Prescription Drug Arrest

 

Yancey County authorities are calling it one of their biggest prescription drug arrests this summer.  A man they suspect as one of the top dealers in the area was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon. Authorities arrested 24-year-old Christopher Elliott at his home on Satin Wood Drive in Burnsville.  Law enforcement believe Christopher and his older brother, James, traveled to South Carolina to get Oxycodone pills and then returned to the area to sell them.  They tell us the brothers have nearly a hundred clients. Christopher Elliot's arrest was part of "Operation Slinger."  The round up effort was launched back in June.  The Burnsville police department teamed up with the Yancey County Sheriff'f office to get prescription drugs of the streets. So far, 40 dealers have been arrested or charged in the operation.

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if arresting people for drugs was a sign of success in The War on Drugs, then I guess our government has won.

The United States arrests a lot of people on drug charges. The answer to the failure of The War on Drugs is always spend more money and arrest more people.

In fact, if arresting people for drugs was a sign of success in The War on Drugs, then I guess our government has won. Here is a press release from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition on a new report from the FBI on just how many people are arrested for drugs in this country.

New FBI Numbers Reveal Failure of “War on Drugs”

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new FBI report released today shows that there is a drug arrest every 19 seconds in the U.S. A group of police and judges who have been campaigning to legalize and regulate drugs pointed to the figures showing more than 1.6 million drug arrests in 2010 as evidence that the “war on drugs” is a failure that can never be won.

“Since the declaration of the ‘war on drugs’ 40 years ago we’ve arrested tens of millions of people in an effort to reduce drug use. The fact that cops had to spend time arresting another 1.6 million of our fellow citizens last year shows that it simply hasn’t worked. In the current economy we simply cannot afford to keep arresting three people every minute in the failed ‘war on drugs,’” said Neill Franklin, a retired Baltimore narcotics cop who now heads the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP). “If we legalized and taxed drugs, we could not only create new revenue in addition to the money we’d save from ending the cruel policy of arresting users, but we’d make society safer by bankrupting the cartels and gangs who control the currently illegal marketplace.”

Today’s FBI report, which can be found athttp://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010, shows that 81.9 percent of all drug arrests in 2010 were for possession only, and 45.8 percent of all drug arrests were for possession of marijuana.

A separate Department of Justice report released last month shows that Mexican drug cartels are currently operating in more than 1,000 U.S. cities, whereas two years ago they were in 230 U.S. cities. Meanwhile, a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report released earlier this month shows that nearly one in 10 Americans admit to regularly using illegal drugs.

Sadly, arrests are not a sign of success but a sign of a cycle of waste and idiocy that has our country locked in a downward spiral of drug abuse and violence.

The unmitigated failure of The War on Drugs is on display every day in a multitude of ways. This report is yet another example of the government highlighting their massive failure.

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More Than Half Of All Drug Arrests In U.S. Are For Marijuana

 

We all know marijuana is the most used illegal drug in The United States. It stands to reason that marijuana is responsible for the most arrests out of all of the illegal drugs. But according to new statistics from the F.B.I., marijuana arrests account for more than half of all drugs arrested, meaning more people are arrested for marijuana than all other illicit drugs combined. Of the 854,000 arrests for marijuana, 88% were for possession. Opponents of marijuana legalization like to pretend that The War on Drugs is aimed at gang leaders and dealers, but the simple fact is the drug war budgets of law enforcement agencies are built on the backs of people whose only crime was having some weed on their person.

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Winehouse's death points to risk of detoxing alone

 

