Addiction World

Professor David Nutt, who was the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, sparked outrage earlier this week

2009-10-31T07:27:00.000Z

Professor David Nutt, who was the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, sparked outrage earlier this week after he criticised the decision to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug.It is understood Home Secretary Alan Johnson asked him to consider his position in the wake of the comments, saying he had "no confidence" in him.The charity DrugScope said the development was "extremely serious and concerning".Director of communications, Harry Shapiro, said: "There are few areas of policy as important but at the same time as difficult, complex and emotive as drugs policy. That is why it is vitally important that the Government receives advice that is not only evidence based, objective and robust but that is also public and transparent."However, former Government chief scientific adviser Sir David King said Professor Nutt had "stepped over the line" in criticising a politician.On Friday night, he said that advisers had to maintain the trust of both public and ministers and it was important to do that in a sensitive way."I think that where David has stepped over the line is being openly critical of the politician concerned," he said.

former girlfriend of drug kingpin Alton "Ace Capone" Coles

2009-10-31T00:21:00.001Z

Asya Richardson, through her lawyer, claims she was unaware that the man she knew as a music company impresario used drug money for the down payment on the house just outside Mullica Hill they bought in the summer of 2005.former girlfriend of drug kingpin Alton "Ace Capone" Coles, wants her money-laundering conviction, linked to the couple's purchase of a luxurious home in South Jersey, overturned.
"Asya Richardson was a naive young woman who fell in love with, and was duped by, Alton Coles, a deceptive, manipulative individual . . . who hid his illegal activities from her and used her as part of his legitimate front to the outside world," Richardson's lawyer, Ellen C. Brotman, argued in a post-trial motion heard today by U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick.Brotman has asked the judge either to overturn Richardson's conviction or grant her a new trial. Surrick, after an hour-long hearing, said he would take the issue under advisement. Not surprisingly, federal prosecutors argued that the conviction should stand.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bresnick said that Richardson, 28, knowingly went along with Coles, helping to launder drug proceeds by negotiating the down payment on the $488,000 house with cash transferred from his bank accounts and by lying about her employment and income records."All the evidence established that she knew Coles was a drug dealer and she knew his money was drug money," Bresnick said, describing the house purchase as a "classic money-laundering case."Coles was arrested at the Gloucester County residence, on Dillon's Lane just outside Mullica Hill, in August 2005 as investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives launched a series of raids that capped a two-year investigation of his $25 million cocaine network. Coles and Richardson had moved into the property two weeks earlier.Richardson was later charged with money-laundering and conspiracy to commit money-laundering. She is the half-sister of former Philadelphia baseketball star Jerome "Pooh" Richardson, who called her hours before the raid to warn that the "feds were coming."Pooh Richardson testified for the prosecution this year at the trial of a former Philadelphia police detective who was convicted of obstruction of justice for leaking him information about the raid.
Aysa Richardson was convicted along with Coles and four others, including a second Coles girlfriend, in March 2008. Coles, 35, was sentenced to life plus 55 years. Richardson has had her sentence delayed pending the outcome of her post-trial motions. She could be sentenced to 78 months. Whatever the outcome, the motions have offered a look at the twisted relationship between Coles and the women he dated while under investigation.Brotman, in papers filed last year, said Coles "used the women in his life as tools of his trade."

SPANISH drug traffickers are now taking to the skies to avoid border controls.

2009-10-31T00:17:00.002Z

Smugglers are loading up mini planes with sacks of marijuana in a bid to evade Moroccan security. Investigations carried out by Moroccan police have exposed dozens of Spaniards believed to be violating their airspace. Some 13 drug planes have already been intercepted this year, while just seven were seized in 2007. Last month, two Spaniards were arrested for undertaking a drug smuggling reconnaissance mission. They were spotted circling over the east of Morocco, in another trademark mini plane.

cocaine trafficking syndicate has been cracked in a series of raids on the Gold Coast

2009-10-31T00:15:00.000Z

cocaine trafficking syndicate has been cracked in a series of raids on the Gold Coast, police say.The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) and Gold Coast police simultaneously executed five search warrants on properties at Carrara, Southport, Burleigh Waters, Surfers Paradise and Molendinar on Thursday morning.Four people were arrested during the raids with charges relating to the trafficking of dangerous drugs, possession of prohibited drugs and possession of firearms laid.
A total of 2.5kg of cocaine was seized during the entire operation, with a street value estimated by the CMC at $750,000.Police also seized $37,650 in cash, steroids, a .357 Magnum firearm and ammunition.The raids signal the closure of a 13-month anti-organised crime operation led by the CMC in partnership with various Queensland and NSW police services.

