Category Archives: War On Drugs

(NewsNation Now) A few years ago the tobacco companies sold the world on e-cigarettes ability to help people quit smoking. Now, doctors are developing a cocaine e-cigarette to help people do the same for stimulant addictions.

Dr. Fabian Steinmetz, one of the scientists who invented the device, said alternative solutions are necessary because the war on drugs has not worked.

Its quite easy to regulate cannabis. But its more difficult how to deal with drugs like crack cocaine or heroin, Steinmetz said on On Balance with Leland Vittert.

For research, he looked at how several European countries handle drugs and the laws surrounding them. He noted some cities even give heroin to those already struggling with addiction.

We actually thought about how can we do something similar for crack cocaine which has a very short duration, and then we came up with this type of e-cigarette, he said.

Steinmetz believes part of the problem with U.S. drug laws stems from prohibition and often results in people trying more dangerous drugs.

If [people] dont get their pills, they go to the black market and then they poison themselves with illegal fentanyl formulations, he said.

Some U.S. cities have turned to safe sites for people to use narcotics to prevent overdoses.

The first officially authorized safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics have been cleared to open in New York City.

An estimated 100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously reported there were about 93,000 overdose deaths in 2020.

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Could a cocaine vape pen help those struggling with addiction? - NewsNation Now

EPHRATA - The war on drugs was declared decades ago, but the arsenal to combat personal addiction was thin, until recently in Grant County.

Presiding judges in Grant County Superior Court are touting a new program as the regions best bet in turning the lives of those whove let drugs run roughshod in their lives.

On Tuesday, Grant County announced a $366,667 grant from the Department of Justice to implement an Adult Drug Court Program. The program will divert non-violent felony offenders with substance use and mental health issues from incarceration into a closely supervised program with treatment and rigorous standards of accountability. The program combines rehabilitation with incentives and sanctions, including mandatory and random drug testing that incorporates aftercare.

Drug addiction touches all races, genders, and income levels. It affects all ages, from the very old, to those who havent even been born yet. It is a problem we should all be concerned about, said Grant County Superior Court Presiding Judge Tyson Hill.

Grant County officials say Judge David Estudillo, now a federal district court judge, was pivotal in getting the grant for the program.

We have found most property crime in Grant County involves an underlying drug addiction. This program wont just help the addicted get back on their feet, it will also reduce crime said newly appointed Prosecutor Kevin McCrae.

A study by the Department of Justice found that nationally, 84 percent of drug court graduates had not been re-arrested and charged with a serious crime in the first year after graduation, and 72.5 percent had no arrests at the two-year mark. These special courts have been operating in the United States for 32 years. Their effectiveness is well-documented. There are now 3,454 treatment courts and have served.

Not everyone will succeed, but many will. For those who want to get themselves out of the cycle of addiction fueled crime and incarceration, we will soon have a system in place to help them, Hill said.

Grant County Superior Court will conduct interviews within the next few weeks to hire the Program Coordinator and Program Assistant positions and it is anticipated that the program will begin later this year.

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Judge: Grant County's new Drug Court to help citizens shed the shackles of drug addiction for good - iFIBER One News

The UK has waged a war on end-to-end encryption for years, with the government boomeranging between scaremongering tactics to manipulate public opinion on the divisive technology. Its latest attempt to convince the public that surrendering its basic human right to privacy is, actually, a good idea, however, fails to address the core issue its ignoring; that criminalisation almost never works.

Revelations published by Rolling Stone shows the government isnt backing down on encryption, despite a litany of more pressing fires it needs to put out. The Home Office has commissioned M&C Saatchi, a high-end advertising agency, to run an anti-encryption campaign centred on the role of encryption in child exploitation, including an insidious visual PR stunt involving a child and an adult. This aims to mobilise public opinion against Meta's decision to add encryption to Messenger, for instance, among other uses of the technology.

