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Jan 07, 2013 Marijuana use is too risky a choice

QUOTE: In 1943, Vice President Henry Wallace published a book celebrating the coming "century of the common man." That century did not last very long. We have transitioned instead into the era of the clever man and clever woman. We have revised our institutions, our programs, our rules in ways that offer profitable new chances to those with cultural know-how -- and that inflict disastrous consequences on those who are overwhelmed by a world of ever-more-abundant and ever-more-risky choices.

CNN (Cable News Network)
Dec 13, 2011 Beirut Bank Seen as a Hub of Hezbollah’s Financing

QUOTE: an intricate global money-laundering apparatus that, with the bank as its hub, appeared to let Hezbollah move huge sums of money into the legitimate financial system, despite sanctions aimed at cutting off its economic lifeblood....While law enforcement agencies around the world have long believed that Hezbollah is a passive beneficiary of contributions from loyalists abroad involved in drug trafficking and a grab bag of other criminal enterprises, intelligence from several countries points to the direct involvement of high-level Hezbollah officials in the South American cocaine trade.

New York Times
Oct 28, 2009 Critics: DEA crackdown denies some patients pain medication

QUOTE: Heightened efforts by the Drug Enforcement Administration to crack down on narcotics abuse are producing a troubling side effect by denying some hospice and elderly patients needed pain medication...

Washington Post
Oct 09, 2009 Marijuana Licensing Fails to Chase the Shadows

QUOTE: Those engaged in the experiment [by selling marijuana] here [now legal in New Mexico] never know if they will be arrested, because growing, selling and using marijuana remain illegal under federal law. And robbery is always a fear.

New York Times
Aug 20, 2009 The 21 Club: Drinking laws

QUOTE: In the past, states have been too fiscally timid to challenge the 21 law. But calls for change are growing louder.

Economist
Aug 11, 2009 Salvia on Schedule: Law, Medicine and a Hallucinogen: Scheduling the mind-altering herb as a controlled substance could slow medical research

QUOTE: As the source of the most powerful natural hallucinogen known, salvia is drawing scrutiny from U.S. authorities who want to restrict this Mexican herb... But neuro­scientists worry that controlling it before studies have determined its safety profile is premature and could hamper research of the drug's medicinal value.

Scientific American
Aug 07, 2009 Nicotine-Loving Iraqis Deride Smoking-Ban Plan: Residents Question Maliki's Priorities

QUOTE: a bill being presented to the Iraqi parliament by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's cabinet would rewrite rules in a way that many Iraqis who were interviewed described as inconceivable, by banning smoking in government buildings and public indoor areas.

Washington Post
Aug 07, 2009 Reforming Crack-Cocaine Laws, but Leaving Injustice Intact?

QUOTE: reformers of drug sentencing laws are closing in on a goal that was unthinkable even a few years ago: scrapping the federal sentencing structure established in 1986 that gives far harsher penalties for crack cocaine than for powder cocaine, resulting in prisons packed with low-level, predominantly African American offenders.

Time Magazine
Jul 31, 2009 U.S. Criticized for Extraditing Minor Colombian Drug Suspects

QUOTE: A range of critics -- defense lawyers, analysts and even a former American ambassador who once strongly advocated extradition here -- are questioning a policy that they say has gone beyond targeting drug kingpins to scooping up players on the periphery of the narcotics trade

Washington Post
Jul 26, 2009 Tests for California's 'pot economy': Medical marijuana booms in cities such as L.A., with some eyeing its revenue potential. But there's pushback, too.

QUOTE: as [medical marijuana] dispensaries have sprouted across this and other California cities, they face pushback from local residents unhappy with their new neighbors and officials concerned about inadequate oversight of a novel business.

Christian Science Monitor
Jul 13, 2009 Calderon's drug offensive stirs 'wasp nest' (Mexico Under Siege)

QUOTE: The 2 1/2-year offensive has uncovered deep corruption and sparked violent gang wars, presenting a stark reality: The longer and harder the war is fought, the more complex and daunting it becomes.