Royal Dutch Gymnastics Federation handed Yuri van Gelder a one-year suspension for testing positive for cocaine

2009-10-31T00:11:00.000Z

Royal Dutch Gymnastics Federation handed Yuri van Gelder a one-year suspension for testing positive for cocaine at the Dutch Championships in June, ending his chances to compete at the 2012 Olympics.Van Gelder will be able to return to international competition in the summer of 2010, but International Olympic Committee rules stipulate that athletes who receive any sort of suspension for more than six months are not eligible to compete at the next Olympic Games. …
Gymnastics Examiner – After cocaine suspension, Yuri van Gelder will miss 2012 Olympics

Lambda Iota became a drug house during the 2006 - 2007 school year.

2009-10-31T00:10:00.000Z

Federal prosecutors say Lambda Iota became a drug house during the 2006 - 2007 school year. Twenty-five-year-old Bent Cardan of California supplied the fraternity president with the cocaine. He'll also be on four years supervised release and pay a $4,000 fine. Cardan's Connecticut supplier is serving a 70-month sentence for drug trafficking. The former fraternity president, 25-year-old Christopher Duncan, is serving two years probation. The Justice Department has moved to seize the frat house.former University of Vermont student will spend six months in jail for supplying drugs to his fraternity's cocaine ring.

Alcohol and cigarettes are more dangerous than illegal drugs

2009-10-31T00:05:00.000Z

Alcohol and cigarettes are more dangerous than illegal drugs such as cannabis, LSD and ecstasy, the government's top drugs advisor said Thursday.Professor David Nutt of Imperial College London called for a new system of classifying drugs to enable the public to better understand the relative harm of legal and illegal substances.
Alcohol would rank as the fifth most harmful drug after heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and methadone, he said in a briefing paper for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London.Tobacco would come ninth on the list and cannabis, LSD and ecstasy "while harmful, are ranked lower at 11, 14 and 18 respectively". The ranking is based on physical harm, dependence and social harm.
"No one is suggesting that drugs are not harmful. The critical question is one of scale and degree," said Nutt, the chairman of the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.He added: "We have to accept young people like to experiment -- with drugs and other potentially harmful activities -- and what we should be doing in all of this is to protect them from harm at this stage of their lives.
"We therefore have to provide more accurate and credible information. If you think that scaring kids will stop them using, you are probably wrong."Nutt criticised ministers for their decision to upgrade the classification of cannabis in January from class C -- which includes tranquillisers and some painkillers -- to the higher class B alongside amphetamines.The decision, which increases the penalties to a maximum 14 years in jail for dealing and five years for possession, was against scientific advice and came just five years after cannabis had been downgraded from class B to C.Nutt said such policies "distort" and "devalue" research evidence and lead to mixed messages to the public.While he acknowledged that cannabis was "harmful", he said its use does not lead to major health problems. Users faced a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness compared to the risks of smokers contracting lung cancer.Nutt caused controversy earlier this year by saying that taking ecstasy was no more dangerous than horseriding, a claim he repeated in his paper.

Mexican navy said the 1,967-pound of cocaine was seized aboard a ship bound for the United States during a weekend raid

2009-07-02T19:46:00.001+01:00

Mexican navy said the 1,967-pound of cocaine was seized aboard a ship bound for the United States during a weekend raid last week in the Puerto Progreso harbour on the Yucatan Peninsula. Navy inspectors in the port town of Progreso on the southeastern shore of Mexico said they slit open one of the frozen sharks after detecting an anomaly on an X-ray and black bags filled with rectangular cocaine packets spilled out. Drug gangs are coming up with increasingly creative ways of getting drugs into the United States in sealed beer cans, religious statues and furniture as Mexico's military cracks down on the cartels moving South American narcotics north.

United Kingdom is the cocaine capital of Europe

2009-07-02T10:22:00.000+01:00

United Kingdom is the cocaine capital of Europe, with more than a million regular users taking the drug, according to a new report.And one of Scotland's top drug experts said yesterday that given the biggest per capita consumption was north of the Border, the country was probably Europe's capital of the class A substance.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said the UK was Europe's largest cocaine market. But its report said the quality of the drug had declined dramatically in recent years.The report said a crackdown on traffickers had pushed cocaine prices up and led to dealers diluting the drug even more.Some seizures by police revealed that substances being passed off as cocaine that were only 5 per cent pure.The UN found dealers mixing their product with cutting agents such as dental and veterinary anaesthetics, which mimic the effects of cocaine but are much cheaper.There are estimated to be 860,000 cocaine users in England and Wales and about 140,000 in Northern Ireland and Scotland combined. The World Drug Report 2009 revealed that cocaine use had increased dramatically in the UK from the mid-1990s, but remained stable over the past two years.

Data given to the UN by the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency shows that wholesale prices have risen to record levels. The cost of a kilogram of cocaine has increased by 50 per cent – from £30,000 to £45,000 – since 2007.