Amy Winehouse’s father says the late singer was off drugs for three years, but she was in a continuous battle with alcohol — and believes that the way she was trying to detox may have killed her, according to an interview with Anderson Cooper that aired Monday. Mitch Winehouse says he suspects his daughter suffered a seizure and “there was nobody there to rescue her.” While no one knows for sure the exact circumstances of Winehouse's death, subtance abuse treatment experts say an alcohol detox can be more deadly than most people imagine. “While you’re withdrawing from other drugs, you may want to die, but alcohol detox is the only actual drug detox you can die from,” says Cyndie Dunkerson, clinical supervisor for Hope By the Sea, an alcohol and drug detox and rehabilitation center in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Scoop: Winehouse family shares more details about Amy's death An estimated 15.2 million Americans battle alcohol abuse and addiction each year, according to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. About 5 percent of untreated patients going through acute alcohol withdrawal have seizures, according to a report published in Alcohol Health & Research World. Between 5 and 25 percent of patients die who are going through the severest stage of alcohol withdrawal, delirium tremens (DT's), the report said. “The body just doesn’t handle getting off of it very well,” says Dunkerson. Of those who don’t survive detox, ”most people, if they are not dying from a gastrointestinal bleed, they die from a really bad grand mal seizure.” Advertise | AdChoices Mitch Winehouse told Cooper the troubled British singing sensation was taking Librium, a drug commonly used to help with an alcohol detox and decrease the chances of seizures and anxiety. Toxicology reports confirmed the presence of Librium in Winehouse's body at the time of her death. It’s not known whether Librium contributed to Winehouse’s death, but Dr. Philip Gilly, medical director of the Maplegrove Center at Henry Ford Health System in West Bloomfield, Mich., says a seizure can be caused after 24 hours of alcohol withdrawal or withdrawal from long-term use of the medication, part of a class of benzodiazepines which includes other prescription drugs such as Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax and Valium. Librium can become addictive and can cause medical issues such as dependence, agitation, disorientation, hypertension, anxiety and anorexia if it’s taken much longer than a week. In severe cases, seizures can occur during sudden Librium withdrawal. “If someone were going to have a benzo withdrawal seizure because of the Librium, it means they were taking it improperly,” Gilly says. “They were taking it longer and more than they would need for alcohol withdrawal. They would have to be taking it every day for more than a month or two.” Dunkerson explains that during alcohol withdrawal, the body goes through a series of physical and neurological changes, and a simple hangover is a mild form of alcohol withdrawal. If drinking alcohol helps people relax and go to sleep, withdrawal causes the opposite of that. “Your blood pressure gets really high. You’ll get agitated, hyperactive, anxiety-filled and you will actually get depressed because of all that’s going on," she said. "You can get jaundice and turn yellow from hepatitis inflammation in your liver, and have hallucinations and seizures.” Drugs and alcohol affect the brain, says Gilly, and seizures are a short circuit in the brain’s electrical circuits. The brain goes through changes when a person starts taking drugs, or comes off them, causing overactive or irritated nerves that can lead to seizures. Mitch Winehouse said doctors warned his daughter to slowly cut down on drinking, but she didn’t. Dunkerson says that’s exactly what she tells incoming patients who call to say they are going to stop drinking before they arrive for detox. Alcohol withdrawal requires careful monitoring and taking a drug such as Librium to help. “You need medication assistance in getting through this. Otherwise, you are putting yourself at grave risk,” she says. “Nobody should ever try to quit drinking alcohol on their own if they have been a daily drinker for an extended period of time. My advice is ‘Don’t stop drinking until you get here.’ Get medical attention immediately because between 48 and 72 hours is when you have seizures from an acute withdrawal.” Alcohol withdrawal, which also can include tremors the first day, seizures and delirium tremens (DTs) within a week, doesn’t have to be deadly, but too often it is, says Dunkerson. “When I heard the news of Amy Winehouse’s death, I cried because she was such a tortured soul,” she says. “This disease doesn’t have to be fatal, but it is very, very fatal. The only thing I love about my job is getting people to walk out from the dead. The thing I hate about my job is I get to bury the people that don’t make it.”

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Alcohol the only drug that kills on withdrawal:Winehouse's dad says he thinks seizure killed her

 

