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"Ecstasy use
doubles in five years"
(The Observer, Sept 28, 2003) --Ecstasy
use in the UK has exploded dramatically over the past
five years, with double the number of people taking the
drug. Ecstasy users are poised to overtake the combined
number of heroin and cocaine users.
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"Business busted on suspicion of selling drug
paraphernalia" (Los Angeles Times, Sept
26, 2003) -- The South Laguna business whose only
sign outside is a large image of Bob Marley was shut
down last week after several neighbors reportedly
complained to police that their children were buying
pipes and bongs there. ID# 7288
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"Council erred in
vote for 'medical' marijuana" (San Diego Union
Tribune, Sept 25, 2003) --
Your Sept. 16 editorial "Medical marijuana" is
on target about unworkable city guidelines. Legitimate
doctors are not recommending marijuana to their patients
because there are better, safer alternatives. Only 10
doctors in California have written 80 percent of the
recommendations for marijuana, according to a
pro-marijuana group, Americans for Safe
Access.
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"Anti-Drug Pitch
Goes Wide" (Los Angeles Times, Sept
22, 2003) -- When Congress launched the
National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign five years ago,
it explicitly tied future funding to hard evidence of
success. Today, there is anything but that.
Teenagers are increasingly using the illicit drugs the
campaign has most often railed against, according to a
recently released, congressionally mandated study. The
Pride Survey found that from 2001 to 2002, for instance,
marijuana use was up among all grades studied (sixth
through 12th) except for the 10th grade, which showed a
0.1% decline. Marijuana use nearly doubled, from 2.9% to
5.2%, among sixth-graders and rose from 7.2% to 10.2%
among eighth-graders. ID# 7279
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"Man charged
in heroin death" (Chicago Tribune, Sept
18, 2003) -- A
19-year-old Island Lake man accused of injecting a
friend with heroin and causing his death in May has been
charged with drug-induced homicide, a law strengthened
last year to punish drug dealers but since used to
prosecute teens and young adults who give their friends
lethal doses. Robert L. Berger, arrested Monday at
a Lake County drug rehabilitation clinic, is in McHenry
County Jail facing 30 years in prison after police said
he injected himself and three friends with heroin and
one died. ID# 7263
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Editorial "Pot
issue illustrates North County divide" (San Diego Union Tribune, Sept
18, 2003) -- It's one of my missions in life to
measure the political distance between North County and
San Diego, the seventh-largest city in the
country. True, the city's tendrils of tract homes
extend above Miramar Rancho Bernardo, for example,
or Carmel Valley but the vast bulk of North County
tends to see the world from a different point of
view. Despite its conservative heritage, San Diego
is evolving into a diversely urban Democratic city.
Unions are starting to flex political muscle. North
County, on the other hand, remains a patchwork of
conservative suburban cities and unincorporated
communities. ID# 7262
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"Survey Many high
while driving" (San Diego Union Tribune, Sept
17, 2003) -- WASHINGTON An estimated 11 million
Americans, including nearly one in five 21-year-olds,
drove while under the influence of illegal drugs last
year, the government says. The numbers announced
yesterday were especially high for college students.
Eighteen percent of students surveyed said they drove
while on drugs last year, compared with 14 percent of
their peers who weren't in college. ID# 7256
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"ID cards for
medical use of pot approved" (San Diego
Union Tribune, Sept 17, 2003) -- Sick
and dying people who use marijuana to ease their
symptoms with a doctor's approval will be able to get an
identification card to protect them from arrest by San
Diego police under an ordinance the City Council
approved yesterday. The measure, adopted 6-3,
formally establishes the ID-card program and puts into
law guidelines the council adopted in February governing
the medical use of marijuana. The guidelines and the
ID-card program will be tried for two years before the
council re-evaluates them. ID# 7257
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"City Council
spells out rules for medical marijuana" (San
Diego Union Tribune, Sept 16, 2003) -- SAN
DIEGO On a 6-3 vote, the San Diego City Council
passed an an ordinance today that spells out rules under
which sick and dying patients can grow and smoke
marijuana. The ordinance allows a patient to
possess a pound of processed marijuana and up to 24
unharvested plants. A caregiver would be allowed to keep
up to 48 unharvested plants and could have as much as
two pounds of the processed drug in his or her
possession. Only indoor cultivation of the drug
would be permitted; public growing and usage would be
barred. ID# 7258
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"Bad trip for early patients on legal pot" (Chicago
Tribune, Sept 16, 2003) --
OTTAWA, CANADA -- Some of the first patients to smoke
government-approved marijuana say it is
"disgusting" and they want their money
back. Health Canada, a federal agency, started
selling marijuana in July to patients with AIDS, cancer
and other diseases. The move followed a court order that
patients should not be forced to get their marijuana
from drug dealers on the streets. But some of the
first to buy the marijuana say it is no good. ID# 7254
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"22 million in U.S. found to abuse drugs, alcohol;
few get treatment" (Darlene Superville, The
San Diego Union Tribune, Sep 6, 2003) --
WASHINGTON About 22
million people in the United States abused or were
dependent on alcohol, drugs or both last year, but only
a fraction received treatment, the government said
yesterday. The 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and
Health also said nearly 20 million people were current
users of illegal drugs, with such use highest among
young adults. More than one in five 18-to 25-year-olds,
or 20.2 percent of young adults, were current users,
with marijuana being the substance of choice, the survey
said. Current users are those who said they had used an
illegal drug in the past month. ID# 7228
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"Researchers Retract Ecstasy Study" (The
New York Times, Sep 8, 2003) -- WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Researchers who studied the effects of the drug
Ecstasy on animals are retracting their report in a
major scientific journal after discovering a labeling
mix-up caused them to use a different drug. Other
studies also have reported on the brain hazards of
Ecstasy, and the researchers said the problems with
their work did not call into question the earlier
findings. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University
reported in September 2002 that key neurons in the
brains of squirrel monkeys and baboons were damaged when
the animals were given doses of Ecstasy that mimicked
those often taken by users of the drug during
``all-night dance parties.'' ID# 7229
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"Hazy future for 'lowest priority' marijuana
initiative" (Beth Kaiman, The Seattle
Times, Aug 31, 2003) -- Seattle
voters next month will consider making marijuana
possession the lowest law-enforcement priority, a ballot
question that stops short of calling for
decriminalization but nonetheless is drawing interest
from as far away as the White House for the
groundwork it could lay for new attitudes toward pot.