The report says: "The UK thus continues to be – in absolute numbers – Europe's largest cocaine market, with its second highest cocaine use prevalence rate."
Professor Neil McKeganey, director of the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at Glasgow University, said he was not surprised at the UN's conclusions."A few years ago I said that in due course cocaine would overtake heroin, and I think that's what we're going to see. Heroin use may have plateaued at quite a high level, but cocaine use has been rising quite dramatically."He added:

"Scotland typically is the highest centre of drug consumption in the UK anyway, so it could well be that it is the cocaine capital of Europe."

Families of chaotic drug users are to be given an antidote to keep their relatives alive in the event of a heroin overdose

2009-07-02T10:18:00.000+01:00

Families of chaotic drug users are to be given an antidote to keep their relatives alive in the event of a heroin overdose in a pilot scheme to be launched this week.
The drug, naloxone, and training in how to use it, will be given to 950 families in 16 areas of the country, but could be rolled out eventually to a quarter of a million. Experts believe it could save hundreds of lives."It virtually instantaneously reverses the overdose," said Professor John Strang, the director of the national addiction centre, at King's Health Partners in London, one of the new academic health sciences centres. "For many years ambulance crews have had it. This is the logical next step."Surveys of families have revealed that about a quarter have at some time been present when a relative or partner has accidentally overdosed. At the moment, all they can do is ring for an ambulance and hope it arrives in time.Strang's team asked families whether they would like to be taught how to deal with an overdose. "They virtually bit our hands off with enthusiasm," he said. "The results were so obvious you can't believe we haven't spotted this and introduced it years ago."

One in 25 deaths across the world are linked to alcohol consumption

2009-07-02T10:15:00.001+01:00

One in 25 deaths across the world are linked to alcohol consumption, Canadian experts have suggested.Writing in the Lancet, the team from the University of Toronto added that the level of disease linked to drinking affects poorest people the most. Worldwide, average alcohol consumption is around 12 units a week - but in Europe that soars to 21.5. The report authors warn the effect of alcohol disease is similar to that of smoking a decade ago. We face a large and increasing alcohol-attributable burden Dr Jurgen Rehm.The analysis also found that 5% of years lived with disability are attributable to alcohol consumption. The paper says that, although there have been some benefits of moderate drinking in relation to cardiovascular disease, these are far outweighed by the detrimental effects of alcohol on disease and injury. In addition to diseases directly caused by drinking, such as liver disorders, a wide range of other conditions such as mouth and throat cancer, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, depression and stroke are linked to drinking. Drinking patterns do vary around the world, and the researchers point out that most of the adult population - 45% of men and 66% of women - abstain from drinking alcohol for most of them for their life. Across the Americas, average consumption is 17 units per week, while the Middle East was the lowest at 1.3 units per week. For 2004, the latest year for which comparable data are available on a global level, 3.8% of all global deaths (around 1 in 25) were attributable to alcohol. Overall, alcohol-attributable deaths have increased since 2000 mainly because of increases in the number of women drinking. Europe had the highest proportion of deaths related to alcohol, with 1 in 10 deaths directly attributable.
Within Europe, the former Soviet Union countries had the highest proportion at 15%, or around one in seven deaths. This study is a global wake-up call Professor Ian Gilmore, Royal College of Physicians president

Globally, men are five times more likely to die from alcohol-related illness than women.

And young people are more likely to have a disease linked to alcohol than older people.

California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility riot

2009-06-25T09:12:00.000+01:00

11 inmates at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran were reported injured in a riot involving rival Hispanic gang factions just after noon today, prison officials reported.Around 75 inmates were involved in the incident. Some participants used inmate-manufactured stabbing and slashing weapons in the uprising, which started at around 12:08 p.m., reported prison spokesman Lt. Dave James.No correctional officers were injured, James reported.“Initial intelligence indicates that it [riot] may have been gang-motivated,” said Ken Clark, prison warden. A full investigation is under way, Clark said.Only one of the 11 inmates was injured seriously enough to merit transportation by helicopter to a nearby, unnamed hospital. That inmate is listed in stable condition, James reported.
The other 10 injuries are not considered life-threatening, James reported, and the injured inmates were transported “offsite to area hospitals for medical attention.”
Correctional officers used pepper spray, rubber-baton rounds and two warning shots from a Mini-14 rifle to stop the fighting, James reported. Officers then confiscated 28 improvised weapons from the scene.The facility, a maximum-security prison, is located five miles south of Corcoran, which is in turn located in Kern County southwest of Tulare.

Former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith pleaded not guilty to several charges Thursday including possession of cocaine and marijuana.

