Mainstream News

Army: Drone strike ‘condolence payments’ for targets killed ‘an expression of sympathy’

"There’s little documentation of where and how such payments are being made. The government has released almost no information on civilian casualties sustained in drone strikes conducted by the CIA and the military in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia. Officials maintain they have been 'in the single digits' in recent years, while independent researchers put the total for the past decade in the hundreds. Certainly, though, drone strikes and condolence payments make for a striking match: The technological apex of war combined with an age-old method of compensating loss." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArmy: Drone strike ‘condolence payments’ for targets killed ‘an expression of sympathy’

UN human rights chief slams failure to shut Guantanamo

"Washington is breaking international law by holding detainees indefinitely at Guantanamo and must honour a pledge to shut the controversial jail, the UN’s human rights chief said. 'The continuing indefinite incarceration of many of the detainees amounts to arbitrary detention and is in clear breach of international law. It severely undermines the United States’ stance that it is an upholder of human rights… When other countries breach these standards, the US — quite rightly — strongly criticises them for it.' The jail, in a US Navy base in Cuba, was opened in 2002 to hold prisoners taken in the 'War on Terror' waged by George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN human rights chief slams failure to shut Guantanamo

American drivers still talk, text as much as ever despite laws against it

"Americans are using cellphones and other gadgets behind the wheel as much as ever, despite widespread awareness of the risks involved, a federal government agency said Friday. Citing a 2011 survey, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said 660,000 Americans are talking or texting while driving at any given moment, a number unchanged from the previous year. Thirty-nine of the 50 states now ban text messaging behind the wheel, and 10 states forbid heldheld cellphone use — although observers say those bans are frequently ignored." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmerican drivers still talk, text as much as ever despite laws against it

Massachusetts inspector general finds sloppy drug handling throughout closed state lab

"State investigators have found at least a half-dozen drug samples scattered about the state lab in Jamaica Plain, documents show, raising questions about the integrity of all testing where indicted state chemist Annie Dookhan worked. Investigators found a plastic bag containing 'a white rock substance' and test tubes 'containing unknown substances' in one supervisor’s ­office. They found pills taped to a lab bench cabinet and old samples, including marijuana submitted in 1996. The findings, in a confidential report by the attorney ­general, add fuel to defense lawyers’ arguments that virtually all drug tests done there since 2003 are suspect." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMassachusetts inspector general finds sloppy drug handling throughout closed state lab

A First-time Offender, Father To Three, Sells Pain Pills To A Friend, Gets 25 Years In Prison.

"You've got a 46-year-old employed father caught selling four bottles of prescription pain pills. Twenty-five years minimum! It costs Florida roughly $19,000 to incarcerate an inmate for a year. So I ask you, dear reader, is keeping non-violent first-time drug offender John Horner locked behind bars in a jumpsuit really the best use of $475,000? For the same price, you could pay a year's tuition for 75 students at Florida State University. Is it accurate to call a system that demands the 25-year prison term mad? Well. Prosecutors offered to shave years off his sentence if he became an informant himself and successfully helped send five others to prison on 25 year terms." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA First-time Offender, Father To Three, Sells Pain Pills To A Friend, Gets 25 Years In Prison.

Czech pharmacies begin selling medical marijuana

"Medical marijuana legally went on sale Tuesday in pharmacies across the Czech Republic for patients suffering from cancer, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis or psoriasis. The new law does not foresee health insurance coverage for marijuana, touted by some as a medical miracle drug. The prescription-only drug formally became legal on Monday, but was virtually unavailable as most pharmacies across the ex-communist European Union state of 10.5 million were closed over to the Easter long weekend. An EU member since in 2004, the Czech Republic provides some of the most liberal access to soft drugs in Europe." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCzech pharmacies begin selling medical marijuana

Possessing a little marijuana no longer criminal in Rhode Island

"A law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana went into effect in Rhode Island on Monday after the state last year became the 15th in the United States to enact such legislation. Governor Lincoln Chafee signed the legislation into law in June but it did not take effect until Monday, a move intended to allow time for officials to work out procedures, said state Representative John Edwards, a co-sponsor of the measure. Possession of one ounce (28 grams) or less of marijuana in Rhode Island now constitutes a civil offense punishable by a $150 fine and forfeiture of the drug, though three offenses in an 18-month period amount to a misdemeanor." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPossessing a little marijuana no longer criminal in Rhode Island

The GOP’s Drug-Testing Dragnet

"The annual Drug & Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) conference, held in 2012 in San Antonio, Texas, looks like any other industry gathering. The 600 or so attendees sip their complimentary Starbucks coffee, munch on small plates of muffins and fresh fruit, and backslap old acquaintances as they file into a sprawling Marriott hotel conference hall. They will hear a keynote address by Robert DuPont, who served as drug policy director under Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Nothing odd about any of this until you consider that the main subject of the conference is urine." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe GOP’s Drug-Testing Dragnet

Military’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific

"Operation Martillo and other military assistance to Central American nations represent one of the most ambitious US efforts against drug cartels since World War II. The United States has trained security forces across the region, deployed 200 Marines in Guatemala and built forward operating bases in Honduras and shared radar intelligence with Honduran authorities. But top US generals warned last month that the effort could be greatly undermined by budget cuts. The cost of international operations and support to nations worldwide to fight drugs went from $2.7 billion in 2001 to $5.7 billion last year." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMilitary’s ‘war on drugs’ back as U.S. Navy looks to net big catches in the Pacific

Guatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’

"This is often the problem with the war on drugs: shifting the problem from one region to another. The transit nations are now recognised as a distinct set of countries caught in the war on drugs. As they produce and consume few drugs they are among the more innocent victims. But now they have a bullish and vociferous spokesperson in Guatemala’s president, Otto Pérez Molina. A previously hardline director of military intelligence, Pérez Molina became president a year ago. He surprised many when, within weeks, he declared that the war on drugs had failed and that the international community needed to end the 'taboo' of debating decriminalisation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuatemala’s president: ‘My country bears the scars from the war on drugs’