Below are the 8 most recent journal entries recorded in pass_drug_test's InsaneJournal:

Thursday, February 7th, 2008
12:57 pm	Drug Trafficker Gets Death MUMBAI: In a rare ruling, a special narcotics court in Mumbai on Wednesday sent a resident of Kashmir convicted for drug trafficking to the gallows. Ghulam Malik was found guilty in two different cases for dealing in narcotics. And under stringent provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances ( NDPS ) Act, a second conviction is punishable only with a mandatory death sentence. Judge P B Sawant, who sentenced Malik to death, turned emotional after the sentencing and said, "In my 29 years in the profession and past ten years as a judicial officer I had given no capital punishment, but duty is duty and today I have performed it." However, a legal expert said the order may be questioned in the context of the NDPS Act which essentially raises the penalty if a man is caught dealing in drugs a second time round. The Narcotics Control Bureau ( NCB ) had seized a truck loaded with 142 kg of hashish in Ahmedabad in January 2002. Documents found in the truck indicated that 55 kg of the contraband was destined for Mumbai where it was to be delivered to Malik. This was the crux of the first case against Malik. On January 14, 2002, officials from the Mumbai unit of NCB tracked Malik to his Dongri residence where they found another 1.8 kg of hashish. Malik in his interrogation said he had stored more hashish in a godown in Andheri. Raids on the godown yielded another 188 kg of hashish. This resulted in him being booked in a second case. Malik was first convicted in March 2004 by a fast track court in Gujarat and sentenced to 10 years RI. Then, on December 18, 2007, judge Sawant found Malik guilty in the case against him in Mumbai for the seizures made from the godown. Special public prosecutor Arun Gupte then invoked article 31-A of the NDPS Act which says that a second conviction is punishable only with a death sentence. Hence the sessions court gave a death penalty to Malik. However, advocate Ayaz Khan said article 31-A required some reinterpretation to understand the spirit behind it. "In Malik's case both convictions have come as a result of a single drug transaction whereas the purpose of the mandatory death sentence clause is to deter convicts from breaking the law again and again," said Khan. These questions will now be considered by the high court when it looks at the death sentence handed out by judge Sawant. how to pass a drug test if you like this blog, check out pass a drug test (1 Comment |Comment on this)
12:53 pm	U.S. Needle Policy Hurts AIDS Sufferers U.S. NEEDLE POLICY HURTS AIDS SUFFERERS Today, the African American community will gather under the banner of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day to bring attention to this modern plague and its disparate impact on the black community. While HIV/AIDS decimates our community, our nation has failed to implement a national health policy that addresses how this disease is spread. Nowhere is this discrepancy as great as over the issue of needle exchange. Needle exchange remains a scientifically proven strategy to curb the spread of AIDS by providing clean needles and access to treatment for injection drug users. Unfortunately, for nearly 20 years Congress has maintained a no-longer-rational ban on the use of federal dollars for needle exchange programs. Congress thinks differently than health professionals and organizations such as the Black AIDS Institute, National Minority AIDS Council, NAACP, National Urban League, American Academy of Pediatrics; American Bar Association, American Medical Association and U.S. Conference of Mayors. These groups see needle exchange as a viable means of slowing the spread of the virus. Nearly a quarter of the annual 40,000 new cases of HIV/AIDS in this country are either a direct or collateral effect of intravenous drug use. The failure to have access to clean needles has wide-ranging implications not just for drug users, but also for their families and entire communities. Up to 75 percent of new AIDS cases among women and children are directly or indirectly a consequence of intravenous drug use. If most Americans knew, by simply removing a political plank in congressional appropriation bills, that we could reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States by up to one-third, they would run to their congressional representative's office and demand answers. They would want to know why our elected officials ignored a proven strategy to prevent the spread of HIV - a strategy that has already been approved by 16 counties and four cities in California, as well as in more than 20 nations from Europe to Canada. Due to the federal ban on syringe exchange enacted in 1988, states and cities have been limited to using scarce local funds to combat the damage that results from intravenous drug users sharing HIV-infected needles. According to the Harm Reduction Coalition, more than 200 needle exchange programs exist in 36 states, and their impact on reducing the spread of HIV and Hepatitis C has been amazing. According to a 2005 study of New York City HIV trends, the number of HIV positive injection drug users dropped more than 75 percent from 1990 to 2001. Similarly, a 1997 study in The Lancet medical journal compared HIV infection rates among injection drug users in 81 cities around the world. In the 52 cities without needle exchange programs, the rates increased on average 5.9 percent annually; yet in those 29 cities with needle exchange programs, HIV rates dropped 5.8 percent annually. Health experts have called for allowing federal dollars for needle exchange programs. Advocates for removal of the federal ban cheered when Congress voted