Two governors have asked the DEA to reclassify marijuana for medical use. But their real problem is in not opposing the backdoor ruse for legalization of cannabis.
Too many elected state leaders still fall for the idea that legalizing ?medical? marijuana really isn?t about a well-monied national campaign to legalize all pot use.
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And yet, truth be told, it is.
The latest twist in this ongoing political ruse is a request by two governors to have marijuana reclassified under federal drug law ? even though such an effort is really a sideshow.
On Nov. 30, Gov. Chris Gregoire (D) of Washington and Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) of Rhode Island asked the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to change how marijuana is rated as a drug under the Controlled Substances Act. Their 106-page petition seeks to have cannabis designated for limited medical use ? a category known as ?Schedule II? ? while still retaining its status as a harmful substance with a high potential for abuse.
The governors claim they simply want safe access to pot for the ill in the 16 states that have so far decriminalized pot for medical reasons. Both of them are frustrated by recent federal crackdowns on the trafficking of ?medical? marijuana. To protect state employees and others from being prosecuted, they recently killed proposals passed by their legislatures to allow pot dispensaries.
Rather than simply uphold the federal ban, the governors have caved to powerful pro-pot forces that seek legalization through the backdoor. They know the DEA only last July decided not to remove marijuana from Schedule I ? the most restrictive category ? based on a lack of consensus in the medical field. The agency found ?a material conflict of opinion among experts.?
And this was the third time in recent decades that the DEA has denied such a petition.
The federal crackdown picked up steam two months ago in California, where four US Attorneys decided to end the abuse of marijuana dispensaries by thousands of people who have few health problems. Many California dispensaries were also shipping pot around the country.
The raids in California and other states are not aimed at individuals using pot for medical reasons. Rather they are directed at those who profit from the growing or selling of pot ? and who extend those sales way beyond ?medical? use.
As DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart says, ?The known risks of marijuana use have not been shown to be outweighed by specific benefits in well-controlled clinical trials that scientifically evaluate safety and efficacy.?
But of course, the real issue isn?t whether the medical use of pot makes sense (especially when smoked). Instead, governors should simply uphold federal law ? and Obama administration policy ? that finds marijuana has too many adverse effects.
States should not be frustrating federal law by playing into the hands of the pro-pot legalization campaign.
CENTENNIAL, Colo. ? A former Colorado lawman with a record so distinguished he was once honored as the nation's sheriff of the year now finds himself in a jail that was named for him, accused of offering methamphetamine in exchange for sex from a male acquaintance.
Patrick Sullivan, 68 ? handcuffed, dressed in an orange jail uniform and walking with a cane ? watched Wednesday as a judge raised his bail amount to a half-million dollars and sent him to the Patrick J. Sullivan Jr. Detention Facility.
The current sheriff, Grayson Robinson, who worked as undersheriff for Sullivan from 1997 until he took over the job in 2002, said the department was shocked and saddened at his arrest.
Robinson said the case is still under investigation, including where and how Sullivan might have gotten the drugs. He declined to say if authorities suspect Sullivan of using drugs, or if others might be charged.
Robinson told the Denver Post ( http://bit.ly/tIsYxY) a search of Sullivan's home led to the discovery of a large amount of "adult homosexual pornography," which is not illegal.
The Post reported court documents in several other cases show that Sullivan in recent months had been associating with young men fighting an addiction to meth. When the former sheriff was questioned about it, he said he was working in a state drug-treatment program.
Sullivan later told detectives he was on a meth drug task force and helps recovering addicts get clean, according to another report.
The Colorado attorney general's office said there was no record of Sullivan working on a meth task force.
Sullivan's arrest has many in suburban Denver's Arapahoe County where he held sway for nearly two decades wondering what happened to the tough-as-nails lawman they once knew ? a law officer known for his heroism in saving two deputies and for his concern about teenage drug use.
"This isn't the Pat I know," said Peg Ackerman, a lobbyist for the County Sheriffs of Colorado who often worked with him on legislation. She said he was concerned about drug use in schools and was a chief of security at a school district.
At the brief hearing, Judge William Sylvester told Sullivan not to contact anyone involved in the case.
Sullivan's attorney, Kevin McGreevy, did not return calls seeking comment.
Sullivan came to the attention of law enforcement after an Oct. 4 call to authorities from a home in Centennial, according to an arrest affidavit. The deputy who responded had worked for Sullivan and knew who he was.