Local law-enforcement officials call the initiative on
the Sept. 16 primary ballot vague, potentially confusing
and unlikely to change what they do on the street.
Arresting people for possessing marijuana for personal
use, says Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, is not a
priority now. ID# 7226
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"Three cases challenge marijuana laws" (Martha
Bellisle, The Reno Gazette Journal, Aug
30, 2003) --
In the past three years,
drivers who tested positive for marijuana have been
involved in separate accidents that killed three people
in Reno, including a police officer and an infant, and
six in Las Vegas. Prosecutors say the three drivers, all
charged under Nevadas law making it illegal to drive
with a prohibited substance in their system, should
spend up to 20 years in prison for each count theyre
charged under. But all three say the marijuana was not a
factor in the fatal accidents, and the two Reno drivers
say they had smoked pot the day before not the day
of the accident so they could not have been impaired
by the drugs. ID# 7224
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"Drug Testing Begins in Latin America" (The
Los Angeles Times, Sep 4, 2003) --
Players in Latin America
with minor league contracts will be tested for drugs by
Major League Baseball starting next year. "There
was enough out there in terms of issues people had
raised to us that the prudent thing to do from our
perspective was to spend the money and find out if we
have a problem," Rob Manfred, executive vice
president for labor relations in the commissioner's
office, said Wednesday. The commissioner's office has
been testing minor leaguers in the United States since
2001 but decided to expand its program after a series of
articles in the Washington Post, which first reported
baseball's decision Wednesday. ID# 7221
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"Glance at Teen Drug Use Survey Findings" (Yahoo
News, Sep 4, 2003) --
Some findings of the Pride
Survey of drug use for the 2002-2003 school year.
Results were based on responses from 109,919 sixth-
through 12th-grade students who volunteered to
participate. Nearly one-fourth, or 24 percent, reported
using illegal drugs -- marijuana, cocaine, heroin,
hallucinogens and others -- at least once last year,
compared with 22 percent the year before. Cigarette use
increased to 27 percent, from 26 percent. About half the
students reported drinking alcohol last year, the same
as the year before. ID# 7222
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"Drugstores to start selling cannabis" (The
Chicago Tribune, Sept 1, 2003) -- AMSTERDAM,
NETHERLANDS -- This week the Netherlands will become the
world's first country to make cannabis available as a
prescription drug in pharmacies to treat chronically ill
patients, a top health official said Sunday.The Dutch
government has given the country's 1,650 pharmacies the
green light to sell cannabis starting Monday to those
with HIV, cancer, multiple sclerosis and Tourette's
syndrome in a groundbreaking acceptance of the drug's
medicinal use. ID# 7212
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"Scourge of meth quickly overtaking the rural West" (Gwen
Florio, The Denver Post, Aug 20, 2003) --
The methamphetamine
epidemic sweeping the West is hard to see - the region's
draw for meth-makers is, after all, its isolation - but
is making itself felt in unexpected ways. The drug has
invaded the rural West with a speed that confounds even
experienced drug-enforcement offices. Local authorities
in 23 states, all of them in the West and Midwest, say
it's their most serious drug hazard, according to this
year's National Drug Threat Assessment from the Justice
Department. "Probably 90 percent of the crime we
investigate here we can track back to meth," said
Lt. Phil Matteson of the Central Montana Drug Task Force
in Great Falls. ID# 7210
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"North County Drug Court patches lives" (North
County Times, Aug 25, 2003) --
VISTA ---- Two drug
treatment programs had done little to change James
McCoy's life.When he entered North County's Drug Court
program, McCoy's wife had left, his kids wouldn't speak
to him, he had no job and no car, and he faced a new
drug possession charge. More than 15 months later, the
42-year-old Oceanside man said he is reunited with his
wife, takes his kids to their dentist and doctor
appointments, has a high school diploma, and he has a
steady job. He is also poised for Tuesday night when he
will become part of the Drug Court's 20th graduating
class in six years. ID# 7204
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"Visits to Emergency Rooms in SAN DIEGO Area Due to
Drug Abuse Decreased in 2002" (Yahoo News, Aug
26, 2003) --
WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 /PRNewswire/
-- In SAN DIEGO, visits to hospital emergency
departments related to drug abuse declined by five
percent from 2001 to 2002, even as nationwide emergency
department visits were unchanged. San Diego emergency
room visits related to drug abuse decreased from 6,962
to 6,597 between 2001 and 2002, according to new
estimates from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN),
released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS). When population size
is taken into account, the San Diego area, with 258
emergency room visits associated with drug abuse per
100,000 population, was one of two metropolitan areas
out of 21 surveyed that had decreases. ID# 7208
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"Bored teens with cash a drug risk?" (MSNBC, Aug 22, 2003) --
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19
Boredom and a wad of cash can lead young Americans to
substance abuse, according to a Columbia University
survey released Tuesday. THE STUDY ALSO found that
students at smaller schools and those attending
religious schools are less likely to abuse narcotics and
alcohol. Young people ages 12 to 17 who are frequently
bored are 50 percent likelier than those not often bored
to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs, said
the study by the universitys National Center on
Addiction and Substance Abuse. Those with $25 or more a
week in spending money are nearly twice as likely as
those with less to smoke, drink and use illegal drugs,
and more than twice as likely to get drunk, the study
said. ID# 7200
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"Bored, anxious teens likeliest drug abusers" (The San Diego
Union Tribune, Aug 20, 2003) --
WASHINGTON A survey of
U.S. children and parents released yesterday found that
for many kids, a mix of three ingredients in abundance
can lead to substance abuse boredom, stress and money.