Los Angeles Times
Jul 09, 2009 Mexico Accused of Torture in Drug War: Army Using Brutality To Fight Trafficking, Rights Groups Say

QUOTE: The Mexican army has carried out forced disappearances, acts of torture and illegal raids in pursuit of drug traffickers...

Washington Post
Jul 04, 2009 Facing a Crisis, Aborigines Stage Interventions of Their Own

QUOTE: Four decades after a constitutional amendment guaranteed equal rights for Australia’s Aborigines, including the right to legally drink, an increasing number of indigenous towns and smaller communities deep in the outback are curtailing the sale of alcohol.

New York Times
Jul 01, 2009 Coming Soon: A Breathalyzer in Every Car?

QUOTE: A new highway bill pending before Congress would instruct all 50 states to require all motorists convicted of driving under the influence to equip their cars with interlock systems that shut down a vehicle when a measured amount of alcohol is detected.

Time Magazine
Apr 11, 2009 Strip-Search Case Could Redefine Student Privacy

QUOTE: [Savana Redding] had been strip-searched by school officials in a futile hunt for drugs.

Washington Post
Oct 10, 2008 Womb Raider: Do future health problems begin during gestation?

QUOTE: Few people argue crack use is harmless, but the uniquely vengeful approach to incarcerating and punishing female crack addicts arose from the conviction that the drug harmed developing brains for good. In 2001, a team of Boston University pediatricians finally reviewed the evidence and concluded that, in fact, there was "no convincing evidence" for a crack baby syndrome—the whole thing was a made-up affair.

Slate
Feb 01, 2008 Relief and Defiance At Smoking's Last Gasp: Health Saved? Rights Curtailed? Split Views, and Some Shrugs, Over Md. Ban

QUOTE: The [Maryland state smoking] ban has been lauded by health advocates as an important protection against the dangers of secondhand smoke, but [a critic] views it as an attack on the rights of business owners and smokers.

Washington Post
Nov 28, 2007 A test of Maine regulations on Internet tobacco sales to minors: The US Supreme Court on Wednesday weighs whether the state law impedes interstate shipping.

QUOTE: The issue arrives Wednesday at the US Supreme Court, where the justices must decide whether Maine's effort to regulate tobacco sales on the Internet is preempted by a federal law that bars individual states from interfering in the operations of interstate shipping and transport companies.

Christian Science Monitor
Nov 06, 2007 In Denver, a Ballot Fight Over Marijuana Arrests

QUOTE: But, it is unclear how the authorities will react if the measure passes. The 2005 measure garnered 54 percent approval. But city officials have ignored it, choosing instead to keep enforcing superseding state laws, which stipulate that a marijuana offense of an ounce or less, considered a Class 2 petty offense in Colorado, is punishable by a $100 fine

New York Times
Oct 03, 2007 Neighbor tenants tangle over tobacco

QUOTE: As tens of thousands of apartments and condos go smoke-free, a new battle is opening in the nation's decades-long fight over tobacco. Smoking bans have spread from workplaces to restaurants, bars, parks, ATM lines, cars with kids and now private residences.

USA TODAY
Feb 16, 2007 Cycling Race Did Not Test for Drug of Its Sponsor

QUOTE: And now, organizers of the Tour of California, who boasted after last year’s race that no riders tested positive for banned substances, have acknowledged that riders were not tested for what has become the sport’s most abused drug — the blood booster known as EPO.

New York Times
Jan 21, 2007 U.S. Officials Laud Transfer Of Mexican Drug Suspects: Attorney General Calls Friday's Extraditions 'Unprecedented'

QUOTE: For years, U.S. officials have criticized Mexico as a sometimes-difficult partner in the war against drugs because of its reluctance to extradite top drug lords to the United States. Mexico has long refused to extradite suspects who might face the death penalty. In 2001, Mexico's Supreme Court also barred extraditions of suspects facing possible life sentences, which were considered "cruel and unusual punishment" here. But the court reversed itself in November 2005, clearing the way for higher-profile extraditions.

