for coming to her residence the previous night," according to the search warrant.

By that point, presumably unknown to the Garzas, the investigation was up and going.

During the search of the Garzas' home, police seized dozens of items, which have been sent to a Texas Department of Public Safety lab in Lubbock for testing. They were looking for items such as Rohypnol, commonly known as the date-rape drug, and Ketamine, an animal tranquilizer. Vasquez said the results could be crucial in helping authorities determine whether additional charges will be filed.

"These cases are always difficult," said Vasquez, whose department responded to 133 reports of sexual assault last year. "A lot of cases come in as a 'he said, she said' type of deal. You have to look at every piece of evidence."

There's more so you'll probably want to read the entire article.

If it weren't for Garza's celebrity profile, this would be as trite as "Dog Bites Man." Women in a club who accept drinks from strangers, then leave them unattended. Predators using drugs to facilitate rape. And, if the Garzas are found guilty, two more lives ruined.

In my film, experts warn that if a friend can't stand after just one or two drinks, it's clear evidence she (or he!) has been drugged. It is imperative that their friends watch out for them -- and protect themfrom be preyed on by a sexual predator.

Designer Drug Ed. in Mississippi

College kids in Biloxi, Mississippi will soon be getting the education they need about designer drugs. Thanks to the Biloxi Sun Herald for this article:

Drug prevention to be taught -- Instruction about the dangers of club drugs is coming to some South Mississippi college classrooms.

Drug prevention efforts will enter South Mississippi college classrooms this spring thanks to a grant funded through the Alcohol and Drug Abuse division of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.

Sonya Miller, prevention specialist with Gulf Coast Mental Health in Gulfport, said the "Communities Mobilizing for Change" and "Project Success" pilot programs financed by the five-year, $300,000 annual grant will target a popular group of hallucinogens known as club drugs, such as Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine and Rohypnol.

"Not only do these programs include curricular education, but they also address legal, institutional, social and health issues," Miller said.

Wow! A Responsible Club Owner

This club-owner is to be honored for what he's doing! I just hope he'll stay in business after making his club off limits to drug dealers and users. From the Newsquest Media Group in England:

Club boss buys drug detecting machine

THREE people have been arrested on suspicion of possessing drugs after they were caught by a state-of-the-art detection system at a Salisbury nightclub.

The Chapel on Milford Street has become the first club in the country to buy a £30 000 ion track itemiser for the police and it is already proving to be a useful weapon in the war on drugs.

The machine which can detect all Class A B and C substances as well as date rape drugs will now be used at pubs and clubs throughout the district.

Bosses at The Chapel decided to buy it for Salisbury Police after a successful trial with a similar drugs detection system owned by Wiltshire Constabulary last autumn.

Mike Lambert general manager of The Chapel said: "We had the machine here and it was a good deterrent but we could only have it for a night because it had to shared across all the venues in Wiltshire.

"There was no way Salisbury police could afford one on their own so the owner of The Chapel offered to buy it for them.

"It will be their machine to use anywhere in the Salisbury area where they feel it is needed. It is a lot of money but we felt it was important to send out a strong warning that people who are doing drugs should not come to Salisbury."

The machine works by swiping clubbers' hands and analysing substances with which they have come into contact. Within seconds it can detect anyone who has touched drugs in the last three or four day even if they have washed their hands.

People with a high reading are asked if they consent to be searched by police officers who will make an arrest if they discover illegal substances.

On Saturday night two local men who had been standing in the queue and refused to go through the machine were stopped in the street as they walked away from The Chapel.

After being searched they were found in possession of ecstasy tablets and both were arrested and released on bail pending further inquiries.

New Mexico To Tighten DFR Laws

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson is doing the right thing -- he wants harsher punishment for persons found guilty of drug-facilitated rape (DFR), and he wants to make it easier to convict them:

Bob Schwartz, Richardson's crime-policy adviser, said the governor intends to push legislation to deal with so-called "date-rape" drugs.

These are substances that can be used to render a person unconscious for the purpose of making them susceptible to sexual assault.

Schwartz said he disapproves of the term "date-rape" drugs because it seems to minimize the importance of the crime.

"Rape is rape," he said.

Nonetheless, Schwartz said Rohypnol, one of the most commonly used such drugs, is not now on the schedule of controlled substances in New Mexico. "It needs to be put on," he said. State law also needs to be changed to allow further prosecution for the abuse of Ketamine, a drug that's commonly used as an animal tranquilizer and can be used as a rape drug, Schwartz said.

Richardson proposes to increase the penalties for using drugs to render a person unconscious for purposes of sexual assault, Schwartz said.