The annual study by Columbia University's National
Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse also found that
students attending smaller schools or religious schools
are less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Joseph
Califano Jr., the center's chairman and president, said
13.8 million teens are at moderate or high risk of
substance abuse. The study found that children ages 12
to 17 who are frequently bored are 50 percent more
likely to smoke, drink, get drunk or use illegal drugs. ID#
7180
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"Congress Not Likely to Change Sentencing Law" (Fox
News, Aug 13, 2003) --
WASHINGTON Congress may
not be ready to change a law that appears to deter crime
even as one Supreme Court justice argues that it's
unfair. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy (search) took
a rare public policy stance on Saturday when he spoke to
the American Bar Association (search) and attacked the
federal law that imposes mandatory minimum sentences and
dictates federal sentencing guidelines. "In my
view, our resources are being misspent. Our punishments
are too severe and our sentences are too long,"
Kennedy said. "I can accept neither the necessity
nor the wisdom of federal mandatory minimum sentences.
In all too many cases, mandatory minimum sentences are
unjust," he added.
ID# 7178
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"Colorado OKs Fake Checkpoints for Drugs" (Yahoo
News, Aug 15, 2003) --
DENVER - Colorado police
can set up fake checkpoints in hopes of sniffing out
illegal drugs, an appeals court ruled in a case where
camouflage-clad officers spied on fans during a
bluegrass festival in 2000. Thursday's ruling, which
reversed an earlier finding, was based on a federal
appeals court decision last year in a similar case in
Oklahoma. Police at the Telluride festival had posted
signs along the road saying, "Narcotics checkpoint,
one mile ahead" and "Narcotics canine
ahead." Officers wearing camouflage hid on a hill
and watched for any people who turned around or appeared
to toss drugs out of their windows after seeing the
signs. ID# 7174
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"States cut inmates loose to cut costs Criminal
justice shifts as economy stammers" (Patrick
McMahon, USA Today, August 11, 2003) --
States are granting early
release to non-violent prisoners, cutting sentences,
sending drug offenders to treatment centers and revising
tough-on-crime laws in reverse of a 20-year trend. State
lawmakers haven't gone soft on crime. They're just short
of cash to pay for some of the anti-crime and anti-drug
laws approved in the 1980s and 1990s. ''It's not like
the liberals are taking over,'' says Connecticut state
Rep. Michael Lawler, a Democrat and co-chairman of House
Judiciary Committee. ''A lot of this is driven by fiscal
conservatives. We're shifting gears from the
philosophical to the practical point of view. At some
point, you're going to run out of money.'' ID#
7169
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"New Heroin Addiction Drug Treatment Approved" (Yahoo
News, August 15, 2003) --
A new FDA approved
treatment for heroin addiction is getting high marks.
NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported that it's safer
than methadone and much less addictive. In fact, primary
care physicians may soon be able to dispense it. Several
months ago St. Elizabeth's Hospital made it available to
addicts with phenomenal success. Like so many IV users,
Michael's addiction began with pain medications like
Oxycontin, but he soon moved to heroin. "It's
numbing. It takes away any pain," Michael said.
Michael failed several detox attempts using methadone. ID#
7168
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"US-style drug court hailed as success" (Fred
Brenton, The Evening Times, August 12, 2003) --
Justice minister Cathy
Jamieson visited the court today, three months before
she will have to decide on its future. The court has
handed out 129 orders since it began taking cases in
November 2001 and staff claimed that it was making a
real difference. Drug court co-ordinator Moira Price
said offending was down and addicts were responding to
treatment after being placed on orders. The justice
minister said "We are committed to tackling drug
misuse and to following approaches that can be shown to
work - approaches that break the cycle of drug
dependency and crime. ID# 7166
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"Doping Fight Is Now a Positive" (Steve
Springer, The Los Angeles Times, August
13, 2003) -- SANTO
DOMINGO, Dominican Republic In the first dozen days
of the XIV Pan American Games, more than 7,000 athletes
from 42 nations competing in 38 events have produced two
positive test results, both for over-the-counter
substances. U.S. sprinter Mickey Grimes, gold medalist
in the 100 meters, tested positive for the stimulant
ephedrine, a banned substance, the Pan American Sports
Organization announced Wednesday. ID# 7164
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"Meth use feeds
rise in female inmates" (The Wichita
Eagle, August 12, 2003) -- A
surge in the number of women behind bars in the past few
years is linked mostly to an increase in drug use, law
enforcement authorities say. The drug of choice is
methamphetamine, a highly toxic and addictive drug used
for everything from weight loss to a long-term high.