to allow the District of Columbia to use its own funds to support syringe exchange programs. In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law similar legislation that, after 20 years, finally provides local jurisdictions greater autonomy in using funds to support syringe exchange. Countless studies have documented the benefit syringe exchange programs have had on reducing HIV/AIDS rates across the globe and here in California, which hosts 39 syringe exchange programs. Sadly, for African American and Latino communities, the problem of HIV/AIDS has already reached the crisis level. Today, African Americans make up only 12 percent of the national population but the majority of new AIDS cases. Additionally, African Americans make up 50 percent of AIDS cases attributed to drug injection use, while Latinos make up 25 percent. These horrific numbers could lead many to see the federal ban on syringe exchange programs simply as a "minority" issue instead of the national public health policy issue that it is. As law professor Lani Guinier noted, America's minority communities often serve as "the canary in the coal mine" for social maladies. Why would health problems facing these communities not eventually impact each and every neighborhood? Already reports from the CDC indicate that yearly HIV/AIDS infection rates could actually be 20 percent to 50 percent higher than previously estimated. On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, ours is not a call from the African American community alone. It is a call from advocates the world over, whose communities are plagued by an epidemic and who seek resources for the fight. Removing the federal ban on syringe exchange programs makes sense economically, politically and morally. Better public policy must not be strangled by Beltway politics - after all, we are talking about people's lives. ezdetox if you like this blog, check out how to pass a drug test (Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
12:59 pm	D.A.R.E. Program Makes Less Difference Than Thought Dear Editor, I'm sure deputy James Moore means well, however D.A.R.E. programs make less of a difference in kids lives than he thinks ( DARE Program Thriving In Comal ISD article, Jan. 30, 2008 ). Nearly every study including government studies shows D.A.R.E. is a failure and may be causing more drug use than no program at all. One reason D.A.R.E. fails is because it teaches lies, half truths and discredited reefer madness propaganda. One example: when youth finds out the relatively safe God-given plant cannabis is less harmful and addictive than taught, they think honest hard drugs are also not so addictive; causing grave results. DARE is great for police, their unions and job security, however money should be spent on honest programs proven effective at protecting children. Truthfully, Stan White Dillion, CO. Mr. White was kind enough to share listings of various websites that discuss the findings from studies regarding the D.A.R.E. Program: An Analysis of DARE http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/daremenu.htm Drug Abuse Resistance Education: The Effectiveness of DARE by David J. Hanson, Ph.D http://www.alcoholfacts.org/DARE.html Ineffective DARE ( Drug Abuse Resistance Education ) Program Remains Popular http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/controversies/20070705122620.html Reference List for DARE Evaluations http://web.mala.bc.ca/crim/dev/DARE_Eval.htm DARE ALLEGED TO HAVE INCREASED USE OF DRUGS AMONG THE YOUNG http://www.apfn.org/thewinds/1996/10/dare.html pass drug test if you like this blog, check out pass drug test (Comment on this)
12:55 pm	Drug Use Medical Issue, Not Criminal: Green Party Federal Green Party deputy leader Adriane Carr hopes that the end of the United Nations Beyond 2008 conference in Vancouver yesterday will offer lessons for Canadian drug policy. "What is clear to me is that the track we are on is wrong," Carr said. "We need to redirect our resources away from punishing people and toward treating them for what is a medical, not a criminal, issue. The war on drugs has been costly, ineffective and simply bad policy." Carr said that the Green Party is supporting delegates to the two-day conference who advocate the regulation and taxation of marijuana. ezdetox if you like this blog, check out how to pass a drug test (Comment on this)
12:51 pm	Fullerton Blows Down Pot Dispensary Ban FULLERTON BLOWS DOWN POT DISPENSARY BAN The Panel Instead Indicates It Will Likely Take Steps to Regulate the Outlets, Becoming the Only Orange County City With Such Regulations. FULLERTON -- A proposed ban on medical-marijuana dispensaries in the city was defeated by the City Council on Tuesday night, with the panel indicating it will instead establish regulations for the outlets. If the City Council does indeed vote to regulate the dispensaries, Fullerton would apparently become the only Orange County muncipality with such regulations. The council voted 3-2, with councilmen Don Bankhead and Dick Jones supporting a ban. On Feb. 19, the council is scheduled to consider how to regulate the retail outlets; staffers were told to analyze the current requirements and update zoning maps for possible dispensary locations. "There is no need to have these businesses in Fullerton, but this is a zoning issue," said Councilman Shawn Nelson, who with Mayor Sharon Quirk and Councilwoman Pam Keller agreed California voters supported the dispensaries by a large margin when they adopted Proposition 215 in 1996. Federal laws prohibit medical-marijuana dispensaries. The council majority for the vote emphasized they were not in favor of marijuana. "But we need to stay out of the crossfire ( between the state and federal governments )," Nelson said. Jones argued it