The events of recent weeks have shown the contempt the government holds towards its citizens, and the lengths it will go to hide self-servitude. It now believes using child exploitation as the main argument against encryption should be enough to turn the tide.

It should be under no illusion, however, that banning the technology will do little to curb the online abuse of children, although according to the former head of the NCSC Ciaran Martin, the government may not actually know what its talking about.

Banning encrypted messaging will remove the benefits and freedoms it affords the public, while ramping up the levels of already-hyperactive state-wide surveillance. The 1920s prohibition era serves as a historical example, as well as todays so-called war on drugs; its very much a losing battle.

Global security insights report 2021

Extended enterprise under threat

Has the lack of easy-access cannabis, like we can find in some states in the US, led to a drop in use? Well, cannabis is still the most misused illicit drug in the UK, ONS figures show, with usage rising since 2013. Cocaine use, too, was up 37% against 2013, and more people also misused ketamine now than a decade ago. The Childrens Society, meanwhile, says 90% of police forces in England have observed county lines activity, with violence escalating.

It suggests what we know to be true; that outlawing things of value will only push them into the hands of outlaws. In the case of encryption, only those intent on harm will gain access to encrypted messaging services through technologies like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), deep underground with little chance of government tracking.

Take Messenger, WhatsApp, and Signal away from Joe Public and what are you left with? The vast majority of the population will be exposed to the government of the day, whether its Boris Johnson, or an untimely successor. Criminals, meanwhile, will have already burrowed themselves deeper into the dark web, using PGP-signed messages over which the government has no oversight. Nobody can ban cryptography.

Its here from which whiffs of incompetence emanate. Revoking end-to-end encryption will allow dark web communities to flourish, making life even more difficult for law enforcement. Weve seen how dark web marketplaces have thrived despite attempts to stop the illegal trade of guns, drugs, and other illicit goods. After all, it takes months to infiltrate a marketplace and shut it down, and minutes for an alternative to begin accepting patrons.

This campaign is yet another thinly-veiled attempt to achieve the governments ambition of scaling up the apparatus of the surveillance state, first through the Investigatory Powers Act, recently in its Online Safety Bill, alongside years of public gesticulations.

To complicate matters, though, the governments argument is somewhat valid, and one that even I, an avid proponent of end-to-end encryption, often struggle to internally justify. When you consider the lives lost through terrorist plots organised over encrypted messaging platforms, or the countless lives ruined through exploitation, its a difficult stance to hold.

When you see through the flagrant technical illiteracy and untruths running through this prospective campaign, however, you have to call into question the motives. This is especially true when you factor in attempts to undermine our rights and access to privacy, alongside the lengths to which government ministers go to hide their own activities from the public by using, you guessed it, WhatsApp.

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The government's anti-encryption campaign shows it's learned nothing from the war on drugs - IT PRO

Next month, the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protectionwill start accepting applications for certain adult-use cannabis businesses, kicking off the year sales are scheduled to begin in the state.

The application period is open for 90 days, according to an announcement from the state Department of Consumer Protection. The first licenses that will open up are for cultivators in areas disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, which includes most of Norwich. That license will be available starting Feb. 3.

The other license types that will open in February include retailers, micro-cultivators, delivery services, and hybrid retailers.

Of those, only a limited number of licenses are available, half split between social equity and non social equity applicants, including 12 retail, four micro-cultivator, 10 delivery, and four hybrid-retailer.

More: Who will get money from Connecticut's budding cannabis industry?

Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said potential entrepreneurs for the new industry have expressed interest in the city.

Nystrom said people have been attracted by the city owning its own utilities, resulting in lower rates, along with special rates for new businesses. Many of the interested parties the city is working with attended a talk in the city in November for encouraging growth in the adult use marijuana industry. However, Nystrom said he felt that some of the parties the city spoke with were more serious and qualified than others.

More: Thinking of getting into Connecticut's marijuana industry? Norwich forum offers a preview.

