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"Mexico City Police
Jail 32 Drunk Drivers"
(Yahoo News, Sept 28, 2003) --
MEXICO CITY - Police arrested 32 drunk drivers before
dawn Sunday, bringing to more than 125 the number of
people in this sprawling metropolis taken into custody
during the latest crackdown against driving under the
influence. Authorities estimate that alcohol is a factor
in 70 percent of traffic accidents in the Mexico City.
Last year, more than 1,500 people were killed in crashes
in the metropolitan area.
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"States Fail to
Meet No-Smoking Goals for Women"
(New York Times, Sept 30, 2003) --Tobacco-related
diseases are still the leading cause of preventable
death in women, and most states are not meeting the
nation's goals to discourage women from smoking,
according to a report released today by the National
Women's Law Center and Oregon Health and Science
University.
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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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"We spy a gimmick for
drinkers"
(Chicago Tribune, Sept 28, 2003) --
From Russia, with love, comes a new promise of hangover
relief: a round white pill originally designed to help
KGB spies outdrink and outwit their intoxicated enemies.
The dietary supplement, now teasingly named RU-21,
didn't effectively keep Soviet operatives sober. But its
makers say it still has benefits, including the ability
to mitigate alcohol's damaging effects on the body after
a long night of drinking.
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"Can't Get a
Drink in Texas? Try the Next County. (Or Next Door.)"
(New York Times, Sept 28, 2003) --
PLANO, Tex., Sept. 28 You can buy a drink in Plano,
but it's not that easy. There are no bars or
liquor stores allowed in this booming city of 240,000,
Texas's ninth largest, 30 miles north of Dallas, which
is also dry-ish. Supermarkets and groceries in 40
percent of Plano's opulent 72 square miles may not sell
beer or wine. The rest can. You just have to know which
is which.
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"Air Force Academy Toughens Alcohol Policy"
(Yahoo News, Sept 26, 2003) -- AIR FORCE
ACADEMY, Colo. - Air Force Academy cadets who break
rules on alcohol use will be treated like anyone else in
the military under a tough new policy following the
school's sexual assault scandal. Punishments could
include reprimands, loss of privileges, brig time,
forfeiture of pay and reduction in rank, school
officials told The Associated Press on Friday.
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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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"Acceptance
of alcohol leads to tragedies" (Chicago
Tribune, Sept 25, 2003) --
Chicago -- It is an all too familiar story ("Death
at college tied to drinking; Bradley student is found
dead after 2-day binge," Metro, Sept. 16).
Promising student, beloved son and generous friend dies
needlessly because of alcohol consumption. But
what is important to note is that this fine young man, a
student at Bradley University, had a problem with
alcohol when he was not of the legal age to purchase
alcohol. ID# 7285
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"New York State
Considers Smoking Ban in Cars With Children"
(New York-WABC, Sept 22, 2003) -- First
smoking was outlawed in the workplace, then bars and
restaurants. Now there's a push to ban smoking in cars.