Washington Post
Aug 11, 2006 Teen battles state over cancer treatment

QUOTE: Starchild Abraham Cherrix, a 16-year-old suffering from Hodgkin's disease, has refused chemotherapy and radiation treatments ordered by his oncologist...government lawyers will accuse his parents, who support Abraham's herbal treatment, of medical neglect.

CourtTV.com
Mar 18, 2006 High Crimes, or A Tokin' Figure: Canadians Find the 'Prince of Pot' Harmless. The DEA Begs to Differ.

QUOTE: Emery's arrest for extradition on U.S. "drug kingpin" charges, carrying a minimum sentence of 10 years to life in prison, outraged many in Canada. They resented the long reach of America's law and what they saw as the United States' fevered preoccupation with pot.

Washington Post
Feb 05, 2006 In N.H., a Beer in the Belly Can Get Youths Arrested: Possession Is Redefined to Cover Alcohol Already Consumed

QUOTE: In a break with legal tradition, an underage person with drinks in his or her system often faces the same charge as one with a drink in hand....spawned criticism from some legal scholars, who say the laws are pushing the definition of a real possession charge.

Washington Post
Jun 06, 2005 High Court Allows Prosecution of Medical Marijuana Users

QUOTE: The Supreme Court today upheld the power of Congress to prohibit and prosecute the possession and use of marijuana for medical purposes, even in the 11 states that permit it.

New York Times
Aug 12, 2004 DEA, Doctors Issue Guidelines On Use of Powerful Painkillers

QUOTE: An earlier consensus paper failed to clarify the issues, leading to a situation in which many patients with severe pain have been turned away by doctors and pharmacists concerned that prescribing and dispensing opioid painkillers would get them in trouble with the law.

Washington Post
Jul 25, 2004 For DUI, Personal Costs Are High: Virginia Arrests Exact Both a Financial and Mental Toll

QUOTE: As Virginia and other states across the country tighten laws against DUI offenses, the legal ramifications of an arrest are becoming more serious and more predictable. But the personal fallout is harder to measure.

Washington Post
Jul 15, 2004 No Longer a Minor Matter: Using Underage Buyers, City Turns Up Heat on Illegal Liquor Sales to Teens

QUOTE: The teenager is part of an undercover operation involving the D.C. police and the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA), the city agency that is aggressively clamping down on businesses that peddle liquor to minors.

Washington Post
Jun 13, 2004 USADA Eases Proof Standard: Move Could Affect BALCO Scandal

QUOTE: In a move that could have major implications in the doping scandal related to the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO), the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has begun to argue that the stringent burden of proof standard known as "beyond a reasonable doubt" should no longer apply to track and field drug cases because of recent changes in anti-doping rules...

Washington Post
Feb 18, 2003 Firms Offer Ways to Foil Drug Tests: Intensifying Efforts Spur Counterattack

QUOTE: Rolling right along with workplace (drug) testing was the development of a counter effort...One company says on its Web site that it changes the formula for chemicals to fool the drug-testing labs every six to nine months.

Washington Post
Jan 19, 2003 Pleas can bring lighter sentences

QUOTE: The 45-year sentence imposed this past week on a 39-year-old Hernando woman convicted of ramming a deputy’s car has sparked some debate.

Citrus County Chronicle
Nov 20, 2002 Authorities target driving while 'drugged'

QUOTE: Had he been drunk, he would have faced a possible felony murder charge and up to 40 years in prison for causing the fatal accident. But because he was using illegal drugs, he received two years for reckless homicide...

Christian Science Monitor
Nov 07, 2002 2nd Colombian Judge Orders Release of Drug Lord

QUOTE: Concerned of the men's imminent freedom, law enforcement authorities in Washington scrambled this week to find evidence linking the two drug lords to crimes committed in the United States.

New York Times
Oct 11, 2002 Smoking Issue Is Clear: The Other Side's Wrong

QUOTE: ...the battle of virtues: crusaders for clean lungs and fresh indoor air against champions of choice and the right of people to behave as stupidly as they want.