With the coming application period, Nystrom said that youll know whos real and whos not then, as if you dont have a license, youre clearly not in the game.

However, Nystrom said it is an inconvenience that operations wanting to utilize the social equity component have to stay within disproportionately impacted areas, rather than being anywhere in the city, as Norwich is a distressed municipality.

That sets up limitations for every community, Nystrom said.

Benjamin Zacks, chief operating officer for the Fine Fettle Dispensary, which has locations in Connecticut and Massachusetts, said all his ducks are in a row to turn his Connecticut stores into hybrid stores.

That means he expects to sell to both medical and recreational clientele at his existing locations in Willimantic and Newington, and a third opening this month in Stamford.

More: 23 bridges in New London County rated in poor condition. What inspection data tells us.

Hes still unsure how long it will take between sending in the application and getting the final okay to start fully selling.

We are ready and raring to go, Zacks said.

Zacks is also looking to open other Fine Fettle locations in the areas where there is the highest need and the highest demand, but wouldnt exactly say where for competitive reasons.

The licensing process will be very competitive, he predicted, due to the lottery nature of the license granting.

More: For Norwich schools, the struggle to remain open while omicron surges is 'day-to-day'

Carl Tirella, the Connecticut General Manager for Acreage Holdings, which owns The Botanist in Uncasville among other locations in Connecticut and across the country, said the company is actively working with potential applicants for social equity ventures in the state.

Were meeting partners on the ground, and were still going through that process, he said.

Tirella said The Botanist is also exploring opportunities for cultivation, but said that since only a few licenses will be awarded, the retail side of the business will be the main focus.

More: Norwich Reid and Hughes building not forgotten: City works to find new developer

Zacks said there is the opportunity to create jobs and wealth working in social equity ventures, and said Connecticut is doing things in a smart way.

For smaller operations, the application period may be a tougher matter. One of the interested entrepreneurs that attended the citys talk in November is Phelan Sharkey, who along with his business partner Antonious Brown, wanted to start a dispensary in Norwich. While the two men were optimistic in November, Sharkey said theyre less so now, noting how legalization is going in Connecticut and in other parts of the country, including federally, along with the costs.

I see that theres a lot more to consider now, Sharkey said.

Sharkey said he and Brown were planning to raise the $1.5 million to avoid the lottery through creating two equity joint ventures.

The barrier to entry shouldnt be as great as it is, Sharkey said

Excerpt from:

Adult-use marijuana sales will begin in CT this year. What does that look like in Norwich? - Norwich Bulletin

The Cancer History Project archives the histories of each of its contributing institutions, whether through profiles of institutions, interactive timeline, photo galleries, and more.

The following are histories submitted by Cancer History Project contributors Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, Rutgers Cancer Institute, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, City of Hope, and MUSC Hollings Cancer Center.

The Institute for Drug Development (IDD) was founded in 1991 as the research arm of what was then called the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC), in San Antonio.

The IDD has been at the forefront of developing new cancer drugs for decades, with approximately 20 drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for cancer treatment. The program offers patients the opportunity to receive drugs that are only available here and that might not become available to cancer patients elsewhere for several years.

There is no profit in curing the body if, in the process, we destroy the soul.

When President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act 50 years ago, the goal was nothing short of eradicating cancer. By launching the nations War on Cancer, the act dramatically increased funding for research. Importantly, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) was named one of the three original comprehensive cancer centers in the country.

For more than 137 years, MSK has made historic contributions driving discovery and improving patient care. MSK has a deep history of cancer research that has continually advanced the field and provided new and powerful ways for the institutionand the wider cancer communityto diagnose and treat cancer. Driving the effort is one of the worlds most dynamic programs of cancer research, with more than 100 research laboratories focused on better understanding the many types of cancer and the biology underlying them.

Fox Chase Cancer Centers Talbot Research Library is named in memory of Timothy R. Talbot, Jr. but his true legacy is the entire cancer center. In fact, the notion of a comprehensive cancer center was Talbots innovation.