Lisa Colagrossi has the story. Those much maligned
smokers are about to take another hit. Already shunned
in bars and restaurants in New York City and throughout
the state, here is proposed legislation in Albany to put
the brakes on smoking behind the wheel. It has some
wondering where it will end. ID# 7287
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"N.Y. smoking
prohibition spurs lawbreakers, lawsuit"
(Chicago Tribune, Sept 25, 2003) --
DUNKIRK, N.Y. -- In this lakefront city, once a humming
industrial center now plagued by factory closures, the
unemployed who head to the bars to drown their sorrows
must do so now without a cigarette. Two
cousins--one who smokes, the other who never has--were
drinking one night in a Central Avenue bar called
Tito's. They were the only patrons there. ID#
7286
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"France hikes taxes
on smokers, manufacturers gripe"
(Reuters, Sept 25, 2003) -- PARIS
(Reuters) - France is waging war on the quintessentially
French habit of smoking, slapping on higher taxes
that will inflate the price of a packet of cigarettes by
40 percent over the coming year. Tobacco makers fear
price hikes will simply prompt more smokers to
buy on the black market or cross the border to stock up
on cheaper cigarettes from abroad, foiling the
government's plan to rake in more tax revenues from
smokers. ID# 7283
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"Universities say
party's over for `Animal House' fraternities" (Chicago
Tribune, Sept 24, 2003) -- By the
time the flask of Southern Comfort had settled on the
bottom of the Shedd Aquarium's Beluga whale tank, the
fate of Northwestern University's chapter of Kappa Sigma
fraternity was all but sealed. Less than three
weeks after the June 4 incident, the Kappa Sigs--already
on probation for an alcohol incident that landed a
pledge in the hospital--got the boot from Northwestern,
banned from the university until 2007. ID# 7282
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"College kids and
heavy drinking" (Chicago Tribune,
Sept 23, 2003) --
In the spring of 2002, a team of Tribune reporters
introduced readers to Eve Tucker, a 21-year-old student
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. At
the time, it was 1 a.m., she had downed 11 beers. But
Tucker and her roommate weren't ready to call it a
night. "We need to find somewhere to go," said
Tucker, who had cut her toe and wrapped a bar napkin
around it. "I'm so not done drinking."
That anecdote was part of a larger story that examined
the entrenched problem of binge drinking on college
campuses. What those reporters found, and what many
other studies have shown, is that while there has been
improvement on some campuses, nationally none of the
efforts has managed to significantly curb college binge
drinking. ID# 7281
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"Bumper stickers
ordered for DUI drivers" (Chicago
Tribune, Sept 22, 2003) --
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Some Florida Panhandle motorists
convicted of drunken driving are being ordered to put
bumper stickers on their cars that ask ``How's my
driving? ... The judge wants to know!!!' Escambia
County Judge William White said he hopes the bumper
stickers, which include an identification number for
each driver and a toll-free phone number, will reduce
repeat offenses for driving under the influence of
alcohol. ID# 7280
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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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Editorial
"Struggling Against Teenage Drinking" (The
New York Times, Sept 19, 2003) -- Almost
everyone deplores the epidemic of teenage drinking in
this country, but it seems devilishly difficult to do
much about it. Drinking is so ingrained in the cultural
fabric, and the long-ago failure of Prohibition has left
such a feeling of futility, that few politicians are
willing to take on the alcohol lobbies. Yet a new report
from the National Academy of Sciences makes a persuasive
case that the battle against teenage drinking could have
substantial impact if it engaged all elements of
society, from the federal government, with its taxing
powers, to parents, who may be unaware that their
children are drinking. ID# 7268
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"Brazil Imposes Ban
on Sexy Alcohol Ads" (The New York
Times, Sept 19, 2003) -- SAO
PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Television alcohol advertisements
featuring scantily clad models will be banned in Brazil
under new guidelines issued by the self-regulating ad
council of Latin America's largest country. The
guidelines banning erotic content in the ads also apply
to magazine and radio pitches for all alcoholic
beverages.
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"4 States
Rated Highly in Fighting Smoking" (The
New York Times, Sept 18, 2003) -- Cigarette
sales in four states with long-running, well-financed
antitobacco programs fell 43 percent in the 1990's, more
than double the drop for the nation as a whole, a new
study has found. The study, the first to analyze
cigarette sales data from all 50 states, showed that
Arizona, California, Massachusetts and Oregon had far
greater success than others in reducing cigarette
purchases between 1990 and 2000. These states,
particularly California, are credited with being the
first to fund comprehensive education campaigns and
other programs to discourage smoking. ID#
7270
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"EU mulls smoking
ban in cafes, bars, restaurants" (Reuters
Health, Sept 19, 2003) -- BRUSSELS
(Reuters) - The European Commission is considering using
worker safety legislation to ban smoking in
cafes, bars and restaurants throughout the 15-member
European Union, officials said on Thursday. The
Commission has launched a series of measures to crack
down on smoking, including a ban on tobacco advertising
and requiring graphic images of diseased lungs and other
organs on cigarette packets to warn of the dangers of
smoking. ID# 7271
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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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"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 "Liquor
Store Approval Sends Strong Message" (Washington
Post, Sept 18, 2003) -- "Severe
Steps to Curb Teen Drinking Urged; Alcohol Industry
Denounces Report," read the Sept. 10 headline on
The Washington Post's front page about a report from the
Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of
Sciences. Sadly, that report came one day late for
the three members of Virginia's Alcoholic Beverage
Control board. Not that it would have had any influence.
