Daily Archives: June 21, 2017

Film examines failings of ‘war on drugs’ – The Union of Grass Valley

Posted: June 21, 2017 at 4:45 am

In their continuing effort to raise awareness on key social issues, The Peace & Justice Center of Nevada County is now turning its attention toward the U.S. "War on Drugs."

A screening of the documentary, "The House I Live In" is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 23 at The Open Book (next to Sierra Mountain Coffee Roasters), located at 671 Maltman Drive in Grass Valley. Community members are encouraged to come for the film and stay for the discussion to follow. Organizers are also hoping to have local law enforcement officers available for the discussion segment.

Filmed in more than 20 states, "The House I Live In" captures heart-wrenching stories of those on the front lines from the dealer to the grieving mother, the narcotics officer to the senator, the inmate to the federal judge and offers a penetrating look at the profound human rights implications of America's longest war. For the past 40 years, the war on drugs has resulted in more than 45 million arrests, $1 trillion in government spending, and made the United States the world's largest jailer. Yet today drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available than ever. The film recognizes drug abuse as a matter of public health, and investigates the tragic errors and shortcomings that have resulted from framing it as an issue for law enforcement. It also examines how political and financial corruption has fueled the war on drugs, despite persistent evidence of its moral, economic and practical failures. Admission is a $6 to $10 suggested donation. For more information visit the Peace Center's website at http://www.ncpeace.org, on Facebook, or by emailing ncpeace@sbcglobal.net.

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Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions Drug War Is Bad | Time.com – TIME

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President Trump speaks as Jeff Sessions listens in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 9, 2017. Andrew HarrerBloomberg/Getty Images

Donald Trump wants to drag us back into one of the most catastrophic social policies in this nations history: the war on drugs.

The president wants to return to a bygone era of mass incarceration and a full-blown War on Drugs that significantly contributed to the current American prison population of 2.2 million people the largest in the world. Apparently, that isnt enough for the "law and order" president and his accomplice, Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Trump and Sessions think the War on Drugs has been a very good thing. They are either woefully or willfully ignorant of the facts.

As author of The Power of the Dog and The Cartel, I spent almost 20 years researching and writing about the War on Drugs. After five decades of this war, drugs are cheaper, more plentiful and more potent than ever (as Mr. Sessions himself has conceded). If thats Trumps idea of success, Id hate to see his version of failure.

The so-called War on Drugs quadrupled our prison population (overwhelmingly and disproportionately composed of minorities), handed out life sentences to nonviolent offenders, militarized our police forces, promoted the disgusting concept of for-profit prisons, shredded the Bill of Rights and cost taxpayers upward of a trillion dollars.

Did Trump and Sessions somehow miss all this? Surely the president and the top justice official in the country are aware that violent crime is at a a record low , and most criminologists agree that incarceration was a minor factor in its thirty-year decline. The more important causes were demographic changes, improved police techniques, community policing and strong economic growth.

Trump and Sessions cite a rise in homicide rates in some cities since 2015. But fully half those murders, mostly a result of gang violence, occurred in one city Chicago while many of the rest were concentrated in Houston, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. The murder rate in New York City actually dropped 25% during that period.

Trump and Sessions blame this gang violence on drugs, but that's reductive to say the least.

Lets look at Chicago. Writing in US News & World Report, Alan Neuhauser points out that the Chicago police force has lost a quarter of its homicide detectives since 2008. And two years ago the state of Illinois drastically cut funding for community policing and violence prevention programs, which directly corresponds to the spike in violence.

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said, Impoverished neighborhoods, people without hope, do these kind of things... You show me a man that doesnt have hope, Ill show you one thats willing to pick up a gun and do anything with it.

Johnson has a point. A study by the Brennan Center for Justice shows that cities with at least a ten-year history of poverty and unemployment are the same cities that have experienced a rise in violence.

That there is a relationship between poverty and crime should come as no surprise to our country's chief executive and his top law enforcement official, but apparently it does.

