‘A man with no arms and one leg who would not stop driving despite a long list of traffic violations was sentenced to five years in prison today on the latest charges.
Michael Francis Wiley, 40, was also sentenced to 15 years of drug offender probation. He pleaded no contest in June to a variety of felony driving and drug charges.
“I’d just like to say I know what I did was wrong,” Wiley said in court today. “I am truly sorry your honour. I am.”
Wiley taught himself to drive after losing both arms and a leg in an electrical accident when he was 13. He has already spent more than three years in prison for habitually driving without a licence, kicking a state trooper and other charges.’
Followup to Armless, One-Legged Driver Leads Chase.
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‘Researchers at the University of Sydney have found that adolescent rats are more vulnerable to adverse effects of cannabis than adult rats.
Professor Ian McGregor says rats’ brains basically respond to drugs the same way as humans but they are easier to work with because they are not polydrug users.
He says his team gave the rats cannabis then took them off the drug for two weeks before testing their long-term memory.
“We found that the adolescents that had been given cannabis had impaired memory, relative to adolescent rats that hadn’t had cannabis exposure,” he said.
“Then when we compared them to adults we found there was very little memory deficits in the adults rats that had been given cannabis.”‘
‘Police in Johnson City arrested a Bristol, Virginia, minister for driving under the influence and indecent exposure.
Police say 58-year-old Tommy Tester urinated in front of children at a car wash while wearing a skirt. He will remain free on bond until an October court hearing.
He is also charged with having an open container of alcohol in his vehicle.
Tester is a minister of Gospel Baptist Church and works for Christian radio station W-Z-A-P, 690 A-M. The owner of the radio station, Al Morris, is asking for people to pray for Tester.
A report also accuses Tester of offering police officers oral sex and says an open bottle of vodka and empty oxycodone prescription bottle was found in his car when Tester was arrested Friday.’
‘Smoking one cannabis joint is as harmful to a person’s lungs as having up to five cigarettes, according to research published on Tuesday.
Those who smoked cannabis damaged both the lungs’ small fine airways, used for transporting oxygen, and the large airways, which blocked air flow, the researchers said.
It meant cannabis smokers complained of wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness, the study by experts at the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand found.’
‘Two men have been charged with attempting to smuggle 16kg of the illicit drug ice into Australia hidden in two marble tables. [..]
Customs officers at Sydney Air Cargo discovered the drugs on July 10 after selecting for examination two packages which had arrived from Vancouver, Canada.
An X-ray of the packages aroused suspicion of a possible concealment and prompted Customs officers to drill a hole in the marble slab.
They found white powder inside.’
‘The mail-order minister of a Hollywood church that burns marijuana during services and allegedly sells it to members says that’s protected under federal law because the drug is a religious sacrament.
But Judge Mary Strobel has ruled that the Reverend Craig X. Rubin can’t use federal law as a defense because he faces only state charges.
Rubin, who’s representing himself at his drug trial, says members of his Temple 420 believe that marijuana is the tree of life mentioned in the Bible. [..]
The 41-year-old Rubin has no legal experience, and says he spent last weekend praying and smoking marijuana with Indians in a sweat lodge at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.’
‘Using marijuana increases the risk of one day developing a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, according to a study that provides some of the strongest evidence yet linking the drug to a mental disorder.
Marijuana is one the most commonly used illegal substances in many countries with up to 20 percent of young people in places like Britain reporting either some use or heavy use, British researchers said, citing government statistics.
Many consider it on par with alcohol or tobacco but the results shows marijuana poses a danger many smokers underestimate, said Stanley Zammit, a psychiatrist at Cardiff University and the University of Bristol, who worked on the study.’
‘After three years on the ADHD drug Ritalin, kids are about an inch shorter and 4.4 pounds lighter than their peers, a major U.S. study shows.
The symptoms of childhood ADHD — attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — usually get dramatically better soon after kids start taking stimulant drugs. But this benefit may come with a cost, says James Swanson, PhD, director of the Child Development Center at the University of California, Irvine.