Theft ... Abuse ... Death

This story from The Detroit Free Press tells the Ketamine cycle: Someone steals it, someone is given it, possibly against their will, and too often, someone dies. Erin Rose, who is profiled in my film, will struggle for the rest of her life because of a ketamine-caused brain damage.

Drug used in clubs taken from animal hospital

Power was cut off and a burglar alarm was disabled at the North Main Animal Hospital during the theft of an anesthetic the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services describes as a trendy club drug.

An inventory after the break-in determined that six vials of Ketamine, often known on the street as "Special K" or "Vitamin K," were missing, police said.

The drug can quickly produce psychedelic effects at low doses. At higher doses, it starves the brain and muscles of oxygen and can cause death.

Cheaper and Cheaper Drugs

In England, where a "spirited" debate is raging over whether pubs should be granted longer operating hours, one argument raised is that if pubs were open longer, people would use fewer drugs.

How stupid. For all my concerns about designer drugs, I realize that alcohol kills more people and destroys more people than Ecstasy or GHB do. In fact, the Young Adult Version of my film includes a lot of information on the dangers of alcohol.

Still, one distressing fact came out of the British press' coverage of the debate:

Yet the drinks industry is worried. It sees growing competition from drugs at the high-spending youth end of the market. Young people are drifting from pubs to clubs and turning to cannabis, Ecstasy, cocaine and smokeable heroin. These narcotics have fallen in price even faster than alcohol, to the point where a line of cocaine is cheaper than a pint of beer. According to the last Independent Drugs Monitoring Unit survey, cannabis has halved in street price under Labour. The price of crack cocaine has fallen by two thirds.

Moves to Curb Pseudoephedrin

Early in the week, Sudafed manufacturer Pfiser announced it will begin offering the medication in a new formula that doesn't include any pseudoephedrine, a compound commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetimine. It's about time. Unfortunately, Pfiser will continue to offer the old formula as well.

No sooner was this news out, than stories began popping up in many states about lawmakers seeking to ban or restrict the decongestant pseudoephedrine , a key ingredient in the manufacture of meth. Here's a round-up of links:

Idaho: Lawmakers are introducing a bill that would treat pseudoephedrine as a controlled substance. The measure would require customers wanting pills containing the decongestant pseudoephedrine to be sold by a pharmacist and would require customers to sign for the medication.

Texas: Under the legislation by Sen. Craig Estes, no one would be able to buy drugs with pseudoephedrine, like Sudafed, in Texas. But he said consumers could still buy other congestion remedies containing the decongestant, as long as it is mixed into capsules and cough syrups. I'm not sure how good a solution that is!

Kansas: Efforts are underway to tighten controls of pseudoephedrine in the state, after a similar law was passed in Oklahoma -- driving meth manufacturers across the border to buy the stuff, and bring all their drug-related problems with them.

Smile! You're Not Using Meth!

There are so many reasons not to use meth -- addiction, inability to function in society, crime, death -- but here's one that would turn any right-thinking person away from this drug.

Officials: 'Meth mouth' plagues many prisoners

By Mark Brunswick, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune

After more than a decade of drug abuse, Darren Zigas is now facing what could be seen as the expected consequences of his methamphetamine addiction: prison time, alienation from friends and family, and a rap sheet filled with convictions for assault, terroristic threats and burglary.

But, at 32 years old, he's also facing another consequence: a lifetime without a tooth in his mouth.

As the number of regular users of the illegal drug methamphetamine has increased, so has a peculiar set of dental problems linked to the drug, a phenomenon appropriately named "meth mouth." Symptoms include gum disease, broken and cracked teeth, and tooth decay.

Zigas' condition was so bad that he once bit into a peanut butter sandwich and teeth were left in the bread. In June 2002, malnourished and down to 150 pounds, he had the rest of his remaining teeth pulled.

Rural Meth Lab Problem Grows

In the countryside around Lubbock, Texas -- and around thousands of other towns around the country, meth labs are flourishing, bringing with them crime, addiction, broken families, and death. Recently, the LubbockAvalanche-Journal editorialized on the subject, concluding:

"What we're seeing more of a trend toward is that the crooks from the big cities are moving out to the small communities," said Floydada Police Chief Darrell Gooch.

He should know. During his 20 years with the Floydada Police Department he remembers the discovery of one meth lab in the first 18 years. During just the last two years a dozen have been raided. How unfortunate.

In 2004 violent crime dropped across the South Plains — which is a very positive trend that we hope continues. But we cannot have 2005 show similar rising statistics with drug-related crimes.

There has to be a way to monitor our rural areas and stop what is basically free reign with the operation of meth labs. That is the only way to impact the rise in non-violent crimes.