In 1957 Talbot succeeded Stanley P. Reimann as director of the Institute for Cancer Research. He guided the Institute for the next 20 years, culminating in the merger with the American Oncologic Hospital that created Fox Chase Cancer Center. He then became the new cancer centers first leader.

January 2011 Ten years. Thousands of lives saved. Seattle Cancer Care Alliance is using this tagline to help celebrate its official 10th anniversary. It was in January 2001 that SCCA the patient care arm of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine and Seattle Childrens opened its new outpatient building and headquarters on Lake Union. The result today is the Pacific Northwests only federally designated comprehensive cancer center.

During the past decade the number of patients seen annually at SCCA grew by almost 40% to 25,211 in 2010, annual revenue increased sevenfold to $282.3 million last year and the number of employees more than doubled to 973. Through its network of community hospital affiliations, certain SCCA services for patients and staff are now available in 10 locations in Washington, Alaska and Montana.

Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, first called The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, was born in 1993 as the result of a P20 planning grant that was awarded in 1992.

Just four years after opening, the institute achieved the National Cancer Institute (NCI) cancer center designation, a program that was created as part of the National Cancer Act of 1971 to recognize cancer centers that meet rigorous standards for state-of-the-art research focused on developing new and better approaches to preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer.

In 2002, the institute was elevated to comprehensive status, the highest and most prestigious designation from the NCI held by only a few dozen such centers across the nation.

In 1913, tuberculosis would kill nearly 150,000 people, more than twice the toll taken by cancer. A group of committed volunteers refused to accept this tragedy and established the Jewish Consumptive Relief Association (JCRA), a free, nonsectarian tuberculosis sanatorium.

After hosting several fundraisers, the JCRA placed a down payment on 10 acres of sun-soaked land in Duarte, California, where they would establish the Los Angeles Sanatorium a year later. The original sanatorium consisted of two canvas cottages and ultimately launched a century-long journey that would place City of Hope at the forefront of the nations leading medical and research institutions.

In 2009, the Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) attained National Cancer Institute (NCI) designation, a distinction held by only 63 other cancer centers in the United States, and the only such institution in the state.

During a dignitary-packed ceremony on March 2, MUSC President Raymond Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., called it one of the most important achievements in MUSCs history. Becoming an NCI cancer center is very difficult, Greenberg said. Its a very competitive peer review process.

This column features the latest posts to the Cancer History Project by our growing list of contributors.

The Cancer History Project is a free, web-based, collaborative resource intended to mark the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act and designed to continue in perpetuity. The objective is to assemble a robust collection of historical documents and make them freely available.

Access to the Cancer History Project is open to the public at CancerHistoryProject.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @CancerHistProj.

Is your institution a contributor to the Cancer History Project? Eligible institutions include cancer centers, advocacy groups, professional societies, pharmaceutical companies, and key organizations in oncology.

To apply to become a contributor, please contact admin@cancerhistoryproject.com.

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The Institute for Drug Development and an archive of institutional histories - The Cancer Letter

There are probably nicer ways to say it, but when I read that in a 2021 national poll, 46 percent of Americans believed that another civil war is likely compared with 43 percent who did not, the only words that came to mind were mutually assured destruction MAD.

Watching from the war-torn Middle East as America forecasts doom and gloom makes me wonder if the country has gone off the rails.

I mean seriously, America, what are you thinking? Instead of acting fast to prevent such a calamity, you continue to fan the fire, recklessly moving towards civil strife, eyes wide open.

If you have forgotten the horrors of your own devastating civil war, take a look at our ongoing bloody and disastrous civil wars, which have collapsed states under the yoke of violent polarisation.

Thing is, you never had it so good in terms of prosperity, freedom, and wellbeing, so why throw all of it away over differences of opinion? Why not manage your disagreements democratically? In other words, why not put democracy back at the centre of your domestic policy, instead of pretending to put it at the centre of foreign policy?