“Yes, there is a growth suppression effect with stimulant ADHD medications,” Swanson tells WebMD. “It is going to occur at the age of treatment, and over three years it will accumulate.”‘
‘A Dutch association of shops that sell “magic mushrooms” on Monday called for a self-imposed ban on the sale of the hallucinogenic fungi to minors.
The move comes during an ongoing debate in the Netherlands about the safety of the magic mushrooms after a number of incidents involving tourists who had taken them.
A majority in Dutch parliament said it was in favour of a total ban but in June Health Minister Ab Klink said he just wants an age limit because a total ban was not legally possible. [..]
In the Netherlands the sale of dried magic mushrooms is banned but fresh ones are allowed because they can also be found naturally in some Dutch woods.’
‘Purdue Pharma L.P., the maker of OxyContin, and three of its executives were ordered Friday to pay a $634.5 million fine for misleading the public about the painkiller’s risk of addiction. [..]
Designed to be swallowed whole and digested over 12 hours, the pills can produce a heroin-like high if crushed and then swallowed, snorted or injected.
From 1996 to 2001, the number of oxycodone-related deaths nationwide increased fivefold while the annual number of OxyContin prescriptions increased nearly 20-fold, according to a report by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2002, the DEA said the drug caused 146 deaths and contributed to another 318.’
‘Jock Doubleday, director of the California non-profit corporation Natural Woman, Natural Man, Inc., has offered $75,000 to the first medical doctor or pharmaceutical company CEO who publicly drinks a mixture of standard vaccine additives.
The additives would be the same as those contained in the vaccines recommended for a 6-year-old according to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, and the dose would be body-weight calibrated. It would include, but not be limited to:
* Thimerosal (a mercury derivative)
* Ethylene glycol (antifreeze)
* Phenol (a disinfectant dye)
* Aluminum
* Benzethonium chloride (a disinfectant)
* Formaldehyde (a preservative and disinfectant)
On August 1, 2007, if no one has taken the challenge, the offer will be increased to $90,000 and will increase at a rate of $5,000 per month until someone accepts.’
‘Peruvian authorities discovered more than 200 plants of marijuana growing in the grassy median of a residential street in Lima this week – just a few meters from a school and community center.
On Friday, according to the El Comercio newspaper, two city workers watering green areas in the La Victoria district of Lima, Peru found an explosive device in the median of the 800 block of San Eugene Avenue. They immediately contacted the Peruvian National police who located the military-style grenade and summoned a bomb squad to remove it.
As the workers moved further down the median they made a second discovery – several hundred marijuana plants thriving in the knee-high grass. The police then removed the plants. Officials with the Peruvian National Police say they are continuing to investigate both incidents.’
‘The co-founder of semiconductor maker Broadcom Corp., under scrutiny in a federal stock options probe, was accused seven years ago of building an underground hideaway at his estate to indulge in drugs and sex with prostitutes, according to court documents.
In a draft complaint made against Henry T. Nicholas III, a construction crew claimed the billionaire failed to pay them millions of dollars for work performed between 1998 and 2002, and used “manipulation, lies, intimidation, and even death threats” when anyone threatened to quit.
The illegal network of tunnels and rooms underneath Nicholas’ Laguna Hills estate was kept secret from his wife and city officials, the documents said.
The purpose of one secret room was to allow Nicholas to “indulge his appetite for illegal drugs and sex with prostitutes,” the crew claimed.’
‘A man with a needle sticking out of his arm crashed Wednesday afternoon into a Clifton Heights drug treatment center, witnesses said.
The driver, whose name has not been released, was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment of unspecified injuries.
Police said the man was unconscious and had overdosed on a drug, possibly heroin.’
‘Drug users in the desert town of Alice Springs have started injecting illegal adrenaline, prompting police to warn “the new speed” could have fatal consequences.
The drug, normally used by medics to treat people suffering extreme asthma attacks or allergic reactions, is being sold on the streets in glass containers with blue stoppers. [..]