Trump and Sessions want to cut funds for social programs and community policing and return to the era of mass arrests and incarceration in short, the War on Drugs. They want to trade policies that work for policies that dont.

Sessionss assistant Steven Cook told the Washington Post, Drug trafficking is inherently violent. Drug traffickers are dealing in a heavy cash business. They cant resolve disputes in court. They resolve the disputes on the street and they resolve them through violence.

Mr. Sessions made remarks to the same effect.

And they're right: Drug trafficking is inherently violent . Because of drug prohibition .

Nicotine is a legal drug you dont see the tobacco companies slugging it out on the street. Alcohol is a legal drug, and you dont see gangs killing each other for the right to sell beer and whiskey (as they did in Prohibition days).

There is, of course, another major difference between drug dealers and people who sell nicotine and alcohol products the latter two are mostly white. Sell drugs, youre a guest in the Big House; sell enough booze or cigarettes, youre a guest in the White House.

The racial disparities are indisputable. African-American males are thirteen times as likely to be sent to prison for drug offenses than white males, whose drug usage is proportionally much higher . Sentences for African-American males are over 13% longer than those for whites. The War on Drugs has largely been a war on people of color.

Apparently, the current administration doesnt mind that these policies are racist. Prompted by his boss, Mr. Sessions recently instructed federal prosecutors to seek maximum sentences for even nonviolent drug offenses.

Its wrong, and it makes no sense on any level.

We know that rehabilitation programs and treatment are vastly more effective at reducing drug use than imprisonment. In fact, our jails and prisons are rife with illegal drugs, and those who go in as addicts usually come out as addicts. If mass incarceration worked, wouldnt our drug problem now be better instead of worse?

But rather than make a real effort to address the drug problem at its roots at a time when more Americans die from opiate overdose than from car accidents Trump and Sessions hand us fantasies such as the border wall, which will do absolutely nothing to slow the flow of drugs, and facile, intellectually lazy, "lock `em up" sound bites that make for good politics but horrible policy.

The mass incarceration policy is also a fiscal disaster.

An administration that prides itself on trimming the budget wants to expand our spending on prisons, even though a year spent in a California cell is more expensive $75,650 than a year at Harvard. As of 2012, the United States spent $63.4 billion a year on incarceration . Trump and Sessions want to spend even more.

Trump and Sessions are tough on gangs that wield guns, but not so much on those who push guns on the American public. The National Rifle Association donated over $30 million to Trumps campaign, and he promised, among other things, to end gun-free zones. The attorney general has an A+ rating (along with $35,750 in Senate campaign contributions) from the NRA and has voted against background checks on buyers at gun shows.

My most recent novel, The Force, deals with the New York Police Departments struggle against drugs and guns. My research shows that most of the weapons used in gang violence originate in states that have weak gun laws and unrestricted gun shows. From there, buyers ship weapons up the "Iron Pipeline" of Interstate 95 and its connecting highways, to cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C.; guns that police forces are desperate to get off their streets; guns that kill gang members, innocent bystanders, and, yes, cops. But Trump and Sessions advocate loosening what few restrictions still exist.

That is not law and order. That is lawlessness and disorder.

In the last days of the Obama administration, we finally began to see a more sensible policy toward illegal drugs: clemency for nonviolent offenders serving long prison terms, a move to end mandatory minimum sentences, a less aggressive stance on enforcing marijuana laws and the abolition of prison privatization on the federal level.

In his endless, thoughtless rush to undo all things Obama, Trump wants to roll all that back, to a failed policy that will only result in more suffering, more expense, and more death.

Thats a catastrophe.

Don Winslow is the author of The Cartel and The Force.

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Gambling addict: ‘No rehab for me because I’m a woman’ – BBC News

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Gambling addict: 'No rehab for me because I'm a woman'
BBC News
Prison, homelessness and no money to buy food, Sarah Grant has been in dire straits. "My relationships were a mess, my job was a mess." It is a story of addiction which will be familiar to many - but perhaps less so in relation to gambling. But Ms ...
'Lack of support' for gambling addicts in WalesBBC News

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Casinos, states winning big from online gambling – Huntington Herald Dispatch

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For the past few years, New Jersey casinos have been losing money like most of their customers - consistently. But in the past six months, the popularity of casino-sponsored online betting has reversed the fortunes of Atlantic City's gambling palaces, cheering both casino owners and state revenue officials.