As my all-time favourite American satirist, the late George Carlin put it, civil war is an oxymoron. Indeed, not only war is not civil, but what we call civil war is the worst kind of war because of the way it tears apart the national fabric.

Yet, more than 150 years after the American civil war ended in victory for the federal union and the abolition of slavery, more than a few nitwit hillbillies are itching for another fight.

Now that is not to say that all those responding in the affirmative in the 2021 opinion poll want a civil war, many are certainly worried, even fearful of such a scenario.

But as Carlin often reminded us, America is a warlike nation and when there are no brown people to bomb somewhere else, it turns inward, applying war to anything it hates. So, there is the American war on poverty, the war on drugs, the war on crime, and of course, the war on cancer, the war on AIDS, and of late, the war on COVID-19.

Now that Americans are split, polarised into two extremes feeding into each other, there is an intensifying war on fascism and an ugly war on liberalism.

These cultural and ideological wars are fuelled by racism and inequality and are sure to have bloody manifestations in the form of violent nationwide demonstrations, attacks on public property, bombings of clinics that provide abortions, etc all of which the country has already experienced in the past. Some even reckon armed militias may appear and engage in mass violence.

All of this begs the question: What role does the media play in all of this? Is it radicalising society and polity through its hyperbolic journalism by opinion, deepening the rights obsession with liberal tyranny and the lefts obsession with fascism writ large?

Suffering from Trump withdrawal symptoms, corporate media is clearly complicit as it compensates for the loss of its golden goose by pushing sensational, even apocalyptic coverage of the divided country he left behind. The same goes for social media platforms which continue to fuel division.

At any rate, the high degree of polarisation, beliefs in alternative realities, and celebration of violence in American society suggest we are at the brink of conflict, in the words of one Yale University historian.

According to this scenario, Donald Trump is the perfect catalyst for the cataclysmic dangers facing America, including its outright dissolution, as masses of people move towards friendlier regions of the country to escape intimidation and violence.

Trumps main rivals for the party nomination to the 2024 presidential elections are his former minions, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and ex-secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, who do not pose a serious challenge.

The former presidents sinister populism and solid popularity on the right, coupled with his powerful grip over the Republican party, make him the likely candidate to preside over and escalate the next national crisis come 2024. Trump seems determined to recapture the White House by hook or by crook, and to rule as an authoritarian leader, Vladimir Putin style.

Midterm congressional elections in November 2022 will prove an important stepping stone for Trump, as the candidates he supports may wellwinprimaries against the 10 Republican detractors, who voted to impeach him.

If Biden fails to pass major bills through Congress this year, especially his voting rights agenda, this would weaken his presidency and diminish his popularity even further. Meanwhile, Trumps supporters in some 18 state legislatures have already changed the rules to gain more control over voting and the outcome of the next elections.

If Republicans win a majority in Congress in November, which seemslikely at this stage, Biden will become a sitting duck president, further clearing Trumps path to the White House.

One cannot overstate the dangerofa Trump candidacy, let alone a vengeful second presidency, asIdiscussedin October. He hascaptured the imaginationof the American white right,stripped the Republican elites of allpretence of decency, and turned the GOP into an authoritarian party, all the while radically polarising the country.

An astounding 80 percent of Republican voters say they believe Trumps big lie about the rigged 2020 elections.

If Trump & co escape accountability for the January 6 attack on Congress and for their violent attempts at undermining the democratic process, they are likely to feel invincible and empowered to exploit the current tensions and the increased state of insecurity across the country to sow chaos if they lose the vote once again.

Nothing captures the meaning of a Trump second coming for America and its ramifications the rest of the world, better than the verse of the late Irish poet William Butler Yeats from his poem The Second Coming:

Turning and turning in the widening gyreThe falcon cannot hear the falconer;Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhereThe ceremony of innocence is drowned;The best lack all conviction, while the worstAre full of passionate intensity.

