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Drugs factory uncovered after neighbours spot smoke

A CANNABIS factory has been uncovered in a Sheffield home after
neighbours spotted smoke coming from the roof.

Firefighters forced their way into the house in Hillsborough where they
found hydroponics equipment and a plastic greenhouse used to nurture
cannabis plants.

The discovery came after a 999 call around 7pm on Saturday from a member
of the public who had seen smoke rising from the roof.

Firefighters from Rivelin Valley initially struggled to gain access to
the building on Findon Street because of three dogs which appeared to be
guarding the premises.

But police dog handlers enabled the crew to get into the building where
they swiftly found a storage cupboard lined with tin foil and what they
believe was an electrical fire.

Although the flames were contained a search revealed another bedroom
containing the propagating equipment.

Police confirmed a man was later arrested although they were unable to
give details of actual cannabis plants in the house.

Other people living on the street were surprised to hear of the activity.

One middle-aged neighbour, who would not give her name, said: "This is a
normal, nice area. It is hard to believe something like this might have
been going on right on our doorstep."

The discovery follows the arrest of two men on Friday after around 30
cannabis plants were located during a raid on a property in Wharncliffe
Side, on the outskirts of Sheffield.

Police discovered the crop in Bank Side inside a barn.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/Drugs-factory-uncovered-after-neighbours.3629309.jp

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ISLAMABAD: Police arrested seven criminals Sunday and seized a huge
quantity of ammunition and drugs from their possession.

Golra policed seized 140 grams of cannabis from Fazle Elahi, 730 grams
of cannabis from Muhammad Sajid, and 600 grams of cannabis from Sarbat
Khan. Police Station Sabzi Mandi seized two pistols.

A reshuffle in the city police is expected following the murder of PPP
chairperson Benazir Bhutto in order to make up security lapses.

At least 30 people were killed in the suicide attack in Liaquat Bagh on
27th. The reshuffle is expected at the highest level and it is likely
that some heads will roll.

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HEALTH experts from the African Union (AU) have asked member states to
ban the growing of cannabis, popularly known as marijuana.

They are worried that the cultivation of the drug, locally known as
njaga/i>, was affecting agricultural production and posing serious food
shortage on the continent.

It was also observed that cannabis users were at a higher risk of
contracting HIV, among other sexually transmitted infections.

The concerns are contained in a 12-page document passed at the African
Union conference of ministers for drug control and crime prevention,
held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, from December 3-7.

“African leaders should acknowledge the use of cannabis as a continental
problem. Governments should get more involved in drug control through
adoption and application of effective legislations and border control.
Populations especially in the rural areas should stop cannabis
production,” the document reads in part.

Speaking to The New Vision recently, Dr. David Basangwa, who was one of
the Ugandan delegates at the conference, said: “Some people are planting
more acres of cannabis and less of food, because they think they will
get more money. This leads to food insecurity, and that is why we feel
that production of the drug should be stopped across nations.”

On HIV, Basangwa, a drug control expert and senior psychiatrist at
Butabika Hospital, explained that some people were injecting the drug
into their skin, using unsterilised equipment. “Even in Uganda, it is
happening, though it is a hidden activity,” he said.

Basangwa, however, expressed concern that Uganda does not have a
statutory body to oversee drug control. He also wondered why a bill on
drug abuse had not been passed by Parliament, yet the laws in place are
weak and archaic.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/19/604245

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Medical cannabis grower 'grins and bears' prison sentence

November 2007 was a sad month for the medical cannabis movement in the
UK. A movement which above all else, wants only to be recognised as
being bona-fide. Law abiding.

It was the month Roderick Cotton was jailed for growing cannabis plants
destined to help medical patients deal with pain.

Stoic

But rather than whinge relentlessly about how unjust his prison sentence
is, Mr Cotton decided to make the best of a bad situation and get on
with serving his sentence. Not looking back. Only looking forward.

Lets face it, he broke the law right? And if you are thinking of joining
the movement to help sick people source medical marijuana, and you get
caught, chances are you're going to jail too. So its a decision which
needs careful thought.