New Jersey is one of only three states - Nevada and Delaware are the others - where in-state bettors can log on to websites run by casinos and gamble from the comfort of their couches, rather than going into a glitzy and noisy casino.

Gambling experts say casinos that sponsor their own online wagering are making a smart play for millennials, many of whom prefer online gambling. At least eight states (California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia) are considering legalizing casino-run online wagering this year.

State-sanctioned, casino-sponsored online gambling is different from online gambling that originates offshore, which states cannot tax. It is also distinct from state-regulated "daily fantasy sports" sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, which generate taxes and fees for some states.

Chris Grove, a gambling industry consultant who runs the website PlayNJ.com, said online gambling is a key to the growth of casino revenue.

"We've seen nearly every other form of commerce migrate to the internet - how we shop, how we bank, how we listen to music," he said. "It doesn't make sense that gambling would be an exception to that rule, and the early results in New Jersey really drive that point home."

According to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, total casino gambling revenue was $763.5 million through April of this year, an increase of 1.7 percent compared to the same period last year. The casinos' winnings from online gambling, however, were $80.1 million, up 29.5 percent from the same period last year.

New Jersey legalized casino-sponsored online gambling in late 2013, but it took casinos some time to create the software to take advantage of the new law, as well as for gamblers to adapt. At first, some casinos only offered a game or two online. According to New Jersey officials, online gambling increased in late 2016 and early 2017, as evidenced by a spike in revenue. The state collected $3.1 million in taxes on online gambling in April, up 23 percent from $2.5 million in April 2016.

From 2007 to 2015, New Jersey casino revenue declined by an average of 7.6 percent annually. This year, thanks in part to the increasing popularity of online gambling, casino revenue is on track for a year-to-year increase for the first time since 2006.

Kerry Langan, spokeswoman for the New Jersey department, said internet gambling raises as much revenue by itself as a small free-standing casino would.

"Most of the projections I've seen from gaming analysts are that it's doing well and will continue to do well," she said.

In Nevada and Delaware the impact has been smaller. In Delaware, only three casinos sponsor online gambling, and it has generated revenue of about $200,000 a month. Total casino revenue in Delaware is about $50 million per month.

In Nevada only two casinos offer internet poker, the only online casino game the state allows. Mike Lawton, senior research analyst at the Nevada Gaming Control Board, said online poker revenue is wrapped into the control board's report on poker overall, so it's difficult to determine whether online poker has been a huge hit. But online sports betting, also offered by casinos, "has really taken off," increasing 5 percent in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the same period last year.

"A lot of the reason for the sports book business taking off is people being able to do it on their phone. It's a huge convenience," he said, noting, "We do everything else on our phones."

Every state that has legal gambling collects taxes or fees from it. There can be a tax on casinos' revenue, hefty fees to procure a casino operating license, a tax on gamblers' winnings, an "entertainment tax" on casinos or players, a tax on lottery locations, a tax on poker machines at bars or some combination of the levies. In general, casinos must pay gambling taxes in addition to corporate taxes.

Despite the online gambling spike in New Jersey and elsewhere, overall gambling tax revenue in the states is flat on average, according to Lucy Dadayan, senior research scientist at the Rockefeller Institute of Government.

In 17 states she studied, tax revenue from gambling declined by 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to the same quarter of 2015. However, there was some growth in tax revenue in the first quarter of 2017, at 0.6 percent. A big part of the increase was the opening of a new casino in Maryland, she said.

"The overall total tax revenues for casinos should be interpreted with caution and should not be viewed as a positive sign," she said.

She noted that online casino gambling is not easy to implement and "comes with a lot of regulation."