After investigating further, the deputy learned from two confidential informants that Sullivan was dealing meth but would sell it only if they had sex with him, the document stated. He was arrested after police set up a sting at a home.
Deputies found that Sullivan had handed someone a bag of meth and had another bag on him when he was searched, according to the affidavit. Both bags weighed less than a gram.
Sullivan served as sheriff from 1984 until his retirement in 2002.
In 2002, then-U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo praised him on his retirement, citing Sullivan for promoting homeland security and for being named Sheriff of the Year by the National Sheriff's Association.
In 1989, Sullivan was hailed as a hero. During a gunman's rampage, he rescued two deputies after crashing his truck through a fence and protecting them while they were loaded into the vehicle.
While those who know Sullivan were puzzled by the news, some said they weren't surprised that a person of his stature could get involved. They said meth users will do almost anything to feed their habit and often hurt others in the process.
"This drug knows no economic, social, professional or occupational boundaries," said state Rep. Ken Summers, who served on a legislative meth task force.
NSF awards University of Arizona researchers $530,000 for development of new spectral imagerPublic release date: 1-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Pete Brown communications@engr.arizona.edu 520-621-3754 University of Arizona College of Engineering
Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Engineering have been awarded $530,000 to develop a unique piece of scientific equipment that will further spectral imaging research.
The National Science Foundation made the award, under its Major Research Instrumentation Program, to fund the development of a terahertz spectral imager to be housed in the University Spectroscopy and Imaging Facilities.
The custom-made spectral imager will emit electromagnetic radiation, or spectra, in the terahertz range of frequencies, and analyze how the spectra are absorbed and reflected by various materials, such as cell tissues and chemical compounds.
No instrument with the spectral imager's proposed capabilities currently exists at any university. It will enable scientists and engineers to expand the frontiers of research in areas such as medical imaging of tumors and pathogens, detection of specific chemicals such as explosives, and the study of metamaterials, which are engineered materials that do not occur in nature.
The principal investigator for the three-year project, UA professor of electrical and computer engineering Richard Ziolkowski, also expects the imager to attract high-tech industries and high-caliber researchers. "It will be a unique instrument in an area that is really starting to grow," Ziolkowski said. "There are jobs now being created in the terahertz area because people are interested in systems such these imaging devices."
Terahertz radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, just like light, radio waves and X-rays. The scarcely researched terahertz band lies between microwave and optical frequencies and is known as the "terahertz gap." All these spectral frequencies can be used for imaging: for instance, astronomers use light and radio telescopes to study the emission spectra of celestial phenomena, and doctors use X-rays to see deep into body tissue.
Although terahertz radiation can penetrate many different materials, including clothing, but not metal, it does not damage cell tissue and DNA like X-rays. Many of the imagers in airports use terahertz waves. "You get some depth of penetration with terahertz, for example into skin and through clothes," Ziolkowski said. "You can't do that with visible light."
The terahertz spectral imager is thus an ideal tool for peering into various materials to see what lies beneath. All matter whether in space, your body or your baggage has a unique "spectral signature" or specific pattern of scattering and reflecting any electromagnetic waves directed at it. "We'll be sending out these terahertz signals and receiving signals back and trying to interpret them," Ziolkowski said.
One possible application for a terahertz spectral imager is in skin cancer surgery. "One of the questions with melanomas," Ziolkowski said, "is how far has the cancer extended around what you actually see?" Determining the extent of a melanoma can be difficult when using harmful X-rays is not an option. "You can see it with terahertz," he said.
Similarly, the instrument development team is interested in using terahertz waves to detect the presence in cells of disease-causing pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. Different bugs have different spectral signatures, Ziolkowski said.
Product control in the pharmaceutical industry could also benefit from terahertz spectral imaging. "A lot of pills now are time-release, and the thickness of the capsules is important for that time release," Ziolkowski said. "You can actually see the thickness of the pill casings with terahertz." He adds that quality engineers can also examine computer chips and electronic circuits the same way to determine whether there are breaks in the circuits or whether layers and other components are the right depth.
Ziolkowski also expects interest from security agencies because various kinds of explosives have their own terahertz signatures. Thanks to the uniqueness of spectral signatures, the list of applications for a terahertz imager is virtually limitless. One application area is metamaterials, which are engineered materials with unique properties desired for specific physics and engineering applications.
Some of the metamaterials being researched by Ziolkowski, for example, will be integrated into the imager because of the way they emit terahertz waves when hit by pulses of laser light. The objective is to create an efficient and reliable terahertz beam that can be directed into the materials under investigation.
