Alternative News

Why Is the U.S. Funding International Drug Rehabs Known for Torture and Abuse?

"Children are not exempt from indefinite detainment in these camps. UNICEF-sponsored investigations in Laos found 150 detainees under 18 in 2003, and more than 600 children in 2006. Despite calls from human rights organizations, the United States has continued to pump money into the Somsanga Rehabilitation Center. In March of last year, 12 United Nations agencies, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and UNAIDS, issued a joint statement calling for the closure of drug-user detention centers where they identified grave human rights violations." Continue reading →

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The Crime of “Vice Enforcement”

"On March 22, Officer Ronald DePellegrin of Homestead, Pennsylvania allowed a prostitute to undress him and begin to perform a sexual act before he informed her that he was an undercover vice officer. DePellegrin had contacted the prostitute through an online advertisement. The two agreed to meet at a house to conduct the transaction. Before they began, DePellegrin assured her that he was not a cop. All of these details were included in DePellegrin’s official report. The woman’s attorney points out that 'the police in this particular instance are engaging in the exact type of criminal activity that they’re saying that they’re trying to protect the community from.'" Continue reading →

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San Diego mayor OK with a certain company’s marijuana vending machines

"The San Diego mayor’s office accepts the use of some marijuana vending machines, according to a major manufacturer of the drug-dispensing devices. Though the company’s automated dispensing machine resembles typical vending machines, it differs in key ways. The touch-screen Canna MedBox can only be accessed via a special pre-paid card and fingerprint scan. The machine is also armored to prevent thefts and keeps a record of every transaction." Continue reading →

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Massachusetts Attorney General: Pot shops allowed statewide

"Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley ruled Wednesday that medical marijuana dispensaries must be allowed statewide and individual municipalities cannot legally block them. The ruling (PDF) was issued by Coakley’s Municipal Law Unit in response to a 2012 bylaw passed by officials in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Two other nearby towns also passed a similar ordinance. It says that the legalization of medical marijuana, enshrined in state law, 'cannot be served if a municipality were to prohibit treatment centers within its borders, for if one municipality were allowed to do so, all could do so, making reasonable access impossible.'" Continue reading →

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US Supreme Court Expands Use of Drug Dogs During Traffic Stops

"America's highest court on Tuesday made it easier for police to use drug dogs to perform warrantless searches during traffic stops. Harris was not actually carrying any drugs that Aldo was trained to detect. Instead, he had several ingredients for methamphetamine: pseudoephedrine pills, matches, hydrochloric acid, antifreeze and iodine crystals. At trial, Harris argued the sniffs were bogus because the dog twice alerted on a truck containing no drugs. He pointed out Aldo was certified as a trained drug dog, but the certification had expired. Prosecutors countered it was 'residual odor' that triggered the alert." Continue reading →

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Public Schools Give Kids Attention Deficit Disorder.

"The CDC has diagnosed this at attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known as 'I’d rather not be here' disorder. It is higher in states where boys can go hunting instead of sitting in school. In South Carolina, Louisiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Arkansas, the squirming is intense: 23%. The solution is drugs. Legal ones. The ones supplied by the pushers: public schools. These drugs keep people from squirming. When you are listening to some tax-funded, tenured drone, and you would rather be hunting, pills help. Medicaid covers the cost of the drugs for poor families. The children in these families have one-third more instances of the disease." Continue reading →

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Odorless ‘weed candies’ in high schools worry Oregon authorities

"Small hard candy infused with marijuana has popped up in high schools in northwestern Oregon, authorities have warned. The sugary green candy is frequently shaped as a skull, Gresham police officer Rick Blake told local news station KGW. 'They just sit and suck on it,' Blake added. 'And, the biggest thing is its odorless, and having no odor, they can sit in class and have this thing and by the end of class, they’re high.' The drug-infused treat is reportedly being sold to high school students for $1 to $5 a piece. Blake told the Portland Tribune the 'weed candy' was relatively easy to make, requiring only marijuana and a few common household ingredients." Continue reading →

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71st Anniversary: Roosevelt’s Concentration Camps

"The U.S. government had several governments in South America round up Japanese residents, who were then shipped to the U.S. The government put them in concentration camps. These camps received no publicity. One of them was in Crystal City, Texas. This was kidnapping, pure and simple. This story is so horrifying that the history textbooks never mention it. You will see no show about it on the History Channel. You can read about it here. These people were sent to Japan after the war." Continue reading →

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Fighting Drug Addiction With Marijuana

"For decades, Colombia has been searching for ways to treat people who are addicted to basuco, the nation’s version of crack cocaine. Now, the country’s capital, Bogota, is considering a new approach: transition users to marijuana. BBC Mundo reports that the city is interested in trying a pilot program to see if pot helps mitigate the symptoms of withdrawal that basuco users experience. The goal is to minimize the social and health risks that accompany the drug." Continue reading →

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Weed Warrior: Keith Stroup

"I do believe several additional states will fully legalize marijuana over the coming five to ten years, and all states will stop arresting people for private use. So we too should have an exciting next few years. It is difficult to know where the fight for personal freedom will next break through the public consciousness, but it may well involve the militarization of domestic law enforcement—including the use of unmanned drones to gather intelligence on our own citizens by local and state officials who are not worried about terrorism, but are rather seeking a new tool to use to enforce existing criminal laws, those against personal drug use." Continue reading →

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