Amy Winehouse's father says he believes she died after suffering a seizure related to alcohol detoxification and "there was nobody there to rescue her." The soul diva, who had fought drug and alcohol problems for years, was found dead in bed at her London home on July 23. Her family says toxicology reports indicated there was alcohol in her bloodstream but it was unclear whether this had contributed to her death at age 27. Mitch Winehouse said Friday during a taping of Anderson Cooper's new syndicated talk show that traces of the prescription drug Librium, which is used to fight anxiety and withdrawal symptoms of alcoholism, were found in her body. "Everything Amy did, she did to excess," he said on the show, which is to air as Cooper's debut Monday. "She drank to excess and did detox to excess." He said he regretted that his daughter — whose most famous song, "Rehab," has her answering "no, no, no" when told to go to rehab — was trying to kick her alcoholism without a doctor's help. He said "the periods of abstinence were becoming longer, and the periods of drinking were becoming shorter. It was heading in the right direction." The singer, whose other hits include "Tears Dry on Their Own," had suffered seizures during this period and would lose consciousness. Her father admitted he was speculating that this happened on the morning she died and said he should find out more conclusively how she died when a full inquest into her death begins next month. Years earlier, when Amy Winehouse was on harder drugs including heroin and cocaine, her father said, he would not have been surprised if she had died. Mitch Winehouse, who is starting his own singing career, was in New York when his daughter's security guard called him in July. Hearing the distraught tone of the security guard's voice, the father said his first words were, "Is she dead?" Amy Winehouse's breakthrough "Back to Black" album was recently certified as the best-selling disc in Britain so far during the 21st century. The updated take on old-time soul also was responsible for five Grammy Awards. "When she wasn't drinking," her father said, "she was absolutely on top of the world." He occasionally dabbed tears from his eyes as Cooper's show ran video clips of her. He said he was comforted by the outpouring of support from her fans. Her mother, Janis Winehouse, said she's had people approach her to thank her for having the singer. Mitch Winehouse said he blamed the singer's ex-husband, a music industry hanger-on, for introducing her to hard drugs but did not blame him for her death. He said she had not taken drugs since December 2008. Amy Winehouse's boyfriend at the time of her death, Reg Traviss, said they had spent a quiet evening looking at pictures and watching DVDs two days before she died. They were looking forward to attending a friend's wedding in a few days and were planning a trip to St. Lucia around her Sept. 14 birthday. He said he struggled to find the right moments to talk to his girlfriend about her drinking without seeming as though he was nagging. "She was a really clever girl," Traviss said. "She knew what she was doing. I would sometimes choose my moments when there was something that was needed to be said." Winehouse's family has set up a foundation to raise money to help people beat alcohol and drug addiction. Her father met with British political leaders to seek backing for setting up a drug rehab center in her name. The foundation officially starts operation next week, and her father indicated that was why he was coming forth to do interviews about her. Cooper's program donated $50,000 to the foundation, although spokeswoman Laura Mandel said the donation was made after the interview was set up and the booking wasn't contingent upon giving the foundation money. Amy Winehouse's stepmother and aunt also appeared on Cooper's show.

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Spanish police have smashed the drug ring that is believed to have supplied Kenley teenager Jodie Nieman with the ecstasy

 

Spanish police have smashed the drug ring that is believed to have supplied Kenley teenager Jodie Nieman with the ecstasy tablet that probably killed her. Mark Adrian Whitley, 39 from Croydon, was among 13 suspected drug dealers arrested by police last Thursday in Ibiza where the 19-year-old died in July. Spanish police confirmed the majority of the pills seized in the raids were Pink Rock Star, the same type believed to have killed Miss Nieman. It is thought the dodgy pills were also responsible for poisoning eight other individuals in Ibiza over the summer. Police said the drug ring was the biggest British group operating on the island and had now been "completely dismantled". Officers from Spain’s Civil Guard, supported by British officers from the Serious Organised Crime Agency, raided eight properties across the party island. As part of Operation Rula, police confiscated £60,500 in various currencies, 4kg of cocaine, 3,600 MDMA pills, 53g of hashish and 300 doses of anabolic steroids. There were also precision scales, mobile phones and other drug-related paraphernalia in the addresses. A Civil Guard spokesman said: "This one of the most active gangs on the island which is the main supplier of cocaine and other designer drugs around the clubs and bars. "Enquiries were carried out on the basis of intelligence obtained by the Guardia Civil after other gangs involved in drugs trafficking on the island were dismantled. "The majority of these gangs were British and took advantage of the influx of young people during the summer. "The gang, which is now dismantled, only travelled to Ibiza in summer to meet the large demand for drugs on the island during this period. "When some of the drugs were running short, other gangs based in the UK would send new batches via different methods." Miss Nieman, a nail technician at Nails To Be Seen in Warlingham, was holidaying with friends when she fell unconscious at the Space nightclub in the Playa d'en Bossa resort on July 13. She died of a suspected heart attack, with friends admitting to Spanish police they had taken ecstasy. But Croydon Coroner’s Court has ordered a second investigation into the cause of Miss Nieman’s sudden death. Miss Nieman’s mother Debbie and her partner Simon Atkar, along with her brother Mark, recently visited the island to see where the teenager had died and to bring her body home. Her funeral was held on August 16 at Croydon Crematorium but her mother discovered Spanish police had removed the girl’s heart for tests. The family have been told it could be six months until results of the tests, which might give a conclusive cause of death, come back.

