SHANCHONG, China - China has made your iPhone, your Nikes and, chances are, the lights on your Christmas tree. Now, it wants to grow your cannabis. Two of China's 34 regions are quietly leading a boom in cultivating cannabis to produce cannabidiol, or CBD, the nonintoxicating compound that has become a consumer health and beauty craze in the United States and beyond. They are doing so even though cannabidiol has not been authorized for consumption in China, a country with some of the strictest drug-enforcement policies in the world. [continues 1187 words]
LINCOLN PARK -- The fragrance of marijuana wafted over Lincoln Park this afternoon as about 100 pro-pot supporters openly puffed away and prepared for a march in support of their cause and favorite presidential candidate. "This is a love in for Barack Obama," shouted Richard Eastman over a blow horn. "Medical marijuana saves lives." The march was initially schedule to start at 2 p.m., and then pushed back. About then, a band started playing for the crowd and by 2:45 p.m. the march still hadn't started. [continues 304 words]
In the desolate nighttime hours, Alabama's highways and interstates often are fair game for speeders, drunken drivers and drug runners, because the entire state is patrolled by no more than seven state troopers -- and often fewer than that -- between midnight and 6 a.m. During those hours, drivers probably won't get pulled over for speeding, stranded motorists can count on helping themselves, and people who have had too much to drink can try to weave their way home. "You also have drug couriers," said Col. Mike Coppage, director of the Department of Public Safety. "They know after midnight, you go through Alabama, and there's a good chance you won't be stopped by a state trooper, because they're not there." [continues 948 words]
KALININGRAD, Russia, July 14 - As the cafes and clubs began to course with night life one recent evening, Andrei V. Bykovsky and Yuliya B. Sokolova cruised around in a white van, patrolling the newest front of Russia's AIDS epidemic. They stopped first near the Mother of Russia statue, then along Moskovski Prospect, then beneath the Cosmonauts Memorial. They easily found what they were looking for: young women, many in their teens, most racked by drugs or desperation, selling themselves on the street for a trifle - less than $7. [continues 967 words]
Tillman Says Callaghan's Move Was Effort To Fill His Post In Narcotics Division Left Empty While He Is On Leave Kyle Callaghan, a Mobile County Sheriff's Department drug investigator, said he has been transferred from the narcotics division to the patrol division because he is running for his boss's job. Callaghan is challenging Sheriff Jack Tillman in the crowded field for the Republican nomination in the June 4 primary. Tillman on Thursday denied any retribution and said the move was just a "paper transfer." He said the department had to fill Callaghan's post while the deputy is on leave to run for the office. [continues 926 words]
Kyle Callaghan, a Mobile County sheriff's narcotics investigator assigned to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, announced Wednesday that he is running for sheriff as a Republican. Callaghan kicked off his campaign Wednesday night at the Knights of Columbus hall on Pleasant Valley Road. His entry brings to seven the number of Republicans seeking the sheriff's office. Jack Tillman, a Republican, has held the post since 1995 and is seeking re-election. The other Republican candidates are: Gerald Deas, a retired sheriff's deputy who recently returned from serving as an international police officer; John Graham, the owner of a gym in west Mobile and a former Mobile police lieutenant; Tommy Menton, a Mobile police lieutenant; Murdock Thomas, a former deputy and now a church pastor; and Clint Ulmer, a Saraland businessman who owns a temporary staffing company. [continues 251 words]
CARTAGENA, Colombia -- Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Colombia's new president, Andres Pastrana, announced steps Monday to intensify military cooperation in the war on drug trafficking, including a pledge to increase Pentagon training of Colombia's armed forces and to share more aerial and satellite intelligence data. The United States and Colombia have worked closely together to stanch the flow of drugs for decades, but the new steps underscored the deepening of American diplomatic and military engagement after the election of Pastrana, a reformist who replaced Ernesto Samper. [continues 607 words]
CARTAGENA, Colombia. Nov. 30, 1998 -- Secretary of Defense William Cohen and Colombia's new president, Andres Pastrana, announced steps Monday to intensify military cooperation in the war on drug trafficking, including a pledge to increase Pentagon training of Colombia's armed forces and to share more aerial and satellite intelligence data. The United States and Colombia have worked closely together to stanch the flow of drugs for decades, but the new steps underscored the deepening of American diplomatic and military engagement after the election of Pastrana, a reformist who replaced Ernesto Samper. [continues 607 words]
CARTAGENA, Colombia -- The United States has begun talks with several countries to find new bases of operation in Central and South America for the American military forces that must soon leave Panama, American officials said today. The discussions, while preliminary, have taken on new urgency because the United States has to close its principal airfield in Panama by May 1 as part of its agreement to relinquish control of the Panama Canal entirely by the end of 1999. The airfield, Howard Air Force Base, supports the bulk of the aircraft and other forces involved in American-led efforts to stop the flow of cocaine and other drugs from South America to the United States. Without new bases by that deadline, American commanders fear there could be an interruption in the interdiction flights. [continues 634 words]
By STEVEN LEE MYERS W ASHINGTON Reversing a policy enacted two decades ago because of human rights concerns, the Clinton administration announced Friday that it would lift the ban on sales of the most advanced weapons, like fighter jets and tanks, to countries in Latin America. President Carter imposed the ban in 1978, determined to deny advanced weaponry to the military dictatorships that then ruled most of Central and South America. In recent years, though, the Pentagon and the nation's military contractors have pressed the White House to allow some sales, arguing that most of the countries, with the exception of Cuba, are now moving toward democracy. [continues 770 words]