On Sept. 8 the board voted to open a liquor store
adjacent to George Mason Middle School and High School
in Falls Church. ID# 7264
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"San Jose moves
toward liquor sales at gas stations" (Sacramento
Bee, Sept 17, 2003) -- San Jose
(AP) - The San Jose City Council has moved one step
closer to permitting the sale of alcohol and food at gas
stations. Last night - the council voted six to
four to have the city attorney come up with a proposed
ordinance to legalize such sales. He's due back with the
new law in 90 days. ID# 7260
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"Students punished
by school over party" (Chicago Tribune, Sept
17, 2003) -- Scores of Addison Trail High
School students are banned from participating in
football and volleyball games, cheerleading events and
student council meetings after attending a weekend
drinking party in an Addison home while the owners were
away. The gathering, which lasted until early
Sunday, marks at least the third time this year that
west suburban police have investigated a house party
where the residents and their children were absent.
Charges were filed in the Wheaton and Hinsdale parties,
but there have been no arrests yet in Addison because
the homeowner has declined to press charges, Addison
police said. ID# 7261
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"Statement from Adam Chafetz, Foremost Expert on
Responsible Alcohol Sales and Service" (Yahoo
News, Sept 16, 2003) --
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following is a
statement from Adam Chafetz, CEO of Health
Communications, Inc., and foremost expert on responsible
alcohol sales and service, in response to a report on
underage drinking delivered on September 10 by the
National Academy of Sciences (NAS). Mr. Chafetz
testified before the initial panel that was convened
prior to conducting the study. ID# 7255
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"Death at college tied to drinking" (Chicago
Tribune, Sept 16, 2003) -- PEORIA
-- A 22-year-old Bradley University student from Roselle
died Sunday after drinking alcohol for several hours to
celebrate the end of the Greek system's fall rush,
according to the Peoria County coroner's office.
Robert Schmalz, a member of the Phi Kappa Tau
fraternity, started drinking Saturday with his roommates
and continued or started again Sunday morning before
attending a ceremony to welcome the new pledge class,
authorities said. ID# 7253
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"Study links teen use of tobacco and pot" (Sacramento
Bee, Sept 16, 2003) -- WASHINGTON
(AP) - Youngsters who smoke cigarettes are more likely
to use marijuana than those who don't smoke, according
to a study released Tuesday. The report by the
National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at
Columbia University and the American Legacy Foundation
said young cigarette smokers are 14 times more likely to
try pot. Eighty-four percent of the kids who have tried
marijuana have smoked cigarettes within the past 30
days. The study focusing on 12- to 17-year-olds
also found those who smoke cigarettes are six times
likelier to be able to buy marijuana in an hour or less
and 18 times likelier to say most of their friends smoke
pot. ID# 7252
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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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"Air Force Academy Changes Alcohol Policy" (Yahoo
News, Sept 13, 2003) --
"While the public may tolerate college students who
drink to excess, they demand more from Air Force
professionals," Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen.