Because New Jersey requires people who play online casino games to be in the state, it has developed tracking software to determine a bettor's location. That means a gambler who lives in Pennsylvania must travel to New Jersey to play an online casino game.

"New Jersey online (gambling) has definitely come on very strong," said David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at UNLV. "People enjoy playing online rather than in casinos."

But Jackson Brainerd, who studies state gambling for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said while income from casino-sponsored online gambling has been robust, it has not lived up to predictions. In New Jersey, for example, it was expected to generate $1.2 billion in the first year, resulting in $180 million for the state.

In Pennsylvania, the state's continuing budget woes have given a push to casino-sponsored online gambling. The state Senate in May passed a measure that would legalize it in January 2018. Sponsors believe the outlook in the House is better this year than last, when a similar bill failed to pass.

Under the measure, Pennsylvania casinos that want to sponsor online gambling would have to pay a one-time $10 million fee to the state. Vendors supplying the gambling platform would pay the state $5 million, and revenue would be taxed at 25 percent, 15 percent of which would go to reduce property taxes, a longtime sore point among Pennsylvania taxpayers.

"We hope we can generate $100-$125 million more," said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, the Democrat who sponsored the legislation.

He said some casinos are worried that they will lose in-house gamblers to the online version, rather than expanding their customer base. But the prospect of a new state revenue source has persuaded some legislators that it's time to implement online casino games.

In New York, Senate panels have passed a bill that would legalize and regulate online poker games, though the proposal is still awaiting a vote by the full Senate. A similar bill passed the Senate last year, but died in the House without being considered. A 10-year license fee would cost $10 million, and the state would levy a 15 percent tax on revenue.

State Sen. John Bonacic, a Republican sponsor of the bill, sweetened the pot this year with a provision that mandates that the revenue from casino-sponsored online poker be used for education.

"This bill is necessary to provide consumer protections and combat illegal websites that are currently offering online poker to New Yorkers - further it would bring in additional revenue for education," he said in an email.

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Ban on new video gambling licenses extended – IllinoisHomePage.net

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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) -- City leaders say they're going to hold their cards for a while before choosing whether to allow more gambling.

If you're looking to open a new video gambling parlor, you can't do it in Champaign. A few months ago, the city council voted to stop issuing new licenses for places to have video machines. On Tuesday night, they decided to extend that ban.

The majority of the city council voted in favor of extending the new license ban, but for different reasons. Still, most of them were asking the same question: Does the city really need more of those places?

Jim's Place, Lacey's Place, Boochie's Place, and Joobie's. Whatever the owner decides to call them, they're here to stay.

But if you're going to play, you've got to pay.

"14 million dollars was lost on video gambling machines in the City of Champaign last year," said council member Greg Stock, "14 million dollars."

"This gaming thing..it's just not doing something to our community that is great," said council member Clarissa Fourman, "The amount of gaming cafes-- it's a lot."

Illinois Gaming Board records show there are almost 60 places to play in Champaign. Those popped up between the time it was legalized in 2012, and when the city imposed the moratorium this past February. That was set to expire in a few weeks, so the council had a decision to make.

"Even though we like to think that we can make these decisions better than the average American, it's not our job to make these decisions on behalf of the citizens of Champaign," said council member Tom Bruno.

Leaders don't seem to have a solid consensus on whether these places are good or bad, or whether the results they produce can be ugly. City staff members say the community doesn't seem to mind.

"We have not heard a lot of negative feedback about the moratorium," says deputy liquor commissioner Matt Roeschley, "Maybe somewhat surprisingly, but there hasn't been a lot of community input on that."

Mayor Deb Feinen says the freeze is only so they have time to come up with a policy on what (if anything) should be done.

"All we're doing is having a moratorium so we don't have an increase of this type of business while we decide whether or not we're going to regulate or what the appropriate regulation is," said Feinen.

The license moratorium has now been extended until January. The city will use the time to decide whether a policy change is needed.

