His Name is Jonathon and he makes videos. I hear he has a following somewhere on the internet. apparently he has a second video on youtube about the other side of the picture. yes from his point of view everything looks special. wonder if Kanyeezie knows that guy still hasn't paid for that sample ?
Anderson Cooper has made my day again. he is just so to the point. this time he's spillin it on Snooki. we agree 100% with ac because snooki shouldn't be paid to show up to throw up anywhere; as long as people are struggling to get jobs anywhere in america.
Why would Gucci Mane do something so stupid ?
wellll I'm not talking about that tattoo this time. it's his general demeanor and way of doing stupid shit. who thinks they can rule the world - Gucci Mane !
Pull up in the drop top ferrari on bank head Colder than a polar bear sleepin in the freezer She wish she never met me wanna catch amnesia Gucci mane crazy I mite pull up on a zebra Land on top a eagle smoke a joint of reefa Standin on the sofa spillin liquor on the speaker Call the paralegal cuz this shit should be illegal.
this time gooch did the unthinkable - attempted murder. yeah, he actually tried to kill someone by playing in traffic. he thinks he can just force folks to do what he wants them to do. imagine that shiddd. this time he went a bit too far. he tried to force a woman to have sex with him and then when she refused, he attempted to push her out of his moving hummer. yeahhh. that's the real gooch. violent, stupid and still ugly.
This is the report on his latest episode. and wait, hold the phone, he thought he could Bond Out .... yes I know, yes yes yes,, that gooch. always such a fuckin joke.
According to a police report obtained by local NBC news affiliate in Atlanta, WXIA TV, a 36-year-old hair dresser, who has yet to be identified, claims to have met the Brick Squad leader on January 28 at South DeKalb Mall. She claimsGucci picked her up in a white Hummer and asked if she wanted to go out to breakfast.
She says a little after getting into the vehicle, she realized he was not taking her to eat. “(The woman) asked what was he doing and where were they going,” the report states. “Gucci Mane stated that he wanted to go to the hotel and that he would give her $150 dollars. (The woman) refused and stated just take me back to the mall, I can make my own money.”
At that point, the supposed victim said Gucci opened the passenger side door, while still driving his car, and “shoved [her] several times in the side and shoulder area attempting to get her out of his vehicle.”
After allegedly getting pushed out of the car, the woman was taken to the Atlanta Medical Center where she complained of soreness and pain. She then applied for a warrant and appeared in court on April 1 to file a formal complaint, which resulted in Gucci’s arrest on misdemeanor battery charges.
As previously reported, Gooch was brought into custody following a visit to his probation officer one week later. He is currently being held on a $5,000 bond in DeKalb County Jail.
A spokesperson for the DeKalb County sheriff, Sgt Adrion Bell, told XXLMag.com the reason Gucci has yet to be released on the minimal bond stems from probation violation charges in a Fulton County, stemming from the terms of a 2005 aggravated assault conviction.
“Anytime you have a probation violation it’s not as simple as just bonding out,” he explained to XXL. “[Officers] from the other county have not come and gotten him. So he cannot bond out from a probation violation that’s wanted in another county here. He has to go there and answer those charges.”
“Typically once [a suspect has] answered his charges here, typically [officers from other counties] will come and get him,” he added. “But that’s totally up to them as to when they do. And it would be totally up to the judge in that probation hearing to decide whether or not they are going to let him out on that probation bond, it could be that they revoke the probation, [but] they might just say, ‘OK you have to serve X amount of time doing this,’ so it’s a totally separate charge and totally separate hearing.”
As of press time, Gucci Mane’s lawyer has not returned phone calls for comment. —Jesse Gissen
Dancehall Music Review you need to think before you start your camera nexttime.
It makes no sense to put videos on YouTube pretending that they're news. what you put out there on youtube should reflect genius - not wha ?
We Nah Pree di Daggerin a news. Too much Crucial Ting agwan fi folly rite now mi yutes. it well time fi unu rise up.
“Thailand is a compassionate nation,” said Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya - “We noticed in the news that the Haitians are all very dark-skinned. This is surely one of the reasons they are living in poverty. With lighter skin they could be more successful.” It is believed that the whitening cream can make the homeless, starving survivors of the earthquake look whiter and brighter in just 14 days, according to the Unilever brochure. It is hoped that by looking whiter, the Haitians might be able to secure more aid.
When I read this I was so angry - I need to make sure this is factual before I expend anymore negative energy. if any one of my Thai vistors can confirm this Please Leave A Comment. I know he does not speak for all the Thai People, obviously. He is just a skrate fool. as far as Unilever I need to explore my cabinets and find out what won't be coming to my house anymore.