John Weida wrote in an advisory to cadets obtained by
The Gazette of Colorado Springs. Meade Warthen, a
spokesman for the academy, said Saturday he could not
confirm the report. The Gazette reported the
probation could include confinement to base and
submitting to a rehabilitation program. A second
violation prompts Military Review Committee
consideration, which can lead to expulsion. ID# 7251
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"Smoking deaths in
developing world estimated nearly equal to rich nations" (The
Sacramento Bee, Sept 12, 2003) --
LONDON (AP) - The global death toll from smoking is
shifting dramatically, with about as many people now
dying from smoking in the developing world as in
industrialized nations, according to the most thorough
estimate to date. The research, published this
week in The Lancet medical journal, concludes that 4.84
million people died from smoking worldwide in 2000 -
2.41 million in developing countries and 2.43 million in
rich nations. Experts say the study will likely
spur governments - especially those in developing
countries - to pursue anti-smoking health
policies. Experts have previously estimated
tobacco death trends in the industrialized world, where
smoking first became prevalent, but evidence from poorer
countries has been thin. ID# 7243
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"Study: Kids get cigarettes online" (The
Herald Sun, Sept 9, 2003) --
CHAPEL HILL -- Four Chapel Hill schoolchildren, ages 11
to 15, managed to buy 33,000 cigarettes from Internet
vendors as part of a UNC research study being published
today in the Journal of the American Medical
Association. The study is billed as the first
scientific documentation of the ease with which
cigarette buyers can use the Internet's anonymity to
skirt minimum age requirements. Retail tobacco sales to
those under age 18 are against the law in all 50 states.
ID# 7244
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"Early
drinking link to violence" (BBC News, Sept
9, 2003) -- Researchers looked at how much
offenders drank Violent crime among teenagers is
linked to early serious alcohol abuse, researchers
claim. They found that, on average, young men
convicted of murder started drinking aged 12, compared
to age 15 in a group of young burglars. Those who
committed violent crimes also reported drinking over
twice the amount that non-violent offenders drank.
Researchers told the Faculty of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry conference that policy makers should
investigate the link. ID# 7245
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"NMSU votes on alcohol sales at Corbett Center" (Las
Cruces Sun, Sept 12, 2003) -- The
student Senate at New Mexico State University was
expected to vote Thursday night on a proposal to allow
sales of wine and beer at the Corbett Center Student
Union as part of a revitalization project for
Corbett. "The sale of wine and beer is just
one component of the revitalization of Corbett,"
Erin McSherry, president of the student body said
Thursday. "There would not be a bar, it would be a
restaurant-style club for all ages." McSherry said
the other facets of the project would include 24-hour
access to computers in Corbett in areas that would allow
study groups and a cyber cafe with late-night food
service. ID# 7246
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"Tauzin Issues
Statement on Alcohol Ads Report" (Yahoo
News, Sep 9, 2003) -- WASHINGTON,
Sept. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- House Energy and Commerce
Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin (R-LA) issued the
following statement regarding a Federal Trade Commission
report released today to Congress on alcohol marketing
and advertising. "The FTC's latest report confirms
that self-regulation is working, particularly with
respect to minimizing the exposure of individuals under
the age of 21 to alcohol advertising and marketing
messages. "I am pleased to learn that the industry
is today announcing steps to institute an ad placement
policy that guarantees a minimum 70 percent adult
audience standard for all broadcast and print media. ID#
7236
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"Cigarette Smoking-Attributable Morbidity ---
United States, 2000" (CDC, Sep
4, 2003) -- Each
year in the United States, approximately 440,000 persons
die of a cigarette smoking-attributable illness,
resulting in 5.6 million years of potential life lost,
$75 billion in direct medical costs, and $82 billion in
lost productivity (1). To assess
smoking-attributable morbidity, the Roswell Park Cancer
Institute, Research Triangle Institute, and CDC analyzed
data from three sources the Behavioral Risk Factor
Surveillance System (BRFSS), the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), and the
U.S. Census. This report summarizes the results of that
analysis, which indicate that an estimated 8.6 million
persons in the United States have serious illnesses
attributed to smoking; chronic bronchitis and emphysema
account for 59% of all smoking-attributable diseases ID#
7232
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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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"A Tax That's Too Low" (The
Washington Post, Sep 7, 2003) --AT