Once your front door has been kicked off its hinges by the police, you
are on your own, and regardless of the pledges of support you may have
received.

In the meantime the Canna Zine recently heard from a representative of
www.cannabisassembly.org - the Rev Paul Farnhill, who visited Rod Cotton
on 21st December 07, and the Rev Farnhill filled us in on how Mr Cotton
passes the days whilst he serves his sentence at one of Her Majesty's
prison's.

Apparently Rod Cotton is spending time undertaking a couple of
educational courses - in business management and computer skills.

He also plays guitar with a small musical group set up by the prison
chaplain, and he is helping fellow prisoners who had key information in
their respective cases ignored by the courts, helping to hilight the
fact many convictions are found on evidence and information which can
best be described as "flawed".

Mr Cottons appeal suffered a setback when it was delayed by the seasonal
postal service, but we're happy to report the appeal has now been lodged
with the European Courts stating incompatibility between the Misuse of
Drugs Act and numerous Articles of the European Court of Human Rights.

Mr Cotton is expecting to be released sometime in February, and hopes to
take part in a delayed festive season with his friends and family
there-after and on behalf of Rod Cotton, he asks that we pass on a
message of thanks to all those who stood up and made a noise over his
imprisonment!

The medical cannabis movement is here to stay in the UK. Of this there
can be no doubt.

Now we just have to convince the politicians of the fact.

Set up in February 2007, the Canna Zine is the first-in-the-world news
agency dedicated to the global issues surrounding cannabis and hemp. To
post your free cannabis or hemp press release, sign up for a free
account on http://pr.cannazine.co.uk , post your news release, and the
Canna Zine will do the rest.

http://pr.cannazine.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=70&Itemid=1

Whenever the Drug Czar links favorably to some news report, I pretty much expect that it'll be pretty amazingly stupid.

Bertha Madras said drug use and abuse are associated with all kinds of problems. Madras, deputy director of demand reduction in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, mentioned that drugs can cause delinquency, violence, accidents and brain damage. Her advice? Say no to drugs.

Did you know that food can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, hives, asthma, diabetes, kidney failure, anaphylaxis, gout, and death? My advice? Say no to idiots who give meaningless advice.

... and another open thread, as I continue my vacation in the snowy wilds of Iowa. Via Scott at Grits for Breakfast... Apparently, the U.S. government is not only running cocaine, but providing loans to Mexican drug cartels. Well, the loans were supposed to be to help trade with Mexico, so I guess that works. OpEd by Rob Kampia: If Tobacco Regulation Works, Why Not for Marijuana? Fortunately, she wasn't home... Drug Police Smash Down Front Door of Innocent Gran in Cannabis Search

DRUG-busting police smashed down the front door of a grandmother's house in a hunt for a cannabis farm. Anne Mayor was stunned when she returned to her small home in Aintree to discover six officers had broken in and scoured it for drugs. [...] "The officer apologised, but I don't want an apology. It's not good enough."

OpEd by Paul Armentano: Ending America's Domestic Quagmire: No-Knock, You're Dead OpEd by Sanho Tree: What Darwin Teaches Us About the Drug War

As politicians intensified the drug war decade after decade, an unintended consequence began to appear. These "get tough" policies have caused the drug economy to evolve under Darwinian principles (i.e., survival of the fittest). Indeed, the drug war has stimulated this economy to grow and innovate at a frightening pace. By escalating the drug war, the kinds of people the police typically capture are the ones who are dumb enough to get caught. These criminal networks are occasionally taken down when people within the organization get careless. Thus, law enforcement tends to apprehend the most inept and least efficient traffickers.

Greg Francisco at LEAP: Making Criminals Out of People Who Are Not Need a job? Search under way for new drug war czar (No, it's not Walters' job, just a HDTA task force executive director position.

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I Read John Pye's letter (Never forget the influence of this devastating
rug) with some sadness. Like all police officers (and I was one for 34
years) he knows that in order to prove a case you need to assemble the
evidence. Like many, he doesn't carry that thinking with him when it
comes to arguing for a particular policy or course of action. If John
Pye's position is the correct one, then alcohol should be banned
tomorrow.I was one of the first members of the Durham Constabulary Drugs
Squad when it was formed in 1969 to deal with the results of The Misuse
Of Drugs Act of that year. The UK hadn't had a problem until then, but
we had learnt from the experience of the USA, which demonstrated such
startling success with its prohibition of alcohol some 50 years earlier,
and we wanted to follow them.