"The metamaterials transform optical pulses into terahertz signals," Ziolkowski said. "Laser light comes in, strikes the metamaterial structure, and out come nice parallel, well-defined beams of terahertz."
###
Richard Ziolkowski is the Litton Industries John M. Leonis Distinguished Professor. His co-investigators on the terahertz spectral imaging Major Research Instrumentation project are Pierre Deymier, head of the UA materials science and engineering department, and Michael Gehm, Linda Powers and Hao Xin of the UA electrical and computer engineering department. An additional $238,000 coming from the University of Arizona Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and the UA College of Engineering brings the total project funding to $768,000.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NSF awards University of Arizona researchers $530,000 for development of new spectral imagerPublic release date: 1-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Pete Brown communications@engr.arizona.edu 520-621-3754 University of Arizona College of Engineering
Researchers at the University of Arizona College of Engineering have been awarded $530,000 to develop a unique piece of scientific equipment that will further spectral imaging research.
The National Science Foundation made the award, under its Major Research Instrumentation Program, to fund the development of a terahertz spectral imager to be housed in the University Spectroscopy and Imaging Facilities.
The custom-made spectral imager will emit electromagnetic radiation, or spectra, in the terahertz range of frequencies, and analyze how the spectra are absorbed and reflected by various materials, such as cell tissues and chemical compounds.
No instrument with the spectral imager's proposed capabilities currently exists at any university. It will enable scientists and engineers to expand the frontiers of research in areas such as medical imaging of tumors and pathogens, detection of specific chemicals such as explosives, and the study of metamaterials, which are engineered materials that do not occur in nature.
The principal investigator for the three-year project, UA professor of electrical and computer engineering Richard Ziolkowski, also expects the imager to attract high-tech industries and high-caliber researchers. "It will be a unique instrument in an area that is really starting to grow," Ziolkowski said. "There are jobs now being created in the terahertz area because people are interested in systems such these imaging devices."
Terahertz radiation is part of the electromagnetic spectrum, just like light, radio waves and X-rays. The scarcely researched terahertz band lies between microwave and optical frequencies and is known as the "terahertz gap." All these spectral frequencies can be used for imaging: for instance, astronomers use light and radio telescopes to study the emission spectra of celestial phenomena, and doctors use X-rays to see deep into body tissue.
Although terahertz radiation can penetrate many different materials, including clothing, but not metal, it does not damage cell tissue and DNA like X-rays. Many of the imagers in airports use terahertz waves. "You get some depth of penetration with terahertz, for example into skin and through clothes," Ziolkowski said. "You can't do that with visible light."
The terahertz spectral imager is thus an ideal tool for peering into various materials to see what lies beneath. All matter whether in space, your body or your baggage has a unique "spectral signature" or specific pattern of scattering and reflecting any electromagnetic waves directed at it. "We'll be sending out these terahertz signals and receiving signals back and trying to interpret them," Ziolkowski said.
One possible application for a terahertz spectral imager is in skin cancer surgery. "One of the questions with melanomas," Ziolkowski said, "is how far has the cancer extended around what you actually see?" Determining the extent of a melanoma can be difficult when using harmful X-rays is not an option. "You can see it with terahertz," he said.
Similarly, the instrument development team is interested in using terahertz waves to detect the presence in cells of disease-causing pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. Different bugs have different spectral signatures, Ziolkowski said.
Product control in the pharmaceutical industry could also benefit from terahertz spectral imaging. "A lot of pills now are time-release, and the thickness of the capsules is important for that time release," Ziolkowski said. "You can actually see the thickness of the pill casings with terahertz." He adds that quality engineers can also examine computer chips and electronic circuits the same way to determine whether there are breaks in the circuits or whether layers and other components are the right depth.
Ziolkowski also expects interest from security agencies because various kinds of explosives have their own terahertz signatures. Thanks to the uniqueness of spectral signatures, the list of applications for a terahertz imager is virtually limitless. One application area is metamaterials, which are engineered materials with unique properties desired for specific physics and engineering applications.
Some of the metamaterials being researched by Ziolkowski, for example, will be integrated into the imager because of the way they emit terahertz waves when hit by pulses of laser light. The objective is to create an efficient and reliable terahertz beam that can be directed into the materials under investigation.
"The metamaterials transform optical pulses into terahertz signals," Ziolkowski said. "Laser light comes in, strikes the metamaterial structure, and out come nice parallel, well-defined beams of terahertz."