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Rep. Dent Tries Again to Sneak Online Gambling Ban Through Congress – Competitive Enterprise Institute (blog)

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For the last four years, three states have had legal online gambling: Delaware, Nevada, and New Jersey. In that time, weve seen no negative results,despite doomsday predictions that allowingstates to legalize and regulate Internet betting would open the floodgates, allowing anyone in the U.S., regardless of their age, to gamble, become addicted, and ruin their lives.

In reality, however, online gambling in the states has been an unmitigated success: generating hundreds of millions in new tax revenue, thousands of jobs, and saving other flailing industries. In New Jersey, for example, the launch of online betting has been an unmitigated success. Prior to 2013, Atlantic City was in economic freefall with casinos closing (and putting people out of work) in droves. Since then, however, the city has posted its first revenue increase in more than a decade, thanks to the $20 million in tax revenue online gambling generates for the state every month. Since its launch in 2013, the new industry has generated around $125 million in new tax revenue for New Jersey 3,374 new jobs, and $219 million in wages to employees. Furthermore, the license-holders contributed over $1 million in funds for compulsive and problem gambling research and treatment.

Yet, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA) is now reportedly trying to put out the lights out on this economic ray of sunshine by inserting language into one of the congressional appropriations bills to create a national prohibition on Internet gambling. And hes doing this even as the legislature of his home state is working tirelessly to regulate the activity and where almost two thirds of voters say they want online gambling legalized.

Legislative dj vu

While details about Dents plan are scant, the tactic sounds like a repeat of the scheme he and other members of Congress cooked up in 2016. For years, prohibitionists have fought and failed to enact a ban on state-based Internet gambling through the normal legislative process. The Restoration of Americas Wire Act (RAWA), a bill created by prominent GOP mega-donor and casino owner Sheldon Adelson, managed to get a few hearings. However, the idea of a federal prohibition against the will of the states runs contrary to the core conservative principle of federalism and the blatant influence of industry money resulted in backlash from both sides of aisle.

If at first you dont succeed, cram it down their throats

Failing to obtain Congressional support on its merits, RAWA supporters switched gears, instead hoping to quietly sneak an Internet gambling ban into law by attaching RAWA language as a rider to one of the spending bills in 2016. Theyve also been trying to push Attorney General Jeff Sessions into creating a ban via administrative fiat.

As with RAWA, these attempts faced significant opposition from center-right groups (including CEI) who see them as gross violations of legislative procedure, a threat to foundational constitutional principles, and harmful to both consumers and the economy.

Undeterred, the anti-gambling cabal is reportedly taking another stab at cramming an online gambling ban down Americans throats by slipping it into the massive 1,000+ page spending bill that Congress must pass before the end of September.

They are nothingif not persistent.

But, so are we. All Americans, regardless of political affiliation or their opinion on gambling, should resist attempts like this to bypass the democratic process and take away states constitutionalright to decide for themselves how to regulate commerce within their borders, all in service of one special interest.

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Rep. Dent Tries Again to Sneak Online Gambling Ban Through Congress - Competitive Enterprise Institute (blog)

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Erie City Council seeks gambling funds promise – GoErie.com

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Pending state legislation carves out $500,000 annually for the city of Erie from county gambling revenues to fund emergency services and infrastructure projects.

Pending state legislation that would give Erie County government sole authorization over the distribution of the multimillion-dollar local share of gambling money alsocarves out $500,000 annually for the city of Erie to fund emergency services and infrastructure projects.

Erie City Council is poised to ask State Sen. Dan Laughlin to make sure that yearly funding becomes a reality.

City Council on Wednesday night could waive agenda rules and vote on a resolution urging Laughlin, of Millcreek Township, R-49th Dist., and the Pennsylvania Senate "to retain the $500,000 for city capital projects or emergency services in the gaming legislation," according to Councilman Bob Merski, who plans to sponsor the resolution.

Merski said council members want members of the state Senate to make sure the money earmarked for the city remains in the final version of the bill.House Bill 271 was approved by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on June 7 by a 102-89 vote.