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Soldier gets five years for plot to smuggle £80,000 worth of cocaine into Scotland in kiddies marker pens

 

A scheming Scots-based soldier was jailed for five years yesterday for a plot to smuggle cocaine worth nearly £80,000 into his barracks ... hidden in marker pens. Nigeria-born rifleman Osita Brutus Omenyima tried to run from the police who snared him, but they caught him after a chase across the parade ground. Omenyima's cousin had posted him more than half a pound of the Class A drug from Venezuelan capital Caracas. The 25 per cent pure cocaine was stuffed into highlighter pens in a package which also contained books, pamphlets and a prayer written on a piece of paper.  Border cops at Coventry airport, where the parcel arrived in Britain, noticed some of the 38 pens were leaking. The pens were opened and found to contain 266 grams of cocaine, worth an estimated £79,800 on the streets. Police in Edinburgh set a trap for 35-yearold Omenyima, with an undercover officer posing as a Parcel Force delivery driver and handing him the package at the gates of Edinburgh's Redford Barracks. Eight other officers watched the handover then moved in to make the arrest. Omenyima started sweating when he saw he had been trapped. He fled across the parade ground and threw the parcel away but the cops chased and caught him. The shamed squaddie denied knowing anything about the drugs and insisted he was a "fall guy". But a jury convicted him of being concerned in the supply of cocaine between January and September 2010. Prosecutor Gillian More told the High Court in Edinburgh: "He used the Army to conduct this drug-dealing operation. He used his position in the Army as a front." Omenyima, a qualified accountant, came to London from Nigeria in 2008 to study but then enlisted in The Rifles. He left twin teenage sons in his homeland but remarried in 2009. His new wife gave birth at the end of his trial. Richard Goddard, defending, said Omenyima was a first offender from a lawabiding background whose family would soon have to leave their Army housing. He added: "The consequences of this conviction will be far-reaching, not just for Omenyima but for other innocent parties." Sentencing, Lord Malcolm told Omenyima he had done well in the Army. But he added: "You have thrown all this away by your deliberate involvement in an illegal trade which causes misery to users, their families and society. "There would appear to be no motive other than financial gain." The judge praised police and UK Border Agency for their work to trap Omenyima. The dealer protested his innocence as he was taken to the cells.

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Cocaine bag burst kills smuggler

 

A Colombian woman made a 10,300km flight carrying half a kilogram of cocaine in her stomach - and died at Auckland Hospital 37 minutes after one of the 26 packages of the drug leaked into her body. Sorlinda Arirtizabel Vega, 37, arrived in Auckland from Buenos Aires in Argentina on Tuesday morning. She cleared Customs without any problems and travelled into the city with her partner and children. But by early Wednesday morning, Mrs Vega was dead. She was admitted to the emergency department at Auckland Hospital at 5.44am on Wednesday, and was declared dead at 6.21am. The Herald has learned her partner took her to the hospital and then left to go and see to their children. He was back with Mrs Vega when police arrived, but it is unclear whether he was there when she died. "The woman was unable to be revived, despite vigorous resuscitation, following cardiac arrest," a hospital spokeswoman said. Police were called to the hospital, as is procedure with a sudden death. During a post mortem examination, doctors found at least 26 20g packages filled with a white substance believed to be cocaine. "That is more than half a kilo which, if established to be cocaine, would have had an estimated street value of up to $175,000," said Detective Inspector Scott Beard. He said at least one of the packages had burst inside Mrs Vega, but would not be drawn on what material they were made of. "It went into her body and her body couldn't cope," he said. "There are always serious risks to health when smuggling drugs internally, and this woman has paid with her life." Mr Beard said Mrs Vega was in Auckland on holiday, not for the Rugby World Cup. She travelled to New Zealand with family members. Mr Beard would not be drawn on who those family members were but said they were in Auckland and not being held by police. He said they would be spoken to and police were also looking into whether Mrs Vega had any links with local organised crime groups. She came through Customs at Auckland Airport with no problems, and Mr Beard said she was the first person this year to be caught carrying drugs internally. Emergency doctor Paul Quigley told 3 News there was no way Mrs Vega could have survived. "She had the equivalent of 80 doses of cocaine all in one go, so she would have developed extreme high blood pressure and may have had a stroke and a heart attack," he said. "She may have got a degree of anxiety at first, felt shaky, but it is likely she would have gone into cardiac arrest and collapsed very rapidly." Mrs Vega's death has been referred to the coroner but Mr Beard said a police investigation was continuing.

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