2009-05-29T09:16:00.001+01:00

Former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith pleaded not guilty to several charges Thursday including possession of cocaine and marijuana.Smith, 40, also pleaded not guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia and driving with a suspended license. A fifth charge, possessing or selling a controlled substance, was dropped.
Smith did not attend the arraignment at Duval County Courthouse. He was represented in court by his attorney, Hank Coxe, who did not comment on the case after the hearing.Smith, who played 10 seasons for Jacksonville, was pulled over April 23 on Interstate 95 in Jacksonville for excessive window tint on his 2009 Mercedes Benz, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.The trooper reported that the inside of the car smelled like burnt marijuana. During a search, the trooper found crack cocaine, marijuana and a business card with powder cocaine residue in the car's center console.Smith retired from the Jaguars in 2006 after playing from 1995 to 2005. He finished with 862 receptions and 12,287 receiving yards and 67 touchdowns. He was a five-time Pro Bowl selection.

16-year-old Orange County High School student has been charged with four counts of drug distribution after a bust at the high school

2009-05-29T09:14:00.000+01:00

16-year-old Orange County High School student has been charged with four counts of drug distribution after a bust at the high school earlier this month.
According to sheriff Mark Amos, school resource officer deputy Garcia Madison noticed a juvenile male student acting suspiciously around his locker.
Deputy Madison asked to see the boy’s hall pass and reported his behavior to school administrators. After school officials were notified, the boy’s locker was searched and investigators found 19 small bags of cocaine, the sheriff said.
Five bags of marijuana were also discovered, as were 17 pills of methedone.
Amos said the cocaine had a value of approximately $100 per bag (totaling $1,900), while the marijuana bags were collectively valued at $100.
The boy was charged with four counts of distribution and taken to the Rappahanock Juvenile Detention Center. Since he is a juvenile, his name could not be released.

Free Heroin,German lawmakers have voted to allow the prescription of synthetic heroin to long-term addicts

2009-05-29T09:11:00.000+01:00

German lawmakers have voted to allow the prescription of synthetic heroin to long-term addicts who fail to respond to other treatments.The lower house of parliament approved the measure Thursday.It would apply only to people aged at least 23 who have been addicted for at least five years and undergone two previous, unsuccessful rehabilitation programs.A cross-party group of supporters says pilot programs in seven German cities found that controlled prescription of synthetic heroin, or diamorphine, at approved facilities helped addicts who failed to respond to treatment with methadone.Neighboring Switzerland has long had similar programs. They have been credited with reducing drug-related crime and improving addicts' health.

Group of active cocaine users and demographically similarly but healthy non-users had to push a button that corresponded to a word related

2009-05-29T08:53:00.001+01:00

Cocaine users appear to have less activity in the parts of their brains that monitor behaviors and emotions, a finding that researchers think may make them more vulnerable to addiction to the drug, a new research shows.Using MRI scans, the researchers saw there were issues in these regions of the brain when cocaine users were given a test in which fast, correct answers -- some dealing specifically with drug use -- were rewarded with money. The issues persisted even when the addicts did as well as non-cocaine users on these tests."Whether these brain differences are an underlying cause or a consequence of addiction, the brain regions involved should be considered targets for new kinds of treatments aimed at improving function and self-regulatory control," study author Rita Goldstein, a psychologist at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, said in a news release issued by the lab.The study results appear online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.In the experiment, a group of active cocaine users and demographically similarly but healthy non-users had to push a button that corresponded to a word related to either drug use (e.g., crack, addict) or a neutral term, depending on the scenario. Fast, accurate answers could earn the test subjects up to a maximum of $75 for the entire experiment.Brain imaging showed that the part of the brain that normally becomes active when people monitor their own behavior was far quieter in the cocaine users, especially during the parts of the test in which no monetary rewards were being offered and only neutral terms were being used -- sections considered the least "interesting," according to the researchers. Participants who used cocaine most often during the previous month showed the least activity in this area of the brain.During the section of the test of most interest to the cocaine users -- in which they could earn money for their answers and the terms being used were drug-related -- activity was much lower than their healthy peers in a part of the brain that usually becomes quiet when a person is suppressing emotions. This, the researchers said, suggests the cocaine users were trying to fight off drug cravings to focus on the succeeding at the test."When you really have to suppress a powerful negative emotion, like sadness, anxiety or drug craving, activity in this brain region is supposed to decrease, possibly to tune out the background 'noise' of these emotions so you can focus on the task at hand," said Goldstein, adding that thoughts of past drug use or using more drugs would be the "noise" in this scenario. She went on to note that the cocaine users reported high levels of "task-induced craving" during this portion of the test.
Treatments to improve and strengthen activity in the behavior- and emotion-monitoring portions of the brain -- both found in the anterior cingulate cortex region -- may help addicts regain self-control and decrease impulsive behavior, the researchers concluded.

Samanth Orobator threat of a death sentence could still be invoked as she is only exempt from the death penalty while she is pregnant under Lao law.

