Mexican Drug Cartels Now Into More Than Drugs-- Exporting Ore

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexican-drug-cartels-now-make-money-exporting-ore-21046124

Adderall Use Rising in Baseball

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24301271/mlb-mlbpa-joint-drug-report-shows-adderall-use-rising-in-baseball

More on Drug Raids: Denver Dispensaries Deny Accusations of Ties to Drug Cartels (Feds are raiding local dispensaries!)

Seems like a struggle between state and federal law. Federal law enforcers are raiding dispensaries in the Denver/Boulder area and accusing them of ties to Colombian drug cartels!
http://www.9news.com/news/article/365917/42/Denver-marijuana-dispensary-owners-deny-alleged-ties-to-Colombian-drug-cartels

Marijuana in Illinois

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/naperville_lisle/ct-medical-marijuana-zoning-naperville-tl-1128-20131128,0,1882812.story

Molly Reasons to Panic and to Not Panic

http://www.slate.com/blogs/crime/2013/10/25/molly_mdma_the_club_drug_is_dangerous_but_not_for_the_reasons_you_d_think.html

11 Facts That Reveal The Insanity Of The Global War On Drugs

Click me

Another article on the recent raids. I hope we have time to discuss this in class

http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_24578615

North Korea cracks down on meth producers....to please the U.S.?

The U.S. drug war is influencing/pressuring North Korea to crack down on illegal drug producers.  North Korea expelled 5 men to the U.S. to face charges.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/20/justice/thailand-north-korea-meth-arrests/index.html?iref=allsearch

DEA Raids Marijuana Dispensaries in Denver Area (including one in Boulder)

The DEA looks to be setting the bar for future marijuana sales in Colorado. The article states that on August 29th of this year the U.S. Justice Department released a statement that they would not interfere with marijuana legalization; however, they promised to "aggressively enforce" various areas of concern should they become an issue. These areas of concern include: distribution to minors, marijuana sales revenue going to criminal organizations, transfer of marijuana to states where it is illegal, selling marijuana as a cover for distribution of other illicit drugs, violence and use of firearms involved in production, adverse public health consequences, the growth of marijuana on public land, and marijuana on federal property. It is expected that the raids that were conducted today are a result of the DEA believing these dispensaries to be violating one or more of these areas of concern. Regardless, the DEA is making a statement to future dispensaries in Colorado and there will be no room for error in future marijuana businesses.

Denver Post Article

Walter White and Jesse Pinkman in North Korea?

Members of a Hong Kong criminal organization were arrested in Thailand and tried in the U.S. on methamphetamine distribution charges (100 kilograms). Where did the meth come from? North Korea. And it was tested to be over 98 percent pure. Wasn't that the percent purity that Walter White's meth was known for? (Breaking Bad reference for those out of the loop)

ABC Article on NK Meth Bust

The Effect of Cannabis on Pregnant Women & Newborns

http://altering-perspectives.com/2013/11/effect-cannabis-pregnant-women-newborns.html

Interesting article about marijuana and it's effects on women and newborns! The quote posted below sums up the article and it's fascinating that something once thought of as a teratogen might now be harmless or even beneficial.

"The results showed no negative impact on the children, on the contrary they seemed to excel." 

Sinaloa cartel tunnel found

Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, headed by El Chapo, created one of the most sophisticated tunnels from the US to Mexico. Their tunnel had a rail system, hydraulic doors, electricity, and air conditioning.

Induced Mood Disorders?

Although it is known that individuals can have predispositions to mood disorders or substance abuse disorders through family histories, is it possible to get a mood disorder such as dysthymia or mania from induced by a substance? 

Thought this was an interesting topic and figured I'd share:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/286885-overview#a1

FDA Drug Applications: OTC Drugs

These are the guidelines for over the counter products and what is enforced. There are documents dated back to the 70's still on here. There are also useful related topics in what needs to be included in labeling, warnings, ingredients, etc,. Figured since we were talking about this in class anyone who is curious could take a look. The FDA seems to be a bit of a joke…

http://www.fda.gov/drugs/developmentapprovalprocess/howdrugsaredevelopedandapproved/approvalapplications/over-the-counterdrugs/default.htm#Laws

Uruguay expected to pass new legislation to regulate marijuana

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/18/uruguay-cannabis-law-war-on-drugs-marijuana