We need to unite in this fight. It is also the only way to help ensure our young people will have a strong opportunity to remain drug-free.

Amen

Dealing Can Be VERY Unhealthy

Given the penalty, you have to wonder why anyone would deal drugs in Vietnam! From Agence France Presse:

Six drug traffickers handed death penalty in Vietnam

HANOI Jan 11 -- Six drug traffickers were sentenced to death in Vietnam for drug trafficking while five others were handed life sentences, a Ho Chi Minh City court official said Tuesday.

A further 28 defendants, all members of the same drug trafficking network, were jailed for between three and 20 years at the end of a five-day trial that ended Monday in the southern business capital.

Among those handed the death penalty was 35-year-old female ringleader Cu Thi Ngoc Hanh, who was arrested in March 2002 and charged with trafficking heroin and ecstasy pills, the court official said.

Vietnam has some of the toughest drug laws in the world. Anyone found in possession of 300 grams (about 10 ounces) or more of heroin, or over 10 kilograms of opium, faces the death penalty.

At least 115 people were sentenced to death and 82 were executed by firing squad in the communist nation last year, according to figures compiled from state media and court officials.

So far this year three people have been executed.

Fears of New Synthetic Drugs

A doctor in Australia is afraid that a new generation of synthetic drugs, just now beginning to hit the market, will be even more dangerous than the existing stuff. Here's a great article from the Australian newspaper, The Advertiser. I've boldfaced the particularly intersting stuff.

Danger alert as synthetic drugs on way

By Youth Affairs Reporter CARA JENKIN

STRONGER synthetic varieties of drugs will become increasingly available in South Australia, as drug use becomes less the domain of the nightclub scene, posing an even greater risk of harm to users, a British drug expert has warned.

Dr John Marsden, senior lecturer in addictive behaviour at the National Addiction Centre in London, is in Adelaide for a one-day seminar and workshop today to teach service providers about the emerging drugs in Britain, which are expected to be available in Australia in the next year.

Dr Marsden is particularly concerned with the prevalence of methamphetamine in SA - a formulation only now taking hold among users in Britain - given the strength of the new drugs becoming available.

But he said there are very few differences between the London and Adelaide drug scenes, despite the population differences, with the number of people using synthetic drugs increasing.

The most recent Australian National Drug Strategy Household Survey 2001 found 6.1 per cent of Australians have used ecstasy or other designer drugs, up 1.3 per cent from 1998.

Those who have used amphetamines increased by 0.1 per cent to 8.9 per cent, while cannabis and hallucinogen use dropped by 6 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.

"The club phenomenon is all but finished and ecstasy will fade out in the next five years, replaced by new synthetic alternatives," Dr Marsden said.

"Australian services need an understanding of what's coming to give them an early warning and scope out the horizon of what the next storm front is."

Linked to four deaths so far in Britain is 2CI, while other strong amphetamines on the market include 2CB and 4-MTA, also known as Flatliner. DMT, also known as "businessman's lunch", leaves users collapsed in a trance-like state for half an hour, making it a convenient ecstasy alternative, without producing the typical eight-hour high associated with other amphetamines.

Dr Marsden said a relatively new trend to mix drugs with alcohol to heighten the experience also was increasing the risks.

"I predict there will be very little organic drugs in 20 to 25 years time and it will be hard to get rid of synthetic drugs because they are manufactured in the laboratory," he said.

Predicting More Ecstasy Mayhem

Dr. David Cadicott told The Weekend Australian newspaper that he sees the medical mayhem caused by Ecstasy could increase dramatically:

Dr Caldicott has inadvertently adopted the rave lingo -- he prefers the term "pills" to "ecstasy", believing that the amount of chemical MDMA in most tablets does not warrant the term.

While "in the past a lot of people used quite a lot of pills to get high", drug-users are inadvertently taking more "home-grown" pills with higher concentrations of MDMA. "I can see the possibility of things going horribly wrong," he said.

Drugs: Damage Inflicted/Damage Reversal

The British newspaper The Guardian ran a story today about not giving up hope, that it's worthwhile to quit bad habits because your body can heal from the most serious side effects of the bad things people do to themselves in the name of "fun."

The author, Peta Bee, looked at the prospects for a healthy recovery for smoking (very good), drinking (good), caffeine (excellent), poor diet (excellent) ... and "recreational" drugs (only average to good). Bad damage/tough recovery -- best to never do them!