2009-05-25T10:14:00.002+01:00

Communist officials who run Laos, the case of 20-year-old Briton Samantha Orobator - awaiting trial on heroin smuggling charges that could technically still bring her the death penalty - has become an embarrassment that this landlocked South-East Asian backwater could do without. What started out as a straightforward case of a young foreign woman acting with what appears to have been crass stupidity has instead brought the harsh light of international scrutiny on a controlling and secretive regime. The thing that has made Orobator's case a human rights issue is not the manner of her arrest or the conditions in which she is being held in Vientiane's notoriously tough Phonthong Prison. Rather, it is the fact that, eight months after her arrest, she is now five months pregnant. The Laos government refuses to say how she became pregnant but insists stubbornly it is 'impossible' that she might have been raped inside jail or made pregnant by a prison guard, still defying logic in some interviews to claim she has been pregnant since before her arrest. Orobator was made to sign a statement in prison declaring she had not been raped and that the father of her baby was not from Laos shortly after her pregnancy was confirmed in March. A hasty, behind-closed-doors trial now looks likely to take place, possibly within days, after which Laos is expected to hand Orobator over to British embassy officials so that she can be flown home to serve out a prison sentence in the United Kingldom. Little is known about what led Orobator, a Nigerian-born British citizen described by friends as extremely bright with ambitions to become a doctor, to fly to Thailand and then to Laos where she spent five days before her arrest at Wattaya Airport on August 5 last year. To the huge annoyance of government officials, however, far more attention has been devoted to the question of how she got pregnant in prison than why she may have tried to smuggle drugs out of Laos - and it is a question to which they are unwilling or unable to give a satisfactory answer. 'This case is not about babies - it is about heroin,' chief government spokesman Kenthong Nuanthasing said with a tone of rising annoyance. 'She signed a statement to say she was not raped. She did not have intercourse with any man in prison. There is no male close to her during her time in prison. All the prisoners are women and all the guards are female.' Asked who could have fathered the baby, he raised his eyes to the ceiling and said with an impatient laugh: 'Maybe it is a baby from the sky like [the Virgin] Mary.' So why was she made to sign a statement denying she was raped without explaining the truth of her pregnancy? Nuanthasing said: 'We don't want the outside world to blame us (for her pregnancy). That is why we asked her to write a letter to certify that she was not raped and the baby inside her is not a Lao baby.' Nuanthasing made it clear that in order to return home to the Britain, Orobator will be expected to confirm at her trial the statement she signed in prison. 'She will tell the court - otherwise she will stay here,' he said. 'Her court case will be dissolved.'Such a delay could mean Orobator's trial being delayed until after she gives birth and Nuanthasing stressed that the threat of a death sentence could still be invoked as she is only exempt from the death penalty while she is pregnant under Lao law. 'Nobody can guarantee she will not face the firing squad,' he said. The Laos government insists Orobator is being held in an all-female prison. In fact, Phonthong Prison on the outskirts of Vientiane holds male and female prisoners in separate blocks and has both male and female guards living in shabby quarters in the grounds outside. A French former inmate who spent five months in the same prison over a business dispute, said, 'As soon as I read about the case of Samantha Orobator, I knew it must have been a prison guard who got her pregnant. 'Female prisoners are fair game for the guards there. They weren't exactly raped but they were coerced into sex with promises. The guards would tell them they could get them off the death penalty or get them or shorter sentence, or make life inside more comfortable for them.' 'There is no humanity and no compassion in that place. It is a place where you are made to feel as if you are nothing. You are completely cut off from the outside world and you're left begging for the smallest sign of hope, the slightest promise of something better.' Orobator's mother Jane, who lives in Dublin, visited her daughter in the company of government officials and issued a statement afterwards to say her daughter had told her she was not raped and that the father is not a prison guard. That statement, while failing to resolve the nagging questions about Orobator's pregnancy, will have pleased the Vientiane government and may help speed up the process of her trial and deportation. Human rights lawyer Anna Morris, who spent a fortnight in Laos helping her government-appointed Lao lawyer prepare for the case, said: 'We will only know the truth about her pregnancy when she is home in Britain. Our priority is to get her home as soon as possible.'

56-year-old Merrylands woman will face Sydney Central Local Court today charged with importing an estimated $400,000 worth of heroin into Australia.

2009-05-25T09:58:00.000+01:00

56-year-old Merrylands woman will face Sydney Central Local Court today charged with importing an estimated $400,000 worth of heroin into Australia.Australian Customs and Border Protection officers at Sydney International Airport stopped the woman and searched her baggage after she arrived on a flight from Vietnam yesterday (Sunday, 24 May 2009).During the baggage examination, officers became suspicious that the woman might be carrying drugs on her person.A subsequent x-ray of the woman's sports shoes revealed anomalies in the base of the shoes.The soles of the shoes were pierced and a white powder was revealed. Presumptive testing of the powder indicated a positive result for heroin. The weight of the powder is approximately 1.4 kilograms. Further forensic testing will confirm the exact weight and purity of the substance.The woman was referred to the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and was charged with importing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug contrary to section 307.2 of the Criminal Code Act 1995.The maximum penalty for this offence is 25 years imprisonment and/or a $550,000 fine.