“This new recreational drug has the potential to cause death in some people,” Detective Murphy said.
“Adrenaline is usually only used in cases of extreme emergency for such things as severe allergic reactions or during acute asthma attacks for breathing difficulties.’
‘The nation’s top anti-drug official said people need to overcome their “reefer blindness” and see that illicit marijuana gardens are a terrorist threat to the public’s health and safety, as well as to the environment.
John P. Walters, President Bush’s drug czar, said the people who plant and tend the gardens are terrorists who wouldn’t hesitate to help other terrorists get into the country with the aim of causing mass casualties. Walters made the comments at a Thursday press conference that provided an update on the “Operation Alesia” marijuana-eradication effort. [..]
“These people are armed; they’re dangerous,” he said. He called them “violent criminal terrorists.”‘
‘A Toronto judge has ruled that Canada’s pot possession laws are unconstitutional after a man argued the country’s medicinal marijuana regulations are flawed. [..]
The man has no medical issues and doesn’t want a medical exemption to smoke marijuana. In 2001, Health Canada implemented the Marijuana Medical Access Regulations, which allow access to marijuana to people who are suffering from grave and debilitating illnesses.
In court, the man argued that the federal government only made it policy to provide marijuana to those who need it, but never made it an actual law. Because of that, he argued, all possession laws, whether medicinal or not, should be quashed.
The judge agreed and dismissed the charges.’
‘Jim Morrison lived life in the fast lane, blowing fans’ minds with his trippy lyrics and magnetic stage presence. So it has always seemed strange that according to official records he died in benign circumstances: from heart failure in a Paris bathtub. Now, a new book suggests the singer may have met his maker with a psychedelic bang after all.
Sam Bernett, a former Paris nightclub manager, has claimed that the Doors frontman died on 3 July 1971 in a lavatory cubicle at his club. The suspected cause of death: heroin overdose.
Although rumours of this have circulated since Morrison’s death 36 years ago, no witnesses have come forward, until now.
The author, who managed the venue in question, believes two drug dealers carried Morrison out of the club and took him to his apartment. After arriving there, Bernett claims, Morrison was thrown into a bath in an attempt to revive him.’
‘Kate Penland said she was glad to board the plane in Houston after an 11-hour delay to visit her father in Oklahoma. But she said a rude and aggressive flight attendant caused her to get to Oklahoma a day late. [..]
“As we started taxiing, he started saying ‘Bye, bye plane,’ said Penland. “At the end of her speech, she leaned over the gentleman beside me and said, ‘It’s not funny anymore. You need to shut your baby up.’
In disbelief, Penland asked the woman if she was kidding. It was then, Penland said, the flight attendant went too far.
“She then said, ‘You know, it’s called baby Benadryl. And I said, ‘Well, I’m not going to drug my child so you have a pleasant flight.”
‘A man who wanted to bail his friend out of the Marion County jail is behind bars after a high speed chase.
Deputies said he drove to the sheriff’s office with a trunk full of drugs and no ID. The 100 mile-per-hour chase began when deputies tried to check Eugene Allen’s ID at the front gate of the jail. Allen didn’t have any ID, so he sped off, hitting a sergeant’s car and an SUV before flipping over.
Allen faces charges for driving on a suspended license and having cocaine and methamphetamines.’
‘Ireland’s top bookmaker, Paddy Power PLC, paid out more than $13,500 on Friday to people who bet that Al Gore would be arrested. Trouble was, the company neglected to specify which one.
The former U.S. vice president and global-warming activist was rated as a 14-to-1 outsider in a list of American celebrities likely to be arrested next. On Wednesday _ the day after the betting went live on Paddy Power’s Web site _ Gore’s 24-year-old son, Al Gore III, was arrested and charged with illegally possessing marijuana and prescription drugs.
Paddy Power said it was paying out winnings to about 50 people, because it had failed to identify which Gore it meant. “We got a good stoning,” the Dublin-based company said in a statement.’