Unilever You Can Kiss My Money Goodbye
Thailand Donates 50,000 Bottles of Whitening Skin Cream To Haiti
It's Thirsty Thursday and it appears that the government is reexamining the Superbowl nipple-gate incident. why ? I think they're just a buncha Janet Jack-offs. really doh. the girl is hot, but damn leave her alone.
wasn't it enough that Justin snatched her top off exposing her nipple to the entire Superbowl world ? Gee.. when is enough, enough ?
just look at his face in the pic above, can't you see how mesmerized he is by her super boob ? it's not necessary to mezmerize the American people again is it ?
The facts are clear - it was a wardrobe malfunction and she grabbed herself to cover up so quickly; that you didn't even know what happened, until you read it in the newspaper the next day.
Most folks never even saw the nip slip until the newspapers showed blown up pics of it. that is the most famous nipple in the world, undoubtedly. now the government thinks it should be re-explored again, Why ?
maybe it's their distraction from the Health Care Reform Debates, sad.
Congress Get Back To Work - NO Nipplegate For YOU !
We Are Still Scratchin Our Heads On This One - Snoop Dogg as The Producer Niggaracci
This is some notoriously stupid mess from Snoop - who at this stage of the game ought to know better. why would he stop growing to stunt ? this is some real mess right here.
first off, you have new artists - this is a new artist compilation; then ontop of it, you come with some real stupidity like this ? awwww Snoop Dizzle did you miss the Nas Mess last year ? Ain't nobody gonna promote no cd from somebody who will undoubtably regret making this move in a few months. no doubt he knows better; but some strawberry kough must be bustin his briz-an.
the fact that he's not bustin no smoke in the market, and he's talking about new talent; that tarnishes it with his reentry to the niggerisms. Gee Snoop, the only thing you missin on this plate is some Coon. Oooohhh did I say thattttttt.. Hells to the Yeah.
Big Snoop Grow UP Please, This ain't workin babybwoy,
Can the Emerald Triangle Teach Us How to Fix our Economy ?
people seem to be unable to translate the value of economics to tangible crops in todays' market. this video is great because it breaks it down, and shows you the floating market for Marijuana in Mendecino County. it explains the dollars and sense of why people take the risk; and what that risk translates to financially for their families.
The economic issues bring us back to asking the question, why is it still illegal to grow such a cash ready in demand crop. Michigan Medical Marijuana Initiative advocates the legalization of the Tax Stamp Program for Michigan Growers.
We Support that tax stamp movement, and hope that our legislators consider the economic implications - in a state that is on the verge of bankruptcy.
get your favorite beverage and kick back; watch the whole video and then tell us what you think about the Cash Crop Initiative,
that Could Save America - because the market exists.
Decriminalize Marijuana and Save the Economy Immediately,
Please Read our piece on Rev. Ike Below as He Was Very Dear to Our Hearts. We Share his Spirit and Joy with You, in hopes he will Inspire You Too.
This blog is in the middle of a hissyfit. It's having Template Tantrums like a Thirteen Year Old.
I cannot tell you how much attention it needs as of late; and still it won't allow me to comment, or to sign in. I'm the owner/author, can you imagine. the kids are cracking up when they have to sign me into the blog - yeah right..
Forgive us for the occassional funky look - but we gotta do some major behind the scenes work and that means a cracked template for a while.
I Will Be Re-Commenting To You as My Sister Babsy - Thats' My Temporary Solution since I miss responding to your comments, and apparently my comments fuel the reply comments here. ;) Thanks Y'all.
The frustration is mostly because the template is not allowing me to sign in or to comment using my regular gmail sign in. Can You Imagine the Hussy is not recognizing me ?
Because of all the persistent requests, the template now allows all forms of comment sign ins - so no annonymous please, or it may end up in the trash. kids don't like it when you comment blindly; so be warned, they moderate strongly - you know how 8 -13 year olds can be; tougher than tough. (yes the kids are moderating this blog so they can learn how to handle a news site, in realtime.)
Any of My Blogger Buddies that are Blogger Template and Customization Whizzes, please feel free to comment on remedies. and if you've been having blogger issues; holla too, because honestly we don't have any idea of what is wrong or what is causing this. even fresh xml files show up cracked. that's realll badddd. Designers Especially - we need to hear from ya, please. who knows we may buy a template to fix this mess.
please tell us we don't have to move the suss to our own hosting, again..
We'll be backto normal Soon; We Promise -
Please Read our piece on Rev. Ike Below as He Was Very Dear to Our Hearts. We Share his Spirit and Joy with You, in hopes he will Inspire You Too.
Just So You Know...
I am the target of some stupidity presently.
Why ?Well when you find out, tell me because I am not enjoying
finding 5 Websites All Hit With the same Redirect Bug.
I am working as fast as I can; Blogsite by site to change the templates
and try to find the bad file and fix it. when you find an index.php
file which has been tampered with - you know that it's not your fault.
This is the work of some very small minded person,
and I hope that they see this and understand that I am
sending them ten times the karmatic energy that they sent to me.
Yes You Ass - Ten Times to You Anything YOU Wish To ME.
hopefully I will have my sites all cleaned up by tomorrow and reopened.