New York Times
Oct 08, 2002 Tests target students' tobacco use

QUOTE: ...some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to determine whether they have been using tobacco. Opponents say such testing violates students' rights...

Boston Globe
Sep 20, 2002 Court Blocks D.C. Vote on Medical Use of Marijuana

QUOTE: Efforts to legalize marijuana for medical purposes in [Washington DC]were blocked yesterday when a federal appeals court overturned, without explanation, an earlier court ruling...

Washington Post
Sep 18, 2002 Defiant California City Hands Out Marijuana

QUOTE: Since the United States Supreme Court ruled last year that the 1996 California voter initiative legalizing medical marijuana did not provide a defense against federal prosecution, the state has become the target of Bush administration efforts to crack down on the cultivation and distribution of the drug.

New York Times
Aug 02, 2002 Nevadans Weigh Proposal to Make Marijuana Legal

QUOTE: After voting two years ago to ease state drug laws, Nevada voters could go even further this year, making their state the first to legalize marijuana and derive taxes from a regulated sales system.

New York Times
Aug 01, 2002 Opposition to Dangerous Senate RAVE Act Grows

QUOTE: The bill at the center of debate is the Reducing American's Vulnerability to Ecstasy Act (RAVE Act). If enacted, business owners could face severe fines and long prison sentences if they fail to prevent customers from using or selling drugs on their premises or at their concerts or other events.

Drug Policy Alliance
Jul 21, 2002 Enforcing the Party Line

QUOTE: Your rationalization -- if they don't have a boozy blowout at my house, they'll do it where no parent is around -- rings hollow.

New York Times
Jun 28, 2002 Justices Allow Schools Wider Use of Random Drug Tests for Pupils

QUOTE: The Supreme Court today upheld the widespread use of random drug testing of public school students in a significant expansion of an earlier ruling that endorsed drug testing for student athletes.

New York Times
Mar 27, 2002 Supreme Court Upholds Public Housing Drug Law: Rehnquist Says Rule 'Unambiguously' Written

QUOTE: Upholding the federal government's "one strike and you're out" drug policy for low-income housing projects, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a public housing tenant may be evicted if any member of his or her household, or a guest, is caught using illegal drugs...

Washington Post
Dec 27, 2001 When the Kid's in Cuffs, What's a Parent to DO? What Might Seem Like the End of Your World May Really Be the Start of His Shaping Up

QUOTE: "This is a detective down at the Reston district station -- we've got your daughter in custody." There must be some mistake. Your life flashes before your eyes.

Washington Post
Dec 18, 2001 NBC's Drinking Problem

QUOTE: General Electric's NBC subsidiary became the first corporation to hit the bottle, ending more than 50 years of sobriety to self-medicate its bottom line with millions of dollars of TV commercials for hard liquor.It is attempting to dress its decision in the sheep's wool of responsibility...

Washington Post
Dec 16, 2001 The Ethicist: After the Crash

QUOTE:

New York Times
Nov 08, 2001 Justices to Decide On Drug Tests for Public School Groups Beyond Athletes

QUOTE: ...[Supreme Court's] 1995 ruling that upheld drug testing for student athletes but that left school districts uncertain about whether they could also make other groups of students, or perhaps all students, subject to testing as a strategy for deterring drug use.

New York Times
Sep 26, 2001 Supreme Court Agrees to Look At Vouchers

QUOTE: ...justices announced that they would rule on the constitutionality of a publicly financed Ohio program that helps thousands of parents in Cleveland pay their children's tuition at religious schools.

New York Times
Sep 01, 2001 States Easing Stringent Laws On Prison Time

QUOTE: ...a number of states this year have quietly rolled back some of their most stringent anticrime measures, including those imposing mandatory minimum sentences and forbidding early parole.

New York Times
May 18, 2001 Woman Is Convicted of Killing Her Fetus By Smoking Cocaine

QUOTE: ...sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing her unborn fetus by smoking crack cocaine....first such homicide case in the country.

New York Times