"There's no doubt the increase is tied to meth
here," Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson said. In
2001, Kansas ranked fourth in the nation in meth labs.
In 2002, the state ranked fifth, according to the Kansas
Bureau of Investigation. The spike in female
incarcerations began in 1996 at the Topeka Women's
Correctional Facility, the state's only prison for
women. ID# 7165
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"Bush lawyer likens power struggle over pot laws to
civil rights standoffs" (USA Today,
August 10, 2003) -- SAN
FRANCISCO (AP) California and other states that want
to make marijuana available to sick or dying patients
are flouting federal drug laws in much the same way that
Southern states defied national civil rights laws, a
senior Bush administration lawyer said. California is
ground zero in a long tug of war with the federal
government over the medical value of marijuana and the
power of state governments and voters to make exceptions
for people who may benefit from the illegal drug. Five
major federal lawsuits involve those who grow, use or
recommend marijuana for medical use in California. ID#
7157
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"Irrationality and the Needle Exchange" (Joel
A. Harrison, The San Diego Union Tribune, August
7, 2003) -- My
family has lived in North Park since 1936, in the same
home for over 60 years. Several times a week, I take
long walks through the neighborhood. I am a vegetarian
who does not drink, smoke, or use drugs, so I have a
strong vested interest in this being a safe
neighborhood. Upon first reading that the city was
contemplating placing a mobile needle-exchange program
on the same street as my house, I panicked. As a trained
epidemiologist with a strong dislike of drugs both
illegal and legal (overuse and misuse) I decided to
research the scientific evidence for these programs. The
evidence was overwhelming that these programs reduce the
risk of infection to the participants and the public, do
not encourage drug use, do not increase crime, and, to
some extent, lead injection drug users into
rehabilitation programs. ID# 7141
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"Canada's drug policy gives `safe injection sites'
a shot" (DeNeen L. Brown, The Chicago Tribune, August
7, 2003) -- VANCOUVER
-- Her fingers travel up and down her arm, feeling for a
good vein. Lori-Kim Veenstra opens a $7 bag of
methamphetamine and pours some of the crystals onto a
clean spoon. She opens a tiny blue bottle of sterile
water and fills the spoon, waiting for the chemical to
dissolve. Sometimes junkies use water from puddles to
break down their drugs, sometimes soda pop or toilet
water. Sometimes they use their own blood.Not here.
Veenstra, 40, is in a clinic at the Dr. Peter Centre,
where junkies who test positive for HIV can shoot up
safely under supervision. This is one of the first
"safe injection sites" in North America. Soon
to be sanctioned by Canadian provincial and federal
governments, it is an example of a new policy known as
harm reduction that is designed to address a drug
problem plaguing Vancouver and other major cities. ID#
7145
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"New law fails to fund program for drug-endangered
children" (Scott Marshall, The North
County Times, August 4, 2003) -- VISTA
---- After she was found in a motel room during a drug
bust, the witness described in detail to Oceanside
police the process she had seen others use on a regular
basis to smoke black-tar heroin.The witness ---- a
5-year-old girl. The users ---- her parents. "This
little girl hadn't even started kindergarten yet,"
Deputy District Attorney Tom Manning said, recounting
one of the hundreds of North County cases where police
have found children at scenes where illegal drug
manufacturing, sales and use are taking place. Last
week, Gov. Gray Davis signed into law a bill that seeks
to better care for those young victims of drug crimes.
Specifically, the law encourages counties to develop a
program that began in San Diego County and a handful of
other counties more than five years ago. ID# 7136
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"Rescue Mission will impact neighborhood" (Mike
Grover, The San Diego Union Tribune, August
6, 2003) -- Your
Sunday editorial "A civic scandal" appears to
have been written by attorneys for the city and the San
Diego Rescue Mission. I'll leave the legal arguments on
environmental impact reports and such to the lawyers.
However, you say fears of nearby property owners that
the SDRM would threaten property values are
"entirely unfounded" with "absolutely no
evidence to support them." Let's see, if you open a
residential care facility for 416 drug-addicted,
alcohol-dependent and/or mentally ill persons, many of
whom are ex-cons, and you open your doors before 6 a.m.