###
Richard Ziolkowski is the Litton Industries John M. Leonis Distinguished Professor. His co-investigators on the terahertz spectral imaging Major Research Instrumentation project are Pierre Deymier, head of the UA materials science and engineering department, and Michael Gehm, Linda Powers and Hao Xin of the UA electrical and computer engineering department. An additional $238,000 coming from the University of Arizona Office of the Senior Vice President for Research and the UA College of Engineering brings the total project funding to $768,000.
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?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NORWOOD, Ohio ? Regis Philbin says he's been too busy to miss the live weekday TV show he left nearly two weeks ago, though he is already thinking about a return to television.
The 80-year-old entertainer said at a suburban Cincinnati book-signing on Wednesday that he hasn't had time to think about the old program with Kelly Ripa because of his book tour. He's on the road promoting his memoir, "How I Got This Way."
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports ( http://cin.ci/rNPhm3) that Philbin said it was time to move on from the midmorning show. But he says he's now working on a family talent program he would host in prime time. He says competing families would be judged on their fitness, knowledge, character and what they give back to the community.
___
Information from: The Cincinnati Enquirer, http://www.enquirer.com
TULSA, Okla. ? Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month.
Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horse meat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December.
It did not, however, allocate any new money to pay for horse meat inspections, which opponents claim could cost taxpayers $3 million to $5 million a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture would have to find the money in its existing budget, which is expected to see more cuts this year as Congress and the White House aim to trim federal spending.
The USDA issued a statement Tuesday saying there are no slaughterhouses in the U.S. that butcher horses for human consumption now, but if one were to open, it would conduct inspections to make sure federal laws were being followed. USDA spokesman Neil Gaffney declined to answer questions beyond what was in the statement.
The last U.S. slaughterhouse that butchered horses closed in 2007 in Illinois, and animal welfare activists warned of massive public outcry in any town where a slaughterhouse may open.
"If plants open up in Oklahoma or Nebraska, you'll see controversy, litigation, legislative action and basically a very inhospitable environment to operate," predicted Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive of The Humane Society of the United States. "Local opposition will emerge and you'll have tremendous controversy over slaughtering Trigger and Mr. Ed."
But pro-slaughter activists say the ban had unintended consequences, including an increase in neglect and the abandonment of horses, and that they are scrambling to get a plant going ? possibly in Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska or Missouri. They estimate a slaughterhouse could open in 30 to 90 days with state approval and eventually as many as 200,000 horses a year could be slaughtered for human consumption. Most of the meat would be shipped to countries in Europe and Asia, including France and Japan.
Dave Duquette, president of the nonprofit, pro-slaughter group United Horsemen, said no state or site has been picked yet but he's lined up plenty of investors who have expressed interest in financing a processing plant. While the last three slaughterhouses in the U.S. were owned by foreign companies, he said a new plant would be American-owned.
"I have personally probably five to 10 investors that I could call right now if I had a plant ready to go," said Duquette, who lives in Hermiston, Ore. He added, "If one plant came open in two weeks, I'd have enough money to fund it. I've got people who will put up $100,000."
Sue Wallis, a Wyoming state lawmaker who's the group's vice president, said ranchers used to be able to sell horses that were too old or unfit for work to slaughterhouses but now they have to ship them to butchers in Canada and Mexico, where they fetch less than half the price.
The federal ban devastated "an entire sector of animal agriculture for purely sentimental and romantic notions," she said.
Although there are reports of Americans dining on horse meat a recently as the 1940s, the practice is virtually non-existent in this country, where the animals are treated as beloved pets and iconic symbols of the West.
Lawmakers in California and Illinois have banned the slaughter of horses for human consumption, and more than a dozen states tightly regulate the sale of horse meat.
Federal lawmakers' lifting of the ban on funding for horse meat inspections came about in part because of the recession, which struck just as slaughtering stopped. A federal report issued in June found that local animal welfare organizations reported a spike in investigations for horse neglect and abandonment since 2007. In Colorado, for example, data showed that investigations for horse neglect and abuse increased more than 60 percent ? from 975 in 2005 to almost 1,600 in 2009.
The report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office also determined that about 138,000 horses were transported to Canada and Mexico for slaughter in 2010, nearly the same number that were killed in the U.S. before the ban took effect in 2007. The U.S. has an estimated 9 million horses.
Cheri White Owl, founder of the nonprofit Horse Feathers Equine Rescue in Guthrie, Okla., said she's seen more horse neglect during the recession. Her group is caring for 33 horses now and can't accept more.