But then again, nothing is inevitable and all is still preventable. The challenge for America is to wake up to the creeping danger and prevent the brewing cultural and ideological fight from devolving into an all-out uncivil war come the 2024 elections.

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The prospects of another American (un)civil war - Al Jazeera English

From an iconic English singers farewell tour to musicals and comedy shows, these are the best things to do in Dallas this weekend (and early next week).

Extend your weekend until Tuesday night with Elton Johns performance at American Airlines Center. On his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, John will perform two shows in Dallas: January 25 and 26 at 8 pm. The show was originally scheduled for June 2020, but the English icon will finally be coming to town next week. As the shows title suggests, this will be the singers final tour, so get your tickets now.

Head to Irvings Toyota Music Factory this Friday night to catch indie rock band The War On Drugs. Founded in Philadelphia in 2005, the band is known for hits like Holding On and Under the Pressure. The group now consists of Adam Granduciel, David Hartley, Robbie Bennett, Charlie Hall, Jon Natchez, Anthony LaMarca, and Eliza Hardy Jones. Tickets are available here.

Beginning this week and going through January 30, Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown will be performing at Winspear Opera House. The 2020 Grammy Award-winner for Best Musical Theater Album tells the story of two intertwined mythic tales. One of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the other of King Hades and his wife Persephone. Dont miss the 2019 Best Musical from singer-songwriter Anas Mitchell and director Rachel Chavkin while its in town. Get your tickets here.

Comedian and actor Heather McMahan is heading to Dallas Majestic Theatre this weekend on her Farewell Tour. Recently seen in the new Netflix film Love Hard, McMahan will be performing on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night. The stand-up comedian also co-created the upcoming Peacock show, Good Grief, currently in development. Tickets are available for her stint at the Majestic here.

Remember Fluffy? The stand-up comedian is back on tour at American Airlines Center this Saturday at 8 pm. Most recently, Iglesias specialOne Show Fits Alldebuted on Netflix in 2019. Before that, he had five other specials on Comedy Central and more platforms. His first TV special,Hot and Fluffycame out in 2007. Tickets are available here.

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The Best Things To Do in Dallas This Weekend (And Next Week!) Elton John Is Coming to Town - PaperCity Magazine

Harsher sentencing on drugs leads to record numbers of incarceration, yet data shows that the current system has no impact on addictionnor the reduction of illicit drugs that are available.

There has to be a better way, a new series on Roku wonders.

The Roku Channel will debut an all-new Roku Original The Fix, on Friday, January 21. Actor Samuel L. Jackson narrates the eight-part docuseries, which is based on the New York Times bestselling book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, written by Johann Hari. The book was translated into 15 languages as his second best-seller. Hari joined the project as an executive producer.

If Haris name sounds familiarhis popular TED Talk Everything You Know About Addiction is Wrong might ring a bell. Why is itthat most people who are given powerful opioids out of surgery dont turn into junkies? What really causes addiction? Is it the substances that are actually the problem, or something else?

Hari, who graduated from Cambridge with flying colors, argues that locking people up in prison does nothing to solve addiction at the root cause, nor does the system work. The series was directed by Jeremiah Zagar, along with Nathan Caswell, Cassidy Gearhart and Josh Banville, and produced by Public Record, Jeff Hays Films and Story Syndicate. Hari, along with Jeff Hays, Jeremiah Zagar, Jeremy Yaches, Dan Cogan, Jon Bardin, Liz Garbus, Geralyn White Dreyfous served as executive producers.

What if the script we know so well hasnt actually kept us safe? Jackson proposes in the trailer.

Almost everything that we, as society, think we know about drugs is false, The Fix Director Jeremiah Zagar said in a statement. The United States has fought the war on drugs for decades, but the painful consequences of addiction continue to rampantly impact our communities. Roku Original The Fix boldly tackles this topic by debunking common misconceptions about drugs and highlighting alternative approaches to addiction. Audiences will walk away from The Fix with a clearer understanding of how we can combat this complex crisis.

