University Develops Quality Control Tests for the New Industry WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - The microscope at the University of New Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue. Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at the university, says many things not visible to the naked eye have been found in marijuana, mold, mildew, insect parts, salmonella and E. coli, to name a few. [continues 574 words]
Scientists at Conn. University Method to Make Analysis Quick, Easy WEST HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - The microscope at the University of New Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue. Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at the university, says all sorts of nasty things not visible to the naked eye have been found in marijuana - mold, mildew, insect parts, salmonella and E. coli, to name a few. [continues 624 words]
Testing Can ID Contaminants West Haven, conn. (AP) - The microscope at the University of New Haven, set at 10-times magnification, shows a marijuana leaf covered with dozens of tiny bumps. It's mold, and someone, somewhere could be smoking similarly contaminated pot and not have a clue. Heather Miller Coyle, a forensic botanist and associate professor at the university, says all sorts of nasty things not visible to the naked eye have been found in marijuana - mold, mildew, insect parts, salmonella and E. coli, to name a few. [continues 277 words]
HARTFORD (AP) -- Federal agents raided New Haven police headquarters Tuesday and charged the head of the narcotics division with stealing thousands of dollars planted by the FBI during sting operations. Federal authorities also arrested a police narcotics detective and three members of a family of bail bondsmen who they say bribed police to catch criminals who had skipped bail. "Today is a very dark day for our police department," New Haven Police Chief Francisco Ortiz said after the five men were presented in U.S. District Court in Hartford. "I'm disgusted. I'm upset. I'm frustrated." [continues 664 words]
To the Editor of THE EAGLE:- With sparks flying over the Taconic parking lot drug cases, perhaps it would do some good to take a look back at the events of last summer. As an employee in the downtown area, I recall seeing dangerously intoxicated youth involved in fistfights and drug sales. A schoolteacher was assaulted in the back parking lot, in front of his daughter, over a minor traffic incident. There certainly were not 2,000 people calling for leniency -- not when the shopping district was being disturbed during the busiest months of the year! So a cry went up for law enforcement to get involved, and they did their jobs. Now people are "saddened" and "appalled" that the law is going to be carried out. They do have a point -- mandatory minimum sentences are not a productive solution when dealing with non-violent drug offenders, especially when the accused are young and impressionable, and the community has the resources to address their behavior constructively. But nobody wanted to have a constructive public dialogue in the middle of a crime spree -- they just wanted the problem to disappear. Arrests of this type have been taking place in other parts of the county for years. Only now, when local youth have been rounded up at the request of our own community, are these budding legal activists concerned with the injustice of our drug laws. Where was the CCAJ when the young people of Pittsfield were being locked up for the same crimes? [continues 87 words]
EAST HARTFORD - The vandalism suspect was high on crack cocaine when he pointed a loaded semiautomatic handgun at Officer William Proulx in September 1994 outside the Red Carpet Inn on Main Street, police said. While many officers in the same situation would have fired their guns at the man, Proulx used another weapon. He ducked for cover and sent into action police dog Bruno, who bit the suspect and forced him to drop the gun. The man, Peter Bartolomeo of Vermont, who had broken a window at the inn, subsequently was charged with numerous crimes. [continues 614 words]