was the council's job to protect citizens, "but we're protecting druggies. Nothing is dispensed by people who are knowledgeable." "We're inviting an enforcement problem," Bankhead said. "Our Police Department is bound to enforce federal regulations." Fullerton Police Capt. Greg Mayes said his force has never seen a community dispensary acting in the spirit of state law. "They take advantage for financial gain," he added. A staff report indicated that 21 Orange County cities have banned dispensaries. More recently, Huntington Beach and Anaheim reversed their approvals. In an unrelated item, the council gave dancehall operator James Barnum a reprieve from revocation of his conditional use permit. Citing citizen complaints and municipal code violations, the council imposed 20 conditions for Barnum to keep operating The Alley at 140 W. Wilshire Ave. Nelson, the sole opponent to allowing the modifications, said the operation is inappropriate for the location. His request for a revocation hearing was denied. pass a drug test if you like this blog, check out passing a drug test (Comment on this)
12:49 pm	The Continuing Drug Scourge THE CONTINUING DRUG SCOURGE There have been many wars waged on different fronts, all with the same goal in mind and that is to rid countries of the illegal drug trade that continues to flourish despite these efforts. The statistics are not readily at hand but one cannot be too far off, if it were suggested that drugs continue to wreak havoc on the minds of the young people of several countries of the region and have been responsible for a high percentage of the people we see walking zombie-like around the various cities making a nuisance of themselves as they confront other members of the public seeking to find ways to obtain material for their next drug binge. Of course, the behaviour differs and whereas some of these people can be quite mild in their approaches, others can be downright hostile, not offering the best impression to especially visitors to our shores. And try as they may, the authorities and various other stakeholders trying to staunch the flow of drugs into the country through various educational programmes have not been meeting with the success they desire. Indeed, those addicted to the various substances are only a part of a very huge problem. Of course, they affect the overall aesthetics of cities that are meant to be as free of blemish as possible, especially for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who contribute towards their economic development and, by extension, that of the quality of life of all citizens and residents. Further, some of these people, though they might appear to have their wits about them, only carry a faA'ade which is broken once the need for drugs become more acute. These are the ones who still have fair control of their faculties and these are probably the more dangerous ones as they still have the thinking power and the physical strength to carry out various acts of violence as they try to put their hands on money in a quest to try and stay on top of their habit. One major area that really needs maximum attention, however, is just how so much of the illegal drugs find their way into the countries and further how can the situation be arrested so that so many of our young people are not caught up in it in one way or the other. We have already seen just how much it affects countries' crime figures, especially when it comes to those of a particularly violent nature. All this is generally accepted as being part and parcel with the turf wars which drugs bring, as people try to hold on to or gain new territory in their quest to be the number one kingpin. There is little doubt in anybody's mind now that drugs and violence make a very deadly combination. Meanwhile, local law enforcement agencies continue to play catch-up as the drug lords and their disciples try their best to keep control of territories they have marked out for themselves and are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them that way. Sadly, there are times when innocent people get caught in the crossfire. Sometimes, family members die without anyone knowing the reason why, though, in cases like these, the involvement in a drug matter is usually put forward as a likely cause. The most worrisome thing though is that now, even the very young people are being affected by the illegal drugs - not a good situation at all for our countries. Recently, there has been much talk about the Caribbean losing its place as a major drug transhipment point and we say good riddance though it may mean that some of the traffickers could well become more desperate to succeed. This should help to make them expose themselves so they might be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law. Then, attention can be paid to recovering and rebuilding from what has devastated so many lives over the last two decades or so. The Caribbean will be the richer because of their exodus. ezdetox if you like this blog, check out pass a drug test (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