Please know that whatever this is - I have nothing to do with it.
I have more facts to add to the picture
this all started yesterday from the log
this is where the first site sent me //www.city-facts.com/q.php?affiliate=eclickbuy-timeppc&source=abc&query=Fast%20Easy%20Loan&adword=%7CFast%20Easy%20LoanABCYP - q.php
aaahhhhhh again we see this Fast Easy Loan. the referal and affiliate info are shown so that gives us something to work with when we contact these companies. oh certainly we will be contacting them.
then we hit this site which seems to be the referring site to these sites listed above - a spamhouse no doubt.
look at this - Yellowpages.. aaahhh we're getting somewhere now. they have money, so filing a claim against them is possible. ;)
This is the site which starts the chain of events - this is where we think it originally started, but it's hard to say as this site is non reachable directly. even blocking them in my browser didn't stop the redirect. Deep..
Again we have this eclick to buy business and fast easy loan. Get It ? I Do.
Somewhere on my surfing adventure I picked up this lil friend - so All My Friends are now being mistreated by these mischieveous assholes. not nice at all.
Something tells me that if I keep looking I'll locate the source of this Whole Problem...
Hmmmm, what do you think - should we keep looking ? I Think So,
Ah Ha ! we downloaded a theme the other nite when we couldn't fix a problem with ours. well the trail starts there to the outside. this is after I was done dropping so I am basically ruling out any of the sites I visited on my card dropping on Wednesday 07/22/09.
so one way or another this must be the source of the start of the problem.
it spread someway from our editing and writing to each of the blogs we worked on.
Strange Indeed. we shut down greasemonkey tonite to find out which pages are effected.
the redirect is on this page still - but all the others seem to be free of it.
tonite I change this template as I've already done of my three other effected blogs. yes three.. so you know there was no time for dropping, or writing. just working on this mess.
I also think something in our browser is connected to this as well.
PLEASE - If You were Redirected When you got here, Please Leave Me A Commentand that will tell me how it's effecting my visitor count, and if others are having this problem still, since I cleaned up my page twice in the last 24 hrs.
"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."
This is what someone said about 11 year old Malia Obama.
Republicans have stretched the line about as far as it can go to do this. there is no way this can be defended - no way.
the amount of attention these kids get is unbelievable; especially with them being pre teens and always on apparently their best behaviour. their mom and dad expect no less, I am sure. you can look at them as a family and tell that those girls have manners. they wouldn't say these things I don't think, so
I wonder why some adult could fix their mouth to say such nasty things about a lil girl, who they don't even know.
Now How Would You Feel, if someone Said This About Your 11 Year Old Who They Didn't Know ?
Comments Please, I am really curious to hear your opinions on this,
This photo of U.S. President Barrack Obama's daughter Malia, wearing a peace-symbol t-shirt touched off a storm of epithet-laced comments on the conservative 'Free Republic' blog
Photograph by: Remo Casilli , Reuters
"A typical street whore." "A bunch of ghetto thugs." "Ghetto street trash." "Wonder when she will get her first abortion."
These are a small selection of some of the racially-charged comments posted to the conservative 'Free Republic' blog Thursday, aimed at U.S. President Barack Obama's 11-year-old daughter Malia after she was photographed wearing a t-shirt with a peace sign on the front.
The thread was accompanied by a photo of Michelle Obama speaking to Malia that featured the caption, "To entertain her daughter, Michelle Obama loves to make monkey sounds."
Though this may sound like the sort of thing one might read on an Aryan Nation or white power website, they actually appeared on what is commonly considered one of the prime online locations for U.S. Conservative grassroots political discussion and organizing - and for a short time, the comments seemed to have the okay of site administrators.
Moderators of the blog left the comments - and commenters - in place until a complaint was lodged by a writer doing research on the conservative movement, almost a full day later.
"Could you imagine what world leaders must be thinking seeing this kind of street trash and that we paid for this kind of street ghetto trash to go over there?" wrote one commenter.
"They make me sick .... The whole family... mammy, pappy, the free loadin' mammy-in-law, the misguided chillin', and especially 'lil cuz... This is not the America I want representin' my peeps," wrote another.
Such was the onslaught of derision on the site that the person who originally complained about the slurs, who goes by the nickname 'CatM', claimed on the left-wing DailyKos.com website that only one comment in the first hundred posted actually criticized the remarks as inappropriate.
A note on the front of Free Republic reads, "Free Republic does not advocate or condone racism, violence, rebellion, secession, or an overthrow of the government," but one comment on the thread read, "This disgusting display makes me more and more eager for the revolution," while another read, "I never actually wnated [sic] to be a pistol before but..."
After attention from other blogs, the thread was suppressed and placed under review, but before long it was returned to the site intact, and attracted a new series of racial slurs when the original complaint email was posted publicly to the site, with the sender's email address intact.
"The writer has a point," wrote site owner Jim Robinson sarcastically. "We should steer clear of Obama's children. They can't help it if their old man is an American-hating Marxist pig."