The bill currently sits in a state Senate committee.

"As goes the city, so goes the region, so it makes sense to support capital projects and emergency services in the city," Merski said. "The region's lead assets are all in the city, and this is recognition that city taxpayers have been carrying the weight of these expenses for the whole region.

City Council meets Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Bagnoni Council Chambers at City Hall, 626 State St.

Kevin Flowers can be reached at 870-1693 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNflowers.

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Australian A$11.3bn gambling merger gets go-ahead – BBC News

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Australian A$11.3bn gambling merger gets go-ahead
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A merger between Australian gambling giants Tabcorp and Tatts Group has been approved by authorities. Plans to form a business worth A$11.3bn ($8.6bn; 6.7bn) emerged last year. Despite objections from rival betting companies, the Australian ...
Australian gambling giants get approval to form powerhouseManila Bulletin

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A Dutch euthanasia pioneer surveys the wreckage and despairs – Catholic Citizens of Illinois (press release)

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Safeguards for the mentally ill and the demented are slipping away

By Michael Cook | Jun 20 2017 |

If there is anyone who could be called a patron saint of Dutch euthanasia, it is the psychiatrist Boudewijn Chabot. In 1991 he gave one of his patients, Mrs B, a lethal dose of medication. After accompanying her until she died he reported himself to the police and was subsequently tried. In 1993, the Supreme Court declare that he was guilty of assisting a suicide, but did not punish him and allowed him to keep practicing medicine.

Physically, there was nothing wrong with Mrs B. Nor did she have depression. But her personal life was tragic and Dr Chabot felt that she in a state of existential distress that she should be allowed to die. It was a landmark case in the steady advance towards legalisation in 2002.

That was 25 years ago. Now Dr Chabot looks back and is horrified. Writing in one of the leading Dutch newspapers, NRC Handelsblad, he says that legal safeguards for euthanasia are slowly eroding away and that the law no longer protects people with psychiatric condition and dementia.

The Dutch are complacent about their famous law, he says. But there is no room for complacency.

Under current legislation, euthanasia is only legal if a doctor believes that three conditions have been met: (1) the request must be voluntary and deliberate; (2) there must be unbearable suffering with no hope of improvement; and (3) there must no reasonable alternative to euthanasia.

However, as euthanasia has sunk its roots deeper and deeper into Dutch medicine, the second and third conditions have shrivelled up. Patients define what is unbearable and they define what is a reasonable alternative. Unhappiness can be unbearable and a nursing home may not be a reasonable alternative. So, as one ethicist has observed, requirements (1) and (2) add little to the requirement of a voluntary and thoughtful request. Autonomy has trumped medicine. As a result, the number of euthanasia cases roughly tripled between 2007 and 2016, from 2000 to 6000.

In itself, this does not bother Dr Chabot. After all, he is the Grand Old Man of Dutch euthanasia. He says that he is prepared to accept tens of thousands of euthanasia cases. But he is aghast at the rapid rise in the number of people with psychiatric illness or dementia who have been euthanised:

What does worry me is the increase in the number of times euthanasia was performed on dementia patients, from 12 in 2009 to 141 in 2016, and on chronic psychiatric patients, from 0 to 60. That number is small, one might object. But note the rapid increase of brain diseases such as dementia and chronic psychiatric diseases. More than one hundred thousand patients suffer from these diseases, and their disease can almost never be completely cured.

One sign of the changing times is the rapid expansion of the services of the End of Life Clinic Foundation (Stichting Levenseindekliniek). This organisation offers euthanasia to patients whose own doctors have refused. They never offer to treat the underlying illness, whether it is physical or mental.

By 2015, a quarter of euthanasia cases on demented patients were performed by these doctors; in 2016 it had risen to one third. By 2015, doctors of the End of Life Clinic performed 60 percent of euthanasia cases in chronic psychiatric patients, by 2016 that had increased to 75 percent (46 out of 60 people).

Last year, Dr Chabot points out, doctors from the End of Life Clinic each performed about one euthanasia every month. What happens to doctors for whom a deadly injection becomes a monthly routine? he asks.