The War on Drugs hasnt made us any safer, the series argues. The murder rate has actually gone up, since the War on Drugs began, one commenter says during the trailer.

Weve known the War on Drugs was a failure in solving the problem of addiction for over 10 years. Arresting and incarcerating tens of millions of these people in recent decades has filled prisons and destroyed lives and families without reducing the availability of illicit drugs or the power of criminal organizations, the Global Commission on Drug Policy 2011 report concludes. Most people know that U.S. drug policy heavily influences global policies via the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

The team at Roku hopes to become part of the conversation as the U.S. slowly takes a look at drug reformnotably seen in cannabis reform legislation.

Brian Tannenbaum is Head of Alternative Originals at Roku. We strive to deliver bold storytelling that both entertains and informs our audience, Tannenbaum said. Roku Original docuseries like The Fix do just that by peeling back the curtain and teaching viewers something new about the most relevant cultural topics. We look forward to bringing the eye-opening stories in The Fix to audiences this January.

Some families with drug-addicted family members think that sending them to jail will force them to get clean. Not necessarily. The Marshall Project highlighted the overdose crisis in U.S. prisons. Thats rightthey still have access to drugs once they get in. So, it begs the questionwhat exactly is the point of locking up drug addicts?

Also check out Haris book Stolen Focus, which critics deemed dangerous.

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The Fix on Roku Debunks the Lies Perpetuated by the War on Drugs - High Times

As SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia joined the latest SIT investigation in the drugs case on Wednesday, the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a separate matter issued a notice to the state Election Commission seeking its response on ensuring a drugs free election.

What both developments, barely hours apart, underscored was that the states rampant narcotics problem continues to loom large over its politics despite frequent promises of a clean-up.

Even while struggling to make neighbourhoods narcotics-free, one thing that Punjabs unending war on drugs has undeniably achieved is evermore sharp political rhetoric on the matter.

In the current poll season, the matter was again pushed to the front-burner by the Congress that booked SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia under the NDPS Act on December 20 last year and threatened to arrest him.

While an interim bail from the High Court on January 10 brought relief to the SAD leader, it gave enough ammunition to Congress political opponents to gun for the Charanjit Singh Channi governments lack of courage in putting Majithia behind bars.

Capts promise and initiatives It was during the 2017 poll campaign that Capt Amarinder Singh tilted the political scales in Congress favour with a pre-poll promise to wipe the menace in four weeks and took a vow of the holy Gutka Sahib.But despite his governments initiatives, the opposition remained critical of the Congress government on the issue. Amarinder, who had to unceremoniously quit as CM in September last year, was under attack on the matter not only from his opponents, but also his colleagues.

After he became CM, Amarinder was quick to constitute an anti-drug Special Task Force (STF). The STF under ADGP Harpreet Singh Sidhu introduced initiatives like drug abuse prevention officers and buddy programmer as part of governments three pronged strategy of enforcement, de-addiction and prevention (EDP), apart from Outpatient Opioid Assisted Treatment (OOAT) centres across the state.By September last year, over 7 lakh patients were registered for treatment where opioid dependent people are administered de-addiction medicine, a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone. There were 202 government-run OOAT centres, including 11 in jails, set up where medicine was given free-of-cost. In addition, the state has over 50 government and more than 200 private de-addiction and rehabilitation centres.

The buddy programme was introduced to form group of five classmates in educational institutions to prevent the vulnerable adolescents from falling into the trap of drugs. More than 43 lakh students enrolled for the scheme. Further, the drug abuse prevention officers were supposed to raise awareness and identify users, high-risk people and vulnerable sections. DAPOs were categorised into two official volunteer (OV) and citizen volunteer (CV). As per the recent data, 6.28 lakh drug abuse prevention officers (DAPO) have already contacted over 11.33 lakh people to make them aware of ill effects of drugs and provided literature on the subject.