every day to feed 250 homeless people, then push them
back into the neighborhood after breakfast, do you think
that could impact property values next door or down the
street? ID# 7137
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"The Institute for Bioanalytics to Develop
Anti-Doping Tests for the 2004 Olympic Games" (Yahoo
News, August 5, 2003) -- BRANFORD,
Conn., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Institute for
Bioanalytics, LLC (IBA) announces the receipt of a
research grant of $250,000 from the United States
Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for the development of
biological tests that can detect the use of performance
enhancing substances by athletes. These novel tests are
being developed for use at future Olympic Games. USADA's
Senior Managing Director, Dr. Larry Bowers states that
the collaboration between IBA and USADA holds
"great potential for the development of new drug
screening methods to assure the integrity of national
and international athletic competition." ID#
7132
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"Eliminating death penalties for drug use" (Steve
Chapman, The Chicago Tribune, July
31, 2003) -- Heroin
addiction is a regrettable condition, and there are lots
of theories about how to help people overcome it. But it
is a truism, not a theory, that you can't help addicts
once they are dead. Step 1 in assisting or even forcing
heroin users into more socially productive behavior is
keeping them alive. This elementary insight is one
resisted by many supporters of the drug war. They fear
that if we reduce the risk of gruesome death from
injecting heroin or other drugs, everyone this side of
Hilary Duff will soon be lying in a gutter with a needle
in her arm. They don't want drug users to practice their
habit in a less dangerous way; they want them to give it
up, period. Any assistance that doesn't tell addicts
they must stop using drugs, immediately and forever, is
seen as actively promoting irresponsible conduct. ID#
7115
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"Florida drug czar pledges crackdown on painkiller
abuse" (Fred Schulte, Yahoo News, July
31, 2003) --
Calling Florida's rising
death toll from prescription drug abuse "mass
murder," the state's drug czar on Wednesday vowed
to crack down on pain clinics and doctors who supply too
many pills to addicts. "We want to make an example
out of those doctors who are violating the Hippocratic
Oath and the law," said James McDonough, director
of the Office of Drug Control. "Any professional
who does that will suffer the consequences. "State
agents earlier this week charged Dr. Sarfraz A. Mirza, a
Melbourne pain specialist, with 11 counts of trafficking
in the controversial painkiller OxyContin. McDonough
said more doctors are under investigation and will face
arrest if found to have violated medical standards. ID#
7113
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"State Underfunding Blamed in O.C.'s $6-Million
Loss on Prop. 36 Drug Care" (Stuart
Pfeifer, The Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2003) -- Orange
County is losing about $6 million a year as it struggles
to provide drug treatment services mandated under
Proposition 36, which requires courts to offer
counseling instead of jail for most first-time
offenders, according to a new county analysis. The
budgets of the county's health, public defender,
probation and district attorney offices are affected by
the proposition, which was approved by voters in 2000
and became law in July 2001.The agencies expect to spend
a combined $14.5 million this fiscal year dealing with
Proposition 36 cases but will only receive $8.5 million
from the state, according to an analysis county
officials generated at the request of the Orange County
Grand Jury. ID# 7110
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"Neb. Anti - Meth Program Allows I.D. Check" (The
New York Times, July 30, 2003) -- LINCOLN,
Neb. (AP) -- To battle manufacturers of the illegal drug
methamphetamine, a sheriff has raised eyebrows by
instituting a voluntary program in which store clerks
ask for ID from customers who purchase cold or allergy
medicine. Nemaha County Sheriff Brent Lottman said he
plans to continue the week-old program aimed at keeping
tabs on people who may be using the pseudoephedrine in
the products to make the illegal drug. ``We're not
publishing any of this information or anything,''
Lottman said Monday. ``I buy Claritin usually every 20
days. I guess if somebody wanted me to write that down,
I really wouldn't care.'' He said he will stop the
program if it proves ineffective. ID# 7111
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"Treating risk factors produces health gains, study
says" (The San Diego Union Tribune, July
25, 2003) -- LONDON
Treating multiple risk factors that increase the
odds of developing a variety of illnesses could nearly
halve the number of premature deaths worldwide and
increase life expectancy, researchers said Friday. They
identified 20 major factors ranging from vitamin and
mineral deficiencies to smoking, drinking and poor
sanitation and malnutrition and showed how treating them
could slash deaths from major diseases. "This study
shows that the potential health gains from reducing
major known but often over-looked risks are
enormous," especially for those societies that
currently endure the worst health conditions, said Dr
Majid Ezzati, of the Harvard School of Public Health in
Boston, Massachusetts. ID# 7087
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"End of cash aid left addicts on fringe" (Bonnie
Miller Rubin, The Chicago Tribune, July 24, 2003) -- Drug
addicts and alcoholics in the Chicago area who were part
of a federal disability program designed to help them
lick their dependencies didn't move into the workforce
once their cash assistance dried up, according to a
national study released this week. The study found they
continued to survive on the margins of society, getting
by with help from emergency shelters, relatives and
whatever other sources they could find. The study was
sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The
now-defunct federal program had dispensed $500 a month
in cash and health benefits to addicts who were in
treatment.. ID# 7089
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"Study Indicates New York City Smoke-Free Law Has
Not Harmed Economy, Says Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids" (Yahoo
News, July 25, 2003) -- WASHINGTON,
July 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement of
William V. Corr, executive director of the Campaign for
Tobacco-Free Kids, on a study indicating that a New York
City smoke-free law has not harmed the economy "A
new study released this week by New York City's
Department of Health shows that New York City's
restaurants and bars have added more jobs since the
city's new smoke-free workplace law took effect March 30
than in the same period a year ago. This study is the
first evidence of the economic impact of New York City's
smoke-free law that is based on hard economic data
rather than anecdotes, and it indicates strongly that
the new law is not hurting restaurants and bars. These
findings refute claims by opponents of the new law that
it has hurt the restaurant and bar business and are
consistent with studies and economic data in other
communities and states with smoke-free laws, which show
consistently that smoke-free laws have a neutral or
slightly positive impact on business. ID# 7091 (go
to article)
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"Summer Driving Statistics That May Bring Teens to
a Halt" (Yahoo News, July 23, 2003) --
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 23, 2003--Oh, to be a
teenager with a car during the summer. No school, late
nights and the joys of cruising the highways and byways
with friends. Unfortunately, this seemingly innocent
scenario turns tragic more often than most of us would
like to believe. New survey results from Liberty Mutual
and SADD (Students Against Destructive
Decisions/Students Against Driving Drunk) indicate that
teens succumb to more risky in-vehicle behaviors during
the summer months that lead to crashes, serious injuries
and, oftentimes, deaths, than during the school year.