"I agree Jim," wrote commenter, by the nickname NoobRep. "The kids didn't pick their commie pinko pansy of a father. Nor did they choose to be put into the spotlight. But Obama/Soetoro is fair game and so is his witch of a wife."
"Poor kids. I hope they're not 'punished with a baby'," wrote another. "Hopefully they won't deal cocaine like the Kenyan."
"DIRTBAGS! All of them. Our [White House] is now a joke to the rest of the world. We have no respect and this is not going to turn out well, mark my words. We will be hit, and much worse than last time. We are now seen as weak and vulnerable. Ghetto and Chicago thugs have taken over."
Only after significant negative attention from a host of left wing political blogs did the maintainers of the Free Republic site place the thread under review for a second time, before finally pulling it.
In the wake of the controversy, some Free Republic posters complained about the vitriol.
One poster by the name of "fullchroma" wrote, "To Jim Robinson: The recent uptick here in racist vitriol, aimed at Barrack, Michelle and their children has made me wonder if I belong. My objection to Obama has nothing to do with skin tone. Is the ugly stereotype of Conservative racism true?"
Another, going by the name of TChris, wrote, "Free Republic is a political discussion forum. It SHOULD be beneath us as a group to stoop to such juvenile tactics as I see increasing here lately. Do we REALLY have to insult Mrs. Obama's appearance like a clique of nasty 14-year-old girls?"
But such opinions were not shared by all. Said Roses of Sharon, "Poor libs .... Too late, the battle has been joined."
NOTE: A screen capture of the entire thread has been saved here.
Some of you may recognize this letter as one I've sent and posted before - if you see yourself in this role - then put your name in that space.
BTW, This note was inspired by My Fellow Entrecard Blogger Bob Gold, who is also tired of his pr and bounce rates being faked out by NON READERS;
Hello Rolling Dropper: - who has 6 exact copies of the same blog - and drops 6 cards a day on each of my blogs; but never spends more than 10 seconds on my blog; according to what my stats show me from their visits.
I am hoping when you read this you will keep an open mind. I have received your drops for a few weeks now and to be honest, never one comment.
there is nothing on your 6 blogs that to be honest I can comment on except that your pics are all the same on all your sites; and you seem to be catering to the pinay crowd.
1. I am not Pinay; but I like Pinays. 2. I am not interested in Family Parties; I am a Political Blogger. 3. I am not interested in people who care nothing about my blog and only want to get One EC from my Time. never bothering to even read a story and or leave a single comment, on anything.
I have three blogs in Entrecard, and you've never left a single comment on any of them, but you keep making my bounce rate higher. NOT NICE.
please don't misunderstand, I think blogging is great but I want READERS; I do NOT WANT droppers, Who Leave me with a high bounce rate.
So Rolling Dropper, it would be so nice if you would pick one of your blogs to drop on me ONLY. Because your drops make the bounce rate rise, and never a comment makes it even harder to swallow.
so, from now on when I see your card in my inbox, I will only return ONE DROP A DAY. Please consider my words and think about what you are doing to the bouncerate of other blogs when you Hit and Run that way.
if you think I am being Hard - then dont' bother to drop at all. sorry but I am so tired of the return drops to non commenters, who purposely do not read or care about what is on a blog - only the ONE EC DROP.
trust me there are better ways to make friends and to get money, on the internet.
btw I will be posting this to my blog tonite so you can see it when you DROP - and Yes It will be clearly written to you, so you know.
"But I see what you mean, Entrecard is screwing YOU with the paid ads. This setup sucks."
This is an Absolutely Word For Word Exchange with another Entrecard Member - totally as it happened. this is to show you why entrecard will not prosper WITH PAID ADS - because somefolks dont' want it to.
I wouldn't normally put my personal messages on this blog; but today I'm just so full of people who are full of themselves, that I think this deserves to be showcased just to let you know why this member is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Special.
(PPS/ She Wrote me after seeing this posted and has taken a new attitude - see it below)
Look, I have no idea what you're talking about. Do you think that I got paid for something?
I'd be happy to run your ad outside of EC to make it up to you, but I'm not the one who screwed you.
As for copying something off your blog? No idea there either, as I had never seen your blog before.
I'm surprised by your tone and I think there must be some miscommunication going on here because it's not that I don't care, it's that EC is ruining it for everyone.
If you want to email me your ad and link, I'll be happy to post it. I'm going to cease accepting EC ads as of today and as soon as all ads have run, I'm removing it from the site.
------------------------------------------------------------------ 1:01pm et from me to Gerri
Sweetie: to put it in a simple term used widely today "Thanks".
I hope you understand why this is an issue, and it's not the ec, it's the total "So What" attitude toward the bloggers who take their time to come to your blog to see what you've written; whether they know you or not.
may you get that one day. Till Then - Happy DROPPING
~RE
-------------------------------------------------
5/04/09 13:19
new
I apologize if my attitude seemed to be "so what," because honestly, that's not me. Sorry to have come off that way.