A CANDIDATES forum in Arlington the other night, one of
the no-more-taxes-no-matter-what candidates was critical
of State Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple (D) for supporting
certain tax increases. She replied that there is one
large tax-increase proposal she is especially
"proud" to have pushed -- and will push again
if she is returned to Richmond a 60-cent boost in
Virginia's laughable, lowest-in-the country
2.5-cents-a-pack cigarette tax. Her reply drew hearty
applause, as well it should have. If the General
Assembly does nothing else to straighten out Virginia's
tax structure, a dismayingly likely possibility, at
least it ought to do something about the cigarette tax. ID#
7230 (go
to article)
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"Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids New CDC Study Finds
8.6 Million People in U.S. Suffer from Smoking-Caused
Diseases" (Yahoo News, Sep
4, 2003) --"A
new study released today by the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (news - web sites) (CDC)
estimates that at least 8.6 million people in the United
States currently suffer from serious illnesses
attributable to smoking. For each of the approximately
440,000 persons in the U.S. who die each year of a
smoking-attributable illness, another 20 people suffer
from at least one serious smoking-caused illness,
according to the CDC. We have long known that tobacco
use is the nation's leading preventable cause of death.
Today's study provides the first national estimate of
the number of persons who live with serious chronic
illnesses caused by smoking, and it shows that the toll
of tobacco is even more devastating than previously
thought. ID# 7227
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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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"Smoking Losing Favor Among Teens" (Health
Scout News, Aug 29, 2003) --
The anti-smoking message
seems to be getting through to youngsters. Surveys taken
two decades apart in a Midwestern county in the United
States found that fewer middle and high school students
in the county smoked in 2001 compared to 1980 and that
more of them now believe smoking is a bad idea. The
Arizona State University study, published in the August
issue of Health and Psychology, found teenagers
in 2001 were more likely to regard smoking as more
addictive and less "nice," "fun" or
"pleasant" than the teens surveyed in 1980. ID#
7225
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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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"Govt may stub
out Net tobacco ads" (The Age, Aug
31, 2003) --
AUSTRALIA The federal
government is considering banning cigarette advertising
on new media like the internet. The proposal is part of
a review of the 1992 legislation outlawing tobacco
advertising, in light of new types of advertising and
sponsorship. The review comes on the 10th anniversary of
the legislation and will look at its continuing
effectiveness in light of new and emerging advertising
and sponsorship practices. A nine-member advisory panel
made up of legal, health, media and tobacco control
experts will conduct the review. ID# 7223
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"U.N. Extends Smoking Ban" (Reuters, The
New York Times, Aug 29, 2003) -- UNITED
NATIONS, Aug. 29 (Reuters) The United Nations, a
last bastion of smoking in New York, said today that it
would begin following the tough new antismoking law of
its host city and forbid lighting up anywhere in its
headquarters. But whether the ban, the latest in a
string of attempts by the world body to curb smoking,
will be enforced is another matter. Some chain-smoking
ambassadors have repeatedly violated any smoking ban. ID#
7214
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"Where there's smoke,
perhaps an R rating?" (Bob Condor, The Denver Post,
Aug 31, 2003) -- Parents
and school principals alike will be interested in new
research about 4th to 8th graders, smoking and Hollywood
movies. The findings are hard to stub out. "We
haven't heard anybody challenge the notion that movies
influence smoking behaviors," said Madeline Dalton,
a co-author of the study and cancer-prevention
researcher at Dartmouth Medical School. "The
tobacco industry has known for years that celebrities
and movies can persuade kids to start smoking. The
images of cinema are more powerful than any advertising
or marketing campaigns." ID# 7213
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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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"States Ask Hollywood to Show Less Smoking" (Reuters
News, Aug 26, 2003) --
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -
Nearly half of all U.S. states asked Hollywood on
Tuesday to show less smoking in films as part of an
effort to reduce cigarette use among teens. In a letter
to Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture
Association of America, the attorneys general of
California, New York and 22 other states urged him to
use his leadership to reduce the depiction of smoking on
screen. "We are hopeful you will use your best
efforts again here to rally the industry from being a
source of the problem," the letter said.