Here's what Bee had to say about "recreational" drugs:

Damage inflicted: A study presented to the British Psychological Society in 2004 found that ecstasy restricts mental ability, causes long-term sleep disturbance and encourages psychological dependence. Cocaine toxicity can occur with a recreational habit and symptoms include chest pains, a burning throat and an overwhelming sense of anxiety and paranoia. Frequent cannabis use has also been linked to psychological problems, with researchers recently claiming in the British Medical Journal that it increases psychotic symptoms. Eighteen-year-olds who have used cannabis 50 times have a nearly seven-fold increased risk of developing psychosis over the next 15 years. Cannabis contains more tar than tobacco and a high concentration of carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).

Damage reversal: Depending on the extent of your recreational habit, you may suffer some bouts of paranoia or depression after you stop using any type of recreational drug. Cognitive behaviour therapy can be helpful in getting back on track as can activities such as yoga and meditation. Aerobic exercise will not only trigger the production of feel-good chemicals in the brain, but will also strengthen the cardiovascular system, which can become weakened by drug use, says Dr Robert Lefever of the Promis Recovery Centre in Kent. A balanced diet rich in fruit and vegetables is vital.

Children Exposed to Meth

Here's an article you're not likely to run across. I found it via a Nexis search; it ran in Managed Care Law News, and it discusses work in Kentucky to train medical, social service and law enforcement workers to recognize and help kids exposed to meth.

How bad is it for kids exposed to meth? Well:

Kentucky State Police statistics through December 6, 2004, show that 66 children have been found living in 515 methamphetamine labs that were discovered in the state in 2004. Steve Davis, the director of the Kentucky Division of Adult and Child Health Improvement, estimated that at least 30,000 children in the state have been exposed to methamphetamine labs, and state police Sgt. Phil Crumpton said the issue of meth exposure isn't limited to children of users and producers of meth.

"All of us are in danger," Crumpton said. "You don't know if a meth lab is going on in somebody's house that you're sending your kids to. You don't know if the house next door has a meth lab in it that's going to explode, with your house being involved. It's an issue for everybody."

Davis said that "the substance abuse issues in our state, the substance abuse issues in this country, are ripping the heart out of the fundamentals of what this country was built on. I've personally not only seen patients' lives destroyed, I've seen families destroyed, and I know for a fact that in some of our communities across Kentucky, the heart and soul of our communities are getting ripped out as a result of substance abuse."

A Scarey Look at British Youth

I came across a review of a new book in The Statesman, a British magazine. It's called Dis/connected: Why Our Kids Are Turning Their Backs on Everything We Thought We Knew, and it's written by Nick Barham.

Barham defends British youth, saying the press is hard on them. But his travels to raves, bars and other youth hangouts paints a frightening picture. Consider this passage, in which Barham lets his feelings show after watching some 20-somethings at a rave:

After sitting around with them for about 20 minutes watching their heads loll, the manic giggles and repetitive beats do for me and I head back to my car. . . . Someone else is taken away by a paramedic, slumped sideways. His mates laugh hysterically and wave goodbye.

A sad scene. These kids are risking death ... and their friends are laughing hysterically.

It's Drug Season Down Under

The more I read, the more I worry that we in America are enjoy the last few months or years before Ecstasy use here soars. Use of the drug is much higher in Europe and Australia than it is here, and I am convinced that drug marketers will sieze on our market next.

Please prepare yourself and your children and loved ones now, before it's too late! To learn more about how to do this, click here.

It's summertime Down Under, spurring this story from the newspaper The Australian:

Summertime, and the ecstasy is deadly
There's no shortage of party drugs on the streets despite a series of big busts. But the pills can kill you, Nick Leys writes

AUSTRALIAN crime agencies fighting the war on drugs have had a good year in terms of seizures and busts, especially of the party drug ecstasy.

In the seven months coming into summer and the biggest party season of the year -- traditionally when greater numbers of ecstasy tablets are consumed -- police made three big busts.

The bad news for the police is that, despite their successes, there is no shortage of pills on the street, so large is the market in Australia. The size of the busts and the fact the market is not affected indicates just how much ecstasy is imported, manufactured and consumed here.

Paul Dillon, information manager of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, says the average price of ecstasy remains at $30 to $50 per tablet. But in areas such as western Sydney, it can be purchased for $25 or less.

"The thing about the ecstasy market is I've never seen a shortage," Dillon says. "There's never been a time when people can't get any. The quality might not be so good -- there was a very bad patch in the '90s -- but there is always some sort of pill available."

Coma Photos as Deterent Down Under

Hospital and police officials in Australia have come up with a great idea that I hope will help convince users of designer drugs to change their ways before it's too late. From the Sunday Mail:

ILLICIT drug users who overdose are being given photographs of themselves taken while they are in a coma as a shock reminder of their brush with death.