I really do not understand the EC system anymore, and that's probably where the confusion stems from. I think it's best that I opt out for the time being until I can get a grasp it.
The offer still stands to make it up to you. Sorry for the misunderstanding. I didn't mean to be offensive or rude to you.
you must have thought about it after you realized that I am really speaking For You too.
No Thanks on the offer, you didn't make the mistake.
Entrecard played you - by convincing you to step aside from your principals and accept paid ads.
to cross out your fellow bloggers, you had to be convinced that it would help them. which you have now seen is a lie. Paid Ads don't fuel or help keep the system going since the system is people driven.
let me explain it like this,
if you consider the time each person spends dropping in on blogs in the course of a week; it sometimes amounts to as much as 20 hours a week. did you think about what that time is worth, to each of those bloggers ?
I'd like to ask you not to leave the system, just help to correct the issues and stay involved. make comments and speak up as a blogger to the issue of dropping a card; instead of Droppin In To Read a Blog.
WE Are Bloggers, Not Advertisers, Think of us that way
We want to immediately state that we DO NOT ENDORSE THE USE OF ANY DRUGS OR ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES - ESPECIALLY COKE OR METH. As Well We Do Not Endorse the use of Ritalin and Like Kind Drugs.
We've done loads of blogs on the problems of the Drug Wars; and the Narco Traffico Policy Problems; so add this one to the pile cause not a word we say makes any difference.
Apparently not a body we show you, not a bullet we talk about; not the kid on your evening news laid out like a statistic; none of it makes any difference.
so lets try the subtle approach, and see if maybe a Cartoon Character can get people to pay attention to this travesty unfolding around us; and destined to get worse - ALA Post Vietnam; if we don't do something about the Economy Quick.
Remember if a drug dealer has a job making enough to live, they usually don't resort to dealing drugs. don't believe us and the studies we've shown you then just listen to Mr Mackey - He Knows,
to quote Mr Mackey - "Mmmkay, Drugs Are Bad, Don't Do Drugs"
A teenage girl prepares to smoke a pipe of crystal meth.
When methadone was first proposed for the treatment of heroin addiction, it sounded like a pointless gambit — sort of like substituting vodka for gin. That's enabling addicts, critics said, not helping them.
But over the years, maintenance treatment with methadone and other synthetic opiates like buprenorphine has proved successful — more than any other heroin-addiction therapy — in getting people off illicit drugs and lowering HIV transmission rates, crime and death among users. That success, in part, has got researchers wondering whether addiction to other drugs — namely to the stimulants cocaine and methamphetamine — could be curbed in the same way, by substituting a chemically similar alternative. (See the Year in Health, from A to Z.)
"It's an idea that really does need to be rigorously evaluated," says Frank Vocci, director of the pharmacotherapy division at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). "But right now there is more discussion than data."
The problem of stimulant addiction in the U.S. has dropped out of the spotlight of late, but it has not disappeared. According to a 2007 government survey, 2.1 million Americans had used cocaine in the month prior to the survey and 1 million had taken other stimulants for nonmedical purposes, including more than half a million users of methamphetamine. There are currently no overwhelmingly effective addiction treatments. Abstinence-based rehab therapy for meth and cocaine work about as well as rehab for other drugs — meaning that about one-third of users improve following treatment, but most relapse repeatedly.
And despite decades of study of dozens of compounds, there are as yet no federally approved medications for cocaine or meth addiction.
Asked whether NIDA thought the concept of stimulant maintenance treatment holds promise, Vocci says, "If putting your money where your mouth is means [that we consider it promising], then, yes, we're funding a fair number of studies."
To date, the research has been mixed but intriguing. The best-studied drugs so far are dexamphetamine, a form of amphetamine contained in the antihyperactivity drug Adderall, and modafinil, the wakefulness drug used to treat narcolepsy and shift-work sleep disorder. Most studies have been small and focused on safety rather than efficacy. Some have found no effect — but because of their size, it's difficult to determine whether that's meaningful.
One British study followed 60 stimulant addicts who were treated with dexamphetamine in a Cornwall clinic. Doctors tracked how well these patients fared compared with 120 heroin addicts being treated with methadone, and found an equivalent reduction in illicit drug use and drug injection. In both groups, about two-thirds of patients stopped injecting over 10 months.
Another trial in Australia followed 30 cocaine injectors, 16 of whom were treated with dexamphetamine and 14 with a placebo. Cocaine-positive urine tests in the dexamphetamine group fell from 94% to 56%, while the placebo group showed no change after 14 weeks. A similar study of modafinil at the University of Pennsylvania in 2005 found reduced cocaine use in addicts.