This data sheds light on why motor vehicle crashes
remain the number-one cause of death(a) among young
people in America. ID# 7078
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"Drug Free Pennsylvania's Ad Campaign Asks Tough
Questions" (Yahoo news, July
23, 2003) -- HARRISBURG,
Pa., July 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Substance abuse in the
workplace is an equal opportunity problem, affecting
every type of business in every part of the country.
According to Beth Winters, executive director and
general counsel to Drug Free Pennsylvania, the numbers
are staggering. "Studies show that one in 10
employees uses illegal drugs or abuses alcohol, and that
means an increase in absenteeism and tardiness and more
on-site accidents and mistakes." ID# 7079
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"State high court says Prop. 36 not retroactive for
drug offenders" (David Kravets, The San
Diego Union Tribune, July 21, 2003) --
SAN FRANCISCO The voter-approved measure granting
drug treatment instead of jail time to minor drug
offenders does not apply to narcotics cases on appeal
when the measure was enacted, the California Supreme
Court ruled Monday. The 6-1 decision means dozens of
drug offenders don't qualify for leniency under
Proposition 36. The case centered on offenders convicted
before the measure was enacted, but whose convictions
were not final because they were on appeal after July 1,
2001, when the measure became law. "The act was not
intended to apply retroactively to this subset of
cases," Justice Marvin R. Baxter wrote. ID#
7073
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"Head Shop Laws Change" (Michelle
Gerst, Coast News, July 10, 2003) --
OCEANSIDE Two new
ordinances were officially adopted that will affect the
operations of stores that sell drug paraphernalia and
tobacco products. Businesses that sell or display
tobacco or products used for the consumption of drugs
now fall under the title of regulated businesses. The
new law mandates the stores must maintain a distance of
500 feet from schools, childcare facilities, parks and
playgrounds. The businesses must also maintain a 50foot
distance from beaches and churches. ID# 7070
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"A Haze of Misinformation Clouds Issue of Medical
Marijuana" (Andrea Barthwell, The Los
Angeles Times, July 22, 2003) -- As
a physician with more than 20 years of experience
dealing with patients who are addicted to drugs, I am
often asked my professional opinion about a contentious
public health question What is the medical basis for
smoking marijuana? The answer needs some context.
Americans today have the world's safest, most effective
system of medical practice, built on a process of
scientific research, testing and oversight that is
unequaled. Before the passage of the Pure Food and Drug
Act in 1907, Americans were exposed to a host of patent
medicine "cure-alls," everything from
vegetable "folk remedies" to dangerous
mixtures with morphine. The major component of most
"cures" was alcohol, which probably explained
why people reported that they "felt better."
Needless to say, claimed benefits were erratic and
irreproducible. ID# 7074
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"Dealing With Addiction, and What Comes After" (Melinda
Ligos, July 20, 2003) -- Addiction
costs corporate America billions of dollars a year in
lost productivity, absenteeism and higher health care
expenses. It also derails many once-promising careers.
More companies are willing to offer assistance these
days, especially as they deal with higher levels of
employee stress from heightened workloads and job cuts.
Yet many workers are still reluctant to take advantage
of this help, for fear of jeopardizing their positions. ID#
7064
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"More than halfway help for addicts Facility urged
to ease transition to society" (Scott
William, The Journal Sentinel, July 18, 2003) --
For alcoholics and other
drug addicts on the road to recovery, making it halfway
isn't always enough. That is why some treatment
professionals in southeastern Wisconsin are considering
opening a facility for recovering addicts who leave
their halfway houses and have nowhere to go. At a
"three-quarter-way house," addicts would find
a new living arrangement that provides another layer in
the support structure designed to ease them back into
mainstream society. There are no landlords, no drug
counselors, no government regulators - just a group of
people working together to function in a world of
sobriety. ID# 7067
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"Governor Offers Legislation to Soften Harsh Drug
Laws" (Al Baker, The New York Times, July 15, 2003) --
ALBANY, July 15 Gov.
George E. Pataki today released the details of his
latest plan to soften New York's mandatory sentences for
drug crimes, putting forward a bill he urged the State
Legislature to pass. "I think it's a very sound
compromise, and I think it represents, really, a
historic opportunity to reform these laws," Mr.
