SAN DIEGO (AP) - Becky Wyatt awoke about dawn, checked on her children, then discovered that her television, camcorder, wedding ring, car keys and minivan were gone. She did what most would, she called the police. Though they investigated this time, they may not in the future. The San Diego police are considering a stop to home burglary investigations unless there is a known suspect, a compelling lead or extensive evidence. The move comes on the heels of a study showing that of the 7,000 annual burglaries in the city, only 12 percent were solved. And few resulted in arrests and even fewer garnered convictions. [continues 228 words]
Nasal decongestants, coffee filters, anti-freeze, mop buckets, kitty litter and drain cleaner. The ingredients of an average household or a methamphetamine lab? "I'll bet everyone here has been to a lab, and just not known it," said Paul Haas, a fire investigator from the Anaheim Fire Department to his class Tuesday. Haas spoke to more than 100 fire investigators from around the state on the second day of the California conference of Arson Investigators. The fire investigators gathered at the Embassy Suites on Madonna Road for the three-day conference on Monday, their red fire trucks, bearing insignia from many different cities, filling spaces across the hotel parking lot. The event, held twice each year in San Luis Obispo, draws fire investigators to learn from classes, ranging from media relations to insurance fraud to vehicle fires. [continues 330 words]
The inestimable advantage enjoyed by those who have argued successfully in NSW for the partial legalisation of heroin is the silence of the victims of such a policy change. These are the relatives of future addicts, friends of future addicts, and indeed future addicts themselves, who would not have become addicts but for the perception that heroin injection cannot be that bad if the Government is facilitating it. Patrick McCullagh, Killara. [continues 5 words]
The ouster of the New England Journal of Medicine's longtime editor was the culmination of a yearlong battle over whether to use the journal's venerable brand name to sell new products and reach a wider audience. Jerome P. Kassirer, whose departure was announced late Sunday night, had fought to keep the magazine out of a number of money-making ventures. Dr. Kassirer, the magazine's editor since 1991, recently helped rebuff a revenue-sharing deal with an Internet bookseller and opposed the journal branching out into a mainstream medical magazine, arguing that it would tarnish the journal's reputation as one of the world's leading medical magazines. [continues 811 words]
NSW Premier Bob Carr yesterday confessed he had struggled with his own conscience before giving the green light for what could be Australia's first legal heroin shooting gallery. Mr Carr said he had been "torn in half" by the debate over drug reform, adding that he half agreed with critics of the plan to set up a safe injecting room in Sydney next year. "It is controversial and I myself have had doubts about this course," he said. "Part of my mind is with the people who argue rigid zero tolerance and treating this only as a legal problem. Part of my mind is with them as I suspect is the community's." [continues 125 words]
Report Done For Health Canada That Warns Of Health Risk Called Alarmist Ottawa -- Cheeseburgers pose more of a danger to humans than hemp burgers, say Canadian hemp growers who are furious at a report done for Health Canada that says their products may pose a health risk. Ruth Shamai, who owns R & D Hemp Inc. in Toronto, said yesterday that the study done for Health Canada shows that there is still a prejudice against hemp because it is the same species of plant that produces marijuana. [continues 354 words]
The NSW Government has embarked on a new era of "evidence-based politics" in which radical new reforms and policies will be tried - and abandoned if they do not work, the Special Minister for State, Mr Della Bosca, said yesterday. Mr. Della Bosca, who has been charged by the Premier with implementing Drug Summit recommendations, says the community has made it clear it wants the Government to take a lead and explore options to tackle complex issues such as drugs. "We have established that there is a reasonable amount of goodwill, that people are more prepared to go along with us because we are not pretending ... we are not playing politics on this," he said. "I think people find this a pleasant surprise, that we are not taking the easy way out. [continues 387 words]
I read with great interest the Times' article on July 17 (Killer fungus touted to eradicate state pot crop) and the subsequent editorial on July 20 (Marijuana-killing fungus too risky) concerning the research and testing of Fusarium oxysporum, a fungus already present in the environment that offers promise as a method to eradicate the marijuana plant. The alarmist tone and insinuation evident in both pieces may serve to raise undeserved concerns. [continues 423 words]
Back in the antique days of the original Woodstock, I don't remember thousands of people who looted and ransacked Max Yasgur's farm. Yes, there was nudity and drinking and marijuana smoking, all of which was shocking at the time, but there was no violence. In fact, I seem to remember that the crowd was kind of coached through the weekend. When a storm broke, the promoters took to the microphones and told people to take cover. When a baby was born, the promoters took to the microphones and announced a new arrival. When some moron got high on drugs and thought he could fly, the promoters talked him down. [continues 591 words]
Drug Policy Chief Cites 'Growing Emergency'; Search Continues for Downed U.S. Plane BOGOTA, Colombia, July 27--The disappearance of a U.S. reconnaissance plane in the remote and guerrilla-controlled hills of southern Colombia has underscored the risks involved in American efforts to fight drug trafficking here by expanding aid to the Colombian police and military. Retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey, director of the Clinton administration's Office of National Drug Control Policy, spoke in support of U.S. efforts in discussions here Monday and today with Colombian officials on what he called a "serious and growing emergency in the region." After two days of talks, scheduled before the U.S. plane went down, he left Colombia to hold similar meetings in Ecuador, Venezuela and Curacao. [continues 815 words]
Last week there were two letters in the Salisbury' News and Advertiser from two individuals with extremely different perspectives. One spreads fear of police and all the awful things he perceives they do. The other, a new voice from Ocean City, spreads the fear of Salisbury and drugs in order to gain support for his fellow police officers. I am tired of both views. Fear mongering is an old tool to sway public opinion. The revolutionaries need people to be afraid of the "King's" troops in order to take action against the "King". Conversely the "King" needs an enemy the population fears. This way, they will support the "King" and provide tax money which will be used to suppress any particular group currently out of favor. It is a constant struggle between the two groups, which often gets out of balance. The swing of the power pendulum is as old as mankind. [continues 301 words]
U.S. Continues The Search For Missing Spy Plane BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Washington's top anti-drug official pushed for increased military aid Monday to counter rebels in Colombia, where rescuers tried to reach what might be the wreckage of a U.S. spy plane lost on an anti-narcotics mission. Visiting the world's No. 1 cocaine-producing country, Barry McCaffrey said peace talks to end the nation's 35-year conflict would only work if Colombia's security forces were strengthened against the threat of "narco-guerrillas." [continues 227 words]