12:58 pm	Students At Kelley Face Drug Testing All students at Bishop Kelley High School will be tested for drug use beginning in the 2008-09 school year. The school's advisory council and administration recently approved the new policy, which will use hair testing to detect illegal drug use by students. Principal Alan Weyland said the policy was more than two years in the making. "This is not something that was done overnight," he said. "I believe the longer we keep kids from using drugs, the better off they're going to be in their adult life." The test identifies cocaine, marijuana, opiates, methamphetamine, Ecstasy, Eve and phencyclidine, he said. "The sample of hair that we will be taking will give us a 90-day history of activity in relation to use of a variety of drugs," Weyland said. Tuition will be raised by $60 to pay for the test, which will be administered once during the fall to all students and randomly throughout the rest of the school year, he said. The policy is not in response to a problem specific to Bishop Kelley, but to a larger societal issue, he said. "There is not a high school in this county that doesn't have adolescents with these issues," he said. Kelli Fitzpatrick, a senior at Bishop Kelley, said she was not against schoolwide testing. "I thought it was a little drastic to test every student, but if they think it's going to help out. . . . I don't think Kelley has as big a drug problem as it does alcohol, so I don't really know if it's going to be that effective," she said. Mary Brennan, a drug and alcohol educator at the school, said testing for alcohol is done at special school events, but it is not possible to do a longer-term test for alcohol use. Alcohol education is highlighted during students' sophomore year and is included in Brennan's substance abuse education programs for all students, she said. "I tell parents that actually, the World Health OrganizaBalance = 30.0 pts tion considers alcohol to be the most dangerous drug," Brennan said. "We're really fighting -- it's really a communitywide, systemic problem." Weyland said that only he and the dean of students will know which students test positive for drugs and that getting treatment for a substance abuse problem will be the main response. "We're not trying to catch anybody. If this is going to help you get help, and if it's going to work to keep you off of something, then all the better," he said. But students who have a second positive test for drug use during four years of high school will be asked to leave the school, he said. Amy Connor, a parent at the school, supports the policy, she said. "I figure that they have done quite a bit of research to make sure that this is the good and right thing to do," she said. "I don't have any strong objections to it." David Cox, a senior, called the test a necessary evil. "It's just something that students are going to have to deal with. . . . Any student that plays by the rules shouldn't have to worry about it," he said. passing drug test if you like this blog, check out passing a drug test (Comment on this)
Monday, February 4th, 2008
12:40 pm	US CA: School Drug-Testing Plan Misguided While random drug-testing of public high school students involved in extracurricular activities has been cleared by the U.S. Supreme Court and may serve as a deterrent to student drug use, the approach to drug testing that the Hart district's Governing Board is now considering seems misguided for at least a few reasons. First, we acknowledge that while a recent study released by the National Drug Control Policy and President Bush's "drug czar" indicated overall teen drug use declined nationally by 23 percent between 2001 and 2006, some local anti-drug activists, among them Cary Quashen, founder/director of the nonprofit ACTION substance abuse and crisis counseling group, dispute those findings. In any case, denying Santa Clarita has its share of teen drug use would be folly. However, rather than random testing for just one or a few segments of the student population, all students should be included in any such testing program. It doesn't seem fair unless the testing policy is across the board. Testing only students involved in extracurricular activities doesn't square with the fact that those students are often among the least inclined to use illegal drugs. At the same time, it would not be prudent to exempt those students from testing -- not only because everyone should be eligible, but also to deter the relatively few extracurricular students or athletes who may use recreational or performance-enhancing drugs. Voluntary testing would be unfair because it would not include all students. In order for such a program to be effective, it would need the support of administrators, coaches, parents and the students themselves. Greg Lee, the district's diversity coordinator, and Darryl Adams, district human resources director, recently completed researching the costs, concerns and legal issues involved in random testing. At the Jan. 23 Hart Governing Board meeting, Lee and Adams both reported that most administrators, coaches and parents were against such a program. Sean Herron, the board's student representative, said all students he spoke with were against testing, and that testing would not foster a positive relationship between students and administrators. Both Herron and Leslie Littman, head of the Hart District Teachers Association, suggested the $24,000-$38,000 annual cost of a testing program could be spent to hire an additional teacher. Parents who spoke at the Jan. 23 meeting were also opposed. Board members, including Gloria Mercado-Fortine, Steve Sturgeon and Dennis King, expressed their disagreement and displeasure with Lee's and Adams' findings and disagreed with parents who spoke against random testing. However, they requested Lee and Adams provide additional information. Board members also conceded they would need parental and community support to establish and properly execute a random-testing program. Based on comments made during the Jan. 23 meeting, such backing is unlikely to materialize anytime soon. If the board insists on forcing the issue, it should first thoroughly research the legal implications of testing for all students, then move forward with a program only if there is no risk of litigation, and no concern for fostering a positive relationship between students and administrators. ezdetox if you like this blog, check out how to pass a drug test (Comment on this)