Royal Adelaide Hospital is giving users the photos to emphasise the danger of taking drugs such as heroin and fantasy (GHB).

RAH research fellow Dr David Caldicott said doctors now frequently took photographs to show patients "how close they came to dying".

"Some people crunch (the image) up and and throw it out but I'm sure none of them forget what it looks like," he said.

"Some people cry and some people sit there and stare at it for a while.

"Some are out in the community talking to their mates saying 'You shouldn't be using (drugs)' and 'This happened to me and this is my picture'.

"It has quite a dramatic effect on them.

"There's nothing that can scare them as much as waking up out of a coma."

The digital images, which doctors delete after printing, also prove to users that they overdosed and did not simply fall asleep, he said.

"It's a tough message, but it's one this group needs to have given to them," Dr Caldicott said.

He said more doctors at the RAH now used the tactic and he had "photographed between 50 and 100 people" since 2000, before the practice became more common.

"I have never seen anyone else doing it (at other hospitals)," he said.

Doctors take photographs only if it appears certain the patient is going to wake from the coma.

Each year, the RAH treats up to 70 people who recover from a comatose state after overdosing.

Overdose patients are dangerously comatose and measure below eight in the Glasgow Coma Score - a 15-point scale for assessing eye, verbal and nerve responses.

All require treatment in an intensive care unit.

SA Ambulance officers transport about 1400 drug overdose cases annually. About 700 more are taken to Adelaide hospitals by other means.

Killer GHB Claims Another Victim

Was the woman in this story an unwilling victim of GHB used as a date rape drug, or was she a willing user who was unaware of the risks posed by this drug? Either way, she is dead -- another unfortunate victim of designer drugs.

New Brunswick's chief coroner says the recent death of a woman from an overdose of a ''rape drug'' proves the need

SAINT JOHN, N-B -- New Brunswick's chief coroner says the recent death of a woman from an overdose of a "rape drug'' proves the need for more drug awareness programs among students.

Dianne Kelly made the comments in her annual report, which was released last week.

Kelly cites the November 26th death of a 37-year-old Saint John woman from a combination of alcohol and gamma hydroxy butyrate -- or GHB.

The woman died at a private party.

Kelly says the incident was included in her report to increase education and awareness programs at colleges and universities in New Brunswick, where the use of designer drugs such as GHB and ecstasy are on the rise.

So-called designer drugs are popular among students on the party circuit for their euphoric, mind-altering properties. Some, like GHB, also impede short-term memory, making them a drug of choice for sexual predators.

New Years Eve Ecstasy Death

Another Ecstasy tragedy has led to arrests -- this time in Plymouth, England, via that city's Sun newspaper:

THREE people have been arrested by cops probing the suspected drug death of a teenage girl on New Year's Eve.

Two men, aged 19 and 31, and a woman, 23, were quizzed and then bailed last night.

Lisa Marie Gardner, 17, from Plymouth, died after it is thought she took a killer dose of ecstasy.

Ecstasy & Alcohol Kills Student

The combination of Ecstasy and alcohol has once again turned deadly, this time for a college sophomore in Michigan. According to the Detroit Free Press:

By 5 a.m. on New Year's Day, Keith Cholette had downed 24 beers, taken three doses of ecstasy and smoked marijuana before falling to the floor in convulsions at the Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity house at Eastern Michigan University, according to police.

The 20-year-old sophomore from Taylor contorted on the floor for about 30 minutes before his fraternity brothers realized he was in trouble and put him in a cold shower, according to Ypsilanti Police Sgt. Craig Annas. When the cold water failed to revive him they called 911.

"They didn't look at it as a medical emergency at first," Annas said of the fraternity's reaction.

By 6:52 a.m. Cholette was dead.

Had his fraternity brothers called 911 immediately, Keith might still be alive today. In the teen version of my film, I provide considerable information to kids on how to recognize danger signs for both alcohol and Ecstasy, and urge them to call 911 quickly. But clearly, no one should ever consume the amount of drugs and alcohol that this young man consumed.

Dealdy Powdered Ecstasy

News out of England (via the Newcastle Journal) of a new form of Ecstasy that's already proved lethal:

Danger drug

A POTENTIALLY lethal drug, on sale on the internet, has been found in the region after a raid on a home in Chester-le-Street.

Detectives from the National Crime Squad recovered a quantity of the new powder form of Ecstasy known as 2-CI, which has now been sent for forensic analysis. It has already led to the death of an American man and police and drugs prevention agencies are working to save further lives.

2-CI is shorthand for 2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenethylamine, a halucigen similar to MDMA (Ecstasy)