"Simply by reducing the depiction of smoking in
movies, the industry can protect our nation's youth from
the known perils of smoking." ID# 7211
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"Liquor-purchase rules are eased" (Jennifer
Taylor, The Chicago Tribune, Aug 28, 2003) --
NAPERVILLE -- The
Naperville City Council last week voted 7-2 to lift an
ordinance that required liquor sales to be conducted at
separate checkout locations. Despite an urgent plea by
Mayor George Pradel, the restriction was lifted for all
establishments. "I want to be on record opposing
this," Pradel said, who also serves as the city's
liquor commissioner. "Someone coming in for just
liquor won't be speedier if behind someone with a full
basket of groceries, " he said. ID# 7209
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"GUSD to tackle youth alcoholism" (Gary
Moskowitz, The Los Angeles Times, Aug 27, 2003) --
GLENDALE A group of
three high school counselors are starting a program
designed to stop teens from using alcohol before the
habit has a chance to form. The program, called Project
Success, will be presented in ninth-grade health
classrooms at Crescenta Valley, Daily, Glendale and
Hoover high schools beginning this fall. Local high
schools begin the 2003-04 school year Sept. 3.Project
Success is designed to prevent the onset of unhealthy
habits, particularly alcohol consumption. The program is
funded by a $2-million federal grant available to the
Glendale Unified School District over a three-year
period, said Betty Barnes, a program coordinator for
Project Success. Grant funds primarily pay for the three
counselors and several staff members. ID# 7206
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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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"UNR students
question partial alcohol ban" (Lenita
Powers, The Reno Gazette Journal, Aug 22, 2003) --
A partial ban on alcohol
that goes into effect this fall at the University of
Nevada, Reno has prompted some students to question
whether it can achieve its goal of halting underage
drinking. Some students view the ban on drinking at
almost all student-held functions, including fraternity
parties, as an overreaction to the drowning death of a
freshman last year or as hypocritical since alcohol is
still allowed at sports events. But university officials
said the policy will make the campus safer for students
and discourage underage drinking and the abuse of
alcohol. ID# 7201
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"Council Tentatively Oks Fee on Cigarette Sellers" (The
Los Angeles Times, Aug 22, 2003) --
In an effort to reduce
underage smoking, the City Council wants retailers to
pay $255 for an annual license to sell cigarettes. The
council voted 4 to 1 this week to give preliminary
approval to the ordinance, and a final vote is set for
Sept. 2. If approved, it will become law in 30 days. ID#
7195
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"Underage Kids Don't Go Far to Get Alcohol" (Janice
Billingsley, Yahoo news, Aug 22, 2003) --
It's not the fake ID
that is the gateway to alcohol for kids. It's the family
liquor cabinet. That's the key conclusion of three
just-released surveys on underage drinking, sponsored by
the liquor industry. The surveys of more than 1,000 kids
under 18 and 1,600 parents found that two-thirds of the
children and more than half their parents agreed that
the main source of alcohol for underage drinkers came
from family and friends, although the parents tended to
report that they were not providing alcohol. ID#
7196
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"Anti-Smoking Efforts Cut Lung Cancer Deaths" (Yahoo
News, Aug 20, 2003) --
Lung cancer death rates
among adults age 30-39 are lower and are falling in most
states that have strong anti-tobacco programs, according
to a study published in Cancer Causes and Control
(Vol. 14, No. 6 579-585). Lung cancer rates in this age
group reflect smoking behavior over the preceding 5-25
years, when communities first began to control and
discourage tobacco use. The findings suggest that
efforts to prevent smoking are having a positive effect,
said lead researcher Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD, program
director for cancer occurrence at the American Cancer
Society. ID# 7197
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"Should Kids Be Able To Drink With Their Parents?" (The
Milwaukee Channel, Aug 20, 2003) --
MADISON, Wis. -- A state
legislator wants to change a law that lets children
drink alcohol in taverns as long as they're with a
parent. State Rep. John Ainsworth has proposed
legislation that would only let people 18 years old and
up drink in taverns if accompanied by a parent or
guardian. Wisconsin's legal drinking age is 21, but a
law allows children of any age to drink if they have a
parent with them. ID# 7198
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"City to examine drinking at all of the city's
parks" (Ben Godar, The Los Angeles Times, Aug
20, 2003) --
BURBANK VILLAGE City
officials are seeking to restrict alcohol sales at the
site of a former nightclub that closed after police
cracked down on alleged criminal activity there.