Well, we've succeeded. The rate of consumption of all drugs has grown
beyond our wildest hopes, the profits to be made are higher than anyone
could have expected, and the proliferation of guns on our streets is
moving towards the levels of Chicago in the 1930s.

Are we able to learn from this? I remain confident that we will. The USA
did eventually repeal its laws on the prohibition of alcohol. Let us
destroy the market which we've created and stop encouraging young men to
make so much money out of the misery of others.

PAUL WHITEHOUSE
Member, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
Former Chief Constable of Sussex

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/

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ALED Jones hits on his best argument yet for the legalisation of
cannabis, as he believes that it is so much stronger these days than in
the 1960s.

As he points out, alcohol is regulated under strict guidelines with
indications of strength etcetera, something that is not possible with
cannabis under prohibition.

As regards its strength, both the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
drugs and the European Drug Monitoring Centre have reported only modest,
if any, increases in its strength in the past 30 years.
advertisement

I, along with many others, can confirm this. Strong cannabis has always
been available (as in Holland), with little evidence that it causes any
more or less harm than weaker strains.

I'm sure Mr Jones is very happy living in his cotton-wool world, where
alcohol is not a dangerous drug, and his misconceptions of cannabis are
fuelled by political propaganda.

As someone who I'm sure has never touched the stuff, how on earth would
he know?

One thing cannabis is not, is a controlled drug. One thing is clear,
there is no justification to threaten millions of adult cannabis users,
who do no harm to others, with prosecution for their own free choice.

The evidence is clear. Alcohol kills, cannabis does not. If there is no
victim, there is no crime.

Steve Clements, The Legalise Cannabis Alliance ( LCA ), York.

http://www.thisisyork.co.uk/news/readersletters/display.var.1930928.0.cannabis_facts.php

Still on the road visiting family. Finally getting some internet access at my mom's place in Iowa. Pretty strange to move one state over to Iowa and suddenly there is a massive Presidential campaign going on! Yard signs, endless TV ads, and more. Yet in Illinois, relative silence. What a dysfunctional electoral system. In its semi-endorsement of Dennis Kucinich for President, The Nation magazine mentions as part of the overall package, Kucinich's opposition to the drug war. It really does seem to be getting easier for people to actually say that. LEAP's Howard Wooldridge has been working hard on the Hill, and now he's looking for your help. Write a letter to your Senator and let him deliver it for you. Great idea. On a personal note, I will be missing the huge hands and amazing talent of Oscar Peterson, who died this week. I got to see him twice -- once at Avery Fisher Hall with Joe Pass, Ella Fitzgerald, and Count Basie and his Orchestra. The second time, he and his trio were performing at The Blue Note, and I and my friends had the table right next to the piano. Incredible. His hands were so big that running tenths were a breeze for him, yet he could also play delicate waterfall passages with precision. I once heard it said that he could play anything he could think. As a piano player, that both depressed me and filled me with awe. Here's a taste:

Holes Found in U.S. Claims of a Drug-War Win

For the past few months, the federal government has been celebrating the fact that U.S. cities are experiencing "an unprecedented cocaine shortage" due to increased law enforcement in the southwestern United States and Mexico. But fact-checking by NPR reveals that while there are indeed spot shortages of cocaine, they are neither nationwide nor unprecedented. And the scarcity may have unintended consequences.

Walters is learning that the days where he could just claim whatever he wanted and everyone would nod in agreement are gone. People are checking...

Four cities declined to respond to questions about the local cocaine supply; five said there was simply no shortage. The question brought laughter from Sgt. Roger Johnson of the Detroit Police Department. "No, we don't have a problem finding it at all," Johnson said.

The article goes even further into the historical trends showing that Walters' boasts are meaningless. A good piece -- kudos to John Burnett for looking into this story.