Rapper/ reality TV personality Coolio should strongly consider a plea bargain.

2009-05-23T14:42:00.001+01:00

Case involving rapper/ reality TV personality Coolio, in connection with his March 6 arrest at Los Angeles International Airport on crack possession charges, was extended until June 26 in a Los Angeles court Friday.At Friday's court session, which lasted about 20 minutes, the judge told the rapper he should strongly consider a plea bargain. The rapper did not wear his Sunday best for the proceeding, clad in a multi-colored sport coat, jeans and tennis shoes, with his trademark crazy hair. RadarOnline.com has learned he was accompanied by his girlfriend and six supporters.
The 45-year-old Gangster's Paradise singer, whose real name is Artis Leon Ivey Jr., was taken into custody after an incident with a Southwest Airlines official after crack cocaine and drug paraphernalia were allegedly found in his luggage. The legal troubles subsequently caused the artist to cancel an Australian tour this spring.
"My case is going to settle because I'm not on drugs," Coolio told RadarOnline.com exclusively earlier this month. "I've been drug free for a long time."

air in Madrid and Barcelona is also laced with at least five drugs — most prominently cocaine.

2009-05-14T21:37:00.000+01:00

Air in Madrid and Barcelona is also laced with at least five drugs — most prominently cocaine.The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations, a government institute, said on its Web site Thursday that in addition to cocaine, they found trace amounts of amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids and lysergic acid — a relative of LSD — in two air-quality control stations, one in each city.But it said there was no reason for alarm."Not even if we lived for a thousand years would we consume the equivalent of a dose of cocaine by breathing this air," scientist Miren Lopez de Alda said in a statement.The scientific group stressed that "in no case should these levels be considered representative of the air in the two cities." It said the tests were done in areas where drugs were likely to be consumed.In Madrid, the test site was close to a ruined building believed to be frequented by drug dealers. And in both Madrid and Barcelona, the studies were carried out close to universities.
The group said the study showed higher concentrations of the components on weekends, suggesting that drug consumption was up in these periods.The research found cocaine in concentrations ranging between 29 and 850 picogram per cubic meter of air. A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.Mar Viana, another researcher who worked on the project, said the levels were far higher than those found in similar studies in Europe. She said one study in Rome and Taranto in 2007 revealed cocaine levels of 100 picograms per cubic meter.According to the U.S. State Department, Spain is Europe's largest consumer of cocaine and hashish. It is also a major transit point for narcotics shipments from South and Central America as well as Africa.The scientists detected the drug by placing quartz microfiber filters in the air-testing stations. They said the method was new and could help in measuring drug use in towns and cities in a fast and anonymous way.The group said the findings would be published in the U.S. journal Analytical Chemistry.

Tennis' world governing body has suspended French tennis player Richard Gasquet following a positive test for cocaine

2009-05-14T21:22:00.000+01:00

Tennis' world governing body has suspended French tennis player Richard Gasquet following a positive test for cocaine, pending a hearing.The International Tennis Federation says an anti-doping tribunal should be assembled within 60 days to hear the case.Gasquet says he is gathering evidence to prove his innocence, although both samples tested positive for cocaine.Traces of the drug were found in the 22-year-old Gasquet's urine sample at the Sony Ericsson Open, in Key Biscayne, Fla., in March.

Marijuana Growers caught selling even one plant to a friend would be incarcerated.