Sensation Village, 237 E. Olive Ave., was closed Dec. 21
after officials with the state Department of Alcoholic
Beverage Control declined to issue the club a permanent
liquor license. Now, city officials say the new
operators of Great Red Island are planning to open a new
club, Chameleons, at the location. Despite the change in
ownership, the conditional-use permit for the location
cannot be changed without the owners' consent. ecause
the owners would not agree to new conditions meant to
curb problems at the location, City Manager Mary Alvord
said the city plans to ask the ABC to include those
restrictions in the establishment's alcohol license. ID#
7192
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"Smokeless tobacco sponsorship reluctantly approved" (Virgil
Cochran, The Lamar Daily News, Aug
20, 2003) --
LAMAR - The Prowers County
Commissioners reluctantly approved a contract yesterday
with U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Companies for sponsorship of
this year's Sand and Sage Rodeo. It is, essentially, an
after-the-fact approval, since the rodeo is already over
and the organization already placed its signs at the
fairgrounds arena. The commissioners voted, however, to
return the contract with one item deleted - a provision
which gives U.S. Smokeless a first right of refusal to
also match any deal offered for sponsorship of next
year's event. The contract calls for payment of $400
from U.S. Smokeless to the county, as well as
sponsorship of $3,600 to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys
Association (PRCA) which went to purse money at this
year's fair. ID# 7193
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"Miramar extends alcohol sales hours" (Milton
D. Carrero-Galarza, The Sun Sentinel, Aug
21, 2003) --
Miramar, Florida Miramar
· Residents who used to go to nearby cities to buy
alcohol after 2 a.m. now have until 4 a.m. to purchase
drinks within the city boundaries. After a long
discussion regarding the language of the ordinance, the
City Commission voted Wednesday to extend the hours in
which businesses can sell alcohol. "Somebody
doesn't need to drink in Miramar to drive drunk in
Miramar," said Commissioner Winston Barnes,
alluding to surrounding cities that sell alcohol past 2
a.m. Commissioners disagreed on the criteria that would
be used to revoke the licenses to establishments that
become a nuisance to the community. ID# 7187
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"REALITY Illinois Slam-Dunks Big Tobacco at NBA
Hoop-It-Up in Chicago" (Yahoo News, Aug
20, 2003) --
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Aug. 20
/PRNewswire/ -- In Illinois, more than 34,800 teens
begin using tobacco each year and, if the trend
continues, one- third will die. To help combat this grim
statistic, REALITY Illinois, the state's teen-led
anti-tobacco movement, is teaming up with NBA
Hoop-It-Up, the premiere 3-on-3 basketball tour in the
world, to teach Illinois teens the truth about big
tobacco. The movement's Dying for a Smoke? mobile tour
will be at the 3-on-3-basketball tournament at Harper
College in Palatine on August 23-24. Dying for a Smoke?