Pataki said. But any chance of consensus seemed to
evaporate quickly, as the speaker of the State Assembly,
Sheldon Silver, a Democrat, laced into Mr. Pataki's
proposal, saying it fell far short of reforming the
Rockefeller-era drug laws, which all sides in Albany
agree are too harsh. ID# 7058
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"Meth Users
Lead Diversion Statistics" (Lisa Richardson, The
Los Angeles Times, July 17, 2003) -- In
the first independent evaluation of a state measure
diverting nonviolent drug offenders to treatment rather
than prison, UCLA researchers found that methamphetamine
abusers and whites comprised the largest portions of the
30,000 people sent to rehabilitation during the first
year of Proposition 36.Of the drug offenders diverted to
treatment in 2001 under the proposition, 50% were
methamphetamine abusers. Cocaine users were a distant
second, at 15%; 12% were marijuana users; and 11% heroin
users, according to the state-commissioned study
released today by UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse
Programs. Also, about 50% of the drug offenders sent to
treatment were white, 31% Latino and 14% African
American, the study found. ID# 7057
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"America's destructive war on drugs" (Gretchen
Burns Bergman, The
San Diego Tribune, July 15, 2003) -- The
war on drugs has not only failed, but it has destroyed
countless lives of individuals who have been caught up
in this violent, ineffective and senseless battle. The
public recognizes that the time has come to switch to
new strategies. With the passage of Proposition 36 and
similar laws in other states, the citizens are asking
for public health care approaches, rather than punitive
and militaristic policies. In this new enlightened
climate, it is both disturbing and surprising that the
federal government is launching a 25-city tour with drug
czar John Walters conveying the message that
"prevention programs work best in a climate where
lawbreaking is punished and young people are discouraged
from trying illegal drugs in the first place." ID#
7049
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"Health Group Donor Ties Questioned" (Jon
Bonnι, MSNBC News, July 9, 2003) -- Corporate
cash has pervaded the health nonprofit world, raising
new concerns about medical groups independence,
according to a report released Wednesday. While
corporate sponsorships and gifts are popular in the
for-profit sectors of medicine, a study by the Center
for Science in the Public Interest argues that
businesses are gaining the power to influence nonprofit
agendas. ID# 7048
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"Pot use heats up" (The Chicago
Tribune, July 13, 2003) -- The
lazy days of summer bring with them lots of sun, fun
and--for many kids--drugs. More teens try marijuana in
June and July than at any other time of the year,
according to the National Household Survey on Drug
Abuse. That equates to about 5,800 teens being
introduced to pot every day. Nearly 40 percent of teens
who first tried marijuana did so during May through
August. ID# 7040
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"Bush Appeals Court Ruling on Marijuana" (The
New York Times, July 12, 2003) -- WASHINGTON,
July 11 (AP) The Bush administration is appealing to the
Supreme Court a federal court ruling blocking the
investigation and punishment of doctors who recommend
marijuana to sick patients. The administration, which
has taken a hard stand against state medical marijuana
laws, wants permission to strip doctors in such cases of
their federal prescription licenses. At issue is a
policy, put in place during the Clinton administration,
that requires the revocation of the prescription
licenses of doctors who recommend marijuana. The United
States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San
Francisco, ruled that the policy interfered with the
free-speech rights of doctors and patients. ID#
7041
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"Canadian government to sell marijuana, seeds
for medical use" (Tom Cohen, The North County Times, July
10, 2003) --
TORONTO ---- Canada's
government will sell marijuana and seeds to sick people
and their suppliers to fulfill a court order for it to
provide medical pot by Wednesday. The announcement of
the interim measure satisfies an Ontario court order
while the federal government appeals the ruling. Under
the program announced by Health Minister Anne McLellan,
eligible patients can buy just over an ounce of dried
marijuana for $112, well below street prices, about once
a month. Authorized growers can buy packs of 30 seeds
once a year for $15.. ID# 7031
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"DA's drug division debuts" (Ken Ma, The North County Times, July
10, 2003) -- SAN
DIEGO ---- Flanked by law enforcement officials from
across the region, District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis on
Wednesday announced the creation of a narcotics division
that will specialize in prosecuting drug traffickers and
work with police to curb illegal drug use. The division,
formed through a reorganization of existing staff and
resources, is also being established to work with
federal authorities who identified San Diego County as
one of 25 metro areas in the nation in which 40 percent
to 80 percent of America's drug trade occurs, Dumanis
said. ID# 7032
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"City to put `gotcha' cameras on crime" (David
Heinzman, The Chicago Tribune, July 11, 2003) --
Adding another high-tech
tool to the Chicago Police Department's battle against
drug-related violence, Mayor Richard Daley on Thursday
unveiled bulletproof surveillance cameras atop light
poles that officers can use to monitor high-crime spots
while cruising in their squad cars several blocks away.
Dubbed "Operation Disruption," the cameras
encased in white steel boxes that bear the Police
Department seal and flash blue strobe lights around the
clock will be installed where police want to disrupt
drug traffic, Chief of Patrol James Maurer said. ID#
7033
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"Roadside drugs tests on the way" (Reuters
Health, July 9, 2003) -- LONDON
(Reuters) - Police will be able to test drivers for
drugs at the roadside if Parliament passes a bill as
expected later this week, the Transport Department says.