But there are reasons that stimulant maintenance treatment was not initially studied more extensively. For one, high doses of amphetamines can cause brain damage, psychosis, heart attack and stroke. (High doses of opioids like methadone, in contrast, can also be dangerous, but once a patient develops a tolerance to them, even very high doses of the drugs are not toxic.) The consequences of high-dose use are important, since addicts in treatment often try at least once to use illegal drugs "on top" of their maintenance drug. So far, however, studies of dexamphetamine and similar drugs have not revealed major safety problems. Although a few patients have had psychotic episodes from using "on top," those particular patients turned out to have previously suffered psychosis. "There's pretty consistent evidence that the side effects are generally nominal," says John Grabowski, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota who has championed the study of stimulant maintenance treatment in the U.S.
Another problem is that stimulants appear to increase users' desire subjectively, rather than satisfying it. While a heroin high is calming and lasts for several hours, cocaine and amphetamine feel different. As actor Robin Williams, an admitted ex-user, put it, cocaine makes you feel like a new man, and the first thing the new man wants is more cocaine. It produces excitement, not relaxation. And the concern is that a maintenance drug would have the same escalating effect.
"That's one argument, but the data doesn't seem to support it," says Craig Rush, professor of behavioral science at the University of Kentucky. In a study of seven cocaine-dependent patients, Rush treated them with dexamphetamine maintenance, then gave them cocaine in the lab. The effects of cocaine were blunted. Rush is now looking at what happens when dexamphetamine-maintained patients are given a choice whether or not to take cocaine in the lab — preliminary results suggest they "just say no" more often.
The newer stimulant drug, modafinil, does not carry the same addiction risk as amphetamines, making it a promising alternative as a maintenance drug. But it's also less effective in treating the most severe addictions, according to Grabowski. "In our research, we were able to separate out [the more and less severely addicted patients], and the more severe people were more responsive to the more potent stimulants," says Grabowski, who has conducted two randomized controlled trials involving nearly 200 patients, which found that dexamphetamine treatment reduced cocaine use better than a placebo.
Proponents of stimulant maintenance treatment also note this significant detail: Many stimulant abusers suffer from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). While ADHD affects about 1% of the general population, according to Rush, it shows up in about 30% of cocaine and amphetamine addicts. Psychiatrists often hesitate to give hyperactivity drugs to patients with a history of addiction, but some studies suggest that maintenance may be exactly what this group needs — and that their drug abuse is an attempt to self-medicate. The studies that have included ADHD patients (many studies exclude them to avoid confounding) showed positive results. In one pilot study, conducted at Columbia University, maintenance treatment reduced cocaine use and craving in 12 cocaine addicts with ADHD.
None of the researchers believe that stimulant maintenance is a panacea or that it will work for every cocaine or meth addict. But there is no medical treatment that works 100% of the time. "I think we have found something of potential benefit, and it should be met with interest and further research, rather than disdain," Grabowski says.
Increase In Meth Labs May Mean New Laws
Producers Finding Ways To Skirt Current Laws
By Reported By Cara Kumari
WSMV-TV
updated 7:16 p.m. ET,Wed., Dec. 17, 2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A dangerous homemade drug is making a comeback.
Video: Increase In Meth Busts Could Lead To New Laws
Local and state authorities have been making some headway against methamphetamine production, but they said there has been a recent surge in lab busts.
Currently if an individual wants to buy a pill that contains pseduoephedrine, he or she has to show photo identification.
Law enforcement officers said that requirement made a large dent in the number of methamphetamine labs over the past three years.
However, busts are on the rise again, and some possible changes include putting liquids with pseudoephedrine behind the counter.
Lawrence County had three methamphetamine busts this year, until last week when police raided four more labs. Across Tennessee, methamphetamine lab seizures have spiked.
"We anticipated some rebound to the lab seizure numbers," said Tommy Farmer of the Tennessee Meth Lab Task Force.
Through October, there were 625 busts in the state, compared to 583 in all of 2007. In middle Tennessee, methamphetamine lab busts are up more than 50 percent.
Authorities haven't seen these numbers since 2005, when tough new laws limited access to psuedoephedrines, a common ingredient in methamphetamine.
Police said cooks have found ways around the law.
"They are going to look for alternative ways to acquire the precursor chemicals used to make meth, and that's what we're seeing," said Farmer.
Farmer said he's already talking with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the governor's office about making some changes and eliminating loopholes in the existing law.
For example, there is discussion of the possibility of putting liquid pseudoephedrines behind the counter as well as tablets.
But with the state's deepening budget crisis, any changes are going to have to come without a price tag.
"We think we can have some modifications or adjustments made to the existing legislation that would not have an impact or would not have a fiscal note attached to it," said Farmer.
Experts said better law enforcement tactics have also resulted in the large increase in methamphetamine busts.
Officers around the state are very well trained to spot methamphetamine labs, and aggressive law enforcement measures have shown results.
Tennessee is not the only state dealing with an increase in methamphetamine labs. The entire region is experiencing a spike, with the biggest increases seen in Missouri and Michigan.