The case against Bikram Majithia But while separate initiatives ad probes in various drugs cases have continued, political parties have often trained their guns on Majithia while accusing him of having links with drug racket kingpins. It is an allegation that both Majithia and SAD have denied.

The case against Majithia was registered on the directions of then officiating Punjab DGP Sidhharth Chattopadhyaya and on the basis of the STFs 2018 report. The STF probe was further based on the money laundering investigations carried out by the ED into a set of drug cases from the end of 2013 to 2016.Majithia is alleged to have had an association with those involved in a multi-crore drug scam with dismissed Punjab Police DSP and Arjuna awardee Jagdish Bhola as a kingpin.In February 2019, Bhola was sentenced in three cases 12 years in one, ten years in another and two years in the third case. He was acquitted in other three cases.

Also, 23 of the 54 accused named in the FIR against Bhola were also sentenced after being held guilty under various offences.

These cases were registered during the erstwhile SAD-BJP alliance government in which Majithia was a Cabinet minister.

Over five years later, Majithia is out of power but still at the Centre of political attacks over the narcotics issue. While nothing has been proved in the court of law so far, the allegations cost the SAD heavily in 2017 polls as the party was reduced to its worst every performance in the Assembly with just 15 MLAs.

Even as spotlight has returned to Majithia before the present polls, Congress continues to face criticism for being soft on him and SAD continues to cry vendetta politics. Former CM Amarinder Singh termed it wrong parcha registered due to vendetta, while PPCC chief Navjot Singh Sidhu termed the registration of case against Majithia as first step ensure justice in the cases of drug menace.And while the police cases drag and evidence of drugs still being freely peddled in villages continue to surface, the political parties are once again busy trying to out-do each other in promises of a post-poll clean-up.

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War on drugs drags, politics on it rages on - The Indian Express

The War On Drugs have dropped their support acts from their US tour amid continued concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID.

The band are set to begin a run of dates behind 2021 album I Dont Live Here Anymore next week (January 19), and in a message posted to their website, Adam Granduciel also asked fans to wear masks throughout the performance.

Granduciel began the message by revealing that the bands shows in Toronto on February 5 and 6 have been cancelled due to restrictions on the capacity of indoor events in the Canadian state of Ontario.

Weve always loved playing for you in Toronto and have had some of our most memorable nights as a band there, the message said. Were so disappointed to be doing this, but we promise well make it up to you in 2022 (and beyond). Wheels are already in motion as they say

The War On Drugs Adam Granduciel CREDIT: Gus Stewart/Redferns

Going on to discuss the remaining tour dates, and new plans that are being put in place, Granduciel added: Were also requesting that as many of you as possible wear a mask when you come see us play this tour especially if youre in the first few (50) rows. I know were all over masks but for one, it makes me more at ease cuz now I dont get self conscious (and dark) when I see yall yawn out there but also because we want our fans, our crew and our band to stay healthy so we can honour the commitments weve made to every city on this tour. Seriously, we would really appreciate it.

Of support acts, he added: Second, due to this latest Covid surge and our need to exist within the tightest possible tour bubble, there will be no support acts on this run. We know how excited all of the opening acts were for this tour and we sincerely appreciate them being so fn understanding.

A host of gigs have been cancelled worldwide due to the surge in Omicron cases. Most recently, Rina Sawayama cancelled her upcoming European tour and Wolf Alices UK run of dates is also off.

For shows that have been going ahead, a number of acts have been relying on specially trained dogs to sniff outCOVIDbefore a show needs to be cancelled.

As reported byRolling Stone, Eric Church,Tool,MetallicaandThe Black Keyshave brought dogs on board that are able to sniff for traces of the virus in anyone involved backstage, including members of their crew and entourage. If they detect the virus after sniffing peoples hands and feet, they sit down.

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The War On Drugs drop support acts from US tour due to Omicron - NME