The Railway and Transport Safety Bill would give police
the power to test a driver for substances from
"soft" drugs like cannabis to opiates such as
heroin if they suspect the motorist of having taken any,
a transport department spokesman said on Wednesday. ID#
7025
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"Medical-use marijuana sales OKd by Canada" (Tom
Cohen, The Chicago Tribune, July 10, 2003) --
TORONTO -- Canada's
government will sell marijuana and seeds to sick people
and their suppliers to fulfill a court order for it to
provide medical marijuana by Wednesday. The announcement
of the interim measure satisfies an Ontario court order
while the federal government appeals the ruling. Under
the program announced by Health Minister Anne McLellan,
eligible patients can buy just over an ounce of dried
marijuana for $112, well below street prices, about once
a month. Authorized growers can buy packs of 30 seeds
once a year for $15. ID# 7027
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"Small amount of
pot in home OK" (Anchorage Daily News, July
5, 2003) -- FAIRBANKS
-- A Superior Court judge dismissed a man's marijuana
conviction, ruling that the Alaska Constitution
guarantees the right to possess marijuana for personal
use in the home. Judge Richard Savell of Fairbanks
dismissed Scott A. Thomas' conviction. Thomas was
charged with three counts of felony fourth-degree
misconduct involving a controlled substance for
allegedly growing pot plants in his home last summer. A
jury found him guilty of one count of a misdemeanor
charge of sixth-degree misconduct involving a controlled
substance for possessing 2.6 ounces of marijuana. ID#
7015
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"New Law Ups Penalty For Drug Dealing Near Kids" (Yahoo
News, July 9, 2003) -- A
new Florida law will mean that dealers caught selling
drugs around kids could end up in prison for up to 30
years. The new law specifically mentions parks and
recreation centers, and adds them to the drug-free zones
created for schools in an earlier law. Anyone convicted
of selling drugs within 1,000 feet of the zones will get
at least three years behind bars West Palm Beach Mayor
Lois Frankel (pictured, below) said it's a tough law
that sends a strong message. "You better not sell
drugs, but if you're going to, you better not do it near
our children, because we're going to make sure you're
put away for a long time," Frankel said. ID#
7019
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"Victims of the War on Drugs" (Peter
Moskos, The Washington Post, July 9, 2003) --
In 1998 the Drug Enforcement Administration sent its
Mobile Enforcement Team into Benton Harbor, Mich., while
state troopers patrolled the crime-ridden streets. With
42 arrests, the DEA struck a major blow at the drug ring
responsible for some 90 percent of violent crime in the
city. In congressional testimony the following year, the
DEA boasted "After the intervention of law
enforcement officers. . . . Benton Harbor was being
brought back to life. . . . They brought a sense of
stability to the area." This was wishful thinking.
Not only has there been no lasting effect on the drug
trade, resentment of outside law enforcement in Benton
Harbor recently has exploded into riots. Residents of
the crime-ridden and depressed city see police as an
occupying force. ID# 7020
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"Medical marijuana
proponents say DEA raid on pot farm was illegal" (Rachel
Konrad, The San Diego Union Tribune, July 7, 2003) --
SAN JOSE The Drug
Enforcement Administration's autumn raid on a farm that
cultivated pot for sick and dying people was both
illegal and immoral, members of a medical marijuana
movement argued Monday in a federal court trial.
"We are not asserting the right to market
marijuana, but to cultivate and use it to prolong life
and give comfort to the dying," said Santa Clara
University law professor Gerald Uelmen, who represents
about 200 chronically and terminally ill people.
"We are asserting the fundamental rights of
patients ... so they can meet their death without agony
and suffering." ID# 7006
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"Juvenile arrests
increase in city" (Darlene Barrientos, The
Los Angeles Times, July 8, 2003) -- GLENDALE
Glendale Police officers arrested more youths in
2002 than the year before, but a breakdown of the crime
numbers represents a trend investigators had hoped to
see. The total number of juvenile arrests went from
1,445 in 2001 to 1,526 in 2002, according to statistics
recently released by the department. However, arrests
for violent crimes including homicide, rape, robbery
and aggravated assault decreased by 25%, from 63 in
2001 to 47 in 2002.The statistics did not include
arrests made by other agencies. ID# 7009
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"San Diego's role
in the war on drugs" (John P. Walters, The San Diego Union Tribune, July
7, 2003) --
In recent days, the media
in San Diego have devoted moving coverage to the
unprovoked shooting of Oceanside police officer Tony
Zeppetella... With tragedies like these, San Diegans
scarcely need to be reminded of the consequences drug
use imposes on our communities and our families. Such
consequences make a mockery of the claim that drug use
is a personal decision, or that giving money to drug
dealers is simply an innocuous transaction between a
willing buyer and a willing seller. The good news is
that San Diego is fighting back. Emergency room
admissions involving heroin, cocaine and meth are all
down, as are teen use of inhalants and cigarettes. ID#
6996
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"Council OKs head
shop ordinance" (Dana Littlefield, The San Diego Union Tribune, July
7, 2003) --
OCEANSIDE If you're not
old enough to buy cigarettes, you're not old enough to
enter a smoke shop that displays tobacco along with drug
paraphernalia, city officials have decided. The City
Council unanimously amended an ordinance Wednesday night
to make it illegal for anyone younger than 18 to enter
the businesses, commonly known as head shops, in
Oceanside. Council members approved the item without
discussion. The revised ordinance will go into effect
Aug. 1. The new language in the ordinance is expected to
reduce youths' exposure to such items as pipes and
bongs, which can be used for legal and illegal drugs. ID#
6997
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"Drug arrests up in
city" (Darleene Barrientos, The Los
Angeles Times, July 7, 2003) --
GLENDALE Drug arrests
by Glendale Police officers have gone up 27.5% from 2001
to 2002, and officials say that's a good development.
Combining felony and misdemeanor drug arrests, arrests
have increased from 1,084 in 2001 to 1,382 in 2002,
according to statistics recently released by the
department. The report did not track the number of
arrestees who live in Glendale or if the arrests were
made within Glendale city limits. ID# 6993
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"Global Drug Code
Is Adopted by IOC" (Susanna Loof, Yahoo
News, July 4, 2003) --
PRAGUE, Czech Republic - A
new global code against drugs in sports was approved
Friday by the IOC (news - web sites). The
World Anti-Doping Code, adopted in March by sports
bodies and governments, sets out uniform rules and
sanctions for all sports and countries. The code, drawn
up the World Anti-Doping Agency, was approved by
acclamation on the final day of the IOC general
assembly. The IOC changed its charter to replace its own
medical code with the global version. The world
anti-doping code is the first international policy
against banned performance-enhancing substances. It was
endorsed at a conference in Copenhagen, Denmark. ID#
7001
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