Tommy Chong and Steven Colbert talk a bit about Paris Hilton.
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‘A synthetic version of a molecule found in the egg cells of the Northern Leopard frog (Rana pipiens) could provide the world with the first drug treatment for brain tumours.
Known as Amphinase, the molecule recognises the sugary coating found on a tumour cell and binds to its surface before invading the cell and inactivating the RNA it contains, causing the tumour to die.
In new research published in the Journal of Molecular Biology, scientists from the University of Bath (UK) and Alfacell Corporation (USA) describe the first complete analysis of the structural and chemical properties of the molecule.
Although it could potentially be used as a treatment for many forms of cancer, Amphinase offers greatest hope in the treatment of brain tumours, for which complex surgery and chemotherapy are the only current treatments.’
‘Just four per cent of US adults are virgins, but a fifth have tried hard drugs such as cocaine and crack, a new study shows.
What most alarms researchers is how young they start.
“We still have a public health problem in that we still see a lot of adults reporting their sexual debut at a pretty young age,” said Dr Kathryn Porter of the United States’ National Centre for Health Statistics, who led the survey of more than 6,000 people. [..]
Ninety-six per cent of US adults have engaged in some kind of sex – including oral and anal sex – by the age of 20, according to the study published today.’
‘Firefighters who spent half an hour fighting a blaze in which 2,000 pounds of marijuana went up in smoke breathed so much of it that they would have failed a drug test, a fire chief said.
It took more than 35 firefighters, 1,000 gallons of water and five gallons of chemical suppressant to extinguish the warehouse blaze on Wednesday, Fire Chief Shawn Snider said. [..]
Snider said Thursday the firefighters were exposed to so much marijuana smoke that they would not be able to pass a drug test, despite wearing air packs to prevent them from inhaling toxic or hazardous fumes.’
‘A driver who was high on cocaine destroyed an entire cornfield in an attempt to escape from the police.
Four police cars were destroyed before the 35-year-old crashed into a ditch and was arrested, near the village of Dussen in the south of the Netherlands.’
‘Italian scientists have developed a pill that expands in the stomach to make dieters feel full.
They liken the effect to eating a bowl of spaghetti and say the pill can stop hunger for a few hours.
It is made from a hydrogel, which the team developed when trying to make more absorbent nappy linings, and may help in the battle against obesity.
So far it has been tested on 20 people but experts warned bigger trials would be needed to test safety.’
‘A proposed pro-marijuana conference to be held in the US-administered Northern Mariana Islands has led to a bizarre row among local legislators.
Opponents of the conference of Californian-based activists advocating that marijuana should be legalised have suggested the territory should be renamed the Northern Marijuana Islands.
But the cash-strapped government says the conference would be a boon for the sagging tourism industry.
“We welcome anybody who wants to hold a conference here, whether it be to discuss marijuana or not,” government spokesman Charles Reyes said Thursday.’
‘A female pit bull living at a Long Island animal shelter needs donations of Viagra to stay alive, according to a spokesperson of the Little Shelter Animal Adoption Center.
Ingrid, 4, was rescued in April after being near death from heartworms, according to Marge Stein, a spokesperson for the shelter.
The shelter sought a vet who suggested giving Viagra a try to keep the dog’s blood vessels open.
“We were really worried she wouldn’t make it,” Stein said during a phone interview with WNBC.com. “There was such a turnaround after or week or so of the Viagra; she just became a new dog. She perked up and was lively, just like any other dog.”‘
‘Police arrested a man for marijuana possession, but not before officers had to save him from choking after he apparently tried to hide the drugs by swallowing them.
Officers pulled over a car Wednesday night and as one of the officers approached the driver’s side, “he noticed the driver was choking on a large Baggie” of marijuana, said police spokesman Gordon Bassham.
The officers performed the Heimlich maneuver on the driver without success. Bassham said the man was passing out when one of the officers reached down his throat and pulled the Baggie out.’