Why not to drink while on prescriptions

Drug cartel's Networks through Mexico

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://truthalliance.net/Portals/0/Archive/images/news/2011/08/drug-cartels.jpg&imgrefurl=http://truthalliance.net/Archive/News/tabid/67/ID/8096/Reports-CIA-Working-with-Mexican-Drug-Cartels.aspx&h=570&w=800&sz=159&tbnid=TMDag9Jun63agM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=131&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmexico%2Bdrug%2Bcartels%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=mexico+drug+cartels&usg=__vpzJkv4C-4shzLo-gNxHCga_SFA=&docid=irHJ_cgUikIAGM&sa=X&ei=6UGJUsqkHOfK2wXMyYC4AQ&ved=0CEMQ9QEwBQ

Chicago Drug violence

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/10/15/mexican-drug-cartels-running-chicagos-streets-n1723639

Why Legalizing Weed Just Makes Sense

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/14/weed-legalized-_n_4262033.html?1384463337&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

Quick perspective on the War on Drugs

Quick and Simple

http://www.upworthy.com/why-the-war-on-drugs-looks-even-stupider-when-you-see-what-other-countries-do-4

Ketamine's alternative use

In high doses, ketamine is used as a tranquilizer. Ketamine, so Special K, is often used as a recreational drug or even date rape drug. In the last few years, though, new information has been discovered about ketamine use and depression. Here is an interesting link: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/261454.php

Science, Technology, and Drugs

In the 8:00 section, recently we have been talking about a fair amount about psychedelic drugs.  It seems to be common knowledge that artists, actors, and other prominent figures have used psychedelic drugs. It is interesting to see that visionaries in the Technology and Science fields also have experimented with drugs.  This link shows some very familiar faces who have reached altered states with chemical substances.
http://io9.com/5876304/10-scientific-and-technological-visionaries-who-experimented-with-drugs

Drug Addiction vs. Drug Control Spending

Here's the graph charting addiction rates vs. drug control spending efforts.

Ritalin, and how to take it

How to take ritalin

This article describes how ritalin should be taken. Pertains to Casey's paper that we discussed in class today

A Fun Buzzfeed Article on Molly!

You'll learn a lot and won't feel like it was work to read

Opinions on the new Colorado marijuana taxes

Click me

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/miley-cyrus-sings-mtv-awards-smokes-pot-article-1.1512550

Interesting how America chose to cut out the segment of Miley "apparently" smoking a joint. Anyone have some thoughts? (Note: these awards were in Amsterdam)

New drug tunnel found

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/crime/2013/11/08/ac-marquez-drug-tunnel-tour.cnn.html

Super scary

All I can say is WTF?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/david-eckert-enema-colonoscopy-drugs-traffic-stop_n_4218320.html

Library workshop eval.

Could you please fill out the following survey about the library workshop and how helpful it was?

Thanks!!!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFFQUmRvbDVYZ2N5MDRyOUR0YXU4cGc6MA#gid=0

Vaccine Against Meth

http://www.doctortipster.com/11968-new-vaccine-against-methamphetamine-drug-addiction-shows-promising-results.html


I found out this vaccine works the same as viral vaccines! They inject a little bit of meth molecules inside the rat and the carrier molecules help the vaccine bind. Then it blocks some of the effects of meth and someday will help cure addiction by making meth have no pleasurable factors. Pretty cool!

Drug Tunnel Between Mexico and San Diego Found

The discovery of this drug tunnel highlights how innovative drug traffickers are. The tunnel had its own ventilation and electricity!

 http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/mexico-drug-tunnel/index.html

making gains

Must be 21 to Purchase Cigarettes in New York

Proponents of the new city law claim that this raise in age requirement will save lives by reducing the number of people that become addicted to cigarettes. I must say I'm a little skeptical. After all, students in high school never seem to have a problem acquiring alcohol. If anyone under 21 really wants a pack of cigarettes, I'm sure they'll find a way fairly easily. Then again, with the tobacco tax in New York, I highly doubt anyone under 21 could even afford a smoking habit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/nyregion/new-york-approves-law-to-raise-tobacco-purchasing-age-to-21.html?_r=0

FDA Scientist Survey

This survey was conducted in 2011 and provides some troubling issues happening in the FDA's area of testing. Take a look. The issues include scientists under pressure from political and corporate entities as well as discrepancies between FDA decision making and actual scientific findings.

http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/documents/scientific_integrity/fda-survey-report-2011.pdf