"A lot of the situation is due to the economy," she said, "People deciding to pay their mortgage or keep their horse."
But White Owl worries that if slaughterhouses open, owners will dump their unwanted animals there instead of looking for alternatives, such as animal sanctuaries.
Animal rights groups also argue that slaughtering is a messy, cruel process, and some say it would be kinder for owners to have their horses put to sleep by a veterinarian.
"Euthanasia has always been an option," Pacelle said. But "if you acquire a horse, you should be a responsible owner and provide lifetime care."
The fight over horse slaughtering has pitted lawmakers of the same party against each other.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., said the poor economy has resulted in "sad cases" of horse abandonment and neglect and lifting the ban will give Americans a shot at regaining lost jobs and making sure sick horses aren't abandoned or mistreated.
But U.S. Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., is lobbying colleagues to permanently ban horse slaughter because he believes the process is inhumane.
"I am committed to doing everything in my power to prevent the resumption of horse slaughter and will force Congress to debate this important policy in an open, democratic manner at every opportunity," he said in a statement.
The latest report from comScore makes for eye popping reading -- Google's video sites, of which YouTube is the most important, received 20,933,113,000 views in October. To put that into some context, that's roughly three videos watched by every person alive on the planet. According to the statistics, YouTubers spent an average of seven hours watching the month's hottest videos (such as Community's Beetlejuice easter egg and Naughty Fenton). Surprisingly, Facebook came second, but viewers spent an measly average of 18 minutes watching last night's karaoke. In other news, Hulu came top for online advertising and Vevo was the most watched partner site, you guys obviously love your Lady Gaga.
SANTIAGO, Chile ? A judge investigating abuses during Chile's dictatorship is seeking the extradition of a former U.S. military officer on murder charges in the 1973 killing of two Americans, including one whose disappearance was the focus of the film "Missing," court officials said Tuesday.
Former U.S. Navy Capt. Ray E. Davis was charged in the deaths of journalist Charles Horman and U.S. student Frank Teruggi, who were killed during the 1973-1990 regime of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. The court statement said retired Chilean army Brigadier Pedro Espinoza Bravo was also charged in the murders.
Judge Jorge Zepeda asked Chile's Supreme Court to authorize an extradition request so that Davis may be tried in Chile, the court said in its statement.
In the document outlining the charges, Zepeda said the killings of Horman and Teruggi occurred during a secret investigation by U.S. officials into the activity of Americans at home and in Chile, "activity that U.S. agents considered 'subversive.'"
The court statement described Davis as being commander of the U.S. military mission in Chile at the time of the coup, working as a liaison between the U.S. and Chilean militaries. Davis' whereabouts were not immediately clear.
Espinoza is jailed in a special Chilean prison for offenders convicted of human rights abuses, and is already serving sentences in separate cases.
Horman was 31 at the time of his death. He was detained six days after the 1973 military coup that swept Pinochet to power and was taken to Santiago's National Stadium, which became a camp for prisoners and dissidents.
A national truth commission said Horman was executed on Sept. 18, 1973, while he was in the custody of state security agents. It also said Teruggi, then a 24-year-old university student, was similarly executed just several days later, on Sept. 22.
Horman was the focus of the 1982 film "Missing," by director Costa Gavras and starring Jack Lemmon and Sissy Spacek, which won a best screenplay Oscar.
Zepeda said the U.S. journalist was considered a subversive for his work as a screenwriter for Chilean state film company "Chile Films." The judge alleged that Davis could have stopped Horman's execution but didn't because he considered his work "subversive" and "extremist."
Horman may have also been killed because he involuntarily found out about U.S. "collaboration during the military events unfolding" in Chile's military coup, Zepeda said documents indicated.
"The judge has made ample use of declassified U.S. documents, demonstrating their value to moving the wheels of justice forward in these two infamous murders," said Peter Kornbluh, who heads the Chile documentation project at the Washington-based National Security Archive.
Released documents indicate U.S. agents in Chile advised the FBI that their sources told them Teruggi was closely linked to an organization called the Group for the Liberation of the Americas, Area Chicago, the judge said, and that Teruggi purportedly was producing leftist propaganda to be distributed in the U.S.
Both Teruggi and Holman were monitored by U.S. agents in Chile, Zepeda said, adding that the information gathered was passed on to Chilean intelligence officials who ordered the men's detentions.
A national commission has determined that 3,095 people were killed or disappeared during Pinochet's dictatorship.
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Public release date: 1-Dec-2011
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