CBS Evening News Exclusive: Mexico's Ruthless Drug Cartel Violence Now Crossing The Border
TIJUANA, Mexico, Dec. 16, 2008 | by Bill Whitaker
(CBS) In the past few years, Mexico has become one of the most dangerous places on earth. Drug gangs have killed more than 5,000 people this year - more than the entire American death toll in Iraq. Tuesday, the Justice Department declared Mexico's drug cartels have become the biggest organized crime threat to the United States. CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker takes an exclusive look at how Mexico's problem is crossing the border.
The sound of a country in crisis includes the cries of a woman wailing upon finding husband dead in cab of truck. The United States' southern neighbor is in the throes of a drug war - one that's growing more savage every day as the brutally aggressive Sinaloa Cartel muscles in on territory controlled by the Arellano-Felix, the Juarez and Gulf Cartels for control of lucrative routes for smuggling marijuana, cocaine and amphetamines into the United States - a $14 billion a year illegal trade, Whitaker reports.
The drug traffickers are more reckless and ruthless than ever. A group of terrified school children were caught in the crossfire of a three-hour shootout on the streets of Tijuana. In Juarez, a crime reporter was shot to death, the fifth Mexican journalist silenced this year.
Bill Gore has witnessed the carnage, first as the FBI Special Agent in Charge in San Diego, now as the county's undersheriff. He says American drug users should realize they have blood on their hands.
"This is not a victimless crime," Gore said. "That people are dying, literally hundreds of them, on the streets of Tijuana, so they can have their recreational drugs on this side of the border."
After Mexican president Felipe Calderon declared war on the drug cartels last year, troops and federal police have captured or killed scores of drug kingpins. Yet, violence continues. (CBS)
The most extreme violence is just south of the border - nowhere worse than Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso. There have been 16 murders in El Paso this year and almost 1,500 drug-related killings in Juarez.
One grisly new tactic is beheadings. A headless corpse hung above a busy highway almost two hours before police covered it with a sheet - the head found in a nearby park.
In Tijuana, nine men were decapitated last month, three of them policemen, their badges stuck in their mouths - some of the 40 murders in Tijuana occurred in just one weekend.
It is a bloody war fueled by a high-powered arsenal of weapons, most smuggled in from the United States.
The gun violence is fueling a boom in the security business. Gabriel Martin turns cars into tanks with armor plating, bullet-proof glass. Of one car he says: "An AR-15 with armor-piercing nose could not get through that."
And there's a long waiting list of people anxious to pay from $30,000 to $90,000 to outfit cars with James Bond-like smoke screens and nails to puncture pursuers' tires.
(CBS)
"As crime rises it seems like the business grows," Martin said. "People are scared to be kidnapped."
The current FBI Agent in Charge in San Diego says gangland kidnappings, common in Mexico as a secondary source of cartel income, are becoming common there.
"The violence is absolutely spilling across into the United States," said FBI agent Keith Slotter said.
About 40 San Diego residents were kidnapped in Mexico this year - double the number three years ago. Many more go unreported.
"Normally, the kidnappers have done, we believe, extensive research ahead of time," Slotter said. "They have a good, a solid background on a person's financial means."
They kidnapped one woman's husband, an American with businesses in Tijuana. They demanded $2 million. She's afraid to reveal her identity.
"I had to sell my business. I had to sell property. Anything to get back my husband," the woman said. "There was no need for them to kill my husband."
Ironically, this orgy of violence erupted after Mexican president Felipe Calderon declared war on the cartels last year, dispatching 40,000 troops and federal police to cities under siege. They've killed or captured scores of drug kingpins.
Authorities call this a success, though a fierce gun battle raged in the middle of the city for almost an hour. In the end, the federal police and the military took custody the most wanted chief of the Tijuana drug cartel.
With the arrest of Eduardo Arellano-Felix, the once powerful cartel is in disarray. The unintended consequence of success: a bloodbath, as the next generation of gangsters battles for dominance.
"We cannot live with that kind of intimidation, with that kind of terror on our streets," said Jorge Ramos, the Mayor of Tijuana.
So the mayor of Tijuana last week tapped former army Lt. Colonel, Julian Leyzaola, to run the city's police department.
He promises to take back the streets.
"Even in war you don't see what you see here," he said through a translator. "People whose heads are cut off, people who are dissolved in acid. If the cartels only understand the language of violence, then we are going to have to speak in their language ... and annihilate them."
In other words, fight cartel violence with superior violence: the coordinated power the police and military. As the government fights to get the upper hand, there's likely to be more blood in the streets
Narcotics trafficking and drug addition have long been hidden scourges in Turkmenistan, Central Asia’s most insular state. But President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has sent signals in recent weeks that his administration is pondering ways to tackle drug-related issues.
The clearest indicator of a shift in the Turkmen government’s attitude came on World AIDS Day, December 1, when a variety of state agencies hosted an informational event, titled Unite for Future! Unite Against AIDS and Drugs!, at a theater in central Ashgabat. Printed matter on the hazards of diseases associated with drug additction, especially AIDS, were available for distribution. The materials were a collaborative effort produced by the Turkmen Health Ministry, the National Red Crescent Society and the Youth Center of Turkmenistan.