is a 13-week statewide tour sponsored by the Illinois
Department of Public Health that features a hearse
driven by mock "funeral directors." At each
stop, participants will receive handouts outlining the
deadly effects of tobacco use and will have an
opportunity to get their photo taken in a mock coffin to
vividly illustrate the impact of tobacco use. ID#
7182
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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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"Group Sets Up Program To Block Underage Drinking
Parties" (The Champlain Channel,
Aug 12, 2003) --
BRISTOL, N.H. -- A group is
working with residents in several New Hampshire towns to
pull the plug on underage drinking parties. It's called
the Linwood, Newfound, Pemi Baker Coalition and it's
started a program called Project Monitor, in which
parents, teens, teachers or others can call in
anonymously if they hear about a party being planned. ID#
7176
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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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"US FTC report says smokeless tobacco promotion up" (Reuters
News, August 12, 2003) -- WASHINGTON,
Aug 12 (Reuters) - Advertising and other promotional
expenditures for smokeless tobacco products like snuff
and chewing tobacco increased 39 percent between 1999
and 2001, according to a government report released on
Tuesday. Smokeless tobacco advertising and promotion
spending reached reached $236.7 million in 2001, the
U.S. Federal Trade Commission report said, up from
$170.2 million in 1999.Promotional allowances such as
those to retailers, and "buy one, get one
free" offers and other giveaways, were the top
expenditure categories in 2001, with coupons and
magazine advertising also contributing substantially to
industry spending, the FTC said. ID# 7167
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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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"Smoking law strikes teens" (Lisa
Black, The Chicago Tribune, August 12, 2003) -- Vince
Jaron doesn't smoke, but the high school freshman said
he's a victim of the tough new public-smoking ban in
Skokie just the same. He's now barred from his favorite
bowling alley. "I'm thinking it's a very bad
idea," said Jaron, 14, who used to bowl at Skokie
Lanes, the only bowling alley in town. "Why does
the fun in my life have to be taken away for the safety
of others? I don't care if I'm sitting next to a smoker.
If I'm bowling, I'm happy. "Owner James
Hammersmith, whose own sons, ages 14 and 13, can't enter
the alley until after hours, could close off the bar and
install a new ventilation system, or make the facility
smoke-free before and during a function attended by
children. ID# 7158
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"Posters speak their drinking warning" (Ananova, August
12, 2003) -- Posters
which play corny chat-up lines are being posted in pub
toilets as a warning against drinking too much. The
group behind the advert said they wanted to show what
happens when someone may appear more attractive than
they are after a few drinks. Each poster has a built-in
speaker which plays a pre-recorded one-liner when a
person walking past triggers a sensor. Jean Coussins,
chief executive of the Portman Group, a body which
promotes sensible drinking, said "We want them to
surprise and engage people and to make them think about
their drinking." Researchers at the Portman Group,
which is funded by the alcohol drinks industry, searched
the internet to find the worst chat-up lines. ID#
7159
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"Alcohol not as prevalent at todays company
outings" (Mike Colias, Providence
Business News, August 11, 2003) --
Booze or no booze? That is
a central question businesses must decide when planning
a golf outing, Christmas party, clambake or a cruise on
Narragansett Bay. Imbibing tends to loosen collars. But
there are a few potential negatives, event planners say.
The presence of alcohol can alienate non-drinkers and
generally is seen as a no-no for company picnics or
other venues where children will be present. And, of
course, offering alcohol adds the liability factor. For
these and other reasons, businesses increasingly are
passing on the keg of beer or open bar. ID# 7162
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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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"Company defends movie-alcohol plan" (The
Toledo Blade, August 6, 2003) --National
Amusements, Inc., which has asked the state to allow
alcoholic beverages at its theater complex in Maumee,
defended the request yesterday after learning of
opposition from city officials. The companys new
theater concept, which it calls "Cinema de Lux,"
will include reserved seating, concierge-style customer
service, and alcohol. "Over the past several years,
our industry has seen a dramatic increase in the
percentage of adult movie-goers, and this new concept is
perfectly suited to their preference for an upscale
experience," the statement read. "Any
beverages served on a National Amusements property fall
under the same laws and guidelines that other
restaurants, arenas, ballparks, or similar entertainment
venues serving alcohol must follow." ID# 7154
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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
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