2009-05-05T19:28:00.002+01:00

Canada's proposed new drug laws, an 18-year-old who shares a joint with a 17-year-old friend could end up in jail.Small-time addicts, who are convicted of pushing drugs near schools, parks, malls or any other prospective youth hangouts, would be automatically imprisoned for two years. And growers caught selling even one plant to a friend would also be incarcerated. The Harper government's bill to impose Canada's first mandatory minimum prison sentences for drug crimes -- removing discretion for judges to sentence as they see fit -- has come under intense scrutiny in public hearings, which began last week.Several witnesses have warned the House of Commons justice committee the proposed legislation will fill jails with drug addicts rather than drug kingpins, who will continue to thrive while small-time dealers are knocked out of commission.
The all-party committee will likely get an earful again Monday when it hears from another half dozen opponents, including Ottawa drug policy analyst Eugene Oscapella."It's a wonderful gift to organized crime," said Oscapella, a lawyer who teaches at University of Ottawa."We're going to drive some of the smaller players out of the business and they'll be replaced by people who do not respond to law enforcement initiatives." The Conservative government proposes to automatically jail dealers and growers at a time when several American states, most recently New York, have retreated from mandatory minimum sentences, saying they are a glaring symbol of the failed U.S. war on drugs."We're going in exactly the opposite direction," said New Democrat Libby Davies, MPfor Vancouver East, whose party will vote against the bill. The Bloc Quebecois also opposes the legislation, which was originally introduced in late 2007, but died last September when the federal election was called.
The bill would pass in the minority Parliament if the official Opposition Liberals decide to support it -- and MP Brian Murphy cautioned that "the jury is still out"for his party."The aim of the bill is laudable, we have to crack down on organized crime and the cash cow for it seems to be drugs," said Murphy. The Liberals, at this stage, would probably push for amendments to narrow the bill's reach, rather than vote against it, he said.The United States experience in the last 25 years has shown that mandatory minimum sentences have flooded jails, with a disproportionate effect on drug addicts, the poor, the young, blacks and other minorities.
The U.S. surpasses every other country by far in incarceration rates and, meanwhile, the drug business has flourished.Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who appeared at the justice committee to defend his bill, was unable to supply any evidence from other countries that mandatory minimum sentences have made any difference in reducing drug crime. Two studies prepared for the Justice Department, one in 2002 and the other in 2005, say that mandatory minimums do not work.But Nicholson asserted that the proposed legislation is a smart response to a public outcry to crack down on the growing "scourge"of drugs."I can tell you there is support for this bill from many ordinary Canadians who are quite concerned about drug abuse," said Nicholson, who called for expedited passage of the legislation.Davies has unsuccessfully challenged the government to supply estimates on how many more people would be incarcerated if the law passes, and the anticipated cost for provincial governments, who are responsible for jails housing offenders serving sentences of less than two years."It's going to clog up the prison system," she warned.Critics also contend the bill is poorly drafted because it is overly broad and unclear. For instance, the proposal to automatically imprison for at least two years anyone caught selling drugs "near a school"or "any other public place usually frequented by persons under the age of 18" could mean virtually anywhere in an urban area, says the Canadian Civil Liberties Association."Any place other than those where minors are not permitted could fall under that legislation and thus require a two-year minimum sentence be imposed," Graeme Norton, director of the group's public safety project, told the committee.
The proposed legislation would impose one-year mandatory jail time for marijuana dealing, when it is linked to organized crime or a weapon is involved.The sentence would be increased to two years for dealing drugs such as cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine to young people, or pushing drugs near a school or other places frequented by youths.The bill would mean minimum six-month sentences for growing one to 200 marijuana plants to sell, and two years for big-time growers of 500 plants or more. There are already more than two dozen minimum prison terms in the Criminal Code, mainly for murder and offences involving firearms.

British Woman Pregnant From Prison Rape Faces Execution in Laos for Drug Smuggling

2009-05-05T19:05:00.003+01:00

British Woman Pregnant From Prison Rape Faces Execution in Laos for Drug Smuggling.Those caught with more than the 1.1lb normally face a mandatory death penalty.Orobator, who is five months pregnant, is detained in Phonthong Prison in Vientiane, a collection of shabby huts, behind walls of razor wire, and watch-towers.Former inmate Kay Danes said the jail is little more than a torture camp. Torture, which she says is both physical and mental, and involves putting prisoners in medieval stocks.No explanation has been given as to Orobator's pregnancy but she is understood to be denying previous reports by Reprieve, which suggested she may have been raped.She is not thought to have seen a lawyer since her arrest but has now received her seventh visit from British officials.There is no British embassy in Laos and the nearest is in neighbouring Thailand.
Prosecutors say Samantha Orobator, 20, of London, was in possession of 1.5lb (680g) of heroin when she was arrested at Wattay airport, Laos, last August. Her trial has been brought forward and is due to start this week. Legal charity Reprieve said its lawyer, Anna Morris, has been given permission to see Miss Orabator on Tuesday. Miss Orobator has been held at Phonthong prison in the east Asian country since last August.
She became pregnant in the prison in December and is due to give birth in September, it is claimed. Reprieve says authorities in Laos have brought the trial forward a year to avoid her having proper legal representation. The charity says the decision to reschedule the trial was only taken after arrangements were made for her to see a lawyer for the first time. Laotian government spokesman Khenthong Nuanthasing insisted that "the trial will be carried out fairly". He said it is expected to be held this week but was unable to confirm a date. Ms Morris flew into the country on Sunday after permission was granted to meet Miss Orobator on Tuesday. Ms Morris told the BBC: "Things are moving quickly. We found out only this morning that the trial wasn't going to take place today [Monday], but we still have no more information as to when it will take place. "We are of course concerned, given that the prison conditions are well documented, we are concerned for her welfare, and we are concerned for the sort of nutrition she's receiving, but we'll know more once we've seen her. She is five months pregnant, without ever having met a lawyer, facing a show trial for her life In Laos, anyone caught with more than 1lb (500g) of heroin faces a mandatory death sentence. At least 39 people have been sentenced to death in Laos since 2003. Reprieve director Clive Stafford Smith said of the pregnant Briton: "There can hardly be a circumstance where scheduling a capital trial is less appropriate.
"She is five months pregnant, without ever having met a lawyer, facing a show trial for her life." The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said British Embassy officials, including the Ambassador, have visited Miss Orobator a total of six times since her arrest. Jane Orobator says she is scared about her daughter's situation British officials said these visits had been limited to a period of about 20 minutes once a month. There is no British Embassy in Laos and the nearest is in the Thai capital, Bangkok. The Foreign Office only learned of her arrest when Australian authorities passed on information from another prison inmate.
The FCO reiterated the government's opposition to the death penalty "in all circumstances". An FCO spokesman said: "In cases where a British national faces charges that carry the death penalty or has been sentenced to death, we make representations at whatever stage and level is deemed appropriate. "We take every opportunity to make representations to the Lao authorities about our opposition to the death penalty." Miss Orobator was born in Nigeria and lived in south London from the age of eight. Her father lives in Nigeria and her mother and three sisters live in the Irish Republic.
She had been on holiday in Thailand and the Netherlands before travelling to Laos. Her mother Jane Orobator said she was "so scared" about her daughter's situation. "I'm just appealing to the British government, to the Laos authorities, to just please release her. They should just bring her back to me." Mrs Orobator added that she has no idea why her daughter was in Laos. Mrs Orobator last heard from her daughter in July, when she was on holiday in Holland.