Though modest in its scope, the event underscored the fact that Berdymukhamedov’s administration is taking tentative steps toward addressing what is one of the country’s most daunting social challenges. During the last session of Turkmenistan’s old parliament, held before fresh elections on December 14, some outgoing MPs expressed concern about the dangers of narcotics trafficking, as well as the high public health social costs exacted by drug addiction.
Turkmen citizens will tell enquiring foreigners that drug use is prevalent in Ashgabat and that addicts are responsible for many serious crimes, including robberies and even murders. Addiction likewise encourages other forms of criminal behavior, especially prostitution, as young Turkmen women sell their bodies in order to maintain drug habits. "Unemployement is so high, often men are ashamed and start to use heroin," said one Turkmen man, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Afghanistan has been the top opium-producing country in the world over the past several years, according to UNODC
KABUL, 10 December 2008 (IRIN) - A senior official in the Interior Ministry has told IRIN that “unprecedented progress” has been made in the fight against drugs, with at least 500 drug traffickers arrested in the past eight months.
Mohammad Daud Daud, a deputy interior minister with responsibility for counter-narcotics, told IRIN counter-narcotics activities had been “boosted considerably” since 2007.
In the past eight months, over 300 tonnes of cannabis, over 25 tonnes of opium and over 10 tonnes of heroin, as well as several tonnes of heroin-producing chemicals, were impounded. Twenty-five heroin-producing laboratories were also destroyed, according to the Interior Ministry. (The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) survey in 2007 said a total of 90 laboratories were in operation in March 2007).
As well as taking a direct toll on the health of Afghans who abuse drugs, the drugs trade helps finance Taliban and criminal activities and fuels insecurity, in turn hampering humanitarian aid operations. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of people are involved in poppy cultivation, and opium income makes up to 40 percent of gross domestic product, experts say.
Lives lost
The government says it has paid a high price for its counter-narcotics operations: At least 45 police officers have been killed and 65 injured in armed clashes with smugglers and insurgents involved in the drugs trade, the Interior Ministry said.
In its latest, August 2008, survey UNODC said incidents related to eradication activities in Helmand, Kandahar, Herat, Nimruz, Kapisa, Kabul and Nangarhar provinces had led to the deaths of at least 78 people, most of them policemen, in 2008. This represented an increase of about 75 percent on the 2007 figure (19 deaths). The main incidents were in Nangarhar and Nimruz provinces, UNODC said.
Under strong international pressure the government has beefed up the judiciary, with judges encouraged to convict arrested smugglers swiftly, according to media reports, but progress is by no means even: According to an Interior Ministry press release issued on 4 September, unidentified gunmen killed the head of the counter-narcotics court and several judges have received death threats.
Drought helps stem opium production
According to UNODC, there had been a 19 percent decrease in the area under opium cultivation to 157,000 hectares, down from 193,000 hectares in 2007. However, because of a higher yield of 48.8kg per hectare (up from 42.5 kg in 2007), overall opium production dropped just 6 percent from 8,200 to 7,700 tonnes, UNODC said in a statement on 26 August.
The number of opium-free provinces has increased from 13 to 18 (out of 34), according to UNODC. "Last year the world got hit by a heroin tsunami, almost 700 tonnes. This year the opium flood waters have started to recede", said the executive director of UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa.
UNODC said eradication efforts had played little part in the decrease: In 2008, 5,480 hectares were eradicated - nearly four times less than the 19,047 hectares destroyed in 2007.
Instead, UNODC attributed the decrease to good local leadership, assisted by drought. Some governors discouraged farmers from planting opium through campaigns, peer pressure, and the promotion of alternative development. The most impressive results were in Nangarhar, which also experienced severe drought.
The US Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) on 24 October said potential opium production in Afghanistan had declined steeply - by 31 percent - to 5,500 tonnes, down from 8,000 tonnes in 2007.
Today's opium poppy crop is concentrated in the south and southwest: 93 percent is confined to just five southern provinces, with Helmand accounting for over 60 percent of poppy cultivation, ONDCP said.
Corruption
Allegations that clampdowns on drug production and exports are hampered by corruption, in which government and security officials share proceeds in return for protection, are widespread. Daud acknowledged that drugs money may have corrupted some officials.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected a recent article in the New York Times which said his younger brother, Ahmad Wali Karzai, was involved in the heroin trade.
Meanwhile, the head of UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, has called for a crackdown on corruption, which is "greasing the wheels" of the drugs trade. "Corrupt officials, landowners, warlords and criminals must feel the full force of the law, otherwise the opium economy will continue to operate with impunity, and the Taliban will continue to profit from it", he said in a statement.
Read more about the role of the cartels at Tijuana Press (in Spanish) and at KPBS online.