Now the End of Life Clinic is recruiting psychiatrists to service the mentally ill and demented. One obvious problem is that there is a shortage of good psychiatric help in the Netherland which tends to take a long time have an effect, in any case because of budget cuts.

Without a therapeutic relationship, by far most psychiatrists cannot reliably determine whether a death wish is a serious, enduring desire. Even within a therapeutic relationship, it remains difficult. But a psychiatrist of the clinic can do so without a therapeutic relationship, with less than ten in-depth conversations? Well

Dr Chabot is deeply sceptical about euthanasia for the demented: we are dealing with a morally problematic act: how do you kill someone who does not understand that he will be killed?.

How? It turns out that sometimes a relative or doctor secretly laces their food or drink with a sedative to make it easier to give them a lethal injection. In one notorious case last year, the sedative didnt work and relatives pinned the terrified woman to the bed while the doctor gave the lethal injection. Dr Chabot was astonished to discover that surreptitious administration of medication has previously occurred, but has never been mentioned in an annual report.

Isnt anyone paying attention to these developments, Dr Chabot asks.

The euthanasia practice is running amok because the legal requirements which doctors can reasonably apply in the context of physically ill people, are being declared equally applicable without limitation in the context of vulnerable patients with incurable brain diseases. In psychiatry, an essential limitation disappeared when the existence of a treatment relationship was no longer required. In the case of dementia, such a restriction disappeared by making the written advance request equivalent to an actual oral request. And lastly, it really went off the tracks when the review committee concealed that incapacitated people were surreptitiously killed.

After surveying the wreckage of the euthanasia law, Dr Chabot concludes bitterly,

I dont see how we can get the genie back in the bottle. It would already mean a lot if wed acknowledge hes out.

_________________________________________

Michael Cook is editor of MercatorNet. Dr Chabots original article in NRC Handelsblad was translated by Professor Trudo Lemmens, of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Excerpts have been republished from his blog with permission.

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A Dutch euthanasia pioneer surveys the wreckage and despairs - Catholic Citizens of Illinois (press release)

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Animal shelter holds town hall to reduce euthanasia – Savannah Morning News

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Calling all pet lovers.

The Effingham County animal shelter is holding a town hall meeting to discuss the possibility of working with two nonprofit groups to lower euthanasia rates.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Monday, June 26, in the large conference room of the county Administration Building, at 601 N. Laurel St., Springfield.

Target Zero works on best practices to help shelters lower euthanasia rates and Fix Georgia Pets helps find grants to make spay and neuter affordable.

Effingham shelter director Lorna Shelton said the groups can help with trap-neuter-release programs for cats that live on their own in the community.

Shelton has been working to try to reduce euthanasia rates at the Effingham shelter. She said she hopes people will read about the two groups on the web and come to the meeting.

This is the time for citizens to educate themselves and ask questions, Shelton said.

Target Zero helps shelters by assessing their needs and giving advice on how to decrease intake and increase live-release rates.

Organizational and fundraising assistance is included.

We serve as the business strategy consultant in all areas of shelter management, with the number one goal being to keep animals out of shelters, the groups website says.

Efforts are made to help pet owners either keep their pets or place them outside the shelter system with foster volunteers. Shelter space should be reserved for those animals with no alternative placement, cruelty/neglect cases, dangerous dogs and injured animals with no identified owner, the group says.

Target Zero helps shelters maintain accurate data. Progress is analyzed monthly.

We define a community as being at zero if it demonstrates the ability to save 90 percent or more of cats and dogs that enter its shelters, the website says.

The remaining 10 percent or less are accounted for by animals which, regardless of medical treatment, will die from illness and/or large dogs with non-rehabilitative aggression issues.

Target Zero operates on donations; no taxpayer money is involved.

For more information go to: http://www.target-zero.org and https://fixgeorgiapets.org.

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Animal shelter holds town hall to reduce euthanasia - Savannah Morning News

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