Jimmy Smith said Friday he was "ashamed and humiliated" by an arrest on drug charges and that will fight to overcome his addiction.

2009-04-27T18:58:00.001+01:00

Former Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Jimmy Smith said Friday he was "ashamed and humiliated" by an arrest on drug charges and that will fight to overcome his addiction.Smith was pulled over on a traffic stop and a Florida Highway Patrol officer said he smelled marijuana in the car. The officer searched the car and found crack cocaine, marijuana and a business card with powder cocaine residue in the car's center console, authorities said."I realize that I cannot be the husband, father, son and citizen I want to be until I overcome my addiction," Smith said in a statement released by Premier Sports & Entertainment. "It is my highest priority, and will be the toughest challenge of my life, but I am going to get the help that I need to achieve a complete recovery."The statement did not specify Smith's addiction and Amy Palcic of Premier Sports & Entertainment refused to discuss his treatment.Smith, who played 10 seasons for Jacksonville, was pulled over on Interstate 95 in Jacksonville for excessive window tint on his 2009 Mercedes Benz.
Smith was charged with possession of crack cocaine, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He is free on $11,500 bond. His arraignment is May 6."I am ashamed and humiliated by my actions and I apologize for the embarrassment I have caused my family, friends and everyone in the Jacksonville community who have supported me throughout my career," he said in the statement.Smith was arrested at a DUI checkpoint in August with an open beer and marijuana. He was charged with two misdemeanors and was in the process of trying to get those cases resolved before his latest arrest.The former Jackson State University star retired from the Jaguars in 2006 after playing from 1995 to 2005. He finished with 862 receptions and 12,287 receiving yards and 67 touchdowns. He was a five-time Pro Bowl selection.

Scott Storch has been focusing on rebuilding his life, because he did, in fact, hit rock bottom.

2009-04-27T18:25:00.003+01:00

Scott Storch talks Rehab & losing 30 million
by yardie4lifever2

Scott Storch has been focusing on rebuilding his life, because he did, in fact, hit rock bottom.Lost in a three-year cocaine-abusing haze, he lost more money than most people reading this story will see in five lifetimes: $30 million. Yes, he blew almost his entire fortune on coke, cars, houses, lavish trips, partying and a series of what he calls “poor judgment decisions.”But he has come out of his white-powder fog. The producer says he is in recovery, and, as people who love his music will be elated to hear, he’s back making music. On Wednesday night, MTV News caught up with the Grammy winner, who at one time could do no wrong in the studio as he supplied classic beats, not mere hits, for people like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Fat Joe and Beyoncé.“I’m taking it back to square one,” he said, sitting in a Miami studio. The boards in the factory displayed his name and his publishing company, Tuff Jew. “I found myself slipping a little bit,” he said with a very anxious look on his face. “I got involved in doing drugs. I had to get myself into recovery. Being in the life that I was living — very fast-moving, option to do anything you want, go anywhere you wanna go — it definitely takes its toll on you, and you lose your concept of reality. I had to get it under control. I had to take it back to the beginning and back to the Hit Factory, where I made a lot of my hits.”Storch is currently living in a three-quarter house, where he is supervised by a live-in counselor but allowed to go to work in the studio as long as he’s back by curfew.